Newb question

[Chaot]

I'm agnostic on it. I can see how they would enrich the game, but don't have much call for them myself. Then there's the issue of weighing flaws and merits in regards to how much use they actually receive in game. For things like this, I would want something more akin to Aspects from Fate, facets of the character that can both be beneficial and a hinderance and help generate story.

Figuring out how to marry aspects to brp is on my wishlist, but something that I've spent about zero brain space on though.

[rogerd]

Aspects from Fate, facets of the character that can both be beneficial and a hinderance and help generate story.

Isn't that in the Dresden RPG?

As I have both books but never really figured out exactly WTF it actually was though.

[SDLeary]

Isn't that in the Dresden RPG?

As I have both books but never really figured out exactly WTF it actually was though.

Yup, its in there. Dresden is essentially FATE 3.x.

SDLeary

[rogerd]

Yup, its in there. Dresden is essentially FATE 3.x.

SDLeary

As we wre discussing how they would work in relation to CoC - what are they? What part do they play in FATE?

[rogerd]

I've put some thought into what we were discussing about merits/traits etc.

So I've put together a small list, by no means exhaustive, but to show what I had in mind. Some of the merits are obviously taken from D20 Cthulhu.

Examples below:

Techniques

Arrow Cutting, Avoidance, Battle Equation, Battle Fury, Blind-fight etc

Merits

Acrobatic, Alertness, Ambidextrous, Animal Affinity, Athletic, Cautious, Combat Casting, Cleave, Endurance, Far-Shot, Gear head, Iron Will, Juggernaut, Lightning Reflexes,

Traits

Insight, Life-giver, Power-blow, Reincarnation, Shatter the Mind, Siren’s Voice, True Sight, Tireless, Unseen Sense, Vengeful Soul

Psychic

Astral Projection, Enhanced Senses, ESP, Pyrokinesis, Second Sight

Spells

Lightning Strike, Shrivelling

Edited May 28, 2012 by rogerd

[rust]

I do not know the definitions of the merits you listed, but it seems that some of them

(e.g. Alertness) could just as well be handled by bonuses to already existing skills. In

such cases I would find it easier to grant an increase of the skill level instead of intro-

ducing a merit as an additional game mechanics element. Merits I would prefer to use

only for special abilities which cannot be covered by one of the general skills (e.g. Am-

bidextrous).

[Mankcam]

In my own homebrew Abilities rules, I tried to steer clear of the Abilities simply granting a bonus to skills, as I thought this could make the beginning characters too powerful as well as ruining the thrill of making skill checks. I tried to keep as many things as narrative as possible, such as Abilities that could widen the scope of skills or characteristic rolls, reduce situational modifiers, or Abilities that granted additional traits (ie: Ambidextrous is a good example of the later).

I also had what I called 'Specialties' which I based off the Martial Arts model. With Martial Arts, if you roll under your Fist or Kick, and if it is also under your Martial Arts skill, then you do double damage. I broadened this concept to be 'if you roll under your skill and it is also under your Specialty then you receive a Special Success or some other Special Effect'. Given the fact that Specialties are trainable (at a slower rate however, +1D3% per Exp Check), it means that you can increase your chance of Special Success with particular skills, making them quite potent traits for experienced characters.

Two examples of Specialties from my home rules:

*Fire Elementalist - If a caster is successful in casting a spell which involves a fire trapping and the roll is also under their Fire Sphere Speciality then they have achieved a special success with that spell.

*Florentine Fighter - When fighting with two blades, if the character additionally rolls under their Florentine skill when they make a successful Sword attack then they receive an immediate additional weapon effect (attack or parry) within that same DEX rank.

Just some ideas on how Abilities/Disadvantages can be used a little differently. I agree that if Merits/Flaws are just used to modify skill % then it's not much point really. Anyway, food for thought...

Edited May 28, 2012 by Mankcam

[Chaot]

Liking the breakdowns and ideas.

As we wre discussing how they would work in relation to CoC - what are they? What part do they play in FATE?

In very general terms they are descriptions of the character. When they are referenced in play they can give bonuses or penalties. The mechanic revolves around fate points that, from my understanding, generally flow pretty fast in play.

A player references their aspect, spends a fate point, and gets a bonus. A player references their aspect in a negative way, creates a complication, and gets a fate point to use later. The gamemaster references the PC's aspect in a negative way, creates a complication, and gives the player a fate point to use later.

I think an approach like this can fold nicely into a merit and flaw type system, and compliments, for example, Mankcam's approach to it.