Cultural Character Creation Systems

"You humans have no class."

The last post talked about representing cultural backgrounds by giving players different versions of the reference material on the setting. This time, we're dealing with a new idea that pursues the same line of though in a much more concrete/mechanical direction.

Each culture has its own system for creating your character's stats.

I'll explain via an example where the d20 system (particularly as seen in D&D 3.5) is the character creation system for Culture A, a society that favors formal education towards various roles/professions/trades via a master-apprentice relationship. Hence the use of classes; if someone from this culture knows military tactics, you may assume he is either a Soldier or a Scholar. All other cultures in this example also use the core rules d20 system, in that they make checks/attack rolls in the same manner. For simplicity's sake we'll also assume that all cultures provide characters with feats and involve the same six ability scores. The GM can still call for a climb check and have each player check their sheet for the bonus they get on that skill. What differs is the process by which they determined the size of that bonus.

Culture B, for instance, follows a rigid caste structure. The very first step for making a character is to specify your bloodline's caste; the higher your station, the higher your base bonus for all skill checks and attack rolls. After all, you're a superior being, even if your so-called 'sheltered' upbringing means your hit points and save bonuses aren't quite on the same level. Skills also have varying associated stations, with their max ranks decreasing based on how far they're above/below you. Upper castes receive extensive education and thus have more skill points, while lower classes must draw on practical experience and receive more feats instead.

Culture C is primitive and tribal, with a pragmatic focus on survival in harsh conditions. I'll bring Maelstrom back into the picture by saying that the conditions in question are the aether-filled interspace between worlds; thus, all members of this society automatically receive bonuses based on their level for various space survival matters that are on par with the maximum possible benefit someone from another culture could receive. Their key choice during character creation is how to assign their ability score points, as this largely set up all their other benefits- after all, these are tribes where your talents determine your role. The smartest ones are taught the lore and learn how to navigate, the strongest and swiftest acts as hunters and scouts, the wisest and most insightful serve to lead and nurture the tribe.

Culture D (Maelstrom's Trevata people) lives in isolated structures where all residents selflessly serve the whole. The vast majority of their people have no personal identity- no concept of a unique individual that provides the thoughts which pass through their heads. On occasion, one develops a sense of self, and thus becomes capable of good and evil. Such individuals manage this confusing shift through the use of masks, which they illustrate with designs depicting the various traits that make up their newly-forming personality These characters essentially choose whether to develop their "strength" each level (primarily increasing base statistics) or enrich their mask if they have one (meaning a sharply reduced rate of advancement but access to numerous packages of specialized skills, feats, etc.)

I can go on, of course. Culture E's nomadic, esoteric ways mean their members use a fairly pure point buy system, allowing for a striking level of flexibility regarding any given member's talents (though specialization is more difficult). Culture F highly values the concept of closely linked spiritual and physical health/growth/development, meaning that one must invest equal amounts in the "physical" and "mental" ability scores/skills/etc. The more primitive culture G does the opposite, first and foremost presenting its people with a choice between roles that emphasize strength of body and roles that emphasize strength of mind. And so on and so forth.

The main question from this point is how to handle character advancement once your characters immersed in a different culture. I suspect the answer will boil down to the option each level to give up the offered 'bundle deals' of your system (at least to some degree) in favor of points that can be spent in a more flexible fashion. But we'll see. . .

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Culturally Enriching Your RPG

A moment from Thunderstruck nicely demonstrates the kind of exposition PC interaction could provide.

One thing about Maelstrom is that I really, really want each race (even the different peoples among each race) to have unique worldviews, which in turn serve to enhance the quality of the game experience. This isn't just motivated by personal preference. The whole point of this project is to develop a setting that's highly original, to avoid deriving too much from other works/genres by instead pursuing the internal logic of Maelstrom's core backstory. But since the setting's one of adventure and discovery, I don't want to actually reveal this origin story- better to have it be a grand mystery!

Unique worldviews help with this matter because they're elegant way to deliver clues. The markedly different explanations they offer for a given topic (everything from the nature of a given species to the color of a planet's sky) serve to deepen your understanding of the fundamental principles the world follows. It's not just a matter of every version containing "grains of truth"- each cultural perspective is largely accurate, but only covers one side of the bigger picture. And that's just the first brainstorm this matter has given me. . .

Including mystery in a pen and paper rpg setting is difficult, because players learn about most of your world in a metagame fashion rather than doing so through their character. Eberron, for example, has some really cool secrets and intrigues that would be the stuff of stunning plot twists- but the impact is diminished because the people at the table tend to already know about them. The origins of the Blood of Vol, the truth about Karrnath's king, these are common knowledge among anyone geeky enough to have done a moderately thorough job browsing of the core rulebook. Dwelling on this a while back, I came up with one possible tactic- include each culture's account of the setting, as separate sections or even small books (available individually or accompanying the core rules as a set). Not only could this be a great method for avoiding information overload, it would be an effective way of conveying distinct flavors through each culture.

Say we have a multicultural party, and they encounter some creature for the first time while traveling between worlds. Player A's knows what this creature is- the book says it's a sacred guide whose kin led Brave Hunter Malani to many great treasures. Player B's also heard of this creature- his book identifies it as a fiercely territorial predator who picks a new home each year, leading to many attacks by them on ships that were following trade routes usually regarded as safe. Player C's book has very little info on anything space-related; all he knows is that it's one of the biggest space beasties he's ever laid eyes on.

Each 'textbook' would be written with a distinct voice- or even multiple distinct voices, each matching the source for the society's mainstream understanding of the current topic. So if you took this approach for colonial Britain, the book would adopt an educated/scholarly tone when providing information on the neighboring nations of Europe (Maelstrom's equivalent being the other worlds orbiting the same gas giant), then shift to a more 'gentleman adventurer' voice and provide a sensational account of the exotic foreign continents. To round things out (both regarding the information the text offers about the setting and the picture it paints of your own society), I'd sprinkle short anecdotes throughout the whole thing, each from a person whose station is unique to their society- a traveling judge, a tribe's champion hunter, an outcaste begging on the street corner. Returning to the example using colonial Britain, the sensational account of a foreign people's barbarous ways might come with a brief counterpoint by a missionary who spent many years among them, praising their close-knit families and willingness to dedicate themselves to God.

Maelstrom's one of the projects I write about least (and there's alot of competition for that honor, believe me). Everything described in this post, I came up with at least a year ago. Today, though, I came up with another idea in the same vein- something much more revolutionary. I'll lay it out in my next post.

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Maelstrom Trader: Skills

You could say I've been working on this game for a week now. You could also say I've spent that time *getting ready* to work on it. I'm simultaneously learning to use Unity 3D and outlining the mechanics for the game; we'll see whether I manage to reach a point where the two aspects of the game aren't separated.

Every man on your ship, yourself included, has skills that level up over time. You have access to Captain Skills and Special Skills. Your appointed mates (which actually means anyone with a special position, such as a doctor) have Special Skills and Crew Skills. The rest of your crew has only Crew Skills.

Captain Skills can best be described as various answers to "A good captain ________", as you'll see if you read the skill descriptions below. Special Skills usually only use the highest score among your crew, though having two people who know how to do some vital job becomes very handy when one catches space dysentery. Crew Skills, by contrast, generally use the sum of every participating hand's score. A skilled hand can achieve the same results as 4 novices.

The actual scores one can have represent the following levels of proficiency:
0-Incapable
1-Novice
2-Basic
3-Capable
4-Skilled
5-Impressive
6-Top-Notch
7-Renowned
8-Legendary

CAPTAIN SKILLS
Discipline: Ensures that his crew functions as a well-organized unit.
Evaluate: Quickly picks out the best men for each task.
Negotiate: Does a good job of representing his vessel and managing its affairs.
Perception: Can easily gauge the mood and thoughts of those around him.
Presence: Commands respect from his crew.
Rally: Keeps his men motivated and in high spirits.
Training: Knows how to turn a novice crew into seasoned deckhands.

SPECIAL SKILLS
Aether Sight: Sighting objects that would normally be obscured by aetheric mists.
Cooking: Preparing healthy meals from the available supplies.
Commerce: Gauging the best time and place to buy/sell various goods.
Cultures: Understanding the beliefs and customs of the various peoples you encounter.
Engineering: Working with the ship's technologically advanced aspects.
Entertain: Helping to improve morale.
Interspace: Knowing how to survive Maelstrom's unique space ecosystem.
Medicine: Treating all manner of ailments.
Navigate: Charting a course and staying on track.
Tactics: Leading men in battle.

CREW SKILLS
Hand-to-Hand: Close combat against sentient beings.
Harvest: Gathering and processing supplies.
Hunting: Tracking and killing the various creatures in Maelstrom's interspace.
Maintenance: Keeping the ship and cargo in good condition.
Operate Vessel: Using your ship's systems to their full potential.

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So I'm considering making a video game.

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but my interest in game design applies just as much to video games as it does to tabletop fare. The main reason I focus on non-electronic projects is that I can focus most of my efforts on the tasks that most interest me- creativity and the actual mechanics of the game, rather than matters like animating an orc's attacks or trying to hunt down bugs.

Still, I've been paying alot of attention to the freeware release of the Unity3D engine- it's gotten plenty of buzz in the local game development interest group I'm a part of. And when Rock Paper Shotgun community member James Carey announced he was going to try an experimental game-building project, my first thought was "Wait a second, I could do that!"

The question is: what sort of game could I do well? Something that had relatively few demands in terms of programming and creating assets, while drawing on my existing strengths (world-building, writing, complex systems of game mechanics). Something set in a small, well-realized game space.

And the answer is: The Oregon Trail IN SPAAAAAAACE.

The game's setting would be Maelstrom, a world (or rather, a solar system) that I've already talked about a little. You would play as the captain of a ship that's sailing along the main Aetheric Current, the setting's foremost trading route; a formidable journey that takes you by each of the 4 gas giants (the setting's equivalent of continents, since their moons are the the setting's inhabited worlds). The entire game would take place on your ship, the goal being to effectively integrate various aspects of the game into the actual first gameplay of moving around and interacting with things. To look at the map, you walk into your quarters, look at your map, and press "e" (rather than just hitting the "m" key wherever your character happens to be on the ship).

There's much more to the game's design than that, of course. I intend to take a page from the obscure gem King of Dragon's Pass, and confront players with a constant series of unique dilemmas where the crew members they've recruited will weigh in as to the best course of action.

The plan is have this be my main project for the month of December, to post development notes and weekly progress reports, and to have some kind of working prototype ready before 2010 comes along. We'll see what actually happens.

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Maelstrom: Aether

Imagine light flowing out across a two-dimensional plane like fast-flowing mists, rainbow hues that stream outwards from the sun to spiral around the planets; a cross between dry ice and the aurora borealis.

This is the appearance of aether, the gaseous mixture that fills the interspace within the confines of Maelstrom's solar system. It sustains strange and varied forms of life, propels crafts between worlds, and with practice can be used to see across heavens with the naked eye. And that's just the beginning.

All aether emanates from the sun. In the end- usually over the course of half a year or so- most of the aetheric mists are drawn into the one of the four gas giants in the system. Indeed, the gas giants themselves are thought to be composed of aetheric mists accumulated over countless eons. The mists also gather around the upper layers of all the worlds that orbit the gas giants, obscuring their surface to outside viewers with a one-way iridescent veil.

That one-way nature is a product of Aether's interference with the light flow. Our eyes perceive objects by taking in the rays of light that reflect off them. But the aetheric gases gather and bend light; an aetheric current may look like a shimmering stream when viewed from outside, but when inside a current, you can "look upstream" like a periscope; with practice, you can train your mind to sort out the signal from the interference and perceive further and further upstream. Someone who's never gone offworld can still do this by gazing into the sun- after all, the only reason they perceive the sun as coming from the direction it does is that that's the angle from which the aetheric current flows into their world's atmosphere. This is also the reason why inexperienced explorers perceive the skies of other worlds as opaque even at night; their eyes are trained to perceive through the interference characteristic of their homeworld and their homeworld alone.

Learning to look through the aetheric lightflow is a key skill for explorers in Maelstrom. It affects the interspace tactics of men and exotic lifeforms alike, in the same way that a predator in our world avoids approaching their prey from upwind. Of course, there are many other things one must learn to explore the untamed regions of interspace. . .

Art Credits: I'm *fairly* sure "j4m3sb0nd" is the original creator of the above image.

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Maelstrom: Preface

Maelstrom is a new setting I'm brainstorming, one that started as a series of suggestions for Mr. Skrittiblak's Elysium Nebula campaign. These suggestions were aimed at giving greater depth and originality to a setting that that on the surface is a space opera starring the cast of D&D. (My impressions is that about half the suggestions were of use to him; the background I had in mind only partly overlapped with the secrets of the background he'd already conceived.) Over the course of our discussions I realized that if you took this fledgling concept and stripped away most of the elements that were being taken from stock science fiction and fantasy, the background meant to justify the presence of those elements could instead lead me to something intriguingly original.

Of course, this also makes the resulting concept really hard to summarize. I have only myself to blame.

The best way I can put it is this: You know how Firefly was the wild west in space? Maelstrom's "____ in space" is the world of the 19th century as depicted in fiction. And not just modern works, but a range of fiction that extends past pulp magazines to include the famous authors of the time, such as Robert Louis Stevenson and Jules Verne. Picture a vast and diverse realm- you have hard-bitten settlers eking out a living on the frontier, ambitious scientists racing towards new discoveries (that could lead to triumph a la Tesla or tragedy a la Jekyll and Frankenstein), intrepid explorers who venture deep into unknown territory, and strange natives of unknown civilizations whose leaders wield mysterious powers. The "civilized world" has its intellectuals and industry as well as its fair share of armed conflicts and bogeymen in the shadows. Mysterious foreign empires are known through countless legends and a handful of firsthand accounts.

Take that all, and spread it out not between continents but between large numbers of moons surrounding four gas giants which all follow the same orbital path around their star. In this solar system the would-be vacuum of space is instead filled with Aethereal mists and populated by an ecosystem of strange and varied creatures. Space fills the roles of both the open frontier and the high seas, as towering starships sail past herdsmen on crystal-winged mounts.

I don't see Maelstrom as resembling the 19th century in any aesthetic way- the 'space cowboys', for example, wear goggles and breath masks while having no need for wide-brimmed hats. I'm just using the time period as a guideline for creating a believable world of mystery and adventure; a place where society is close enough to our own to be sympathetic and understandable, without having advanced enough for you to know whether the note on the map saying "here there be dragons" is true.

Make sense?

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