Okay, so here's the initial playtesting run-through for Chameleon. I'll be basing it off of
The Hidden, a serial story that I need to keep working at. It's based off of a near-future world with the addition of superpowers into the mix. Of course, not everyone has to have superpowers. But let me just jump into the nice narrative bits...
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This is your future and your present. There are some things you may find familiar, other things that you may find strange. America still exists, and it is mostly the same as it has been for many years. Things have changed from the events that you, the people of the early 21st century, are witnessing now. You speak of the Iraq War...in this future, the Iraq War is far in the past, and remembered only as one of the many "Sand Wars" that raged in the Middle East. You speak of liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats, war hawks and peace doves...in this future, the lines have been erased and redrawn too many times.
Times have changed...and yet, they are about to change again. This is the world of the Hidden.It was September 15th. You were walking through Washington DC on important business. In fact, you were walking around the building where Senators were debating important policy matters. Maybe you were actually one of those Senators. But the point remains, you saw the flash. And in that instant, you felt the world hum around you. And the next thing you knew, you were waking up on the ground, on a small farm in Iowa. With a few other strangers.
And your last memory was of September 10th.
What happened, what is happening, and what will happen? That is up for you to discover.
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So, like I said in the main Chameleon thread, I'll need the Physical/Sturdiness/Intellectual/Emotional descriptions for your character, and I do want Personality. A Background would be very helpful, including just what they were doing in Washington DC. (There's many options. You could be a businessman, a Senator, a mercenary, or someone in search of information...)
ScalingI expect that each Attribute will probably average around 2. Ability dice will likely be at an average of d8.
Other StuffYou'll wind up with Equipment appropriate to your job, and if it's extra-good, I may require you to take it as a Bonus, requiring you to take a flaw as well. (For example, a gun-toting mercenary with plenty of grenades would need to take that Equipment as a Bonus).
Superpowers...If you'd like your character to develop a superpower, PM me. I don't want all the characters to develop superpowers, but a few of them would be fine. Just remember, you don't need superpowers to be awesome. Noah Bennet (
Heroes) is living proof.
Superpowers uncovered so far are Invisibility, Location of other people, and Superspeed. Other potential ones may include Teleportation, Slowing/Stopping Time (I'm not gonna attempt to tackle Time Travel just yet), Telekinesis, and maybe also some mental abilities such as Telepathy and Emotion Manipulation. No energy-manipulation powers or anything like that. They don't really fit into the scheme as I've written the powers out. Don't worry, whatever you send me, if it doesn't fit, I can work with you to tweak it.
If you have a power, it won't develop right away. I will randomly determine how long it takes for the power to manifest in you, so you'll be caught off-guard, potentially. Expect the ability to be erratic at first, stabilizing as you learn to control it.
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CombatThis may just occur, and it can include anyone from malicious agents who are trying to apprehend all people with abilities to an inner-city gang. I'll be testing out a system that's potentially quite lethal here, so bear with me. I will be trying to ensure that not too many people get killed.
You'll have what are called "Wound Points", a statistic derived from doubling your Toughness Attribute and adding 1d4 to that. You may distribute Wound Points as Light, Moderate, or Critical. At least 1 Point must go in each category.
During combat, the attacker and defender both roll. The rolls may be modified by modifiers or by the cover that the defender has.
Cover X- If your cover has a value of X, your Defense roll cannot be lower than X. If it is, reroll it.
Certain weapons may also grant the attacker an advantage.
Marksmanship X- If your marksmanship has a value of X, your Attack roll cannot be lower than X. If it is, reroll it.
If the attacker's roll is greater than the defender's (after all modifiers), the attacker does damage according to the following...
1 to 2 greater: Light Wound
2 to 4 greater: Moderate Wound
5 greater or more: Critical Wound
Once one of your wound categories is depleted, all wounds to that category are converted into wounds of the next category. For example, if you have no Moderate Wound Points, all Moderate Wounds become Critical Wounds. There are also consequences for losing an entire wound category...
No Light Wounds: You have a -1 penalty to all combat rolls.
No Moderate Wounds: You have a -1 penalty to all combat rolls, and an additional -1 to defense, unless you have cover.
No Critical Wounds: You are incapacitated (unconscious or dead).
I'll do all die rolling myself, using the die roller that lem0n recommended. Just post your actions.
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One Last Notice...I'll be trying to keep this balanced, but finding balance is one goal of this whole thing. So. Be aware that you may just get the short end of the stick on more than one occasion. I'll try to remedy that when I can, though.