Goal System: New World of Darkness Edition
I will be using a modified version of the "Goal" system. There will be three types of goals (minor, moderate, major) with appropriate levels of difficulty and, of course, rewards. Box text to follow; mechanics below.
The purpose of these "Goals" is to foster role-playing, while at the same time providing a concrete benefit to characters who may not be directly involved in the action. It is not intended to cause more problems than it solves. Some of my favorite points in gaming have been when the GM dealt with my character (and maybe one or two others) in an aside, or when I was able to observe the action of a few other characters in a similar aside. When relatively brief, these are quite interesting and allow for the fact that most characters are not joined at the hip. Being that every other character type seems to be some sort of "lone wolf," such asides can allow players to keep such traits believable. However, when these asides go wrong (and, inevitably, long), it can be excessively tedious to sit through 90 minutes of someone else's side story while your character twiddles his proverbial thumbs. Goals are intended to help alleviate some of the frustration that can come with long asides (though, hopefully, they will never be that long), but even more so they are supposed to be concrete motivation for players to role-play their characters in a way that is not only in-character, but beneficial to the group.
Say your character is an anti-social (or shy, or belligerent, or what have you) female mage, and your friend is playing a sniper vampire with a flaw of misogynism. You'd like to have your character train in pistols (minor to moderate goal, depending on how many dots she wants to raise it), and the game is not providing enough down-time to practice with any normal trainer or methods. Your friend's sniper vampire happens to have 5 dots in firearms, so your mage works herself up (or swallows her pride enough) to ask him for help in-game and his vampire, well, shoots her down on the basis that there's no point in teaching a woman how to shoot since she'll just cry or freeze up in a firefight. Now, this is perfectly in keeping with his flaw--and sometimes such tension can make for entertaining role-playing opportunities--but it can also be quite frustrating. However, if the vampire just shrugs and teaches your character so everyone can get the point(s) for your goal, that can be just as disheartening (and he won't get the point for role-playing his flaw).
Both of these situations are problematic. The first prioritizes the individual over the group at the potential cost of frustration, the second prioritizes the mechanical benefits to the group over the individual at the potential cost of distancing players from the story (and, possibly more frustration). Ideally, the vampire's player would recognize the ability to do both--to role-play his flaw and maintain his character's "integrity," so to speak, and to have his vampire teach your mage. Perhaps his misogynistic vampire might take some persuading (rolls may be substituted for discussion, if the players prefer), and his reluctance to teach could represent his flaw (and even if/when he teaches her, he will probably be overly critical of her progress--perhaps even later in the chronicle when she takes a shot at something). Or, what might be just as in-character as his dismissal of the mage, the vampire may concede to teach her how to shoot while still insulting her. Then, you could role-play your character's response and enjoy playing up her indignation (rather than simply sharing it). Your friend stays true to his character's flaw, and everyone in the group gets the goal point(s) once you finally up your mage's dots in Firearms.
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Goal System Rule(s): edits to reflect newer posts will be in italics
Rank is used to determine how many active Goals a character can have.
A character may choose a number of Goals whose total rank does not exceed her Willpower. A character may start the game with all of her Goals in place, but cannot otherwise add more than one Goal to her character sheet per session.
On losing a point of Willpower, a character who can no longer power all of his Goals must choose one to either give up or put on hold; he does not have to declare which. In other words, he must choose a goal that he cannot fulfill right now, but he doesn't have to declare until later (if ever) that he has truly given up on the goal, or that even though he couldn't put his heart into it, the longing was still there. With Storyteller permission, even if he does declare which path he has chosen for that Goal, he should be allowed to change his mind later. Sometimes, things we thought we had given up on turn out to be things we still work for, after all, and other times we do everything we can to reach a certain place, and then find out we don't remember why we wanted to be there.
Reward is the number of experience points that each member of the group gains when a character's Goal is achieved.
Minor Goal: Rank-1 Reward-1
A Minor Goal reflects either something that does not require a large amount of effort, or something that can be done with minimal resource or experience expenditure. It may also simply involve something you are sure you can attain in one session.
Examples: Gaining a dot in a skill, learning a new skill, getting the phone-number from someone at a bar, fixing a small tear or break in an item, learning a tidbit of juicy gossip on the new supernatural in town, scaring a random child on Halloween, meeting a vampire for the first time, etc. Gaining a 5th dot in a skill, or rising more than two dots in any given skill qualify as Moderate Goals.
Moderate Goal: Rank-2 Reward-3 xp
A Moderate Goal reflects something that requires some effort, or a certain amount of research or resource expenditure. A Goal you are unlikely to be able to attain in one session, but will probably acquire within two, could also potentially be a Moderate Goal.
Examples: Gaining a 5th dot in a skill, raising a skill more than two dots, gaining a dot or two in an attribute (or contract, arcana, discipline, gift, etc.), setting up an elaborate practical joke, getting a stranger to pay for your drinks and those of the rest of the party (or the bar), befriending a vampire (no, you can't take this if you are a vampire... at least not without some severe extenuating circumstances or specific GM permission), making some major repairs on an item, creating something (Craft or Expression + relevant stat + materials, extended, [10-15; 30 minutes--may be broken up over different days*] OR [4-9; 1 day--do not have to be consecutive*]) from scratch, learning the weakness of a minor spirit or a particular fae, getting a "real" job among mortals (changelings and vampires only), etc.
Major Goal: Rank-3 Reward-6 xp
A Major Goal is something that requires extreme effort or resource expenditure on the part of the character, perhaps even something that will endanger his life. Unless things are really f'ed** up, you shouldn't generally be able to complete such a goal in less than three sessions.
Examples: Gaining a 5th dot in an attribute (or contract, arcana, discipline, gift, etc.), finding and laying claim (or maintaining a claim in the face of severe adversity) to a source of your species' relevant magical energy source, befriending a vampire prince, getting laid by a vampire prince(ss), restoring a large or badly damaged section of the gauntlet, finding a new trod (or destroying one that seems to be attracting too much True Fae attention), acquiring a powerful personal totem for your tribe, learning the ban of a powerful spirit or one of the True Fae, confronting one's Keeper, making peace with (or slaying) your Fetch, etc.
A Note About Goal Levels:
There will be some variance in levels of Goals, as determined by the Storyteller. It will probably be easier, for example, for a Fairest changeling to get laid than, say, a Nosferatu vampire. But then again, maybe it won't. If both characters belong to players in a game, the Storyteller may choose to disallow them taking the Goal of "getting laid" by each other, or he may allow them to do this once as a Minor Goal and then not permit them to take it again.
+++++
*Some adjudication (and common sense) required. Obviously, you can't put off finishing the ice-sculpture in your basement for a day when your AC is broken and it's July, unless your basement happens to be a walk-in freezer with its own generator. Which raises its own questions, beyond why you're making an ice sculpture in your basement in the first place.
**What? Faulkner did it. Besides, this is posted on a public forum. Think of the children.
+++++
That's it, guys. Let me know what you think.
The purpose of these "Goals" is to foster role-playing, while at the same time providing a concrete benefit to characters who may not be directly involved in the action. It is not intended to cause more problems than it solves. Some of my favorite points in gaming have been when the GM dealt with my character (and maybe one or two others) in an aside, or when I was able to observe the action of a few other characters in a similar aside. When relatively brief, these are quite interesting and allow for the fact that most characters are not joined at the hip. Being that every other character type seems to be some sort of "lone wolf," such asides can allow players to keep such traits believable. However, when these asides go wrong (and, inevitably, long), it can be excessively tedious to sit through 90 minutes of someone else's side story while your character twiddles his proverbial thumbs. Goals are intended to help alleviate some of the frustration that can come with long asides (though, hopefully, they will never be that long), but even more so they are supposed to be concrete motivation for players to role-play their characters in a way that is not only in-character, but beneficial to the group.
Say your character is an anti-social (or shy, or belligerent, or what have you) female mage, and your friend is playing a sniper vampire with a flaw of misogynism. You'd like to have your character train in pistols (minor to moderate goal, depending on how many dots she wants to raise it), and the game is not providing enough down-time to practice with any normal trainer or methods. Your friend's sniper vampire happens to have 5 dots in firearms, so your mage works herself up (or swallows her pride enough) to ask him for help in-game and his vampire, well, shoots her down on the basis that there's no point in teaching a woman how to shoot since she'll just cry or freeze up in a firefight. Now, this is perfectly in keeping with his flaw--and sometimes such tension can make for entertaining role-playing opportunities--but it can also be quite frustrating. However, if the vampire just shrugs and teaches your character so everyone can get the point(s) for your goal, that can be just as disheartening (and he won't get the point for role-playing his flaw).
Both of these situations are problematic. The first prioritizes the individual over the group at the potential cost of frustration, the second prioritizes the mechanical benefits to the group over the individual at the potential cost of distancing players from the story (and, possibly more frustration). Ideally, the vampire's player would recognize the ability to do both--to role-play his flaw and maintain his character's "integrity," so to speak, and to have his vampire teach your mage. Perhaps his misogynistic vampire might take some persuading (rolls may be substituted for discussion, if the players prefer), and his reluctance to teach could represent his flaw (and even if/when he teaches her, he will probably be overly critical of her progress--perhaps even later in the chronicle when she takes a shot at something). Or, what might be just as in-character as his dismissal of the mage, the vampire may concede to teach her how to shoot while still insulting her. Then, you could role-play your character's response and enjoy playing up her indignation (rather than simply sharing it). Your friend stays true to his character's flaw, and everyone in the group gets the goal point(s) once you finally up your mage's dots in Firearms.
+++++
Goal System Rule(s): edits to reflect newer posts will be in italics
Rank is used to determine how many active Goals a character can have.
A character may choose a number of Goals whose total rank does not exceed her Willpower. A character may start the game with all of her Goals in place, but cannot otherwise add more than one Goal to her character sheet per session.
On losing a point of Willpower, a character who can no longer power all of his Goals must choose one to either give up or put on hold; he does not have to declare which. In other words, he must choose a goal that he cannot fulfill right now, but he doesn't have to declare until later (if ever) that he has truly given up on the goal, or that even though he couldn't put his heart into it, the longing was still there. With Storyteller permission, even if he does declare which path he has chosen for that Goal, he should be allowed to change his mind later. Sometimes, things we thought we had given up on turn out to be things we still work for, after all, and other times we do everything we can to reach a certain place, and then find out we don't remember why we wanted to be there.
Reward is the number of experience points that each member of the group gains when a character's Goal is achieved.
Minor Goal: Rank-1 Reward-1
A Minor Goal reflects either something that does not require a large amount of effort, or something that can be done with minimal resource or experience expenditure. It may also simply involve something you are sure you can attain in one session.
Examples: Gaining a dot in a skill, learning a new skill, getting the phone-number from someone at a bar, fixing a small tear or break in an item, learning a tidbit of juicy gossip on the new supernatural in town, scaring a random child on Halloween, meeting a vampire for the first time, etc. Gaining a 5th dot in a skill, or rising more than two dots in any given skill qualify as Moderate Goals.
Moderate Goal: Rank-2 Reward-3 xp
A Moderate Goal reflects something that requires some effort, or a certain amount of research or resource expenditure. A Goal you are unlikely to be able to attain in one session, but will probably acquire within two, could also potentially be a Moderate Goal.
Examples: Gaining a 5th dot in a skill, raising a skill more than two dots, gaining a dot or two in an attribute (or contract, arcana, discipline, gift, etc.), setting up an elaborate practical joke, getting a stranger to pay for your drinks and those of the rest of the party (or the bar), befriending a vampire (no, you can't take this if you are a vampire... at least not without some severe extenuating circumstances or specific GM permission), making some major repairs on an item, creating something (Craft or Expression + relevant stat + materials, extended, [10-15; 30 minutes--may be broken up over different days*] OR [4-9; 1 day--do not have to be consecutive*]) from scratch, learning the weakness of a minor spirit or a particular fae, getting a "real" job among mortals (changelings and vampires only), etc.
Major Goal: Rank-3 Reward-6 xp
A Major Goal is something that requires extreme effort or resource expenditure on the part of the character, perhaps even something that will endanger his life. Unless things are really f'ed** up, you shouldn't generally be able to complete such a goal in less than three sessions.
Examples: Gaining a 5th dot in an attribute (or contract, arcana, discipline, gift, etc.), finding and laying claim (or maintaining a claim in the face of severe adversity) to a source of your species' relevant magical energy source, befriending a vampire prince, getting laid by a vampire prince(ss), restoring a large or badly damaged section of the gauntlet, finding a new trod (or destroying one that seems to be attracting too much True Fae attention), acquiring a powerful personal totem for your tribe, learning the ban of a powerful spirit or one of the True Fae, confronting one's Keeper, making peace with (or slaying) your Fetch, etc.
A Note About Goal Levels:
There will be some variance in levels of Goals, as determined by the Storyteller. It will probably be easier, for example, for a Fairest changeling to get laid than, say, a Nosferatu vampire. But then again, maybe it won't. If both characters belong to players in a game, the Storyteller may choose to disallow them taking the Goal of "getting laid" by each other, or he may allow them to do this once as a Minor Goal and then not permit them to take it again.
+++++
*Some adjudication (and common sense) required. Obviously, you can't put off finishing the ice-sculpture in your basement for a day when your AC is broken and it's July, unless your basement happens to be a walk-in freezer with its own generator. Which raises its own questions, beyond why you're making an ice sculpture in your basement in the first place.
**What? Faulkner did it. Besides, this is posted on a public forum. Think of the children.
+++++
That's it, guys. Let me know what you think.
Labels: house rules, nWOD
posted by aseariel at 4:03 PM
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