[occ] Skills in Weapon of the Gods

The following are the existing Skills and common Specialties available for characters in Weapon of the Gods.  Every skill has a rating of 0 to 5.  Specializations can range from +1 to +2.

Skill + Specialty = Meaning

0 = You have not practice this skill and must rely on raw talent.

1 = You have some basic training or practice.

2 = You are good at this, but are used to meeting people who are better.

3 = You have solid professional competence.

4 = You have impressive professional competence.

5 = You've mastered the skill.

6 = Incredible focused skill.

7 = Legendary focused skill.

Might Skills

Athletics - physical feats, breaking down doors, ripping out chains, jumping

specialties: Looking strong, Running, Jumping, Swimming, Smashing things

Climb - confidence and speed in going up places.  While all Wuxia heroes have Lightfoot, Climb does not cost chi and reduces the risk of detection via Awareness.

specialties: Without gear, Slick Surfaces, At Night

Fight - using strength and natural power to hurt someone.
specialties: Specific weapon, Bare hands, Anything handy.

Hardiness - resisting privation, hunger, disease, and enduring long shifts.

specialties: Enduring Torture, Staying Awake, Disease, Poison, Regaining Chi

Lift - exceeding ones usual Strength limits in lifting objects.  Throwing something to short range has the same difficulty as lifting it.
specialties: Large Amounts, Careful Carrying, Livestock, Dead Bodies, Throwing.

Speed Skills

Initiative - seizing the moment and moving in time or following perfect timing.  Determining order in combat.
specialties: Combat Initiative, Dramatic Entrance, Reliable Cavalry

Dodge - Getting out of the way of an incoming attack. 

specialties: Diving for Cover, Projectiles, Swords, Blunt Instruments

Finesse - Acrobatics, legerdemain, fine coordination and escapes.
specialties: acrobatics, cheating, escapes, fine manipulations, sleight of hand.

Melee - Fast, precise control of weapons, usually edged.  

specialties: sword, spears (wielded only)

Ride - Replaces Athletics and Initiative when you are mounted.  Optionally, can roll Ride instead of Dodge or Melee when mounted.  

specialties:  Breed of Horse, Other creatures.

Presence Skills

Confidence - Projecting self assurance.  Used by Courtiers to regain Chi.
specialties: Military, Authority, Regaining Chi

Grace - Social awareness and comportment.  Knowing how to behave in court, be witty at dinner, and how to accept or decline an imperial gift in high style.

specialties: Small town,City, Parties, Imperial

Inspire - you can make people cry, dance, sing, or run away in terror.
specialties: Love, Fear, Sorrow

Perform - Entrance crowds through some amazing talent.  Covers music, acting, storytelling, puppetry and other arts.

specialties: Acting, Classic Performances, Opera, Painting, Puppetry, Music

Persuade - Bringing others around to your point of view.
specialties: Big Lies, Clever Debate, Honest Speeches

Genius Skills

Learning - Able to read and write.  Having good calligraphy.  Knowledge of legends, folk tales and myths.

specialties: Philosophy, History, Calligraphy

Crafting - Build and assemble things.   Also used to find weakness of things.

specialties: Armor, Chaos, Weapons

Medicine - Acupuncture, clean wounds, bandages, herbal remedies, minor surgery.
specialties: Diseases, Injuries, Infections, Poisons, Regaining Chi (Scholars)

Politics - Understanding of who is in charge, knowing political lay of the land.

specialties: Specific City or Village or Faction.

Tactics - Know ho to allocate military force.  Marshall and protect large groups.
specialties: small unit, large scale

Wu Wei Skills

Awareness - mindfulness of your environment.  Archetype skill for Scholars.  Deduce intentions of others.
specialties: Ambushes and Danger, Chi, Tracking, Weather Prediction

Investigation - Observant and able to spot details.  Know how to ask questions.

specialties: Lore, Hidden Secrets

Ranged - Hitting things that you throw or fire.

specialties: Needles, Crossbows, Archery, Spears, Knives

Sense - Raw sensory detail you pick up.  Spot intruders.

specialties: Hearing, Sight, Smell, Taste, Touch.

Stealth - the art of subtle movement.  Avoiding lines of sight, keeping to shadow.
specialties: At Night, In the Day, Skulking, Eavesdropping

In character creation, players are given 30 points of skills for free.  A skill point can be spent also to purchase instead 2 specialties, which must be put into existing skills.  Starting characters cannot have any skill above level 3 at the start of the game.  Only one die specializations are permitted as well.  

It is recommended that at least half of your skills points are put into your Archetype skills.

Note that many skills have added benefits when a critical success is rolled.

[occ] The Three Archetypes and the Five Attributes

Characters in WOTG will fall under one of three Archetypes.  All heroes in WOTG are characters who go beyond the bounds of where they started in life.  For a Wuxia hero, it is all about the Challenge.  And each Archetype embodies a corresponding challenge.

The Warrior is a glorious student of martial arts.  Their main challenge is Struggle.  The hero is willing to take on the world to do what is right... and most likely will do it with style.  Warriors gain access to Martial Arts.

The Courtier is a student of intrigue.  For a Courtier, the main challenge and thrill is Influence.  The hero believes it is all about the deals and allies one can make, knowing the enemies will be the ones who will choose you.  Courtiers gain access to the Secret Arts of Intrigue, learning how to manipulate others directly and indirectly.

The Scholar is the master of secret lore.  Collecting information and understanding the secrets of Knowledge is what drives a Scholar.  Scholars gain access to Daoist Magic and tend to know the secrets of the world.

As characters progress, they tend to blend into combinations of two or all three of these archetypes.  To keep the game interesting, each of the three players will be one of the archetypes in the game.  Based on the three sample concepts sent, I will begin to tailor the framework of the character to an archetype, and write-up the non-playing cast as well.

Since the WOTG game is written for its specific setting, I will have to rework many things (such as how certain martial arts styles are available) for our game.

Every character has a set of Attributes to measure their innate capabilities.  These are the following:
Might - Physical vitality and controlled power, the Element of Wood
Speed - Physical dexterity and grace, the Element of Fire
Presence - Charisma and force of personality, the Element of Earth
Genius - Education and intelligence, the Element of Metal
Wu Wei - Harmony, flow,  perception and subtle inaction, the Element of Water
Each attribute is rated 1-5 but have no upper mechanical limit.  Some of the greatest fighters may have a rating of 10 or even 12.

Each Archetype has Primary Skills.  Characters would do well to have these skills at higher ratings.  All characters also have a Chi Aura, which they use to boost and defend themselves.  It therefore proves useful to also have this skill high.

Warriors, being Combat-Oriented, are able to use their Chi Aura to enhance their Dodge Skill.
Their primary skills are Might and Speed skills.

Courtiers, being Interaction-Oriented, are able to use their Chi Aura to enhance their Confidence Skill.
Their primary skills are Genius and Presence skills.

Scholars are Knowledge-Oriented and can use their Chi Aura to enhance their Awareness Skill.
Their primary skills are Genius and Wu Wei skills.

[ooc] Weapon of the Gods, Dice System

More and more I feel that running the game using the Weapon of the Gods system would be best.  With that in mind, I guess I best start giving some idea on how the dice system of the game actually works.

In Weapon of the Gods, d10s are also used.  But unlike how successes are tracked in World of Darkness games, in this system the dice are read in this manner:

There are two kinds of rolls
Skills rolls are when characters attempt to accomplish tasks in the game that have a level of difficulty - scaling a wall, piercing an opponent's defenses, convicing a guard to defect and the like.

Style rolls are when a character has a smaller margin of failure, or when the possibility of failure is almost unimportant.  These can represent rolls to simply look good in a scene, or to represent a series of unimportant fights in a tournament against pathetic foes.

Determining your Dice Pool
In WOTG, characters have Attributes, Skills and Specialties.

You get one die for each point of the relevant Skill.
You add one or two dice for applicable specialties.
Then you get to add one more die if the relevant Attribute is equal to or greater than the Skill + Specialty total.  This represents raw talent that enhances your ability.

So if you had the Might (Attribute ) 3, for example.  And you were Lifting  (Skill) something.
Lift 0 = 1 die (0 skill + 1 raw talent since Might 3 > Lift 0)
Lift 1 = 2 dice (1 skill + 1 raw talent)
Lift 2 = 3 dice (2 skill + 1 raw talent)
Lift 3 = 4 dice (3 skill + 1 raw talent)
Lift 4 = 4 dice (4 skill + 0 raw talent, since Might 3 < Lift 4)
Lift 5 = 5 dice

Whereas having the same stats and a applicable specialty:

Lift 0 = 2 die (0 skill + 1 specialty + 1 raw talent since Might 3 > Lift 0+1)

Lift 1 = 3 dice (1 skill +  1 specialty + 1 raw talent since Might 3 > Lift 1+1)

Lift 2 = 4 dice (2 skill +  1 specialty + 1 raw talent since Might 3 = Lift 2+1)

Lift 3 = 4 dice (3 skill +  1 specialty + 0 raw talent since Might 3 < Lift 3+1)

Lift 4 = 5 dice (4 skill +  1 specialty + 0 raw talent, since Might 3 < Lift 4+1)

Lift 5 = 6 dice

What about the "Lost Die"
Skills and Specialty combinations higher than your Attribute are less efficient.  It is most efficient to limit your skills to the relevant Attribute, or to raise them much much higher.  A clever player with an Attribute of 2 will keep most of his skills at the 0-2 range, but can afford to pump a skill to 5 if that skill is a core trait.

Rolling the Dice
In either roll, a dice pool of one to seven dice is rolled, and a set is created.  A set is a collection of dice that all came up with the same number.

A single set, for example, is when you roll exactly one eight.  The value is the number plus ten.  So a dice roll of a single dice resulting is 8 is read as "one eight" or "eighteen."

A double is a set of two dice.  The value of a double is twenty plus the number rolled.  So a roll of 2, 2, 1 and 4 would have a set of "two twos" or "twenty-two."  In this dice pool, realize you may also opt instead to use the set of "one one" or "eleven"  or "one four" or "fourteen".

A triple is a set of three dice.  The value is thirty plus the number rolled.  

Bigger sets can have more dice, and the value is pretty much ten times the size of the set, plus the number on the dice.  So five nines is a "fifty-nine."  Six threes is a "Sixty-three."

The 10 or the 0 in a ten-sided dice is read as zero.  So four zeros rolled is "Forty."

So in an example roll of 3,7,7,7, 9 and 9 on six dice:
You have a single set of 13 (one three), a double set of 29 (two nines) and a triple set of 37 (three sevens).  Typically, the larger the set, the better.

Having a single set in a roll is an "Earthly roll".  Having a double set as your best set in a roll is a "Heavenly roll".  Having a triple set in your roll or bigger is a "Divine roll."  Special things can happen in a game to change your roll before you choose your best set, but once you get to this point, you have to choose the best set you can.

The River
Adding to the game's fun is what is called The River.  Every character in WOTG has a small stock of dice which represents the reserve of heart, skill and confidence that rises and falls during the game.  Starting characters tend to have two dice in the River.  Greater characters may have even more.

In each round, you can do the following things, always in this order:
Wash - Before you pick your set after rolling, you can discard some or all the dice out of your River.  Discarding the dice empties your River so you can "float" dice into the River on the next phase.

Float - If you have available slots in your River, you can float dice from your roll into your River for later use. You can take dice out of any double, triple or bigger set to put them into your River.

Flow - Finally, you can flow dice from your River into your roll.  This can change the final available best set in your roll for purposes of resolving your action.

What is the River for?  
The River adds strategies to making the best rolls.  Typically, using the River to the fullest comes only after the first turn (since all rolls start out with an empty River.)

Suppose you have 2 and 5 in your River (having Floated them into your River earlier from sets you decided to break up).  In this turn, you roll 5, 5, 9, 9, and 7.

You could:
Discard the 2 in your River to make room, then Float one 9, and finally Flow the 5 from the River to your roll.

You would then  end up with a roll of 5, 5, 5, 7 and 9 as your roll, and a 9 in your River.  This gives you a roll of three fives or 35 instead of the earlier 25 or 29.

The River: Dice for Later
You might also want to delay gratification - saving a great roll for something you need later.
So using the same roll above, 5, 5, 9, 9, and 7 with the same River, you could:

Discard both 2 and 5.  Float both 9s to the River.  Flow nothing to the roll.

This gives you a roll of 25 and gives you a chance to create a bigger set with 9s in later rolls.

The River: Mixed Dice
Know that almost all numbers can be useful to be Floatted into your River.  Any number can prove to be helpful in creating a set later on.  8 and 9s on the other hand are always useful because they can guarantee a minimum roll of 18 or 19 (one eight or one nine) when you need to accomplish relatively straightfoward tasks.

The River is always empty at the start of the scene, and empties at the end of a scene.
You cannot float dice from Style rolls into the River.  But you can Flow dice into Style rolls.

Joss

If your best set is a set of zeros, that is a lucky roll.  It earns you "joss" which is the word for luck in the game.

If you succeed on a roll with a set of zeros, you do so smoothly and beautifully.  You earn a point of Xia Joss which can help you on other rolls later.  Spent Xia Joss adds a die to the roll.

If you fail on a roll with a set of zeros, you make a heroic effort and fail in a particularly tragic or comedic fashion.  You earn a point of Corrupt Joss, an evil kind of luck which makes your enemies fail too.  Spent Corrupt Joss subtracts one of the opponent's dice to the roll.

Xia Joss can be used any time on Skill Rolls (but not damage rolls).  Corrupt Joss can be used only on opponent rolls and before the roll is made.

Difficulty

All actions have a difficulty number that you need to get to succeed.  

Trivial  5 or 10

Simple  15

Everyday 18

Moderate 20

Hard 30

Legendary 40

Impossible 60
Succeeding by a margin of 10 or more earns a critical success.
Making a shockingly poor roll opens the option of getting a critical failure.  The GM offers you an unfairly horrible failure in exchange for a bribe (such as extra Destiny, Virtue or starting your next combat with dice in your River).  So yes, in this game, rolling really bad can still be very good.

So if cutting a tree to crash down on your opponent was a Hard task, and your opponent's defense is 30 anyway, then you might as well describe cutting that tree as an attack since you're rolling for the same target number.

Dice Modifiers
In this game, modifiers come as either +5, +10, +15, +20 or -5, -10, -15, -20.   

Even with multiple modifiers, only the highest (or worst) modifier is used.  So even if you have fifteen different +5 and three different +10 modifiers to your roll, you only roll with a +10.

This is intended for a streamlined system.

Understandably, the system sounds complicated right now but trust me it gets far simpler as you get used to it.

So in summary:

1) Determine dice pool

     1 die for each skill point + 1 or 2 for applicable specialties + 1 if Attribute is higher or equal to skill+specialty total.

2) Roll the Dice
3) Choose if you will use the River:

    Discard, Float, Flow

4) Any other special powers that affect the roll, such as Xia Joss for additional dice or other powers.

5) Pick highest-valued set

6) Add biggest positive modifier, then biggest negative modifier.

7) Compare to difficulty.
    If at least 10 bigger, get a critical success!

8) If highest valued set was 0s, collect a point of Xia Joss (if successful) or Corrupt Joss (if failed).