Nuclear Beasts

Signature Knack

Ignore penalties?
Win ties?
I don't just want a "I roll more successes doing this!" because then it'll always involve combat.

Option: some bonus that helps you only with things that you suck at? ie- the "My Brawn is 1, but I get a +1 success bonus for action X because it's my saving-grace or something?" Dunno.

Instant defeat rule: if you beat a foe (exceed their Determination in Harm) in one action, the effects are much longer-lasting than usual. In Leadership, they'll generally follow you if unaligned, or feel conflicted if already in someone else's service. In combat, you kill or maim them. Etc.

HM Mini-skill-list

Okay, how about a list of adventuring skills I can live with?

In SotC, you had: Academics, Alertness, Art, Athletics, Burglary, Contacting, Deceit, Drive, Empathy, Endurance, Engineering, Fists, Gambling, Guns, Intimidation, Investigations, Leadership, Might, Mysteries, Pilot, Rapport, Resolve, Resources, Science, Sleight of Hand, Stealth, Survival, and Weapons.

Things I'd change...

I'm not sure I really like having separate Weapons vs Fists... Lemme think. Don't really need a Burglary. Perhaps just Traps? Contacting might go away or just become Streetwise.

Lore (replaces Academics and part of Science)
Craft (replaces Engineering and Science and Art)
Digging (skill at digging tunnels quickly. Craft would probably go with it for making underground lairs).
Alertness
Athletics
Traps (setting, disarming, etc. Alertness should probably cover noticing).

HM Magic

Roll Magic + Skill and count successes. If you fall short of the minimum number required, the spell fails and you take 1 point of Magical Harm per success you fell short.

Important note: skilled characters attempting minor tasks can turn in 4d6 for a single success without rolling. This enables high-end mages to work magic comparatively casually.

• 1 Success: you can produce a Small Magic successfully, provided that you take 5x the normal casting time. If you can't take that long, the spell fails.
• 2 Successes: you can produce a Small Magic successfully.
• 3 Successes: you can produce a High Sorcery if you take 5x the normal time.
• 4 Successes: you can produce a High Sorcery in a single round.
• Create a 1-use enchantment (best if used in a Season): +1 Success required, inflicts 1 harm even when successful
• Create an indefinite enchantment (lasts a Season): +2 Successes required, inflicts 2 harm even when successful
• Create a "permanent" enchantment (lasts at least a Year, often many Years): +3 Successes, inflicts 3 harm even when successful

Magical Harm takes you to 0 Determination: you are tired. -1d6 to all rolls.
-1 Determination: -1 success to all rolls instead.
-2 Determination: -2 successes.
Etc.

HM Random

Drawn down into darkness
One by one

Pulled down by the worms
of the earth

In the rising shadow
my soul lost

(huh- mousy Haiku- 6 syllables, then 3, generally in 3 pairs. Practiced by the followers of Zakarvus and generally covers dark or melancholy topics).

Hartaung / Withertail / He Whose Breath Chills the Snow

Wentika / Mother of Monsters

Engroth / He Who Sours the Grain

I think that covers the major threats that concern mice... winter, predators and bad harvests. Possibly add He Who Leads Astray, the peril of getting lost, as a minor deity.

The Dark Gods vs the Living Gods.

Shaping (physical magic), Sorcery (mental magic), Mysticism (spirit magic). Mysticism is largely scorned in the Fallows and mostly taught in the wildeness, where Shaping is rare. In Fashar, Sorcery is largely unknown.

Spirit magic can often duplicate effects of Shaping and Sorcery, but it takes longer and the effects are semi-permanent, since they involve calling up spirits that produce that effect.

Most Important Adventuring Skills/Tasks

To make sure that I cover stuff properly... Everything on this list should be covered by at least one skill.

• Climbing.
• Fighting, including melee, ranged and grappling.
• Resisting torture/mind-control.
• Stealth
• Tracking/Wilderness survival
• Animal Handling
• Knowing ancient lore
• Reading/Writing
• Area familiarity/streetwise
• Sensing danger
• Spotting things/searching areas.
• Digging holes (for HM specifically)
• Foraging for food
• Picking locks
• Pickpocketing
• Socializing
• Deceiving folks
• Spotting a liar
• Inspiring troops
• Bravery vs huge, terrifying monsters
• Intimidating foes (could well use the same skill as resisting mind control, especially if you can use it with Brawn instead of Determination)
• Setting, finding and disarming traps
• Swimming
• Travelling long distances without rest
• Making an entertaining performance
• Riding a mount
• Navigating and fighting without light

HM Predefined Skills

Okay, instead of a generic "Knack" list, perhaps I do want some actual, pre-defined skills. Knacks could even be something you pick up later... bonus dice in a narrow area.

Ideally I'd like 3 skills per stat. They wouldn't necessarily always be matched with that stat, but usually.

Athletics: Acrobatics, Melee, Travel

Brawn: Digging, Feats of Strength, Wrestling

Cleverness: Charm, Craft, Lore

Determination: Leadership, Resolve, Survival (includes Alertness)

Magic: Physical Magic (Shaping), Mental Magic (Sorcery) and Spirit Magic (Mysticism)

Hm. Some possible holes: Alertness (Cleverness might be better than Determination). Foraging (Cleverness again). Stealth (under Travel?).

Hm. Combat as contests of Brawn. Athletics can be used for a combo attack... first you roll Athletics vs Athletics... if you get at least a tie, you can roll your successes over to a Brawn vs Brawn roll. I need playtesting to see whether adding 1 die per success is worth it. Options: 1 die per success, 2 dice per success, 1 success per success, 1 success per 2 on the other roll.

HM Thoughts

Some thoughts inspired by the SotC playtest last night:

• Drives as "tap this X times per session for +1 success". So a +2 Drive could be tapped twice for +1 success on things related to its topic.
• You can describe a "desperate manuever" where you negate a contest and suddenly turn it into a completely different struggle by tapping any Drive. Desperate Manuevers can only be declared when an exchange is about to defeat you (either by adding more Harm than you can take or by winning some struggle). You get to immediately roll an interrupting manuever that uses a different stat & skill (and has GM approval as an appropriate substitution). If you fail, you take the original harm anyway... if you succeed, you negate the original harm AND can apply your successes like a successful maneuver (doing either harm or aiding another action).
• PCs start with 3 points of Drive and can eventually gain more.
• A set list of Knacks, perhaps, so that there's not quite SO much flexibility... but it's more thoroughly covered and better balanced.
• If you apply a Drive to a roll for the +1 Success before rolling, you get a +1d6 bonus, too.
• Remaining Determination levels: at 1, an opponent who isn't really that worried about the outcome will just concede/withdraw, rather than risk serious consequences. At 0, you are defeated, but can withdraw with dignity (if forced to keep fighting, you can). At -1, you are defeated. At -2 or worse, you are seriously defeated and will need extensive recovery time.
• On a mousy level, each Season is roughly equivalent to a year. Age is recorded as Winters, since folks normally aren't born then. A young mouse adventurer is probably 5 Winters old (20 in human terms). A grizzled warrior might be 10 winters (40), while a decrepit elder could be 20. Mice rarely live much past 15+Magic Winters. The Forsaken rarely make it past 10. Characters should record where they spend each Winter, as that's when you really get to know an area.

Common bonuses:

• Wielding weapons of war (swords, axes, shields etc.) vs people with light weapons or unarmed.
• Wielding light weapons (daggers, knives, etc.) vs unarmed foes.
• Wielding light weapons vs heavily armed/armored foes in extremely cramped conditions (such as winding underground tunnels).
• Armored vs unarmored when you're trying to hurt them.
• Unarmored vs armored when you're trying to avoid, outpace or bypass them.
• You've spent at least one Winter in the area in question, for tasks like streetwise, losing pursuers in the streets, finding friends, etc.

Combat types:

• War: need the best equipment, including armor and shield. Bonuses vs foes with inferior gear.

Declared Specializations (optional): if I use preset skills, this optional rule lets you specialize. Declare a very narrow focus for one of your skills (like swordfighting for melee combat)... you get a +1d6 Bonus when in that specialty, but a -1d6 Penalty outside of it.

Spirit of the Century playtest

So, a few thoughts.

• Combat very slow between evenly matched foes. I'd like to use the HM houserule I was considering for ties... if the attacker is willing to take a point of Harm/Stress, the target does too.
• Not sure the dice system was worth the trouble... let's see... a +4 occurs one time in 3x3x3x3 = 81. A +0 occurs, well... a lot of times. One die rolls +0 1/3 of the time. With two dice, there are 3 combos that roll +0 out of 9... that's still 1/3 of the time.