Sphere RPG System Mechanics

Costs

Most stats are bought on a sliding cost scale. The base cost to do so is as per the table below.

Level 1 - 1 CP - Level 2 - 3 CP - Hobbyist
Level 3 - 6 CP - Level 4 - 10 CP - Amateur
Level 5 - 15 CP - Level 6 - 21 CP - Professional
Level 7 - 28 CP - Level 8 - 36 CP - Skilled Professional
Level 9 - 45 CP - Level 10 - 55 CP - Experienced Professional
Level 11 - 66 CP - Level 12 - 78 CP - Expert
Level 13 - 91 CP - Level 14 - 105 CP - Master
Level 15 - 120 CP - Level 16 - 136 CP - Ancient Master
Level 17 - 153 CP - Level 18 - 171 CP - Superlative
Level 19 - 190 CP - Level 20 - 210 CP - Unmatched

In short, the base cost to improve a stat costs (current level + 1). Depending on the stat being bought, this may be multiplied as follows.

Attributes have a x5 multiplier.
Skills are of several difficulties.

Simple Skills have a cost multiplier of x2.

Difficult Skills have a cost multiplier of x3.

Very Difficult Skills have a cost multiplier of x4. Very Difficult skills generally represent those that require substantial time committments - as an example, most science skills are Very Difficult as they require years of dedicated learning.

Core Concepts

Because many of the following concepts apply not just to individual player characters but for all levels of combat, the term 'entity' is used as a catch-all for anything that would actively engage in combat.

Reality Distortion Levels

A concept meant primarily for character-level play, Reality Distortion Level is a tool to give the GM a powerful option when designing their campaign. It recognizes that while Sphere aims to achieve verisimilitude it ultimately takes a 'dramatic' approach to gameplay and storytelling - however, some game groups may wish to modify various elements of the rules in order to alter the 'feel' of the game - changing it from a gameplay experience that balances fun, drama and realism to a hard-bitten near-simulation of warfare at the end of the 22nd century, or else high-flying space opera where any talented, heroic amateur can match a trained soldier.
Consequently we offer three RDLs to adjust your game as you see fit:

Adventure: The 'classic' space opera style in the vein of Star Wars, Macross, Legend of the Galactic Heroes and others where the protagonists are the pivotal characters in the universe. Any player characters should be larger than life in some way, as should their named opponents who are equally important. Anonymous characters should be of little to no threat outside of large groups and PCs should regularly do exceptional things. Adventure is the most forgiving RDL, and has bonuses for out of scale tasks - what is a space opera hero who can't rally a planet to his side?

Drama: This is the default level, wherein player characters are somewhat exceptional but more due to their potential and their focus as the protagonists than anything else. GMs should balance 'doing awesome stuff' with clever thinking and situational awareness. PCs likewise can expect that even anonymous opponents to pose a threat but also to be able to have moments of heroic excellence. All rules effects are unmodified for Drama.

Documentary: In the Documentary RDL, being the protagonist of the story means little beyond the tag on your uniform. Anonymous enemies will always pose a threat. Play this RDL if your gaming group prefers 'realism', wants to focus on a more war-is-hell themed game or simply likes playing on Legendary. Documentary is the most lethal RDL.

Dice tests

All standard dice rolls are made by rolling 2 10-side dice (shorthanded as 2D10) and adding the results together, then adding or substracting any appropriate modifiers. Any time a 'roll' or 'test' is is mentioned with no reference to how many dice are to be rolled, it is 2D10.
At other times, a roll may be called for more or less dice - from 1d10 upwards.

Core Skills

Core Skills are an optional concept that is appropriate for some games or groups and are the specific skills that particularly vital for for all characters; for example a 'mecha pilot' campaign would treat Piloting, Gunnery, etc as Core Skills. What Core Skills do is increase the cost of these skills by several times. While this may seem counter-intuitive, (why are important skills more expensive?) this is done to disincentive characters from simply pouring all their points into skills they will use regularly at the expense of breadth - if everyone is a super-exceptional pilot, no-one is a super-exceptional pilot. Or, to put it another way, it lets characters take substantial 'side' skills without falling extremely far behind.

Action Points

Action Ponts (hereafter, 'AP') are a measure of how many actions an entity can do each turn. Taking some actions require more than one AP, and AP can be banked across turns. As AP fluctuates from turn to turn, it has two sub-stats.

(Max) AP: The maximum amount of AP an entity may carry over at the end of its turn to the following one. Importantly, there is no cap on how many AP a unit may have during its turn, so it is quite possible to spend substantially more AP than an entity's nominal max during a single turn.

AP Refresh: How many AP an entity regains naturally at the start of its action.

Attributes

These are the defining 'hard' characteristics of your character. Attributes are expensive but provide broad modifiers in many situations.

Physique

This is the raw physical prowess of your character while she is on her own two feet, governing everything from strength, agility, endurance, athleticism and general toughness. Physique tends to be the most immediately obvious thing about a person, as a good physique can be easily recognized in someone who is well-built and fit looking.

Perception

Perception is an individual’s ability to notice things around them, both in the literal sense of using one’s five (or more) senses and in the figurative sense of having an ‘eye for detail’. Perceptive characters will often also do well at fine, delicate work that requires substantial concentration.

Intellect

Intellect is the rational, problem-solving part of an individual’s mind and thus is a broad measure of ‘brainpower’ and memory. A strong intellect makes solving puzzles and planning strategems easy and is an all-round asset in the 22nd century galaxy.

Wits

The ability to think quickly on one’s feet is important, both in taking fire on the internet and taking fire on the battlefield. Witty characters will rarely be caught flat-footed and will jump into action quickly when situations shift.

Charisma

Charisma measures the likeability of your character in several ways. Although few player characters are anything but superior in physical attractiveness, those with high Charisma do tend to be the coolest or hottest.

Edge

Edge is that undefinable something that allows individuals to do incredible things that seem barely possible in hindsight. Perhaps it is adrenaline rush, perhaps an overclocked nervous system, perhaps just luck or simple narrative priority. No matter how you

Skills

Skills are things your character has learned how to do. Swordsmanship, hyperspatial navigation, accounting, monster ranching; all are skills. Skills are broken down into the attribute they are most commonly associated with.
Skills are more narrow than attributes but are cheaper and easier to acquire.
Skills are furthermore subdivided into three types; Normal, Difficult (D) and Very Difficult (VD). The penalties for unskilled used in these become progressively higher and the CP cost likewise increases. Note that the position of skills in these three ranks is fluid; some campaigns or character archetypes may adjust where various skills sit. Additionally, see 'Core Skills' under the Reality Distortion Levels section.

Physique

Athletics

Brawl/Martial Arts

Melee

Endurance

Zero-G

Stealth

Perception

Firearms

Legerdemain

Drive

Pilot (D); this skill covers conventional joystick-and-footpedal piloting schemes.

Gunnery (D); this skill covers the use of weapons on mecha and fightercraft that require both a keen eye and twitch reflexes.

Awareness

Investigation

Intellect

Academics (Field) (VD)

Bureaucracy

Programming; this skill deals with complex programming and infosecurity tasks.

Engineering (Field) (VD)

Medicine (D)

Strategy (D)

Security; this skill deals with mundane security systems, both setting them up and avoiding them.

Artillery (D); this skill covers large fixed weapons that use computerized targeting systems, exemplified by the batteries on warships or heavyweight missiles.

Remote Operation (D); this skill covers the operation of remotely-piloted craft, ranging from recon drones to mobile dolls. The maximum skill level (Pilot, Gunnery) usable via remote operations is 2x the Remote Operations skill level. Remote Operation can also replace Pilot.

Electronic Warfare (D)

Helmsman (D)

Law

Wits

Mecha Fighting; this skill covers mecha-scale melee and unarmed.

Savoir-Faire

Intimidation

Tactics

Neural Interfacing (D); this skill acts similar to Remote Operation, except it covers mecha piloted via direct neural interfaces.

Scrounging

Fast-Talk

Business

Charisma

Red Tape

Interrogation

Subterfuge

Persuation

Politics (VD)

Command

Etiquette

Performance (Field) (VD)

Coordinate

General

Specialty [Name]: ‘Specialty’ is a catch-all term used for any relatively rare, unusual or otherwise irregular skills that do not fall into the ones above.

Derived Values

The following stats are derived from a character's Attributes and Skills.

Action Points

This will need to get tweaked.

AP Max: Wits

AP Refresh: Wits + Physique?

Status

Status is a measure of social 'pull' a character has. At lower levels it mostly represents those who know the character directly whereas at increasing levels it starts to be more about those who know the character at a distance or by reputation. At the highest levels a character is a genuine celebrity of some sort.
There are three types of Statuses:

Fame

Fame is both the easiest and most transient status to have and is typically the result of things the character has or continues to do - fame as an actor, or artist, or musician, or reporter, as examples. People will often be attracted to someone with Fame and will often do favors for them, but it is difficult to leverage Fame on its own for truly substantial results.

Authority

Authority tends to flow out of a character's position - for example a government position, or the head of a research unit. People will defer more readily to someone with Authority, but likewise those with Authority are expected to take responsibility. As well, Authority tends to vanish once a character leaves a position.

Rank

Rank is more or less the military equivalent to Authority, however it is something that travels with the character - a Colonel is a Colonel even if they aren't currently leading an army unit. Unfortunately it comes with the heaviest expectation and is far less useful outside of the specific military where it is earned, and can even be a hinderance.

Resolution Rules

Fundamentals

Sphere RPG uses Attribute + Skill + Situational Modifier + 2D10 for most tests.

Typical modifiers

Very Difficult task:

Particularly Difficult task:

Easy task:

Very Easy/routine task:

Distraction:

Appropriate paraphernalia/equipment:

Rule of 1s
If a 1 is rolled on either of the dice, the static bonus is halved. If both dice are 1s, the action automatically fails, probably in an embarassing and potentially dangerous fashion.

Rule of 10
Rolling a 10 grants an additional D10 roll, added to the total. This may stack indefinately. Note that the Rule of 1 does not apply to any bonus dice.

Combat Flow

Initiative Step (rolled at start of combat or when an entity attempts to Take Initiative)
1) Roll initiative (physique + wits + 2D10)

Proceed in order.

Actions may be held to interrupt any subsequent action, but must be declared before the action in question is resolved.

Tactics roll can be used to give a bonus (figure out how to determine) to all friendlies

Action Steps (cycles through entity by entity)
2) Recover AP (Action Points)

All entities recover a certain amount of AP a turn.

Additional AP may be gained by some actions (jump out of ambush, etc)

3) Take action by spending AP (example below: shooting!)

Shooting is done with the appropriate Skill + Stat bonus, with further modifiers derived from situational modifiers.

Weapon power is reduced by armor

Any excess is compared to the target's thresholds to determine wound level, shock effect, etc.

Armor Piercing is soaked by Hardened Armor; Hardened Armor wil not soak standard attacks.

Shooting is done with the standard Stat x skill pool, with further modifiers derived from situational modifiers.

Shooting target number is the target's Athletics (assuming human target)

Most common is cover (passive evasion), which depends on how much 'stuff' there is to hide behind

Other modifiers can include stealth (imposes penalties, reduced by sensors) and advanced targeting (provides bonuses, reduced by ECM)

Burst adds dice

Accurate reduces difficulty

4) Defensive action (dodge against shooting)

Dodging is done by Physique x Athletics

Every success cancels one attacker's success

Protection Steps
5) All attacks that hit ablate 1 or more PP (Protection Point). An entity with 0 PP before the attack goes to Damage Steps instead.

Weapons with Threat ablate additional PP

Sniper weapons ignore PP entirely

Damage Steps
6) Determine damage target

Damage target is (Armor - Armor Piercing)

Weapons with Precise get a +1 Armor Piercing modifer for every success above 1 that they score on the to-hit roll.

7) Roll damage

Roll weapon's Power dice against Durability, every success inflicts 1 LP (Life Point) of damage.

Weapons with Enhanced Damage roll an additional +1 dice per if they inflict at least 1 LP.

8) Figure out how big your dice pool penalties are now?

AP actions include:

Shooting/Fighting

AP cost is defined for each item/mode.

Moving

Misc actions Doing Things

Wounding

Weapons attack with their Impact value, which is their physical ability to inflict damage. If the weapon exceeds the defender's summed resistance threshold it inflicts a wound. Higher thresholds may result in more severe effects, such as instant death (literally or functionally for combat purposes).

Entities with Stamina also need to roll the Shock value of the weapon against their Shock Resistance - Success means that the individual continues to fight. Failure means that they slide into unconsciousness or combat ineffectiveness as their body goes into shock. Characters in this state are incapacitated for combat, though hardly dead - they may still be conscious of their surroundings and even if not, modern battlefield medicine can keep almost anyone alive so long as their brain remains intact.

Being in a fight is not a static experience though; with adrenaline released into the bloodstream, humans can perform physical tasks better, react more quickly and resist pain. As a result, every point of Adrenaline a character has provides the following bonuses, to a maximum of double the base value:

+1 Shock Resistance

+1 to any perception or physical actions that involve major movement (running, spotting enemies, etc)

-1 to any any actions that require concentration or fine motion (hacking a control cortex, running a bypass, etc)

Events that modify a character's Adrenaline are as follows:

Gunfire (first time): +2

Getting hit (first time): +2

Taking a wound (first time): +4

Taking additional wounds: +1/per

Calming exercises: -1

Lull in fighting: -1 to -5

If a character ever has Wounds higher than their Shock Resistance, they automatically pass out.

Using Edge

Edge can be used in several ways to gain an advantage. No matter which is used, only one may be used per turn. Unless otherwise noted, all of these use one point of Edge.

1) Edge can be used to add Willpower dice to any roll. This must be declared before the dice are rolled.

2) Edge can be used to add one automatic success on any roll or remove one hostile success from a roll directly affecting the character. This can be done after the roll is made.

3) Refresh the character's AP pool by their usual amount.

4) Survive any otherwise lethal attack. This consumes one point of permanent Edge.

Recovering Edge
Edge recovers naturally every time the character rests, one point per full night's sleep (or the equivalent). Characters can be assumed to recover all Edge at the end or start of a story arc. Additionally, Edge can be recovered during gameplay via several methods.

1) The simplest is to deliberately flub a roll - the character can announce that Murphy has struck and a successuful roll they have just done instead fails, regaining one Edge. Alternatively, they can state that a roleplaying situation goes poorly (such as having their cargo temporarily impounded). GMs should not let players abuse this on otherwise irrelevant rolls or situations, likewise it should not be taken as license to punish players, merely inconvenience them.

2) Whenever a character achieves some significant personal milestone or success, they can roll Willpower and for every 6+, recover one point of Edge, minimum of one.

Weapon Tags

Burst X: Weapon fires multiple shots in rapid succession, adding +X to dice for to-hit rolls.

Weapons with multiple settings may record them as Burst +X (+Y diff), in which case using the burst mode increases the target number.

Threat X: Threatening weapons may ablate additional PP; roll XD and for every 6+ ablate an additional PP.

Suppress: Weapon can be used effectively for suppression, in which case the firer can opt to reduce the to-hit pool by X, gaining Threat X.

Damage and Survival

Hitting with a weapon requires at least one success; bare-handed attacks, melee weapons and ranged weapons with Precise add one dice to their damage roll for every additional success scored on the to-hit roll. Attempts to dodge, parry or otherwise avoid the attack eliminate successes on a 1:1 ratio.

Speeds and Ranges

Simple Ranges

Since in reality a battlefield is not a perfectly flat shooting gallery, GMs and players are encouraged to use the Simple Range system. This abstracts away hard numbers for ranges, instead going by 'range bands'. This makes it more suited for rapid, cinematic combat.

The range bands are as follows:

Point-Blank

Very Close

Close

Near Medium

Medium

Far Medium

Long

Very Long

Extreme

Scaling

The size difference between a 180 centimer, 85 kilogram human and a 15 meter, 60 ton mecha is immense. To ease play, the process of Scaling is used.
In essence, Scaling splits several objects into one of several broad scales, based on size. Within each scale all combat or other resolutions occur as per usual. This is to keep dice pools and general gameplay manageable, and each scale thus generally represents a normal 'mode' of play. The two most common examples are Characters (x1) and Mecha (x10).
Scaling comes into effect when cross-scale resolution occurs. As a rule, in a conflict between a smaller scale and a larger scale, the smaller one will be more accurate and more dificult to hit, while the larger one will inflict more damage and be tougher. All scale effects are reversible; thus a man shooting at a tank has a -3 difficulty modifier (making it an easy attack) but the man will likely need 30 or 40 successes to penetrate its armor (effectively impossible with a rifle or equivalent). Said tank would have a +3 difficulty using its main gun (making it a quite difficult shot) but will inflict 10 successes for every one rolled - seek cover!
Note that scaling is essentially a game simplification to keep book-keeping down. It should not be taken to mean that a tank gun is literally only ten times the strength of a rifle, just that it is much more powerful.

Medium Scale

Medium Scale is the default character scale.

Most interactions dealing with individuals or a handful of people are at this scale.

Convince one person.

Run a boutique.

Large Scale

Large Scale is used for particularly hefty pieces of hardware that are still broadly 'people-sized'; military power armor, autocannon rifles, etc.

+1 to-hit penalty

-1 Penetration bonus

+1 Armor Rating bonus

x2 strength and protection bonus

Coordinate a platoon of soldiers

Run a small office.

x5 Scale

x5 Scale is sometimes used for small but agile vehicles such as 'heavy gear' equivalents.

+2 to-hit penalty

-2 Penetration bonus

+2 Armor Rating bonus

x5 strength and protection bonus

Command a ship

Repair a mecha

x10 Scale

x10 Scale is the scale of most large vehicles from trucks to tanks to mecha to spaceships.

+3 to-hit penalty

-5 Penetration bonus

+5 Armor Rating bonus

x10 strength and protection bonus

Repair a warship

Plan an invasion

x100 Scale

This scale is where truly nation-scale effects come into play.

Get elected ZOCU Chairman

Convince 20% of the voting populace that the sitting President is a crypto-religious foreign national

Group Combat

Flowchart.jpg

While in many cases individuals (be they people or fighter jets) are resolved seperately, in some situations it makes more sense to ok got mega distracted. Point form mode:

Simple mode

+1 dice per member in the unit

every sux adds +1 attack with base stats.

Every sux after all members get their attack provides usual bonuses to ALL attacks.

Leadership/Tactics provides a limit somehow

Added things:

Scaling bonus so highly skilled groups get more dice

Does this even make sense?

Sphere RPG disused elements