New Neo Jove System Prototype

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Premise

How Characters Are Built

Granularity

Aptitudes

The basic attributes, representing relative physical capability, intelligence, etc. Tentative split is social/mental/physical or mental/physical, alternatively power/endurance/finesse.

These add additive dice, probably in d10 per rank.

Since we're a bit narrative getting to 50%+ of your template's possible max rating without enhancements gives a Quality, representing prodigious abilities, qualities that allow you to excel or incredible potential that comes out occasionally. Basically the usual WW thing. When it applies, your Lucky Number rerolls (10's don't by default in this).

Other important details:

  • Baseline humans have a limit of 5 in any aptitude.
  • Templates raise the caps, but do not provide automatic levels.
  • Buying/raising the stat is always a function of how much of the maximum rank is being purchased. Tentative magic number for maxed aptitude is 100 chargen points.
    • To calculate, divide 100 by the possible number of ranks and multiply by the number of ranks chosen, rounding down.
    • This means a baseline buying Strength 5 is spending 100 on the stat. (100 / 5 * 5)
    • Meanwhile, an Atlas with a +5 template bonus to Strength is paying only 55 CP for Strength 5. (100 / 9 * 5)
  • Enhancements which provide improvements to aptitude ranks and add a flat bonus factored after caps. A baseline with Strength 6, 5 points of which came from enhancements is only paying another 20 CP for Strength 7.

Inner Attributes

Your Soul

Outer Attributes

Your Body

Skills

Are additive to aptitudes, freeform and not overly specific. Every aptitude should have a matching pilot skill pre-established, and some examples should be out there.

Costs will be exponential, since 10 ranks of skill is basically worth 2 points of aptitude. Every 10 ranks adds x1 to the cost, so 1-10 costs 1 per rank, 11-20 will cost 2 per rank, 21-30 will cost 3 per rank, etc. Hard cap for 100, since the numbers break down at that point.

An available quirk will be doubling/tripling/ignoring the intervals for increase.

Things that will be in for sure:

  • Autohypnosis
  • Aleph Specialization (pick a field)
  • Engineer (pick a field)
  • Gunnery < Do we actually want this.
  • Gunpla(y)

FBH Suggestions

  • Infantry (doing stuff outside a robot)
  • Stealth
  • Lore (whatever)

Template

The balance point is as thus:

  • Transgenes are naturally good at lots of things and Alpha-type templates with broad increases to everything allow for generally stronger characters overall, and some of them get environmental resistance and access to Aleph.
  • Baselines and near-baselines get quirks, which represent genes lost in mass-upgrade programs, mutations, traits from effort or special education. They make exceedingly good specialists.
  • Baselines have more leeway with regards to enhancements but ultimately receive less benefits from them because of their lower caps. A cyberlimit stat incorporating two aptitudes will give transgenes options to catch up, but baseline base bonus will likely allow them to lead in this regard nonetheless.
  • Baselines potentially have more pluck (assuming they don't opt for enhancements or quirks) which means they're more likely to survive impossible situations. Pluck can be mashed as a not-die button even when the temporary pool is exhausted at the cost of a semi-permanent reduction until the character's will to live has recovered from a traumatic near-death experience.

Customization

History Template

How did you get here and what benefits did it give you?

Aleph Powers

Will be a thing.

Split between powers which are always active as permanent enhancements, powers which cost nothing but have a limit on the number that can be used simultaneously, and powers which cost points per usage or round of usage.

Someone list me Newtype and other bullshit space magic feats here, for consideration:

Enhancements

Baselines or near-baselines with the right combination of quirks and stats can become Adam Jensen or Motoko Kusanagi or Batou, at least. Not that it helps with the Kiras, but you have a good shot.

Quirks

Some of these will be outright template benefits like higher aptitude maxes, faster/cheaper skills, or greater cybertolerance (to discourage frontloading at chargen) while others will be more ephemeral.

Pluck

Rerolls and not-die. Can also be spent as a group to edit dramatically or retroactively make plans because planning sessions are the bane of fun.

Transgene versus Baseline

Augmented versus Baseline

Natures

As much as their natural abilities, learned skills and other traits, a person's nature is critical to how they will proceed through combat. Not the artifice of their personas, cultivated as a means of expressing themselves to others but their true natures: their inner strengths, flaws and failings. Mobile suits are not merely lumps of metal and aleph powers are not simply magic, both are the actualization of a person's inner self, made real through advanced technology. Mobile suit combat is a unique environment, one which has produced a multitude of legendary aces during the wars leading up to and following the foundation of the Federation, the wars around Jupiter and beyond the sphere of Sol.

Representing both a person's strength and the desire for it, Natures are traits which affect both the power of the Aleph trait and a character's compatibility with certain mobile suit designs.

The four natures are:

  • Vision: The willingness to change the world. Every level of Vision gives the character a transformative goal which they must achieve.
  • Growth: The willingness to change yourself. Every level of Growth gives the character a weakness to overcome.
  • Courage: The willingness to endure others. Every level of Courage gives the character an enemy they must defeat.
  • Resilience: The willingness to endure the world. Every level of Resilience gives the character a trial they must overcome.

Example Character Sheet

A.F. Rhodesia Teatree

Template: Ishtar (+2 Physique, +2 Wits, +2 Intellect, +2 Perception, +4 Charisma, 5 bonus points.)

Attributes (Current/Max)

Physique 3/7 (42 CP)
Wits 3/7 (42 CP)
Intellect 5/7 (70 CP)
Perception 5/7 (70 CP)
Charisma 7/9 (77 CP)
Aleph 3/3 (100 CP)

Skills

Helm 10 (10 CP)
Gunnery 7 (7 CP)
Leadership 15 (20 CP)
Performance 15 (20 CP)

Special Traits

Quirks: Aleph Potential +3 (1 BP)
2 Pluck (4 BP)

Aleph Powers (Rank 3 = 4 Aleph Points, or (3-1)^2)

High Level Control (1)
Newtype Flash (1)
Improved Charisma (2)

Spending

Rules

Maneuvers

What you do each combat round/reaction.

Scale

Robots

Your control stat is the class of robots you can comfortably control. Robot Classes are as follows

Class 1
Standard
Basic, standard suits used en-mass by armies
Zakus, GMs, Jegans, Leos LEVs etc. Just standard suits
Class 2
Upgraded
Mook type suits with special equipment or boosting
Red Zakus, GM Snipers, Jegan-GR, etc. Any mooksuit with "high mobility" or other descriptor after its name
Class 3
Uncommon
While they might resemble mook suits, they're a step beyond them in terms of design. They tend to be used by elite enemy units and have stuff that ordinary grunts don't at their technology level, or for other enviroments
Ares, Cancer, Anksha
Class 4
Limited Production
Powerful suits used by aces, special forces units and so on.
ReZels, Goufs, Jestas, Lotto
Class 5
Elite grade
Upgraded Limited Production suits used by commanders, named members of elite squadrons etc.
ReZel Command Type, Jetsta-Cannon
Class 6
Episode Boss
Class 7
Mid Boss
Class 8
Arc Boss
Class 9
Story Boss
Class 10
Monster Boss

There are two ways to pilot a suit that's better than your Control number. First, is to have an interaction of attributes, inner and outer that matches the type of suit you're piloting (see robot types below) The second is to install a limiter system. This allows for a pilot with a lesser control number to pilot a greater suit, but puts a ceiling on how high their dice can go. Note that control doesn't say anything about your piloting. You can be a starting pilot with very high control (Amuro) or a pilot with low control but excellent skills (Yazan).

Some mobile suits may also have low control but due to heavy equipment upgrades and improved technology, but extremely powerful.

Alt Class System

Units have three traits:

  • Technology Generation, reflecting the basic tech base and era they come from. Generation 1 is pre-Federation, Generation 2 is Jovian War era, etc. Current is probably 4th.
  • Type: Every suit has a couple of keywords which reflect the design style, lineage and influences. A Dom Troopen is 'Heavy' 'Ground' 'High Maneuver', for example.
  • Complexity: Reflecting the relative resources invested into the design, split into: Common, Limited, Elite and Experimental. Custom is a modifier that increases Complexity by one level.

How does this relate to control?

  • Refined technology is easier to use despite the increased number of functions. In other words, higher Generation makes suits better without increasing cost.
  • More unusual suits are harder to control. Every Type added increases the Control rating by one.
  • More complex suits are harder to control. Every iteration of Complexity raises Control by one.

Example: The Psycho Gundam is from the Gryps Conflict era, or around Generation 3. It's an Experimental suit with the Heavy, Fortress and Psychoframe types on it- so the Control rating to safely operate it is Control 6. It also has specific requirements as a suit with the Heavy, Fortress and Psychoframe traits, requiring high Physique and Aleph, as well as strong levels of Vision, Courage and Resilience.

Robot Types

The basic type of a robot defining its initial state line and how it interacts with other skills

Robot Equipment

The addative

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