Untitled - Index of - Free

More documents

Recommendations

Info

UPDATING THE CORE RULES The Theatrix 'Core Rules' are the basic game mechanics under which all Theatrix Settings will run We'll be extendmg the 'Core Rules' to handle the specific requtrements of each of our new Setting Books. The Theatnx system has been butlt in such a way as to allow for such extensions of the rules. wtlhoul reqUinng any alterations to the basic game The ·core Rules' always remain the same New rules for character creation, new Flowcharts for specific Skills new systems for magic, marital arts, or cyberspace net runntng. may all be added easily, using I he same game mechanics presented in thts book What we'll discuss below are some ideas for doing just that, extending the 'Core Rules' to adapt them to the Setting of your choice. SCALING If you've gone through the steps given under the 'Getting Started' sectton of thts chapter, you should now have a well detailed Setting Now you're ready to take the next step, ie Scaling the Attributes for your Chronicle You'll want to take each Attribute 1n turn and decide whether to Scale it by Range, or by Norm. You may refer to the 'Makeup and Costuming' chapter for the details of this decision. For each Attribute, you'll want to set the high '10.0' and the low 'O.O' ends of the Scale first Remember that this determines only the useful Range of your Scale Next set the normal '3 o· mark of the Scale, then fill in the rest Placing the htgh, the low. and the normal mark first. will provide you wtth anchor points by whtch to judge the rest of the Scale. You only need to specifically descnbe the 'eleven basic' whole numbered points of your Scale (the 'somethlng.O' points, ie '0.0', '1.0', '2.0', etc.) Take some care in defining these, because they'll form the 118 lbeatrix - The Core Rules basts upon which all future Attnbute comparisons are made Something.O Points Like everything else in Theatrix, description forms the basis for a Scaled Attribute's basic definitions. These descriptiOns may contatn numencal examples, such as 'can lift about 200 lbs , descnptive examples. such as 'can memonze the entirety of a large novel in a single reading', or allegorical examples, such as the Stamma of a Giant'. The numencal values associated with these descriptions correspond, very roughly, to those used for both Skills and Abilities In other words, a Strength of'6.0' aught to be capable of 'Extraordinary' feats for the Set ting, and the associated description should bear thts out The rest is left up to the Director's judgement. Example The Director of a 30's- 40's pulp adventure Setttng wants to Scale the Strength At1ribute. Since most of the characters will be fa1rly normal humans, and the Director wishes to stress the variations within that group, she decides to Scale the Trait by Range Having done some research, the Director finds that people at the time generally thought it impossible for a man to lift more than 500 lbs So the Director dectdes to use a 500 lb hft as the '10 0' mark. The low end of the Scale. at'O.O', will be used to describe the Strength of a baby The normal mark at '3.0', will describe the lifting capacity of an average man, or about 150 lbs gtve or take a few After play1ng with the numbers a lit11e, the Director ends up with the following scale ..
Setting: 30's -40's Pulp Adventure Attribute: Strength Scale: Range 10.0 -Can pull a locomotive using only his teeth. 9.0 -Strong as an oxen, could carry a horse. 8.0 -Bends bars, lifts gates. 7.0 -Could tear a phonebook in half. 6.0 -Charles Atlas himself (historical reference). 5.0 - A thick necked man named Gunter. 4.0 -The gym teacher. 3.0 -An average Joe. 2.0 -98 lb. weakling. 1.0 -A child. 0.0 -A baby. Example Another Director is creating a Setting of traditional medieval high fantasy. The Director wants to have manticores and dragons, as well as trolls and dwarves. This time the Director is working on Scaling the Attribute of Stamina. The Director decides to Scale this Trait by Norm, because choosing a race should pretty much determine a character's Physical Attributes. Scaling by Norm will also emphasize the differences between the physical makeup of each of the fantasy races in this Setting. The Director considers her Setting, thinking about the toughest and most enduring creature in the land. The Director recalls that J.R.R. Tolkien (The Simarillion, 1977) wrote of a huge dragon that blotted out the sun when it flew. The Director likes this version of dragonkind, and figures that this will serve as the top of her Stamina Scale, at '10.0'. The Director places the smallest sprite at the bottom of the Scale, at '0.0', being the least enduring creature she can think of. The Director sets human Stamina at the normal mark of '3.0', then fills out the rest of the descriptions. The following is the final Scale ... Setting: Medieval Fantasy Attribute: Stamina Scale: Norm 10.0 -Dragon 9.0 -Titan 8.0 -Giant 7.0 - Manticore 6.0 -Troll 5.0 -Ogre 4.0 -Dwarf 3.0 -Human 2.0 -Sylph 1.0 -Faery 0.0 -Smallest Sprite SPECIFIC THEORY OF CHARACTER CREATION The creation of Main Cast roles is not a static thing in Theatrix. The Actor's role is her vehicle into your Chronicle, her experience within your world. So far, we've only described a very loose method of character creation through the 'General Theory of Character Creation' in 'Makeup and Costuming'. However, the Director may add both Templates and guidelines for the selection of Skills, Abilities, and starting Ranks, to the basic system presented. Various methods will work better with some Settings than with others. What follows is an assortment of ideas, common to character creation methods in many roleplaying games ... ¢ Description - Each Actor writes a story or biography about the persona they wish to portray. The Director then evaluates and creates the role thus described. This gives each Actor a good deal of artistic license, yet leaves the final control in the hands of the Director. ¢ Dice - Each Actor rolls dice to randomly determine the starting Ranks of her character's Traits, what sorts of Skills the character will possess, etc. The dice rolls could even be weighted towards the high Theatr-ix - The Core Rules 119
Page 2 and 3:
()eslan: David Berkman, Trav1s Eneb
Page 4 and 5:
1J [Bll f)f tf)J[1J§ c INTRODUCTIO
Page 6 and 7:
Downtime Pregaming APPLAUSE JELLYBE
Page 8 and 9:
8 Theatrix - The Core Rules
Page 10 and 11:
10 Tlleatr1x - The Core Rules
Page 12 and 13:
Chapter V- Lights ... Camera ... Ac
Page 14 and 15:
14 fheatr1x - The Core Rules
Page 16 and 17:
pretend to be this other person tha
Page 18 and 19:
¢ A league of super-powered heroes
Page 20 and 21:
20 Theatrix - The Core Rules
Page 22 and 23:
c;> her tormenting her employees wi
Page 24 and 25:
edge to their characters (which mea
Page 26 and 27:
Sequence that they're dreammg. The
Page 28 and 29:
28 lhfl'ah1x -The Core Rules
Page 30 and 31:
edge represented by that number may
Page 32 and 33:
Books If you're creating your own g
Page 34 and 35:
Coordmation is Important in fightin
Page 36 and 37:
¢ A character who can ignite herse
Page 38 and 39:
Example Skills The following page c
Page 40 and 41:
Personality Trait Activation In add
Page 42 and 43:
Ace of Aces -The persona was practi
Page 44 and 45:
Descriptor Activation Like Personal
Page 46 and 47:
CONCEPTION The concept for your cha
Page 48 and 49:
co ; I -i ::::r C'D () 0 ro ::u c:
Page 50 and 51:
50 Theatrix- The Core Rules
Page 52 and 53:
Failure, based upon how difficult t
Page 54 and 55:
1:0 Creativity -If the easy solutio
Page 56 and 57:
Easy - Ahh, an old style electronic
Page 58 and 59:
The final Difficulty of such action
Page 60 and 61:
same is really just as true for the
Page 62 and 63:
The first set of ovals deals with w
Page 64 and 65:
many times, and is 'getting ready'
Page 66 and 67:
RANDOMNESS If there are times when
Page 68 and 69: 68 Theatr-ix - The Core Rules
Page 70 and 71: ecome their own screenwriters. The
Page 72 and 73: The Plot Pomts earned 1n th1s way s
Page 74 and 75: 7 4 Theatrlx - The Core Rules
Page 76 and 77: However strange this turn of events
Page 78 and 79: Zero Point Subplots Although it wou
Page 80 and 81: 80 Theatrix - The Core Rules
Page 82 and 83: velop a starting point for your Mai
Page 84 and 85: each Actors current Plot Point Tota
Page 86 and 87: 86 Theat.rlx - The Core Rules
Page 88 and 89: they're done right, your combats wi
Page 90 and 91: Some props are less ub1quitous, but
Page 92 and 93: WOUND LEVELS We suggest the followi
Page 94 and 95: Unhurt ¢ Blunt- Your opponent winc
Page 96 and 97: life. Armor can be dented and broke
Page 98 and 99: member that the Scaling of the Sett
Page 100 and 101: Produce Reasons Using ... If your c
Page 102 and 103: [More Organ Music] Brought to You B
Page 104 and 105: Abe - It couldn't be h1m. That's no
Page 106 and 107: Director - No way. Of course, you s
Page 108 and 109: Johnny- Yeah, the instant I drop th
Page 110 and 111: Director- [Accepting Scott's improv
Page 112 and 113: Johnny - Right. We're gomg for the
Page 114 and 115: ' l 1 114 Theatrlx - The Core Rule
Page 116 and 117: Research A quick note on research.
Page 120 and 121: end, or be re-rolled if the scores
Page 122 and 123: in question will fly as fast as a s
Page 124 and 125: 124 Theatrlx - The Core Rules
Page 126 and 127: q character q action q direction Q
Page 128 and 129: What mood will it evoke? What 1s y
Page 130 and 131: need Plot Tum II spins the action i
Page 132 and 133: ecome violent. The Troupe can look
Page 134 and 135: 9 Person's Name 9 Involvement in th
Page 136 and 137: DCPTI I don't have much to say here
Page 138 and 139: strong,just like you would expect t
Page 140 and 141: Midpoint Scene tV Pinch II Plot Tur
Page 142 and 143: ATTRIBUTES (3.5) Sltength (4 OJ Sta
Page 144 and 145: Theatix 12efeence Sheet A Skill Ran
Page 146 and 147: I Plain Fighting Theatr-ix l2efer-e
show all

Untitled - Index of - Free

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?