ACKSF Core Classes II - Getting the Science into the Fantasy

So last time we discussed what our core classes would be, to recap;

1. Fighter
2. Mage
3. Cleric
4. Thief
5. Borg
6. Esper

One each for the Prime Attributes, the ACKSF six-man band if you will.  So right away there are two new classes to stat up and balance with the existing ACKS classes, thankfully the ACKS Player Companion will help greatly in this, although I will be on somewhat shaky ground with new(ish) powers/abilities, or at least powers new to ACKS.  Thankfully even here I shan't be reinventing the wheel, as there plenty of wheel shaped objects to steal, er rip off n' duplicate, errrr draw inspiration from.  What?  I work in IT, this is what we do darlin', this is what we do...

Anyway, what specifically can we do to add the mechanically crunchy peanut-butter to the phantasmal chocolate?

The first possibility is to add to the existing Proficiencies System already built into ACKS.  Immediately I would rule that the free Adventuring Proficiency granted to all starting characters includes the basics space 'venturing; donning space-suits, checking pressure seals, patching suit tears, sealing hull breaches, routine maintenance, basic null-grav proofing, basic EVA, etc.

Additionally, powered-armour training is enough of a game-changer to deserve its own proficiency pick, the larger question is whether to restrict it to fighters or to add it to the general pool.  Perhaps we should break it into basic and martial versions with the one being general and allowing wearing and basic manoeuvres, while the other allows the wearer to fully benefit from stat-boosts in combat and restricted to fighters.

Whereas Fightercraft, Armoured Vehicle, and Wanzer Fighting are all obviously the domain of the Fighter class only.  Adding to the general list we can add space related professional proficiencies like Able Bodied Spaceman, Steward, Master of Arms, and all the other Traveller ship's pay-ratings deserve to be proficiencies that tie into the starship operations/trading rules.  And that's just for starters, so SF proficiencies, there's crunchy peanut-butter right away.

The second possibility is a skills system.  I realize that this is highly controversial territory, but the grand old OG of SF tabletop gaming, Traveller had skills, so I answer the anti-skill OD&D grognard thusly; It's tradition!  Nyahh :P

More seriously, one of my personal weaknesses in campaign-design has been to attempt grand sweeping rationalizations and impose rigid frameworks onto the organic growth of the tabletop campaign, 'tis one of the flaws of those who came of age during the era of 'unified task resolution' and 'point build' systems.

Thus I have to guard against this temptation carefully, for example it would be both unnecessary and counter-productive to re-conceive the Thief's Class Skills in a 2d6 plus ranks framework.  First of all, that wheel already exists and to remake it at this point is just gilding-the-lilly at best (if I do it well) or 'fixing' what ain't broke and breaking it in progress, at worst.

Also, despite the name, 'skills', the thief's class skills are actually class abilities, and not really describing the same thing as Traveller's non-combat skills.  Admittedly this is a larger change from RAW ACKS, but I think it could be profitably done, and well, in order bolt-on SF subsystems onto ACKS where there is a need for mechanics different than those of the existing proficiencies while providing for granular improvement.  At this point I'm still on the fence, but at the moment it seems legit for subsystems that don't yet exist properly in ACKS framework.

The third possibility is the most drastic, new Primary Attributes.  Originally I had wanted to add three new characteristics; Willpower, Perception, and Perception, which was a part of a half-baked idea to re-jigger the mechanics of magic and other spell-like abilities, as well as ranged combat.  I have since reconsidered this, no, frankly I have decided to set it aside as a bad idea; hey brain, stop, fixing, what, ain't, broken.

But looking at Terminal Space, I am somewhat taken by the idea of Technology Level as another Primary Attribute.  Which would be perfect to incorporating a new Core Class, the Technical Specialist?  Hacker?  Techie?  Specialist?  Tech-Priest?

Anyway, the class would cover the gadgeteer, combat-hacker, drone operation, Mr. Fixit, MacGyver, etc.  This seems workable, but perhaps a dangerous precedent to set.  If I allow myself to tinker this far, how much more will I be tempted?  What about the Social Standing stat and the Noble class?  That doesn't sound so bad actually...

See what I mean?

ACKSF Core Classes

Ok, this is a bit of a planning post, as the lion's share of the detail-work remains to be done, but things have solidified enough for me to see a definite path forward.

So, the Core Classes in ACKS are:

Class    |  Prm Req |
Fighter  |  STR     |
Mage     |  INT     |
Cleric   |  WIS     |
Thief    |  DEX     |

Now these are all grand old archetypes, and will work just as well thematically in Science-Fantasy as they do in any other kind of Fantasy. 

Fighters are trivially easy to see in Science-Fantasy; Boba Fett, Johnny Rico, Prince Colwyn, Master Chief, Doomguy, Adeptus Astartes, etc.  The Fighting-Man's mastery of all weapons and armor is even more important in a Science-Fantasy setting given the variety of kinetic and energy guns and powered armor.

Mages might at first glance seem out of place in Outer-Space, but this quickly falls apart when examined.  The Lovecraft Mythos is full of Sorcery and Sorcerers from Outer-Space, including magic space-beer, the quaffing of which protects the imbiber from the effects of vacuum exposure.  Also the world of Comic Books has no problem with getting the Chocolate of Fantasy in the Peanut Butter of Scifi.  Example Mages include: Stardust, Nemesis, Doctor Strange, Maal Dweb, Mum-Ra, Titus Crow, and the Green Lantern Corps.

Clerics, as Militant Priests, are somewhat more difficult to place in Science-Fantasy than Mages, although after a moments thought, not much more.  While examples of Arms-Bearing Pastors are not extremely common in the common media corpus, they can be found here and there; after all, what else is an Astartes Chaplain?

Thieves are no problem at all, there's Malcolm Reynolds, Han Solo, the Stainless Steel Rat, the crew of the Raza, and pretty much every Traveller party ever has included at least one character of criminal background who can fence the party's ill gotten gains.

Once cannot help but notice that there is one Core Class for each of STR, INT, WIS, and DEX.  What about CON and CHA?  Once upon a time, these were domain of the Dwarf and the Elf respectively, and while I heartily endorse Race as Class, in my Campaign Law, the Core Classes should all have human archetypes.

So what Science-Fantasy archetypes would fit with CON and CHA as their Prime Requisite?

Let's go back to the Attribute Descriptions, in ACKS, Constitution is defined as:

 Constitution is a combination of general health and vitality.  Apply the Constitution bonus or penalty to each Hit Die rolled by the character.  Note that a penalty here cannot reduce any Hit Die roll to less than 1 point.  

Immediately what springs to my mind is Cybernetic Prosthetic Bodies, the implantation of which must be limited by the health of the recipient, lest the drastic surgeries and drugs necessary kill the recipient.  And while Characters of any Class would benefit from limited implants gained during play (limited quite like magic items), the extreme modification of the Full Conversion 'Borg deserves to be its own archetype and this is easily seen in the source material: Cyborg, Robocop, the Six Million Dollar Man, Briareos Hecatonchires, Major Kusanagi, Battle Angle Alita, Adeptus Mechanicus, the Omar, Adam Jensen, and of course, the one and only Tinman.

Now, what about Charisma?

 This is the ability to influence or even lead people; those with high Charisma are well-liked, or at least highly respected. Charisma is a prime requisite for bards. Apply the Charisma bonus or penalty to the character’s reaction rolls. Charisma also determines the maximum number of henchmen the character may employ, and modifies their morale.  The number of henchmen a character may hire is equal to 4 plus the Charisma bonus or penalty (and therefore ranges from 1 to 7); the average morale of any such henchmen will be 0, modified by the character’s Charisma bonus or penalty.

Immediately the term 'Animal Magnetism' springs to mind, which associates quite naturally with 'Mesmerism'.  Why, we have found the Prime Requisite for our Psychic class!  And make no mistake, the Psyker, the Psion, the Esper, the Mentalist, the Teep deeply deserves his own space as a Core Archetype, as seen in such classic characters as; Alfred Bester Psi-Cop, the Lensmen, The Adeptus Telepathica, River Tam, Vulcan Mind Melds, Tetsuo and Akira, Newtypes, Jean Grey, the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood, the Thoat-Riders of Barsoom, Gil of ARM, and of course The Jedi Order.

Adjusting Fire

As I begin to crack the books to build My Game(tm), it becomes obvious that my end goal is rather ambitious.  This is not a statement of defeat, but rather an assessment of the Work ahead.  So, rather than try to tackle the whole thing at once and risk setbacks and discouragement, I have decided to break the Work into manageable chucks which should have the benefit of providing me with material I can release for your own enjoyment and edification much more quickly.

My first goal then, will be to produce a Science Fantasy resource for Adventurer, Conqueror, King; ACK-SF if you will. I'm not aware of anyone else doing this, so either I'm fulfilling a missing need or providing something that no-one wants.  Time will tell...

StarCrusaders Without Number: Venturer, Conquistadore, WarLord

Ok, with that gentle introduction and elevator pitch out of the way, its time to discuss the system for StarCrusade!

At this time the best base for any OSR/SF system seems to be Stars Without Number (SWN), a clever mashup of B/X D&D and Classic Traveller. One of the things that draws me to the OSR mentality in gaming is the inability to leave things alone, every group plays *their* game and that's not just OK, but expected.  Which fits me to a tee, I can never just run the RAW.  Roleplaying isn't the Liturgy OK?  This is time to cooperatively play jazz, not 'do the red, say the black'.

What will be different about StarCrusaders! then?  I'm glad you (didn't) ask gentle reader, but I'll tell you anyway.

0.  Cross Pollination.  Because I can't just leave well enough alone, the first thing I'm going to do is cross-pollinate with the best in the Fantasy side of the OSR.  For me this is obviously Adventurer, Conqueror, King.  This system just hits all the right notes for me:

0.1.  GP as XP.  I can't emphasise this enough, nothing else captures the Old School Feel more in my opinion.  It's just so right.  Why are the players seeking treasure at risk of life and limb?  Because training with the Guild-Maesters isn't free.  This also encourages the Players to manage risks and discourages the 'murder-hobo'ism that many complaign about.  If XP is not awarded for killing things, but rather successfully looting the lairs, *and getting back*, players are instead motivated to avoid unnecessary confrontations and look for sneaky solutions. 

0.2.  Meaningful Character Progression.  Finally the promise of B/X and BECMI fulfilled, with meaningful 'Name-Level' and 'Domain' play, frabjulous day! 

0.3.  Also Race-as-Class, this is important in maintaining a human-centric vision and flavour. 

0.4.  Finally, there's the player companion which provides a framework for creating new and balanced classes.

1. Attributes. The six classic characteristics aren't enough for my vision, and neither are the attribute boni/mali. One of the principles of the StarCrusade! universe is Threes, as in things come in them, and Three groups of Three is an unfolding of that principle.

1.1.  Character attributes in StarCrusade! will be in three groups; Body, Mind, and Spirit.

1.2.  The Body attributes are Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution. 'Nuff said.

1.3.  The Mind attributes are Intelligence, Wisdom, and Perception. Perception splits off the sensory perception and alertness concepts from Wisdom, leaving the prior as a pure measure of Induction and Intuition (as apposed to Intelligence's Deduction and Abstract Reasoning).  Intelligence is the prime mover for Technology and Skill Using characters.  Wisdom is the controlling characteristic for Resisting Corruption and Domination.  Perception is the defining attribute for ranged combat.

1.4.  And the Spirit attributes are Vitality, Willpower, and Charisma.

1.4.1.  Vitality measures a character's connection to the subtle life-consciousness field and is the Prime Requisite attribute for Physical Adepts (think Star Wars Force Users and Hong Kong action cinema Chi powered Wuxia).

1.4.2.  Willpower measures a character's internal disincline and strength of mind, and is the Prime Requisite for Mental Adepts (classic SWN/WH40k Psykers).

1.4.3.  Finally Charisma measure's a character's spiritual grace and connection to the secret fire and the ultimate source, and is the Prime Requisite for Spiritual Adepts (think D&D Clerics, Druids, and Paladins).

1.5.  Finally, the Attribute Modifier chart will be changed slightly, rewarding/punishing extremely high/low Attributes a little more:

Ability Score Modifiers
3        | -3
4-5      | -2
6-8      | -1
9-12     | 0
13-15    | +1
16-17    | +2
18       | +3

2. Races. I will be stating or converting up a number of Races available to players at the start of the campaign, representing the more space-fantasy feel of the setting.   As a sample, the Elder Races of the Valinor Alliance are:

2.1.  Aeldar - The Eldest of the Council Elders and founders of the Alliance; the only race in regular communication with the Ancient Valar who built The Citadel and supposedly reside at the top of the Citadel's Ivory Tower. Immortal, highly mystical, keepers of ancient and hidden lore, masters of the secret-fire; ancient Aeldar often spend entire lifetimes (as younger races measure such things) in a dreaming state, by which they regenerate their personalities and deal with the consequences of the curse of deathlessnes laid upon them so long ago.

2.2.  Khazad - The Second Eldest of the Council Elders and the personal sub-creation of a particularly enigmatic Valar; the Khazad are clannish, secretive, highly crafty and technical, masters of mining, architecture, engineering, and automation. Khazad chafe at the Valinor Alliance limits on Artificial Intelligence, often creating Machine Spirits that anyone else would consider dangerously independent; binding them with Oaths and Pacts. Several times in the past the Khazad have endured censure and approbation on the council for various activities that delved too deeply, too greedily into a particular subject matter, with severe if unintended consequences.

2.3.  Satyrines - The Third Eldest of the Council Elders; a study in contradictions, the Satyrines are capable of both shocking flights of emotional passion and fury and as a consequence, quench their society in highly ordered and calming ritual. The Worker, Warrior, and Religious castes of Satyrine society control all public life, while the great Clans regulate the private. Between the darkness and the light stand the Satyrines, and if they should enter the deranged state of Warrior-Panic, watch out.

2.4.  Entwifs - The Youngest of the Council Elders and barely so at that, only recently qualifying for the position by raising up two younger races to join the Valinor Alliance. Often considered dangerously reckless, flighty, and irresponsible by their elders, the Entwifs are determined to prove themselves, often reinforcing the stereotype in the process. Entwifs are somewhat unique in being technically mobile plants and not animals (although some contest this as mobility is what it separates plant from animal, or so they say) and there are those who spread uncharitable rumors that reason all Entwifs in known space are female is that the males couldn't take their insanity. Others whisper that the males of the Entwifs are in fact the Treant war-machines favored by Entwif warrior-maidens, but they whisper this quietly, very quietly indeed.

I'm also toying with tearing out HP and AC and replacing them with Traveller style Attributes as Hit Points and Armor as Damage Reduction and a Class/Level based Combative Value to replace AC, but I think I want to play the RAW before touching combat too deeply. 

That's all for now, end transmission...