Fallout 3 RP SPECIAL Discussion

[Hitotsumami]

So, it has been mentioned a couple of times to maybe use the SPECIAL system in the RP itself. I think it's a great idea. I don't think the RP needs to be overcomplicated, with dice rolls, luck and chance based. I think it should be done as we usually do, with the ADDITION of the SPECIAL system, and some statistics stemming from that system that will effect a couple of the things in the RP.

That said, this is how I think the SPECIAL system should be used in the RP. Please provide feedback.

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Introdcution:

All SPECIAL statistics start at 5, and you get 40 free points to distribute. You can also lower some SPECIAL statistics and use those points for something else. No Special Statistic can be higher than ten.

S. Strength: Melee Weapons skill, Carry weight, Melee damage bonus

With a high level of strength you hit harder, and you can carry more weight. I don't think we need complicated systems like dice rolling or charts or whatever for Melee Skill or Bonus. Just RPing as we usually do, with the idea that people with high Strength has more of a chance of being strong with Melee weapons should do.

As for weight, I do think we should keep tabs on our inventory. Our inventory can be on our Character Creation page, where we can update it as needed. We can use the wiki to figure out how much things weigh so its easy to keep up with. There are very simple equations to figure out how much you can carry, but we'll get to that later.

P. Perception: Explosives, Lockpick and Energy Weapons skills

With high Perception, you'll be better at using explosives, better at unlocking things, and be better with Energy weapons, as compared to someone with a lower energy weapons skill. Meaning, if two people with energy weapons fought, the one with the higher energy weapon skill SHOULD hit more often. This should just be something accepted between the two people. HOWEVER, it doesn't mean the one with the lower skill will lose. He might use some other skill to make up for it. That is what it is all about.

E. Endurance: Hit Points, Poison & Radiation resistance

Hit points, meaning you would have higher health than other characters, you can take more blows than they would. As for poison and radiation, you could stand in a radiated areas longer than a person with lower endurance. More or less, unspoken rules that are understood by the RPers.

C. Charisma: Speech and Barter Skills, NPC Disposition

To repeat the above, more or less a high Charisma means, in the RP, you'll have a higher chance than others. In places where Charisma would come in handy, the RPers can look back at the Character Creation page to see if that Character has a decent Charisma level. Then the RP can go from there. Same for Barter.

I. Intelligence: Medicine, Repair, and Science skills

As with before, we will use the Character Creation page and look back at these when we need.

A. Agility: Action points available for V.A.T.S., Small Guns Skill and Sneak Skill

Now VATS, I don't think we should include it. It won't really provide anything interesting to the RP, anything extra or necessary. So I think we should pass taht. AS for Gun and Sneak, as said before, in times when those need to be used, we can look at the Character Creation page for that particular character. A character with high small guns has more of a chance to complete a goal that uses small guns, and the same thing for sneak.

L. Luck: All Skills, Critical chance

Luck in an interesting Statistic. I think for the RP, this skill might be a kind of Dues Ex Machina skill. Perhaps a character who is out of ammo will just happen to find some in a jar or behind a rock. Things like that.


Skills

Skills are the things that are effected by how high or low your SPECIAL is. For the RP, I think the only Skill that should really require a calculation is Carry Weight. The rest of the skills, I think we can all generally agree on when they need to be used and how proficient a character is when used.

Now for Strength.

trength can effect your Carry Weight. It uses this formula:

25 + (Strength x 25) = Carry Weight

So, let's say you have 7 points in your Strength. That means your Carry Weight will be 200 pounds.

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As for Perks, I'm not sure what we'll do for those. That is what the convo is for.

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Finally, as a last word, this is what I think. We should use the SPECIAL system, but only as a means to show our proficiency in situations that might occur in the RP. The numbers will just show our skill level, not a concrete percentage or chance of success. I don't want the RP to be overly imbedded in stats.

With that said, what are your thoughts on this?

[Shark a' Pult]

I agree with you Hito, I think we should pretty much just have character creation act the way we normally do with RPs, but instead of a little section in the character bio pertaining to stats/abilities/characteristics, we just replace it with the SPECIAL part.

I think we should avoid skills as those could get too complicated, was Carry Weight a skill though?

Perks I think we should include along with SPECIAL, and just cut out skills. Everyone can start with a basic perk if they want, but to get better ones than that you'll have to take a character flaw. As we play the game, occasionally characters can gain a new perk (rarely, mind you) as a means of reward/keeping track of relative "level" in relation to the game.

[Hitotsumami]

Carry Weight is a skill, I believe. And the only skill I think we should have if we're going to keep tabs on inventory.

Also, good idea with the perks. I like that idea of randomly getting to choose one.

[Shark a' Pult]

Huh, well if we're going off of Fallout 3, I can't seem to find a skill Carry Weight, so much as a factor in the game.

[Hitotsumami]

Ah sorry about that, I was mixing up skills with other things derived from SPECIAL.

[crocoduck]

Well, if this is how we're doing it, it's not different at all from how I've been roleplaying for over two years now. It's just a roleplay system with stats involved. It works exactly the same as the regular way we do things, except it provides a better gauge on character strengths in relation to one another.

It actually proves to be more fun at times. The only reason it sucks on other sites is because you get 12324245 points in something and become god. If we kept it realistic a-la fallout, it'd be really fun and useful.

I love the idea of making it very survival based and having things like weight requirements, specific food/water requirements, RAD stuff and the like. This has great potential and I'm totally down.

[Kuro]

Sounds good. I like the idea of using perks instead of skills (not counting carry weight, interesting calculations).

Perhaps with the Luck SPECIAL, one could make a Luck roll Every once in a while, with your Luck SPECIAL increasing or dEceeading the dice number. Ex: Want to see if there are bullets around behind his cover? Make a luck roll; you need a 13 to be lucky enough for bullets. (6 side die). Oh, you got a 4! Add that with your 7 LUCK special and wow! A 13! You found some bullets behind this cover. Lucky you.

I like that. This way, Luck isn't a deus ex machina.

[crocoduck]

Perhaps we can more just use luck as a comparative skill. For example, if somebody is shooting with a perception skill equal to somebody else's agility skill; then luck could be what determines if the character gets shot. I mean, if they have the agility to escape the shot, but their luck is much lower than the shooters, they might trip or sprain an ankle or something like that.

[Kuro]

That sounds good too in addition to mine.

[Kuro]

Okay, so if I did the SPECIAL thing wrong with that PER 6 thing in my post, tell me and i'll change it.

[Shark a' Pult]

That makes sense. In fact I rather like it, it's like real stat checks in the game.

In my post I had done something similar, what with banking my guy against Crocoduck. Since his Charisma was so much higher, it made sense that he could talk down my guy, though I never gave an actual check.

I think I like your way better.