Setting: Split screen! Furbopal and Artemis are in a different room in the basements of Bio-Blocks. Burt is taking his loot to... where is Burt going with this body anyway?
Motivation: Improvise!
Duration: 2 conflict rolls per Star
Difficulty: 6
Severity: 2
Direction: Doctor 926 looks through a large microscope with it's farthest lens inside Thursday's ear. "Curiouser and curiouser," the Doctor ponders, "the singularity I detected earlier is missing. I was sure it was right here. This specimen's neural structure had been serving as an energy matrix to hold the singularity in place. It must have shaken loose and fallen out. Artemis, Furbopal, have either of you seen a space-time distortion, perhaps on the floor?"
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Scene 4: Return to Bio-Blocks
Stage: 926's lab level beneath the Bio-Blocks Corporate tower.
Motivation: Discover the secret of Doctor Lister's research.
Duration: 4 actions (Conflict Rolls) per star.
Severity: 1
Difficulty: 7
Directions: as per Scene #3. This scene may involve a lot of talking and questioning. Stars may apply their actions to questioning or research if they wish or just roleplay it. I will likely call for some other Conflict Rolls when and if something actually happens.
Motivation: Discover the secret of Doctor Lister's research.
Duration: 4 actions (Conflict Rolls) per star.
Severity: 1
Difficulty: 7
Directions: as per Scene #3. This scene may involve a lot of talking and questioning. Stars may apply their actions to questioning or research if they wish or just roleplay it. I will likely call for some other Conflict Rolls when and if something actually happens.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Scene 3: the Warehouse
Mood music link.
The robot asks, "Yeah, whadayawant?"
Stage: Warehouse of the Robot Mafia.
Motivation: The Stars are trying to get inside and find a specific crate
Duration: 3 actions per Star
Severity: 1
Difficulty: 6
Conflict #1: Getting past
Directions: Declare your action. I'll negotiate with you to determine what roll you will need. When we agree, roll a ten-sider. The goal will probably be the default difficulty of the scene (in this case, an easy 6) based on adding an attribute, skill, and the die roll together. Regardless of whether the conflict roll meets the difficulty rating, a natural 1 will result in a bad twist of luck (but still might successfully resolve the conflict). A roll of a natural 10 will give the Stars a new benefit.
Winds from the worsening storm blow in off the water. The rain pours down in sheets. Waves crash over the sea wall and spill water onto the street. On the side of a chain-link fence, a metal sign clatters in the wind. It reads, "Warehouse of Foreboding Atmosphere." The next sign reads, "NO TRESPASSING! Violators will be recycled."
Three cloaked figures (our Stars) slip through a torn corner of a chain link fence. They reach the front of the warehouse. An owl at the top of the building screeches and flies away. Burt knocks on the small door. Two huge robot eyes open on the wall. The building's mouth opens as robot speaks. The warehouse is a robot!
The robot asks, "Yeah, whadayawant?"
Stage: Warehouse of the Robot Mafia.
Motivation: The Stars are trying to get inside and find a specific crate
Duration: 3 actions per Star
Severity: 1
Difficulty: 6
Conflict #1: Getting past
Directions: Declare your action. I'll negotiate with you to determine what roll you will need. When we agree, roll a ten-sider. The goal will probably be the default difficulty of the scene (in this case, an easy 6) based on adding an attribute, skill, and the die roll together. Regardless of whether the conflict roll meets the difficulty rating, a natural 1 will result in a bad twist of luck (but still might successfully resolve the conflict). A roll of a natural 10 will give the Stars a new benefit.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Scene 2: Enter the Heroes
Extras: MacGuffin, the stereotypical bartender
Stage: MacGuffin's Pub, a seedy & owl-infested bar in a bad neighborhood called Hell's Lab. There is a strong rain outside.
Motivation: Artemis and Furbopal were sent by their boss, Doctor 926, to buy some information from Burt. They have been asked to negociate for as little as possible. Burt is there to get as much money as possible.
Duration: Zero, no conflict rolls are needed for this scene. It's mostly dialog and character descriptions right now. If an Actor wishes to request a conflict roll, that's okay.
Direction: Burt knows the location of a certain specimen in cold storage that came from the illegal experiments of the late geneticist, Doctor Lister. Burt needs money to pay off a loan from a loan shark, so he won't settle for less than what he absolutely needs. Glinbog can determine the exact amount.
Artemis & Furbopal know each other, but that doesn't mean they get along well. There may or may not be a professional rivalry between the two. They are both grumpy for being called to perform and errand on a rainy and miserable evening.
Scene 1: Foreshadowing, oh creepy...
Futurama: New New York
Starring Sporty786 as Artemis,
TheMetal1 as Furbopal,
and Glinbog as Burt Frugal
Scene 1: Intro
The scene opens with a shot of the moon surrounded by a starry sky. The point of view pans down to an idealic forest with snoozing bears. The p.o.v. then zooms through the trees, along an ocean shoreline with crashing waves. Then the p.o.v. shifts hard to one side and races along the top of the water over a bay towards a stormy shore. It passes through a storm cloud. Lightning cracks through the center of the screen. Then it breaks through the cloud to see the skyline of New New York City. The p.o.v. flies through the city streets, passing transportation tubes and familiar buildings -- Madison Square Cube, the blurnsball stadium, Robot Arms Apartments, and Planetary Express building. Rains powers down. The p.o.v. spirals around Mom's Friendly Robot Company Tower, and then it moves farther down thestreettoward a tower of cubism design. The p.o.v. enters through the front door, passes a lobby, startles a security guard, and then into a pnuematic tube. The p.o.v. hurtles downward, passing dozens of floors until it comes out with a "fump" sound at the bottom of the tube. In a dark concrete sub-basement, the p.o.v. waddles along the floor into an open doorway. The p.o.v. sees a large brown rat in the shadows and cobwebs. It lunges toward the rat. The p.o.v. switches to show an owl eating the rat.
Voice of 926: "Hello little varmit, are you enjoying that rat? I added some cinnamon to its RNA. I also added a protein which produces a leathal charge of bio-electricity upon death."
The owl flashes green. It's flesh vaporizes, leaving behinds a smoldering skeleton.
Voice of 926: "Well, that needs tweaking. I've got to raise the temperature than that to vaporize the skeleton. I don't have time to clean up every owl that wanders down here."
A pair of brown shoes enter through the doorway and kick over the skeleton. The p.o.v. pans up to reveal a dark skinned, bald man in a business suit. He carries a brief case in his left hand.
Johnson: (speaking with a heavy Brookland accent) "Hey, Experiment 926! I thought I told youse no more experiments with owl DNA!"
Voice of 926: "Hello, Mister Johnson. What brings you all of the way down here this fine afternoon? Have you finally approved my request for actual lab equipment?"
Johnson: "Forgetaboutit. Don't change the subject. That there's an owl skeleton on the floor."
Voice of 926: "My title is Doctor 926 now. As for the vermin, it wandered in on its own looking for rats. It found some."
P.o.v. shifts 180 degress to reveal 926. He is a very large (twice as massive as Mister Johnson), slightly antropomorphic white rat. He wears eyeglasses and a white lab coat.
926: "So what can I do for you then, Mister Johnson?"
Johnson leans in and a right hand finger at 926's chest.
Johnson: "Youse can make me look good for the management in the upper floors. That's what youse can do for me."
926: "I'm always up for a challenge."
Johnson: "We're having a terrible quarter. Mom's Friendly Robot Company is killing. The upper management is looking to trim costs by eliminating unprofitable labs. This entire floor might get shut down."
926: "You might have to work for a living instead of yelling at people and carrying around your lunch in a briefcase because you think it makes you look important."
A second right hand appears to point a second finger at 926.
Johnson: "Don't play dumb with me, Experiment 926. We both need this to work. You need to come up with something for me to bring to the board meeting tomorrow morning."
926: "I suppose we could show them the Trap Rats. It's something I've been working on as a hobby. You've rejected every proposal I've given to you."
Johnson: "Not anymore. I'm authorizing the Wormwood Project."
926: "I didn't propose that. That project was developed by Doctor Lister back when I was his lab assistant. I recall him being declared insane and severely punished for it. The same suits you want to impress had his research shredded with him."
Johnson: "These are desperate times, Experiment 926. The suits will come around if you demonstrate that the specimen is both stable and controllable. If it works, you could get an above ground lab, and I could get that fourth arm I ordered."
926: "We both know that the arm isn't the extremity you wanted. You put the wrong serial number on the requisition form. Besides, we don't have the specimen. If it does still exist, no one knows where. That information was lost with Doctor Lister's papers."
Johnson: (calming noticably) "That is where you're wrong. Someone else does know. I've been approached by this guy, an information broker, Burt Frugal. He says that he knows the location of Lister's specimen, and I'm willing to authorize the funds for it."
926: "The Wormwood Proposal is illegal even by your standards, Mister Johnson. Are you certain that you want the name of the Bio-Blocks Corporation to be dirtied this way?"
Johnson: "Call those good-for-nothing student interns of yours. Send them to speak with the guy. If it's for real, retrieve the specimen and bring it back here. (places small papers in 926's coat pocket.) Here is the meeting place and a blank check from Bio-Block's bribery fund. We need a demonstration ready by 7 a.m."
926: "So you are going to do this whether I help or not?"
Johnson: "Oh yeah, I am. Don't tell anyone more than they need to know. These walls have ears."
926: "Yes, that was another one of Lister's projects."
Johnson: "Good luck to you, Doctor 926." (leaves)
926: (picks up another rat off his desk and pets it) "Good luck to me, indeed."
Introduction
NEW NEW YORK is a play-by-blog game based upon my favorite science fiction series, FUTURAMA. Yes, that FUTURAMA. Experience is awarded for making me laugh. Character Creation is performed using the C.O.R.E. 2 ruleset (a.k.a. the Chupa Open Roleplay Engine). We are playtesting the system, so yes, we are using dice.
Setting: The Year is 3005. President Richard Nixon’s head controls the planetary government from the Oval office. Robots perform tasks too dangerous for humans – until the robots kill all humans which should happen any day now. Mad scientists push the limits of theoretical technology and sanity in efforts to show off in front of each other. Mutants live the sewers, aliens live among native humans, alligators live on the moon, and celebrities live in glass jars (or at least the preserved and animated heads of celebrities). It’s a madhouse! A madhouse! No, wait, that’s another series. It’s not a madhouse! Not a madhouse!
As a setting, New New York is almost recognizable. Over the ruins of Old New York, New New York was built as a metropolis and the major port city of Earth. Owls have replaced rats as the most common form of vermin. Police (both humans and robots) keep the peace. An inefficient city government exists, commanded by an elected mayor. A network of large pneumatic tubes have become the accepted form of public transportation.
Characters: Player characters in New New York come in four types: humans, mutants, aliens, and robots. Humans are considered the default character type and require no special rules. Being a mutant, alien, or robot requires selecting the proper racial talent from the talent list. A character may be a combination (such as a deformed mutant-alien or a cybernetic robot-alien) by selecting more than one talent when additional talents become available. Any of the three racial talents allows for the availability of certain powers, explained further in the section about talents.
Rating: This game is rated PG-13. Lifeforms under thirteen thousand years old must be accompanied by an elder god.
Setting: The Year is 3005. President Richard Nixon’s head controls the planetary government from the Oval office. Robots perform tasks too dangerous for humans – until the robots kill all humans which should happen any day now. Mad scientists push the limits of theoretical technology and sanity in efforts to show off in front of each other. Mutants live the sewers, aliens live among native humans, alligators live on the moon, and celebrities live in glass jars (or at least the preserved and animated heads of celebrities). It’s a madhouse! A madhouse! No, wait, that’s another series. It’s not a madhouse! Not a madhouse!
As a setting, New New York is almost recognizable. Over the ruins of Old New York, New New York was built as a metropolis and the major port city of Earth. Owls have replaced rats as the most common form of vermin. Police (both humans and robots) keep the peace. An inefficient city government exists, commanded by an elected mayor. A network of large pneumatic tubes have become the accepted form of public transportation.
Characters: Player characters in New New York come in four types: humans, mutants, aliens, and robots. Humans are considered the default character type and require no special rules. Being a mutant, alien, or robot requires selecting the proper racial talent from the talent list. A character may be a combination (such as a deformed mutant-alien or a cybernetic robot-alien) by selecting more than one talent when additional talents become available. Any of the three racial talents allows for the availability of certain powers, explained further in the section about talents.
Rating: This game is rated PG-13. Lifeforms under thirteen thousand years old must be accompanied by an elder god.
New New York
Screenplay Book for the Chupa Open Roleplay Engine
Adapted by Scott Zaboem
Attributes
In C.O.R.E., each character has four attributes represented by numbers. The four attributes are Wits, Body, Charisma, and Tech. Each has a number ranging from one to five. Most normal people have a one or two in each attribute. Although the attributes are permanent (more or less), they are also a measure of the maximum amount of energy of that type which a character can possess.
For example, Fry has a Charisma attribute of 4. His likability and friendliness is his strongest trait. That means Fry has two point of Social Energy to lose or spend during a game. He can use this mental energy to perform certain talents (if he possesses those talents) or to challenge another character with a social attack. When Fry loses, he suffers a loss of social energy. If Fry’s Social Energy drops to zero, he’s still okay but he no longer has Social Energy to spend.
If the amount of energy from any attribute drops below zero, that character is incapacitated. We’ll continue to use Fry as our example. If his Physical Energy from his Body attribute drops below zero, he is knocked unconscious from injury or exhaustion. If his Mental Energy drops below zero, he is mentally exhausted or just too confused to be helpful to anyone. If his Charisma attribute drops below zero, Fry is rendered unfunctional by frustration, depression, or exhaustion. Regardless of which attribute was depleted, Fry remains helpless until he has a chance to regain his strength in a Healing Scene.
Wits represent a character’s reasoning and problem solving abilities, general knowledge, and common sense. The points associated with the Wits attributes are also called Mental Energy. Zap Brannagan (who never learns a lesson and acts more like a little kid than a military commander) has only one point of Mental Energy whereas Leela has at least four.
Body represents a character’s physical abilities and limitations. It can also refer to the physical attractiveness of a character. This type of energy is also called Physical Energy. Professor Farnsworth is a weak and frail old man with only one point in Body. Leela, however, is fit and physically dangerous; a Body attribute of three. Bender has a mighty titanium body, inferior to very few others; a Body attribute of four.
Charisma is a measure of a character’s social status or charm. Since social grace, manipulation, and popularity all tend to go together in New New York, these could all be considered aspects of Charisma. The energy associated with Charisma is called Social Energy. Leela and Bender are both unpopular with few friends, but they are not exactly hated either; they each have a Charisma attribute of two. Fry, although no smooth talker, does make friends easily. He is well liked and inspires loyalty in others. Fry has a Charisma attribute of four.
The last attribute is Tech. This is a measure of the character’s understanding and ability to use items of techonology. Tech is different than Wits because it is so often used in New New York to solve so many problems. Also, some characters can be very or intelligent while being completely ignorant of high technology – or vice versa. Professor Farnsworth is a great example. He is almost without rival in his deep understanding of physics, mechanical engineering, and technobabble. However, he is also absent minded, easily confused, and prone to incredibly unwise acts. The Professor has a Tech of 5 and a Wits of 1.
Skills
Skills also represent a character’s general capabilities. Each character has the same list of skills, and each skill has a number ranging from zero to five. Skills and attributes are used together to perform tasks. For example, if Fry were chased by a monster, he could try to outrun it (Body & Fitness), shot it with his laser gun (Tech & Combat), or beg not to be eaten (Charisma & Diplomacy). The main difference between skills and attributes is that skills do not decrease as energy is lost. The skills are as follows:
Mechanic, or Mech for short (a technology-related skill; to use, design, and repair machines)
Genechanic, or Gene for short (another technology-related skill; a term I made up to represent the use, design, or healing of living creatures)
Academic (general knowledge and trivia)
Combat
Diplomacy (negotiation, persuasion, and apologizing)
Fitness (health, endurance, athletic ability when used with the Body attribute; when combined with other attributes, represents instead a general resistance to harm such as a resilient mind or a good reputation)
Non-Tech (any other action which does not involve
Skullduggery (any sneaky, deceitful, or underhanded action)
Uniqueness, or Uno for short (concept borrowed from the X Road Chronicles RPG; uniqueness is inversely proportional to the likelihood of encountering another version of oneself. Bender is a mass produced model, so he could run into another Bending Unit like Flexo at any time. Fry is fairly unique with a skill of two, but he has encountered himself on at least three occasions due to time travel paradoxes or parallel universe hi-jinks. Leela is very unique, perhaps the only cyclops she has found in the universe. A high Uniqueness Skill is good thing because running into a doppleganger is almost always a bad thing.)
Character Creation
In New New York, we use the Character Backstory Method for establishing a character’s abilities. Each character starts the process with one point in each attribute and zero in each skill. Choose one backstory element from each category: Childhoods, Educations, Passions, and Professions. Each element will add to the character’s For now, choose only one backstory element from each category. Additional backstory elements may be obtained later as a form of character advancement.
Childhoods
Artificial: You were created, either as a robot, a clone, or perhaps a science fair experiment gone wrong (+1 Tech, either +1 Mech or +1 Gene)
Child Labor: You worked your way through puberty (+1 Tech, +1 Fitness)
Natural: You were raised in the wilderness, you country bumpkin (+1 Body, +1 Fitness and +1 Non-Tech)
Orphaned: No parents for you! (+1 Wits, +1 Skullduggery and +1 Uniqueness)
Privileged: As a rich and lucky child, you must have been very spoiled (+1 Social, +1 Acadmenics and +1 Uniqueness)
Schooled: You were bored out of your gourd as a child forced to learn in a cell block of a school (+1 Social, +1 Academics)
Educations
Academia: You learned everything from school (+1 Tech, +1 Academics)
Programmed: You weren’t taught so much as you had information implanted into your brain. This is common among clones and robots both. (+1 Tech, +1 skill of choice)
Rustic: No schools were nearby, but hard work as an apprentice was more important than book learning when you were younger (+1 Body, +1 Non-Tech)
Street: You learned the hard way from the school of hard knocks. The fact that you survived is diploma enough (+1 Wits, +1 Combat)
Passions
Athlete: you life for physical challenges (+1 Body, +1 Fitness)
Contender: you live for physical combat (+1 Body, +1 Combat)
Dilettante: you live to climb the social ladder (+1 Charisma, +1 Skullduggery)
Gearhead: you live for gadgets and machines (+1 Tech, +1 Mech)
Hedonist: you live to feel good, maybe too good (+1 Charisma, +1 Skullduggery)
Jester: you live to play pranks and get laughs (+1 Wits, +1 Skullduggery)
Life Weaver: you live to tinker with other life forms (+1 Tech, +1 Gene)
Romantic: you life for love, arts, and beauty (+1 Charisma, +1 Diplomacy)
Professions
Criminal -- Confidence Man (+1 Charisma, +1 Diplomacy, +1 Skullduggery)
Criminal -- Muscle (+1 Body, +1 Combat, +1 Skullduggery)
Criminal -- Thief (+1 Body, +2 Skullduggery)
Diplomat (+1 Charisma, +2 Diplomacy)
Genegineer (+1 Tech, +2 Gene)
Engineer (+1 Tech, +2 Mech)
Entertainer (+1 Body, +1 Non-Tech, +1 Uniqueness)
Pilot (+1 Tech, +1 Mech, +1 Fitness)
Soldier (+1 Body, +1 Fitness, +1 Combat)
Tactician (+1 Wits, +1 Fitness, +1 Combat)
Worker (+1 Body, +1 Fitness, +1 Non-Tech)
Free Skill Points
After building a backstory, you may increase your skills to help refine your character concept. You may add five points, distributed however you like among the nine skills. The only limitation is that no skill may exceed five points when you are done.
Story Points
Story Points are used to affect the game in a significant way or to increase odds of a success. Each character gains one story point during character creation. Certain Talents require spending a Story Point to activate. Another use of a Story Point is to reroll a failed roll, and any character can do that.
Talents
Now that you have your attributes and skills, you may choose a talent. This choice is also free, but you may develop other talents later as a form of advancement. At character creation, just chose any one talent and ignore the purchase cost. Talents are special abilities that use attribute energy to affect the story of the game. The choices of talents at character creation are: Contacts, Skill Mastery, Mighty Blow, Alien Traits, Mutant Traits, and Robot Traits. There are three specific talents that work a little differently, the racial talents explained further down.
Contacts: You can find a friendly or at least useful person that you know anywhere you go.
Purchase Cost: 2
Use Cost: 1 Social Energy (1 Story Point may be substituted)
Skill Mastery: You have spent a great amount of time perfecting your techniques. Not every character can master a skill. Mastery requires both an inborn potential and the willpower to develop it. When performing any action which requires a dice roll, you may roll multiple dice and pick the one die roll which you want to keep. Each Skill Mastery Talent must to paired with a specific skill, so the bonus only applies to that associated skill. The first time that Skill Mastery is chosen, called Apprentice Level Skill Mastery, it grants the ability to roll two dice instead of one. The second time it is chosen and applied to the same skill, it is called Journeyman Level Skill Mastery and allows rolling a total of three dice. The highest tier is Master Level Skill Mastery which allows rolling a total of four dice.
Purchase Cost: 1 per tier
Use Cost: None.
Mighty Blow: You have developed special methods or techniques of inflicting harm. This is a common Talent for certain props (powerful items) to possess. Characters may also develop this Talent. Whenever successfully using any attack, an extra point of energy is lost from the target above and beyond the normal amount of damage. Each occurrence of this talent is associated with a specific attribute. For example, Clamps the robot mafia’s enforcer has a dangerous set of clamps for hands. That is represented by his Talent of Might Blow: Body, so he inflicts an extra point of physical energy loss when he clamps someone. Professor Wormstrum has a wicked tongue that he can use to insult his rival, Professor Farnsworth. So, Wormstrum will have the Talent of Mighty Blow: Charisma. Alternatively, Mighty Blow can be used with a Body Attack to inflict no damage but instead knock down or knock away an opponent.
Purchase Cost: 3
Use Cost: none
Racial Talents: As such, you have unusual physical characteristics and powers. For most characters, these trait makes then unusual but offers little benefit (like Leela’s single eyeball). It costs nothing to have this characteristic, but a creative player could find a use for it.
For the cost of one permanent skill point, you may instead have a useful trait that offers handy or entertaining abilities (like Zoidberg’s claws or Bender’s endless supply of gadget-features). These useful abilities cost a point of appropriate attribute energy for each use that affects the overall story. For the cost of one permanent attribute point, you may instead have a single superpower that can have a significant affect on the story whenever you spend a Story Point. For example, Nibbler’s ability to generate dark matter saved the crew soon after they discovered him.
Alien Traits: Your species came from somewhere other than Earth. This talent is only available at character creation. You gain +1 to Uniqueness as a free skill bonus.
Use Cost: 1 energy (usually physical) for a handy or funny usage, or 1 Story Point for a game-breaking munchkin usage.
Mutant Traits: Ah! You are a monster! You gain +2 to Uniqueness as a free skill bonus, but you lose point of Diplomacy. Skills will not drop below zero.
Use Cost: 1 energy (usually physical) for a handy or funny usage, or 1 Story Point for a game-breaking munchkin usage.
Robot Traits: Hey baby, you want to kill all humans? To be a true robot, this skill must be chosen at character creation.
Use Cost: 1 energy (usually physical) for a handy or funny usage, or 1 Story Point for a game-breaking munchkin usage.
Character Creation Example
Phillip J. Fry was frozen in 2000 and woke up in the year 3000. He’s a fairly normal guy, except that he is quick to adapt and not bright. Fry’s Childhood is Schooled. His Education is Street, because he once said that his parents thought highschool would be a waste of tax payer money. His Passion is Romantic. His Profession is Worker, because he earns his wage as a delivery boy. For his free skill points, we’ll place three points into Uniqueness, one into Diplomacy, and one into Non-Tech. His final stats look like this when he awakens:
Body 3, Mind 2, Social 3, Tech 1, Academics 1, Fitness 1, Diplomacy 2, Non-Tech 3, and Uniqueness 3. Story Points: 1. Talent: Skill Mastery: Non-Tech.
Legal Notice
C.O.R.E. is released with a Creative Commons Share & Share Alike License. All derived works (such as this document) automatically become part of the public domain. Please see the full rules in C.O.R.E. Version 2 for details. The show on which this is based, of course, is trademarked, copyrighted, and legally protected with killozap guns. This document, therefore, is meant for parody purposes and private use. Please do not reproduce this document or any portion herein on any website which has a no-conversions policy.
Screenplay Book for the Chupa Open Roleplay Engine
Adapted by Scott Zaboem
Attributes
In C.O.R.E., each character has four attributes represented by numbers. The four attributes are Wits, Body, Charisma, and Tech. Each has a number ranging from one to five. Most normal people have a one or two in each attribute. Although the attributes are permanent (more or less), they are also a measure of the maximum amount of energy of that type which a character can possess.
For example, Fry has a Charisma attribute of 4. His likability and friendliness is his strongest trait. That means Fry has two point of Social Energy to lose or spend during a game. He can use this mental energy to perform certain talents (if he possesses those talents) or to challenge another character with a social attack. When Fry loses, he suffers a loss of social energy. If Fry’s Social Energy drops to zero, he’s still okay but he no longer has Social Energy to spend.
If the amount of energy from any attribute drops below zero, that character is incapacitated. We’ll continue to use Fry as our example. If his Physical Energy from his Body attribute drops below zero, he is knocked unconscious from injury or exhaustion. If his Mental Energy drops below zero, he is mentally exhausted or just too confused to be helpful to anyone. If his Charisma attribute drops below zero, Fry is rendered unfunctional by frustration, depression, or exhaustion. Regardless of which attribute was depleted, Fry remains helpless until he has a chance to regain his strength in a Healing Scene.
Wits represent a character’s reasoning and problem solving abilities, general knowledge, and common sense. The points associated with the Wits attributes are also called Mental Energy. Zap Brannagan (who never learns a lesson and acts more like a little kid than a military commander) has only one point of Mental Energy whereas Leela has at least four.
Body represents a character’s physical abilities and limitations. It can also refer to the physical attractiveness of a character. This type of energy is also called Physical Energy. Professor Farnsworth is a weak and frail old man with only one point in Body. Leela, however, is fit and physically dangerous; a Body attribute of three. Bender has a mighty titanium body, inferior to very few others; a Body attribute of four.
Charisma is a measure of a character’s social status or charm. Since social grace, manipulation, and popularity all tend to go together in New New York, these could all be considered aspects of Charisma. The energy associated with Charisma is called Social Energy. Leela and Bender are both unpopular with few friends, but they are not exactly hated either; they each have a Charisma attribute of two. Fry, although no smooth talker, does make friends easily. He is well liked and inspires loyalty in others. Fry has a Charisma attribute of four.
The last attribute is Tech. This is a measure of the character’s understanding and ability to use items of techonology. Tech is different than Wits because it is so often used in New New York to solve so many problems. Also, some characters can be very or intelligent while being completely ignorant of high technology – or vice versa. Professor Farnsworth is a great example. He is almost without rival in his deep understanding of physics, mechanical engineering, and technobabble. However, he is also absent minded, easily confused, and prone to incredibly unwise acts. The Professor has a Tech of 5 and a Wits of 1.
Skills
Skills also represent a character’s general capabilities. Each character has the same list of skills, and each skill has a number ranging from zero to five. Skills and attributes are used together to perform tasks. For example, if Fry were chased by a monster, he could try to outrun it (Body & Fitness), shot it with his laser gun (Tech & Combat), or beg not to be eaten (Charisma & Diplomacy). The main difference between skills and attributes is that skills do not decrease as energy is lost. The skills are as follows:
Mechanic, or Mech for short (a technology-related skill; to use, design, and repair machines)
Genechanic, or Gene for short (another technology-related skill; a term I made up to represent the use, design, or healing of living creatures)
Academic (general knowledge and trivia)
Combat
Diplomacy (negotiation, persuasion, and apologizing)
Fitness (health, endurance, athletic ability when used with the Body attribute; when combined with other attributes, represents instead a general resistance to harm such as a resilient mind or a good reputation)
Non-Tech (any other action which does not involve
Skullduggery (any sneaky, deceitful, or underhanded action)
Uniqueness, or Uno for short (concept borrowed from the X Road Chronicles RPG; uniqueness is inversely proportional to the likelihood of encountering another version of oneself. Bender is a mass produced model, so he could run into another Bending Unit like Flexo at any time. Fry is fairly unique with a skill of two, but he has encountered himself on at least three occasions due to time travel paradoxes or parallel universe hi-jinks. Leela is very unique, perhaps the only cyclops she has found in the universe. A high Uniqueness Skill is good thing because running into a doppleganger is almost always a bad thing.)
Character Creation
In New New York, we use the Character Backstory Method for establishing a character’s abilities. Each character starts the process with one point in each attribute and zero in each skill. Choose one backstory element from each category: Childhoods, Educations, Passions, and Professions. Each element will add to the character’s For now, choose only one backstory element from each category. Additional backstory elements may be obtained later as a form of character advancement.
Childhoods
Artificial: You were created, either as a robot, a clone, or perhaps a science fair experiment gone wrong (+1 Tech, either +1 Mech or +1 Gene)
Child Labor: You worked your way through puberty (+1 Tech, +1 Fitness)
Natural: You were raised in the wilderness, you country bumpkin (+1 Body, +1 Fitness and +1 Non-Tech)
Orphaned: No parents for you! (+1 Wits, +1 Skullduggery and +1 Uniqueness)
Privileged: As a rich and lucky child, you must have been very spoiled (+1 Social, +1 Acadmenics and +1 Uniqueness)
Schooled: You were bored out of your gourd as a child forced to learn in a cell block of a school (+1 Social, +1 Academics)
Educations
Academia: You learned everything from school (+1 Tech, +1 Academics)
Programmed: You weren’t taught so much as you had information implanted into your brain. This is common among clones and robots both. (+1 Tech, +1 skill of choice)
Rustic: No schools were nearby, but hard work as an apprentice was more important than book learning when you were younger (+1 Body, +1 Non-Tech)
Street: You learned the hard way from the school of hard knocks. The fact that you survived is diploma enough (+1 Wits, +1 Combat)
Passions
Athlete: you life for physical challenges (+1 Body, +1 Fitness)
Contender: you live for physical combat (+1 Body, +1 Combat)
Dilettante: you live to climb the social ladder (+1 Charisma, +1 Skullduggery)
Gearhead: you live for gadgets and machines (+1 Tech, +1 Mech)
Hedonist: you live to feel good, maybe too good (+1 Charisma, +1 Skullduggery)
Jester: you live to play pranks and get laughs (+1 Wits, +1 Skullduggery)
Life Weaver: you live to tinker with other life forms (+1 Tech, +1 Gene)
Romantic: you life for love, arts, and beauty (+1 Charisma, +1 Diplomacy)
Professions
Criminal -- Confidence Man (+1 Charisma, +1 Diplomacy, +1 Skullduggery)
Criminal -- Muscle (+1 Body, +1 Combat, +1 Skullduggery)
Criminal -- Thief (+1 Body, +2 Skullduggery)
Diplomat (+1 Charisma, +2 Diplomacy)
Genegineer (+1 Tech, +2 Gene)
Engineer (+1 Tech, +2 Mech)
Entertainer (+1 Body, +1 Non-Tech, +1 Uniqueness)
Pilot (+1 Tech, +1 Mech, +1 Fitness)
Soldier (+1 Body, +1 Fitness, +1 Combat)
Tactician (+1 Wits, +1 Fitness, +1 Combat)
Worker (+1 Body, +1 Fitness, +1 Non-Tech)
Free Skill Points
After building a backstory, you may increase your skills to help refine your character concept. You may add five points, distributed however you like among the nine skills. The only limitation is that no skill may exceed five points when you are done.
Story Points
Story Points are used to affect the game in a significant way or to increase odds of a success. Each character gains one story point during character creation. Certain Talents require spending a Story Point to activate. Another use of a Story Point is to reroll a failed roll, and any character can do that.
Talents
Now that you have your attributes and skills, you may choose a talent. This choice is also free, but you may develop other talents later as a form of advancement. At character creation, just chose any one talent and ignore the purchase cost. Talents are special abilities that use attribute energy to affect the story of the game. The choices of talents at character creation are: Contacts, Skill Mastery, Mighty Blow, Alien Traits, Mutant Traits, and Robot Traits. There are three specific talents that work a little differently, the racial talents explained further down.
Contacts: You can find a friendly or at least useful person that you know anywhere you go.
Purchase Cost: 2
Use Cost: 1 Social Energy (1 Story Point may be substituted)
Skill Mastery: You have spent a great amount of time perfecting your techniques. Not every character can master a skill. Mastery requires both an inborn potential and the willpower to develop it. When performing any action which requires a dice roll, you may roll multiple dice and pick the one die roll which you want to keep. Each Skill Mastery Talent must to paired with a specific skill, so the bonus only applies to that associated skill. The first time that Skill Mastery is chosen, called Apprentice Level Skill Mastery, it grants the ability to roll two dice instead of one. The second time it is chosen and applied to the same skill, it is called Journeyman Level Skill Mastery and allows rolling a total of three dice. The highest tier is Master Level Skill Mastery which allows rolling a total of four dice.
Purchase Cost: 1 per tier
Use Cost: None.
Mighty Blow: You have developed special methods or techniques of inflicting harm. This is a common Talent for certain props (powerful items) to possess. Characters may also develop this Talent. Whenever successfully using any attack, an extra point of energy is lost from the target above and beyond the normal amount of damage. Each occurrence of this talent is associated with a specific attribute. For example, Clamps the robot mafia’s enforcer has a dangerous set of clamps for hands. That is represented by his Talent of Might Blow: Body, so he inflicts an extra point of physical energy loss when he clamps someone. Professor Wormstrum has a wicked tongue that he can use to insult his rival, Professor Farnsworth. So, Wormstrum will have the Talent of Mighty Blow: Charisma. Alternatively, Mighty Blow can be used with a Body Attack to inflict no damage but instead knock down or knock away an opponent.
Purchase Cost: 3
Use Cost: none
Racial Talents: As such, you have unusual physical characteristics and powers. For most characters, these trait makes then unusual but offers little benefit (like Leela’s single eyeball). It costs nothing to have this characteristic, but a creative player could find a use for it.
For the cost of one permanent skill point, you may instead have a useful trait that offers handy or entertaining abilities (like Zoidberg’s claws or Bender’s endless supply of gadget-features). These useful abilities cost a point of appropriate attribute energy for each use that affects the overall story. For the cost of one permanent attribute point, you may instead have a single superpower that can have a significant affect on the story whenever you spend a Story Point. For example, Nibbler’s ability to generate dark matter saved the crew soon after they discovered him.
Alien Traits: Your species came from somewhere other than Earth. This talent is only available at character creation. You gain +1 to Uniqueness as a free skill bonus.
Use Cost: 1 energy (usually physical) for a handy or funny usage, or 1 Story Point for a game-breaking munchkin usage.
Mutant Traits: Ah! You are a monster! You gain +2 to Uniqueness as a free skill bonus, but you lose point of Diplomacy. Skills will not drop below zero.
Use Cost: 1 energy (usually physical) for a handy or funny usage, or 1 Story Point for a game-breaking munchkin usage.
Robot Traits: Hey baby, you want to kill all humans? To be a true robot, this skill must be chosen at character creation.
Use Cost: 1 energy (usually physical) for a handy or funny usage, or 1 Story Point for a game-breaking munchkin usage.
Character Creation Example
Phillip J. Fry was frozen in 2000 and woke up in the year 3000. He’s a fairly normal guy, except that he is quick to adapt and not bright. Fry’s Childhood is Schooled. His Education is Street, because he once said that his parents thought highschool would be a waste of tax payer money. His Passion is Romantic. His Profession is Worker, because he earns his wage as a delivery boy. For his free skill points, we’ll place three points into Uniqueness, one into Diplomacy, and one into Non-Tech. His final stats look like this when he awakens:
Body 3, Mind 2, Social 3, Tech 1, Academics 1, Fitness 1, Diplomacy 2, Non-Tech 3, and Uniqueness 3. Story Points: 1. Talent: Skill Mastery: Non-Tech.
Legal Notice
C.O.R.E. is released with a Creative Commons Share & Share Alike License. All derived works (such as this document) automatically become part of the public domain. Please see the full rules in C.O.R.E. Version 2 for details. The show on which this is based, of course, is trademarked, copyrighted, and legally protected with killozap guns. This document, therefore, is meant for parody purposes and private use. Please do not reproduce this document or any portion herein on any website which has a no-conversions policy.
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