I think the dice rolls are a fun aspect but not necessary at all. Go with whatever you think would be the best for the Story and the Overall experience.
Name: Kjell Aage Username: Logar Age: 30 Gender: Male Reputation: Relatively low-key in Estaria, without any major accomplishments as a Solo player. Race: Orc Class: Barbarian Equipment:
Logar wears a light, strapped leather armor, the top of it leaving his chest bare in the barbarian fashion. His left arm, the one in which he wields his sturdy one handed battleaxe, is heavily armored with plated steel adorned with spikes ending in a steel gauntlet. His right arm is mostly bare in comparison, with a leather glove with reinforced steel plating at the knuckles to serve as his protection, along with the large reinforced wooden shield that he wields. His belt buckle is made of tempered steel, and there are multiple pockets woven into the leather where he can sheathe his weapons and other gear. His feet are protected by steel greaves, while his left shoulder is protected by a spiky shoulderpad.
Logar also wears an orcish tribal fetish, which consists of large fangs strung together into a necklace, while he wears his enchanted rings not on his fingers, but as piercings in his ears and nose; a feature which was a possible cosmetic change for orcs, and offers no other benefits. As alternative weapons, he has a strung ash longbow hung over his shoulder, with a quiver of arrows equipped at his side. Lastly, he has a skinning knife sheathed on his right hip, to help process the game he managed to hunt down.
Magical Items:
Chain of Returning: A Rare support item which can be attached to a melee weapon, upon which the user gains the Skill [Hurl]. To get it, a player has to complete the Dwarven Peril Quest.
Ring of Silence: A Very Rare item which muffles the sound the user makes, even if they wear heavy armor. It is one of the possible drops from the Still Barrows dungeon.
Ring of Haste: A Legendary item that allows the user to gain double speed for a short duration, making them seem like a blur to people who aren’t Hasted. Used by activating the acquired Skill [Haste].
Job: Hunter Personality:
Kjell is fairly social and outgoing, yet prefers to enjoy his mornings in peaceful quiet, especially since he is a night owl and generally has a grumpy mood when waking up. Once his rough start of the day is over -- usually after breakfast -- his mood lightens up and he is once more a delight to be around. There are few things which can sour his jovial attitude, but when something does, he will impulsively attempt to deal with whatever the cause was, sometimes even forcefully.
Intelligent and observant, Kjell prefers to take things slowly and contemplate on a decision longer than most people might, where he weighs the advantages against the disadvantages, -- a trait which often marks him as slow -- which is a direct contrast to his occasional impulsiveness. Once his mind is set though, he can be fairly swift in the execution, and more than a little hard to dissuade, as he believes he has already thoroughly examined all the possible options.
While he is generally friendly towards everyone, Kjell is slow to trust and even slower to forgive. Should someone give him a reason to not trust them, they can be sure that Kjell will remember it, which will affect his decision making when that person is involved. Although he generally gives everyone a starting clean slate, letting actions speak louder than words, gaining his trust isn’t easy. He values the word of someone he trusts much more than others, to the point that it would be simple to manipulate him in that state, which is why he tries to be selective. Still, regardless whether he trusts them or not, he won’t let people stand directly behind him.
History:
Kjell is an accomplished Norwegian middleweight MMA fighter in the UFC, with a record of 11 wins and 5 losses under his belt, with 3 KOs both in his wins and losses. He had gotten into the sport from a young age, as he always had a knack for it and enjoyed the challenge. His mother disapproved of his choice, which further incited him to take on the career, as his mother was a control freak and his father was incredibly submissive, so he generally just did as he was told by his wife.
Once Kjell decided on this course, he left home and all but cut ties with his parents, only visiting them during their birthdays or Christmas. While people were often surprised to find out about this, which followed with their inevitable attempt to butt in with what they thought he should do, he would usually just laugh the whole thing off and tell them to stick their noses where they belonged. He was much happier this way, so he did what he wanted.
Shortly after moving out from his parental home, he had met his girlfriend Anita on an online dating site. She lived outside of Norway, so he would often visit her when he could, but the strain of a long distance relationship was getting to them and they both knew it. They eventually decided to start living together, where he moved in with her, as his career was more flexible than hers. They lived for a few years like this, until eventually Anita had enough of his fighting. She told him that she couldn’t handle seeing him hurt all the time, sometimes severely so, and that he’d have to choose whether he wanted his brawls or her.
His indecisiveness on the matter had cost him the relationship, as he loved her but he also loved what he did. He was also more than a little afraid, as fighting had been all he had known from a young age and hadn’t really thought about pursuing any other line of work, although he wasn’t going to admit that. After they broke up, he attempted to look for work outside of fighting, on the off chance that she might take him back if he did so, but he quickly gave up on the idea. Once his initial desperation to get back with her had worn off, it was replaced with anger that she couldn’t understand his point of view.
Kjell had one other hobby he enjoyed very much, and that was playing video games. His schedule was a busy one, with workouts, arranged practice bouts and checkups from previous injuries, as well as spending time with Anita or with friends. Whenever he had moments to himself though, -- usually when he had to stay home due to the severity of his sustained injuries -- he preferred playing games, which he had more time for after his break-up. He had learned about a game that was quite popular online, with a very dedicated and loyal following. He decided to try it out and see what the fuss was about, and was instantly hooked by its setting and fun gameplay mechanics.
He chose to play as an Orc because he liked the way they looked, and set the height slider to highest, making his character 205 cms tall, or 6’9. He chose the Barbarian class which he thought was well rounded, something that is important for any MMA fighter who wants to compete on higher levels. The game was fun and he eventually managed to become fairly skilled at it, although he mostly played Solo because he enjoyed the challenging aspect of it, the same reason why he decided to mostly use mundane equipment. On the day of the expansion’s release, he was on leave from fighting as he had a broken arm, and he thought he’d dedicate his time to playing the game which he loved. A flash of light saw to that, and more.
Skills:
[Tribal Devotion]
A Toggle Skill, it stays active while its requirements are met. This particular Skill requires the user to offer the War God the head of one of their kills each day for a week, after which it provides useful protection as long as the user is in combat. The first attack on him will miraculously miss, and he can choose to shrug off a single debilitating effect every five minutes.
After the initial set-up week, the user is required to offer the head of an enemy on every odd day instead of every day. If this deadline is not met, the user will have to start from the very beginning again to have the Skill applied to them.
[Undying Resolve]
Unlocked by numerously being on the threshold of death yet still surviving, this is a passive that lets Orc players who possess it be brought back from death’s doors once a day, as the HP is set to 1 instead of death, and the player gains invulnerability for ten seconds.
[Blood Frenzy]
For a short duration while the skill is active, the user’s single target damage causes splash Area of Effect damage as well, where three other nearby foes are hurt for the same amount.
[Orcish Stamina]
A passive skill which raises the health of Orc players by a small margin.
[Cull the Meek]
Lets out a ferocious battle roar upon activation, where anyone who has less HP than the user gets the *Frightened* debuff, halving their damage against the Barbarian.
[Leap Slam]
Only works when the user is airborne; upon activation the Barbarian’s momentum carries over into the strike, dealing extra damage and dampening their own fall.
[Cleave]
A passive Barbarian skill. Whenever the user kills an enemy and an eligible foe is in range, they get an extra attack against that opponent.
[Block]
If timed correctly, the skill completely negates damage from a single source. If the timing was off -- namely, faster than the attack would have landed -- the Barbarian takes half of the damage instead, with a [Partial Block]. (Outdated, and works differently from the initial logic of the game)
[Shield Charge]
The user rapidly moves forward in a straight line, knocking down an enemy. If the entity is much larger than the user, they get stunned for a short duration instead.
[Grapple]
If an opponent is knocked down, this Skill will extend the duration as long as the user doesn’t break concentration with an attack, or a minute has passed.
[Achilles Shot]
Requires a bow. Will cripple the target, reducing their movement speed to a slow walk for a short duration.
[Hurl]
Unlocked by having the Rare item called the Chain of Returning, which you can attach to a melee weapon. Upon activation the melee item can be thrown at a target without the risk of losing that item, as it can be pulled back.
[Haste]
The user gains double speed for a short duration, making them seem like a blur to people who aren’t *Hasted*.
[Tracking]
A Toggle skill, the user passively makes note of their surroundings while it is active, and can follow tracks left behind by others. Should the enemy be adept at concealing them, the user would have to spend some time crouching down to pick up the trail.
[Move Silently]
Allows the user to approach without alerting their target. Depending on the difficulty of the terrain, can reduce movement speed to a crawl.
[Survival]
Allows the foraging for food where applicable, as well as making campfires and makeshift tents.
[Skinning]
Requires a Skinning Knife. Can separate and collect the furs of dead animals.
[Butcher]
The user is able to separate and prepare edible meat from dead animals.
[Cooking]
The user is adept at making food from ingredients, although the tools and ingredients available dictate the type of food that can be made.
[Uncanny Intuition]
A passive skill unlocked by successfully avoiding contact with nearby hostiles a multitude of times. Allows the user to sense nearby danger, but doesn’t specify from where and what.
Well, if it is a general MMORPG type of leveling system then you are probably right, but maybe it's a little bit different.
I've played games which took an interesting spin on the whole leveling. Some examples:
There was a game which I played where you could unlock perk slots with your levels, with which you could tailor the way you wanted to play as they offered slight bonuses compared to people who didn't have them unlocked.
There is a game where combat level and actual combat prowess are two separate entities, as combat was locked to Skills instead of your Overarching level that would increase through a combination of your combat skills. This way there can be some low level players with high combat capabilities, who usually focus on one or two combat skills to keep their levels low but their effectiveness is higher than it should be, and these are called Pures.
Then there was a leveling system where you achieved levels not by gaining experience, but completing achievements, so your actual level reflected your skill as a player more than the time you spent grinding.
There are even games which restrict your level in a zone, so you are regressed back to that level range but with added bonuses that you've unlocked and vice versa, where you may not have been a max level but it can boost you up to that so you can play with others.
So there are multiple ways leveling can be done, in ways that doesn't necessary restrict access to content. This world probably has a generic type of leveling system, but I'd like to know my options, is all.
I am contemplating on having a character who has not reached max yet, somewhat higher than the mid tier, but if he'd be incredibly disadvantaged by it to the point that he'd be cut off from the "main party" activities -- if indeed there is such a thing -- due to his lower level then I might reconsider.
Any chance we could know more about the game's mechanics and lore to help with planning out our characters? Also, what level was the max, in what level range can we start off, do levels have a huge impact on combat effectiveness? Or is it more of a guideline with some minor perks unlocked that give an edge over lower levels, but ultimately player skill decides the outcome? This kind of stuff.
I've heard of the FUDGE/FATE system, but mostly by name. It did sound more like a way to bring in random elements into a story with less dice rolls required though, so it could be interesting.
What you described in the Arbitrary section is more of an MMORPG than a tabletop style. MMORPGs tend to gravitate to numerical values for comparisons, so that X can never beat Y no matter how creative if their stats are vastly different. On the other hand, a tabletop like D&D let's say, has a different balancing, it offers a set of game mechanics with which it sets the logic of the world, and allows the players and the GM to be on the same page as to how things work. Ultimately, it's the GM (and the dice rolls) who decides the outcomes of each different scenarios. It is more limiting in a sense than what you described in your Nuanced section, but it sets a logical limit in my opinion: a farmhand fresh out of the fields has no chance to beat a dragon with a sword (Low level player vs High level monster), but a skilled veteran can contest it, although not alone unless they are incredibly overpowered compared to the setting.
In a D&D type of tabletop game, the storytelling and RP is collaborative, and in my experience that really helps flesh things out, while the game mechanics are there to supplement the storytelling and not limit it. No one (at least not of a sane mind) will intentionally miss with an attack or fall into a pit they didn't want to fall, and the game mechanics allow for such antics to happen, but it also allows for unexpectedly epic moments to come into the limelight, like a makeshift plan working way better than it should be.
For example, a lone bard going in to a house full of hostiles, where he would likely die after his first round of combat, but instead turns the whole situation to his advantage with clever thinking and lucky dice rolls, eventually having a showdown against the boss of the scenario on the rooftop whom he has next to no chance of beating alone, but he pushes him down from the roof with a Bigby's hand, sets the house on fire and Dimension doors out of the place. All this accomplished even though he went there just to provide some distraction so that the main party could do their thing.
Of course this obviously also relies on the players and the GMs, so each experience might be different, I'm just trying to point out that it is not as binary as you would make it seem, just because there are mechanics to follow. But I do agree with you, and I think I mentioned this earlier, that a simple numerical growth and comparison would be very limiting and boring.
PS: Just to nitpick here, arbitrary means that it is not following a clear defined system, instead opting to go for personal whims, so if it is clearly defined and makes comparisons and balancing very easy, it -- by it's definition -- cannot be arbitrary. How the rule-set was established can be arbitrary, but it cannot be applied if you are talking about the system. I'm just poking you, sorry. :P
Member
