Ara Knochen HiBRiD Basic Character Sheet -Final Version

I just wanted to share the final version of the HiBRiD Basic Character Sheet that will be appearing in the Ara Knochen role playing game. This will also serve as the official character sheet for anyone wanting to make a character for my home game as well. Enjoy!!!!

Remnant Weapons Entry 1: The Neuronic Whip

I was getting pages organized to write the history of Ara Knochen the other day, and in a fit of inspiration, decided to list and describe the primary Remnant weapons used by UN troopers and Sohei across Namenlos Welt.

The Ara Knochen setting, for those of you who haven't played before, is one of a post-apocalyptic world, where the resources of a once-utopian, highly advanced civilization have been decimated by thousands of years of resource consumption, petty wars, and geologic catastrophe. Water covers over 90% of the planet's surface, which is ringed with 12 scant land masses. Each of these islands possesses a few cities on the coastlines, with a rugged and sparsely populated interior where few men dare to tread.

The societies of Ara Knochen possess Victorian Era level technological, political and social development for the most part. The one exception, however, is the United Nations, an organization that has managed to collect, assemble, and implement a significant inventory of the most recoverable and serviceable pieces of ancient, left-behind, pieces of high technology and use it just enough to prevent humankind from exterminating itself. To maintain their grip on power, the UN has managed to isolate most this technology, referred to as Remnant Technology, or "Remnants", from civilian society at large. There are those on the fringes of civilization, however, who occasionally manage to acquire a piece of it here or there for their own use.

In the next few entries, I will share with you several of these Remnant treasures of 200 generations past...

We begin with one of my favorites, The Neuronic Whip. Inspired by Asimov's Foundation and Robot series, this weapon is actually described as a tube that sends out an electromagnetic field that can be focused and swept over groups of people for non-violent crowd control. Due to its utility, a number of these weapons have made their way into used in certain advanced cities, most notedly Brih'ja'dun and Macrosse'.

Neuronic Whip

Mass: 450 g

Length: 25 cm

Number of charges: 100/power cell (1 charge lasts one round)

Damage: See Description 

Range: Effective 100 m / Extreme 200 m

While the weapon by default emits no visible "beam" in any of Asimov's books when fired,  players may have any aesthetic they wish when they fire a neuronic whip. In this picture, the player has chosen to reflect the weapon with a purple "dual beam" aesthetic.

This weapon consists of a tube which emits field of energy that resonates at a frequency which overwhelms the sensory and disrupts motor neurophysiology in higher carbon-based life forms. The field generated by this weapon lacks the intensity to disrupt electronic or quantum electronic circuits or cause any destruction or damage to living tissues. While metallic and leather armor provide no protection against the field, Remnant armor and UN battle dress uniforms can dissipate its effects.

Within the weapon lies a disposable energy cell. The exterior of the weapon possess a control dial, a contact window, and two low-energy numeric displays. One of the displays indicates the number of charges left before the battery is depleted while the other indicates the number of charges that will be expended upon its next firing. To use the weapon, the wielder dials a number of charges he wishes to use, aims the weapon at the target or target area, then places his finger over the contact window to emit the energy field. Each charge is able to affect 100 kilograms of mass; if a target's mass exceeds the amount of mass affected by an attack's number of charges, the target is simply unaffected.

To make an attack, the player makes a single task roll against the RSIL defense rating of the target, adding the number of charges expended to the d20 roll. A successful task roll immediately drops the target to 0 points of STUN. Once a target's STUN reaches 0 as the result of a neuronic whip strike, instead of affecting the target's PHYS, the target's nervous system is overloaded and he experiences unstoppable pain and complete paralysis until he heals back to full STUN at his normal rate.

The HiBRiD Ite' Coin and Logo

Here are two little gems I posted on the HiBRiD Facebook page, but am reposting here, primarily because I resent passive-aggressive pseudosocializing that goes on there and I resent being forced to use their lame, unintuitive Timeline format; it just serves as free advertising; I do my real creative work here. So, without further adieu, in the heart of HIBRiD, here is the exposition scene.

Several years ago, I realized I needed a logo for the game and petitioned one of my players, Matt, to help me design one. He game up with the following excellent logo:

I loved so much about it except that it was a bit too "Batman" for me, so I decided to mock up a version that reflected the game a bit more, so I changed the first period to the accent mark found in the word "Ite'" and the second with the face of a 20 sided die. I also used a font I designed back in 1988 to get the following:

About two years ago, while playing Poekmon with my kids, I also came up with the idea of players using coins to signify they were "kicking it up a notch" or otherwise using a point of Ite'. In a fit of inspiration, I sketched the following:

As you can see, I combined the two logos, modified the border just a bit to fit the font, and added a few touches on the outside to complete the logo. I also took the tiime to sketch the font and note relative font sizes.

So, with the design work complete. all that remains is to convert it to an SVG file and send it off the coin makers. The plan is to make two versions: One in plastic for mass production and a series of metal ones as collectibles for return players, playtesters, and other enthusiasts who promote the game.

Archive Two c.1994: The HiBRiD Playtest Campaigns (Geocities Version)

This post was meant to be a list and brief description of the playtest campaigns I had run over the last 18 years. The game world evolved as I tested different technology levels and rule sets, crossed genres, and just brought all of the crazy thought in my head to the game table.

One thing that you may note that is that at the time I wrote this, I was running a campaign in the Fourth Age. Interestingly, I have moved on to what would be the equivalent of the Fifth Age. This "fifth age" is actually the Ara Knochen campaign I plan on publishing. The nomenclature breaks down, as most of human history is lost, and the inhabitants of Ara Knochen measure time in generations rather than years, leaving a sense of large spans of time while still allowing the director to set the tech level and genre anywhere she wishes.

One other item of note that I find kind of neat, is that at the various cons over the years, players have noted that the world did seem to have a history and wanted to know more. As I wrote the Ara Knochen Almanac, I found that I had over 1000 pages of notes! Indeed it has been a long road, and my goal when the rules are finally published is get all 5 generations of history finally documented.

So without further delay, enjoy: 

The HiBRiD Playtesting Campaigns

Let me first start by saying that the effort to create and develop the HiBRiD game involved more than concern over just a bunch of statistics and balanced game mechanics. The development and testing if the game core rules originally took place in a campaign of high fantasy originally created as a homegrown world for AD&D. Over time, however, the events that took place in that world, a world known as the Nameless World by the original gaming group led to the evolution of the world into two new campaign settings.

The first campaign took place in a high fantasy world, highly magical world. The campaign, known as the Nameless World Second Age campaign, chronicled the effects the invasion of a ruthless group of knights from a parallel high technology, far future, galaxy had on the characters.

Exposure to a new generation of role playing games such as Biohazard Games’ Blue Planet, R. Talsorian’s Cyberpunk and Castle Falkenstein games, HERO, GURPS, and FUZION systems brought forth not only a new age in the development of the HiBRiD rules, but also in the evolution of the Nameless World play test world as well, into a world with a much less pronounced fantasy element. This campaign, known to its play testers as the Nameless World Third Age campaign, took (and currently takes) place in a low magic, Victorian horror Era. Setting. The setting explores the effects on the Nameless World of the fall of magic, the rise of industrial technology, and the emergence of psychic abilities as a result of a great cataclysm that ended the Second Age and left mankind scrambling once again for his very survival.

With the completion of the HiBRiD core game engine, the play-test campaign has recently undergone yet another facelift. While still set in the Nameless World, the campaign spiraled down from its lofty, high-fantasy medieval campaign roots, to one set in a low-magic, Victorian era with a hint of the paranormal, to finally end up to its current state of development. This campaign, the Nameless World Fourth Age campaign, is a hard-science fantasy campaign in which the evolution of the psychic powers recognized in the Third Age have become as rare as metal, and bioplastics, quantum computers, and renewable energy sources are the norm. 

Current Play-test Efforts

Currently, with the Core Rules completed, I am working on the development and publication of the HiBRiD core rules in hard cover book format, as well as the completion of the Nameless World Campaign Sourcebooks, which include descriptions of the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Age Campaigns.

If you live in the Chicago Area, he has also been interested in running either a Third Age (Victorian Era Paranormal) or Fourth Age (Hard Science Fiction/Bio-punk) campaign, should you wish to play in the game or run a play-test game of your own, feel free to download the rules and email me, and I’ll be glad to get you the Background Information you need for running or playing in such a campaign.

Playtesting Quotes

One of the things that makes role playing game sessions memorable are quotes from players, either in or out of character, during those sessions. Throughout the numerous HiBRiD play-testing sessions, a number of rather humorous quotes arose that I thought that you, as fellow gamers, might enjoy…

Archive One c.1994: The Origin Of HiBRiD (Geocities Version)

I came across the archive of original HiBRiD© web site from when i was in college and learning to use HTML and using the now defunct Geocities web sites. Though most of the information is already posted on this blog elsewhere, I thought you all might to read the way I envisioned the game back in 1997. So without further adieu, enjoy Part One: The Origins of HiBRiD:

The Origins of HiBRiD^©:  A Brief History of the HiBRiD^© Game

Well, to put things in perspective, let me tell you a little bit of the history of the HiBRiD game, from an objective, Nordic-man's point of view…

A game is born…

The HiBRiD© rules were not originally created from mid air, but were developed over the course of a number of years. Originally designed as a rules supplement to my AD&D campaign, the inflexibility of the class-based, skill-anemic game system led to experimentation with a number of other game systems in the same gaming world. In the end, however, the desire to keep the linear probability scale, to use a well-balanced skill system, and to simplify action resolution led to the development of HiBRiD©, the Highly Bastardized Role-playing Game in Development, Version 1.0.


HiBRiD© Version 1.0 used a non-random, player-determined 15 Attribute System, with character Attributes ranging in values from 1 to 20. The Skill System was based on only the d%, and a Damage System based on the d10. The system was an amalgam of a number of game systems. The skill resolution and improvement system were adapted from the Morrow Project and Space Opera RPGs, while the actual Attribute and Damage Capacity System was adapted from the Mythus RPG. Speed Factors for melee weapons were adopted from the AD&D system, as well as the psionic and magic systems. Initial Skill Percentages, Skill Improvement, and Damage capacities were all derived from the character’s Attributes. Combat Statistics and Defense Values were adapted from the Gamma World RPG, and also calculated from a formula I derived that depended on each character’s Attributes.


Several new concepts were added from my own thoughts and game experiences. The concept of Aspects was derived simply from the desire to be able to control the level of power in the campaign while the use of a single d10 for all rolls stemmed from his desire to reduce the need for a bunch of dice and reduce clutter at the gaming table. The luck points concept was added to give characters a chance when the die rolls failed and to mitigate character complaints. The Character Concept and History requirements came from the desire to keep the campaign from becoming disjointed, to give the characters a reason to work together, and to give the less experienced players some guidelines for making their characters.

…then matures…

After several years of playing with Version 1.0, a number of issues cropped up that caused a complete overhaul of the game system.

The first and foremost was the sheer number of dice rolls and math required to carry out combat oriented actions. While being simple and balanced in terms of mathematics, whenever two characters combated one another, both combatants were required to do at least two calculations each combat round. While the calculations were fast and easy, they still slowed down game play. Thus, while well balanced statistically, the fluidity of game play suffered.

The second issue arose from the fact that the players just didn’t like the look and feel of the d10s, as well as the fact that low numbers were better. Such a system forced characters to perform more subtraction (which they felt was slower than simple addition) and required to use of a myriad of modifiers that just made the game system aesthetically unappealing to the various play testing groups. As Ben Zarit, one of the more involved play-testers put it after a marathon night of gaming, “a d20 just looks cool…”

Third, exposure to a new generation of RPG’s brought more elements that I wanted to add to the game. I had been toying with possibly simplifying the game play. Exposure to FASA’s Shadowrun and the various White Wolf Storyteller Games inspired a desire to simplify the game mechanics and seriously decrease the number of dice, but it took exposure to Steffan O’Sullivan’s FUDGE game to finally initiate the reworking of the game mechanics. While the simplicity and flexibility of the FUDGE system were highly desirable, I desired to reduce action resolution to one die roll and leave out as many modifiers to die rolls as possible. I also wanted to bring back the d20 that my group adored so much and maintain the linear probability scale.

Exposure to these new games as well as Biohazard Games’ Blue Planet, R. Talsorian’s Cyberpunk and Castle Falkenstein games, HERO, GURPS, and FUZION systems brought forth not only a new age in the development of the HiBRiD rules, but also in the evolution of the Nameless World Campaign Play Test World as well, into a world with a much less pronounced fantasy element.

…and finally finds itself…

In 1994, I introduced the HiBRiD game’s new incarnation: HiBRiD Version 2.0. It used the d20 mechanic currently seen in the game and resolved all tasks in the same manor, with one simple Task Roll. The concept of Ite’ was introduced, to make the game more heroic and Aspects were much more well defined. The resolution and description of a number of well-defined psychic abilities were also added, as well as the Movement/Time/Action Results Scale to give the rules a bit more structure. I also rewrote the entire psionics system to more closely match what I had learned in my neurophysiology  and pharmacology classes while I was in pharmacy school.

While the new system used only one method of resolving actions, there were a number of different damage systems the players could use, depending on whether they wished to tell stories or sling dice. Game play moved much more quickly, and it became much more dependent on the interaction between the GM (referred to in the rules as a Game Moderator or the director) and players of the game to maintain game balance.

Character History Requirements Elucidated: Abstract to Concrete

Ever since version 1.0, the HiBRiD character creation rules have always required the writing of a character history. This requirement separated HIBRiD from many other simulation games and was one of the first components of the game that carried it from its simulation-style roots to the more narrative-style games.

One problem since the very beginning, however, has always been that some people are not budding writers, some people just want to get in and hack, and some people would love to but just simply don't have the time.

While I described the requirement quite elaborately in HIBRiD 1.0, one of the major changes in the switch to 2.0, beside the change to the d20, was a decreased emphasis on prose and more of a focus on the components required to be considered complete. The problem was, in a manner similar to describing how Ite' was supposed to be used, it was nebulous and vague. In a manner similar to the way I brushed the Ite' elucidation under the rug, so I did the same with the character history requirements.

Until today.

As a break from the templates, the Pharmacology for Gamers article, and getting ready for GenCon 2013, I started editing the next chapter after templates for the Ara Knochen. In the process of compiling all the various documents into one file for the final edit, I found myself reframing all the rules in cinematic terms, which solved a problem of how to organize the overall book I have been struggling with for about two years.

<somewhat of a tangential thread>

The book will now be divided into three sections. The first section, Off-Screen Activities, will include the procedures and rules for Character Creation and Character Improvement as well as Aspect and Skill Descriptions. The second section, On-Screen Activities, will include guidelines for conducting dramatic scenes (read as using task rolls to accomplish important non-combat tasks), action scenes (read as combat and chase scenes), and managing exposition scenes (tips on role-playing, timing and managing scenes, including switching between different scene types). The third section, Ara Knochen Gazeteer, will include all Ara Knochen setting information and templates.

</somewhat of a tangential thread>

In the process of reorganizing the chapter, I finally hammered out the bare minimum requirements for creating just enough history ready for play. On first glance, the list appears to break My Rule of Three  (A rule I will explain later should any of you request its elucidation), but it really doesn't. Instead it is still three components 1 person + 1 event + 1 motivation, with 3 components embedded on the event component ). In any case, the basics are as follows:

1 person

1 event to explain skills

1 event to explain reason for his current location

1 event explaining his wealth level

1 life or death motivation

With this list, I figure the time ti takes to create character can be cut by even 3 to 5 more minutes, as now the player can simply use a few words and phrases instead of being forced to write a complete missive.

By the way,  for those who wish a sneak peek, I present the actual prose from the chapter:

Step Two: Write Your Character's History

Once you select your character's template and note the various components down on your piece of paper, the next step is to write your character's history.

All characters bring with them their life experiences prior to the beginning of the story.These experiences are your character's motivation and will help guide you as you play him through the game.

This background may be written as a long narrative or short list, as long as it contains at least one of each of the following three elements:

The first element of your character's history, people, lists and describes one or more people that have affected him in some deeply emotional way. Your character must have at least one person that he is emotionally attached to in either a positive or negative way.

The second element of your character's history, events, are those things that have happened to him that have shaped who he is. To be complete, you must have at least one event to explain the manner in which your character learned his skills, one that provides the reason he lives where he lives, and one that explains the amount of money (and other material objects) he possesses.

The third element of your character's history, heroic motivation, is a sentence that details that for which your character would be willing to die. To be complete, your character must have at least one heroic motivation.

Pharmacology for Gamers: Part One

Purpose

Poisons are a common source of wonder, confusion, danger, and ultimately character death in role-playing games. Between the number and variety of effects of poisons as well as complexities of the mechanics of the game system, the balance of realism versus playability can be difficult to achieve.

Different game systems approach the problem differently. At one end of the spectrum, simulation-based systems often try to reflect the effects of different poisons in terms specific game mechanics. The danger of this approach is that the more heavy a game system in terms of mechanics, the more complex the rules for poisons become and the more difficult they become to play. At the other end of the spectrum, narrative-based game systems choose to either eschew or only lightly document the effects of poisons on character in terms of the game mechanics and simply frame poisons descriptively in terms of how the characters perceive and are affected by them. The danger of this approach is that while descriptive and easy to play, in those situations where estimation is difficult due to the lack of knowledge of a poison or experience of a director (or the players) can cause a breakdown in the fragile suspension of disbelief required for story centered games are trying to attain.

The problem that I see as a director (and a game designer) with these two traditional game-design methodologies is that there is the potential to fall short in cases where a director might want either a heavier mechanic-system for his ordinarily rules-light game or a lighter system for his rules-heavy game. In keeping with the HiBRiD philosophy and my own penchant for hacking that which needs no hacking, I have decided to tackle this rather esoteric problem in a novel way.

Rather than approaching from either of the aforementioned traditional directions, I am going instead to explore the problem in several steps. First, I will reduce the complex mathematics required in modeling the effects of poisons in our own world to a more intuitive, descriptive model with just enough simple mathematics to get ideas across. I’ll then apply this new numbers-light model towards the two different ends of the game-design spectrum simultaneously, with the hope of giving game moderators the tools they need to build their own playable poison system based on real science to fit in with the game system and style they wish.

Part One: General Science

An Introduction to Pharmacology

Poisons are chemical compounds that affect the structure or functioning of a living organism in some way. The scientific and clinical study of the interactions between poisons (and other chemical compounds) and living organisms is referred to as pharmacology. Pharmacology can be further broken down into a number of branches, however, this discussion will limit itself to two branches in particular. The first branch, pharmacodynamics, refers to the study of how a chemical compound affects the body of an organism. The second branch, pharmacokinetics, refers to the study of how the body of an organism affects a chemical compound.

To easiest way to begin discussion of both of these branches of pharmacology is to begin by thinking of any organism as a container of water with an input valve and an output valve. Pharmacology begins when the first molecule of a chemical compound enters into the container of water and ends when the last molecule of a chemical compound exits the container of water. As I go though this discussion of pharmacology, I will come back to this model and simply add or subtract things as needed when necessary to make a point.