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Role Playing News

Tracy System

• Tracy System Mechanics
  by Tracy Bandy
• Tracy System Abilities
  by Tracy Bandy

Tracy System Mechanics

The time has come to try and get my "system mechanics" written out in a vaguely final form (enough choking sounds from Massachusetts! :) . I've been thinking about all of my approaches of recent years and hope that this will take on a palatable and understandable form as I try to describe my ideas and write out the details of my thoughts...

For a good theory and short discussion on role-playing, please refer to the Role Playing News. The statement put forward by its first editor, Matthew Strumpf, is concise and one I agree with wholeheartedly. I may write a forward again just to put forward my philosophies that led to the particular idiosyncrasies that crop up in this write-up.

What I've chosen to write about here is my suggested version of developing a character for my particular frpg variant. I will attempt to tie in many of the house rules I use for my games with the character development scheme described in the paragraphs to follow. This write-up is not intended to supersede the "character concept" version I have made available to some in the past, but to provide a supplement. It also could make the idea of a "character concept" easier to achieve for less experienced gamers.

The steps as I have them written are not an absolute, merely another suggestion from me for developing the character.

First of all, I usually like to start with the basic elements of the character: the character's name, gender, and race. I then follow this with determining a character's basic attributes. These attributes are Aim, Appearance, Balance, Fitness, Health, Intuition, Knowledge, Leadership, Muscle, Perception, Reason, Size, Spirit, Stamina, and Willpower. For all of these attributes except Perception and Size, roll 2d6+2 to determine the value of these attributes. These attributes will be adjusted by the racial choice for the character (see individual racial write-ups - humans get to add a +1 bonus to the attribute of their choice, but the choice must be made now!). Size is determined according to the racial choice as well (humans roll 3d6). Perception is a partially random, partially derivative score. Roll 2d6 and add any bonuses for Reason and/or Intuition - this is the character's current Perception score. There are other attributes which are described numerically as well, but they are predominantly determined by deriving them from the above attributes, I will deal with these in a few paragraphs. Also note that this write-up will deal directly with a human-based character; other races must be referenced in their write-ups (not done yet).

Next, I recommend determining the characters initial age. To some this may seem a little unusual as the initial age range is quite young - 9-12 (roll 1d4+8). This young starting age represents a beginning point for the character concept, a point at which the character departed from a "normal" existence and began growing towards the person that will exist within the game world. This method is an attempt to give the character reasons for why they have certain skills and attitudes. Now all of the choices beyond certain dice rolls are the player's. And yes, there is a slight perchance for min/maxing by an experienced gamer, but I am trusting my players to behave as role-players not gamers. Basically, the development from this stage of the character's existence relies on the story and history as envisioned by the player. If the player already has a background figured out, he can now start the process of applying this type of development to it. (NOTE TO CURRENT PLAYERS: Do not worry about trying to fit your current characters to this mold - it is unnecessary, but keep these notes for future reference should you decide to play a different character. If you want to adapt though, feel free.)

Next, the player needs to choose seven basic skills that the character has acquired by this stage of his/her life. These skills are Running, Climbing, Jumping, Throwing, Swimming, Literacy, Ride Cultural Animal, Cultural Weapon, Stealth, Deception, Survival (one type), Tracking, Craft (learned from parent -can be chosen twice if desired). All of these Skills will have an initial Skill Rank of 1, except one that the character has attained some proficiency with - this one will have an initial SR of 6 (making the character Skilled at that ability). Refer to the Proficiencies section to decipher the exact meaning of this. Of course, these abilities will be influenced by Attributes normally as far as determining Skill Rank and chances of success.

Follow this with a roll of 1d6-1(0-5) for Specials. These are Special Abilities or Deficiencies inherited by the character. There is a separate table for determining what these are, if any.

At this point, the character's racial or cultural background is going to start having an influence, granting certain skills (required ones at least), determining certain biases (which will color the character's development), and perhaps supplying a religious background (which can also color the course of a character's development). These skills will be influenced by Attributes normally.

Now, there are a few other Attributes, which I hinted at earlier, that need to be determined. These abilities are properly described under "Attributes," as are the means of determining them. These are Hit Points, Armor Class, Armor Rating, Mana, Base Movement Rate, Saving Throws, and Initiative.

From this point, the player will start making decisions which determine the developmental path of his character. If this process seems to take on a life of its own after a while, don't be surprised. A character can become so familiar that it dictates what happens versus what the player may want. This is a sign of strong role-playing and is applauded by me. I hope that this process will help breath more life into the character that results. It's a way of excising the "amorphous gray blob" routine that often arises when a new character is first introduced.

This particular process can be long or short, depending on the detail the player and GM want to apply to the process. Most of the level of detail should be up to the player, but likewise he should heed the hints from the GM if things are taking too long... The short version would involve the player selecting certain Archetype templates for his character's career path(s) and making the necessary adjustments to Attributes and Abilities. The long version involves tracking the development on an almost week by week passage of time, and making the necessary adjustments to Attributes and Abilities. Personally, I envision most characters being developed through a combination of these two methods: an Archetype is chosen and all of the appropriate changes made tot he character, but then the character spends some extras time either with the Archetype as a whole or with a particular Ability. Regardless of the approach used, the final age of the character for adventuring should end being between 18 and 35 (human years).

In a follow-up to this article, I will lay out in more detail the process of choosing an actual career path for your character. Also, soon to follow, will be articles focusing on some of the other subjects mentioned: details about Attributes and Abilities (probably separate articles), details about races (each being its own article in all probability), and Cultural articles from my game world of Kloverdine...

Tracy System Abilities

Abilities are the second part of the description of a character in the Tracy System. The first, of course, being the Attributes (handled in another article). Abilities, like Attributes, is a word that covers a lot of ground within the game. Included are Proficiencies, Special Abilities, Special Deficiencies, and Magical Abilities. Some would refer to these as Skills, and I do rate them all according to the term "Skill Rank"; yet it does seem quite broad enough to encompass every aspect of this category about a character. Here, too, the description is codified with terms and numbers explained in detail elsewhere. The purpose of this article is to help someone reading to understand how I use these Abilities within my game world and how they represent how the character interacts with the rest of the game world.

Most of the Abilities listed for a character use a standard format - even spells fall into this, though their descriptions and effects are different than a standard proficiency. Each is listed with two separate numbers - one being "Skill Rank," and the other being "Chance of Success." These numbers, while separate and used differently, are still interdependent.

Skill Rank represents the character's practical understanding of the Ability. A low number represents limited knowledge and only marginal achievement when successfully applied, while a large number represents one who has spent a great deal of time mastering the intricacies of the Ability and successes tend to be more obvious and potentially spectacular. To make the idea a little more understandable, I have grouped number ranges with a category I think most people can get an understanding of with some ease. Here follow the numerical ranges and their respective categories:

      Skill Rank | Category of Proficiency
      -----------+------------------------
           0     |    None
          1-5    |    Basic
          6-15   |    Skilled
         16-25   |    Expert
         26-35   |    Master
          36+    |    Grandmaster

As you can see by the Category terms, someone who has a basic proficiency in a particular can be successful with a skill, but they will certainly not be successful in the way a master of that art would be. I must admit that though I understand this concept intellectually, translating it to the written word is a challenge. The numbers assigned are somewhat arbitrary as defined by me. But they provide a frame of reference for how proficient a character is with a particular Ability.

Of course, a natural follow-up question often heard is, "So how does one get better with an Ability?" This is a loaded question as some abilities can't be improved, but this is mentioned in their individual write-ups. Otherwise, the answer is to use the Ability. Continued use of and training with an Ability leads to a gradual improvement with it. Of course, I have biased this curve to slightly represent the normal learning curve; i.e., it becomes more difficult to improve the better you get. In more mundane language, for each session that an Ability is used in a reasonable and important way, the character gets credited by the GM toward an improvement with this particular Ability. Defining "reasonable and important" is up to the GM (I do this to circumvent the "I used it so it will get better..." symptom found in many similar systems). If the Ability is used but not studied otherwise, the number of sessions in which the Ability has been used must exceed the current Skill Rank of the Ability. Critical successes or failures count double for this accounting. Note that Weapon skills are rated according to melees used as opposed to sessions in which they are used. It is a violent world and, while there may be other solutions, weapons are used far more often to solve the problems of the world of Kloverdine.

Use of an Ability is not the only way to improve it. One can train with an Ability as well. The amount of training needed to accomplish improving a character's Skill Rank with an Ability varies according to the whether the Ability is an easy one to use and learn or more difficult. This leads to a Difficulty Rating for Abilities:

      Difficulty Rating |  Verbal Equivalent  | Time Factor
      ------------------+---------------------+------------
                1       |        Easy         |     x1
                2       |       Average       |     x2
                3       |        Hard         |     x3
                4       |      Very hard      |     x5
                5       |       Extreme       |     x10
                6       | Not in this life... |    Never

The Time Factor category is the multiple of time needed for training purposes to improve an Ability. An Easy Ability normally requires 2 full days (about 20 hours) to get an initial, basic proficiency with that Ability. If the Ability is one that is Hard to learn, then the time involved would be 6 days (3x the standard 2 days). Now to improved an Ability with a higher Skill Rank by studying, the character must spend time equivalent to the base 2 days times the new Skill Rank (the higher one that will be attained after study is done) times any Difficulty Rating time factor. And to complicate the matter, this is for when the character has a tutor with the Ability. If the character is pursuing a course of self-study with the Ability, the time factor is raised by another factor of 3. The monetary price for training will vary according to location, Skill Rank of the trainer (if any), and materials needed for the training.

Simpler to understand (I think), is the Chance of Success. This is a percentage chance of a character being successful when attempting to use an Ability within the game. I use a d20 base for Skill Checks (as Chance of Success is known), so percentages are divided by 5 and the resulting number or less is what needs to be rolled on the d20. For all Abilities that have such ratings, this starts with an 8 (40% chance of success). Each Ability has several Attributes that affect the characters capability with it, and they're bonuses add directly to this number. Also, each category of Skill Rank (Skilled, Expert, etc.) beyond Basic adds a cumulative +1 bonus. No Skill Check can be higher than 19; i.e., a 20 always fails. Likewise, adjustments cannot lower it below 1 which, if rolled, is an automatic success.

A note to other GMs and players, I have a strict interpretation I use in conjunction with Skill Checks in my games. If the character is attempting something I interpret as within their capability and they have all the time they could ever need, I rule that they succeed. I sometimes take a little liberty with how long it actually took them to accomplish their task, but they did succeed. However, if they are under stress, such as a time limitation, melee, demands for improved performance, etc., then I will require the player to roll a Skill Check - perhaps with adjustments for these and other factors - letting the dice roll determine success or failure. This a way to keep randomness in the game but not to let the dice rule the game. Interpretation of what can be considered stressful is purely a GM prerogative. This entire paragraph is also a personal opinion and not to be considered more than a suggestion of how to handle such a circumstance.

As some readers may have already noticed, without help from Attributes a Master with an Ability has only a slightly better chance of success than someone with Basic proficiency (+15% or +3). This slim differential was created on purpose. My game is a classless and levelless one, diverging from the tradition of D&D and other games. I experimented with other styles and arrangements but found that this method allows characters with varying amount of skill and experience to adventure together. The differences show up in how practiced each is with an Ability. The Master's success will be obvious, perhaps spectacular, complimented and honored by many. The character with just a base proficiency is not likely to impress anyone (if they have reason to notice at all), with the possible exception of himself. That's the reason for the separate Skill Rank rating. This difference is best illustrated by the differences between the base weapon proficiencies and the greater skills of those Skilled, Expert, etc. (Please refer to the Weapon Skills write-up.)

Hope this is understandable to others. Feel free to send me comments at tbandy@cyberportal.net about this and any other articles you read in RPN or elsewhere. More articles to follow.