RPGnet - User contributions [en]

Talk:Mano a Mano

2008-06-04T01:41:30Z

128.208.250.171: /* Character Points */

==Proof-reading version 2008==

Remove sections from the following list if they have been proofread since 1 January 2008. Add sections if they have been significantly changed since their last proofreading and need to be proofread again.

* Game Design
** [[Mano a Mano:Abilities|Abilities]]: How good is this list? To what degree should a game need to customize it?
*** Movement Abilities
*** Combat Abilities
*** Stealth and Detection Abilities
*** Transportation Abilities
*** Communication Abilities
*** Other Abilities
*** Disabilities
** [[Mano a Mano:Equipment|Equipment]]: Make sure these lists are up to date and make sense. The new example template (human) should give us a solid point of reference.
*** Equipment Lists
*** Equipment CP
*** Armor - example armor list
*** Hand Weapons - example hand to hand weapon
*** Missile Weapons - example long range weapon list
* [[Mano a Mano:Character Creation|Character Creation]]
** Description
** Build
** Character Abilities
** Choosing Occupations
** Character Equipment
** Encumbrance and Movement
** Extra CP
** Make a Character - Character Generation Example
*** Choose the Type of Character You Want to Make
*** Dimensions, Modifiers and Abilities from the Template
*** Natural Weapons
*** Use the Remaining CP to Customize the Character
*** Occupation and Equipment
*** Movement, Encumbrance and Toughness
* [[Mano a Mano:Action|Action]]
** Damage
*** Armor
*** Stun, Damage and Toughness
** Rounds
** Movement
** List of Actions
*** Hand to Hand Attacks
*** Thrown Weapon Attacks
*** Archery and Marksmanship Actions
*** Grappling Actions
*** Other Actions
** Attacking
** Grappling
** Archery and Marksmanship
** Stance and Position
** Mounted Combat
** Combat Example
* Character Development
** [[Mano a Mano:Manufacturing and Modification|Manufacturing and Modification]]
*** Maximum CP
*** Surgery
*** Make an Item - Equipment Generation Example
*** Modify Weapon Example
*** Artificial Character Example
*** Character Modification Example

==Mano a Mano 2009==

===Qualities===

* characters and equipment have qualities
* qualities are "on or off": you have it or you don't, they don't have levels
* "flight" will be split into a quality which allows you to fly and an ability which determines your air movement. A character cannot have the "flight" quality unless his template has it or the setting specifically allows it. For example a superhero game might allow characters of any template to have the flight quality.

===Replace reach with range===

* range is measured in whole meters, like movement
* range is a special modifier
* most natural weapons and hand weapons have no range
* small amounts of reach which make a big difference in combat are reflected by higher agility or combat abilities

===Character Points===

* Remove all CP pools except for Template CP and Total CP
* CP will be "spent" like money
* during template and character generation CP can be tallied on scratch paper
* simpler CP rules will make it easier to calculate CP
* experience - whether measured in CP or smaller units - will not be on the character sheet
* CP scales should be linear
* Maximum speed, agility, power, toughness and ability levels are campaign-dependent in the same way that CP levels are campaign dependent. Ordinary people and starting characters might have a budget of 300 CP and maximum abilities 2 levels higher than their templates (i.e. expert level.) Once the game starts and characters start gaining experience (more CP) you might have a higher level limit of 3 or even 4. In a superhero game, starting characters might have a budget of 1000 CP and maximum abilities 4 levels higher than their templates. A superhero game might also raise speed, agility, toughness and power limits. In some games you might want starting characters to have specialized elite skills (keep CP limit modest but allow 3 ability levels above template) In other games you might want characters to be able to start off with a variety of limited skills (more CP but keep 2 ability level limit.)
* Character CP
** 20 CP per agility
** 20 CP per speed
** 10 CP per ability level (naturally suited to fractional levels)
** 5 CP per power
** 3 CP per toughness
* Template CP is often higher than Character CP because template abilities, agility, speed, toughness and power increase the maximum agility, speed, toughness and power which characters can develop. We will try to avoid the "best, second best" logic of MaM 2008's manual dexterity and reach CP and not worry about "veggies": templates with no natural weapons or no speed.
** 30 CP per agility
** 30 CP per speed (if speed >= 1)
** 15 CP for 1/2 speed
** 0 CP for 0 speed
** 15 CP per ability level
** 10 CP per power
** 5 CP per toughness
** 0 CP for no variability
** 5 CP for low variability
** 10 CP for medium variability
** 15 CP for high variability
** 10 CP per hand (Hand is a quality of natural weapons. Each hand allows you to wield one weapon. Each pair of hands allows you to wield one two-handed weapon. Two-handed weapons may have a better power, parry or attack modifier because two-handed is a quality of artificial weapons with a negative CP value.)
** -20 CP if the template has only one natural weapon (sharks don't have a secondary weapon)
* Equipment CP
** 1 CP for every meter of range
** 10 CP per power
** -10 CP per heft
** 5 CP x absorption x cover
** -20 CP for 2-handed weapons
**

===Character Sheet===

* combine natural weapons and armor with equipment to form "Equipment and Natural Defenses"
* manual dexterity becomes a special modifier
* get rid of the Qty column
* change the name of "stride" to "ground movement"
* If the consequences of disabilities are easily avoided, then they should not have a negative CP value. Players need the GMs permission to add disabilities which aren't built into the game's templates. Characters should not have more than two disabilities.
* Characters can be male or female unless the template lists different options.
* Characters can be youths, adults or old people within normal size variance. To make a small child character without changing the template, reduce the mass, length, health and power to less than the template's variance suggests.

NAME ______________________ AGE ______ SEX ______ TEMPLATE __________________

OCCUPATION(S) _______________________________________________________________

Carrying Capacity _____ kg Mass / kg ABILITIES and Disabilities Mod
Equipment Mass _____ kg Length / m ___________________________ ___
Encumbrance _____ Type ___________ ___________________________ ___
Var. ___________ ___________________________ ___
Ground Movement _____ m ___________________________ ___
Water Movement _____ m Speed / ___________________________ ___
Air Movement _____ m Agility / ___________________________ ___
Climbing Movement _____ m Power / ___________________________ ___
Toughness / ___________________________ ___
Template CP Value _____ ___________________________ ___
Total CP _____ ___________________________ ___

EQUIPMENT & Nat. Def. special modifiers Mass Heft Power Shp Cmb Cvr Abs
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
Tough / 2 / 
STUN | DAMAGE
|
|
|

NAME ______________________ AGE ______ SEX ______ TEMPLATE human 

OCCUPATION(S) _______________________________________________________________

Carrying Capacity _____ kg Mass /70 kg ABILITIES and Disabilities Mod
Equipment Mass _____ kg Length /1.8 m ___________________________ ___
Encumbrance _____ Type height ___________________________ ___
Var. medium ___________________________ ___
Ground Movement _____ m ___________________________ ___
Water Movement _____ m Speed /1 ___________________________ ___
Air Movement _____ m Agility /3 ___________________________ ___
Climbing Movement _____ m Power /4 ___________________________ ___
Toughness /6 ___________________________ ___
Template CP Value 550 ___________________________ ___
Total CP _____ ___________________________ ___

EQUIPMENT & Nat. Def. special modifiers Mass Heft Power Shp Cmb Cvr Abs
1 more dextrous hand _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ B ___ ___ ___
1 less dextrous hand -1 Dex ____ ____ ___-___ B ___ ___ ___
2 feet -4 Dex ____ ____ ___-___ B ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
Tough / 2 /3
STUN | DAMAGE
|
|
|

The character sheets above inconsistent: they lack template ability modifiers and they show template CP vs. total CP in a different way from other template vs. totals. A more consistent design might look like this:

Name ______________________ Age ______ Sex ______ Template __________________

Occupation(s) _______________________________________________________________

Carrying Capacity _____ kg Mass / kg Abilities & Disabilites Mod
Equipment Mass _____ kg Length / m _______________________ / 
Encumbrance _____ Type ___________ _______________________ / 
Var. ___________ _______________________ / 
Ground Movement _____ m _______________________ / 
Water Movement _____ m Speed / _______________________ / 
Air Movement _____ m Agility / _______________________ / 
Climbing Movement _____ m Power / _______________________ / 
Toughness / _______________________ / 
Character Points / _______________________ / 
_______________________ / 

Equipment & Nat. Def. special modifiers Mass Heft Power Shp Cmb Cvr Abs
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Tough / 2 / 
STUN | DAMAGE
|
|
|

==Equipment Limitations==

How can you decide what what equipment a new character should start with?

How can a character acquire new equipment?

: This is completely and totally game dependent. What we may need is a section on "things about characters that are game dependent."

:: We have a section for things which are game dependent. It's called "game design". It even has an "equipment" section. The equipment a character should start with is also related to character creation. Mano a Mano has to do more than just say "and the game should provide rules for what equipment characters start with and how they can acquire new equipment." We already have a rule buried in the occupations system that says occupations can come with equipment. We also have an occupation example which shows characters being awarded with a certain CP-worth of equipment. And we have a system for characters to create their own equipment. We need to tie these all into character creation, development and game design. We can suggest starting occupations as a way to provide starting equipment. In addition to equipment acquired by occupations and craftsmanship, we can then suggest that a game can have other ways of finding or earning equipment. If CP-worth is one of the methods we want to suggest, then we should include that as an example.

==Quantities vs. Qualities==

Special ability CP complicates CP calculation for all abilities even though very few have special CP. Instead we could separate the "special" aspect from the "ability" aspect. The special aspect is a positive quality or advantage. The ability aspect is a quantity or degree of competence. By seperating the two we also create room for negative qualities if we want them (like being a dumb animal who can't talk instead of having a "dumbness" disability) as well as quirky qualities that may or may not have a CP value (sleeping in the day instead of at night.)

For example "flight" ability could be split into the "powered flight" quality and "flying" ability. The first gives you the ability the fly, the second affects your performance. We could have alternative qualities such as "parachuting" (you don't take falling damage but you still can't fly) "gliding" (you can fly downward) and "soaring" (you can fly without getting tired if there are thermals to provide lift.) flying ability would basically determine your horizontal speed and aerobatics when you glide, power fly or soar. (It could also determine vertical speed if you power fly.)

==Guns, Bows and Stealth==

The loud noise, flash and smoke of firearms should probably have a small negative CP value.

==Mechanical vs. Organic Characters==

;Mechanical: This ability has a special CP of 10. A mechanical character does not heal, but can be repaired using craftsmanship or abilities which allow characters to modify mechanical characters. Mechanical characters do not require surgery rolls when they are modified. Characters who do not have this ability are called organic characters. The main difference between mechanical and organic characters is how they are affected by trauma. (A very complex robot which can heal itself but can be easily destroyed by an attempted modification might not have the mechanical character ability.) Mechanical characters do not decay as quickly as organic creatures, so they can be easier to resuscitate from fatal injuries. Mechanical characters can be repaired more quickly than organic (non-mechanical) character's heal.

The CP value of being mechanical is low because of the substantial disadvantages.
Mechanical characters recover from stun like normal characters. Even a simple machine can often correct temporary mechanical problems, especially autonomous and semi-autonomous robots with redundant systems like space probes.
Should this ability have a modifier? What would it mean? Are there degrees of being mechanical?
How fast can mechanical characters be repaired? Are repairs more like modifications or like medicine/healing rolls?
If mechanical character ability had a level it might be a bonus to being repaired.

==Compact Character Sheet==

A character can be summarized by listing only a basic description, abilities and combat stats:

* name
* mass in kilograms followed by "kg"
* length in meters followed by "m"
* sex, template and occupations
* total modifier and name of each ability
* total agility followed by "Agi"
* total speed followed by "Spd"
* total toughness followed by "Tgh"
* total power followed by "Pwr"
* ground movement followed by "m ground"
* water movement followed by "m water"
* climbing movement followed by "m climb"
* air movement followed by "m air" if the character can fly
* quantity and name of each piece of equipment, natural weapon or armor. Weapons and armor (natural or equipment) have a extra stats between parentheses ("(" and ")"):
** reach followed by "m"
** sharpness ("blunt", "sharp" or "padded")
** half power followed by "-", full power and "Pwr"
** heft followed by "Hft"
** combat bonus followed by "Cmb"
** dexterity followed by "Dex" if the item is a natural weapon with manual dexterity.

;Example: Modre, 60 kg, 1.0 m, male Sabretooth Penguin Robber, 2 swimming, 3 one-handed weapons, 1 fishing, 2 craftsmanship, 4 Agi, 1 Spd, 5 Toughness, 2-4 Pwr, 2 m ground, 10 m water, 1 m climb, 3 claws and teeth (0.5 m, 4 Cmb, 2-4 Pwr, S Shp, 0 Dex), Ice Blade (1.5 m, 7 Cmb, 3-6 Pwr, S Shp)

This format might be useful for characters who will not change, but need combat stats, a few abilities and some description, such as non-player characters (NPCs) in an adventure module.

: I personally would much rather have the NPC on the other character sheet so as a GM I could use the character more easily. I am not sure that I would suggest that game designers use this as the default NPC character sheet for adventure modules.
: I am trying to imagine the adventure module so hard-pressed for page space that it necessitates all of the NPC stats being squeezed onto one or two lines of a paragraph. It would either be a very short book or have an exceptionally large number of NPCs.
:: It should not be part of the Mano a Mano rules unless we decide that it is useful, which we haven't. We'll have a better idea whether it will be useful as we start making NPCs.

==Editing Character Sheet==

If you change the character sheet format when editing any of the following, you must update the others:

* [[Mano a Mano:Character Sheet|Blank Character Sheet]]
* [[Mano a Mano:Example Template|Example Template]]
* [[Mano a Mano:Example Character|Example Character]]

Be sure you know which character sheet you are updating:

* The template creation example includes both the blank character sheet and the example template.
* The character creation example includes both the example template and the example character sheet.

Talk:Mano a Mano

2008-06-04T01:33:43Z

128.208.250.171: /* A Kinder, Gentler Mano a Mano? */

==Proof-reading version 2008==

Remove sections from the following list if they have been proofread since 1 January 2008. Add sections if they have been significantly changed since their last proofreading and need to be proofread again.

* Game Design
** [[Mano a Mano:Abilities|Abilities]]: How good is this list? To what degree should a game need to customize it?
*** Movement Abilities
*** Combat Abilities
*** Stealth and Detection Abilities
*** Transportation Abilities
*** Communication Abilities
*** Other Abilities
*** Disabilities
** [[Mano a Mano:Equipment|Equipment]]: Make sure these lists are up to date and make sense. The new example template (human) should give us a solid point of reference.
*** Equipment Lists
*** Equipment CP
*** Armor - example armor list
*** Hand Weapons - example hand to hand weapon
*** Missile Weapons - example long range weapon list
* [[Mano a Mano:Character Creation|Character Creation]]
** Description
** Build
** Character Abilities
** Choosing Occupations
** Character Equipment
** Encumbrance and Movement
** Extra CP
** Make a Character - Character Generation Example
*** Choose the Type of Character You Want to Make
*** Dimensions, Modifiers and Abilities from the Template
*** Natural Weapons
*** Use the Remaining CP to Customize the Character
*** Occupation and Equipment
*** Movement, Encumbrance and Toughness
* [[Mano a Mano:Action|Action]]
** Damage
*** Armor
*** Stun, Damage and Toughness
** Rounds
** Movement
** List of Actions
*** Hand to Hand Attacks
*** Thrown Weapon Attacks
*** Archery and Marksmanship Actions
*** Grappling Actions
*** Other Actions
** Attacking
** Grappling
** Archery and Marksmanship
** Stance and Position
** Mounted Combat
** Combat Example
* Character Development
** [[Mano a Mano:Manufacturing and Modification|Manufacturing and Modification]]
*** Maximum CP
*** Surgery
*** Make an Item - Equipment Generation Example
*** Modify Weapon Example
*** Artificial Character Example
*** Character Modification Example

==Mano a Mano 2009==

===Qualities===

* characters and equipment have qualities
* qualities are "on or off": you have it or you don't, they don't have levels
* "flight" will be split into a quality which allows you to fly and an ability which determines your air movement. A character cannot have the "flight" quality unless his template has it or the setting specifically allows it. For example a superhero game might allow characters of any template to have the flight quality.

===Replace reach with range===

* range is measured in whole meters, like movement
* range is a special modifier
* most natural weapons and hand weapons have no range
* small amounts of reach which make a big difference in combat are reflected by higher agility or combat abilities

===Character Points===

* Remove all CP pools except for Template CP and Total CP
* CP will be "spent" like money
* during template and character generation CP can be tallied on scratch paper
* simpler CP rules will make it easier to calculate CP
* experience - whether measured in CP or smaller units - will not be on the character sheet
* CP scales should be linear
* Maximum speed, agility, power, toughness and ability levels are campaign-dependent in the same way that CP levels are campaign dependent. Ordinary people and starting characters might have a budget of 300 CP and maximum abilities 2 levels higher than their templates (i.e. expert level.) Once the game starts and characters start gaining experience (more CP) you might have a higher level limit of 3 or even 4. In a superhero game, starting characters might have a budget of 1000 CP and maximum abilities 4 levels higher than their templates. A superhero game might also raise speed, agility, toughness and power limits. In some games you might want starting characters to have specialized elite skills (keep CP limit modest but allow 3 ability levels above template) In other games you might want characters to be able to start off with a variety of limited skills (more CP but keep 2 ability level limit.)
* Character CP
** 20 CP per agility
** 20 CP per speed
** 10 CP per ability level (naturally suited to fractional levels)
** 5 CP per power
** 3 CP per toughness
* Template CP is often higher than Character CP because template abilities, agility, speed, toughness and power increase the maximum agility, speed, toughness and power which characters can develop. We will try to avoid the "best, second best" logic of MaM 2008's manual dexterity and reach CP and not worry about "veggies": templates with no natural weapons or no speed.
** 30 CP per agility
** 30 CP per speed (if speed >= 1)
** 15 CP for 1/2 speed
** 0 CP for 0 speed
** 15 CP per ability level
** 10 CP per power
** 5 CP per toughness
** 10 CP per hand (Hand is a quality of natural weapons. Each hand allows you to wield one weapon. Each pair of hands allows you to wield one two-handed weapon. Two-handed weapons may have a better power, parry or attack modifier because two-handed is a quality of artificial weapons with a negative CP value.)
** -20 CP if the template has only one natural weapon (sharks don't have a secondary weapon)
* Equipment CP
** 1 CP for every meter of range
**

===Character Sheet===

* combine natural weapons and armor with equipment to form "Equipment and Natural Defenses"
* manual dexterity becomes a special modifier
* get rid of the Qty column
* change the name of "stride" to "ground movement"
* If the consequences of disabilities are easily avoided, then they should not have a negative CP value. Players need the GMs permission to add disabilities which aren't built into the game's templates. Characters should not have more than two disabilities.
* Characters can be male or female unless the template lists different options.
* Characters can be youths, adults or old people within normal size variance. To make a small child character without changing the template, reduce the mass, length, health and power to less than the template's variance suggests.

NAME ______________________ AGE ______ SEX ______ TEMPLATE __________________

OCCUPATION(S) _______________________________________________________________

Carrying Capacity _____ kg Mass / kg ABILITIES and Disabilities Mod
Equipment Mass _____ kg Length / m ___________________________ ___
Encumbrance _____ Type ___________ ___________________________ ___
Var. ___________ ___________________________ ___
Ground Movement _____ m ___________________________ ___
Water Movement _____ m Speed / ___________________________ ___
Air Movement _____ m Agility / ___________________________ ___
Climbing Movement _____ m Power / ___________________________ ___
Toughness / ___________________________ ___
Template CP Value _____ ___________________________ ___
Total CP _____ ___________________________ ___

EQUIPMENT & Nat. Def. special modifiers Mass Heft Power Shp Cmb Cvr Abs
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
Tough / 2 / 
STUN | DAMAGE
|
|
|

NAME ______________________ AGE ______ SEX ______ TEMPLATE human 

OCCUPATION(S) _______________________________________________________________

Carrying Capacity _____ kg Mass /70 kg ABILITIES and Disabilities Mod
Equipment Mass _____ kg Length /1.8 m ___________________________ ___
Encumbrance _____ Type height ___________________________ ___
Var. medium ___________________________ ___
Ground Movement _____ m ___________________________ ___
Water Movement _____ m Speed /1 ___________________________ ___
Air Movement _____ m Agility /3 ___________________________ ___
Climbing Movement _____ m Power /4 ___________________________ ___
Toughness /6 ___________________________ ___
Template CP Value 550 ___________________________ ___
Total CP _____ ___________________________ ___

EQUIPMENT & Nat. Def. special modifiers Mass Heft Power Shp Cmb Cvr Abs
1 more dextrous hand _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ B ___ ___ ___
1 less dextrous hand -1 Dex ____ ____ ___-___ B ___ ___ ___
2 feet -4 Dex ____ ____ ___-___ B ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
Tough / 2 /3
STUN | DAMAGE
|
|
|

The character sheets above inconsistent: they lack template ability modifiers and they show template CP vs. total CP in a different way from other template vs. totals. A more consistent design might look like this:

Name ______________________ Age ______ Sex ______ Template __________________

Occupation(s) _______________________________________________________________

Carrying Capacity _____ kg Mass / kg Abilities & Disabilites Mod
Equipment Mass _____ kg Length / m _______________________ / 
Encumbrance _____ Type ___________ _______________________ / 
Var. ___________ _______________________ / 
Ground Movement _____ m _______________________ / 
Water Movement _____ m Speed / _______________________ / 
Air Movement _____ m Agility / _______________________ / 
Climbing Movement _____ m Power / _______________________ / 
Toughness / _______________________ / 
Character Points / _______________________ / 
_______________________ / 

Equipment & Nat. Def. special modifiers Mass Heft Power Shp Cmb Cvr Abs
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___
_________________________ _________________ ____ ____ ___-___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Tough / 2 / 
STUN | DAMAGE
|
|
|

==Equipment Limitations==

How can you decide what what equipment a new character should start with?

How can a character acquire new equipment?

: This is completely and totally game dependent. What we may need is a section on "things about characters that are game dependent."

:: We have a section for things which are game dependent. It's called "game design". It even has an "equipment" section. The equipment a character should start with is also related to character creation. Mano a Mano has to do more than just say "and the game should provide rules for what equipment characters start with and how they can acquire new equipment." We already have a rule buried in the occupations system that says occupations can come with equipment. We also have an occupation example which shows characters being awarded with a certain CP-worth of equipment. And we have a system for characters to create their own equipment. We need to tie these all into character creation, development and game design. We can suggest starting occupations as a way to provide starting equipment. In addition to equipment acquired by occupations and craftsmanship, we can then suggest that a game can have other ways of finding or earning equipment. If CP-worth is one of the methods we want to suggest, then we should include that as an example.

==Quantities vs. Qualities==

Special ability CP complicates CP calculation for all abilities even though very few have special CP. Instead we could separate the "special" aspect from the "ability" aspect. The special aspect is a positive quality or advantage. The ability aspect is a quantity or degree of competence. By seperating the two we also create room for negative qualities if we want them (like being a dumb animal who can't talk instead of having a "dumbness" disability) as well as quirky qualities that may or may not have a CP value (sleeping in the day instead of at night.)

For example "flight" ability could be split into the "powered flight" quality and "flying" ability. The first gives you the ability the fly, the second affects your performance. We could have alternative qualities such as "parachuting" (you don't take falling damage but you still can't fly) "gliding" (you can fly downward) and "soaring" (you can fly without getting tired if there are thermals to provide lift.) flying ability would basically determine your horizontal speed and aerobatics when you glide, power fly or soar. (It could also determine vertical speed if you power fly.)

==Guns, Bows and Stealth==

The loud noise, flash and smoke of firearms should probably have a small negative CP value.

==Mechanical vs. Organic Characters==

;Mechanical: This ability has a special CP of 10. A mechanical character does not heal, but can be repaired using craftsmanship or abilities which allow characters to modify mechanical characters. Mechanical characters do not require surgery rolls when they are modified. Characters who do not have this ability are called organic characters. The main difference between mechanical and organic characters is how they are affected by trauma. (A very complex robot which can heal itself but can be easily destroyed by an attempted modification might not have the mechanical character ability.) Mechanical characters do not decay as quickly as organic creatures, so they can be easier to resuscitate from fatal injuries. Mechanical characters can be repaired more quickly than organic (non-mechanical) character's heal.

The CP value of being mechanical is low because of the substantial disadvantages.
Mechanical characters recover from stun like normal characters. Even a simple machine can often correct temporary mechanical problems, especially autonomous and semi-autonomous robots with redundant systems like space probes.
Should this ability have a modifier? What would it mean? Are there degrees of being mechanical?
How fast can mechanical characters be repaired? Are repairs more like modifications or like medicine/healing rolls?
If mechanical character ability had a level it might be a bonus to being repaired.

==Compact Character Sheet==

A character can be summarized by listing only a basic description, abilities and combat stats:

* name
* mass in kilograms followed by "kg"
* length in meters followed by "m"
* sex, template and occupations
* total modifier and name of each ability
* total agility followed by "Agi"
* total speed followed by "Spd"
* total toughness followed by "Tgh"
* total power followed by "Pwr"
* ground movement followed by "m ground"
* water movement followed by "m water"
* climbing movement followed by "m climb"
* air movement followed by "m air" if the character can fly
* quantity and name of each piece of equipment, natural weapon or armor. Weapons and armor (natural or equipment) have a extra stats between parentheses ("(" and ")"):
** reach followed by "m"
** sharpness ("blunt", "sharp" or "padded")
** half power followed by "-", full power and "Pwr"
** heft followed by "Hft"
** combat bonus followed by "Cmb"
** dexterity followed by "Dex" if the item is a natural weapon with manual dexterity.

;Example: Modre, 60 kg, 1.0 m, male Sabretooth Penguin Robber, 2 swimming, 3 one-handed weapons, 1 fishing, 2 craftsmanship, 4 Agi, 1 Spd, 5 Toughness, 2-4 Pwr, 2 m ground, 10 m water, 1 m climb, 3 claws and teeth (0.5 m, 4 Cmb, 2-4 Pwr, S Shp, 0 Dex), Ice Blade (1.5 m, 7 Cmb, 3-6 Pwr, S Shp)

This format might be useful for characters who will not change, but need combat stats, a few abilities and some description, such as non-player characters (NPCs) in an adventure module.

: I personally would much rather have the NPC on the other character sheet so as a GM I could use the character more easily. I am not sure that I would suggest that game designers use this as the default NPC character sheet for adventure modules.
: I am trying to imagine the adventure module so hard-pressed for page space that it necessitates all of the NPC stats being squeezed onto one or two lines of a paragraph. It would either be a very short book or have an exceptionally large number of NPCs.
:: It should not be part of the Mano a Mano rules unless we decide that it is useful, which we haven't. We'll have a better idea whether it will be useful as we start making NPCs.

==Editing Character Sheet==

If you change the character sheet format when editing any of the following, you must update the others:

* [[Mano a Mano:Character Sheet|Blank Character Sheet]]
* [[Mano a Mano:Example Template|Example Template]]
* [[Mano a Mano:Example Character|Example Character]]

Be sure you know which character sheet you are updating:

* The template creation example includes both the blank character sheet and the example template.
* The character creation example includes both the example template and the example character sheet.