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.
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
Magic
Psionics
Divine
Natural
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.
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.
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.
The early Tiers of a Power represent the rush of new discovery and easy opportunities. Much like Earth's rapid ascension from the first manned flight to landing a robot on Mans, there is much to learn and much to achieve.
Tiers in this category cost 1 Tier Point.
After the “easy” gains of early Tiers, Shards begin to struggle to make new breakthroughs and achieve greater things. The challenges inherent in unlocking greater secrets of the universe and using those to soar to new heights slows development - but the payoff is significant.
Tiers in this category cost 2 Tier Points.
The realm of the true greats of current and past history. Civilizations who reach these Tiers leave their mark on the Sector in significant ways, such as the creation of the Gate Network. Few civilizations will ever reach this point, certainly not within a single lifetime, and fewer still remain within the Sector today.
Tiers in this category cost 3 Tier Points.
Species are products of the Shard they come from and, as such, have equivalent Tiers for their Powers. This represents their ability to use those Powers, in addition to any inherent capabilities they may have. Consider a real-life human's ability to use a gun- we wouldn't consider that part of the human's natural abilities, but they are certainly stronger for having the capability to use one.
Not all Species are made equal, however. A Species' creator can move up to two points from any of the Shard's powers and redistribute them as they see fit, paying any extra costs for going into higher tiers that the Shard might have paid to do so.
Characters belong to a Species, who have their own unique strengths and weaknesses, as outlined above.
Player Characters and/or special NPCs are products of the Shard they come from, but they also stand above the average denizen of that realm. They have zero, one, or more additional points to allocate, as seen below.
These additional points may give you Powers unusual to your home Shard, such as psychic potential in a species that normally has none. You may wish to speak to your GM or Shard Master before putting points into something unusual.
These additional points must be spent in the same manner as a Shard would, including additional costs for higher Tiers.
PCs will often find useful items along their journeys that may give them even greater powers. Most, but not all, of these items will be single use, with permanent enhancements coming from only the greatest of challenges.
To help understand the above, here's how an example character might be created.
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.
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.
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.
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.
This article's content adheres to Project Multiverse's submission and usage rules.