Design Philosophy - Initiative

Initiative (or any other term for turn order) in combat exists in some form or another in almost every role-playing game. The majority of popular rule systems call for a die roll contest between characters or groups of characters to determine this order. In Venture!, this contest is skipped entirely - play flows around the table, starting with the players / player characters and ending with the game master and her non-player characters (with the only exception being when the non-player characters ambush or get the drop on the player characters and start the turn).

Why implement a potentially unpopular system like this?

1. The Narrative Benefit of Initiative Checks (or its Lack)

First of all, let us say that having an initiative check with the game's rules isn't an inherently bad thing. If you are looking at an RPG as a means of telling a story, however, it should benefit the narrative at the table. Many games do incorporate important details of the setting into their initiative rules - superhero or cyberpunk-themed games come to mind, where having a superhuman reaction time ensures that a character acts first or even multiple times in comparison to slower characters. A similar benefit is gained in implementing action speed rules - letting lighter weapons or simpler attacks occur earlier or faster than bigger weapons and slower actions. This can add a fun tactical element, but it also sets a tone for the grittiness and feel of combat in the game world.

If the initiative rules aren't helping to set the scene in your game universe, is there anything to be gained by using them? 

2. Keeping the Action Flowing

Experienced role-players are probably familiar with one of the potential problems with a typical initiative system: the lull in action that it can cause. The game master will be working with the player characters, building anticipation for a fight to come, everyone is getting their weapons ready for the upcoming fight, challenges are issued, the enemies charge.. and then the game master halts the story to call for an initiative roll. Where are my dice? What is my modifier? Can I do one thing before we go into combat? OK, what did everyone roll? Let me write these down - you two both got an 18, who has a higher Agility? Alright, we're all set - Alice, you're up.

With focused players, this can be a minor speed bump, just taking a few moments to resolve. If everyone at the table is distracted or tired, this can take at least a few minutes, and can kill the anticipation that's been building up. Its like pausing a movie right before the climactic fight scene to grab snacks and take a bathroom break, it doesn't ruin the experience, but it does kill some of the momentum.

There is an additional lull if any of the players at the table aren't aware of their place in the turn order. Suddenly caught unaware, they can flounder, trying to decide on a course of action. Again, this adds a few moments more to the combat. While this doesn't sound like much on paper, trying to maintain that initial rush before the fight grows harder with every second wasted. By going around the table, each player knows exactly who they will be acting after and how many characters will act before theirs, all without having to consult (or have the game master maintain) a list of the initiative order.

3. Maintaining the Game's Tone

Venture! is trying to emulate pulp novels and film serials. The player characters typically go first, making them proactive, charging into a fight with the first blow. Ideally, this should immediately gain them momentum in the fight and make the players feel like the daring heroes they should be emulating in the game setting. In a few moments, they'll have dealt with several faceless minions of their adversaries, and be ready to face down the remainder.

After these initial blows, things become a back-and-forth once the non-player characters strike back. The player characters take out a few mooks, and dive away from the return fire. As the lieutenants and mastermind of their foes become exposed, things flow like a duel - these greater foes exchanging strikes at one or more player characters until one manages to connect.  This is a deliberate attempt to make the action at the game table progress as the cuts in a filmed action scene would: the heroes strike a blow, evade a counterattack, strike another blow, get engaged in a desperate struggle with their equal, and ultimately, dispatch their adversary.

4. Ambushes are Dangerous!

One additional benefit to this system was discovered during playtesting: ambushes by non-player characters become frightening and dangerous. The players become accustomed to acting first, so if their enemies get the drop on them, it puts them in an unexpected, perilous situation (just like their characters). Most ambushes will turn into a desperate struggle quickly. The worst will end with the player characters capture, which helps feed the story.

Agree? Disagree? Have a question? Leave a comment below!

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

Venture! Thrilling Adventures in the World of AEthrem and its associated characters are the property of Weird Science Games, LLC, Copyright 2015.

West End Games, OpenD6, and The D6 system are trademarks and properties of Purgatory Publishing Inc.

The Valerican Confederation OR: A Rising Star in the New World!

Fridays in AEthrem returns with disparaging news! Our astute and loyal viewer will have noticed that several weeks of this series have gone mysteriously missing - lost in transit to the airship docks of Koriden City for distribution to your local cinema! Investigation by the authorities continues - the suspected culprit? Sky pirates! While our faithful protectors strike back against this scourge of the air over Rasault, we struggle vigilantly to produce and distribute additional reports from our studios in Ban Nihara! Fridays in AEthrem will not be done in by these recent shortfalls!

In this week's episode, we travel to our own backyard, the Valerican Confederation. Once a cultural backwater, slowly occupied by outcasts from the west over three and a half centuries, the Valerican subcontinent has become a major world power. In the sixty years since formally gaining its independence, its influence has expanded to rival even those nations that founded the earliest colonies in Valerica!

The Sillindri Wildlands separate Valerica from western Pelifor. Combined with the inherent difficulties in water travel, this prevented settlement of this territory by humans (or the ghond culture before them) before the existence of the passage agreement between Thassyl and the native acilon of the Wildlands in 670 YF. Once an overland route to the subcontinent became available, colonies for the western powers boomed throughout the newly-open lands.

Most of the Valerican colonies were founded by Thassyl itself, Valerica's closest neighbor to the west of the Sillindri Wildlands. Nearly every major power in the west established a colony on the subcontinent, either paying heavy taxes to pass supplies back and forth through the Sillindri Causeway controlled by Thassyl or risking the myriad hazards of ocean transport: harsh storms, titanic and hostile sea creatures, and piracy. Despite its controlling power, every colony acted as a pressure valve for established society - gathering together a motley collection of outcasts and dissidents - political rivals, members of fringe religious groups, renegades or loners, and more than a few thandi fleeing persecution in their homeland.

For years the various, squabbling Valerican colonies were exploited by their founding nations, plundered for their rich and exotic natural resources. That came to an end when Thassylian colonies began openly revolting against the High King in 936 YF. Kingsland, the richest - and best defended - colony, was finally granted independence in 947 YF by a floundering Thassyl, overwhelmed by fighting rebellions on numerous fronts. Five years later, the Treaties of Confederation were ratified, creating the modern Valerican Confederation and its five provinces.

Of the five provinces, Koriden is the most well-known and the wealthiest. Renamed in honor of the rebel general Mirena Koriden (formerly Kingsland) following its liberation, Koriden covers the eastern terminus of the Sillindri Causeway, stretching across the southern coast of Valerica in the west. It is a temperate land, home to several long-established port cities. Chief among these is Koriden City - the provincial and national capital - famed for its towering skyscrapers, centers of learning, and the constant political and business squabbling among its elite. Koriden is also home to the longest-established and most famous venture companies, its cosmopolitan cities serving as an excellent hub for their unique business.

To the north and east of Koriden, Mirenfell Province varies from cool to frigid in temperature, stretching from mountains in the south and east all the way to the arctic. The mines of Mirenfell's mountains produce a vast bounty of coal, iron, and precious metals - many of the province's cities are constructed within the depleted upper level of mines. Passes through the mountains in the province have made it a crossroads for road and railway traffic within Valerica - material passing from the eastern Provinces to Koriden for export. In recent years, heavy industry has become centralized in the province to benefit from rail shipments. However, it is most well-known for corruption - its an open secret that the government in Mirenfell operates at the whim of the Gavierna, a criminal syndicate founded by the earliest refugees from Exelos to work in the province's early mines.

Giltlund is a pastoral province to the east of Koriden and Mirenfell, dominated by rolling hills covered in temperate native grasses and farmland. The earliest settlers to the province were Pathists, a divergent sect of the Church - its followers preferring a simple and agrarian life, isolated from the outside world. Later settlers established their own farms and ranches - Pathists and these outsiders rarely mingle and both steer well clear of the decadent "city folk" from the few larger cities in the province. Giltlund was once home to a significant population of ss'ra at the height of their culture, and numerous ruins remain of their former cities, especially on the eastern coast. Numerous small ss'ra communities still dot the grasslands, and a few are still hostile to human settlers.

Between Giltlund in the north and Amprissa in the south, Rasault is traditionally viewed as a navigational hazard more than anything else. Rasault is as arid as Giltlund is lush, arid deserts and scrub waste covering most of its surface, making it the least populated province in Valerica. This wasn't always the case, as the province is full of ss'ra ruins. It has become a popular destination for treasure hunters - either seeking legendary ss'ra artifacts or natural deposits of precious gems, which are sometimes found by prospectors in the wastes. In recent years, these prospectors have stumbled upon an unexpected treasure, finding massive oil deposits within the province - resulting in a boom economy for the region. The plateaus of central Rasault offer a perfect staging point for the second largest business in the province: air piracy. From isolated airstrips, criminals can easily plunder shipments of locally-harvested oil or shipments of trade goods passing from Amprissa.

Amprissa is a broad crescent of land occupying the far southeastern shore of Valerica. The tropical province once hosted ss'ra cities and, later, a scattering of Otaran colonies. For reasons the Beryl Throne has never revealed, Otaru abandoned Valerica around the time colonists began expanding into it from the west. Ban Nihara, the provincial capital, was built on the remains of the largest Otaran settlement in the area, covering the mainland and several islands, all connected by bridges and water taxis. An entire island in the city now serves as an embassy for Otaru, and goods from the continent to the south flood into Amprissan ports. The province is also home to two of the newest industries in the world: aircraft production and film production. Both originated within Amprissa, and it has since become famous for both.

The Valerican Confederation has leveraged its unique resources to great profit since its founding, new local corporations growing by leaps and bounds from the profit. It is also the birthplace of the airplane - the most talented and established manufacturers in the airplane industry still calls Valerica home. In recent years, the Confederation has also come to a trade deal with the inscrutable and isolationist continent and Empire of Otaru, with exotic items from that land flooding into its local markets on a scale not seen before. Immigrants have been flocking to Valerica for years to benefit from its expansion and development.

Today, Valerica is poised to become the dominant power in the world, if it isn't torn apart from within. Shadowy forces struggle for control of the rapidly-growing nation - policians, crime syndicates, captains of industry, and secret societies. At the same time, spies and saboteurs operate within Valerica on behalf of foreign powers to undermine the Confederation from within. While always known as a free and democratic society, life within Valerica could change suddenly if the balance between these forces were to shift to far in any one direction.
 
COPYRIGHT NOTICE

Venture! Thrilling Adventures in the World of AEthrem and its associated characters are the property of Weird Science Games, LLC, Copyright 2015.

West End Games, OpenD6, and The D6 system are trademarks and properties of Purgatory Publishing Inc.

Ferridon OR: The Fascist Khradi - Poised to Strike!

Faithful followers, Fridays in AEthrem has returned! We must apologize for our absence last week, but personal issues prevented us from providing you with our regular, thrilling post. And now, without further delay let us delve into the growing darkness of Ferridon!

Among the nations of AEthrem, Ferridon is one of the youngest, but it is founded on ancient cultural roots. The Ferridi Highlands lie to the far south of Pelifor, an expanse of moors, steppes, and eventually the foothills of arctic mountains in their most southerly reaches. The landscape of the highlands is harsh and inhospitable, making it one of the few parts of Pelifor that did not fall under the control of the ancient ghond civilization - a fact that the native human clans of the region still take pride in.

While poised to claim most of southern Pelifor following the fall of the ghond, the Ferridi clans were instead slowly overwhelmed by recently-liberated human servants and their descendants. Generations spent in servitude had given the freed human population knowledge and innovations that the Ferridi just didn't have, not to mention access to pacts with ryn - which the Ferridi considered a taboo. The natives of the Highlands found themselves again slowly pushed back into the least desirable parts of their homeland, struggling to keep up with the advancements of the outside world. A few Ferridi endured in their lost territories, becoming second-class citizens to new colonists.

The patient endurance of the Highland people came to an end just twenty years ago. A charismatic leader came to the head of the Khradi clan, an outcast family known to allow the creation of thandi pacts among its members. The Khradi's leader stoked the fires of rage among the Ferridi, calling for a Reclamation of their lost lands. His support reached a fever pitch with the Week of Blood, when the members of the Ulaz clan and their supporters (who had long acted as a diplomatic face for the clans with outside nations) were exterminated by the Khradi and their allies.

After usurping leadership of the clans, the Khradi leader established Ferridon as a new nation, with himself as its leader, the First Lawgiver. The First consolidated his power to lead with an iron fist, and destroyed any record of his birth name - he is now referred to only by his title. Ferridon spent the next five years in a constant state of war known as the Ferridi Reclamation, seizing one colony or independent nation of southern Pelifor after another. Ultimately, the new nations borders extended from the Ferridi Highlands to the southern sands of the Lahana Desert, with only a few small neighboring countries maintaining independence.

In the decade and a half since, Ferridon has consolidated its power - seizing the resources and infrastructure of its new territories and building upon them. The Khradi clan are the undisputed rulers of the nation in the political, military, and economic arenas alike - their ranks have grown exponentially, as anyone wanting a position of power in Ferridon seeks adoption into the clan. Citizens live day to day at the edge of martial law, with the fauffgraen (an order of thandi military police) executing dissidents and traitors in the street on a regular basis. In spite of this risk, rumors persist that numerous rebel groups and foreign spy networks operate within the nation's borders, doing what they can to resist the Khradi.

Ferridon has grown in power to rival any other human nation, expanding its military by leaps and bounds. Suspicion grows by the day that the First is ready to begin expanding his empire for the first time since the Reclamation. For now, Ferridon strikes out subtly, with Khradi operatives spread throughout the world, disrupting rival powers and spying on potential threats to the young nation. At the same time, the mad archeologists of the state-sponsored steinnenanchwaan dig for the most dangerous relics of the ancient worlds to no good end. If given the chance, the Khradi regime will plunge the world of AEthrem into a war the likes of which it has never seen. The question, then, is what exactly are they waiting for?

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

Venture! Thrilling Adventures in the World of AEthrem and its associated characters are the property of Weird Science Games, LLC, Copyright 2015.

West End Games, OpenD6, and The D6 system are trademarks and properties of Purgatory Publishing Inc.

The High Kingdom of Thassyl OR: Remnants of an Empire!

Fridays in AEthrem returns once more! This week's episode: The High Kingdom of Thassyl!

Thassyl's history dates back to the liberation of humanity from ghond enslavement, beginning as a city-state in northeastern Pelifor. A long line of hereditary thandi warlords used the city as a base of operations, raiding and conquering the surrounding lands. As each successive warlord handed their territory to their child, early Thassyl expanded just a bit more, and the city itself became an island of stability in a tumultuous historical period.

The modern history of the High Kingdom begins with the Order of Establishment. As proposed by the city's merchants and craftsmen, the order suggested sweeping changes to how the territory would be governed. To appease the rapidly-growing Peloric Church and its devout adherents, who were uncomfortable with the idea thandi ruling over Thassyl, the warlord and their thandi lieutenants would be given civic and military leadership positions, while legislative and judicial authority would rest with the conclaves - bodies of non-thandi members elected by vote of the population. This would give those without pacts some oversight of the current leaders. In exchange, noble titles and rules of inheritance were established for thandi - most of whom were already passing their pact on to their firstborn children anyway - with the position of warlord becoming that of the High King or Queen. The Order of Establishment recognized pacts as a special burden personally granted to the nobility by Pelorus the Crafter, securing their power base and outlawing rogue thandi in a single stroke.

As the High Kingdom of Thassyl, the new nation expanded even further in power. The laws of inheritance eliminated most of the infighting over changes in leadership, and trade prospered in the resulting stability. Random raiding gave way to more organized military action, and the High Kingdom became a serious threat to neighbors which had previously only dealt with limited, sporadic raids from its lands. Noble military leaders began establishing the wesheni orders - elite units of battle-trained noble thandi that became the most feared opponents in their time.

Thassylian diplomats were the first humans to establish relations with the native acilon of the Sillindri Wildlands, to the east of the High Kingdom. They enabled the signing of the passage agreement, creating the only overland route to the Valerican subcontinent. This route was immesurably safer than travelling to the subcontinent by sea, and while Thassyl was not allowed to claim any territory within the Wildlands, their control of the western terminus of the route ensured a constant stream of taxes for those returning from the Valerican colonies in the east.

For nearly two centuries following the conquest of the neighboring Kingdom of Exelos, Thassyl became the dominant world power, with the High King taking on the title of Emperor. Its occupied territories and colonies gave Thassyl more territory than any human nation before or since, and rival even the holdings of the ancient ghond civilization.

Unfortunately, this height was unsustainable. The Empire eventually pushed its borders too far, and citizens in many of its colonies and occupied territories rose up against its local representatives. Constant fighting on multiple fronts exhausted even the Empire's colossal reserves. In the end, only a slightly-expanded High Kingdom of loyal territories remained, along with a patchwork of new and resurgent nations.

Today, Thassyl's former global prominence has left it as a center of culture, politics, and learning in the civilized world. Many businesses and causes headquartered themselves within the city of Thassyl itself during the height of the Empire, and still remain there to this day. Likewise, the foremost universities in the world lie within Thassyl's borders, and the Royal Museum is the foremost repository of archaeological relics in the world. 

With the loss of their former territories, courtly politics among the noble families has turned particularly vicious - unfortunate outsiders a likely to find themselves pawns in a generations-long game between two or more families. While the wesheni still exist, many of their orders have turned from martial pursuits to the fields of politics or business. Those nobles without a pact often find their own manipulative niche in the High Kingdom's infamous diplomatic corps, maneuvering events in the outside world for their nation's greatest advantage.

While a shandow of its former self, most of the citizens of the High Kingdom remember its glory days, and fervently await their nations return to power.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

Venture! Thrilling Adventures in the World of AEthrem and its associated characters are the property of Weird Science Games, LLC, Copyright 2015.

West End Games, OpenD6, and The D6 system are trademarks and properties of Purgatory Publishing Inc.

Ss'ra OR Ancient Marvels of the Lost Reptilian Civilization!

It's time for another exciting installment of Fridays in AEthrem! This week's episode - ss'ra: ancient engineers or future foes?!

In the modern day, ss'ra seem a small threat to all but the lone and helpless explorer. Standing only about a meter tall, with a typical understanding of only the most basic of technology, members of this scaly species exist in small tribes or clans far from human populations, engaging in regular skirmishes with outside groups of their own people. Ss'ra populations can be found scattered over nearly half the globe, some friendly to humans, others vehemently hostile to outsiders.

How could such a species once have controlled half the world, and rivaled the ghond culture as a world power, as archaeological evidence indicates? The secret to their former strength lies in a unique quality of the ss'ra: while an individual ss'ra is not particularly intelligent by human standards, they have the uncanny ability to share thoughts an knowledge with other nearby ss'ra. As a communal population of their species grows in size, so too does their individual mental faculties and their capacity for innovation.

During the time of their conflict with the ghond, the entire ss'ra species was apparently linked as a single culture. From their shared knowledge, they had engineered technologies far beyond the capabilities of modern human society. Artifacts and legends speak of light and sound being harnessed by the ss'ra of that time to provide communication, defense, and to power transports and other fantastic machines. While some of these tales are certainly misrepresented or outright fabrications, relics recovered from the ruins of that civilization have inspired the creators of modern technologies, such as radio broadcasting and the airplane.

This golden age for the ss'ra came crashing down with the final strike of the ghond. Few historical records remain of the alleged thandi act that destroyed the unified ss'ra culture, but its impact was clear - the once connected, singular population was fragmented into myriad small enclaves. These smaller groups lacked the knowledge of how their species once remained connected over long distances, keeping each cluster of ss'ra isolated. However, another oddity of the ss'ra mind was their real undoing.

While individual members of the ss'ra species incorporate into the shared thoughts of an established group easily, it appears that established groups cannot connect with other communities of the species. It is possible that each group functions slightly differently, and they cannot "talk" to others. Ss'ra who have worked with humans have problems explaining the experience (as they do when describing most complex things verbally), but have compared it to hearing incomprehensible gibberish or radio static when foreign ss'ra are nearby.

The smallest communities of ss'ra are incapable of understanding this effect, but very easily determine that eliminating rival groups of nearby ss'ra stops the irritant. This has led to the current stagnation in ss'ra culture - as a group of their species grows in number, so too does the area over which they can be "heard" by others. Any enclave sufficiently large enough to form the foundation of a new unified culture inevitably draws the ire of numerous smaller gatherings of their species as they expand, and are worn down in unwanted skirmishes over a period of years.

Rumors still persist of closed communities of ss'ra in isolated areas, remnants of the former civilization with technology still far beyond modern human innovation, who have yet to be broken into small, squabbling tribal communities. Some stories claim that these lost ss'ra are simply building their power until they can reemerge whole into the modern world, the rival of every human nation across the globe. Others tell that they are already actively opposing human civilization in secret, quietly organizing their people and preparing for a lightning strike before the humans can counterattack with whatever power the ghond once used to fragment the ss'ra in antiquity.

Archaeologists and treasure hunters alike have found no true proof of these tall tales, but they still seek out the ruins of the ancient ss'ra culture. A well-preserved find could provide invaluable historical information or be the hiding place for a plethora of devices large and small, any of which an inventor's guild would gladly provide a small fortune to acquire. A researcher or an entire venture company could retire on a single discovery like that, if either were likely to ever actually give up their world-hopping careers.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

Venture! Thrilling Adventures in the World of AEthrem and its associated characters are the property of Weird Science Games, LLC, Copyright 2015.

West End Games, OpenD6, and The D6 system are trademarks and properties of Purgatory Publishing Inc.

Ghond OR: The Terror From Below!

Daring devourers of dangerous data of the world of AEthrem - prepare yourselves! Fridays in AEthrem has returned with grim tidings from the very ground beneath your feet! We're speaking of the ever-present boogeyman of human societies, lurking in forgotten ruins and deep caverns - ghond!

In ancient times, before humans had mastered writing or agriculture, ghonds lived as a unified species and culture, dominating nearly half the world. They covered the landmasses of Pelifor and Otaru in their colossal stone cities. Members of their species were the first to form pacts with ryn, making ghonds the first thandi in AEthrem.

Early humans could not compete against the advanced ghond society, and their early hunter-gather tribes were forced to the wildernesses of the world or bound in servitude to ghond masters. If modern archaeologists are correct, ghond civilization flourished for over three centuries on the backs of human laborers. However, their rapidly-growing culture came into sudden decline following its first encounter with the reptilian ss'ra.

The ss'ra were expanding into new lands just as the ghond civilization was growing into the same regions itself, and had technological marvels that the ghonds could only dream of. (Marvels, dear reader, that we will read about in the next thrilling installment!) The two species almost immediately began conflicts over vital resources necessary for their respective new settlements. Over the course of a century, these early skirmishes blossomed into a massive and devastating war.

In the end, the ghond population had been reduced to a tiny fraction of its former size. Early human legends claim that a desperate, powerful ghond thandi made a terrible bargain with their ryn, fragmenting the communal society of the ss'ra beyond repair through arcane means. As a sacrifice worthy of this act, central Pelifor, once a fertile land and the core of the ancient ghond civilization, rapidly shifted into the arid Lahana Desert as it exists today. While modern scientists scoff at this as superstition, a rapid change in the local climate did occur (whether natural or mystical), and devastated the ghond culture even further.

Reeling from war and disaster, the ghond were no match for an uprising among their human slaves. Ghonds had been using humans to bolster their waning forces in battles against the ss'ra for decades, and human veterans shared their knowledge of fighting and tactics with others on their return home. Local rebellions turned into regional movements of liberation, with humans easily outnumbering the weakened ghonds.

Humans eventually claimed the surface world for themselves, while the ghond that did survive the human retribution were forced underground, besieged in the underground storehouses of their cities. Those in the core cities fared the best, as the surrounding land turned inhospitable prevented vengeful human armies from prolonged sieges. In time, these survivors expanded their tunnels into the store rooms and caverns in neighboring cities, contacting other remaining ghond survivors.

As the human population exploded on the surface, flourishing in the wake of their former masters' departure, ghonds slowly rebuilt some semblance of their former glory underground. They now dwell in a warren of natural and hand-carved caverns, living a harsh life under the Boudon, a caste of philosopher-priests. For centuries, the leaders of their new, subterranean society have kept one goal in mind - retaking the surface world from the human usurpers.

Luckily, human civilization and technology advanced by leaps and bounds while the ghond culture was still rebuilding. They are no match for humans in weaponry (most still use spears, bows, or scavenged human rifles) or numbers (the limited resources underground prevent much population growth). Instead, they have had to express their hatred indirectly - striking out at targets of opportunity or subtly manipulating things within human society to their advantage. Many of the worst disasters in human history are supposedly the work of a ghond thandi agent, or a human pact-bearer trained by one, according to paranoid gossip.

Actual encounters with ghond are rare, and mostly limited to archaeological expeditions below their ancient cities deep in the Lahana Desert. The few accounts on record describe them as tall and lanky by human standards, with lantern-like faces and large, black, pupilless eyes. The ages spent underground have left the hairless bodies of the ghond with a pallid complexion, and they wear hand-woven headdresses and body wraps for warmth in their subterranean environment.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

Venture! Thrilling Adventures in the World of AEthrem and its associated characters are the property of Weird Science Games, LLC, Copyright 2015.

West End Games, OpenD6, and The D6 system are trademarks and properties of Purgatory Publishing Inc.

Design Philosophy - Advantages and Disadvantages

Welcome to our first post on design philosophy, where we'll be talking about the choices made in creating the rules and setting for Venture! Unlike Fridays in AEthrem, these posts will appear irregularly, as topics present themselves and time permits.

In this post, we'll be discussing Advantages and Disadvantages. These are a staple character option in many systems (although some will use alternate terms for them, such as Benefits and Afflictions, Boons and Hindrances, Traits, Qualities, and so on), giving options to advantage and disadvantage characters in small ways. Advantages and Disadvantages are well-established and widely-accepted within tabletop RPGs, and are included within the OpenD6 rules on which Venture! is based. So, why are we talking about these today?

Venture! does not include Advantages and Disadvantages within its core rules.

Now, please give us a chance to explain this before firing up your torches or running for the nearest pitchfork. We love advantages and disadvantages. They are one of the most reliable options to tweak your player character to be just the way you want it to be, on top of encouraging roleplaying of characters at the table - since many disadvantages introduce character faults or limitations to be portrayed at the table (such as with Devotion or Prejudice in OpenD6), or story elements (such as Employed or Infamy).

However, we feel that Advantages and Disadvantages best serve the game as an optional rule. While many games now include these within their core rules, if you look back about twenty years or so (around the height of the D6 system) you will see that it was very common to include Advantages and Disadvantages within a rules supplement or compendium as one of several options that players and game masters could choose to include in their games. We believe this has several benefits:

1) Ease of access.

Although Advantages and Disadvantages may be a good and useful part of the rules, they are still additional things to be aware of within the game system. The game master must take time to be aware of their effect in the game system, and the players must be aware of the function of those they've chosen and when they apply in the game. This also calls on the issue of system mastery, where an experienced player (or just one that is better at optimizing characters) would know to make a character with Advantage X, making their character superior at Skill or action Y than any other character that neglected to do so. For a new player, it can be disheartening to be outdone by another player character due to a simple lack of familiarity with the rules.

2) Speeding up character creation.

This is tied to ease of access somewhat. In our experience, character creation for a player new to any system goes fairly easily and quickly, except for two standard steps: selecting Advantages and Disadvantages and purchasing equipment. Why is this? Because in both of these steps, the player needs to look through a large list of options, weigh them, and select only a few that are appropriate for their character. If the player wants to make the "best" character they can, they will want to spend quite some time in these steps. This slows things down in even the most comprehensive systems, but in OpenD6, with its otherwise rapid character creation, it can be similar to hitting a brick wall.

3) Avoiding default use.

By including Advantages and Disadvantages in the core rules, you are assuming default use. If the game master doesn't want to use these rules (such as for the above reasons), they will have to point this out to their players, and this may involve revising already-completed characters in cases where a player creates their character without the GM's involvement. ("But it says here: 'select Advantages and Disadvantages'.") This isn't a huge concern, but if these are provided as an optional rule, the players typically feel more positive about their lack of inclusion.

4) Organization and page count. 

This is primarily a concern just on our end of things. If we wanted to include Advantages and Disadvantages, we could either include all of those we want to include in Venture! or just the most common or representative ones, providing others in a supplemental book. Including everything uses up a big chunk of the core rulebook's precious page count (would those 20 pages be better served with setting details?), while splitting them between the core rules and a supplement can complicate referencing rules for these at the table ("What book was that in, again?") and still use up page count (although much less).

So, we will most likely be including Advantages and Disadvantages in Venture! at some point, contained within an optional rules supplement. This simplifies things for both us and for new players, and frees up space within the book for more setting details, which are really the draw of the game (as the majority of its rules system is freely and publicly available online). There were pros and cons to consider when coming to this ultimate decision, but we feel that it best served the style of game we wanted to create to proceed in this way.

Agree? Disagree? Have a question? Leave a comment below!

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

Venture! Thrilling Adventures in the World of AEthrem and its associated characters are the property of Weird Science Games, LLC, Copyright 2015.

West End Games, OpenD6, and The D6 system are trademarks and properties of Purgatory Publishing Inc.