Here are my front-runners for revising the conflict system.
Minor Alterations
- Rolls are still multiplication.
- Every point of difference in Force score changes Reserve damage by one. Old-Worlders no longer harm Mechanicans; Mechanicans trounce Old-Worlders on the first or second shot.
- Extra damage for double or triple rolls still in effect. Two points of damage for each multiple.
- Each roll needs a description. Your description should not include accomplishing your goal until after everything's over.
- To have a shorter conflict, restrict it to a best-of-three setup.
Everything's A Theme
- No more rolls. Diceless system.
- Capability scores now go 0-4.
- Your Professions provide you with Reserve. Capabilities do not.
- You normally act at your Capability level, and can use them as much as you like. Spending a Reserve adds +1 to your score.
- When facing off against another person…
- If you're over by 2 points, you win without question. Describe your victory.
- If you're over by 1 point, you win with some trouble. Lose a Reserve and describe your victory. Your opponent can give you a level 1 Complication.
- If you're tied, both of you lose a Reserve and take a level 2 Complication. You can both narrate the stalemate.
- If you're under by 1 point, you lose, but not terribly. Lose two Reserve and narrate your loss. Your opponent can give you a level 3 Complication.
- If you're under by 2 points, you completely fail. Lose two Reserve and narrate your loss. Your opponent can give you a level 4 Complication.
- All Complications should be appropriate to the type of conflict. Examples will be given, but this is a group judgement call.
- To go down a timescale, spend a point of Reserve from the conflict type you're going to.
The Game Is Your Enemy
- Basic rolls work as before.
- Each session starts with a Holy Crap point total (this name will change) that is like your opponent's reserve.
- Pick a type of conflict for the session as a whole. This will be in the briefing.
- You are always in one type of conflict or another.
- Most of your time should be spent roleplaying.
- Themes can be used to get you into a position to make a roll when you aren't, or to win a roll. This is a mechanical description of their narrative power, not a replacement of it.
- You can only roll once per timeslice in any given conflict. Get into position to take advantage of some modifiers and roll well.
Side Note
- There should be a good way to spontaneously generate a conflict type through a little negotiation and maybe a little Reserve expenditure to tweak the timescale. Guidelines for this strike me as pretty easy to write.
Comments are welcome, especially comments along the lines of "Colin, idea X is crap and here's why."