====== Balance ======
Project Multiverse's core concept is that anyone can make anything - to a point. We have rules to make sure that things are generally fair and appropriate. When two groups collide, we suggest dice rolls for anyone who can't agree on the outcome.
To make things interesting, and provide our storytellers with more ways to reward players for their involvement in plots, the "Balance" system described here expands on those simple dice rolls with a set of optional ways to measure power and handle conflicts. As of the creation of this article, it is not canon and is opt-in for those who want to use it, but that may change in the future.
===== Core Rules =====
- A "**conflict**" is an occasion where two or more entities (characters, nations, etc) are at odds with each other. This can be a disagreement, a trade negotiation, a border dispute, etc.
- Before rolling dice, players should agree on the conflict's **Stakes**. A border dispute might see the border moved, a negotiation might result in better terms for one group or the other, a foot race might be about seeing who can reach a goal the fastest, and so on.
- A conflict may be large (an entire war, an election) or small (a single skirmish). A large conflict may have multiple small conflicts within it.
- Conflict outcomes are handled by dice rolls. The winner of the roll wins the conflict, but it's up to the players to decide //how// they win.
- Participants may use larger dice when they have advantages, such as a higher Power Tier or rewarded Items. This gives even the disadvantaged players a chance at victory.
- Have fun!
===== Powers =====
Project Multiverse currently acknowledges five different "power sources" that Shards and Characters can take advantage of. Each Power is treated equally and are separated largely for thematic reasons. Anything that can be accomplished by one Power can be accomplished by any other Power with the appropriate fluff. The strength of a Shard's or Character's Power is defined by their Tiers, as listed below.
**Technology**
* The use of tools and science to improve a species' control over the forces of the world.
* Higher levels could represent spacecraft, androids, and so on.
* Examples: Terrans from Starcraft, Humans from Halo
**Magic**
* The manipulation of natural forces by exerting ones will over them, the manipulation/aide of spirits, and other similar fantasy tropes.
* Higher levels could represent summoning dragons, creating homonculi, traveling to other planes/shards, and so on.
* Examples: Wizards from Dungeons and Dragons, fantasy animes, etc
**Psionics**
* Using the strength of mind to move objects, read thoughts, communicate mentally, or inflict pain.
* Higher levels could represent creating weapons from mental energy, teleporting, controlling the masses via mind control, and so on.
* Examples: Protoss from Starcraft, telepaths from various super hero comics/movies, etc
**Divine**
* Power granted by a higher being that grant their followers abilities they could not possess on their own. May take the form of miracles, magic-adjacent affects, and so on.
* Higher levels could represent summoning godly entities, causing tsunamis, strikes of divine fire, and so on.
* Examples: Clerics from Dungeons and Dragons, demons and angels from various comics/movies/books, etc
**Natural**
* The capabilities of your species' bodies without the benefit of the other powers.
* Higher levels could represent stronger inherent abilities, better combat capabilities, genetic modifications, living ships, and so on.
* Examples: The Zerg from Starcraft, Tyrannid from 40k, Leviathans from Farscape, Space Marines (sans armor) from 40k
===== Tiers =====
Tiers are a way to represent identity and strength of capability. They make it harder for any Shard or Character to be "the best at everything" and encourage people to specialize, within reason, and allow for some advantage to be given when it makes sense to do so.
"Tier Points" are used to allocate how strong your Shard or Character are in a given Power. Additional Tier Points are given by Staff upon completion of various plot goals, site-wide activities, etc, and may not always be permanent.
Tier Points can be allocated at any times. Species and Characters build upon the current amount of Tier Points invested into a Power, so you may wish to allocate points even if it doesn't grant you a full Tier increase.
==== Shards ====
All the things that your Shard can do are determined by the Tiers of their Powers. This prevents one Shard from having the best magic, technology, etc, by doing things like having a powerful magic species, a powerful technology base, and so on.
=== Shard Ranks ===
Shards can allocate their Tier Points into Powers as they see fit to make a unique identity for their Shard. If you can't accomplish everything you want with your Shard during its creation, know that you can gain more points in the future. Any further increases after this will come from temporary items or opportunities.
Ascending your Shard's Powers from Tier to Tier is expected to be done slowly over time. The cost to increase to a given Tier is listed in the next sections.
Blipblap is a member of the Florbian species in the Florb shard. Florb is good at a few things, with their highest Power being a Tier 5 Natural. Florbians have greater Psychic powers than the other species in their Shard, making them a (Tier 2 Psychic, Tier 5 Natural). Blipblap benefits from their species' advantages, making them a (Tier 5 Natural, Tier 2 Psychic), as well. They stand out from their compatriots in that they have heard the calling of the Florbians' god and gained one tier of Divine powers. Accordingly, Blipblap is (Tier 5 Natural, Tier 2 Psychic, Tier 1 Divine).Above, we see how a character's Shard and Species play into their Powers.
Blipblap is no ordinary Florbian, however. After overcoming many struggles, the connection to their God has increased and they have gained greater Divine powers, accordingly. They are now a C Rank Florbian, with Tier 2 Divine Power.===== Conflict Resolution (Roll the Dice) ===== In Balance, the goal isn't to make any one Shard or Character more powerful than the others, but to allow for fair contests between groups, even when one group is clearly in a better position than the other. Our base dice is a d6. For every additional Tier that one group has over the other, they should increase their dice by one size. Dice sizes follow the standard tabletop gaming series (d6 [six-sided], d8, d10, d12, d20) and cap at d20. It is normal and expected for Shards and Characters to combine their Tiers. When doing so, they can take one Power of their choice at full Tier and another at half Tier, rounded up. The story they write should reflect their choices. ==== Example Conflict ==== To help understand how dice work, here's an example.
The Florbians are at war with their dire nemesis, the Pleebese. Millions have been scoured from their respective moons and the last battle is upon them. While both come from the same Shard, the Florbians are known for their Psychic Powers. The Pleebese, however, do not have the Florbians' psychic gift and rely, instead, on pure strength of pseudopod. They meet on the field once more, minds clashing against powerful bodies.The players behind the battle first decide the stakes. This battle is a big deal - they've been building up to it for months. Only absolute victory will suffice. Whichever faction loses will be merged into the other, creating a single, stronger group. Will the victors become the Florbese or the Pleebians? Only the dice can decide. Both players decide to max out their advantages. Florbians are (Tier 2 Psychic, Tier 5 Natural) - they take their highest Power (Natural 5 -> 5) and add half of another (Psychic 2 -> 1), for a total of 6. Pleebese are pure Natural (Tier 6, Natural), so they take that only, also for a total of 6. As both players have the same Power, they each roll a d6 and see who gets the higher score. The Florbians win! Together they write a story that satisfies them both - the Pleebese put up an impressive fight, enough so that neither group could stand on its own in the aftermath. They merge together, becoming the Florbese. All is not well, in New Florbesia, however.
Long lurking in the shadows, the Blurples have waited for their chance to strike. Lacking the psychic gifts and natural strength of the Florbians and Pleebese, they knew they could not strike down either in a fair fight. Just as the newly-named Florbese officially slime their treaty, the Blurples attack! They rain fire and madness upon the procession, calling upon the dark powers of their god, Blurpthulu.This isn't entirely shocking for //all// the involved players. The players behind the Florbian and Pleebese factions have known this was coming and have dropped a few hints for the players in their plots to pick up. It's still a big deal and everyone rallies to face this new enemy. The Blurples are no pushover! They've gone all-in on Blipblap's discovery of divinity, to the point that they became their own species (Tier 2 Divine, Tier 5 Natural). For this plot, all the GMs agreed to let Blipblap's leadership act as a one-time use bonus item, increasing their Divine Power by 1 - bringing their total to a 7. Before rolling dice, the players discuss their stakes. It would be a shame if the war ended with all the Florbese dying, after all the work they did. Instead, it's decided that if the Blurples win, they will kidnap one of the Florbese' leaders, opening up future plots. If they lose, the Blurple's are pushed back, forced to lurk in the shadows once more- with their secret exposed. The dice are rolled - a d6 for the Florbese and a d8 for the Blurples. The Blurples just barely win, leading to a devious kidnapping amongst all the chaos of the Blurples' attack and immediate plans to assault their underbarrow homes to retrieve them, once the Florbese can recover. ===== Do We Have to use Dice? ===== For the most part, no! Feel free to use all of this (Powers, Tiers, etc) as a way to guide your narratives and "Balance" your creations. If you and the players you write with can figure things out without needing to roll dice, then do that! Staff will give out rewards that use this system, but even if you're not using it, you can still spend the items in your stories for extra effect. Or save them for the next time you //are// using the system. It's up to you. Staff-led stories spanning the entire setting will likely use this system to make sure that things are fair for everyone involved. Feel free to ask if it isn't made clear up front. ===== OOC ===== * **Player** [[user:whisper]] created this on 2023/03/18 20:35. ==== Usage ==== This article's content adheres to Project Multiverse's [[rules:setting_contribution|submission and usage rules.]]