Xianxia Game - Innate Difference in Power between Character Power Ranking

[BhelliomRahl]

Good day.

 

I am currently writing up a Xianxia game (Chinese Fantasy).  It is a progession fantasy game where the characters progress through ranks of power.

 

For simplity there are 9 Ranks 1 to 9 with people having a innate advantage over those below them and if their is more than two levels of difference you are pretty much going to be unable to do anything unless you have a special item or technique to offset this.  This is not a power but just an innate quality that every being has access to.

 

In the past I have used Fate and used Scales to represent the difference meaning that you get a bonus or penalty relating to the difference in Scale.

My thought was just each for each point of difference the high character gets a temporary 10pts add to all Characteristics.  This could be complicated but seems the simplest way to do it.

What thoughts do people have.

[Duke Bushido]

I would need do know more about how characters progress through the power levels.

 

If it is an experience thing- that is, if it is done through game play, then it xould be as simple as using the level itself as a multuplier for the experience points earned, or something to that effect.

[BhelliomRahl]

Characters ranks is determined by spending time aborbing the magical energy of the world and refining it to higher degrees.  It is a process.  When it reaches a specific level it changes form.

The PC increase in rank by spending time absorbing energy, when they have refined enough they increase in rank.  So potential a character could skip adventuring and just cultivate but there a barriers in cultivation which need to be broken throught to advance and these usually require experience or a lucky chance.  So character will general cultivate in downtime and then go on an adventure to look for that lucky chance or enlightenment to allow breaking through to the next rank.

 

Speaking to some friends and came up with another method.  Create a Set of Templates reprenting each Rank with some available options based upon technique used.  Have a sperate experience points called Cultivation Points.  As the plays cultivate they gain points equal to the template cost and if they succeed in the breakthrough, they aquire the template and increase in rank. 

I was possible thinking to much in line with Fate and not enough will Hero, a little out of practise have not run Hero in about eight years.  Want to try getting my players back into it.

[Tjack]

   This might be achieved by “taxing” Experience Points.  Let the players know that a percentage of their points will be withheld until they achieve their next level.  This would give you the effect of slow progress until they reach that plateau and then a burst of new powers, skills and abilities. 
   I might think about 50 -75% being held back. This would still mean the players had a trickle of points coming in to keep them from being discouraged but since they’ll get them back on the back end they might not raise too much of a fuss.

         Whatever happens, Good Luck.

[Duke Bushido]

Similar to what I was thinking: experience is held until you earn X amount, X being enough to make significant imorovements to the character.

 

However, the "lounge around wait" aspect of level progression wont work well with this, unless (and it is your game, so there is no reason you couldn't; it is unusual in a HERO-based game, but not impossible) you periodically award additional XP (or perhaps add it to an XP "bank" of sorts) for every T time period that they are still alive: two points per week; three points per day- whatever achieves the effwcr you are looking for.

 

 

If you find yourself with time,on your hands, there are a number of threads on the board floating many ideas on "levelling up," as it is a common tactic to make D and D players feel more at hime with character advancement.

 

 

[Grailknight]

I would set it up as background rules for the world.

 

Let PC's and NPC's alike have set powers relative to the difference in their tiers. Having +1 DC and 1 level of Damage Negation per tier difference will allow a weaker character a chance but will be pretty decisive at a 3 tier or more difference. 

 

This also has the advantage of keeping it simple. You don't have to change any other rules to implement this across the board. 

 

 

[unclevlad]

First thing to consider is, when is a character eligible for a rank improvement?  

Then, as you've been asking, what does the rank difference mean?

 

Wearing the Cape (the books) identified D, C, B, and A classes, then the rare Omega and Ultra.  No regularly appearing PCs will be Ultra;  they are simply untouchable, unstoppable, and irresistible.  Omegas are pretty insane as they are.  Flip side, D's aren't that much better than regular humans.

 

When you're talking DCs and defenses, this is fairly easy.  D to A, STR max (for chars based on STR) might be 25, 35, 45, 55.  DCs might be 8, 10, 13, 16.  Defenses would be commensurate.  You might give a free DC of Damage Negation, as Grail suggested, each rank, alternating between PD and ED.  (And start with rank 1 getting 1 of each, so at rank 9, everyone would have 5 PD/5 ED Negation.)  I say free because it's inefficient to purchase, at least not without some limitations.

 

When you're talking other stuff, well, that's when things get confusing.

[LoneWolf]

Probably the easiest way to do this would be to impose a strict set of campaign limits per rank.  Apply that to skills, talents, powers and characteristics.  As the characters rank up those limits also go up.  

 

When a character gains a new rank they also gain additional points to purchase new powers and maybe even need to take additional complications.  It would be similar to character type guideline table in the beginning of the first book.  A rank 1 character could start off as something similar to a standard heroic level character.  When they gain rank 2 they gain points as if they were a powerful heroic character. The exact details may need some adjustment, but the idea would work.  
 

[Steve]

As I recall, the Gestalt setting had tiers of power, and to increase your abilities to the next tier above the campaign’s level (with tier names something like Novice Hero, Experienced Hero, Respected Hero, etc) required purchasing a Perk for each level upwards. It struck me as a nicely straightforward way to do power increases.

 

In an old Chanpions campaign, I let characters rank up like in Gestalt after a certain amount of XPs (like 50 points, I think).

[Spence]

I'd need a little more information.  From what you are saying I am seeing something like the standard anime "power up" with each "new form" being more powerful that the last. 

Just what is this "innate quality" that everyone has? 

You could build a multi-form "template" with 9 forms, one for each "level" and then have the players apply their individual characters to them.

 

Or I am completely out in left field and have totally missed what you are aiming for

 

[Duke Bushido]

I dont know if I have it fully, either, Spence, but it sounds like a periodic Radiation Accident where characters bump up to a whole new tier of power.  My first thought was XP hoarding would do this, but then he gave a clarification that said simply being in this world for long enough would cause you to advance, even if you weren't adventuring, so any sort of XP scheme is out the window with that.

 

I'm puzzled.  The only thing I can think of that would yield this is periodic dumps of unearned XP /additional Character Points-

 

Wait.

 

That might do it, actually.

 

Announce a game for 500-pt characters, have the players build 250-pt characters, and every X unit of game time, drop another 25 CP or so in addition to their earned XP.  Granted, you'll have to come up with appropriate disadplications to make that work, but if you have been playing, you should be working on a reputation and an enemy or two anyway, right?