This is similar to what I've been working on, yeah. Let me actually put that down...
A (Tentative) System For Quests
Sometimes, the outcome of an action may be in doubt. In such a case, the roll is assigned a
Difficulty (being a number), and the
Traits of the character are factored into a pool of d6s; every result of 4 or above is a "success." If the number of success equals or surpasses the difficulty, the action is successful.
(I totally stole stuff from
@MJ12 Commando's
Cowls and
@EarthScorpion's
From This Damned City)
Traits
The two basic traits forming a pool are
Skills and
Aspects. There are five Skills, which represent a character's competency at a broad array of interconnected abilities; there are an arbitrary number of possible Aspects, which represent a character's personal background and specialties.
Skills are rated from 1 to 5, where 1 represents lack of training or talent and 5 represents the superhuman capabilities of powerful beings. Skills have overlap by design, as they represent related competency. Physical resilience is the domain of both the Warrior and the Prophet, so that a fearless berserker need not "invest in" both Dawn and Zenith.
Dawn is the Warrior's skill. It is used in all forms of personal combat both armed and unarmed, as well as to lead armies, devise tactics, resist injury, and be aware of one's surroundings and impending danger.
Zenith is the Prophet's skill. It is used to persuade, inspire, seduce or intimidate, to hold fast to one's convictions, as well as to demonstrate general fitness, to survive in the wilderness and resist wounds and deprivation. It also covers astrology, theology, and prophetic knowledge.
Twilight is the Sage's skill. It is used to represent knowledge both mundane and occult, from human anatomy to the courtship of spirits, as well as to investigate and uncover new knowledge, teach and manage students or organizations.
Night is the Scoundrel's skill. It is used to evade notice, infilitrate places, steal and assassinate. It also aids in perception and investigation, in pretending to be someone one is not, and in demonstrating speed, strength and agility, avoiding harm and evading combat.
Eclipse is the Emissary's skill. It is used in navigating etiquette and social expectations at all ranks of society, in travelling by sea or steed, in knowing the ways of spirits, in trading, negotiating and persuading by writ or word - and, at times, in disguise, subterfuge and espionage.
Aspects are short descriptors of a character's background or special skills. Having an applicable Aspect adds +2 to a roll, and each further Aspect which could contribute to this action adds a further +1. Sample Aspects might be "Realm Legionnaire," "Veteran of the Battle of Futile Blood," and "Fur Trader," all of which may be found in a mortal soldier who defected from the Legions after one of their most crushing defeat and now finds a living in the North.
When a roll is made, it is defined as either "High" or "Low." A low roll grants unambiguous success if its difficulty is met, whereas a High roll will leave a character suffering from some kind of stress or damaging consequences even in the event of success. For instance, most fights would be High rolls for a mortal; even if she succeeds in defeating an opponent of similar skill, she may be wounded, exhausted, or have broken her spear in the fighting. Such damage does not inflict penalties on the character's rolls; rather it impacts their options in later votes, and may turn a Low roll into a High one, until valued things are lost - whether one's arm or one's lover.
An Exalted character has
Excellency. When failing a roll in a domain covered by her Aspects, or when succeeding at a High roll, she automatically spends one Excellency and downgrades any negative consequences. Rather than being slain in battle, she escapes alive but wounded. Rather than owing a favor to a courtier in exchange for a service rendered, she convinces him to help without strings attached. A character starts with 5 Excellencies, and regains spent Excellency with a full night's sleep.
Charms are unique powers of the Exalted. As a rule, they do not modify a dice pool; rather they allow new actions that would otherwise not be possible or applicable, generally offering new (usually better) voting options to deal with any given situation.
***
Any thoughts? I feel it's
workable but I'm not quite satisfied by it; it has essentially no place for the "incrementally become better at X" abilities that allow Exalts to have a spectrum between "defeat ten men" and "defeat a thousand."
