System Basics

Dice

Dark Tidings uses 10-sided dice (henceforth d10) as its primary method for determining chance events. When a character wishes to perform an action that is questionable in its success, the player rolls their character's skill-level in d10, comparing it to the attribute (rated from 2 to 8) that the skill is based on. The attributes both determine the "ease" of the skill, what the target number to roll under is, and add a number of dice to the roll (making performing a skill without training a little bit easier if you're naturally good at it, or possible even if you're not.) A 10 is a failed die, and a 1 is an automatic success. As an additional rule, some GMs may wish to allow 1s to be rerolled, and any successes or failures from the re-roll added to the total (Commonly known as the exploding dice rule).g JK GUISE I'M GONNA MAKE A SEPARATE PAGE FOR OPTIONAL RULES (even if they are good ideas. Also Exploding dice won't be instantly given, you have to earn your lumps! attain a high level of the skill you're using.)

//not including exploding dice reduces the benefit of max-level skills and attributes as-written. Although I may call it optional right now, I expect using it to be the norm.

If the player rolls more 10s than successes, they "lagged" ((This terminology is from when the entire system was about an MMO, but I still kind of like it. Not sure if it will change.)), causing the roll to automatically fail, despite whether or not you got any successful dice. A lagged roll can still succeed, but at a cost. Exactly what happens is entirely situational, but for a simple example, a sword attack that lags but still beats the defenders MOS might result in the weapon being damaged or stuck, forcing the user to rely on another method of attack or spend an action reclaiming their weapon.

Some situations call for rolling against one or more people, this is called an opposed roll. To determine the victor of the opposed roll, calculate how many successful dice you rolled. Whoever has the largest margin of success (the most successes) is the winner of the roll.

Other situations call for an extended test. In some cases, you may undergo a challenge roll, where you roll multiple times to get a certain number of successes as determined by the GM. A challenge roll can only be attempted every so often, with a cooldown period representing spending some of your spare time on the task you're rolling for. It could be anywhere from minutes to weeks, depending on what you're trying to do.

Sometimes, the odds are stacked against you. Others, you have the upper hand. Regardless of which way it's going, there are a few ways to modify dice rolls to represent the difficulty of the situation.

• • Adding or removing dice to the pool.

This is the easiest way to modify a roll. This method improves your chance of success, in a slightly smaller way. This effectively modifies your skill. It's what you should use most of the time. A guard distracted with a noise down the hall, using quality equipment. It allows you to do your job better.

• • Raising or lowering the target number.

This method represents you having a larger advantage or disadvantage. It is effectively modifying your relevant stat. Which is usually harder to modify than your skill. For example, when in VR, you're completely surrounded by the Ethernet, making working with it, and molding it to what you need significantly easier than if you're looking at a computer screen, with the petty distractions and reminders of reality around you. This method drastically modifies your chance of success, and should be used more sparingly. It's the final decision of the GM which bonus or penalty to use.

• • Wasn't there another one? I thought there was another one. Seriously, Alzheimer's is a bitch.

Note that the rules can be modified easily to make Dark Tidings a dX system.

While this is still true, it's LESS so now than it was when the system was first designed. It's designed around d10. If you wanna make a d6 or d30 model for it, by all means, make a mod for it.

Character Creation

//OLD SYSTEM IS SHIT

Players get 400 points to build their characters with in Dark Tidings. These must be spent on a race, ((I don't want races to be like that fuck spending CP on races)) but can be spent on Attributes, Skills, Abilities, Ether and Credits as well.

//This may or may not get tweaked after a playtest. I don't really know what a balanced character is made with, for average power games. Obviously if you want higher power games you can add more Character Points, or give people some Awesomeness at the beginning of the game. I feel like the latter is a better solution.

Up to __ points can be spent on credits, and there are some restrictions for the power level you can access at the beginning of the game.

//I really don't want people spending all their credits on the best gear at the very beginning of the game, but at the same time with all the freedom the system offers, I don't want to limit something as open as what you buy. For now I'm just trusting people to buy all the stuff they'll need and reasonably be able to own. I might make Traits for proficiency using advanced weapons in the future. Or make some items law-restricted. Permits and whatnot. If you wanna own it illegally, be prepared to deal with that. That puts power with the players, and regulation in the hands of the GM.

//I've been on the fence for a long while now about assigning priorities to certain parts of the character instead of using one pool of Character Points. On the one hand, it's more fun designing a character that way, on the other, it's harder to balance.

//Slag all of this, I'm gonna redo character creation because I think it's stupid to copy SR4, and I'd like to think I can be more original than copying SR5.

Character Creation: Take Two

Your GM will let you know what tier the game is starting at. Depending on your tier, you'll get a number of Build Points to make your character with. These points can be assigned to the various components of your character and represent the life your character has lived up until the point that the game starts. You will also select one advantage your character has over other people they may have encountered. This is called a Birthright.

//I still need to finish design on birthrights. It might get moved elsewhere in the system, but I REALLY like the concept and want to keep it in character creation.

The suggested tiers are as follows:

Sprout - 10 Points

Entry-Level Adventurer - 20 Points

Professional - 25 Points

Veteran - 30 points

//I have no idea what's balanced. This used to be 10 points per tier, but I'm not convinced that's a reasonable start anywhere outside of entry-level. This will require playtesting.

The things these points can be spent on is:

Race - See Races.

Attributes - 1 Build Point = 1 Attribute Point

Skills - 1 Build Point = 5 Skill Ranks

Qualities - Individual Basis

Connection - 1 Build Point = +1 Connection

Money - 1 Build Point = 25,000 Credits

As with the previous system, no more than half of your build points can be spent on attributes.

Epos

Epos is a pool of points that you can burn to push yourself to your limit, and beyond. It's the Spiral Power of the system. It's what you use when you want to tell the GM to sit down and shut up because he has NO IDEA how awesome your character is. Every character starts with two Epos points. Humans start with three.

When you sit down to make your character, you should write down three goals, and three beliefs. If you're having trouble coming up with some, bug your GM. It's his job to babysit work with you anyhow. Every time your character takes a major step toward completing one of their goals, or upholds their beliefs in a situation that would question them, they gain an Epos point. It should be up to the GM to limit the number of points given out, but as a rule of thumb, no more than one point per session (usually less) should be gained, even if your character meets multiple criteria over the course of a session. It's also suggested that this pool cap out at 5, to avoid any balance issues. It's really up to the GM to place an upper limit on both the number of points you can have at any one time, and the number of points you can gain per session. If your GM is running a game where you're all made of Spiral Power, perhaps you can pool them up a little higher, or they'll appear more frequently.

There are plenty of ways you can use a point of Epos. In a tight spot, you should be looking to use them however you can. Mostly, it all comes back to what the GM will allow you to get away with. I'm a total asshole to the GMs, I know. But really, I can't cover all the ways a point of Epos will make your session a story you can tell months down the line, and that's what Epos should be able to do. Some suggestions are:

Get Out of Death Free: Burning a point of Epos allows you to narrowly avoid death, leaving you with 1 HP after something that would normally kill you (or at least drop you).

I Told You to Die: Burn a point of Epic to automatically deal max damage to your foe. You should only use this after you've hit, and before you roll damage. Include the MOS dice.

Tugging at the Strings of Fate: Working with your GM, and at his discretion, you can change the world in some minor way. This allows the player to impact the story or the world somehow beyond the actions his character takes. This should be a minor change, it should be at the very least plausible, and not one that's overly beneficial to the PCs.

DODGE: Your character is allowed a dodge or block roll on an attack that they would not normally be able to. If your GM allows, this can include something ridiculous like deflecting a bullet with your sword. Only if you GM says so.

There are plenty of great ideas for this, but these examples provide some idea of the power level that these points should entail. Come up with your own, and ask your GM if you could pull it off. I'm sure I missed a dozen and a half great ideas. Rerolls should always be an option, though. If you're burning an Epos point, rerolling any check is the least you should be able to do.

//Renaming this. Epos Points isn't so bad. Less cringey and truer to the classical definition of Epic I was going for when I originally designed it. I'm still thinking about it, though.

//<OLD EPIC SYSTEM BAD>

Your Epic attribute is a pool of points that you can use to push yourself to your best, often for epic results.

Before you roll, you can spend a point of Epic to boost your involved attribute by 1 and if you're using them, apply exploding dice automatically. This can be used when you need just a few more successes on a roll, or to avoid a lag on an important roll.

//This is no longer the case. I'm reworking epic because it's either underwhelming, or too good and it will ALWAYS be maxed on every character. I want neither of those.

//What I want is a pool of points that will very certainly turn the tables on a difficult or deadly situation. I want it to be more like Spiral Power.

Epic points can be awarded by the GM for good roleplay, or perhaps in situations where your character is fighting for something dear to them. A loved one to protect, a personal nemesis, or a dream long held.

//</OLD EPIC BAD SYSTEM>

//And don't start with me about the closing tag not matching.

Awesome Point Cost Table

//obligatory table with point costs

//because this edit is from a stupid-face iPad, tables will wait for later.

//here's what I know.

// attributes: current *5

// skills- easy: current*2, intermediate: current*3, difficult: current*4

// traits: same as cp

// ether abilities: hahaha I still haven't made those.

// credits: unavailable.