Solo Playtest #1 comments
Okay, so what was wrong with this draft?
Skills are too broad to give characters specific abilities tied to their background. At the same time they are too narrow to fill the most general gaps. As an example - Phythis the Pirate should probably be quite athletic as someone sailing on ships but since I chose Trade and Crime skills it wasn't that obvious. For whole session of athletic performances - climbing, running away - neither character got a bonus for them.
-> I think I'll go with semi-Traveller route. So we get Brawn (strength, endurance, stamina, melee), Agility (athletics, throwing, speed, balance), Finesse (crafting, precision, shooting, thievery), Wit (wisdom, knowledge, brightness), Power (mystical force, luck, psionics). No social ability, one simple mental, no willpower besides magical one. I hope it evokes somewhat SnS feel.
-> There is another thing about additional multipliers. It's okay to have general abilities but I'd like Phythis the Pirate to be capable in pirating without the need of superb Agility. So what? So I think you can treat your [Background] as a skill. So a [Pirate] can get you +1 to sailing, climbing and intimidating. And you can get it up to +2, so even the clumsiest -2 Agility super pirate has at least +1. Also I think you can roll-and-get or choose, I'm not the one to block your fun.
Saves are weird. Does defending come from Reflex save or War skill? I don't know, it seems counterintuitive that a character with very high fortitude can max out Art and Trade and be just tough money bard but someone with -2 can take Wild and try to be ranger getting sick from every thing they encounter. On one hand it creates characters that would not be done consciously, on the other it is no fun playing a wizard who has weak will and is afraid of using power because of their -2.
-> yeah, I read FMC basic and watched some playthroughs of Fear and Hunger and now I decided to embrace the coin - if there is an effect which you may or may not avoid toss a coin. 50/50 chance, totally random. No more growing plot armours and arbitratily set numbers.
Classless is actually okay. I don't know how to handle magic-users though, as weak magic is not enticing but powerful demands some sacrifice. The "classes" of Hearty (bonus hearts), Lucky (bonus coin retosses) and Skilly (getting more [Skills]) seems fine, each character type can decide on their own. I imagine classical Hearty Fighters with more dodging involved, Lucky Fighters better at avoiding various types of dangers and Skilly Fighters determined to be way more than simple punchy-types.
Magic is in progress. I like idea of actually-vancian magic as these spells trapped in ones brain. Also no the same ones. Also more open ended than OSE versions. At the moment I think - Charm (as charm person, but less permanent, maybe if enemy succeeds their save toss it still changes their reaction slightly), Hold (as hold person, but also hold object? hold animal? hold something smaller than human?), Ward (it's a lock, an alarm and protection circle in one), Sleep (as sleep but on a success save enemy is still a little bit sleepy), Reveal (magic, illusion, anything supernatural about one object or creature), Light (this one is good), Missile (as magic missile but without HP it is way more dangerous), Shield (I guess it is like a magic armour now?). I'm thinking of incorporating some clerical spells as no clerics allowed but "white" magic is okay.
Psionics I think I'll ad it as a mix Traveller/2400 things. Way more open ended than High Magic of vancian spells, things like Telekinesis, Pyrokinesis and Telepathy. I'm not sure about Claivoyance, maybe as supernatural senses? Teleportation is definitely out, maybe could be viable as a very high powered Telekinesis? Don't know.