User:Spazalicious Chaos/The Book of Splendid Performance (3.5e Sourcebook)/Story Systems

Story Systems
The following options purely exist to help turn D&D from a gamist to a narrative or simulationist game. That is all. Thus, they exist purely outside the systems of Fate, Plot Points and Narratives, and are completely unaffected by their pressence.

Archtypes
As a variant Alignment system, below is offered the idea of Archtypes- roles that are assumed that portray the character. Each Archtype is a chosen construction that uses four parts- Vice, Virtue, Allegiance, and Nature.

Vice
Vice is the darkest aspect of your character. Choose one from the list below:
 * Pride- Your character is self confident and righteous, believing himself superior to others.
 * Envy- Your character is jealous, watching the success of others and wishing it was hers.
 * Greed- Your character wants whatever he sets his sights on, not caring for what he has or what others need.
 * Gluttony- Your character overindulges himself, fulfilling his desires to excess.
 * Sloth- Your character is lazy, demanding that her problems be solved without any of her own effort.
 * Wrath- Your character seeths with a boiling rage, seeking for any excuse to violently solve her problems or vent frustration.
 * Lust-  Your character is impulsively drawn to his desires, constantly going from impulse to impulse on pure whim.

Virtue
Virtue is the guiding light of your character. Choose one from the list below:
 * Charity- Your character lives to help others, fighting to improve their lives even at the cost of her own.
 * Faith- Your character believes in something, a higher power that will make order out of the chaos.
 * Fortitude- Your character will not cave in to outside pressures, forging ahead with his plans.
 * Hope- Your character will not give in to dispair, confident that she will pull herself through.
 * Justice- Your character believes in the law and the rights of the people, and takes defending those rights as his personal responsibility.
 * Prudence- Your character does not leap without looking, taking care and messured steps to ensure success.
 * Temperance- Your character takes everything in moderation, using no more than he needs and taking no more than is required.

Allegiance
Choose one organization that you hold a personal commitment to, be it a nation, church, guild or political movement. Rather than provide samples, it is recommended that the GM provide a list or work with his players. (Hint- always choose work with your players UNLESS gaming is just a means to masterbation for Your Great and Amazing Story Lmt.)

Each organization is either Lawful, Neutral or Chaotic.
 * Lawful groups enforce the current state of affairs and are opposed to changes made to the established environment. Most guard forces and nobility are Lawful.
 * Chaotic groups act to cause a radical change in the existing situation and seek to inject new ideas and systems into the existing environment. Most resistance groups are Chaotic.
 * Neutral groups do not actively participate in the surrounding climate, and thus have no opinion on topics outside their area of interest. Most businesses and guilds are Neutral. Unaligned characters are Neutral by default.

For the purpose of spell effects, your organization determines whther you are Lawful, Chaotic or Neutral on the LNC axis.

Nature
Nature is a one or two word sound bite that examplifies the core of your character concept. It is best to go beyond game characteristics like "elven rogue" or "fighter". Rather, it should summize the grand defining idea driving why you are playing the character the way you are, like "woodland thief" or "soldier". Once decided, your nature gives you two benefits:
 * You gain a reroll to save against all charm or domination effects if ordered to perform an action against your nature. However, any action that is fitting for your Nature is counted as "reasonable" in regards to charm effects.
 * If performing an action that befits your nature, once per day you may roll twice and take the better roll.

Free Combat
Free combat is designed to purposely make a chaotic mess of the standard D&D combat system. Benefits include a fast paced comabt that leaves your heart racing and rewards quick thinking. However, it can also leave you confused and disoriented and actions must be clearly stated. However, this can be realistic- did you honestly think that fights are coreographed and polite?

Step 1- Determine Awareness
Rather than try to figure out whos "turn" it should be, rather the most important step is to figure out who is aware of what. Most of this is up to description, but the GM is encouraged to lend only partial information. For example, the party round a corner and sees a half orc standing over a halfling screaming "Hold still!" The halfing and orc do not see the party but clearly see each other. The party is also unaware of the whole situation, and may be unaware of other factors- hidden foes, guards within hearing but not seeing range, etc.

Step 2- Determine Actions
At this point everyone at the table declares what they want to do. Give players only a short ammount of time, no more than five seconds. People who hesitate don't get to act and may be flat-footed. Each player can take a number of actions per round equal to the number of attacks per round they can make plus the number of attacks of opportunity per round. Thus, even the weakest and slowest of characters still get two actions. Actions are divided into three types- Active, Reactive and Exhaustive.
 * Active Actions are declared at the begining of of a new round. This is the only time you may take multiple actions, but doing so causes an All Action Penalty to any rolled actions as follows: Free/Swift -1, Move -2, Standard -4. This penalty only applies if multiple actions are taken. Effects that set a DC (spells, breath weapons, etc.) take the same penalty as a modifier to the DC. Only the most severe penalty is applied in full, while all other actions apply only halt their penalty. In the case of swift and free actions only the odd numbered free/swift actions AAP are applied. (-1 for the first, third, etc.) This All Action Penalty only applies to the Active actions, unless otherwise noted. (see sidebar)
 * Reactive Actions, or Reactions for short, are used when another action that provokes an Attack of Opportunity occurs. This may be any action, thus these are simply called Oppotunities. You may only use one action per Opportunity, and this action does not provide an AAP to Active actions. The idea is that actions that provoke attacks of opportunity are obvious, interuptable as well as avoidable. I wouldn't just sit there is some guy was preping a fireball, would you?
 * Exhaustive Actions are full round actions. Exhaustive actions take a full round and eliminate the possiblity of Reactions. Essentially, an exhaustive action is a full focus actions that cannot afford to have attention divided upon it. If the time required to use an action is mesured in rounds or longer time frames it is Exhaustive by default.
 * Special Note- Exclusive Actions are actions where one actions outcome can determine the success of another. For example, while two characters can declare they are diving for the same dagger and stabbing the other, there is still only one dagger and thus there shall be only one stabbing. For actions such as these a contested Initiative check is called for. Quite simply the winner of the check completes his action and the loser doesn't, wasting their actions. In the result of a tie, neither action is performed and both sets of actions are wasted.
 * Special Note- Readied Actions are Reactions that are set to trigger on a particular action, thus creating a one-time use Opportunity action. That aside, these are treated like normal Reactions with not so normal actions provoking the Opportunity.
 * Special Note- Opportunities: Actions taken that provoke an Opportunity provide the same penalty to AC, folowing the same model as the All Action Penalty- Swift/Free -1, Move -2, Standard -4. Exhaustive Opportunites leave the performer Flat footed. These peanlities are cumaltive, and last until the next round. Only actions that provoke an Opportunity cause this AC penalty, additional actions taken as Active actions that do not in and of themselves provoke an Opportunity to not add their AAP to the AC penalty.

Step 3- End Round
Once actions are declared and taken, the effects all happen at once. It is assumed that actions all take place in the same space of time, and are thus simulatneous. Therefore, it is quite possible for two warriors to draw swords and kill eachother. Hell, it used to happen all the time, creating a problem that old battlefield martial artists had to fix. Thus, the final outcome should come across as a status report with unpredictable results, like one orc rounding a corner and getting riddle with arrows, giving the nine others a chance to charge and kill their assailants.

Field Experience Points
You should never have to wait for asudden boost in power to master a skill you have been working for months. Field Experience Points solve that problem to a degree. They are gained each level, starting at first level. The ammount of field experience is determined by how often you could expect to gain a level:
 * Fast Gain (a level is gained every session) 0
 * Quick Gain (a level is gained every 2nd or 3rd session) 5
 * Moderate Gain (a level is gained every 4th to 6th session) 10
 * Slow Gain (a level is gained every 7th to 10th session) 15
 * No Gain (Gaining a level almost never happens) 20-25

Field Experience Points can be spent in the following ways-
 * +1 rank to a Class Skill - 1 FEP
 * +1 rank to a Cross-Class Skill - 2 FEP
 * New Feat - 7 FEP
 * +1 to an Attribute - 10 FEP
 * New Known Spell (Spells Known casters only) - 20 FEP

Each FEP requires one week to spend, during which time the character must spend 40 hours solely working on the ability in question- taking classes, working out, meditation upon the natural magic of the world, etc. However, time in the dungeon also qualifies as working on a skill if it comes up. For example, a character who spent most the travel time for the past week trying to kepp up with the rest of the party over mountainous terrain is perfectly within his rights to spend FEP on Climb ranks.