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rockwoodThis is the second part of a series of fairly lengthy posts, the first of which can be found here.
This article will deal with the changes made to the Trait system between the Serenity RPG and the Cortex engine as it appears in later games.
DISCLAIMER: I'm not the owner of Serenity, the Serenity RPG, or the Cortex System. While I wrote a good portion of the later Cortex books (BSG, Demon Hunters, and the generic Core Book included), I'm just a freelancer. The opinions expressed in these articles are my own. When it comes to the design philosophy I discuss, I try to present what I understand to be the 'general consensus' of the Cortex developers and the design goals of the owners, Margaret Weis Productions.
I hope this proves useful to someone! Enjoy.
I hope my writing isn't so rambling as to lose your interest. If anyone is still paying attention, the next article will be on Plot Points and Advancement Points---the last article on character creation and advancement. After that, I'll look at combat and rule systems.
As before, comments, questions, and criticism is welcome---both regarding the game design, and the writing of the post. Thanks for reading!
Blessed be,
~Nathan
This article will deal with the changes made to the Trait system between the Serenity RPG and the Cortex engine as it appears in later games.
DISCLAIMER: I'm not the owner of Serenity, the Serenity RPG, or the Cortex System. While I wrote a good portion of the later Cortex books (BSG, Demon Hunters, and the generic Core Book included), I'm just a freelancer. The opinions expressed in these articles are my own. When it comes to the design philosophy I discuss, I try to present what I understand to be the 'general consensus' of the Cortex developers and the design goals of the owners, Margaret Weis Productions.
I hope this proves useful to someone! Enjoy.
Character Creation and Advancement: Traits
How Serenity Did It
Traits in the Serenity RPG were handled in almost exactly the same way that Serenity's spiritual predecessor, the original Sovereign Stone Game System (designed by Sovereign Press, a company owned and run by the same people who own and run Margaret Weis Productions), handled Traits. Traits are divided into two categories, Assets and Complications, which can be further subdivided into Minor and Major versions. Some Traits exist only as Minor Traits, some only as Major, and some could be purchased at either level. Players would have to either balance their character's Traits out---for example, buying one Major Asset could be 'paid for' by taking either one Major or two Minor Complications---or could trade Attribute Points for Traits, at a cost or gain of 2 Points per Minor Trait and 4 Points per Major Trait.
This system was designed to make it easy to customize your character beyond the numerical codes and ratings of Attributes and Skills. Because the Serenity RPG (and the Cortex System) has a relatively small range of possible die ratings (there's only six Steps from d2-d12, after all), Traits add another element of diversity. Yes, you can have Attributes and Skills above d12, but there's still a fairly limited range of places to put those Points. Every character has the same six Attributes, and there are a limited number of Skills, both of which are meant to be broad and widely applicable---and, as a result, a lot of characters would wind up mechanically identical if it weren't for the Traits. However, more than just providing the Traits themselves as a differentiation between characters, the option to sacrifice Attribute Points for Assets, or take Complications just to start with higher Attributes, was also meant to add another set of possibilities. This was an addition to the Sovereign Stone system, where you had to balance Assets and Complications completely.
This seemed to work fairly well. The Minor/Major split allowed us to demonstrate how some Traits were quirks and some were significant abilities. Trading Attribute Points made for some interesting character types. Some characters wound up with a LOT of Traits, but the cap of 5 of each type of Trait kept that in check. Some characters wound up with really, really high (or low) Attributes, but the negative consequences of having so many Complications or so few Attribute Points seemed to be a fair trade, so that was ok.
The Problem
Unlike the disparity between character creation and advancement, the Trait system in Serenity didn't cause such a severe problem---at least, theoretically. While the separate systems for creation and advancement gave an objective, numerical advantage to some characters, the ability to trade Attribute points for Traits still left each character with the same overall 'value' in terms of Attribute Points, whether they were invested in standard Attributes or Traits. However:
1) The system for Traits is a complete anomaly within the game engine; Attributes, Skills, and the bonus/penalty systems all use a much more unified methodology. This makes more specific memorization required to comprehend the game engine, which makes it harder to explain to new gamers, harder to learn, etc.
2) The system for adding/removing Traits, in addition to being poorly spelled out within the Serenity RPG core book, is also unrelated to any other portion of the game. More memorization---and, also, poor game balance, especially since...
3) As Serenity is set up, the ability to take Complications for Attribute Points made the problem of having different creation and advancement systems much, much worse. For example, a character could take 5 Major Complications and 1 Minor Asset. They gain a net bonus of 18 Attribute Points, which lets them start with Attributes like d10/d10/d10/d10/d10/d10. When you then use the scaling advancement costs of the Serenity RPG, this translates into (potentially) a more than 300 Advancement Point bonus: a 'normal' character will have to spend 400+ Advancement Points to buy their Attributes up to match, while the 'super' character will have to spend no more than 100 Advancement Points to buy off their Complications.
4) Now, this can supposedly be offset by the GM making sure to play those Complications to the hilt---BUT, if the GM has to tailor every session to make those Complications a problem, the 'super' character is going to earn a lot more Plot Points, their player might feel that the GM is 'picking on them' unfairly, and the other players might be annoyed at the 'super' character 'always getting the spotlight.' If, on the other hand, the GM ignores the 'super' character and hopes the problem goes away, then they essentially have gotten a much more powerful character for free, since their Complications aren't doing anything to hinder them. As a result, their incredibly high Attributes can make the other characters more or less obsolete, again leading to hurt feelings, annoyance, or other problems.
The Fix: Cortex Changes
Two big changes were made to the way Traits work in the evolved Cortex engine. These changes were made to bring them more inline with the design goals of being easy to learn, fast to use, and geared towards roleplaying and drama instead of tactics and optimization.
Firstly, Attributes were changed to use dice Steps instead of the Minor/Major toggle. This brings almost the entire game engine into line with a single mechanic, the Step ladder of die-types. Personally, this just feels right to me! It all fits together very neatly.
It also allows for wider variation within the effects of the Traits, while still making them easier to remember---for example, the Asset Tough adds bonus Life Points to the character. In Serenity, the Minor/Major versions add 2/4 Life Points, respectively (I think---I hope the numbers are right, but I'm having trouble remembering!). The evolved Trait system can have more levels (like d4/d8/d12, adding 2/4/8 Life Points, for example), and you could even just add an Asset that can be any level (d2+), and simply adds the chosen rating to your total Life Points (for example, one character could have Tough d2 and gain 2 LP, and another could have Tough d10 and gain 10 LP).
Secondly, we disconnected Traits from Attributes. We did this primarily for two reasons.
1) Now that Traits have their own rating, just like Attributes and Skills, it makes sense and maintains consistency to give them their own pool of Points for creation/advancement.
2) This fixes the problem of having some characters with extremely high Attributes, along with Complications that either dominate the spotlight or never come into play. This is NOT meant to fix solely the Point imbalance it used to cause---we already fixed that by making character creation and advancement use the same system. However, even if all characters wind up worth the same number of Points, the social problems (see above---about the GM having to tailor the adventure to the Complications of one character) can still make play less fun. Now, some people might not think this is worth worrying about. They might enjoy the ability to trade one kind of Point for another, like Traits for Attributes, and believe that social checks-and-balances and common sense can keep those problems at bay.
They're right. Most experienced gamers and GMs aren't going to let a truly stupid character into play, will be aware of game balance (both mechanical and dramatic), and will keep the feelings of their fellow players in mind. However, the Cortex system is meant to be simple and fast for people who have never gamed before. People who might need some extra guidance about where to spend their points, who need a few limitations to keep them on track, and who---if put in a game along with more experience players---might feel left behind if they don't leave 'enough' points in their Attributes, or transfer 'enough' to Traits.
Now, while BSG doesn't include this option explictly, it is in the Cortex generic core rulebook: if you want to allow the transference of starting Points from Attributes to Traits (or Skills, or vice-versa), you can simply let players convert their Attribute, Trait and Skill points 'backwards' into Advancement Points, which they can then use buy the combination of Attributes, Traits, and Skills they desire. It's mentioned as an advanced rule, but there it is---hopefully, this will provide a better option for those who don't like that particular change and prefer flexibility to guidelines.
How Serenity Did It
Traits in the Serenity RPG were handled in almost exactly the same way that Serenity's spiritual predecessor, the original Sovereign Stone Game System (designed by Sovereign Press, a company owned and run by the same people who own and run Margaret Weis Productions), handled Traits. Traits are divided into two categories, Assets and Complications, which can be further subdivided into Minor and Major versions. Some Traits exist only as Minor Traits, some only as Major, and some could be purchased at either level. Players would have to either balance their character's Traits out---for example, buying one Major Asset could be 'paid for' by taking either one Major or two Minor Complications---or could trade Attribute Points for Traits, at a cost or gain of 2 Points per Minor Trait and 4 Points per Major Trait.
This system was designed to make it easy to customize your character beyond the numerical codes and ratings of Attributes and Skills. Because the Serenity RPG (and the Cortex System) has a relatively small range of possible die ratings (there's only six Steps from d2-d12, after all), Traits add another element of diversity. Yes, you can have Attributes and Skills above d12, but there's still a fairly limited range of places to put those Points. Every character has the same six Attributes, and there are a limited number of Skills, both of which are meant to be broad and widely applicable---and, as a result, a lot of characters would wind up mechanically identical if it weren't for the Traits. However, more than just providing the Traits themselves as a differentiation between characters, the option to sacrifice Attribute Points for Assets, or take Complications just to start with higher Attributes, was also meant to add another set of possibilities. This was an addition to the Sovereign Stone system, where you had to balance Assets and Complications completely.
This seemed to work fairly well. The Minor/Major split allowed us to demonstrate how some Traits were quirks and some were significant abilities. Trading Attribute Points made for some interesting character types. Some characters wound up with a LOT of Traits, but the cap of 5 of each type of Trait kept that in check. Some characters wound up with really, really high (or low) Attributes, but the negative consequences of having so many Complications or so few Attribute Points seemed to be a fair trade, so that was ok.
The Problem
Unlike the disparity between character creation and advancement, the Trait system in Serenity didn't cause such a severe problem---at least, theoretically. While the separate systems for creation and advancement gave an objective, numerical advantage to some characters, the ability to trade Attribute points for Traits still left each character with the same overall 'value' in terms of Attribute Points, whether they were invested in standard Attributes or Traits. However:
1) The system for Traits is a complete anomaly within the game engine; Attributes, Skills, and the bonus/penalty systems all use a much more unified methodology. This makes more specific memorization required to comprehend the game engine, which makes it harder to explain to new gamers, harder to learn, etc.
2) The system for adding/removing Traits, in addition to being poorly spelled out within the Serenity RPG core book, is also unrelated to any other portion of the game. More memorization---and, also, poor game balance, especially since...
3) As Serenity is set up, the ability to take Complications for Attribute Points made the problem of having different creation and advancement systems much, much worse. For example, a character could take 5 Major Complications and 1 Minor Asset. They gain a net bonus of 18 Attribute Points, which lets them start with Attributes like d10/d10/d10/d10/d10/d10. When you then use the scaling advancement costs of the Serenity RPG, this translates into (potentially) a more than 300 Advancement Point bonus: a 'normal' character will have to spend 400+ Advancement Points to buy their Attributes up to match, while the 'super' character will have to spend no more than 100 Advancement Points to buy off their Complications.
4) Now, this can supposedly be offset by the GM making sure to play those Complications to the hilt---BUT, if the GM has to tailor every session to make those Complications a problem, the 'super' character is going to earn a lot more Plot Points, their player might feel that the GM is 'picking on them' unfairly, and the other players might be annoyed at the 'super' character 'always getting the spotlight.' If, on the other hand, the GM ignores the 'super' character and hopes the problem goes away, then they essentially have gotten a much more powerful character for free, since their Complications aren't doing anything to hinder them. As a result, their incredibly high Attributes can make the other characters more or less obsolete, again leading to hurt feelings, annoyance, or other problems.
The Fix: Cortex Changes
Two big changes were made to the way Traits work in the evolved Cortex engine. These changes were made to bring them more inline with the design goals of being easy to learn, fast to use, and geared towards roleplaying and drama instead of tactics and optimization.
Firstly, Attributes were changed to use dice Steps instead of the Minor/Major toggle. This brings almost the entire game engine into line with a single mechanic, the Step ladder of die-types. Personally, this just feels right to me! It all fits together very neatly.
It also allows for wider variation within the effects of the Traits, while still making them easier to remember---for example, the Asset Tough adds bonus Life Points to the character. In Serenity, the Minor/Major versions add 2/4 Life Points, respectively (I think---I hope the numbers are right, but I'm having trouble remembering!). The evolved Trait system can have more levels (like d4/d8/d12, adding 2/4/8 Life Points, for example), and you could even just add an Asset that can be any level (d2+), and simply adds the chosen rating to your total Life Points (for example, one character could have Tough d2 and gain 2 LP, and another could have Tough d10 and gain 10 LP).
Secondly, we disconnected Traits from Attributes. We did this primarily for two reasons.
1) Now that Traits have their own rating, just like Attributes and Skills, it makes sense and maintains consistency to give them their own pool of Points for creation/advancement.
2) This fixes the problem of having some characters with extremely high Attributes, along with Complications that either dominate the spotlight or never come into play. This is NOT meant to fix solely the Point imbalance it used to cause---we already fixed that by making character creation and advancement use the same system. However, even if all characters wind up worth the same number of Points, the social problems (see above---about the GM having to tailor the adventure to the Complications of one character) can still make play less fun. Now, some people might not think this is worth worrying about. They might enjoy the ability to trade one kind of Point for another, like Traits for Attributes, and believe that social checks-and-balances and common sense can keep those problems at bay.
They're right. Most experienced gamers and GMs aren't going to let a truly stupid character into play, will be aware of game balance (both mechanical and dramatic), and will keep the feelings of their fellow players in mind. However, the Cortex system is meant to be simple and fast for people who have never gamed before. People who might need some extra guidance about where to spend their points, who need a few limitations to keep them on track, and who---if put in a game along with more experience players---might feel left behind if they don't leave 'enough' points in their Attributes, or transfer 'enough' to Traits.
Now, while BSG doesn't include this option explictly, it is in the Cortex generic core rulebook: if you want to allow the transference of starting Points from Attributes to Traits (or Skills, or vice-versa), you can simply let players convert their Attribute, Trait and Skill points 'backwards' into Advancement Points, which they can then use buy the combination of Attributes, Traits, and Skills they desire. It's mentioned as an advanced rule, but there it is---hopefully, this will provide a better option for those who don't like that particular change and prefer flexibility to guidelines.
I hope my writing isn't so rambling as to lose your interest. If anyone is still paying attention, the next article will be on Plot Points and Advancement Points---the last article on character creation and advancement. After that, I'll look at combat and rule systems.
As before, comments, questions, and criticism is welcome---both regarding the game design, and the writing of the post. Thanks for reading!
Blessed be,
~Nathan
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(no subject)
Date: 2008-05-25 07:54 am (UTC)So far, from your descriptions, I like the changes to Traits, i.e. die steps instead of major/minor. I'm not (yet) thrilled with the changes in skill advancement, but I'll reserve judgement for now. We may end up doing a hybrid of Serenity and Cortex for our game, as we are all experienced gamers and tend to make basic well-rounded characters with one area of specialization. Or we may just stick with Serenity rather than try to convert our characters, time will tell.
On to questions:
Are the pending Serenity RPG supplements going to use the original Serenity rules or the new Cortex rules? Will stats be provided for both game systems? Will future supplements support both systems? (I know it's more work from a developer standpoint, but doing so would prevent people from feeling forced to either a: buy the new system when they are perfectly happy with Serenity RPG as is, or b: keep using the old system when they'd rather use the shiny new system. There will be people in both camps.)
-- David
(no subject)
Date: 2008-05-26 07:05 pm (UTC)As far as I know, the upcoming Serenity supplements will support the original Serenity RPG rulebook, at least insofar as the stats and rules in the adventure booklet. I _think_ the Big Damn Heroes' Handbook might include conversions to the new rules, but I'm not 100% sure of that. And those might be as optional rules.
While the changes to advancement are pretty substantial, I'll offer up the idea that even though the mechanical costs are flat:
1) Characters also gain Advancement Points more slowly, and at a more stable rate, owing to other changes made (Plot Points no longer convert to Advancement Points, as I will be discussing in the next in the series)
2) That doesn't mean the characters can necessarily advance a Skill steadily at the same rate without pause. 'Common sense' and the GM's sense of pacing for the game are things we intentionally use to control the flow of certain mechanics---for example (and this will come up again in a later section)we suggest a limit of '3 actions, or as common sense dictates' per combat round. Likewise, in some games, a character might have to wait longer or train harder to up a Skill from d8 to d10 than they did to buy it from d6 to d8.
Not that you should switch over if these things don't work for you; your game should be about your own preferences. I just think these changes work quite well. And despite my biased position, experience and report corroborate me so far :-)
Blessed be,
~Nathan