Talk:Mano a Mano

To-do for pre-testing version 2008

• The make an item example/tutorial needs to be updated.
• The Character Generation example needs to be updated.
  • Start with a copy of the template and modify it into a character instead of copying the template to a character sheet.
  • We need at least one example of Modre having build variation.
• The Combat example/tutorial needs to be updated.
• We need separate examples for the following (some are much simpler than others):
  • Improving abilities in Character Development/Developing Abilities
  • Improving health in Character Development/Build Development
  • Improving power in Character Development/Build Development
  • Improving agility in Character Development/Build Development
  • Improving speed in Character Development/Build Development
  • A character modifying a character in Character Development/Manufacturing and Modification (There is already an example of a character making a character there)
• Once this is the last item on this to-do list, extensive proofreading needs to be done on the whole system, and this will probably include inserting dozens of very-minor examples throughout.

Mechanical vs. Organic Characters

Being a mechanical character is an ability with a special CP of 0, no levels and no modifiers. A mechanical character does not heal, but can be repaired using craftsmanship and abilities which allow characters to modify mechanical characters. Mechanical characters can be repaired more quickly than an organic character heals. 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.

There is a question as to weather or not the characteristic of being organic vs. being mechanical should have a Character Point value. For the time being we are just trying to balance out the advantages so that this characteristic is character-point neutral.

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.

Do mechanical characters recover from stun like normal characters? I would lean toward "yes" as there are lots of temporary mechanical problems even a simple machine can work out itself, especially autonomous and semi-autonomous robots with redundant systems (NASA probes often recover themselves after the ground crew writes them off as down for the count, and they usually have minor problems which require adjustment and slow down the mission but don't cause lasting damage.)

Combat Abilities

Currently we only have two kinds of combat abilities:

Weapon Proficiency

Abilities which modify combat modifiers are weapon proficiencies, because you have one combat modifier per weapon. Weapon Proficiencies can be as specific as a single weapon or as broad as you like (you could have a weapon proficiency which applies to all weapons) but they apply to any use of the weapon's combat modifier.

Athletic Abilities

Athletic abilities improve your health, allowing you to fight longer even when you get hurt. Your best two athletic abilities affect your health, and it doesn't really matter which athletic abilities they are.

The most obvious thing missing is abilities that affect how you fight with a given weapon - abilities which give you an advantage to using certain classes of actions over others. For example experience competing in wrestling might improve your grappling more than it improves your striking ability. How would these abilities work? Would they add another column to the equipment list, or would they give you special modifiers (like the Grp, Atk, Par modifiers.) or would they be added directly to combat rolls? Would we have some combat modifiers be independent of the equipment list, and not affected by which weapon you use?

Limitations

We need to expand the coverage of limitations. Mostly these are setting/game design decisions that affect character creation and development.

• Template limitations not currently on the template:
  • Sexes (based on template? Should templates have a "sexes" property?)
  • Age limits (minimum age described by template, maximum age limits)
  • natural abilities: I removed the following text from game design/templates/abilities: "If the ability cannot be improved by exercise or experience or can only be improved to a certain level, the ability should have a limit (Lim). This limit is the maximum number of ability levels a character of this template can develop in this ability." It seems like there are some circumstances where it would be appropriate to have this limit, for example a character might be a robot which cannot be trained to do tasks it has not already been programmed to do.
• CP Allowance
  • How much CP for heroic characters?
  • How much CP for super-heroic characters?
• Equipment
  • starting equipment (character creation)
  • shopping (character development)
• PCs vs. NPCs
  • templates
  • occupations
  • abilities?
  • equipment
• Character ability level limits?
  • character creation
  • training
  • occupation-limited abilities?

The rest are GM-preference/style/playability/best-practices limitations:

• Maimed characters/missing limbs - the rules currently say you need the GM's permission.
• Disabilities
  • A game should allow no disabilities beyond those built into the templates, or at least have limitations like one disability per character, no more than -1000 CP of disabilities, and only those disabilities that have unavoidable consequences.
  • A game with a GM may have a bigger disability list because he GM can moderate the role-playing of those disabilities. Players need the GM's permission to give characters disabilities beyond template disabilities. The GM may have stricter limitations than the game requires, not allow some disabilities, or decide on a case-by-case basis.

Ability Checks in Combat

At times a GM might ask players to perform an ability check during a round of combat. My opinion is that players should not add their ability bonus to the check unless they specifically have established that they are using the ability. If the check is called before the player's turn and the player stated the use of the ability before the beginning of combat. The player would be allowed to add their ability bonus. If the check is called after the player's turn then the player would not be allowed to add their ability bonus the unless they specifically use at least a quick action to use the ability. --ulrich 11:00, 2005 Jul 2 (CEST)

A classic example is watching out for traps during combat. If the traps are so well hidden that an ability roll is required, at least one of the PCs should spend a whole turn looking for traps instead of fighting. If the story requires the characters to fall into a trap, it should be impossible to find (or impossible to avoid if you do find it.) If this is not a good time in the story for the characters to fall into a trap, or if the characters have been specifically looking for traps as they go along, it doesn't make sense to ask them to make routine checks for traps. --SerpLord 15:17, 8 December 2005 (CET)