Modeling the Real World.

You've probably noticed that Tribute doesn't have Elements for things like character-independent duration of Effects, range or reach, and size. Similarly, it doesn't have them for mass or inertia.

The problem I ran into with these was that if I made Elements for them,  they wouldn't be universal. They'd have no application beyond the physical world with the possible exception of  duration. On the other hand, they are inescapable in the physical world and it would be a glaring omission not to address them. Most campaigns will need them in some form. 

Here's how I will be modelling these types of things:

"Size" as an intrinsic aspect of the physical HOUSE  -"Body', for example. I plan to allow any HOUSE to serve as a battlefield with grid/zone combat or something similar, so I imagine that once I get to those rules, we'll get rules for size. The final rules will certainly involve modeling the ease  of targeting large things, or the difficulty of targeting small things with situational FOCUS.  It will also grant the INFLUENCE of "Reach" as described below. 

"Reach" as an INFLUENCE with { RELAY Effect [#]. } inside. 

"Inertia" as an INFLUENCE with { BRACE Position [#]. } inside. 

"Gravity" as an INFLUENCE with { RELAY Target with "Mass" to ("Center of  HOUSE") [#]. } inside.  So far, things fall at a constant speed, but I hope to make it possible to model gravitational acceleration for those who want it. It might have something to do with a refinement of CHARGE. The ground blocks you from falling into the core, unless you have insane mass...

"Mass" as an INFLUENCE with { BRACE ("Gravity", "Inertia" ) [#]. } inside, along with the INFLUENCE of its own "Gravity" for use when required . This means that Mass makes overcoming gravity and inertia harder for any objects that contain it, and that can they exert their own pull .

"Duration" as an INFLUENCE with { HOLD Effect [#]. } inside. 

As you can see, despite the Tribute notation, these effects aren't very complex. I continue to try to work out a more user-readable version of the notation. I just want to make sure I don't lose anything in translation, and that the results of any such verbose Expressions aren't too large. 

Switching the INFLUENCE and PLAN Elements

I've promised some of you that I would deliver an article summarizing the Elements, and I will. I just have to do some things first. One of those things is making sure we're all on the same page as we go forward.

INFLUENCE as a  Power

In conversations, it's become evident that: 

1. INFLUENCEs should be able to affect Powers, meaning that they need to be able to be put inside them. Since I plan to model duration as an INFLUENCE on a Power, this needs to be possible.
2. As it stands, Frames can't be put inside Powers, so that means that unless something changes I can't have independent durations without creating new and specialized Elements- something I'm trying very hard not to do..
3. I could make an exception and allow INFLUENCE to exist inside Powers, but the trouble with that tactic is that it;'s a slippery slope.
4. INFLUENCE just seems like it should be a Power. Doing so allows for things like superpowers that change the environment, or FOCUSes that change someone's mind without convoluted Expressions. Those things were already possible, but they were harder. 

So I'm going to try using INFLUENCE as a Power. All of that means that one Power element needs to become a Frame to make room for it.

PLAN as a Frame

PLAN seems like the natural choice to become a Frame..

1. It's a container for a potential Effect.
2. It needs a special set of rules for handling its format (I haven't explained that part until now, but trust me). 
3. Having a Rank makes sense on one level, as an indication of  how many points worth of Effects the Plan can hold, or perhaps how much interference the PLAN can suffer before failing.

So it seems like it's a good switch. I'm going to try it out going forward. If it doesn't work out, I'll address the issue.

I'm not sure how this will affect the Kabbalistic Tables I have, but I'll be sure to post the results at some point. I haven't plugged them in yet because they won't be able to do a straight swap. The switch might have huge ripple effects.

Ultimately, though, it's a minor switch game-wise.

Introduction to the Elements Part 3- Frames.

Note: This post is out of date. For an up to date explanation of the Elements, go here. 
  
Here are Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, in case you somehow arrived here first. The rest of this post will only make sense if you've read them.


I've significantly rewritten this post from its original version. The original wasn't clear enough. I've tried to make it more straightforward.I've removed some of the mechanical detail in service of my goal of making the borad concepts clear. I'll cover the specific rules of the Elements in future posts.

Frames are containers or conduits for Powers, Attributes, or even other Frames. In other words, they hold things.  They cannot hold loose Functions. 

They give context to what they contain, such as helping to define a ranged attack as a bolt of lightning, or the ability to manipulate objects at range as a power of the mind.  Each Frame has a Rank or gauge that governs its existence or scope. This Rank or gauge can have a negative value for some of them, indicating an inversion of the Frame's role. 

The seven Frame Elements are BOND, CHANNEL, DRIVE, FOCUS, HOUSE, INFLUENCE, and POOL. Each instance of a Frame should be given a Name, like "Body" or "Fire".  

BOND: A link to another character defined by an attitude, such as love or hatred, and its target.  A BOND contains benefits or drawbacks for the character that activate when the target of the BOND is relevant.  BONDs don't need to be reciprocal. They make actions relating to the subject of the BOND more reliable when their Rank is positive, and less reliable when their Rank is negative. 

CHANNEL: A medium or bridge for the expression of Effects, such as fire, a limb, or language. Anything passing through a CHANNEL is modified by the CHANNEL's contents.  This means that an attack that uses the "electricity" CHANNEL will have different side Effects than one that uses the "water" CHANNEL, and they will interact in interesting ways. CHANNEL's Rank determines the maximum point cost of Effects that can pass through them at any one time.

DRIVE: An urge, need, or protocol that delivers an Effect to the character when it is activated. Positive DRIVEs represent compulsions and grant a bonus to actions taken in service of those compulsions, and negative DRIVEs represent aversions and inflict a penalty to actions taken when the DRIVE is active. 

FOCUS: Skills, aptitudes, or handicaps in certain areas. They are also used to model situational modifiers. They make Effects more reliable when their value is positive, and less reliable when their value is negative.

HOUSE: Shelters for your Powers, Attributes, and other Effects. They represent possible planes of conflict in a campaign, such as "Body", "Mind",  and "Soul".  Similarly, the setting itself is a HOUSE, commonly referred to as "The World". A HOUSE's gauge has a fixed number of health boxes by campaign, so that each box represents a fixed fraction of the total health of the HOUSE. When all of a HOUSE's Health boxes are VOIDed, the HOUSE is destroyed, along with anything in it. 

INFLUENCE: A source that constantly delivers its Effects to the interior of whatever Frame contains it, creating a perpetual set of modifiers to actions there. Usually used with HOUSEs. For example, gravity is modeled as an INFLUENCE in the HOUSE of "The World".  It's Rank determines the maximum number of points  worth of Effects it may contain.  

POOL:  An array of optional Attributes, Powers, or Frames that you and anyone who shares the POOL can draw from. If you want to model the ability to shapeshift into 3 different things,  you want to place a few alternate "Body" HOUSEs into a POOL.  POOLs can also model things like a sorcerer's ability to create effects on the fly, or FOCUS dice that apply to a wide range of activities, such as all physical attacks.Anything taken out of a POOL needs to be put back or otherwise restored before it can be used again. Its Rank determines how many points worth of Effects the POOL can contain.

Next: Powers