So, my attempt to add class to the OVA

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Tabulation
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So, my attempt to add class to the OVA

Post by Tabulation »

Hello,
/me is talking about his life.
It have been a long time. Since then, I have tried various system for my dream Magical Girl Campaign. I tried various generic systems (Savage Worlds, Fate, Cortex Plus...) and tried to make a sloppy homebrew PbtA game composed of several other PbtA games(Magical Burst of course, but also, the sprawl, urban shadows, tremulus and Mask : a new generation). While all those tries flopped hard with my group, I figured out that ditching out my "work" like that would be a shame.
Then, why not converting the Playbooks to OVA then?
Those "classes" work the same way, they are inspired by Fate's "Stunts".
They are templated like this :
Class's name
When you rolls if (a condition), you can adjust a number.
Adjusting a number mean that you select one number among the numbers you rolled, and can decrese or increase all dice that have the selected number by one.
So If someone roll 7d6 and get : 1, 2, 1, 5, 6, 4, 6 (2-1,1-2,1-4,1-5,2-6)
They can select the fives and transforms then into 4 or 6. Getting 2-4 or 3-6.
Well, it look overpowered.
So far, the classes I have put together are :
The Smart One
When you act according to a pre-etablished plan, you may adjust your rolls
The Herp
When you are cheered by everyone, you may adjust your rolls
The Senpai
When you act on the behalf of your kouhai, you may adjust your rolls
The Queen
When you interract with someone beneath you on the popularity ladder, you may adjust your rolls
The Smart One
When you act alone without the consent of the group, you may adjust your rolls
The Wizard
When you spend more time than usual to cast a spell, you may adjust your rolls
So what do you think about it?
Sabersonic
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Re: So, my attempt to add class to the OVA

Post by Sabersonic »

It seems interesting enough, even if it has some room for abuse, though I do have a few questions about them in general:

1) How much would it be for a player to add these Classes to their PCs?

2) What determines if a player can increase or decrease their chosen number, outside of the circumstances anyway? Is it situational, by choice, or GM fiat?
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Tabulation
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Re: So, my attempt to add class to the OVA

Post by Tabulation »

1) How much would it be for a player to add these Classes to their PCs?
I didn't give a cost for adding a class. The player pick one (and only one) class and write it somewhere on the sheet.
It is a rule (well, a broken rule) that encourage the player to act within the tropes her/his characters embodies. And also a guideline about which abilities/weakness to pick.
And given that I am not a game designer, I didn't bother to add a price to pay (and they are not all well balanced).

2) What determines if a player can increase or decrease their chosen number, outside of the circumstances anyway? Is it situational, by choice, or GM fiat?
As I said, they are not all well balanced. But those "classe's abilities" can be activated at any time the player need it. Well certain condition are more problematic that others. For the Hero, what does "everyone" mean? It is completely based on GM's fiat. The Brute's circumstances is also problematic, if the player playing this archetype is a problematic player, he will certainly pick this class to act against the group. How the Queen's condition differ from the Social focused abilities?
Idealy, something akin the Bennies of Savage Worlds or the Fate Points from Fate may be needed for balence.
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Re: So, my attempt to add class to the OVA

Post by Sabersonic »

Tabulation wrote:I didn't give a cost for adding a class. The player pick one (and only one) class and write it somewhere on the sheet.
It is a rule (well, a broken rule) that encourage the player to act within the tropes her/his characters embodies. And also a guideline about which abilities/weakness to pick.
And given that I am not a game designer, I didn't bother to add a price to pay (and they are not all well balanced).
Well considering that there's a potential Trigger involved, it would probably be wise to add that Weakness with the corresponding activation scenario. As for Attribute, a simple Unique "Adjust Dice Outcome" would be a good jumping platform, as would a +3 to show exactly how powerful it would be. And if my calculations are correct, it'll be about +2 per Class.

Of course Clay is more than welcome to correct me on this.
Tabulation wrote:As I said, they are not all well balanced. But those "classe's abilities" can be activated at any time the player need it. Well certain condition are more problematic that others. For the Hero, what does "everyone" mean? It is completely based on GM's fiat.
Probably be best to leave it at GM fiat, if only to curb the amount of abuse these Classes would entail.
Tabulation wrote:Idealy, something akin the Bennies of Savage Worlds or the Fate Points from Fate may be needed for balence.
Not familiar enough with either to comment, though there is the Endurance Points as explained in p.96 under Drama Dice.
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Re: So, my attempt to add class to the OVA

Post by Clay »

Once again, if everyone is given a roughly equal boost, I wouldn't be overly concerned by an addition like this unbalancing things. You may need to adjust the stats of bad guys (or even give them "stunts" of their own) but otherwise it seems like a fun tweak to me.

The main thing is to make sure everyone can use their stunt often enough to be interesting, but not so often that it means nothing, and that everyone should be able to use their stunts roughly as often as each other.

If you feel the "transform" thing is too fiddly, you can also just use them to grant bonus dice similar to Drama Dice.
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