Work Continues

Ping.

We are still alive here at the Void Chapel, and work continues on our version of ACKSF.  Several events have delayed or otherwise interrupted my work.  We took a week's family vacation in July, several time-consuming vidya games came out or went on sale during this summer; Battletech, Inquisitor:Martyr, Stellaris 2.0, and Armageddon (panzer general + 40k is a very workable formula btw).  But despite all the distractions and daily duties, progress is being made.

I am currently creating a master document that splices together the ACKS core with SWN, where appropriate.  From SWN we are taking Psionics, Skills, Backgrounds, Equipment, Starships, cyber and mecha and the other purely SF components.

At this time everything from core ACKS is in, and the goal is compatibility with the existing ACKS material.

I am also reaching out and grabbing pieces from Hulks and Horrors and Terminal Space and many other bits and bobs.

Here's a rough outline of what I'm conceptualizing as ACKSF:

7 Ability Scores: STR, INT, DEX, CON, WIS, CHA, TEC
7 Primary Classes: Fighter, Mage, Thief, Borg*, Cleric, Esper*, Machinist*

*The Borg isn't based on anything at this time, and will require the most work, but will have augmentation slots per level, modified by CON like the magic users' spells known is modified by INT.
*The Esper is based on the SWN psychic class.
*The Machinist is based on Scientist and Technology User from Hulks and Horrors and Terminal Space and will represent the combat hacker/drone operator/engineer archetype.  All characters will have access to omnitools and can run programs equal to the tool's rating + the character's INT modifier, but Machinists will have additional hacking, drone, flash-fab, and programmatic actions based on their TEC modifier.

The Psionic Skills of SWN will become Proficiencies as in ACKS, so choosing your starting Proficiencies will determine your starting pool of abilities.

Backgrounds ala SWN provide some (3) initial skills.
Homeworlds ala Dark Heresy et all modify (+2 favored, -1 disfavored) two ability scores and grant a single skill.
Remaining skills are chosen with your class from a list of 'class skills'.

At some point I'm going to look at the nu-SWN concept of Foci and the ACKS concpet of Proficiencies with an eye to merging them conceptually even if not word for word.

And borrowing from Classic Traveler; 'Hit Points' explicitly are not wounds or tissue damage beyond surface battering and bruising, but rather the reserve of luck and skill used to avoid taking real wounds.  When 1) HP are reduced to zero or 2) an attacker rolls a natural 20, the damage is applied directly to the character's ability scores as 'wounds' which reduce the current score and can change the effective ability score modifier.  When any one Ability Score is reduced to zero, the character is mortally wounded and must save versus death, if successful, the character is alive but bleeding out at -1 CON per round until stabilized.

In addition to ACKS classification groups of Human and Demi-human classes, I am considering adding an Inhuman Classes group to cover the very alien archetypes like Hovering Squids, Draugr (definitely not mind-flayers), Malkwen (not-Drow, no sir), Dvergar (not greys, nope), Mantids, Yautja and the like.  Inhumans will have significantly lower max levels than the other two.

Anyway, that's where my head is at currently. wishing everyone a cool summer and good gaming, Cheers!