ElementalSystem

The Elemental System

1. [Introduction]
   
2. [Character Creation]
   
   1. [Modules]
      
   2. [Fate Points]
      
      1. [Table 1: Starting Fate Points]
         
      2. [On Luck and Fate Points]
         
   3. [Statistics]
      
      1. [Table 2: Statistics]
         
      2. [On essence and substance]
         
      3. [On the Statistics]
         
   4. [Merits and Flaws]
      
      1. [Guidelines on Merits and Flaws]
         
      2. [Examples of Merits and Flaws]
         
      3. [On the elements]
         
      4. [Table 3: Relative strengths]
         
      5. [Table 4: Names and titles]
         
      6. [What an affinity means in game terms]
         
      7. [On Myths]
         
   5. [Abilities]
      

1: Introduction

2: Character Creation

1. Find out how many of the [modules] you are using for character creation. These will normally be stats, merits and flaws, and abilities: 3 modules. This is, however, up to the GM.
   
2. Determine how many starting [Fate points] you have.
   
3. Create your [statistics].
   
4. Choose [Merits and Flaws], if you are using them.
   
5. Assign [abilities], again, if you are using them.
   
6. Appearance
   

A: Modules

B: Fate Points

Table_1: Starting Fate Points

On_Luck_and_Fate_Points:

C: Statistics

Table_2: Statistics:

1. If you want to simplify the game rules, or simply to have pre-prepared NPC’s with only a little detail, use essence and substance (in bold above) as your stats. If this option is taken, you have 4 to 8 points to split between the two – if you want to roll, use a d10, divide the roll by 2 (round down), and add 3. Additional modules really do not work if you are simplifying stats this far – it is designed to allow easy NPC creation, and very free roleplaying. In the case of NPC’s, though, if they become more important to the game, more complexity can be easily added to them. This is not recommended for most characters – it requires a high level of skill as roleplayers, a great GM, and an unusual degree of trust between the players and the GM to work well.
   
   
2. For a more detailed character, use the second level of complexity. In this case, you use both substance and essence, and the six main subdivisions (in normal type above). You have 15-24  (d10 + 14) points to split between the six stats (strength, dexterity, senses, intellect, sociability, mental senses – for descriptions, see below). Your substance and essence are determined by averaging your stats – choose one to round up (the other then rounds down), depending on whether your character is more essence based (round up essence and down substance) or substance based (round up substance and down essence). To be substance based is much more common for a human being (see On Essence and Substance, below). Additional modules can be used if you use this system for stats, but it is not recommended.
   
   
3. For full stat characters, you use the full range of stats, which is done most easily by following the steps below:
   

• First, decide if your character is more of an essence-based, or substance based character (see On Essence and Substance, below).
  
• You then have 75 points to spend on buying stats. These are spent on the most detailed stats – reasoning, flair, etc. (for descriptions, see below)
  
• Intellect, strength, etc (see below), are the averages of their subsidiary stats. If you decide to be an essence based character, round up all the essence averages (intellect, sociability, mental senses), and down all the substance ones (strength, dexterity, senses). If you are more substance based, round down essence and up substance numbers.
  
• Your essence is the average of your intellect, sociability and mental senses. Your substance is the average of your strength, dexterity and stamina. Again, round up or down as appropriate to your character.
  

On_essence_and_substance:

On_the_Statistics

Intellect is a measure of how ‘clever’ you are. Or, more accurately, it is a measurement of all your mental skills. It has many aspects – some intelligent people are very quick thinking, others seem to be able to leap from one idea to another, and so on. If using just the primary stats, intellect would be used for any mental task, for example reading or writing.

Reasoning is your ability to reason, to follow a logical progression.

Flair is that intuition which allows you to jump from half formed ideas to whole ones, find patterns. More than that, also the ability to have great ideas rather than simply work from the work of others, to innovate.

Speed is quite simply, speed of thought.

Sociability is a measure of how you interact with others. If you are using just the primary stats, sociability should be used for any social interaction, like deciding if you have charmed someone into revealing some piece of information.

Persuasion is your ability to convince, persuade and sway.

Personality measures the degree to which people tend to just want to make you happy. Appearance is included in this statistic, and although a high score does not necessarily imply good looks, it is likely.

Empathy is your ability to understand others, to read their body language, and to tell what is making them tick.

Mental Senses There are 5 mental senses, just as there are 5 physical ones. If you are using primary statistics only, it is suggested that you nonetheless choose one area in which your mental senses are sharper, and one in which they are weaker. Humans tend not to have high mental senses – one or perhaps two senses at 3 or 4 is exceptional. With one or two points in the senses, erratic effects will be noticed, though they will be uncontrolled. Three to four, there is a little more control, and a degree of dependability. Five to six, they are trainable. Seven or above, things like projective thought sense, etc, become possible. These, and their training, are the basis of sorcery.

Emotion sensing is the sensing and receiving of emotions. Not just by reading feeling from body language, with an ability to understand others, which is what empathy is, but an ability to feel what another feels, or project your own emotions to another. Someone with high empathy might work out that someone is upset; someone with emotion sense will have felt it, and maybe seen why. Projecting emotion is only possible with a strong enough sense.

Thought sensing is hearing people’s thoughts, and maybe even projecting your own.

Future sense is not just a future sense, but also a past and present sense. In truth, it is the sight of things that have been and are and may yet be, though the past can only be seen by those with an unusually strong 'future' sense (6+), and the present only by thoswe who are truly exceptional (9-10).

Danger sense warns of immediate danger – the weaker your sense, the greater the danger which triggers the warning… if you start feeling bad about something… beware. The most commonly high mental sense in this era.

Spirit sense involves seeing and being able to communicate with 'spirits'. This include elemental spirits, in places where the elements are strong, and spirits as in those who have somehow burnt off all of their substance and remain, their essence intact, as 'ghosts'. This is the basis of necromancy.

Strength is a measure of how strong your character is in various ways; sheer strength, strength in the sense of endurance, and strength in the sense of recovery time. It is used for any physical action requiring force or endurance, rather than dexterity..

Endurance is how long you can go on for, stamina.

Force is what would traditionally be called strength – lifting power, or the force you can put behind a punch.

Restoration measures how fast you recover from exertion.

Dexterity is a measure of grace, co-ordination, agility, speed. Used in physical actions that require more than brute force!

Grace measures how co-ordinated your body is; that which you would be likely to use when dancing.

Agility covers how good you are at things which require small, finicky movements, like picking locks, or painting.

Speed is your speed of movement.

Physical senses are the usual five physical senses. If you are using only primary stats, it is recommended that you pick one stronger and one weaker sense, as with the mental senses. All are as you would expect.

Smell

Hearing

Touch

Taste

Sight

D: Merits and Flaws

General_guidelines_on_merits_and_flaws

• Firstly, any merit that affects a stat, can only do so under a specific, and reasonable circumstance. For example, the merit Cornered Cat adds points to flair in situations of high pressure.
  
• Most merits that affect a stat will have a x3 multiplier
  
• Merits affecting the physical senses will have a x2 multiplier
  
• 3 points of merit will add/remove one full point to/from the stat. If a player decides he doesn’t have that much then the GM should simply bear it in mind.
  
• Merits can not be used to raise a PC’s stats over 10. ((Cos I rekon its myths and ‘heroes’ that have stuff like that. Yes, I think you are right. Noone except they would))
  
• Things that affect more than one stat, have proportionately higher multipliers (see Berserk)
  

• Things that affect one ability will usually cost x2, unless it is a particularly impractical thing like artistic ability, which will cost x1
  
• 2 points of merit will add/remove one full point to/from the ability
  

• Will tend to have a x3 to x8 multiplier, depending on scarcity.
  

• Will tend to have about a x4 multiplier.
  

• Expect a x6 to x10 multiplier.
  

Examples_of_merits_and_flaws

Curiosity x3

You are curious. As a merit, this means you find out useful things, and your curiosity helps you when you are trying to learn things (bonus to speed ((Would a line at th beginning saying remember you can chabge both when and to what these apply not be ok? Yes, it probably was. Remember we have to aim this at people immeasurably stupid unfortunately ))(mental) if learning something). As a flaw, it means you stick your nose into the wrong places, with often disastrous results!!

Cornered Cat x3

If you are truly under pressure (think of a life or death moment, or something equally important to you) you add a bonus to your flair if this is a merit, or remove it if this is a flaw. Some people make intuitive leaps under pressure. Others freeze.

Musicality x1

You either have a talent for music… or you are tone deaf. Bonus/penalty to the ability ‘plays instrument’.

Self belief x4

As a flaw, you do not trust yourself to get things right. You may be slow to act, or find it hard to make decisions. As a merit, you are confident; you can pull things off just because you believe in yourself. You may also receive a bonus or penalty to persuasion if your audience is hostile.

Betrothal x3

You are engaged to be married. This may mean you have a happy betrothed ((possibly just don’t like the use of an verb being used as a noun despite the factt hat this one can be)) somewhere who will help you out, it may mean you are a happier, more stable person. Or it may mean your family is trying to pressure you into a marriage you hate…

Confidence x3

You are either annoyingly cocky, or people tend to feel calmer when you are in charge. This is a bonus or penalty to personality in close group situations.

Fame x5

You are known! As a merit, people go out of their way to help you; as a flaw, they might flock around and refuse to leave you alone, or you might be infamous, so that people will try and hinder you!

Lifestyle x4

As a flaw, you are suited for one lifestyle, and one only. You will never truly fit in anywhere else, and will always be at a disadvantage in understanding other cultures and ways of being. As a merit, you soak up other customs like a sponge, and can learn to think just like a native of a completely different culture with facility.

Loyalty x4

As a merit, you have a loyalty to a cause or person. It keeps you secure from some temptations, and you will receive some admiration for your steadfastness even from those who disagree with you. As a flaw, your loyalties are divided, you support two contradictory causes, or your loyalty is to something people hate.

Obligation x5

You should have 2pts of this merit/flaw per major obligation – to you if it is a merit, or by you if it is a flaw. It might be a vow, a favour owed, or a duty.

Rank x4

You might be a noble, you might be a king. You might be an indentured bondsman, or you might be a slave. This is what rank is. A slave would be –10, a foreigner might be –2, a king might be +10.

Riches x8

You are rich. Or poor. A person with a riches score of –10 is slave. Riches 0 would be bare necessities. Riches 1 means an adventurer has the essentials of life, including a weapon (though not a good one!). Riches 10 would be the king of a reasonably sized and affluent country

Sought x5

Someone is looking for you. This might be to give you a fortune you have inherited. Or it might be to clap you in a dungeon…

Animal affinity x2

Animals like you, or hate you. Bonuses/penalties to abilities like riding or hawking.

Elemental affinity x7

You have an affinity for one of the elements. See the section ‘On the Elements’, below.

Flair for necromancy x10

You have a flair for the nastier side of sorcery – or an ineptitude. If a flair, you are a nassty piece of work. An ineptitude might just be chance, or it might be a subconcious or even concious refusal to be that nasty…!

Flair for sorcery x9

You have a talent for sorcery. All abilities pertaining to sorcery get a bonus from this skill, as do your mental senses beyond their training, when engaged in sorcery. Alternatively you are inept, and whatever you try is likely to go wrong – you will misremember things, mispronounce them, and generally mess  them up!

Luck x10

You’ve read the section on luck? Well, here it is. Bear in mind that a x2 luck bonus or penalty is exceptional. x1 is enough that only some thieves would have it. It can be a boon or  bane…

Vocation x8

As a merit, you have a call from a god, and you follow it. He/she/it watches over you, and guides you. You get a +1 luck bonus for every three points of this merit. You also receive a bonus to rituals of your religion, and to theology. GM’s: their god is likely to call on them… As a flaw, you might have a call from a god that you are ignoring. This would be a 2 or 3 point flaw. You would get a –1 general luck penalty for each 3 points of flaw, but a bonus to rituals and theoogy, and if you are serving the god, you will not get the luck penalty. The flaw in this case is mostly social – noone trusts the world around you to be a safe enough place to be! Or, you might have two gods quarreling over you, or your god might be evil. Up to you... Noone with any vocation can ever be a necromancer – their god would kill them first, even if he is evil. They will also never make good sorcerers. Such things would not be to trust their god ((rephrasing)) to protect them, and are meddling in the affairs of the gods.

Berserk x6

If this is a merit, you receive a bonus to all your strength stats in combat, or a similarly confrontational situation. If it is a flaw, in the same situations, you have a penalty to all your dexterity stats.

Bloody mindedness/Weak? will x3

You gain a bonus or penalty to your endurance in situations where people expect you to fail, i.e. if you reach for the sky…

Constitution x5

You are either resistant to disease and poisoning, or susceptible to it. GM’s are encouraged to remember this merit/flaw! It is important for game play – ill bet you do not fight as well even if you only have a cold!

Size x1

You might be a giant, or a dwarf, or a child. Each have their own advantages and disadvantages, and could be merits or flaws, depending on the balance between the two (hence the x1 modifier). As an example:

Child

All children receive only 50 points to buy abilities with. Also, children must cross off 25 points of their initial stats, which they will not have until they reach puberty. At that point, they will ‘regain’, or rather, gain, them.

As a merit: Your small size and apparent innocence are an advantage to you in your profession as a thief. You gain bonuses to stealth rolls, and any personality rolls involving the authorities. However, your size means you are vulnerable to those larger than you, and may be bullied. And your age means that other thieves disregard you.

As a flaw: As a noble, your size hinders you in learning useful things, like swordcraft. Your lack of strength makes you vulnerable to abuse. Your age makes people assume you know nothing. And they never let you do anything. But, it does mean you do not get sent out with the army to die, and you are pampered and cared for. And no one assumes you are spying when they catch you listening at the door…

Survival x5

You either have a feel for the things needed for survival, or you do not. This is often due to upbringing, but may be an inherent talent. You just know which plants are safe to eat, you can find something that will burn, etc, or you really have less than no idea – worse, you do not have a feel for what will happen to you if you get it wrong…!

Cat on a hot tin roof/Tortoise?, not hare x3

If you are under pressure, either you speed up (merit), due to adrenalin, and nerves, or you slow down through over-caution (flaw). Bonus/penalty to speed (physical)

Catspaws/Fumble? fingers x3

A bonus or penalty to agility under pressure. Either fear pushes you beyond yourself, or you get fingers like lead weights…

Concealment/Noticeability? x4

You are either the sort of person no one notices, or the sort of person that everyone does. Receive bonuses or penalties to anything that requires you to be hidden, or to be noticed, as appropriate.

Stealth x2

You have a talent for being sneaky, or you are too direct to make a good scout. Bonuses to hiding, and silent movement.

Eagle eyes/Blind? x2

As before, better or worse sight in an especial circumstance. Someone might have a penalty to sight if they are in bright light, for example.

Ears of the bat/Deaf? x2

Better or worse than normal hearing in a specific circumstance, for example hunting or spying.

Touch sensitive/Insensitive? x2

Either you have a greater or lesser sense of touch in some circumstance – for example, if given something sensuous, it might put you on guard, so you did not really feel it, or it might make you more sensitive than usual.

On_the_elements:

 the elemental affinities. At different levels of affinity, the elemental kin of one element are more or less advantaged compared to the elemental kin of another element when their affinities are matched in direct competition. 

Table_3: Relative strengths

Table_4: Names and titles:

What_an_affinity_means_in_game_terms

On_Myths (GM)

E: Abilities

• NOTE: This is only to buy new abilities that you can justify having known before – not to improve ones you have. Once they are set, they can only be improved through roleplaying or with experience points. *
  

				not forget, you may have spent 
				fate points on merits

				a dexterity stat
				Damage is Force + weapon
				(see ‘Arms and Armour’)

				stat
				Armour is Endurance + armour
				(see ‘Arms and Armour’)

		Personality:	5				Agility:	4
		Empathy:	2				Speed:	4

		Thought:	7 (8)				Hearing:	2 (4)

	Score	Description		Score	Description

	6	Research

	4 (5)	Meditation
	9		Reading

					1	Swimming

	7 (8)	Training (Thought)
	2 (3)	Training (Future)
	2 (3)	Training (Danger)
	6 (7)	Training (Spirit)

		Not noticeable, not OTT, not even liked. But memorable.

	Description	Multiplier	Score

	Confidence	x 3	-4

	Survival	x 5	-4

		Personality:					Agility:	
		Empathy:					Speed:	

		Thought:					Hearing:	

	Score	Description		Score	Description

	Description	Multiplier	Score