Major Changes

From Sagataflwiki

Latest revision as of 22:05, 22 March 2014

The purpose of this article is to list only major and important changes. Sagatafl has been in development for quite a number of years, and some people may not have kept up with even very significant changes.

The order is somewhat arbitrary, neither based on absolute importance nor on chronology (any order originally present has also been diminished, due to the changes now being sorted into three categories...).

System Name

• Name changed from "FFRE" to "Sagatafl - the Free Fudge-light Roleplaying Engine".

Character Creation

• Flaws introduced as a whole new mechanic, similar to "mental disads" or "psychological limitations" in other RPG systems. Characters are "normed" for Flaws totalling 20 Flaw Points; having less than that costs points, while having more than that gives compensatory points. Almost all Flaws are Roll Strength-based, using a temptation or trigger model.
• Attribute Points and aDvantage Points changed to no longer be separate pools: Now unified into aDvantage Points, DP, which are used to purchase all intrinsic/biological traits, both Attribute, Sub-Attributes and Advantages. In this way at character creation, the Goodie Points are distributed between three categories, Advantages (DP), Skills (SP) and Perks (PP) instead of four (AP, DP, SP and PP).
• A new 4th Goodie Point category was added, Special GP, for buying special traits that don't fit into the Advantage/Perk framework. Eventually most of these Special traits were renamed into Backgrounds (but are still bought with GP) and only the remainder traits (mainly Luck) are still called Special Traits. The category as a whole may be called the Special/Background or S/B Category, or just the Special Category or 4th Category.
• For amounts of up to 25 Goodie Points in any category, the conversion to category Points (aDvantage Points, Skill Points or Perk Points) uses a simple linear function, which yields a higher result for GP values of 1 to 24, and the same value as the exponential formula for a GP value of 25.
• Luck system changed: it is no longer an Advanage, but instead bought as a Special (i.e. 4th Category) trait, directly with Goodie Points, but is still based from the Faith Attribute. Also, characters no longer automatically have any Luck; it must be purchased.
• The Cost Factor for Primary Attributes for Humans raised from 4 to 5, making above-average Attributes 20% more expensive, in a pre-emptive attempt to improve balance between players who want to create Attribute-heavy characters and players who want to create Skill-heavy characters.
• Also, as per the above goal (but done much later), the exponent in the formulae used to convert Goodie Points to Skill Points and to Perk Points changed from 2.5 to 2.75.
• The Difficulty value for Normal Difficulty Skills increased from 6 to 10. Other Difficulty values increased roughly proportionally (i.e. by 50% or so).
• The base cost (before Learning Speed) of the 1st Level of any Skill now equals 20 times Difficulty, not 10 times Difficulty. Combined with the previous change, this makes Skills about 3 times costlier. The Skill Point Goodie Point formula has been modified accordingly.
• Perks have been made (or should be made) twice as expensive, in an effort to avoid decimal costs (e.g. a Perk that costs 4.5 PP per level now costs 9 PP/lvl). The Perk Point Goodie Point formula has been modified accordingly.
• Advantages can now only have integer value costs, even for values under 14 DP, i.e. no more prices such as 11.5 DP.
• 2012/April All aDvantage Point (DP) amounts and costs have been or should be quadrupled, to make the system more fine-grained (especially with regards to sub-Attribute costs).
• Some Attributes demoted to Secondary Attributes: Strength and Hardiness, and also Size which will be renamed to Frame, with a new Size value denoting gross size (3 is human-sized, 2 is large child, 5 is a horse, and so forth). Two new Secondary Attributes added: Vocal Control, Face Control. An explicit ruling that Primary Attributes cannot be trained, and that Secondary Attributes work differently from each other (some can be trained, some can't, they're bought at different prices, the Human maximum is not the same for them all, they have very different purposes...).
• As a necessary consequence of the above, Strength can no longer feature in Skill Aptitude Blocks (APT Blocks), as it is explicitly trainable. Strength and Endurance is bought with skill Points.
• New stats Frame and Height introduced, Frame taking on the function originally served by Size (see above), and Height denoting mass relative to Frame, that is Height 3 is a normally proportioned character but does not denote a specific height.
• The Intelligence (Thinking Speed) Sub-Attribute can now feature in APT Blocks, e.g. for Skills such as Bluff and Feint.
• The maximum for the Hardiness Secondary Attribute for Humans is 4.5. In many fantasy settings the maximum is 5 for Dwarves but 4 for Elves. Also, Hardiness is bought up and sold down during character creation in increments of 0.5, and is much more expensive.
• Professions introduced as a new kind of very broad Super Skill, including the OmniSkill (and there was much rejoicing?) and the Profstat Secondary Attribute (which was later removed as a variable again - it always counts as 3). Later Special Professions (such as Musical Versatility and Linguistics: Practical) were added, replacing the old Versatile Training mechanic.
• The Martial Arts training system changed, replacing "enhancers" (xD, xDD, xC, xI...), which give a multiplier to the skill cost and must be chosen when the character starts learning the Skill, with Stunts, Lores that cost Stunt Slots (and which can be trained at any time)), meaning that the more Stunts you want to add to a specific Skill, the higher the SP cost.
• A similar "it costs extra if you want a lot" subsystem added for Genius Traits, and a whole new character creation unit, the Archmage Point, introduced, to make it more expensive to have multiple magic-enhancing traits, but removing the need to have any "you may only purchase one of these" tables of different Advantages.
• WillPower Points changed to be a more generic mechanic, with everyone having a very few (an amount equal to Will per 12 Moons), but some characters having 'many' more.
• The costs of Addictions, Distinctive Feature and Contacts have been simplified, to use a somewhat simpler additive cost progression per level (reducing the need for table lookups) rather than the old multiplicative cost progression. Note that these traits are still not flat per-level cost.
• Veteran Traits added to system. They're bought with Goodie Points directly, as Backgrounds (in the 4th Category).
• Beneficial Linguistic Backgrounds (Bilingual, semi-Bilingual, Trilingual, et cetera) are now Backgrounds, and purchased directly with Goodie Points as 4th Category items.
• 2012/03/26 New stats added: Casual Intelligence, Casual Perception and Casual Charisma. These are what the character uses/rolls for when he has no in-character motivation for trying hard. Normally they are two lower than the normal stat (sometimes referred to as Active, e.g. Active Intelligence), but this difference can be reduced by 1 with a Genius Trait (one for each Attribute) and by 1 with a Mental Training Stunt (again, one for each Attribute). For instance an eperienced detective or spy should have Mental Training to increase Casual Perception, while a natural born hunter should have the Genius Trait to increase Casual Perception.
• 2012/April Limits proposed on how many sub-Attributes of each Attribute can be lowered in return for compensatory points. Further lowerings are of course always possible, but will not give compensation. (Overridden - see next entry!).
• 2013/June Subsystem for Minor Mental Deficiencies and Minor Physical Deficiencies introduced. These are minor "disads", often lowerings of quite specfific stats, such as Concentration, Observation or Resist Confusion. Compensation for these are given in DP, but according to a diminishing returns table, so that the more Minor Mentals you take, the fewer DP you get for each, similarly the more Minor Physicals you take, the fewer you get for each. Likewise, sub-Attributes are now not compensated for directly with DP, but instead with SLP, and these convert to DP, again using its own diminishing returns table. That's ultimately somewhat simpler, and a lot more flexible, than the previous subsystem with "allowances" for minor and major (and medium) lowerings.
• 2013/June New stats officially added: Resist Chill (old idea, but only made formal as of now), Mental Bandwidth and Resist Confusion.
• 2013/June The meaning of Frame and Height Secondary Attributes changed. Height now translated directly into physical height in centimeters (instead of denoting the character's "stretchedness") and Frame translates directly into BMI assuming Adiposity 3 and normal Strength.
• 2013/June Change to how Cost Factors work. In all cases, a higher CF now means that the ability is cheaper, and whenever possible, the CF for all Human Primay and Secondary Attributes, and sub-Attributes, is set to 3.0, so that now the CF for Agility for a "Standard Fantasy World" Dwarf is 2.5 (it costs more) and 3.0 for a Human, where before it was 5.0 for a Human and 5.5 (=costs more) for a Dwarf. For each individual trait type, or Power, CF converts into a Cost Multiplier, CM, and this CM is then used to derive the cost of the desired level of the trait, either via a formula or using a lookup table. For instance, for all Primary Attributes, CF 3.0 converts into CM 5.0, perfectly analogous to the previous CF of 5.0. This means that CF is always 3.0 for Humans for both broad (expensive) and narrow (cheap) sub-Attributes, except those with sex-based costs, where either one sex will get a higher CF, or the other sex will get a lower CF (or in some cases both - one sex will be 2.5, the other sex will be 3.5).

Magic Systems

• Life Force renamed to Essence, to avoid misleading people into assuming that characters are hurting or crippling themselves when they spend Essence to render magic permanent.
• The Enchanting Skill renamed to Endowing, so that Endowing is now just one of several ways in which one can render an item permanently magical (all such processes collectively referred to as "Enchanting an item", and each distinct property of an item called "an Enchantment").
• New item creation methods introduced, alternatives to Endowing, most being inborn ones (not learnable Skills), such as Artificer and Charm-Maker, Divine Bless Item, and Royal Imbue and Heroic Imbue.
• The system of supernatural Alignments changed and unified so that there are only three Alignments: Divine, Pagan and Satanic. This list can obviously be modified or enlarged to fit specific worlds, but it ought to work surprisingly well without modifications in most fantasy worlds.
• Mage Factor introduced, to calculate appropriate compensatory points for magic-related disadvantages (such as Incompetences), trying to estimate how much they suck for the individual character based on his long-term developmental potential.
• Mysteries added to the magic system, including Mystery Slots bought at character creation. Some things that used to cost Essence now cost Mystery Slots instead (e.g. having Forms for use with Shapechange Magic), which makes somewhat more sense.
• Forms introduced as a special kind of "routine" shape that characters can shapechange into, more quickly an easily, and stay in for longer without adverse effects.
• Divine Magic is no longer Spell-based, but is instead based on the Powers system, levelled Advantages bought at character creation, fuelled with Power Energy Points (PEP), and in most cases non-random to use (i.e. they always work). As such, the White Category, with its 3 Realms of Aid, Bless and Healing, was removed completely.
• Active Powers sorted into tiers. Divine Powers are high-tier and so have large PEP totals but recharge them slowly ("save your PEPs, in case you meet a Balrog!"). Low-tier Powers have small PEP totals but recharge them quickly. Mid-tier Powers are, as the name may suggest, in between these two extremes. (Bardic Powers and Lunar or Nature Powers are examples of low tier; while Royal Powers and Virgin Powers are examples of mid-tier.)
• Instead of complex varieties of "intervalled" abilities ("At this Power Level, twice er 3 Years, at this Power Level, you may Resurrect a recently deceased person, and once per Year you may"...), Active Powers get Mega Power Points that recharge very slowly, and the even rarer (an non-recharging) Ultra Power Points, this being more flexible. Abbreviated MP and UP.
• Two small Spell Categories with 4 Realms each were combined into the Grey Category with 7 Realms. This change happened so long ago that the names of the original two Categories are no longer remembered, but they each contained a Realm of magical detection, so these were combined into the Divination Realm in the Grey Category, making for a total of 7 Realms rather than 8.
• Greater Spells introduced. These are very flexible Spells, and thus are harder to learn, and more dangerous when Fumbled. Some existing Spells, primarily the Illusion I to V Spells, and the Control [Element] I to V Spells, are now Greater Spells, while more purpose-specific non-Greater versions should be made, e.g. an Invisility II Spell, a Disguise Self I Spell, a Move Air III Spell and a Destroy Fire IV Spell.
• Spells can be cast even when Partially Learned.
• The 2d8-based "Overcome Roll" added. It's not used only for magical purposes, but that is its primary purpose, e.g. to determine how a Supress Light Spell fares against a light source of a particular magnitude (suppress Light II vs a candle or vs a huge bonfire), and how Dispel Magic can succeed or fail at dispelling the target spell. 2d8+strength-resistance is essentially meant to be used in situations where a "more precise balance" is desired than Sagatafl's standard xd12-based roll mechanic. Another place where it is to be used is for Cure Disease rolls, replacing the old multiple-d6 mechanic, and for Control Undead rolls.
• Spell Safety introduced as a concept; it's a beneficial modifier on Spellcasting Fumble Outcome Rolls.
• Spell Force introduced as a concept; used to Push Spells for increased Range, RI or Duration.
• The Strong Magic Advantage introduced, giving a similar feel as a Spellcasting Talent but through different means (trying as best it can to make the character's magic "feel more powerful").
• Spell Investments changed, to use a more flexible Investment Level system.
• Investments of non-Spells no longer called Item Powers or just Powers, but instead Item Abilities.
• The Essence cost of a Spellcasting Focus Enchantment now depends on the size of the item, with large items like staves being slightly cheaper, and tiny items like finger rings being slightly more expensive, encouraging most characters to choose large items, often staves.
• The Spellcasting Focus Enchantment made more flexible, so that it can give an RD bonus to a Realm Pair, or to a sub-Realm, or a single Spell.
• Focus Enchantments divided into Simple and Complex Focus types.
• Small changes made to Essence cost of Focus Enchantmens, to make the cost for a 3 standard Focus types (all Large: Focus II All Spells, Focus III 1 Category, Fous IV 1 Realm) a uniform 3.0 Essence. Later other small changes were made to make very narrow and very high Level Focus Enchantments cheaper, e.g. Focus VI for 1 Spell.
• The whole idea of a Lens Enchantment to aid in Spellcasting, functioning orthogonally to the RD bonus of the Focus Enchantment, scrapped.
• The idea of an Enchanment that would allow multiple characters to pool their Essence towards paying the cost of a single very expensive Enchantment scrapped.
• Weather Magic and Shapechange Magic were made into more-or-less Prestige Realms, one that are completely or nearly useless on their own. To control weather it helps a lot to have Skill with Air Magic and Water Magic, and Shapechange Magic is completely useless without either Body Magic or Animal Magic (depending on the kind of shapechange desired).
• Spell Deftness Factor (SDF, originally SPF: Spell Force) added, as a stat that can be rolled for to "Push" Spells, to increase their Range or Duration, or increase their effect magnitude (making them directly more powerful), or make them harder to resist (higher RD for the Saving Throw). Pushing Spells is risky and dangerous, increasing the chance of Fumbling. The idea is that some characters may have a raised SDF for a Realm or a sub-Realm, or sometimes a Category.
• Change to Strong Magic/VSM, so that each sub-Realm or individual spell, when possible, needs to be followed by another table that explains how the effects of the Spell are increased or decreased if the caster has a Magic Strength (MS) other than 3, using MS2 and lower for Weak Magic, MS4 for Strong Magic and MS5 for VSM. When at all possible, the effect itself should be affected, not Range or Duration or similar.

Other

This section is mainly for important changes to how in-play resolution subsystems work.

• Roll mechanic changed from using ten-sided dice to using twelve-sided ones. The Fumble scale expanded so that the worst possible Fumble is F-6 Disastrous Fumble, instead of F-5 previously. The worst several types of Fumbles got new formal names. All Roll Difficulties incrased by 2 (since a ten-sider generates results in the 0 to 9 range, and a twelve-sider generates results in the 1-12 range).
• Jargon change, TD, Task Difficulty, changed to RD, Roll Difficulty, because the term "Task" got assigned a more specific meaning.
• Drastic changes to the fatigue system, changing from using a Stamina Point system, where characters with high cardo-vascular fitness would routinely have triple digit Stamina Point totals, to a divided system where fatigue is accounted in discrete Combat Fatigue Points (CPF) that represent intense brief effort, and Exertion Intervals mainly used for long-term travel and -labour. Fatigue recovery is somewhat simplified in the process, and the new system allows the simulation of characters with unusual muscle fibre types (white fibre or red fibre prevalence).
• The combat system switched from using Blows to using a more fluid and flexible Action Point system.
• The unit of monetary account changed from d to f, from penny to farthing. 1d equals 4f. This is to remove the need for decimals in the prices of the cheapest items, such as a 1-liter mug of beer.
• Etiquettes changed from regular Skills (which Cap social Skills) to Lores. Each missing situation-pertinent Etiquette results in a cumulative +1 RD penalty on social Skill Rolls.
• Normal (or Human Average) Fleetness is 3, not 0.
• Movement based on the Move Factor stat, which is modified by Fleetness, but is itself based on the Pace derived stat. Human average for Move Factor is 3.
• Similarly, Climb Factor, Jump Factor and Swim Factor average 3 for Humans.
• Complementary Skill Rolls (CSR) added to system. If you get 4S or better with the Complementary Skill, you get a -1 RD bonus to the Core Skill (the Skill you're trying to Complement), but if you get F-4 or worse you instead get a +1 RD penalty. Choosing to do a Complementary Skill Roll usually adds to the time an activity requires, and even more so if the CSR is done by a different character from the one rolling for the Core Skill.
• Terrain Skills can now be used for Complementary Skill Rolls.
• Precise Strike, Power Strike and Tactical Strike added as combat options. Precise Strikes attempts to hit the chinks in the target's worn armour, or weak points in natural armour. Power Strike involves a Strength roll to attempt to increase damage by brute force, and Tactical Strike is a fast re-action used against an enemy who tries to run past the combatant, in this way empowering characters to control ground (a bit like the "en passant" rule in chess).
• Feints added to the combat system. These are used to add "Feint Points" ("combo points"), FEP, on a target, representing the Feinter gaining abstract combat advantage and/or confusing or tricking the target. Feint Points can be "collected" with "finishing moves", which inflict potentially devastating effects on the target.
• Item Quality added as a formal term, 3 being the average value for a good-but-not-unusual item (based on materials and craftsmanship). Abbreviated Qx, as in Q3, Q-1, Q11 or Q6 (values below 0 and above 9 are rare, but often possible). Some items can only have certain Quality values, for instance armour may not be able to have even-numbered Quality values. For some items, such as Skill Kits, Weapons, Armour and clothing, Quality above average may be used to select "picks" that give specific benefits, e.g. +1 Durability on a metal-bladed weapon may cost 1 pick, or 2 picks on a very short (dagger) or long (two-hander) blade, or on a non-metal-bladed weapon, such as an axe.
• 2012/June The Resist Pain sub-Attribute of Will removed, in favour of a Pain Threshold stat, serving to reduce the amount of rolls needed, especially during combat.
• 2013/June Actions that usually cost CFP can no longer be made Effortless, so that they don't cost CFP, via REF (REduced Effort) Stunts. Instead the first such Stunt allows 1 of the CFP cost (and most actions that cost CFP cost only 1 CFP) to be paid from a pool of Special CFP, on that recharges quickly and automatically (e.g. it's fully recharged after 1 Hour of doing nothing special). Further Stunts adding other allowed traits should slightly increase the size of this Special CFP Pool. For many Actions, perhaps most, there are a higher-tier Stunt that allows for a limited number of free uses, uses that don't cost CFP, per Day or per fight, or per Week. This is to reduce bookkeeping without allowing characters to perform infinite numbers of effortful Actions.
• 2013/June Tricks and Wilds now usually cost CFP to perform. Same for Zerks, Actions that can only be performed while the character is in some kind of combat frenzy or berzerkergang. All such actions are characterized by being very quick, costing a lot fewer AP than normal actions. Smite Foe actions, fuelled by Religious Fervor WillPower Points, should not cost CFP.