I found this one last night at Wal-mart, where, incidentally, 5-shelf bookshelves are on sale for $29.95.  Sometimes they'll get down as low as 25 or so, but I think I'm gonna go buy some today.

(The above should not be considred an endorsement of Wal-mart)

We return, dear readers, to the Unisystem.  (Have we ever really left?)  I've been thinking about a lot of things lately about how I like games to run.  Eventually, I might undertake to design a game completely around the principals I'm mulling over, but for now I want to see if I can implement the concepts in an existing game.

Unisystem is a great one for this purpose, since the system is so easy to tinker with in general.  For these articles, I'm focusing on the Cinematic rules, but they'll adapt to Classic Unisystem almost effortlessly.

First up is the dreaded topic of Social Skill Use on PCs.

Any time an NPC does something to a PC, it has the potential to be un-fun for the player.  Getting stabbed, ensorcelled, or snuck past is no fun, but the results can be fun and the absence of the possibility makes the whole game kind of boring.  Social skills are even worse than physical ones, though.  The results of a physical action will tell a player what happens to his character: You're hurt; You don't notice X; You're turned into a frog.  Social skills, in theory, tell a player how he has to play his character: You're in love with the evil princess; You're scared of the bully and have to run away; You believe the war in Iraq is completely just and logical.

That can suck.  Not always, of course.  Sometimes it's a lot of fun to play the besotted victim of a seductress, or the enraged guy who goes after his own friends because he's been fooled or magically charmed.  But some players really hate it.  Some are terrifically bad at it.  And sometimes, even for the folks who normally like it, it's just not their thing that night.

Worse yet, basically social skills come down to GM Fiat.  The rules tell you what happens in a concrete way when you get stabbed, and exactly how to overcome the wounds.  All the rules usually tell you about being conned, seduced, or intimidated is to roleplay it.

So I wanted to come up with a system that would be more concrete, without adding too much complexity or weight to the game.  "Social hit points" might be really interesting, but honestly they don't quite work like physical hit points anyway, and I'd have to add new stats and stuff to the game.

Instead, I'm building off the Success Level system and the system that allows complementary skill use to give you bonuses or hit the other guy with penalties.  It works like this:

When an NPC uses a social skill on a PC, the GM states a goal like "he wants to get in your pants," or "she wants to fool you into believing X."  He doesn't necessarily have to tell the player the goal, because sometimes that would ruin the interaction, but he needs a baseline.

With the goal in mind, the GM sets a difficulty, taking into account things like the PC's Drawbacks and Qualities and situational modifiers.  For example, if a she-vampire is trying to seduce a PC and drag him off for dinner, and the PC has Lecherous -1, the PC is going to take his lecherous penalty.  But if he also has Honorable 3 and leaving right now would violate his code, the vamp might get a penalty to her roll, too.

The test is Opposed, generally using Willpower for the "defender" and Intelligence or Perception for the "attacker," but there are other ways to stack it out.  Influence is usually the relevant skill unless you got all fancy with Wild Card skills.  (For you Classic users, there's Orate, Seduction, Haggling, and whatnot.)

If the attacker wins, the defender has a choice.  Option A is to do whatever the GM says he's been convinced to do, within reason.  Some goals might take multiple tests.  A vampire trying to seduce a victim might need to get his attention, get him to dance with her, then convince him to go off alone with her.  Option B is to accept a penalty to all "mental" tests equal to the margin of success.  So if the vampire netted 3 SL, the victim would be at a -3 to things like perception tests (he can't stop looking at her), social tests (he's hung up on her and says stupid stuff or whatever), and intelligence tests (he can't stop thinking about her).  Physical skills are only affected conditionally.  Most of the time, they won't be.  The only major exception you might want to consider is combat.  I'd impose the penalty to Initiative and the first roll the PC makes in combat.  After that, fear for your life has a remarkably focusing quality, and you ditch the penalty.

Keep in mind that the skill penalty is a "metagame" thing.  In some cases, it doesn't make much sense, but it's still there to provide a mechanical consequence to failed Social tests.

The penalty generally only hangs around for a scene or so, or until something happens to nullify it.  In our running vampire/victim example, the victim might shake off the penalty by spending a DP, or by getting counter-seduced by one of his friends who he has a crush on.  And, of course, all bets are off when the vamp bites him, unless he's in to that kind of thing.

The penalties also don't stack up.  Only the highest result ever applies.  Even so, repeated attempts can wear down a PC's resistance, so I might cap the penalty at -5 or -7.  To keep the "dog pile effect" to a minimum, I'd also limit how many social rolls you can make in a given time frame; say one every 10 minutes or half-hour for extended things.

If the player chooses option A, he should almost always earn a Drama Point, and maybe a bonus XP if he plays it really well.

This system would also work on PC vs. PC social tests, but I generally try to avoid those in my game.  I'd rather have the players agree on those.  There's a difference in social perception between the GM/NPCs and another Player/PC that makes things more personal.

I suppose it'd also work for NPCs, but I would generally choose to have my NPCs choose Option A rather than juggling penalties and stuff.

Things are still quiet around here.  We're leaving for Gen Con on Wedensday.  I've barely had time to keep up with my usual responsibilities, which leaves no time for blog entries.  But here's one thing - a picture from Shiftways.  (It'll probably show up on shiftways.com eventually)

Photographed live on Tim's big honkin' battle mat.  This very set (along with 9 others) will be on sale at Gen Con.  I can't, however, promise to sell you this specific one.  They all look pretty much alike.

It's been quiet around here lately, but not from lack of me working.  It's just that stamping hundreds of wooden blocks doesn't make for good web content.  I believe I've mentioned that I developed a board game here.  (If not, I'm mentioning it now.)

Shiftways is an innovative stone-capturing game that's been lurking in the back of my mind since the early 1990s.  Tim Rayburn (the same guy who keeps my blog running) liked it so much he convinced me we should sell it.  (He also did a huge ammount of work helping me take it from basic concept to finished game.)

We're launching (completely unofficially) at GenCon 2007.  Tim and Kate Rayburn, myself, and our friend Chris Jackson will be at the con with copies to demo for anyone who's interested, and with copies to sell.

Our product website, http://shiftways.com/, is live, if not very pretty.  In the next few days, we'll try to pretify it with some photos, rules to the game, and background.  A checkout system should also be forthcoming.  (But don't expect your orders to be delivered until after GenCon.  We're taking our whole stock with us. :) )

I'll try to get something else up here for your entertainment, but it may be a couple weeks.

Another day, another attempt at foreshortning.  This one seems moderately successful.  I also wanted to try a little inking stuff that I think went okay.

Xian Li is a character I'm playing in a WitchCraft PBP.  She has a big dragon tattoo on her torso and one leg, and smaller ones on her arms and legs, along with tattoos of some ancient Chinese characters.  In the game, the characters are supposed to be untranslatable.  For this picture, I used the character for Thunder (at least according to Google Image Search) for the one that shows up on her thigh.

And to real calligraphers everywhere, I apologize. :)

So, after finishing up my nightly comic panel, I was bored and still in the mood to draw.  A responsible person would have started the next day's comic panel, but not me.  Oh no, not me.  I whipped out this, which is far from perfect, and I'm not sure the character it's supposed to be a sketch of really looks like this, but it's a fun sketch.

If there were a caption, it would probably say something like "Owls are really rather stupid," or "This skirt looks nice, but it's hell to walk in."

On my last trip to the grocery store, I found this little jewel.  Assuming it means what I think it means, it's pretty cool.

Hi y'all.  Sorry for the delay.  My blog switched servers and a few files didn't find the right server.  I didn't want to post anything new until it was all sorted out.

Now, without further ado, some adversaries I've cooked up for the Seventh Enigma universe.  This isn't quite the final form they'll see in the novel I'm working on, but it's close, and they should make fun antagonists.

The Host is a group of invaders from an alternate Earth, one in which, millions of years ago, a global climate shift never occurred.  The rulers of that world were never slain by cold and darkness.  Instead, they evolved, grew, and created a mighty civilization.  Of course, civilizations rise and fall.  The Host of today would little recognize some of their progenitors.  "The Host" is their name for their government, such as it is.  The race is named the Drajin.  There are other groups of Drajin who do not recognize the authority of the Host.

The Host that emerged after the last great war has recovered much, but not all of the ancients' technology.  Some of it was destroyed beyond all recovery - even wiped from the minds of those who used it.  Lost to the Host are the secrets of life-control that transformed some of them into shape-shifting, telepathic gods.  The Lords of the Host are not even certain that they are truly descended from the Ancients, although they suppress this information viciously.

They rule a vast stellar empire, recovered several generations ago after the almost complete loss of starfold technology.  The new network of fold gates is far less efficient, but the totalitarian Host prefer it that way.  Slipships capable of entering the Fold unaided are rare and expensive.  Most transports require fold gates for superluminal travel.

Biology

The Drajin's origins are lost to time.  They were at one time roughly humanoid pseudo-reptiles, but they are now so much more.

Melee    20+    Dmg 80+                   Type: Alien
Coord    20+    For 40+                   Origin: Birth
Brawn    20+   Rep Varies - 20 ave.  Weakness: Chemical Dependency (See below)
Fort       20+   Life Varies - 20 ave.   Effect: Damage/Power Loss
Int         10+
Aware    20+
Will       10+

Powers
Physique: The Drajin are very tough and highly adapted for their roles as warriors and rulers.
-Body Armor of at least 10
-Enhanced Senses from 6-10 or more.  Many have the ability to boost these further with shapeshifting.
-Regeneration of at least 1
-Superspeed from 1-5, but this ability requires an Endurance test.  A green result means the power works for 1 turn.  Yellow provides 3 turns.  Red provides 6 turns of speed.  Afterwards, this ability is not useful until the Drajin has had the chance to rest for at least an hour.
-Chemical dependency: Drajin need to consume the brain chemicals of sentient beings.  Their tongues have special feeding spines for this purpose.  The chemicals must come from a living brain, and the process reduces the vessel to a mindless husk.

Telepathy: All Drajin have some telepathic ability.  Most of their powers require line of sight or physical contact.  Available power stunts include
-Communication (LOS)
-Mind Control (requires contact - works like hypnosis)
-Mind Probe (requires contact)
-Mind Shield

Shapeshifting: The Drajins' natural forms are pseudo-reptilian humanoids with varicolored scaled hides, but they can change shape.  Members' power levels vary.  The least of them can only change their skin colors and manifest claws and the like.  The greatest can assume virtually any shape.

Drajin are carnivores, and many prefer the meat of sentient beings.  Cannibalism is a social ritual.  One consumes one's defeated foes to steal their strength and prevent them from entering the afterlife. 

Drajin have no gender.  Sex between them involves a sort of shapeshifting/wrestling contest where one attempts to overwhelm the other and implant spoors of genetic material.  Thereafter, the other's body will absorb the spoors and produce one or more eggs bearing the victor's genetic matter.  Drajin can recognize their own offspring by scent.  A Drajin who bears another's offspring is considered subordinate to the "father."  The gestation period is long, and the Drajin give birth to live young.  It is not unknown for a litter of young to get hungry in the womb and consume each other or even the "mother" although such cases are rare with modern medical science to make sure the mother is well fed.

Drajin in "female" mode lose two ranks of Strength, and their shapeshifting powers are limited to rank 2.  They are highly vulnerable to the telepathy of the "father" Drajin, resisting any attempts at mind control at -2 ranks.  Also, they are generally docile and non-confrontational, unless severely threatened.  Then an overwhelming urge to protect their offspring will kick in, making them want to run or fight as necessary.

The Drajin have also made slaves of other races they've encountered.

Doshou
Dull, brutish creatures of reptilian origin, used for heavy labor.

Hejin
The most pathetic and hated creatures in the Host - the Hejin are former Drajin who have had their brains fed upon.  Their regenerative capabilities are sufficient to return the semblance of life, but they are broken, withered creatures.  They lose their telepathy and any defenses they had against the telepathy of other Drajin.  They also lose their shapeshifting abilities, and can be forced to shift by other Drajin.  Even these shifts are imperfect.  Hejin have flaccid, weak muscles and doughy bodies.  They always look partly melted or "unfinished."

Hejin have intelligence comparable to large dogs, at best, although they remember their past lives.

To become a Hejin is the worst punishment possible for a member of the Host - worse even than being forced into motherhood or eaten.

Mynkin
Small, spry mammals often used for labor requiring a delicate touch.  They are similar to large lemurs, and nearly have a hive mentality.  An entire pod of Mynkin functions as a unit.  Separating a single Mynkin from his pod will kill him.

Synshin
Thin, long-necked reptilian creatures with elaborate head crests, kept as something between pets and companions.  They spit caustic venom and are often used as guards for the young or hunting "hounds."

Culture
The Host is a hegemony of Houses.  There are greater and lesser houses, with some mobility possible, although it is rare.  The House of Houses is the house occupying the capital of the Throneworld (alternate Earth).  The Host is as much a religion as a government.  Each House claims certain religious sites and artifacts.  Numerous orders permeate the society and cross House lines.  Orders link some Houses together in alliances, and force others to interact.  There is no clear "priesthood" as all Drajin claim to be descended from the Gods.

That said, there are Orders whose members take on advisory roles.

Families are very large, and track kinship through the "male" line.  This is easier since offspring and sires can recognize each other by scent.  A House is a large clan, and makes relatively little distinction further than that, save for the distinction of a Warrior's mates.  Drajin forced into motherhood belong to their "husbands" so long as they are gravid, and until the next time they mate and take the male role.  This often results in a lifetime of bondage, since Warriors decide who their mates may mate with under most circumstances.

Young are raised by their mothers, often somewhat in a crèche style.  As they approach maturity, they receive broad training until they show an aptitude for one Order or another.  Once a young Drajin is able to successfully mate (to either impregnate or be impregnated), that draj is considered an adult. 

Life in the Host is marked by almost constant conflict.  Houses vie for power against each other.  Orders contest against rival Orders.  Even within a House, there is continuous struggle.  There are only a few refuges against the endless strife.  A few Orders are pacifisistic, contemplative monasteries.  Drajin weary of battle might retreat to one for a few weeks, or even longer.  The other choice is to willingly become female.  Females are fairly safe from conflict.  A birth cycle can be something of a vacation - although it is a high price to pay.

Technology
The Host has technology far in advance of earth.  They have relatively "clean" nuclear capability, space flight, and energy weapons.  Using technology to mimic their unique biology, they have adaptive materials that can change shape and function in response to need.

Some of their technology is in the form of "relics" that they can operate and even repair (it is often self-repairing) but that they are unable to replicate.  These relics are rare and treasured.  A small one can turn a Warrior into a Master.  A large one can be the center of a Greater House's power.

The Host have no language as we know it.  They use telepathy to communicate in raw ideas rather than words, and use psionically reactive crystals in place of writing.  Rather than trying to put thoughts down in words, a Drajin "author" can imprint a crystal with everything he knows on a subject.  They even have "fiction" crafted by imaginative Drajin.

As a result of this, while the slaves might have their own languages, they have no written form.  All slaves are illiterate and have difficulty communicating beyond the halls of their own Houses.  This, as much as Drajin telepathy, keeps them in bondage.