Classification & Categorization (2018)

One of the things that will need to be polished up for the upcoming versions of the game is the leveling system, which is a new feature as of the 2018 Edition writings. Part and parcel to this is the upgrade system, in turn tying itself into the slates and categories of classes. So I wanted to take some time today and untangle all of this, in order to give an idea of where I'll need to be taking the designs, in the future.


Inspiration
First, I want to start of with a bit of nostalgia (without making a full-blown "Origins" post.) Back in 4th Edition D&D, each Player's Handbook (PHB) introduced several classes, with successive books also adding classes with new power sources (Primal in PHB2, and Psionic in PHB3.) Further on, players options would also appear in "Power" books -- geared to all classes within a particular power source, despite these classes often being spread across more than one of the PHBs. I had always thought it would have been nice if they (at some point) made some sort of compendium books, based on power source -- a reprinting of each class (including errata) as well as all of the additional players options for that power source, which had come out along the way.

This ended up forming the sort of thematic basis of the class slates, in TNP. Where 4th Edition's PHBs each had classes spanning no less than three power sources, I initially wanted to have my class slates each based on only one. Ultimately, that would have meant expanding to five slates, or cutting down the number of power sources, so I instead settled on three slates, with (ideally) two main power sources, each: the 1st slate being Martial/Divine, the 2nd being Arcane/Shadow, with the 3rd being mainly Primal.


Metamorphosis
Now, as I had touched on in a previous post, where 4th Edition essentially defines a class as "role + power source" (creating its "class slates" by filling in that grid) TNP tries to go in a different direction. Classes are mostly defined by their Class Die and (what I've come to refer to as) their "category" -- which is, in short, the ways in which a class can be customized, namely by Subclass, Combat Role, and Specialist Class. There are 5 combinations of these options, and each slate contains one class for each combination.

With all this in place, once I began to break these options out into what could or couldn't be used for purchasable upgrades (in order to help build the leveling system) it became clear that (because of their category) certain classes would need additional upgrades. For example, a class which gets both Combat Roles and Specialist Classes to pick from, would already have two possible upgrades already built for them -- whereas a "Subclass only" character would effectively be "fully customized" from the get-go.


Evolution
This is where the idea of "Category Upgrades" came into being. Certain categories simply needed more options for upgrades, but this also opened up the idea that such upgrades could be transferred among classes of the same category (if the player chose to change their class) without needing to purchase the upgrade again. Flowing from that idea, was the notion that classes sharing a category should (ideally) have something in common. In the case of the "Subclass only" category, it seemed to make sense that generally those classes should get access to more skill training; the 3rd slate was retooled slightly, to allow for Ranger to be put into this category, alongside the Acrobat and the Rogue. Likewise, it was loosely determined that "Specialist only" classes should get an extra power source as a common perk.

In the same vein, since classes of a given slate were not limited to a single power source, I wanted to have something mechanically linking them together. This is where the idea of "Slate Upgrades" started from; being able to keep a thematically-appropriate perk across all the classes of a slate would encourage players to stay within a given slate (assuming they chose to change their class) if and when they had opted into this type of upgrade.


Ascension
I want to expand on this idea in the future. In the case of the 1st slate, the simple "Expertise with one Attribute"-upgrade was basically just something I noticed most of the classes already had, and so I ported that over from being a class perk to a slate perk -- but that's a little bit bland. I'm much happier with the idea (if not necessarily the execution) of the 3rd slate's perk, granting certain skill bonuses that utilize class die, for each of the five classes. Likewise, I think the idea of having the 2nd slate be more "knowledgeable" is a good fit, thematically (in particular, with it containing presumably smart classes like Sage, and skillful classes like Rogue and Bard) but it needs a better mechanical implementation.

With the more recent drafts of the rules, I've tried to hammer out a more definitive listing of the power sources available to the classes within each slate. In the process, I've noticed that while slates 1 & 3 effectively each have a couple "primary" power sources and a couple of "secondary" power sources, the 2nd slate is more closely married to its primaries, but then its secondaries vary across the board, from one class to the next. This sort of gives the thought that perhaps extra power sources could be the slate perk, here -- both because power sources are the method of gaining knowledge skills, but also since this slate seemingly positions itself as the pivot point between the other two. Again, before I can give this final approval, I'll have to consider it in the context of the category (or categories) of classes which end up with "gaining additional power sources" as one of their signature upgrades.


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I'm thinking of doing another "Origins" post for my next entry, but I haven't 100% decided on the topic just yet. In any case, it'd be the final such post for this year; check back on November 10th for that.

Bringing Backgrounds to the Foreground (2018)

It's been a busy week for me, so I haven't had much time to write. One of the few things I've been thinking about a bit (again) is the Power Sources and Knowledge skills in the game, so I want to touch on that a bit today.

So, generally, we want Power Sources to serve a few roles:

1. To give theme or flavour to a class
2. To inform the background of a particular character
3. To provide characters with their Knowledge skills
4. To be the mechanical axis by which players can "re-spec" their class

Let's break this down into more detail:

• Arcane classes are those that deal with magic -- pretty straightforward
• Divine classes deal with religion, gods and demigods, etc. and usually dabble in healing
• Martial classes are the ones that fight using weapons (or hand-to-hand) -- warriors
• Primal classes deal in the elemental, the natural, and the primitive
• Shadow classes deal with dark powers, or shady elements within society

One of the design choices that came out somewhat recently, was tying 2 specific Knowledge skills to each Power Source, and giving Training/Expertise based solely on that (rather than previous iterations -- which would let you pick 2 skills out of 3, or have a separate Knowledge progression alongside Power Sources, among a few other ideas -- that were eventually scrapped.)

Arcane characters get Arcana and Royalty & Nobility. Characters with this power source have both an affinity with some sort of magic, but also an understanding of political structures (and perhaps contacts at high levels of government.) These two concepts may or may not be connected to each other, on a given character; Paladins and Druids with the Arcane power source may simply be trusted bodyguards or advisers to a king, or a tribal leader, in addition to their magical talents.

Divine characters get Medicine and Religion. Typically these two are tied together, thematically. Usually classes that bestow healing are based in some sort of faith (in the case of Druids, Paladins, and Clerics, for example) or else are generally expected to be knowledgeable characters all around (such as Monks or Bards.) Alternatively, this power source can serve as a sort of motivation or specialty for otherwise martial-focused classes, such as the Acrobat, Fighter, or Warlord.

Martial characters get History and Local. The History skill represents a familiarity with significant events, their causes and effects, and the lessons that can be drawn from them; the Local skill represents familiarity with the common folk, including customs and etiquette. As has been said, this power source will mainly be found on warrior classes, but it can also be used to give a sharper context to others -- such as Clerics, Bards, or Spellbinders. It could also allow classes that are expected to be widely knowledgeable to expand their skill sets.

Primal characters get Geography and Nature. These skills both potentially cut very wide swaths. The Geography skill can provide knowledge of the literal locations of things, but also insight into what the current terrain features tell about what might lay ahead. The Nature skill can help discern weather patterns, tides, properties of various plants, as well as various information about wildlife. Again, while this Power Source is mainly found on classes like Druid, Ranger, and Barbarian, it can also be used to differentiate one Fighter or Warlord from another.

Shadow characters get Dungeoneering and Streetwise. Generally, the Dungeoneering skill helps when identifying anything to do with the underground world; Streetwise is for dealing with the figurative "underground" world. So this Power Source ends up covering a lot of ground, from Rogues (wheeling and dealing within various black markets) to Occultists (searching for lost secrets in forgotten catacombs) to Rangers (living on the peripheries of society, and hunting the darkest, most dangerous monsters.) When applied to a class like the Acrobat, it turns a simple Martial Artist into something that feels more like an Executioner, for example.

Nuts & Bolts

Now, the basic mechanic of "re-specs" is meant to allow players to change their class, while maintaining some thematic consistency with their character. To achieve this, we make it so that it is easier to re-spec into a class which shares a Power Source with your current class. With that in mind, the baseline idea is to give every class at least two Power Sources.

In this way, Arcane subclasses like Invoker, Sorcerer, and Wizard can be related to Druids and Shamans; Fighters and Warlords become "cousins" with Rangers and Barbarians; shadowy archetypes like Blackguard and Hexblade begin to cross paths.

The other mechanical lever that we can use Power Sources for, is to grant additional customization to classes that don't have as much (such as Roles and/or Specialist Classes.) Right now, each character starts with one Power Source, and gains another at 3rd level; certain "specs" gain an additional Power Source, whereas most subclasses give its parent class alternate options for which Power Sources they can pick (at starting level or at 3rd level.)

I'm thinking this might change a little bit: probably classes with less customization will gain a 3rd Power Source at 5th level; the classes currently gaining Power Sources from a "spec" will likely instead get this power source as an option (much the same way that certain subclasses do) but they may also get an extra Power Source at 5th level. These are just some ideas that I have been kicking around, which will hopefully both streamline and unify the progression tracks a little bit (much the way Performance skills need to be ironed out, I feel.) This will also help in the process of making sure that Power Sources are available to a wide enough number of classes, that none feel underutilized or too niche, but also that there isn't a overabundance of classes which simply have access to all the Power Sources (or combinations thereof.)

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More busy times still to come, but nevertheless the next post should be up on October 30th.

Let me know what you thought of this post, and if you'd like to see more in-depth discussion of anything we've touched on today.

The Next Revision (2018)

So back at the start of this year, I went over how I would be doing the new draft of the rules section by section, and eventually bringing the pieces all together. This would culminate (in April) with the "2018(a) Playtest" draft of the rules.

Since playtesting ended, most of my blog entries have been about ways in which the rules need to expand even further, so that we can give greater clarity about how the game should function, and how the mechanics should be used. This will likely take on a similar writing process; however, I first want to release a new playtest packet. (The intention always having been to do 2 or 3 drafts, throughout 2018.)

This draft already includes a few rules changes/clarifications, coming out of the playtest and other sources of feedback -- but largely, this is not what I would call a "stable" or "finalized" draft. This time around, it'll be more of a work in progress (as was largely the case in Beta 4) and I intend to be continually adding smaller changes as needed, as well as stapling on whole new sections, as they become complete.


The Next Project -- 2018(b) Playtest

Current changes: [from 2018(a) to 2018(b)]

• Included a longer explanation of the "Expertise" mechanic, hopefully reducing confusion
• Changed the "Reliable" property to only work with basic attacks that are made as a Standard Action
• Changed the rule for "Power Attack" to make its interaction with Advantage a little simpler;  removed the option to deal the higher attack roll as extra damage, to facilitate this (and also because that option was overpowered/overused)
• Made some clarifications to Advantage/Disadvantage/Expertise applying to dice which are stacked onto a d20 roll (generally, Expertise should apply, but the others should not; this may need further attention)
• Expanded on some of the core dice mechanics
• Added an example of when Advantage (from a critical success) might be applied before making a roll
• Clarified the game term "maximum value" (specifically, max on d10 is 10, rather than it being used as a 0-9 scale)
• Explanation of "Training Die" added to the core dice mechanics
• Clarified some of the mechanics around "Double Rolls" (specifically, those pertaining to treating a Basic Roll as a double roll; added explanation about the uses of the dice from a double roll being a function of the feature that is using the roll, rather than there being a general rule that is always used.)
• Changed list of classes to a table, rather than bullet-points
• Clarified the amount of HP characters have after a rest; if they began the rest with more than their maximum, then it is reset to their maximum.
• Added a rule for the off-chance that a class gets a single Power Source, 3 times
• Changed the rules for applying Advantage (from a critical success) to a skill check; this can now be used on any check (not just Untrained) but specifically only applies to the d20 roll
• Explanations for basic attacks (under the "Actions in Combat" section) were expanded a bit, as per feedback/suggestions

Changes that still need finalization:

• The "Weakened" effect will probably need to be changed, in order to make it function properly with Monster Math expressions
• Expanded rules for summoned creatures i.e. when they do or do not count as allies (work-in-progress)
• Expansion/clarification of the "Nearby" position

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If you have any feedback or suggestions, please get ahold of me however/wherever you link to the blog from.
The next post should be up on October 20th, so check back then!