Post by btavorvick on Jan 29, 2014 18:23:57 GMT
Hi everyone! It’s time for another Wednesday Rules Update! This week we will be examining the hidden rules of scripts and Calls.
There are lots of things that are not possible in the Beyond the Ӕther system for various reasons. The rules below all have various explanations for why they are in the game. My intention is to list the reason for each underneath it in this thread. I will also be adding new rules and creative guides. If the reason for something hasn't been updated yet and you want to know, simply let me know through staff@beyondtheaether.com
No character can have more than 35 Source.
This is for game balance reasons. We need to offer a hard cap to prevent exponential growth in the system. This also has the effect of making Bestowments better for newer players, thus increasing their potential connections in the game.
No non-Relic item can be more than Quality 35.
Again, game balance, but also because we want to provide a strong division between "Relic," which is on a mythic scale, and "crafted," which is on a human scale. It also causes items to have some kind of defined value without inflation, as there's a limit to how amazing an item can be.
Nothing will ever grant more Source than it costs.
Game balance and friendliness to new players. Infinite loops aren't meant to exist in Beyond the Aether, and keeping them out helps newer players to not be quite so outclassed immediately. There is an exception to this rule: if an ability uses up a permanent resource (pence, gobbets, Trade Goods) then it is exempt from this rule.
No crafted item will ever grant Principle ranks.
This is a game about belief, idealism, and extremism. The idea that you could hold an item which would distort your beliefs is interesting, but it simplifies the underlying philosophical debates into "do you have one of these items?"
No crafted item will ever be usable to add a Call or effect without some additional cost.
Similar to the above about Source, but this one is not about game balance directly. This is about keeping combat simple. If the base is "1 Normal" and there isn't a way to permanently deviate from that, this will make sure there is very little confusion about when a special ability is used.
No Calls will ever be added to the system.
Part of Beyond the Aether's complexity is in its simplicity. If we were to continue adding new Calls, we would create more confusion for players, and would remove a central reason for being creative with script design. If a script or ability doesn't do something associated with a Call, it either needs to be a Show Me or to find a Call that fits it best.
No ability will ever let an item be Immune to Shatter
This is a system limit to support crafting, economic, and strategic combat play. By allowing any item to be destroyed by a Call accessible from the beginning of the game, it creates turnover in items and therefore requires players to participate in the economy. The effect on combat is to give multiple options for disabling a powerful character. By Shattering an item, a beginning character can still be a threat to an unprepared veteran. However, becoming prepared for being attacked by Shatter requires an investment of Gobbets or Source, meaning that a veteran character must choose between multiple options of losing resources. This provokes interesting play situations as we move into direct character-to-character conflict.
No ability will ever let a character be Immune to "1 Normal" without a workaround
Beyond the Aether's design is based on empowering new characters. A character with a single Quality 1 sword should be able to inflict harm in combat to even the most advanced character. Since there is no way to do more than one damage without some kind of additional resource, this means that there should never be a circumstance where a character can be Immune to "1 Normal." Otherwise the amount of resources that a new character must possess to be a threat starts to rise dramatically. There are some abilities that permit being Immune to "1 Normal" at a significant cost to being vulnerable somewhere else, and this tradeoff is extremely rare in the system.
No script or item will be able to increase a character’s base damage to more than one.
This is to prevent damage inflation and keep a single character with a sword as being dangerous in the system.
No script will grant additional Developments.
While they may be a resource, they are one of the few that requires staff attention. Because of how staff time is limited and balance issues, we won't have any game-rules-based way to create additional Developments.
No script will ever replace the need for Gobbets.
No script will create Trade Goods, keys, or Land Deeds.
No script will create Philosophy Tags.
These resources are meant to be permanent but finite resources, and their scarcity to be a central point of conflict in Beyond the Aether. By creating a script that can replace something with, say, Source, it undermines the need for permanent resources and thus does away with a source of conflict, leading to less story.
No script or item will let a character resurrect anywhere except the Cauldron.
The story reason for the Cauldron makes it necessary that people can't come back in other places. As well, the trip to the Cauldron provides us with an opportunity to check in with a player and determine whether they are enjoying and engaged with the game. Making resurrections happen away from staff removes this feedback mechanism and works against the story premise.
No script or item will allow you to determine which nation someone works for.
In order to support spy and intrigue play, we did not make "nation" an official rules field on your character sheet. This allows for a character to claim one thing while doing another, and not to have a simple way of getting around that. This in turn creates more conflict between characters, because problems of allegiance can't be solved with a simple yes/no question.
There are lots of things that are not possible in the Beyond the Ӕther system for various reasons. The rules below all have various explanations for why they are in the game. My intention is to list the reason for each underneath it in this thread. I will also be adding new rules and creative guides. If the reason for something hasn't been updated yet and you want to know, simply let me know through staff@beyondtheaether.com
No character can have more than 35 Source.
This is for game balance reasons. We need to offer a hard cap to prevent exponential growth in the system. This also has the effect of making Bestowments better for newer players, thus increasing their potential connections in the game.
No non-Relic item can be more than Quality 35.
Again, game balance, but also because we want to provide a strong division between "Relic," which is on a mythic scale, and "crafted," which is on a human scale. It also causes items to have some kind of defined value without inflation, as there's a limit to how amazing an item can be.
Nothing will ever grant more Source than it costs.
Game balance and friendliness to new players. Infinite loops aren't meant to exist in Beyond the Aether, and keeping them out helps newer players to not be quite so outclassed immediately. There is an exception to this rule: if an ability uses up a permanent resource (pence, gobbets, Trade Goods) then it is exempt from this rule.
No crafted item will ever grant Principle ranks.
This is a game about belief, idealism, and extremism. The idea that you could hold an item which would distort your beliefs is interesting, but it simplifies the underlying philosophical debates into "do you have one of these items?"
No crafted item will ever be usable to add a Call or effect without some additional cost.
Similar to the above about Source, but this one is not about game balance directly. This is about keeping combat simple. If the base is "1 Normal" and there isn't a way to permanently deviate from that, this will make sure there is very little confusion about when a special ability is used.
No Calls will ever be added to the system.
Part of Beyond the Aether's complexity is in its simplicity. If we were to continue adding new Calls, we would create more confusion for players, and would remove a central reason for being creative with script design. If a script or ability doesn't do something associated with a Call, it either needs to be a Show Me or to find a Call that fits it best.
No ability will ever let an item be Immune to Shatter
This is a system limit to support crafting, economic, and strategic combat play. By allowing any item to be destroyed by a Call accessible from the beginning of the game, it creates turnover in items and therefore requires players to participate in the economy. The effect on combat is to give multiple options for disabling a powerful character. By Shattering an item, a beginning character can still be a threat to an unprepared veteran. However, becoming prepared for being attacked by Shatter requires an investment of Gobbets or Source, meaning that a veteran character must choose between multiple options of losing resources. This provokes interesting play situations as we move into direct character-to-character conflict.
No ability will ever let a character be Immune to "1 Normal" without a workaround
Beyond the Aether's design is based on empowering new characters. A character with a single Quality 1 sword should be able to inflict harm in combat to even the most advanced character. Since there is no way to do more than one damage without some kind of additional resource, this means that there should never be a circumstance where a character can be Immune to "1 Normal." Otherwise the amount of resources that a new character must possess to be a threat starts to rise dramatically. There are some abilities that permit being Immune to "1 Normal" at a significant cost to being vulnerable somewhere else, and this tradeoff is extremely rare in the system.
No script or item will be able to increase a character’s base damage to more than one.
This is to prevent damage inflation and keep a single character with a sword as being dangerous in the system.
No script will grant additional Developments.
While they may be a resource, they are one of the few that requires staff attention. Because of how staff time is limited and balance issues, we won't have any game-rules-based way to create additional Developments.
No script will ever replace the need for Gobbets.
No script will create Trade Goods, keys, or Land Deeds.
No script will create Philosophy Tags.
These resources are meant to be permanent but finite resources, and their scarcity to be a central point of conflict in Beyond the Aether. By creating a script that can replace something with, say, Source, it undermines the need for permanent resources and thus does away with a source of conflict, leading to less story.
No script or item will let a character resurrect anywhere except the Cauldron.
The story reason for the Cauldron makes it necessary that people can't come back in other places. As well, the trip to the Cauldron provides us with an opportunity to check in with a player and determine whether they are enjoying and engaged with the game. Making resurrections happen away from staff removes this feedback mechanism and works against the story premise.
No script or item will allow you to determine which nation someone works for.
In order to support spy and intrigue play, we did not make "nation" an official rules field on your character sheet. This allows for a character to claim one thing while doing another, and not to have a simple way of getting around that. This in turn creates more conflict between characters, because problems of allegiance can't be solved with a simple yes/no question.