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The Energion Role-Playing Game System

Character Definition

Summary

This is a summary of the forumlas for reference. The details are explained in the remainder of the chapter.

Basic Capability:

Dmg = Base + HEBonus / 5 + WIBonus / 10 + CombatLevel
RTA = (IQBonus + WIBonus + AGBonus) / 30
BasePerception = (IQ + WI + FO) / 30

Avoidances

DmgTaken = 1 - TRUNC(Avoid% - Roll% / 10) / 10 * BaseDmg
Area of Effect = AVG(IQBonus,AGBonus) / 4 + HPL * 2 + HML
Point Attack = AVG(WIBonus,AGBonus) / 4 + HPL * 2 + HML
Necromantic = AVG(WIBonus, HEBonus) / 4 + MAX(HPL,HML) * 3
Charm = AVG(WIBonus, FOBonus) / 4 + HML * 2 + HPL
Deception = AVG(IQBonus, WIBonus) / 4 + HML * 2 + HPL

Lift and Carry:

L = 50 + IF(ST>100,STB*2,STB/2)
NECC = LiftCapacity / 10
CarryTime = 50 - (%ofLiftCapacity - NECC)
EnduranceMultimplier = EN / 100

Encumbrance

%Encumbered=(Encumbrance-NECC) / (Lift-NECC) * 100
AGPenalty = PercentEncumbered / 100 * AG
COPenalty = PercentEncumbered / 200 * CO

Move

Move = .0175 * AG

Stat Descriptions

Two factors make up the character--the characteristics of species and race and the training and development of environment. The Energion game system uses two sets of numbers to describe such characters. Stats describe what the character is; abilities describe what the environment has made him or her. This distinction is not absolute. Stats may be trained, and abilities are based on stats as well as training. Another distinguishing feature is that a stat approaches an absolute description of a characteristic. Strength may be measured, and is not dependent on culture. Will may be displayed in various ways, but the ability to stick to a job or to resist pressure is definable fairly easily. Abilities are normally culturally dependent and subject to much more interpretation. They are described under skills.

Stats are the description of a character. They do not describe background or skills, but innate capability. There must be a sufficient number to describe a character accurately and flexibly enough, but not so many as to be cumbersome. A compromise on this matter resulted in eight stats for the Energion character, which may be divided into two groups, physical and mental. A list follows, with the first two characters capitalized indicating the standard abbreviation for the stat.

Physical:

STrength, the basic ability to manipulate loads or to accomplish movement against resi stance.

AGility, the ability to move the body through vigorous, large scale maneuvers, such as jumping, running or acrobatic activities.

COordination, the ability to control fine movement, such as drawing, aiming a weapon or merely walking across a narrow log.

ENdurance, the ability to maintain physical activity.

HEalth, resistance to disease, bodily vigor.

Mental:

IQ, ability to retain and manipulate data. This is intentionally separated from cleverness, intuition and the ability to make good use of the data. There is no stat for that, and it is left up to the player to play that quality. This alleviates the problem of players playing a cnaracter with a 200 IQ as an idiot.

WIll, ability to resist mentai pressure, and to stick witn activities, such as training.

FOrcefulness, the ability to project force against another mind; the converse of WI. FO should be distinguished from leadership which is a culture-dependent ability.

Physical stats are fairly simple to simulate in play. It is difficult for the player to make a character appear less physically capable than he or she is. Mental stats, on the other hand, require much more player input, and a bad player may make high mental stats look silly. As mentioned under IQ, I have no stat indicating the cleverness or the ability to use data which the character has. This is entirely up to the player. The wizard may learn the spell quickly because of the stats, but the player has to figure out how to make use of that spell in combat.

Many rolls are based on the StatBonus. As stated in the examples under "Reading Formulas," the formula is:

StatBonus = Stat - 100

Stat bonuses are an indication of how far a character is from the norm or average. Stat norms are stated in human terms, and other species are adjusted from that value. A StatBonus may be a negative number, or penalty. This can produce negative adjustments to other abilities and rolls.

Since large muscles associated with great strength may reduce agility, the gamemaster may wish to limit the average agility and strength [AVG(AG, ST)]. For the standard human I impose a limit of 180 as the maximum. Adjust these figures to account for the body size and mass of another species.

Very basic stat formulas

Species

Designing Species:

Energion species are described by a stat profile, age groups, physical description and special abilities. Species represents what is coimnoniy called a race in other fantasy game systems. I use race to refer to variations within a single species which does not change basic physiological structure. The scientific definition applies with certain exceptions brought on by magic and the activities of the gods. A stat in each case of 100 is considered the human average. A human has a minimum stat of 1 and a maximum stat of 200 in each category. To calculate the range of stats for a species from the profile, use the following formulas:

MaxStat=MIN(AVGSTAT+100,2*AVGSTAT)

MinStat=MAX (AvgStat-100,1)

MaxStat is the maximum stat possible genetically for that species, and should almost without exception be the maximum stat possible under any circumstances. Exceptions might occasionally be made for special god intervention. MinStat is the minimum stat possible for a character technically alive. Certain other formulas of endurance and strength may make a character unable to move at significantly higher stats. The AvgStat is the number stated in the species profile.

For illustration, the following species are provided for use in the scenario later in this manual. There are more which I use, and I reconinend developing more for your campaign. Abbreviations used in charts follow the name of each species in parentheses.

Humans (Hum) - the plain old everyday sort of people like we have on earth. The special ability of humans is flexibility. Physical description includes heights from 1.2 meters to 2.5 meters, skin from black to nearly chalk white and other habits just as varied. If you total the Stat Profiles, you will notice that humans have a lower value generally. I make this up in play via cultural backgrounds. The special ability of flexibility is hard to quantify. A human could receive an extra lump sum of points for the pool (not implemented in the code supplied with this book), but I prefer to provide extra training points in skills or abilities which help the human gain skill and position, or to learn unusual things. The second method of adjusting stats below uses a variable pool to balance the total stat values for each race.

Gerdlu (Ger) - Largish persons who like to live underground and mine. They are known for their craftsmanship. They average 2.1 meters in height with a 4 decimeter variation on each side. They have as much variation in skin color as do humans. They are strong and tend to the heavy side. They have excellent night vision, with the exception of certain totally aboveground groups.

Ertzlu (Ert) - Also known as the little people. They are extremely adaptable to their environment, have massive variation in skin, hair and eye color, but average about 1.2 meters in height with a variation of about 3 decimeters.

Kelaru (Kel) - Are an elf-like species, normally found living in woods/jungles. Kelaru sense abnormality in a woodland setting such as to make wood perception rolls two levels better for them than for other races.

Kal (Kal) - These creatures are known for both their strength and boorishness. This attitude is accentuated in many areas by the fact that most information comes from their chief enemy, the Gerdlu. There is a historic hatred between both the Kelaru and the Gerdlu on the one hand, and all Kal on the other. There are, however, several places where these groups have learned to live together in peace.

Tlazil - Tlazil are amphibians wno live primarily on land, but tney may spend up to 3O+ENBonus at a stretch under water, followed by normal breathing for one tenth of time spent. They are significantly stronger than humans. Most are a mottled camouflage green, but they have a number of racial variations.

The following are the base points for each species. These profiles are intended to show the tendency of the species. It is recommended that players keep these profiles in mind when designing character stats. It is also recommended that characters not make assumptions based on these figures, as a little study will show that any individual from any species may break the norms.