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Bionicle Tabletop RPG


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I am a big fan of the text-based rpg here, despite not having time for it in the past few years. I DM a Dungeons and Dragons game in my dorm, and have recently been thinking about designing a similar game with mechanics for Masks and Elemental Powers, Racial Statistics, etc. Does anyone have any input?

 

I am a bit worried about some things, like problems with balancing Matoran and Toa (or Agori and Glatorian for that matter). I think the system would be similar to 5th Edition Dungoens and Dragons (Bounded accuracy, etc), but any input people have from experience with other systems that have similar themes (I've heard that the anime system has creation magic). 

 

Any suggestions?

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A topic such as this one would be better suited to your blog, profile, or signature; the Games & Trivia rules do not allow for RPGs or non-game topics (unless specifically approved by a staff member). Alternatively, topics like this one might fit into the Bionicle Discussion forum, although I'm not as up to date as the rules there. I think it would be allowed, though.

 

As far as your idea, I unfortunately have no advice to give, but I will wish you good luck. :)

 

E: Whoa Windy ninja'd me and then my post did weird stuff because of the topic move. Haven't seen that before. o_O

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As it would so happen, I've been working on a homebrew Bionicle RPG for quite some time now. In fact, I've made ten different blog entries about it (though seven got eaten by the server some time ago). It's still very much a work-in-progress, but I'm slowly moving stuff from my outline/notes document into a more organized format. You can see a recent sneak peek in my most recent entry.


Takuma Nuva

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  • 2 weeks later...

As a matter of fact I currently have a (very) WIP Bionicle RPG in progress. Everything so far is right here: http://www.bzpower.com/board/topic/13933-the-bionicle-trpg-an-open-project/

I'd love it if anyone else wanted to contribute.

( The bunny slippers hiss and slither into the shadows. ) -Takuaka: Toa of Time

What if the Toa you know best were not destined to be? Interchange: The epic begins

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  • 4 weeks later...

I've been thinking about this sort of thing recently, as it happens. I'd recommend having a look at the Savage Worlds system, in particular the Super Powers Companion. It's a universal system that's more rules-lite than D&D with simple, but also flexible, character creation. Using the super powers book, you could easily make someone with, say, elemental powers plus another power (mask), a variety of powers (Dark Hunter or similar) or just raw strength or agility (other species).

 

It would have to be played around with to fully suit a Bionicle setting, but it might be worth a look!

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It looks like we have a few people who are working on this sort of thing.  I have been brainstorming ideas for creating a custom RPG system, and I have been working on getting stat sheets created for the Rahi from year 1.  I'm making some good progress with the help of Akavakaku.  The link to my topic is below.

 

http://www.bzpower.com/board/topic/15295-need-info-for-rpg-rahi-character-sheets/?do=findComment&comment=760859

 

Anyway, I think it might be a good idea to pool our resources together if you want to.  If anyone is interested in working together on an RPG project, you can PM me.  By the way, nice work Takuma Nuva!  That Sneak Peak looks great.  

 

P.S. If you want some help on your project Akavakaku, you will need to create a new topic or a blog.  The old topic is too old and I got "in trouble" for posting on it. Lol.

The human world revolves around electricity.  I wonder what would happen if I, Toa Tahnok-Kal, blacked out the power grid and become the only power source for humanity?


 


 


I was really upset when Takua found the legendary Mask of Light, but I got over it when I found an even better Great Mask - The Great Mask of Pecan Pie.

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My "own project?" I don't want to work on something alone; I'd much rather add my own work to a collaborative RPG! For the convenience of its title, I'd suggest we continue in this thread.

 

So, the first question is, what exactly is the goal of this game? Personally my take is that I'd like to design a game that:

*Can fit either the canon Gen1 universe or a variety of fan-designed universes

*Accurately mimics the kinds of choices, ideals and conflicts seen in the Bionicle story

*Includes a wide variety of character-building options, inspired by canon

 

And that as a primary goal, we get the game to a stage where players could reenact the first three story years in a campaign. Any other thoughts?

Edited by Akavakaku

( The bunny slippers hiss and slither into the shadows. ) -Takuaka: Toa of Time

What if the Toa you know best were not destined to be? Interchange: The epic begins

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My "own project?" I don't want to work on something alone; I'd much rather add my own work to a collaborative RPG! For the convenience of its title, I'd suggest we continue in this thread.

So, the first question is, what exactly is the goal of this game? Personally my take is that I'd like to design a game that:

*Can fit either the canon Gen1 universe or a variety of fan-designed universes

*Accurately mimics the kinds of choices, ideals and conflicts seen in the Bionicle story

*Includes a wide variety of character-building options, inspired by canon

And that as a primary goal, we get the game to a stage where players could reenact the first three story years in a campaign. Any other thoughts?

I think those are some good goals. I think it would be great to have a system were one could reenact the Bionicle story, or make up one's own stuff. Personally, my game sessions will place my players in the role of Toa during the 1st year. I'm going to have them create Toa which will replace the respective Toa of the element that they choose. For example, if somebody creates a Toa of Fire, Tahu will be replaced with that player's Toa. However, it would be nice to have the system flexible where players could run a campaign as Matoran, Turaga, Skadi, or even Rahkshi (hmm, playing as Rahkshi and trying to kill the Toa would be interesting).

 

Okay, first things first. If we want to make a framework that will support the first three years of Bionicle, we will need to agree on an RPG system we will use or decide to create the system from scratch. I'm for the latter because players won't have to purchase a rulebook to play the game. I like d20, but I am by no means married to it. Once we have decided on the system or determined which system(s) we will model our game after, we can start working on a rulebook. While this is going on, we can also work on stat sheets for Bionicle characters as well as species.

 

I've been thinking about this sort of thing recently, as it happens. I'd recommend having a look at the Savage Worlds system, in particular the Super Powers Companion. It's a universal system that's more rules-lite than D&D with simple, but also flexible, character creation. Using the super powers book, you could easily make someone with, say, elemental powers plus another power (mask), a variety of powers (Dark Hunter or similar) or just raw strength or agility (other species).

 

It would have to be played around with to fully suit a Bionicle setting, but it might be worth a look!

Danska, I know you did a more in depth review of the Savage System on my other topic, but would you mind going over some stuff on this topic as well for others who haven't looked at it? How freeform is the system? How much narrative control does it give PCs? I have played some games with an RPG system called Wushu (which was extremely rules light, combat oriented, and took a ton of control away from the GM), and I didn't like it too much. The reason I didn't like it was because it wasn't very strategic, because the game focused more around player narration than figuring out the best way to fight.

The human world revolves around electricity.  I wonder what would happen if I, Toa Tahnok-Kal, blacked out the power grid and become the only power source for humanity?


 


 


I was really upset when Takua found the legendary Mask of Light, but I got over it when I found an even better Great Mask - The Great Mask of Pecan Pie.

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So I wrote up a nice, long, detailed post last night, pressed the wrong button and now it's gone. I shall try again.

 

First off, Savage Worlds is a universal system. It's designed to be used in whatever setting you choose (and has various companion books to help, such as Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror and Super Power settings/rules). Its focus is on fast pace combat, and it has fewer complex rules, stats and numbers than D&D. Character creation is remarkably simple. To make a character using just the basic rules, you:

- Pick a race

- Assign 5 points to attributes

- Assign 15 points to skills

- Choose (up to) two minor and one major hindrance (character flaws that give you bonus points to spend)

- Purchase equipment (not applicable to Super Heroes)

 

That's it! No classes, no levels. You do gain experience, and this allows you to select an Edge (feats), increase skills, buy a new skill or occasionally increase an attribute. You're free to make your character how you want based on skills, edges etc.

 

The value of attributes and skills is determined by dice size. You start off with all attributes as d4, which is what you roll when you use that attribute. Each point you spend raises it one dice size, from d4-->d6-->d8-->d10-->d12.

Skills are much the same. One point to purchase it at d4, another to increase to d6 etc. up to the level of its linked attribute, then it's two points. This is the only time the attribute has any effect on the skill. There's no [skill level + attribute level] in this, your skill level stands by itself. So if you have Strength d6 and Fighting d8, then beyond the additional points cost to push Fighting to d8, your Strength no longer has any effect on it.

 

Skills include things like Fighting, Notice, Stealth, Shooting and all manner of things. This isn't a game where you have lots and lots of skills (although you can with super powers. You can do anything with super powers), but the ones you do have you'll probably be using a lot.

 

There are rules for combat, the usual to-hit and damage rules, movement rules etc. You get one action and one movement a turn, and can take extra actions at a penalty to your rolls. You can definitely come up with strategic plans and decisions for combat, and how much control the GM has really depends on the type of game you're playing and how pro-active the players want to be. Think D&D with fewer rules and restrictions.

 

For Super powered games, you also get a pre-determined number of points to spend on powers and can take an additional Major Hindrance, provided the benefit you gain from that hindrance is extra power points. Now super powers are the reason I think this system works so well for Bionicle (that and a classless system just seems more appropriate). They are not like D&D spells at all. If you have a particular super power, you get to use it how you want and when you want. No limit. For example

A D&D version of Heat Vision would probably say something like "shoot beams of red hot energy from your eyes. Does 2d6 fire damage." and you'd be limited in your use of it by your number of spell slots/if it was prepared etc.

 

In Savage Worlds, you have Heat Vision. You can shoot lasers from your eyes. They have a damage value for attacking, but if you want to use them to heat, weld, melt, burn or just look flashy, you can! There are powers in the Super Powers Companion for pretty much any power you can imagine, and you can be as free and flexible with them as you like both in and out of combat. Some examples would be Matter Control (pick a type of matter), Invisibility, Super Strength, Super Speed, Super Attributes/Skills (spend power points to get more attribute/skill points), Flight, Telekinesis, and you can even spend these power points to get minions and sidekicks!

 

The system lets you build all the classics - mages, fighters, rogues, also martial arts masters, bandits, cyborgs, aliens, incorporeal spirits with possession powers, brains in jars, elemental specialists and the setting can vary from classic fantasy to deep space to the second world war.

 

Kooltone - I've never heard of Wushu, but it sounds very different. Savage Worlds in more rules light than D&D, but by no means rules free. It's simpler and more flexible and is, if anything, empowering to the GM. It has guidelines for creating your own worlds, races, edges, equipment etc.

 

TLDR: RP system that encourages you to build your own world with simple mechanics and character creation, any super power you can imagine and flexible enough to allow fast and inventive play. Includes rules for creating your own races/creatures. Very fun!

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Parts of that sound great for Bionicle, but the rest... I don't know. 99% of the time there are just 5 species people would care to play as: Toa, Matoran, Turaga, Skakdi and Vortixx. In that order. We don't need a super flexible system if there are basically only 5 player races. On the contrary, that would only make those particular races more awkwardly and inconsistently started. Species in the Bionicle world aren't supposed to be all equal; there are several distinct "levels." I've seen systems that put stats in multiple tiers, but that wouldn't work for Bionicle either. A Skakdi is much stronger than a Matoran, but not considerably more agile. There's also a certain, balanced set of possible powers we can establish for each species, so no need to use a system that depends on the players to figure it out. Adding strengths to make up for weaknesses doesn't have any precedent in Bionicle that I know of either.

 

What I do like is the flexibility of powers, since Bionicle characters use those for purposes other than direct attack all the time. How does that work, really?

( The bunny slippers hiss and slither into the shadows. ) -Takuaka: Toa of Time

What if the Toa you know best were not destined to be? Interchange: The epic begins

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There would be balance problems in any game if players decided to play as different races (eg. a Matoran and Toa in the same group). Savage Worlds has suggestions for how to balance things, but if that's not appropriate for the setting then it doesn't need to happen. Matoran, for example, I would not give any super powers to. This makes them considerably weaker than Toa or greater beings. Turaga, maybe give a very small number of power points to that they have to spend on elemental control and a mask power. Toa and Skadki, around the same number of points and Vortixx, the majority of points can be spent on increasing attributes and skills (they're larger and stronger than Toa, so increasing strength would make sense).

 

You'd have to decide beforehand what races players are allowed to choose. It's the whole Star Wars problem all over again. You either play all Jedi or no Jedi, otherwise the non-Jedi characters don't get to do much. Similarly, having Matoran and Toa in the same party is a bad plan as balancing those races is, by their nature, impossible.

 

You can change the system to suit without much difficulty. Rather than power points, players who choose the Toa race get, say

+2 Strength, +1 Vigor

Matter Control (element) level 5

Choose 1 extra power (mask)

Optional 10 power points for extra attributes or skills if they're say, particularly fast or strong or skilled in some way, or these points could be spent on weapon abilities (ranged weapons, Inika lightning powers etc.)

 

Skadki would get:

+3 Strength

Matter Control (element) level 3, limitation: Can only be used in conjunction with another Skadki

1 Power (eyebeams. Either free reign, GM's discression or GM chooses a pre-determined list)

15 Points to spend on up to two powers, attributes/skill increases

 

These are just examples I came up with on the fly without much detailed analysis.

 

On the strengths to make up for weaknesses - I assume you're talking about the Hindrances? That makes sense in Bionicle, IMO. For example, Tahu might have a Hot-Headed/Impulsive Hindrance, that states he will rush into problems without due consideration and has a temper. That's the sort of thing Hindrances cover, and you don't have to take them if you don't want to.

 

Using powers outside of combat works how you like. There aren't exactly strict rules on that. So a player with control over Fire can use his power over fire to achieve anything that power might reasonably be used to achieve, from lighting a candle to starting a forest fire. If you want to use your power, you just have to say "I do this with my power" and as long as it makes sense, that's what you do. If you're overcoming a problem with your power that isn't combat related, you'd roll something to determine if you succeed, like a skill check (only you're throwing fire at it, so it's better!)

 

I'm not saying you should take Savage Worlds exactly as it is and use that, but it has all the elements needed to adapt it for a Bionicle setting without much difficulty. You can impose as many or as few restrictions on character creation as you like, tweak it for balance how you like - that's what it means when it says it's a universal system. You can tweak and adapt it to suit your own setting, and it gives you the tools to do so.

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I'd just like to drop three names here quick:

  • Nuparu
  • Mazeka
  • Vultraz

Matoran can become quite powerful. They may lack elemental power but that doesn't mean they don't have tools and machines at their disposal. That's essentially what I'm doing with the system I'm working on to balance it all out. Start by giving Matoran more "gear points" to spend at character creation.


Takuma Nuva

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If The Good Lord had intended us to walk

He would not have invented roller skates.
-- Willy Wonka

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In Savage Worlds, you have Heat Vision. You can shoot lasers from your eyes. They have a damage value for attacking, but if you want to use them to heat, weld, melt, burn or just look flashy, you can! There are powers in the Super Powers Companion for pretty much any power you can imagine, and you can be as free and flexible with them as you like both in and out of combat. Some examples would be Matter Control (pick a type of matter), Invisibility, Super Strength, Super Speed, Super Attributes/Skills (spend power points to get more attribute/skill points), Flight, Telekinesis, and you can even spend these power points to get minions and sidekicks!

 

It seems to me you're saying that the powers in Savage Worlds are really flexible and that's why you like the system.  However, I don't see why we wouldn't have flexibility in our own custom system.  I don't think it would be very wise to say something in the rules something like, "Fire can only be used to deal 2d6 damage to an enemy".  This would be really restrictive.  When I GM games, I usually let players use skills for a wide variety of purposes (as long as it makes sense).  For example, let's say someone has a fire kinesis skill that is normally used for throwing fireballs.  If the player decides that he wants to create a screen with his fire to block a character's vision, I'd be fine with it.  I would just assign a difficulty level that I think is appropriate and have the player roll against it.  Or if the player wants to light a candle with his finger, I'd be fine with that too.  In fact, I probably wouldn't have him roll for that one.  I can do this all within D20, so I'm not sure why Savage Worlds is so crucial.  I think I missed your point Danska.

The human world revolves around electricity.  I wonder what would happen if I, Toa Tahnok-Kal, blacked out the power grid and become the only power source for humanity?


 


 


I was really upset when Takua found the legendary Mask of Light, but I got over it when I found an even better Great Mask - The Great Mask of Pecan Pie.

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I think that perhaps before we figure out how to allocate stats to characters, we ought to decide what the stats themselves will be. It seems to me like there are a few "candidates" at this point. Here's my own idea at this point:

Strength (pretty obvious)

Speed (how fast you can act and move)

Agility (ability to maneuver, jump, dodge, etc)

Energy (strength of your special powers)

Will (allows you to use and resist certain powers, and can be rolled on to boost another stat as a kind of emergency effort)

Resiliance (how well you resist harm to your Health, when you run out you die)

Endurance (how well you resist harm to your Vitalitty, when you run out you are incapacitated)

Things like Intelligence and Charisma would be covered by Strengths and Weaknesses, traits that boost or hinder certain rolls. For example, maybe there could be the strength Charisma: Add # to Diplomacy rolls, but it could potentially come with the weakness Shallow: Subtract # from Will rolls when at under half Health. Of course, those traits would correspond to the opposite traits Awkward and Dedicated.

( The bunny slippers hiss and slither into the shadows. ) -Takuaka: Toa of Time

What if the Toa you know best were not destined to be? Interchange: The epic begins

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In Savage Worlds, you have Heat Vision. You can shoot lasers from your eyes. They have a damage value for attacking, but if you want to use them to heat, weld, melt, burn or just look flashy, you can! There are powers in the Super Powers Companion for pretty much any power you can imagine, and you can be as free and flexible with them as you like both in and out of combat. Some examples would be Matter Control (pick a type of matter), Invisibility, Super Strength, Super Speed, Super Attributes/Skills (spend power points to get more attribute/skill points), Flight, Telekinesis, and you can even spend these power points to get minions and sidekicks!

 

It seems to me you're saying that the powers in Savage Worlds are really flexible and that's why you like the system.  However, I don't see why we wouldn't have flexibility in our own custom system.  I don't think it would be very wise to say something in the rules something like, "Fire can only be used to deal 2d6 damage to an enemy".  This would be really restrictive.  When I GM games, I usually let players use skills for a wide variety of purposes (as long as it makes sense).  For example, let's say someone has a fire kinesis skill that is normally used for throwing fireballs.  If the player decides that he wants to create a screen with his fire to block a character's vision, I'd be fine with it.  I would just assign a difficulty level that I think is appropriate and have the player roll against it.  Or if the player wants to light a candle with his finger, I'd be fine with that too.  In fact, I probably wouldn't have him roll for that one.  I can do this all within D20, so I'm not sure why Savage Worlds is so crucial.  I think I missed your point Danska.

 

The powers are one of the big reasons I like it, yes. You can use them to create basically any kind of character you want.

 

Another reason in the relative simplicity of the system. Compared to most D20 systems I've seen, it has fewer rules and complications to remember while not really losing anything. I also love how easy it is to create characters.

 

Savage Worlds already has stats and details for super powers and sci-fi type vehicles/weapons/gear, which can be used in conjunction, and has details on how to create your own races, monsters, creatures and all sorts.

 

The way combat works in this system makes it quite fast, so you're not spending ages adding up bonuses for attacks or resolving all the effects etc. I think this really works for Bionicle, which has a lot of quite rapid battles with cool powers being used in various ways.

 

Basically it boils down to, I think Savage Worlds has done most of the work and heavy lifting that would be required for creating a completely new system. It still needs some tweaks to make it work exactly right for Bionicle (and the system is very balanced when it comes to races, so that would have to be undone (which would be easy)), but using it seems like far less work and entirely fit for purpose. Most of what you'd need for Bionicle is already there, it's just a case of customising it a little bit.

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I think that perhaps before we figure out how to allocate stats to characters, we ought to decide what the stats themselves will be. It seems to me like there are a few "candidates" at this point. Here's my own idea at this point:

Strength (pretty obvious)

Speed (how fast you can act and move)

Agility (ability to maneuver, jump, dodge, etc)

Energy (strength of your special powers)

Will (allows you to use and resist certain powers, and can be rolled on to boost another stat as a kind of emergency effort)

Resiliance (how well you resist harm to your Health, when you run out you die)

Endurance (how well you resist harm to your Vitalitty, when you run out you are incapacitated)

Things like Intelligence and Charisma would be covered by Strengths and Weaknesses, traits that boost or hinder certain rolls. For example, maybe there could be the strength Charisma: Add # to Diplomacy rolls, but it could potentially come with the weakness Shallow: Subtract # from Will rolls when at under half Health. Of course, those traits would correspond to the opposite traits Awkward and Dedicated.

 

Nice stats Akavakuku!  Those seem pretty good.  

 

I like the idea of having charisma as a strength or weakness.  After thinking about it, Charisma wouldn't be used very often, so I don't think it is justifiable to have a stat dedicated to it.  

 

I'll have to think about leaving out intelligence as a stat.  It seems directly tied to perception, and the system I currently use uses the intelligence Main Stat Bonus as a modifier in perception rolls.

The human world revolves around electricity.  I wonder what would happen if I, Toa Tahnok-Kal, blacked out the power grid and become the only power source for humanity?


 


 


I was really upset when Takua found the legendary Mask of Light, but I got over it when I found an even better Great Mask - The Great Mask of Pecan Pie.

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Would it be possible for me to help with this. I just started on BZP, wrote an ongoing story, and would love to help with this. Very knowledgable about Bionicle, and I'm just sitting around waiting for a project.

 

EDIT: I have Skype.

Edited by Bennyboo192

- the last person on Earth, Bennyboo192

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Would it be possible for me to help with this. I just started on BZP, wrote an ongoing story, and would love to help with this. Very knowledgable about Bionicle, and I'm just sitting around waiting for a project.

 

EDIT: I have Skype.

I'm sure all of us would be glad to have some extra help and more ideas. Right now we are just trying to flesh out the basic framework of the game. Feel free to share any ideas that you have.

 

Welcome to BZPower! You are not the only new one around here. I'm about as new as you can get as well (only 12 posts).

 

The way combat works in this system makes it quite fast, so you're not spending ages adding up bonuses for attacks or resolving all the effects etc. I think this really works for Bionicle, which has a lot of quite rapid battles with cool powers being used in various ways.

I think I finally get what you were trying to tell me Danska. I can't stand having to add up tons of modifiers as well. I have never played D&D, but when I looked at some example combat calculations, I thought to myself, "Good grief!" The system I have been using for most games is called The Basic System (TBS), and it get's it's name from minimizing the amount of calculations you have to do. When making skill checks in TBS, you total your main stat bonus + your skill level + your d20 roll (I think that's pretty simple, though I do realize Savage Worlds is even simpler). The GM can add modifiers, but it's optional and usually situational. Anyway, I agree with you Danska. I think it would be best to keep it simple, and not have a ton of modifiers in the game.

Things like Intelligence and Charisma would be covered by Strengths and Weaknesses, traits that boost or hinder certain rolls. For example, maybe there could be the strength Charisma: Add # to Diplomacy rolls, but it could potentially come with the weakness Shallow: Subtract # from Will rolls when at under half Health. Of course, those traits would correspond to the opposite traits Awkward and Dedicated.

 

Akavakaku, Danska brings up a good point. Tons of modifiers can make combat and common actions unwieldy. As such, I think we really need to be careful with how many skill/stats we use as modifiers. For example, we don't want to have situations like this: Toa Nuru gets + 5 for being a Leader and - 3 for being Hot Headed and + 1 for being a Strategist, and -3 for being Near Sighted, and etc. Maybe we need to have a limit on how many weaknesses or strengths a character can have. Either that or maybe a modifier cap where the GM can only activate x modifiers at once.

 

By the way, after thinking about it, go ahead and throw Intelligence under the weakness/strength category. Charisma and Intelligence won't be used very often so I don't mind making them a modifier.

 

EDIT: By the way, I really like what you have written down on the Bionicle TRPG topic. Are there more rules that you have compiled but not shared yet, or is the content on that post as far as you have gotten? Either way, I think what you have written is good introductory material for the rulebook.

Edited by Toa Tahnok-Kal

The human world revolves around electricity.  I wonder what would happen if I, Toa Tahnok-Kal, blacked out the power grid and become the only power source for humanity?


 


 


I was really upset when Takua found the legendary Mask of Light, but I got over it when I found an even better Great Mask - The Great Mask of Pecan Pie.

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Haven't written down anything for the RPG besides what you see in that topic, but I do have plenty of ideas I haven't gotten on paper (webpage?) yet.

 

So, about perception checks... How do we intend them to work in the RPG? Do personality traits factor in to them? And how do we account for varying sensory abilities of different characters?

( The bunny slippers hiss and slither into the shadows. ) -Takuaka: Toa of Time

What if the Toa you know best were not destined to be? Interchange: The epic begins

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Keep perception simple. It's likely to be one of the most used abilities. Have one skill to cover all types of sensory perception. It gets too frustrating otherwise.

I'd also recommend something like passive perception from d&d 4th and 5th editions. After all, it doesn't make sense that players don't notice anything when they enter a room. They're not blind. Keep perception for noticing details and searching. Anything that goes beyond what you'd expect someone to notice normally.

Always try to keep things as simple as possible. If you can reasonably use fewer stats and modifiers, do so. Extra complexity is just that - complexity. It slows down play and is more frustrating to learn.

Also, resist the temptation to tie lots of stats into other stats. Again, it makes it harder to figure things out and means more modifiers.

 

At least Bionicle doesn't lend itself to the problem of some systems, which is an over reliance on equipment! (D&D 3.5, 4th Edition and Pathfinder are bad for this, where they expect you to load up with tons of magic items, though neither are as bad as Shadowrun)
 

Or use Savage Worlds =P

Edited by Danska: Shadow Master

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Keep perception simple. It's likely to be one of the most used abilities. Have one skill to cover all types of sensory perception. It gets too frustrating otherwise.

 

I'd also recommend something like passive perception from d&d 4th and 5th editions. After all, it doesn't make sense that players don't notice anything when they enter a room. They're not blind. Keep perception for noticing details and searching. Anything that goes beyond what you'd expect someone to notice normally.

 

Always try to keep things as simple as possible. If you can reasonably use fewer stats and modifiers, do so. Extra complexity is just that - complexity. It slows down play and is more frustrating to learn.

 

Also, resist the temptation to tie lots of stats into other stats. Again, it makes it harder to figure things out and means more modifiers.

 

At least Bionicle doesn't lend itself to the problem of some systems, which is an over reliance on equipment! (D&D 3.5, 4th Edition and Pathfinder are bad for this, where they expect you to load up with tons of magic items, though neither are as bad as Shadowrun)

 

Good ideas Danska. Simplicity is really important, although I would be fine with allowing a player to use one modifier with perception for variety. I think the key is to limit how many modifiers are allowed. I'd say the game should only allow one and only one modifier at a time (since I hate having to deal with adding up a ton of numbers). For example, let's say a character has a strength of Far Sight (+5 to perception) and a strength of Sharp Hearing (+3 to perception).  When the player performs a perception check, he can only use one of these to modify his skill.  Obviously, the player would want to use Far Sight more often, but there might be times when the GM says that it can't be used.  A dark room may be one situation where Far Sight can't be used and Sharp Hearing would serve the player well (even though it has less of a bonus).  

 

Or use Savage Worlds =P

Lol. You are persistent Danska! I like that!

 

I don't know Akavakuku's thoughts on this, but I really don't want to use a system already in existence because players would have to purchase the system. If we make up our own system, it will be free. I realize Savage Worlds is only $10, but everyone loves free.

 

The other reason why I am uncomfortable with Savage World is because there are only (from what I understand) three stat levels (d4, d6, and d10). This just seems to make our options more limited. I just can't see some creatures fitting within this. Take the Morbuzahk for example. The vines could devastate entire buildings. The strength of the vines was much stronger than any Toa could handle, and the only reason the king root was defeated was because of the power of the Great Disks. I just don't feel like this power difference between Matoran and Morbuzahk (and other Bionicle titans) can be faithfully represented within Savage Worlds.

 

Anyway, while I'm not so sure of Savage Worlds, I have really appreciated your feedback on the project.  It has been really constructive.  Even if we don't use Savage Worlds, I'd be happy for you to be our consultant or something and still work on the project with us (unless you can't stand me anymore ^_^ ).

The human world revolves around electricity.  I wonder what would happen if I, Toa Tahnok-Kal, blacked out the power grid and become the only power source for humanity?


 


 


I was really upset when Takua found the legendary Mask of Light, but I got over it when I found an even better Great Mask - The Great Mask of Pecan Pie.

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Danska: Shadow Master, on 06 Nov 2014 - 9:25 PM, said:snapback.png

Keep perception simple. It's likely to be one of the most used abilities. Have one skill to cover all types of sensory perception. It gets too frustrating otherwise.

 

I'd also recommend something like passive perception from d&d 4th and 5th editions. After all, it doesn't make sense that players don't notice anything when they enter a room. They're not blind. Keep perception for noticing details and searching. Anything that goes beyond what you'd expect someone to notice normally.

 

Always try to keep things as simple as possible. If you can reasonably use fewer stats and modifiers, do so. Extra complexity is just that - complexity. It slows down play and is more frustrating to learn.

 

Also, resist the temptation to tie lots of stats into other stats. Again, it makes it harder to figure things out and means more modifiers.

 

At least Bionicle doesn't lend itself to the problem of some systems, which is an over reliance on equipment! (D&D 3.5, 4th Edition and Pathfinder are bad for this, where they expect you to load up with tons of magic items, though neither are as bad as Shadowrun)

 

Good ideas Danska. Simplicity is really important, although I would be fine with allowing a player to use one modifier with perception for variety. I think the key is to limit how many modifiers are allowed. I'd say the game should only allow one and only one modifier at a time (since I hate having to deal with adding up a ton of numbers). For example, let's say a character has a strength of Far Sight (+5 to perception) and a strength of Sharp Hearing (+3 to perception).  When the player performs a perception check, he can only use one of these to modify his skill.  Obviously, the player would want to use Far Sight more often, but there might be times when the GM says that it can't be used.  A dark room may be one situation where Far Sight can't be used and Sharp Hearing would serve the player well (even though it has less of a bonus).

I'm ok with using some modifiers. In fact, one of my new favourite systems is D&D 5th Edition. This has a nice balance between the typical D&D approach and simplicity. Off the top of my head, I don't think you'd ever be adding more than two modifiers. These modifiers will be

Ability score mod (e.g. Wisdom 15 = +2 mod)

Proficiency bonus (Starts at +2, increases as you level, adds to everything you're proficient in including skills, attacks, saving throws etc.)

 

Skills work like this. To use each skill, you roll the modifier from the corresponding stat. If you have Strength 16 (+3), Wisdom 15 (+2) and Charisma 10 (0) then your Athletics skill rank is +3, Perception is +2 and Diplomacy is 0

 

You can then gain proficiency in skills from your class/background/feats. This allows you to add your proficiency bonus to that score. And that's it. Your skill rolls are nothing more than Ability mod, plus proficiency bonus if you're proficient in it. So if you're at level 1, your proficiency bonus is +2. If you're proficient in Athletics and Diplomacy, but not Perception, your skills would be:

Athletics: +5

Perception: +2

Diplomacy: +2

 

Feats can give you extra skill proficiencies, but they don't add extra modifiers to skills. Magic...might, I haven't looked at that yet (I'm playing a Fighter).

 

This does limit how much better one person can be at a skill than another, but it makes it so much simpler to understand and really cuts down the numbers. I'd actually recommend 5E as a beginners RP system, whereas 3.5 or Pathfinder can be a bit confusing.

 

I'm not against the idea of feats giving extra bonuses to skills, but I'd say avoid circumstantial bonuses like bonuses just to sight or just to hearing. While it is something which makes perfect sense, it's so easy to forget you have these bonuses when you're not using them everytime you roll the skill.

 

 

Lol. You are persistent Danska! I like that!

 

I don't know Akavakuku's thoughts on this, but I really don't want to use a system already in existence because players would have to purchase the system. If we make up our own system, it will be free. I realize Savage Worlds is only $10, but everyone loves free.

 

The other reason why I am uncomfortable with Savage World is because there are only (from what I understand) three stat levels (d4, d6, and d10). This just seems to make our options more limited. I just can't see some creatures fitting within this. Take the Morbuzahk for example. The vines could devastate entire buildings. The strength of the vines was much stronger than any Toa could handle, and the only reason the king root was defeated was because of the power of the Great Disks. I just don't feel like this power difference between Matoran and Morbuzahk (and other Bionicle titans) can be faithfully represented within Savage Worlds.

 

Anyway, while I'm not so sure of Savage Worlds, I have really appreciated your feedback on the project.  It has been really constructive.  Even if we don't use Savage Worlds, I'd be happy for you to be our consultant or something and still work on the project with us (unless you can't stand me anymore ^_^ ).

On the contracy, there are many stat levels! :) Your stats can be: d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d12+1, d12+2, d12+3 ad infinitum. (d12+3 means roll d12, add 3 to the result. A roll of 3 becomes 6 etc.)

 

Savage Worlds has stats for Godzilla type monsters, giant mechs/robots, spaceships etc. and does it flexibly enough that it can handle, simultaniously, players in giant mechs fighting alongside players without giant mechs. I don't think representing a power difference would be a problem.

 

I understand why the price point may put you off, though. It's roughly $10 a book, and you'd probably want the main rules, Super Heroes and Sci Fi companions. Maybe Horror if you want giant monsters.

 

They do actually allow people to create their own systems using the Savage Worlds rules, provided they stamp the logo on it and don't make any money from it. They also restrict you from copying anything from any of the official books, so whether you could include things like the core rules or powers I don't know. It might be something I investigate myself.

 

I'm very happy to keep poking my head in to offer advice, also provided people can still stand me! I've played quite a few RP systems (although didn't play many for that long, but I have a general knowledge of a few which is something) so I like to think I have some idea of what I'm talking about. :P

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I also prefer the idea of creating our own, free system. If Savage Worlds were unquestionably perfect for our intentions, I would consider using it, but I think we can very likely make a system specifically formulated to the needs of Bionicle.

 

Could Perception maybe be just covered by the GM's discretion? It seems like it would be easier to simply decide what, given their sensory abilities, a player can observe. And unlike in a fight, there aren't many unpredictable factors that could introduce a plausible randomness to the outcome, so rolling for it doesn't make much sense.

 

Sorry, Danska, I'm not sure I really understood your explanation. Here's how I was expecting that sort of thing to work.

So first, characters have their base stats, which are formulated by taking their race's default stats, adding elemental modifiers if applicable, and accounting for individual variation.

Then they have traits, which are strengths and weaknesses that apply roll modifiers in certain situations.

And finally, they have skills. Characters can begin the game with some slight skills, but as the game progresses their skills in many areas will increase. Skills will simply be awarded as they were used, so if you spend a lot of time throwing disks your Throwing skill will increase.

( The bunny slippers hiss and slither into the shadows. ) -Takuaka: Toa of Time

What if the Toa you know best were not destined to be? Interchange: The epic begins

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I also prefer the idea of creating our own, free system. If Savage Worlds were unquestionably perfect for our intentions, I would consider using it, but I think we can very likely make a system specifically formulated to the needs of Bionicle.

I do think Savage Worlds is basically perfect for it. All it needs is to shuffle the rules around a bit (not really change them, even) so it's clear how it works for the setting. Character creation, for example, would need to be tweaked since Savage Worlds presents quite a universal way of building them, while Bionicle has more specific requirements.

 

 

Could Perception maybe be just covered by the GM's discretion? It seems like it would be easier to simply decide what, given their sensory abilities, a player can observe. And unlike in a fight, there aren't many unpredictable factors that could introduce a plausible randomness to the outcome, so rolling for it doesn't make much sense.

A perception check shouldn't so much be "what a character sees when they walk into the room". A character should be making a check when they're looking for something, trying to find something hidden or want to examine their surroundings in closer detail. A character walking into a big cavern with a pillar in the centre sees just that. A character wanting to pay closer attention would make a perception check and might notice, say, the not-so-obvious door at the other end of the cavern, a few bones to the sides/corners and the spiderwebs on the ceiling.

 

Perception, essentially, is trying to see what isn't obvious. It's an active attempt to perceive things rather than a passive one.

 

 

Sorry, Danska, I'm not sure I really understood your explanation. Here's how I was expecting that sort of thing to work.

So first, characters have their base stats, which are formulated by taking their race's default stats, adding elemental modifiers if applicable, and accounting for individual variation.

Then they have traits, which are strengths and weaknesses that apply roll modifiers in certain situations.

And finally, they have skills. Characters can begin the game with some slight skills, but as the game progresses their skills in many areas will increase. Skills will simply be awarded as they were used, so if you spend a lot of time throwing disks your Throwing skill will increase.

Seems quite neat and simple. Could you say a bit more about what traits would be and how you want them to work?

 

I've heard of a system called Burning Wheel that uses that kind of skill system. It's pretty obscure, and I'm not really familiar with it, but I know someone who has the rulebook. I could have a look and see if it has any useful bits and pieces on how to make that work? (I like the system in principle. I'm not sure how it works in a tabletop setting, since it can easily lead to characters only progressing at the GM's whim)

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Well, all-in-all it seems like you folks are taking a very different approach to this than I am. However, if you're at all interested in another point of view, I've uploaded a newer version of my WIP homebrew and discussed a couple new ideas in my latest blog entry.


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Hey, I compiled a list of stats and skills we might want to include for our game. Please take a look at the list below and see what you think. I tried to make the skills somewhat generic so they could be used for a variety of situations and not be incredibly specialized (I borrowed some from Savage Worlds :D ). By the way, I flip flopped. Now I'm thinking we should include charisma (I'm so bad :o). We'll have to talk some more about it.

Main Stats

 

Speed

Strength

Agility

Will

Resilience

Endurance

Intelligence

Derived Stats

 

Hit Points

Vitality

Energy

Initiative

Charisma

 

Basic Skills

 

Swimming (Strength)

Boating (agility)

Climbing (strength)

Acrobatics (Agility)

Dodging (Agility)

Piloting/Riding (agility) (Includes Lava Surfing)

Fighting (agility/strength)

Healing (Intelligence)

Rougecraft (Intelligence/Agility) Includes: Lock picking, Swiping, Pickpocketing, Secret Entry

Notice/Spot (Intelligence)

Persuasion (Charisma)

Repairing (Intelligence)

Shooting (Agility)

Stealth (Agility/Intelligence)

Streetwise (Intelligence) (May not include: Probably only used on Metru-Nui)

Tracking (Intelligence)

Navigating (Intelligence)

Edited by Toa Tahnok-Kal

The human world revolves around electricity.  I wonder what would happen if I, Toa Tahnok-Kal, blacked out the power grid and become the only power source for humanity?


 


 


I was really upset when Takua found the legendary Mask of Light, but I got over it when I found an even better Great Mask - The Great Mask of Pecan Pie.

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I can understand making a Perception roll to notice something not very obvious, but even in that case, the GM has to arbritratily choose how much each character observes based on what they roll. Isn't it easier for the GM to simply assume each character made a roll appropriate for their perceptive abilities, and just tell them how much they're aware of? And the randomness afforded by the roll still doesn't make sense to me. I feel like the character either ought to notice the spiderwebs ten times out of ten, or zero times out of ten, given the same conditions.

 

Traits are like the strength Charismatic or weakness Shallow that I mentioned earlier; personality traits.

 

I don't really see how skill building would be "at the GM's whim." Seems to me like it would be very straightforward: get in a fight, and you roll to earn points in Combat. Ride a Rahi, and you roll to earn points in Ride Steed.

 

So about those stats and skills...

 

How about we combine Intelligence and Charisma into a single stat, like maybe Sapience? Essentially it would mean how much total mental complexity someone uses, for the sum of their analytical, emotional and interpersonal thoughts.

 

I'm not sure what you're deriving the derived stats from, can you explain?

 

I like your list of Skills. This is what my own thoughts would be for it:

Swimming: speed+endurance. Swimming doesn't take strength as much as it takes quickness and stamina.

Rowing: strength+endurance. Unless you mean a different kind of boating? I'm not sure if this even needs a particular skill.

Climbing: strength+agility. I think it takes both qualities to be a capable climber.

Acrobatics: speed+agility. This would cover things like "leaf-running" and general dynamic/explosive movement, right?

Dodging: I was thinking this would just be an Agility roll, not a skill.

Pilot Vehicle (ground/water/air): sapience+endurance. Skill building in one of the subcategories gives you some, but not as much, skill bonus in the other subcategories.

Ride Steed (land/aquatic/flying): agility+endurance. See above.

Ride Vehicle: speed+sapience. Stuff like boarding, skiing, (aided) gliding.

Armed Melee: agility+resilience.

Unarmed Melee: strength+resilience.

Ranged Combat (throw/fire/powers): strength/energy+sapience.

Healing: sapience+will.

Stealth: sapience+agility. Covers the applicable Roguecraft things as well, since they're basically the same sort of thing.

Streetwise: what would this even be?

Survival: sapience+resilience. Includes tracking and navigating.

Persuasion: sapience

Perception(?): sapience

( The bunny slippers hiss and slither into the shadows. ) -Takuaka: Toa of Time

What if the Toa you know best were not destined to be? Interchange: The epic begins

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Well, after an hour of typing, something weird happened and my browser deleted my post in progress (I should have worked in a text editor and saved it). Anyway, here are some of my thoughts. I'll have to add my thoughts about perception checks, derived stats, and combining Charisma and Intelligence into a single stat (Which got deleted). I want to expound further on Sapience later, but I do like the idea of combining Charisma and Intelligence into it.
 

I like your list of Skills. This is what my own thoughts would be for it:
Swimming: speed+endurance. Swimming doesn't take strength as much as it takes quickness and stamina. 
Rowing: strength+endurance. Unless you mean a different kind of boating? I'm not sure if this even needs a particular skill. 
Climbing: strength+agility. I think it takes both qualities to be a capable climber. 
Acrobatics: speed+agility. This would cover things like "leaf-running" and general dynamic/explosive movement, right?
Dodging: I was thinking this would just be an Agility roll, not a skill. 
Pilot Vehicle (ground/water/air): sapience+endurance. Skill building in one of the subcategories gives you some, but not as much, skill bonus in the other subcategories. 
Ride Steed (land/aquatic/flying): agility+endurance. See above. 
Ride Vehicle: speed+sapience. Stuff like boarding, skiing, (aided) gliding. 
Armed Melee: agility+resilience. 
Unarmed Melee: strength+resilience. 
Ranged Combat (throw/fire/powers): strength/energy+sapience. 
Healing: sapience+will. 
Stealth: sapience+agility. Covers the applicable Roguecraft things as well, since they're basically the same sort of thing. 
Streetwise: what would this even be?
Survival: sapience+resilience. Includes tracking and navigating. 
Persuasion: sapience
Perception(?): sapience


Quick question. When you have a skill with something like "sapience + will" are you saying that the skill bonus level is the sum of the two main stat bonuses? For example, if the Sapience bonus was 5 and the Resilience bonus was 3, the Survival skill would have a level 8 bonus derived from these stats? I just want to make sure. If so, that sounds pretty good.

I like your thoughts. My original list was pretty raw. I have added my thoughts on your revised list.

Swimming: speed+endurance. Agreed.
Rowing: strength+endurance. We can get rid of it. It should fall under Pilot Water Vehicle.
Climbing: strength+agility. Agreed.
Acrobatics: speed+agility. Agreed on the stats. Yeah, this would include back flips, swinging through trees, and crazy unrealistic body manuevers.
Dodging: I'd argue that dodging should be a skill. A person can be naturally agile but still train in the area of dodging.
Pilot Vehicle (ground/water/air): sapience+endurance. Agreed.  
Ride Steed (land/aquatic/flying): agility+endurance. Agreed.
Ride Vehicle: speed+sapience. Agreed.
Armed Melee: agility+resilience. Agreed.
Unarmed Melee: strength+resilience. Agreed 
Ranged Combat (throw/fire/powers): strength/energy+sapience. Agreed. 
Healing: sapience+will. Agreed.
Stealth: sapience+agility. Makes sense. 
Streetwise: Let's get rid of it. It was something in Savage Worlds. To me it represents a character's familiarity with a specific area and how to navigate the area without getting harmed (mainly rough city streets).
Survival: sapience+resilience. Agreed.
Persuasion: sapience Agreed.
Perception(?): I think sapience makes the most sense for this one.

 

EDIT:

 

Derived stats: 

 

Here is what I'm thinking for derived stats.  Hit points could be Endurance x 2.  Vitality could be Resilience x 2.  Initiative could be something like Speed bonus +  Agility bonus.  I'm thinking Energy would be a derivative of Strength, Endurance, and Vitality.  Maybe energy could be the sum of the Strength, Endurance, and Vitality bonuses.

 

Sapience:

 

I like the idea of Charisma being combined with Intelligence into the stat Sapience.  I think this would be useful because it seems that Charisma is underutilized, yet Intelligence seems to tie into many skills.  The only thing that I can think of that Charisma would be used for in our game would be for the Persuasion skill, but Sapience would work fine.  Then, as you said, each character can have a personality trait that modifies the persuasion roll. 

Edited by Toa Tahnok-Kal

The human world revolves around electricity.  I wonder what would happen if I, Toa Tahnok-Kal, blacked out the power grid and become the only power source for humanity?


 


 


I was really upset when Takua found the legendary Mask of Light, but I got over it when I found an even better Great Mask - The Great Mask of Pecan Pie.

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Oh! Just realized we forgot the important skill of Use [power]. I think there should be subcategories like elemental/mask/eyebeams, etc.

 

Oh.  That is something we will need to discuss.  However, maybe we can put that under a separate Power area.

 

FYI: I have been working on getting a document together so we can work on this project more easily.  It's still very rough, but it contains some ideas we have talked about.  I also grabbed what you had in your old TRPG post and stuck it in there.  Here is the link https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IJhiGt0AyNZnD5RWiq1s6yaH5eGtZ_d46L12HJkJRYU/edit?usp=sharing.  Right now the link only allows viewing.  To get editting access, please PM me an email address so I can get you set up.

 

EDIT: I am currently working on a section about "Descriptors" in the Google Doc.  These are things that may not be directly tied to stats (exception Species), but they are all things that help flesh out characters.  My idea for choosing a body style or disposition is as follows.

 

Disposition:

 

Choose two or more adjectives  from the list below to describe your character's personality.

 

Happy

Cheerful

Cocky

Gloomy

Arrogant

Loner

Moody

Aggressive

Passive

Ornery

 

Body Style:

 

Choose one body style from the list below.

 

Slender

Gangly

Buff

Stocky

Hefty

 

Edit 2 11/24/2014:

 

I'm still working on the rule book document.  I currently envision it being divided into three main sections: character creation, action and combat resolution, and campaign material (character sheets and miscellaneous story material - mostly GM stuff).  I'm currently working on character creation and getting it aligned with what we have talked about.  I think the best way to structure this section is to go through a detailed step by step process on creating a character.  As different terms are brought up, they will be explained.  After all of the material is presented and the reader is familiar with the terms, then there will be an example at the end.  Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

Akavakaku, I have a question for you.  How were you planning on doing combat resolution and action resolution?  I know Toa have base 15 stats and Matoran have base 5 stats.  Were you planning on rolling a d20 with it?  Were you going to use a d6?  What were you planning?  Thanks.

Edited by Toa Tahnok-Kal

The human world revolves around electricity.  I wonder what would happen if I, Toa Tahnok-Kal, blacked out the power grid and become the only power source for humanity?


 


 


I was really upset when Takua found the legendary Mask of Light, but I got over it when I found an even better Great Mask - The Great Mask of Pecan Pie.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Made a few slight changes as well as suggestions: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IJhiGt0AyNZnD5RWiq1s6yaH5eGtZ_d46L12HJkJRYU/edit?usp=sharing

Anyway, as to the questions, your intended rulebook setup seems fine. I'd just recommend that after the character creation guide is done, there's a proper section on each category mentioned in the char' creation guide.

Honestly I wasn't sure what kind of rolls to make during conflict. I was just envisioning a rough three to one ratio of stats; the scale isn't important.

( The bunny slippers hiss and slither into the shadows. ) -Takuaka: Toa of Time

What if the Toa you know best were not destined to be? Interchange: The epic begins

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Made a few slight changes as well as suggestions: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IJhiGt0AyNZnD5RWiq1s6yaH5eGtZ_d46L12HJkJRYU/edit?usp=sharing

Anyway, as to the questions, your intended rulebook setup seems fine. I'd just recommend that after the character creation guide is done, there's a proper section on each category mentioned in the char' creation guide.

Honestly I wasn't sure what kind of rolls to make during conflict. I was just envisioning a rough three to one ratio of stats; the scale isn't important.

 

I think those are good suggestions that you put in the comments of the doc.  I'll have to start working on this again (Thanksgiving week slowed me down).

 

So what are your thoughts on structuring the personality and appearance section of the character sheet?  Do you want to add a section about this in the doc so we can remove the descriptors?

 

Edit: I'm thinking about just having players roll a d6 for action resolution with 6's acing.  Any objections?

 

Edit: Hey, how about you come up with how you think a character sheet should look and post an image of it?  I can then start filling in rules once I get an idea of what you are looking for.

Edited by Toa Tahnok-Kal

The human world revolves around electricity.  I wonder what would happen if I, Toa Tahnok-Kal, blacked out the power grid and become the only power source for humanity?


 


 


I was really upset when Takua found the legendary Mask of Light, but I got over it when I found an even better Great Mask - The Great Mask of Pecan Pie.

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Smudge, thanks for offering to help.  I think we could use a few more hands (and heads).  If you want to help, here is something you could do that I have been wanting to do for awhile but never got to it.  You could start converting mask powers into an RPG form and create a list of them.  Here is how I have been thinking of doing it.  Some masks could have stat boosts.  For example, a Pakari could give + 5 strength and a Kakama could give + 5 Speed (+5 seems to be a good number for stat boosts).  Other masks could do different things.  For example, a Hau could give +X AC.  I'm not sure how a Miru would be converted.  Anyway, go crazy and throw in any of your ideas.  Don't worry about having a perfect +5 or + 10 or whatever value for powers.  We can change things as we go along.

 

Oh, you could also share any ideas about weapon powers and damage stats for weapons.

 

I hope I'm not putting you on the spot.

The human world revolves around electricity.  I wonder what would happen if I, Toa Tahnok-Kal, blacked out the power grid and become the only power source for humanity?


 


 


I was really upset when Takua found the legendary Mask of Light, but I got over it when I found an even better Great Mask - The Great Mask of Pecan Pie.

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OOOH!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Give me a while to read up on everything you guys have already posted several times so that I got whats already going on. And yes, I will get to work on the masks.


Hey, not that we should stop or anything (why would I say that when I just joined and am super excited about it) but Takuma Nuva on TTV has been working on an RPG as well.

Here is the video they anounced it in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-MsNlGOtuw&list=UUHbcwfjBn2P_6GHw5ottF5A&index=2(around minuet 44)

I will certainly keep an eye on that, but I will keep on working with you guys as well.

So glad to be helping!

 

EDIT: Ha! Takuma Nuva was posting on here earlier.

Edited by Smudge8

Six Kingdoms Characters: Mazor, Jephro, The Janitor, Informant

 

 

 

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If you have a better idea for something I could do just say so. Im here to help!

 

For now I will focus on the reading I mentioned earlier.

 

 

Ok, so I think there should be some sort of elemental energy stat for use in combat. How it would work is the player would announce the type of attack they wish to use and how much energy they wish to spend on it (example: "I want to spend 3 energy to throw a fireball"). The amount of energy spent on the attack would determine what die you rolled for it's damage. (in the example "fireball" would clarify that this is a ranged attack) This would make players have to think strategically about the use of their elemental powers, they could spend all of their energy dominating in one fight only to jump right into another being really vulnerable. This would most likely increase reliance on masks, tools, and other powers(if aplicable).

 

Outside of battle elemental powers could be used in any way desired, from providing a flame for light to starting a forest fire, so long as the player has some energy left. Outside of battle elemental energy would not be consumed.

 

I would expect elemental energy to have some sort of regeneration factor as well as there being items used to restore it quickly (like the mask of elemental energy).

 

What do you think?

Edited by -Windrider-

Six Kingdoms Characters: Mazor, Jephro, The Janitor, Informant

 

 

 

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Akavakaku, I forgot to tell you, but I'm working on an action section now in the rulebook. As far as it being too early to work on Mask powers, I don't think so. We may need to make some changes later, but I think it's a good idea to get at least a rough idea out there.

 

Smudge, we actually talked about elemental energy in another topic. We kind of decided to have stats called Energy and Vitality. Energy determines the strength of the elemental attack/action, and Vitality is expended when powers are utilized. Here is the link to the topic http://www.bzpower.com/board/topic/15295-need-info-for-rpg-rahi-character-sheets/. Below is an excerpt from that post sharing my ideas about vitality.

 

Toa Tahnok-Kal: "TBS has many things that I will reuse, but I didn't like the way that TBS does powers, so I'm borrowing some stuff from another system. Toa didn't use their powers all the time, and they would mix their elemental attacks with kicks, punches, and slashes. I wanted to find a way to make my players strategically decide when to use their elemental powers, so I'm going to be borrowing from Star Wars RPG. In that system, each character has two health bars (HP and Vitality). When taking hits, a character's vitality is depleted before receiving killing damage (this is supposed to represent characters expending energy to dodge, block, etc.). The twist for Jedi is that they have to spend vitality points to use the force. I'm going to do the same thing in my game. A Toa will have to tap into his or her vitality points to be able to use elemental attacks. Elemental attacks will be really strong, but they will also cost vitality. This cost will force players to think strategically and also prevent certain attacks from being spammed. Vitality will be recovered by resting while killing damage will require healing."

 

So, the idea is that using powers wear down your Toa. We can probably also apply depleting Vitality to Turaga for any strenuous actions as well.

 

So, to make a long story short, I agree that we should have Toa expending energy to use elemental powers and such, Smudge. Do you have anymore thoughts on this?

The human world revolves around electricity.  I wonder what would happen if I, Toa Tahnok-Kal, blacked out the power grid and become the only power source for humanity?


 


 


I was really upset when Takua found the legendary Mask of Light, but I got over it when I found an even better Great Mask - The Great Mask of Pecan Pie.

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