Mano a Mano:Character Development
Contents
Character Development
Developing Abilities through Training and Experience
An experience point (XP) is one percent (1% or 1/100) of a character point (CP). Experience points are used to improve abilities by small increments. Characters can gain experience points from training, as a reward for completing an adventure, or from other experiences that improve their abilities. An experience point can represent an hour of intense training with experts, or three hours of relaxed training on your own.
Experience points can be given to improve a specific ability, or characters can receive flexible experience points which their players decide how to use. Experience points are added to an ability's CP. Then the ability's modifier is updated. Experience points can be added in four steps:
1. Convert the ability's CP into XP and add the new XP. The ability's XP is 100 times the abilities CP. If the ability's CP is 6, it's XP is 600. If the ability's CP is 8.5, it's XP is 850. If the ability's CP is 3.14, it's XP is 314. After finding the ability's XP, add the new XP to it.
2. Find the new ability level. A character's ability level is the difference between their personal ability modifier and their template's ability modifier. The following table shows the CP required for each ability level. If fractions of ability levels are allowed the table also shows how much CP is required for each additional fraction of an ability level.
Whole Add Add Add Ability XP 1/2 1/10 1/100 Level for each for each for each 1 100 100 XP 20 XP 2 XP 2 300 150 XP 30 XP 3 XP 3 600 200 XP 40 XP 4 XP 4 1000 250 XP 50 XP 5 XP 5 1500 300 XP 60 XP 6 XP 6 2100 350 XP 70 XP 7 XP 7 2800 400 XP 80 XP 8 XP 8 3600 550 XP 90 XP 9 XP 9 4500 500 XP 100 XP 10 XP
3. Find the new ability modifier. The new ability modifier is the character's new ability level plus their template's ability modifier.
4. Convert the ability's new XP into CP. The ability's new CP is the XP divided by 100. For example, if the new XP is 314, the new CP will be 3.14.
Examples:
- A character has an ability with 3 levels and 6.00 CP. They add 400 experience points (4.00 CP) for a total of 10.00 CP. Their ability level is now 4.
- A character has 2.00 CP in some ability. The whole number part of the ability is 1. The game allows the character to have half ability levels, so the player finds the difference between the Ability's CP and the CP of the whole number part (2.00 CP - 1.00 CP = 1.00 CP.) The next whole ability level is 2, so increasing the ability level by a fraction requires 2 experience points for every percent of fractional ability level. Increasing the ability by one half (50%) requires 2 experience points times 50 percentage points which equals 100 experience points or 1.00 CP. So the character has just enough points for ability level 1.5.
- A character uses 550 experience points to develop a new ability. The new ability's CP is 5.50. The whole number part of the new ability's level is 2 (which requires 3.00 CP while the next whole number level requires 6.00 CP.) The game allows tenths of ability levels. The difference between the ability's CP and the CP of the whole number part is 5.50 - 3.00 = 2.50 CP, or 250 experience points. The next whole ability level is 3, so the ability can be increased ten percent for every 30 (3 times 10) experience points in the difference. 8 times 30 experience points is 240, which is less than 250, so the characters new ability level is 2 and eight tenths (2.8).
- A character has an ability with 3.55 CP and is allowed to have hundredths of an ability level. The whole number part of the ability's level is 2, and the difference between the CP of that whole number part and the ability's total CP is 0.55, or 55 experience points. The character can have an extra percent of an ability level for every 3 experience points (3 is the next whole ability level.) 19 percent of an ability level would require 57 experience points, which is more than the 55 experience points available. 18 percent of an ability level would only require 54 experience points, so the character's ability level is 2.18.
Changing Occupations
While a Template has to do with the origin of the character and is a static part of the character, the character's Occupation is not permanent. As a character matures, he could easily end up with in more important Occupations related to the Occupations he has had in the past. If the character is used in a multiple campaigns or adventures, he could easily end up pursuing a wide variety of occupations throughout his lifetime.
Occupations are often unintentionally gained by a character. For example if a character is captured by enemies, his Occupation could become "prisoner" in contrast to his player's intentions.
Occupations are often development goals for a character. For example a character may want to join a "town guard" to have better access to weapons for defeating a public enemy, and successfully changing his occupation to "town guard" could be a significant accomplishment for that character.
Inventory Management or Acquiring and Losing Equipment
(See also Character Equipment)
Making Equipment
Manufacturing and Modification
Some abilities can be used to create or modify items or even other characters. Characters created by other characters are called artificial characters. Examples from popular fiction include the monster created by Dr. Frankenstein, and Robby the Robot created by Dr. Morbius. Craftsmanship ability can be used to create armor and weapons from an equipment list, to modify armor and weapons, or to create new items designed by a player or GM. (See Game Design/Abilities/Craftsmanship.) A game might also have more high tech or fantastic abilities, like a "robotics" ability that allows you to build a lunar rover robot, or modify such a robot by mounting a gun to it.
Maximum CP
To find the maximum CP of the item or character being modified, first add the ability used to a modifier based on the amount of time spent working on it:
| modifier | time |
|---|---|
| -4 | an hour |
| -3 | a few hours |
| -2 | a day |
| -1 | a few days |
| 0 | a week |
| +1 | a couple of weeks |
| +2 | a month |
| +3 | a few months |
| +4 | a year |
Then add a circumstance modifier:
| modifier | examples |
|---|---|
| -4 | poor quality tools and a culture which has taboos against making this item |
| -2 | poor quality tools or a culture which has taboos against making this item |
| 0 | circumstances do not significantly help or hinder the work |
| +2 | state of the art tools or a culture which has specialized in making this item |
| +4 | state of the art tools and a culture which has specialized in making this item |
Finally, multiply the result by a technology CP rating. Many games only need a single technology CP value, but technology CP can vary between cultures and even between different kinds of technology.
| technology CP | example |
|---|---|
| 10 | stone age |
| 20 | ancient |
| 50 | industrial |
| 100 | modern |
| 200 | futuristic |
The result is the maximum total CP which a newly created weapon or character can have. It is also the maximum total CP which a character or weapon can have after modification.
Surgery
Modifying organic characters requires surgery.
When a character performs surgery, a success roll is required. The surgeon's medicine ability is used for the success roll. Superficial operations like cutting hair or sharpening claws, which only affect non-living tissue, do not require a roll. Surgery which does not directly affect vital organs has a difficulty between 0 and 10. Surgery which affects vital organs or involves other major changes has a difficulty between 11 and 20.
If the roll succeeds, healing from the surgery only affect the character's performance for a few days. If the roll fails, the surgeon must make a second roll, identical to the first. If the surgeon succeeds on his second roll, the character must spend an extra month healing. If the second roll fails, the character dies.
| Difficulty | Type of Modification | |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | no living tissue affected (sharpening claws) | |
| 4 | no significant effect on organs, muscles or bones (implanting an explosive device.) | |
| 8 | modifications to non-vital organs (removing an appendix) | |
| 12 | significant muscle or skeleton modification (amputation, limb lengthening) | |
| 16 | modification to vital organs or peripheral nervous system (heart transplant, new limbs) | |
| 20 | major modifications involving central nervous system (add a new head and spinal column) |
Make an Item - Equipment Generation Example
We will use our Steven character from the character creation example to make a new weapon. (See Character Creation/Make a Character.) Steven has craftsmanship ability with a modifier of 2.
1. Design the weapon
We decide Steven is making a "machete". The mass of the machete is 0.5 kilograms, worth 1 CP. The machete's 5 power is worth 50 CP. The machete's 3 heft is worth -30 CP. The total CP is 21 so far. (-30 + 60 + 1 = 31.) Having no shots feature (not requiring ammunition or reloading) is worth 20 CP. We add 20 CP for the sharp feature for a final total of 61 CP. In other words, Steven wants to make this machete:
machete (81 CP, 0.5 kg, 3 heft, 5 power, sharp)
2. Find the Maximum CP We start with Steven's craftsmanship modifier (2). We subtract 1 from this because Steven is only taking a few days make the machete. We add a circumstance modifier of 1 because his culture specializes in making machetes. We multiply the result by 50 CP because Steven is in a culture that has "ancient" technology. The maximum CP is 100 CP: (2 craftsmanship ability - 1 time modifier + 1 circumstance modifier) × 50 technology CP.
3. Compare Maximum CP to the CP of the Designed Weapon
Since the maximum CP (100) is equal to or greater than the Machete's CP (61), Steven is able to make it.
Modify Weapon Example
1. Design the Modified Weapon
Steven decides to alter the shape of his machete to give it more power. Adding 2 power to the machete would add 20 to the weapon's CP value:
| Item Name | CP | Mass | Heft | Power | Features |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| machete (before) | 61 | 0.5 kg | 3 | 5 | sharp |
| machete (after) | 81 | 0.5 kg | 3 | 7 | sharp |
2. Find the Maximum CP
We start with Steven's +2 Craftsmanship modifier. We subtract to this because Steven is taking a dayto modify the machete, so that his maximum CP is now 1. We add 1 because his culture specializes in making machetes, so that his maximum CP is now 2. We multiply his maximum CP by 50 because Steven is in a culture that has "ancient" technology, so that the maximum CP is 100.
3. Compare Maximum CP to the CP of the Designed Weapon
Since the maximum CP (100) is equal to or greater than the modified machete's CP (91), Steven is able to modify the machete.
Artificial Character Example
1. Design the Character
An evil alien decides to make a synthetic clone of Steven. No new template is needed because the clone uses Modre's Human template. The clone also has the same build and abilities as Modre, so it also has the same character points: 151 CP.
2. Find Maximum CP
We start with the evil alien's +2 biotech ability modifier, so that his maximum CP so far is 2. He is only taking one day to make the clone, so we subtract one from his maximum CP leaving 1. He has no special circumstances, so we add 0 to his maximum CP. The evil alien is using futuristic technology, so we multiply his maximum CP by 500, for a total maximum CP of 500.
3. Compare Maximum CP to the CP of the Designed Character
Since the maximum CP (500) is equal to or greater than the Clone's CP (151), the evil alien is able to make the clone.
Modify Character Example
1. Design the Character
After the Clone's defeat at the hands of Modre, the evil alien decides to upgrade the clone with 729 CP worth of enhancements, so that the enhanced clone's CP value is 830.
2. Find Maximum CP
We start with the evil alien's +3 surgery ability modifier, so that his maximum CP so far is 2. He is only taking a a day to modify the clone, so we subtract 1 from his maximum CP leaving 2. He has no special circumstances, so we add 0 to his maximum CP. The evil alien is using futuristic technology, so we multiply his maximum CP by 500, for a total maximum CP of 1000.
3. Compare Maximum CP to the CP of the Designed Character
Since the maximum CP (1000) is equal to or greater than the Modified Clone's CP (830), the evil alien is able to modify the clone.
4. For non-mechanical characters, perform the surgery roll
Since the Clone is a creature of flesh and blood rather than a mechanical or robotic one, a surgery roll must be made to ensure his survival. Because the evil alien is significantly modifying the clone's physiology the difficulty of this surgery is 20. On his first roll the clone rolls a 5, for a total of 8, which is not higher than 20.
Having failed his first roll, the evil alien has to do another roll to see if the clone will even survive the modification. The clone rolls a 18, for a total of 21, barely over the 20 difficulty level. The now-enhanced clone barely survives the modification and recovers in about a month from this surgery.
Equipment CP
(See Armor and Weapon CP in the Template CP rules)
Make an Item - Equipment Generation Example
We will use our Steven character from the character creation example to make a new weapon. (See Character Creation/Make a Character.) Steven has craftsmanship ability with a modifier of 2.
1. Design the weapon
We decide Steven is making a "machete". The mass of the machete is 0.5 kilograms, worth 1 CP. The machete's 5 power is worth 50 CP. The machete's 3 heft is worth -30 CP. The total CP is 21 so far. (-30 + 60 + 1 = 31.) Having no shots feature (not requiring ammunition or reloading) is worth 20 CP. We add 20 CP for the sharp feature for a final total of 61 CP. In other words, Steven wants to make this machete:
machete (81 CP, 0.5 kg, 3 heft, 5 power, sharp)
2. Find the Maximum CP We start with Steven's craftsmanship modifier (2). We subtract 1 from this because Steven is only taking a few days make the machete. We add a circumstance modifier of 1 because his culture specializes in making machetes. We multiply the result by 50 CP because Steven is in a culture that has "ancient" technology. The maximum CP is 100 CP: (2 craftsmanship ability - 1 time modifier + 1 circumstance modifier) × 50 technology CP.
3. Compare Maximum CP to the CP of the Designed Weapon
Since the maximum CP (100) is equal to or greater than the Machete's CP (61), Steven is able to make it.
