Actions 1

Actions

A character can act only if he has the initiative. Initiative is relative, so can only be lost when it is challenged by another factor, most commonly a NPC adversary, but it could also be another player’s character or even an environmental factor. In a fight for example, a character who is attacking has the initiative against the person he is attacking, until the other character takes back the initiative in someway. The more a character acts, the less initiative he has, which means the higher likelihood of him losing it to an opponent.

Combat

In combat, every attack is a guaranteed hit, unless the defendant chooses to defend against it. There are several types of attack, which can be restricted  by your characters equipment and expanded by their style and skill sets.

·      Flurry – This attack is composed of multiple smaller attacks. This makes is harder to dodge. Eg. Tommy Gun, Beehive.

·      Heavy – A hard strike, which is easy to dodge, but deals more damge. Eg. Hammer, Flintlock.

·      Quick – An attack that grants a bonus to initiative to use, but can be shrugged off easily. Eg. Dagger – Dashing, Clandestine

There are several ways to defend against attacks that will be determined by your skill set. However, like actions, using style to add additional affects, such as gaining initiative, can augment these reactions.

·      Dodge – Athletics/Acrobatics – Clandestine

·      Block – Shields - Rightous

·      Brace – Endurance - Stout

·      Parry – Melee Weapon Skillset* - Dashing

The concept of Style

Certain abilities can be pulled off which augment aspects of an action. These cost style.

What styles are there?

Tough.                        Flair.            Ruthless.            Charming.            Intimidating. Ect.

How do you get style?
            Building high levels

Why do you want style?

            A base level of style can unlock character traits, weapon and outfit traits and additional actions and effects.

How do you get Style

1. Equipment.

            Your characters fashion sense (including armorments) will set a base value of style to add to your style pool. This rests after each encounter.

2. Notoriety

            Certain major deeds can earn a character a reputation for a certain kind of behavior, these ad dto a characters base pool

3. RolePlay.

            The way you roleplay your character can give you large amounts temporary style., which fade over time if you don’t use them. Some abilities allow you to build style faster. Dual wielders get style faster typically to make up for being weaker.

So players get a lot of choice in choosing their particular characteristics, and are encouraged to RolePlay to fulfill their character intention.

Mechanics Theory

I propose a system.

Wounds? Injury?

How can such a system be obtained in a universe where fancy hats are awesome enough to demand their own stats?

Wounds you say, whatwhat? Indeed.

Wounds Injuries and Ailments.

            Wounds are similar to hitpoints. Take damage and shit.

            Injurys, every weapon has a chance of inflicting an injury, which adds an extra effect. These can be treated in game by someone with medical skills.

­            Ailments

Permanent negatives and conditions. They can be cured, but require a longer periods of time and repeated treatments.

How do you get wounds? Well you get attacked and shit.  How do you not get wounded?

Clothing has defense and a threshold. Defense resets after each encounter, If the Armor takes enough damage that the threshold is reached, that armors effectiveness is reduces by one until it is repaired. This creates a both immediate and long-term strategy when it comes to armor preservation.

Characters will have around 8 health. Health is taken away once armor defense has been surpassed. Attacks against health have the potential to injure a player.

Attack

Weapons have a set amount of Damage and accuracy. It will also have the damage type (slashing, piecing, burning, radiation, entropy) which will determine the likeliness of wounds as well as their variety. (a flame thrower wont give you a broken ankle) (A headshot instant-kill mechanic would be OP, but hilarious. Discuss later)

Your attack would be an instant hit, no roll required, (A skill check for a tricky shot however (specified in accuracy) however you/opponent can dodge or do other defensive actions if they are aware of it. Provides massive advantage to stealth, makes stealth reasonable for assassination and shit.

Dodge is a check verses their accuracy, and requires the use of energy. Bracing means you take the damage but take less damage.

Energy is maintained by eating and resting,. Like defense, it resets after each encounter, however if it reduces to a certain point in an encounter (breaks a sweat), the character gains fatigue. Fatigue is a mechanic, which forces the characters to take a break. It gives pan negatives to rolls, and can only be relieved through sleep, or temporarily with high powered stimulants.

Wait til you see the attribute system...