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Core Mechanic

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schoon schoon's picture
Core Mechanic
I've just discovered the game and the site, and am surprised and pleased that a game will soon exist serving Richard K. Morgan style sci-fi.

I'm also pleased that the rules are billed as simple (though hopefully robust) so as to not get in the way of the game.

From the other press material, I see that it's a percentile-based system, but that's about it. So, other than "roll under a skill on % dice," what else can be told about the core system mechanics?

How do attributes, talents, etc. affect all this?

I'd like to get a feel for the core concepts behind the system rather than getting too specific.

Thanks.
kylleran kylleran's picture
Core mechanic details
Correct the core mechanic is a simple percentile roll under system. Usually you'll be rolling your skill which is based upon your core aptitudes and then bought up from there and also modified by your morph/shell or any special gear you may have. Additionally the skill can be modified by the GM due to the circumstances of the scene.

These modifiers can stack, so if you're trying to shoot the artifact out of the hand of the Ultimate Merc as you tumble end over end down a zero-g shaft in the abandoned hab you're gonna take a pretty hefty penalty to your skill to make that shot.

Brian Cross
Posthuman Studios

schoon schoon's picture
Thank-you. That's very
Thank-you. That's very helpful.

Have the PC characteristics been revealed yet?
GregH GregH's picture
Don't know if this helps any
Don't know if this helps any schoon, but here's an earlier entry that may prove useful....http://eclipsephase.com/morphs... it was a discussion regarding the basics behind morphs and their effect on the characters that resleeve into them, it covered some of the fundamental stats that I believe were the ones that remained constant with the character ego.
kylleran kylleran's picture
Not yet
No, not yet but look for us to start posting some of the sample characters complete with badass art in the not-so-distant future. And all the sample characters are sleeved in different morphs.

Brian Cross
Posthuman Studios

schoon schoon's picture
Very Helpful
Yes, that does give me a much better grasp on things.

While I like what I'm seeing, I'm slightly concerned that some of the material might be a bit erudite for the mainstream gamer. Hopefully I'm worried over nothing, as I'd like to see this do well.
jackgraham jackgraham's picture
Gamers're smart. That's why
Gamers're smart. That's why they're gamers and not, like, hockey fans or something (heh... hope Adam Jury is reading this). That said, who could've predicted how well Cyberpunk would do when it came out? Transhuman/singularity sci-fi is to our era what Cyberpunk was to the eighties. People have been looking for something new; here it is! Thanks for the encouragement!
J A C K   G R A H A M :: Hooray for Earth!   http://eclipsephase.com :: twitter @jackgraham @faketsr :: Google+Jack Graham
schoon schoon's picture
My Mom's a Hockey Fan
...and come think of it, so am I - Go Sharks!

...and yet I still have the capacity to game ;)
GregH GregH's picture
That said, I also never ran
That said, I also never ran across something Adam Jury wasn't a part of that wasn't clearly articulated word-wise... I suspect that while EP will have a lot of mind-boggling sf fun it will be easily understandable mind-boggling sf fun.
jackgraham jackgraham's picture
My experience in running EP
My experience in running EP over the last ~18 months is that explaining the setting does take a little work. When I ran demos at last year's Gen Con, I spent about 20 minutes at the beginning explaining the setting. For my gaming group at home, who were making their own characters and therefore required more depth, I spent about an hour and a half, with another half an hour for Q&A. Mind you, this was at a point when we didn't have anything players could just read on their own. Once the setting has been explained, though, learning the rules for working within it is relatively easy. By the end of our first chargen session, the players had picked it up and were already surprising me with their own crazy ideas.
J A C K   G R A H A M :: Hooray for Earth!   http://eclipsephase.com :: twitter @jackgraham @faketsr :: Google+Jack Graham
jackgraham jackgraham's picture
Sorry, sir... Please
Sorry, sir... Please substitute "Boston Red Sox Fan" for "Hockey Fan" in the preceding. ;)
J A C K   G R A H A M :: Hooray for Earth!   http://eclipsephase.com :: twitter @jackgraham @faketsr :: Google+Jack Graham
schoon schoon's picture
To Be Fair...
It's not exactly easy to describe the fiction that's the primary influence on the game setting.

You can't simply lump it all into "Sci-Fi" or "Cyberpunk." That said, I look forward to reading the background sections and see where it takes my imagination.
GregH GregH's picture
From what I've seen and
From what I've seen and understand of the plot a good primer would probably be "Newton's Wake" by Ken MacLeod. It cover's a post-singularity event, cultures seperated by the skein (kind of like the Pandora Gates as they are described), and gives you good examples of both a character that goes through the equivalent of a resleeving and a character that "backs up" herself.
GregH GregH's picture
Of course if what you want is
Of course if what you want is an easy 2 minute summary of the concept of Transhumanism to share with those that will be playing the game then here's a little ditty by Charlie Kam and his Gort Symphony Orchastra... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hKG5l_TDU8&feature=related
schoon schoon's picture
Thanks for the Tips
I'll check out the book - which I'm amused to find will soon be available as an e-Book.