Game Mechanics

[Storyteller Dark]

Rolling

Use of any Active ability from the Experience shop requires an in-post Roll to attempt. To Roll, type [roll=1d20] in your post. This will automatically output a numeric response and let you know if your ability succeeded or failed, like so:

Rolling 1d20: 12

You may then edit the post, if you wish, to indicate the result. A Critical Fail generally backfires or somehow damages the character attempting the Ability. Firestarter, for example, may burn them. A Failure will simply fail to work--that fire just might not start, but it can of course be attempted again. A Success just works. The fire is started! A Critical Success is a perfect attempt; the fire might just be the best fire anyone's seen in a good long while.

The roll attempt (what it is you are rolling for) should be clarified in advance, and posts may not be deleted in order to be re-rolled. Doing so will result in consequences! Only one major action should be rolled for per post--for example, in hunting, fighting, Story post progression attempts, and so forth. Minor things in non-combat situations--ex. stacking the wood, then lighting the fire--can both be rolled for in one post.

Combat

In the vein of fails and successes, we also have Combat. We do have a system in place for use, but the system as a whole and each point on it are optional. Decide on a method of fight and judgement, and post it at the start of a fight. Both players must agree. Our system is as follows:

• Each round must be rolled for using the 1d20 dice.

• Only one action may be taken per round (dodge, attack, ability use, etc).

• A Storyteller will be contacted to tally up the numbers and declare a winner once the fight is finished.

We're generally fairly lax on fights, and allow players to choose their own method of combat and resolution--common sense, rolling and tallying, etc. Regardless of whether they are rolling, they may only take one action each posting round. That means that while they can talk and think and so forth, they may not both dodge and counter-attack unless they have an ability allowing them to do so.

After combat, both (or all) participants in a fight may claim 25 Experience (see below).

Experience

Characters may gain Experience as they travel and explore the world around them, interacting with the lands, characters, and creatures of the Caldera. OOC, that means by posting threads and posts in IC forums. There are certain achievements that will be implemented and grant experience, as well. Experience can be used to buy Skills, Boons, Blessings, and Tokens in the Experience Shop (if you aren't signed up to the site, yet, you can click here to view the Shop items.) Experience may also be claimed for thread completion (25 Experience) in the Favor Claims thread. Taking part in a fight also grants 25 Experience.

Please note that both Experience and Favor amounts are not yet set in stone. Gains and purchases will be monitored as the site gets started, and we will tweak them for gameplay accordingly.

Favor

Favor indicates how much influence a character has gained with their chosen Alignment. Favor is never spent, but certain levels of favor are required to purchase some abilities. If you have enough Favor and Experience to purchase an item, you will go to the Favor Claims thread here and post. A Storyteller will remove the appropriate Experience (but again, your Favor remains the same) and grant you the ability.

Favor is gained by using Aligned abilities. Prayer is a baseline ability that either Alignment can purchase. From there, each time an ability is successfully used, a player may claim Favor for that character in the Favor Claims thread. Some abilities grant additional Favor on use (clarified in the tooltip). It may be easiest to complete a thread, and then claim all Favor gained within it.

Regional Alignment - As Favor-gaining abilities are claimed, they add Light or Dark Favor to the region in which they were used. Light and Dark cancel each other out, so for example 50 Light Favor plus 30 Dark Favor leaves a region at 20 Light Favor. The effects of Favor will be unlocked and revealed as each threshhold is reached:

25 Favor: [UNDISCOVERED]
50 Favor: [UNDISCOVERED]
75 Favor: [UNDISCOVERED]
100 Favor: [UNDISCOVERED]

Characters with 50 or more favor (or tier 3 characters in general) cannot have white markings as Dark-aligned, nor black markings as Light-aligned. These will change, at a minimum, to gray but may also be changed to pure black/white if the player so chooses.

Favor provides the following optional, free appearance changes:

25 Favor: Dark: red, orange, or green glowing eyes; Light: silver/white, gold, or blue glowing eyes
50 Favor: Dark: uniform black color; Light: uniform white color
75 Favor: Dark: red, orange, or green glowing markings on the character, in any form; Light: white, gold or blue glowing markings on the character, in any form.
100 Favor: Dark: Either horns or antlers, or bats' or feathered black wings. Light: Either a golden or silver aura of light, or feathery, white wings. Animals weighing over one ton are unlikely to manage flight, and their wings will be only decorative.

Discovery

Many game mechanics and pieces of lore must be uncovered through roleplay. If you think you might have found something important, feel free to post for a Storyteller; but chances are, they're already watching...

Alignment

A character may start off Chosen by Dark or Light, or by uncertain forces. It's recommended to choose one to begin with, as advancement takes time and neutral characters cannot gain Favor, but for in-character reasons, remaining neutral is fine too!

Characters may only see and purchase abilities belonging to their Alignment. A character wishing to change Alignment may seek IC means to do so [UNDISCOVERED], but will lose all gained Favor and any aligned Blessings or Boons in doing so.

Tokens

Tokens can be purchased in the Experience Shop. They allow for a variety of things, ex. Tier Two and Three character purchases and Metamorphic change. These changes and characters should be approved by a Storyteller BEFORE purchase. Generally, Metamorphic tokens allow for one change, minor or major, depending on the token.

Growth

While not strictly an OOC mechanic, this bears mentioning. Chosen can be Chosen at any age. However, for those who want to roleplay a character's younger development, we don't want to force actual years of roleplay! Therefore, after being Chosen, one month approximately equals one year of growth, until adulthood. Aging will stop, or slow (based on player choice alone, but never against character wishes) once the character is of prime age. This applies to all three Tiers of characters; Tier Three can be created as adults or as juveniles. An additional note is voice: Chosen have the ability to speak, their mouths magically altered, though not really in any noticeable or intrusive fashion, to allow this.

Husbandry

The Husbandry trait in the Experience Shop comes with some caveats. Basically, common sense should be used. While Husbandry allows the knowledge of animal taming, breeding and keeping, and all the general details of captive animal care and farming, the implementation is still down to a character's species, abilities and so forth. A lion, for example, cannot go out and tame gazelles without problems. A humanoid, however, may have a fairly easy time taming feral dogs, cats and cows. In general, if an animal might have a more difficult time taming its chosen species, it should take a lot of time and effort to do so, along with clever tricks: traps, food bait, capturing young of the species, and so forth. The taming of animals (whether a single animal or a group) should be done in at least one thread; it needn't be extremely detailed but it should at least be done on-screen, and rolled for.

UNDISCOVERED