System details.

MECHANICS - Advanced

System details.

The construct:

So named is the character. The construct is the fabric which contains both body and spirit in communion.

The body:

The body is the most basic element of any construct. With Its inherent limitations, a body consists basically of structure and the intellect. These two give a measure of how powerful the body of the character is.

Structure is the physical capacity of the body. The higher it is the stronger and more durable the body. Intellect is the mental capacity of the body. The higher the intellect, the more mentally powerful it is.

The body details:

Each element of the body defines not only its inherent strength but also the power of the spirit it holds.

The structure value directly determines how much damage it can handle. The intellect value, in turn, determines how resilient it is. The combination of both the ratings, which are rarely dissociable, determines just how much the body can endure.

The spirit:

The spirit represents the anaemic force behind a body. Although the body exists and interacts, it is nothing but a lifeless piece of flesh without the presence of a spirit. Like in the body, the spirit comprises two parts each responsible for handling the separate parts of the body.

Control is the spirit handler for the structure. The greater the control capacity of a spirit the better will he be able to use the structure’s capacities. Discipline is, in turn, the spirit handler for intellect and derived functions of the body.

The spirit details:

The spirit, being the conscience behind the body, is what makes it move. Spirit determines just how much willpower the character really has to handle reality. This willpower is used as fuel for everything the construct has to handle and basically measures how strong the spirit is. It is however not independent and, in fact, receives its energy from the body. In that manner, the body’s intellect is responsible for regenerating the willpower of the spirit. It also limits the amount of willpower that can be spent in actions.

As a construct gains in experience, both body and spirit gain power.

But because they are forged together, spirit has its skills closely tied to the body. For the mundane construct, the spirit is mistaken for the body and so, control has skill points determined by structure and likewise for discipline. Specifically, a character starts with skill points equal to six times its structure value and with each skill limited by that value. The same principle applies for intellect.

In the end, the body is able to attain strength by increasing its structure and intellect rating while the spirit ages and thus gains willpower as well as control/discipline skills.

Basic mechanics:

Spirit rating: The spirit rating is the average of its control and discipline rounded up. It determines how much willpower the construct has.

Willpower: Determined by spirit, it is used by the construct for everything from preventing damage to performing actions.

Life: A constructs life is determined by its structure rating. This is the real physical energy of the body. Injury to life means that it begins to die and as such the construct begins to disassociate. The immediate consequence of this is a penalty to all action equal to the amount lost. Eventually the construct is no longer able to link this body to the spirit and so the fabric is lost and death occurs.

Initiative: This rating is determined by the spirit rating and determines how efficient a spirit is in making the body act.

Fate: A constructs fate is determined randomly by a D6.

All body and spirit ratings range from 1 to 12.

All spirit skills range from 1 to 12.

A factor of rolling 2D6 is used to determine fate results.

Interaction and advanced mechanics:

Simple actions:

In order to exert body control, a spirit must sum his base (control or discipline rating) to his skill and add to it fate results. The total obtained value is always a measure of how good the construct actually did. We can ascertain this by seeing how the character did in our scale of success. It goes from 0 (minimum possible) to 36 (highest possible) and is divided in leaps of 6. Each leap connects a score to a result. In such, constructs who can score up to 12 are only apprentices, and capable of little, while those scoring 30 can achieve great feats. The scale is rated as follows:

6 – Very easy

12 – Easy

18 – Moderate

24 – Hard

30 – Very hard

36 – Impossible

All actions have an associated score needed for them to succeed.

Ex: Cancer has a control rating of 10 and an acrobatics rating of 6 for a total of 16. He attempts an easy jump manoeuvre meaning he needs to score at least 18. He rolled a 5 on his fate results and this means he performed the action with a score of 10+6+5= 21. He beat the score needs of 18 and so performed above average, enough for an easy jump. Had he tried a hard back flip (24) instead, the same score would not have been sufficient.

Modifiers:

All things being equal the above said works perfectly. Actual conditions, however, vary and doing an easy jump can become quite challenging if overburdened. Likewise, a hard back flip can become easier if one has time to prepare and is in no stress whatsoever. For this reason modifiers are used to customize the scoring needs of a particular action.

Modifying an action works easily enough if one considers that each leap in the scale actually increases difficulty by one step. An action is easy but existing conditions make it harder is a simple step of adding a leap (6) to the scoring needs. If it’s a minor change add 1 or 2. If the conditions are appalling, add 12 or more points. It all depends on the sensibility of the GM and it’s his call to make.

Example: Cancer is trying to convince a shopkeeper to give him a deal on a purse. He is role-playing the situation but requires a barter action to see how good his words sound. The GM considers the trader slightly experienced and sets the SN at 12.

Situation 1: New customers are always arriving and distracting the shopkeeper from the Cancer’s well laboured barter. This would make the deal harder to close, about 4 points harder making the SN 16.

Situation 2: Imagine the purse Cancer is trying to get is something the shopkeeper is trying to get rid of for ages. He is desperate to sell it and so isn’t being too picky about the price. Barter would be easier and SN should be modified by -5 making it 7.

Willpower usage:

A construct can, most of the times, elect to apply itself thoroughly on a particular action. This is done by spending willpower to improve the score obtained on an action. The construct, due to its heroic nature, can always extend, in this way, beyond normal constructs limitations. The only limitation is that of the body itself and because of this, the maximum will he can apply is equal to his intellect rating.

Examples:

Situation 1: As before, Cancer attempted an acrobatic manoeuvre and obtained a score of 21. This is not enough for a Back flip which has SN of 24. Cancer really needs to perform it with success so he elects to spend 3 willpower points. His previous 21 are now 24 due to the added 3 will and he succeeds in his task.

Situation 2: Same action but the GM states that a modifier of +6, due to wind power, applies. The SN changes to 30 and Cancer is now 9 points away from it. His intellect is 4 and so he can only spend 4 willpower on the action making the score 25. This is not enough to succeed on the acrobatic attempt and he really should not have tried it in the middle of a tornado.

  ¶ 6:19 p.m.