Balance, Mechanics & Fun

Howdy all.

Following last night's session, and indeed building for the last couple sessions, there have been some game mechanic concerns expressed by a few of you. In my estimation the game is going really well. I'm having a blast. The quality of the roleplaying is superb, the story and setting development you've all jumped into here on the blog has been fantastic, and I like you all as people and enjoy gaming with you. So, while I am bringing this up so we can address the topic, I don't want this to sound like the game is failing or anything.

Essentially, though it wasn't said directly, what we are engaged in here is a kind of extended playtest. BESM 3rd ed didn't get much playtesting on it's own and I added and changed a lot about the system in building the campaign, so we're really doing something completely original. That means that the rules will need work. Additionally, the system does not have any (I mean ANY) built in balance. It is effects-based and designed to cover a very wide spectrum of possibilities, thus all the balance has to be accomplished by social contract. We have to agree to try and maintain a parity between character's and their various abilities. I really appreciate the maturity of this group that we can accomplish this, and though it means the rules might get changed a few times during the course of the campaign to reflect our current play experience, I hope it won't impact anyone's fun negatively.

Here are a few things that stand out to me as needing addressed and some thoughts of how to address them. Please jump into the comments and express your opinion.

Problem: Gem Distribution. It is tough to measure gems distributed for subjective reasons like roleplaying. Some players feel like gem acquisition has become difficult enough that they won't achieve the rest of their Kata.

Solution#1: I recommend that we end each session with a brief 5 minute chat wherein players recap important moments and nominate each other (or themselves) for gems for things which the GM might have missed. In that time we should each account for how many gems received during the session so we can see if Gem distribution is roughly even - though I don't plan on trying to make it perfectly equal every night.

Solution #2: I'm going to start rewarding gems for failures. Technically this was always a possibility, but I'm going to emphasize it. If you narrate a failure in a cool way you get a gem, just as you would for a success. Furthermore, if you narrate a spectacular failure in such a way that it has a concrete impact on your character (ie: I fall down disarmed in front of my foe) then you can earn an additional gem for embracing the fact that fun doesn't only come from kicking ass. I hope this increases the number of gems awarded each session.

Possible Solution #3: I'm considering this, though I'd like your opinion first... what if Katas did not require gems to activate, but only to learn or increase level? This would increase gem availability by having one less cost. It might mean though that Kata's were used extremely frequently in the game. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I'm not entirely sure. I may increase energy costs or consider other costs for Katas if we did this.

Problem: Imbalances between characters. I do not want all the characters to be identical. Moses can take a ton of damage, but not every character needs to be able to. Kiyoshi can deal a ton of damage, but not every character needs to be able to. Nevertheless it is important that players feel there is some kind of parity between their characters overall.

Solution: Mostly this will have to be dealt with on an individual character by character basis, though I encourage you guys to talk to each other about it as well in a polite fashion, so that we can come to agreement about what is fair. One thing that would be a big help is if people had some idea of their "role". In general I see the roles like this: Moses is the Tank, Kiyoshi is straight damage, Una is the healer, Rei is the stealth, HD is speed/recon, Mokuzai is support/buffing. Those aren't written in stone or anything, but they're what I've been basically assuming.

Problem: Kata Kariana. Really there are two problems here. One is that the Kata's need to be balanced. Mostly I'm actually pretty happy with them, but in Mokuzai's case they need work. Please let me know if your Kata don't match your expectations. From the beginning I've stressed that the Kata are flexible/changeable if you have different ideas. The second problem with the Kata is that they are designed by me instead of by you guys. On one hand I really like this because it adds an element of "discovery" to the game instead of character building being all about planning out how to spend the points. However, many players like planning out how to spend their points. Sooooo...

Solution: One option is that I could open up the Katas and just tell you guys what I was planning and then you could have input in their design. I'm okay with this. Doing it here with the Prill even gives us a decent story justification for it, since they are planning to teach you about the Kata Kariana anyway. The downside is that it removes a lot of suspense each time you go to buy a Kata, you'll already know what you're getting.

Problem: It seems to me that the Character Points are causing some confusion. More than one of you have observed that you could come up with better ways to spend the points than the Kata, so why should you pursue them? Not only does this derail the plot a bit, but it presents the problem that I have to account for a much wider array of possible abilities than I'd like to in game planning, and it circumvents the gem reward system which I think of as one of the coolest aspects of this campaign.

Solution: I planned the campaign to go from 200-500CP, but then I found that the Kata ate up around 200 of those CP in design. Originally I made the Katas require both gems and CP because I was concerned gem acquisition would be too easy so having a CP requirement would help control the pace that the Katas came into the game. I was wrong. The gems control the pace much more than the CP. Therefore the CP for Katas is pretty much superfluous. I could set it up so that Katas no longer require CP, but then drastically reduce the amount of CP gain per session. Because there has already been so many CP distributed and some of you have spent more than others on their character build, it would mean that I would have to do some math to make sure that you're all equal in terms of CP spent, but it would remove the confusion about whether you should save CP for Katas or use it on abilities of your own design.

There are some thoughts.

Kata Kariana

Crank, the Mechified, leaps into the air hundreds of feet, his gun arm churning out an endless barrage of liquid metal rounds. “Hail of Metal Death!” he shouts!

Saris, the Jevumm, crouches low, her claws digging into the stone courtyard. “Hurricane Roar!” she bellows and the blast of icy wind from her maw scours her foes out of the way.

Keracka, the Anakarix, senses the sudden attack. “Riddle of Iron Scales!” he whispers and the bullets bounce off his hardened skin without leaving a mark.

The characters in this campaign are going to gain special powers as the story progresses called Kata Kariana. Each character will have a theme which unites their own Kata Kariana. Beginning early on they will have few weaker Kata and as the campaign progresses they will gain new, more powerful, Kata and each Kata itself will increase in potency by levels. The Kata Kariana will be represented on a chart as part of the character sheet.

The best case scenario for the Kata Kariana is that they will be a collaborative effort between the GM and the player. Partly a process of discovery, partly about making meaningful choices, partly about planning ahead - I hope they will develop organically during the game. To begin with, the player should express some things to the GM about his/her character that will shape the Kata. For example: “In dangerous situations my character will mostly be concerned with their own safety.” Or “In combat my character would prefer to deal damage rather than protect the party.”

Then, and most importantly, the player should work with the GM during character creation to come up with a theme which will tie the Katas together. Example themes include: the element of Fire (or any other element), healing & restoration, my Gun Arm, my Giant Sword, storms, poison, psychic attacks, my Mecha, or animal summoning.

Kata Kariana do not have to be combat focused, though everyone will have a few powers at least that lend themselves to use in combat so that no one feels left out when a session goes that direction. They will be supernatural in nature, dramatic in style, and generally more powerful than abilities gained in other ways. The Kata are intended to represent abilities above and beyond the normal. People in the game world will be shocked when characters use them, and they will afford a significant advantage to the PC’s in many engagements.

Once the player and GM have come up with a good theme for the Kata. The GM will begin designing the powers, without revealing them to the player. This is where discovery comes in. During the course of the campaign characters will seek and learn more about the powers they are developing. Both story events and clever roleplaying will lead to further discoveries about the Kata. As a character learns about the Kata in game they may ask the GM questions about upcoming powers and have an opportunity to help shape that power, by choosing which paths to follow. At all times the GM invites player suggestions about interesting future powers.

When storyline and character development justifies it, the player will be allowed to purchase the next power in the chain. This is where the primary choice of the player comes in. Not only do they choose which direction along the chain to progress, but when they “purchase” the power they desire, they may do so with any of the three colored Never Gems. Using Red Gems to purchase a power will skew it toward aggression. Using Blue Gems will skew that power toward creativity. Using Green Gems will skew that power toward protection. Once a power is purchased the choice has been made and it cannot be undone. If a player is seriously dissatisfied by a choice they may talk to the GM out of game and something may be arranged, but players are encouraged to take even undesirable choices and turn them into roleplaying opportunities. Our choices are more meaningful if we don’t get to redo them infinitely.

Individual powers, once purchased, may be increased in strength by raising their levels. This can be done anytime the player has sufficient character points and never gems. Though storyline justifications are always encouraged.

Rain, the Biomade, lets out a mental shriek, “Thought Rending Wave!” Shards of psychic energy ripple out from her and every sentient being in the room collapses to the floor in agony.

Attribute Interlude 1

Every now and then I will jot down an example of how I get from a story idea to a functional piece of the game, by developing attributes. This first interlude will use an example from the recent story "I am Katashi Blade."

In this story, the protagonist Acid Narita, uses a special rifle which fires a round of psychic energy that targets a specific individual. While it sounds neat in the story, how would it work if you wanted your character to actually possess such an item? Let's walk through it.

The first step is to identify what attribute underlies the item, what is its function? It is a weapon, it is attacking a target in order to damage it in some fashion. So the attribute we will use is the Weapon attribute (pg. 60). Right away we can see that there are a bunch of custom variables which we will need to select from in order to get the right combination of effects. Since this weapon is a type of sniper rifle we will choose variables that help represent that.

Accurate: this is a great variable for a sniper rifle and we could buy it as high as level 3, but each level adds to the cost of the item, so let's stick with 1 for now. It's an accurate weapon, but you still have to be a good shot to use it properly.

Psychic: this one is obvious. Since the gun doesn't fire real bullets, we don't want it to be affected by armor and force fields. This is an expensive variable, costing 6 levels, but well worth it.

Homing: the bullet had a homing capacity didn't it. A very specific one in fact, so it must have been very good. We will call the sense the bullet uses "psychic" which means that it can be fooled by psychic shields and misdirection. To make sure it has a good chance of hitting, we'll buy this one up to level 3.

Drain: A psychic attack shouldn't just do normal damage. Since it is an attack on the mind let us add an effect which makes the bullet damage the mind of the target directly. The more the better, we'll buy this one to level 3 too.

Now, we move to the custom restrictions section. This gun also has characteristics which hinder it as well as help it. In this case:

Hands: It requires two hands to aim and fire a rifle. Which means you can't use a shield, parry, or do anything else with your off hand.

Everything above this point has come from the Weapon Attribute itself, but we aren't done customizing this attribute yet. In Chapter 5: Customisation, we can find a few rules we definitely need in order to accurately represent this rifle. First of all...

Range: right now our weapon can only attack people adjacent to the person holding it. Not much of a rifle eh? In order to give it a range we need to buy up this attribute a couple ranks. Flip to the table on pg. 73, and notice the progression of ranges by rank. To represent a reasonable distance for a sniper rifle we'll buy it up to rank 3 - 1km.

We could stop here of course, but the gun seems to be lacking just a little bit of flavor, and besides it has gotten quite expensive. We only have one restriction and about 16 levels of customisations. We ought to restrict it a little more, to bring the cost down, to make it feel more realistic, and importantly to create interesting choices for the user. Restrictions actually make the attribute more interesting, because it forces the player to balance the pros and cons. So now, for a couple restrictions:

Activation: No one should be able to do a hip shot with a sniper rifle. This restriction means that it takes extra actions to set up the shot during which the player must concentrate and not be disturbed. Let's buy this up to level 3, which means it requires 5 general actions. That's still a pretty fast setup for a shot with a sniper rifle.

Deplete: Since the rifle doesn't fire real bullets it should have some other cost to represent the ammunition. In this case it uses psychic energy, so we'll use this restriction to represent the depletion the character experiences when firing it. Level 3 will mean that it costs 30 energy to pull that trigger once. Ouch! but then, this bullet ignores armor, homes in on it's target, drains the Mind stat, and can hit from a very long range. It's worth it.

Alright, the last thing to decide is what level of a weapon to make it. This will determine its damage dealing potential and affect the cost. Since the book lists sniper rifles (pg. 167) as level 5 weapons, we'll scale this one back a tiny bit to 4. A real bullet would hit harder, but it would also have to go through armor. That gives us a cost breakdown as follows:

weapon level 4 + 16 custom levels - 7 restriction levels = 13levels
13 x 2(CP cost/level of weapon attribute) = 26CP

This would cost 26 character points if it were an innate ability of a character, but because it is an item, the item attribute halves the cost to 13CP altogether. On our character sheet we would write the item something like this:

Psychic Sniper Rifle - 13CP
Weapon 4 (Range 10km, Accurate +1, Drain3:Mind, Homing(psychic) +3, Psychic: ignores armor and force field and affects incorporeal)

• 2 hands
• requires 5 general actions to activate
  
• Deplete 30 energy per shot
  

Karian Templates

ANAKARIX Perhaps the most intelligent of all Karians, the reptilian Anakarix are known for sitting in trees and philosophizing. Centuries ago they sat in their trees so long that they lost the secret of changing into their humanoid forms. Now they are stuck as lizards, but they use their form to great advantage.

Armour 6 12CP
Features (Long Tongue, Longevity, Camouflage) 3CP
Heightened Awareness 1 2CP
Regeneration (touching trees) 1 5CP
Special movement 5 10CP
(Balance, Fastx2, Light-Footed, Wall Crawling)
Unique Defect - Cold Blooded (slow and groggy when cold) -3CP
TOTAL 29CP

***

GOGAJIN Though others often laugh at the donkey-sons for their clumsiness and gullibility, the Gogajin are among the hardiest and most stubborn of all Karians. The Gogajin are quick to forgive insults and happy to have an excuse for a party, but that does not mean they should not be taken seriously – those hooves are vicious! When in humanoid form the Gogajin retain their donkey ears and tails.

Alternate Form 1(Activation -2, Recovery-2) 5CP

• Enhanced Body +2 20CP
• Decreased Mind -2 -20CP
• Feature (Stability) 1 1CP
• Massive Damage (hooves) 2 8CP
• Impaired Manipulation (No Arms) -9CP
• Weapon “Hooves” 2 10CP
• (Muscle, Penetratingx2)

Easily Distracted (beer or women) -3CP
Heightened Senses (Hearing +6) 2 2CP
Less Capable ( Running Speed -4) -2CP
Marked (Ears & Tail) -2CP
Superstrength 2 16CP
Tough 3 6CP
TOTAL 22CP

***

JEVUMM A capricious and hot-tempered bunch, the tiger shaping Jevumm are nevertheless elegant and graceful. A deep hatred of fire makes them extremely wary of the Cheldrun who they call fire-bearers. Jevumm are usually loners, but they are very sympathetic to the plight of their people and willing to work with other Karians from time to time.

Alternate Form 3 (Activation -2, Recovery -2) 23CP

• Bane (Fire 20dmg/round) -6CP
• Decreased Soul -2 -20CP
  
• Enhanced Body +2 20CP
• Extra Actions 1 15CP
• Massive Damage (Claws & Teeth) 3 12CP
• Impaired Manipulation (No Arms) -9CP
• Impaired Speech -6CP
• Jump 1 2CP
• Phobia (Fire) -3CP
• Special Movement (Cat-Like, Fast x2) 3 6CP
• Superstrength 1 8CP
  
• Weapon “Claws & Teeth” 3 10CP
• (Muscle, Penetrating)

Blind Fury -2CP
Heightened Senses 1 (Smell +3) 2CP
TOTAL 23CP

***

PRILL While the Anakarix have forgotten how to become humanoid the Prill have taken a vow to never wear their animal form (fox) until the forests are safe. Although many Karians use various forms of minor magic only the Prill and the Dusk Sages possess true magic. Unfortunately, the Dusk Sages have disappeared from the land. The Prill have recorded the wisdom of the Dusk Sages in a much degraded form through songs. Each Prill child is taught a selection of these songs which it is their task to preserve and pass on to the next generation. Some have theorized that the songs are all part of one massive composition and if properly ordered would unlock the secrets of creation itself.

Energy Bonus 4 8CP
Heightened Senses 2 (Hearing +3, Smell +3) 4CP
Power Flux (minor) 4 20CP
TOTAL 32CP

***

VORAX Magnificent Giant purple birds who transform into humanoids with feathers in place of hair, the Vorax are all but extinct now. Individuals wander the planet with their incredible eyesight searching for others of their kind. As birds they can become invisible at will, but are very vulnerable to the smogs and poisons of the industrial world.

Alternate Form 2(Activation -2, Recovery -2) 14CP

• Combat Technique 1 (Diving Attack) 2CP
• Features 3 3CP
• (Homing Instinct, Low-Light Vision, Animal Empathy)
• Flight 3 24CP
• Heightened Senses 2 (sight +6) 4CP
• Invisibility 2 (sight, Deplete Energy 1/round) 7CP
• Impaired Manipulation (no arms) -9CP
• Impaired Speech (animal sounds) -6CP
• Massive Damage - Focused 1 (Talons +1) 4CP
  
• Not So Tough (-15 HP) -6CP
• Physical Impairment (ground movement) -3CP
• Ranged Defense 1 (flying +1) 3CP
  
• Vulnerability (Smog) -3CP

Heightened Awareness 2 4CP
TOTAL 18CP

***

ZIPSUMS Aquatic mammals about the size of a squirrel who are also adapted to land, Zipsums can transform into svelt and beautiful humanoids. Fast and acrobatic in their water-squirrel forms they are easily distracted by candy and tend to gossip. They will change into animal form involuntarily if splashed or submersed in water.

Alternate Form 1 (Activation -2, Recovery -2) 5CP

• Body +1 10CP
• Soul +1 10CP
• Mind -2 -20CP
• Features 2 (Gills, Webbed Paws) 2CP
• Heightened Senses 1 (smell +3 in addition to below) 2CP
• Jump 4 (100x normal) 8CP
• Land Speed 6 (250kph) 12CP
• Special Movement 12CP
• (Balance, Cat-Like, Light Footed, Swinging, Water-walking)
• Water Speed 3 (30kph) 12CP
• Tiny (page 109 – except running speed) -36CP
• Easily Distracted (candy) -2CP
  

Features 2 (Appearancex2) 2CP
Heightened Senses 2 (smell +3, hearing +3) 4CP
Involuntary Change (water) -3CP
TOTAL 11CP

Never Gems: Roleplaying, Humour, and Special Effects

One additional mechanic that is not in the rule book that we will be using in this game is rewarding tokens, called Never Gems, for doing things that improve the game. Never Gems will be a resource each player may choose to spend for a variety of purposes I will try to describe succinctly. They represent good luck, serendipity, fate, divine intervention, pooled up qi, influence over the plot and just about any other justification you can think of for why people sometimes are unreasonably successful.

Never Gems are also real objects in the world of Karia Vitalus. Known as “Junk Rocks” to Mechifieds, “Silex Vulgaris” to Allskins and Biomade, and “Mother Stones”, “Karian Tears”, “Jewellery of the Land”, “Sky Pills”, “Cloud Crystals, or “Deep Rocks” to the Karians, Never Gems are a variety of extremely common, poor quality crystal. Too soft and rarely clear enough for use in jewellery, and too common to be valuable, these stones are ubiquitous and useless. They can be found jutting out from beneath tree branches or growing alongside Blackrock deposits and they come in three different colours, each with a variety of different shades. Each colour is described below along with the Karian lore about it.

Red – “Fleshstone” these ruddy crystals range from nearly orange to red as blood. They are associated with the Body in Karian traditional medicine, are symbolic of passion, particularly aggression, and are used ritualistically to prepare for combat. Red Never Gems are: adrenaline, bloodlust, effort, athleticism, sexuality, fortitude, violence and more…

Blue – “Thoughtrock” these stones are tinged blue though they can range from almost white to practically black. They are associated with the Mind in Karian traditional medicine, are symbolic of creativity, and are often used as amulets by those who are inventive or crafty. Blue Never Gems are: inspiration, wisdom, skill, utility, analysis, clarity, discernment and more…

Green – “Soulcrystal” these rocks are greenish, ranging from very light to deep forest green. They are associated with the Soul in Karian traditional medicine, are symbolic of the will, and are considered effective talismans of protection. Green Never Gems are: safety, defence, passivity, resistance, spirituality, recovery, peace and more…

Criteria for Gaining Gems:

Never Gems will be rewarded basically at the GM’s discretion and will be somewhat arbitrary, therefore. The GM will endeavour to be fair and welcomes players saying “I think I deserve a Gem for that,” though he may or may not agree with them. The criteria he will be using to award Gems can be summed up as: did the player do something that improved the game experience for everyone? Some specific examples include:

Roleplaying. The more you talk in character including accents, gestures, mannerisms, costumes (why not?) the more often you will get Gems.

Humour. Making the GM laugh is a good way to get a Never Gem. Making everyone laugh is a good way to get several Gems.

Special Effects. Some Anime is driven by cool people using cool powers. These powers and their long development sequences often take up the majority of a given movie or cartoon. Special effects and dramatic flavor text are going to be key to making this campaign something more than just a rules-light fantasy campaign. For this reason I will encourage players to use anime-esque language when describing their character’s actions. Two examples:

Bad: I shoot a ball of fire at my enemy.

Good: The background begins to blur and my hair blows around dramatically as I summon beams of energy to my hands and call out “Super-Solar-Lava-Burst Go!”

Bad: I hit him with my sword.

Good: Sparks fly off the tip of my Katana as I drag it across the ground and bring it slicing across my enemy’s stomach trailing waves of light.

The type of Gem awarded will depend on the situation. Red Gems will be awarded for aggressive actions, actions that rely on the Body or otherwise fit the stone’s theme. Blue Gems will be awarded for creative actions, actions that rely on the Mind or otherwise fit the stone’s theme. Green Gems will be awarded for defensive actions, actions that rely on the Soul or otherwise fit the stone’s theme.

Criteria for Spending Gems:

Never Gems may be hoarded or frittered away as the player chooses. There are several ways in which players may put their Gems to work for them.

The basic way in which a Gem may be spent is to boost any die roll. Red Gems boost aggressive actions or those which are Body based, Blue Gems boost creative actions or those which are Mind based, Green Gems boost defensive actions or those which are Soul based. Each Gem spent adds 1d6 to the roll. As many Gems as the player chooses may be spent on the specific roll (though only gems of the correct type).

During the course of the campaign characters may discover certain artefacts that make use of Never Gems. The particularities of usage will depend on the artefact. Gems may also be used to feed a Kyo Tee Shee. Depending on which colour stones you feed it you may influence its personality toward aggression, creativity or defence.

Perhaps the most important way to spend Never Gems is to power the Kata Kariana – techniques and supernatural powers the characters will develop during the campaign

As with all things, Never Gems will follow one additional rule – they only apply where dramatically appropriate. The GM reserves the right to change the way these abilities work at anytime.

Character Advancement

Rewards for each gaming session will range from 5-15 Character Points. These will represent a character’s growth and learning so they will vary depending on what occurred in the session and if the characters have been practicing or gaining new abilities. (modified 6/8)

Stats, Attributes and Skills may be purchased at the same cost as in character creation, but must always be justified by storyline events.

Cheldrun Templates

ALLSKINS Being a cautious people, when the Cheldrun began experimenting with bioengineering and mechanization they set aside a portion of their race to be left pure and natural in case the experiments went awry. Human in appearance and ability the Allskins have no species wide talents or powers, but each one develops their own skills according to their tastes and experiences.
TOTAL 0CP

***

BIOMADE Many Cheldrun were not born, but created. Though partly natural these individuals are often gifted with special talents not normal for an Allskin. Originally the Biomades were just smarter, healthier and better looking than other Cheldrun, but some of the most recent subjects have begun to develop psychic powers.

(Type A – Normal)

• Features (Appearance) 2 2CP
• Heightened Awareness 1 2CP
• Jump 1 2CP
• Special Movement (Fast) 1 2CP
• Tough 2 4CP

TOTAL 12CP

(Type B – Sensitive)

• Features (Appearance) 2 2CP
• Heightened Awareness 1 2CP
• Precognition (1 hour) 5 10CP
• Sixth Sense (emotions) 1 2CP
• Telepathy (Cheldrun) 1 4CP

TOTAL 20CP

(Type C – Manipulative)

• Features (Appearance) 2 2CP
• Heightened Awareness 1 2CP
• Mind Control (Cheldrun) 1 6CP
• Mind Shield 1 2CP
• Telepathy (Cheldrun) 1 4CP

TOTAL 16CP

***

MECHIFIED The children of Mechified Cheldrun get their first cybernetic enhancements at a very young age and they usually go on mechanizing right through their lives until very little, but a brain remains of the original person. Mechified’s come in many varieties.

(Type A – Repair)

• Armour 5 10CP
• Embedded Toolkit (Mechanics +2) 4CP
• Special Defences 10CP
• (Freezing Cold, Lack of Air, Low Pressure, High Pressure, Overheating)
• Supersense (Infrared Vision) 2 4CP

TOTAL 28CP

(Type B – Labour)

• Armour 5 10CP
• Special Defences 10CP
• (Freezing Cold, Lack of Air, Low Pressure, High Pressure, Overheating)
• Super Strength 1 8CP

TOTAL 28CP

(Type C – Battle)

• Armour 10 20CP
• Awkward Size (3m) 1 -4CP
• Impaired Manipulation (One Arm) -3CP
• Special Defences 10CP
• (Freezing Cold, Lack of Air, Low Pressure, High Pressure, Overheating)
• Weapon Attack “Arm Cannon” 3 6CP
• (Range 2 [100m], Backblast x1, Deplete 10Energy)

TOTAL 29CP

Character Creation

Players will start with 200 Character Points. Though no official maximums will be set on any individual stat or attribute the guideline on page 9 of the rule book is a good rule of thumb: 60% Stats, 20% Attributes, 20% Skills. Characters will buys skill points from the Multi-Genre column from the table on page 89.

Players are encouraged to take Defects, though they should be advised that a Defect is always worse than an Attribute of equivalent point value and Defects may not be bought off with experience during game unless very specific requirements are met and the GM approves it. Defects are a great tool to enhance roleplaying and develop more interesting characters, not a min/max opportunity.

The GM will not accept any character concept that boils down to “I Kick Ass!” Players should have well developed character concepts that fit within the campaign theme and their racial selection. In that spirit consider the following guidelines:

The Cheldrun are suited to Steampunk fantasy style weapons, and combat.

• For a sharpshooter, mech-user or any character which depends primarily on their equipment for power – play an Allskin.
• For psychic powers or a very skilled individual play a Biomade.
• For a cyborg play a Mechified.

The Karians are suited to sword and sorcery style weapons, skills and powers.

• For heavy hitting melee combatants play a Gogajin or a Jevumm.
• For martial artists or ranged combatants play an Anakarix or Zipsum
• For a magic user play a Prill
• For bizarre powers play a Vorax.

Races of Karia Vitalus

The races of Karia Vitalus are divided into two groups: the Karians and the Cheldrun. Karians come in many shapes, sizes, colours and forms. They use magic, change shape, fly and do other amazing things. The Cheldrun are all humanoid though of various appearances. They do not use magic, but have amazing technology to employ.

Cheldrun
A race of former space travellers who fled for their lives from some unspeakable evil. Landing on Karia they made it their last home and refuge, building enormous cities and technological wonders. They are divided into three equal, but distinct castes: Allskins, Biomade, Mechified.

Karians
A diverse and whimsical race, the Karians are the original inhabitants of this world. In decline now because of the rapid growth of Cheldrun settlements many of the Karians are dying and becoming TeeShee. Most of the others, excepting the Anakarix and the Prill can metamorphose between their humanoid and animal forms.