Ragnarok Development Diary - Core Powers!

One of the things that has always been in the minds of Michael O. Varhola and I regarding the design of Ragnarok the RPG is that it be compatible with a skirmish level game (wherein players control between 10 and 30 figures and fight out battles with miniatures on a tabletop). With this in mind, I have been developing Ragnarok: The Great Winter, a skirmish game set in the same world at the same time, as a companion piece to the Ragnarok RPG.

But our full vision for the roleplaying game and the skirmish game, is that they are but one facet of a flexible and robust ruleset that could be adapted to other, ideally any, setting or milieu we chose to explore. To do that we need a Core set of Powers, Talents, Hindrances and Backgrounds, that we can refer to and develop from. Recently, I have gotten far enough along in the work on Ragnarok that I can work out the Core Powers in retrograde from what has been done with Ragnarok.

In the fullness of time, which is to say when I get a chance to figure out how to post to a wikia, that core will appear for all to see and as a reference SRD for the system. Brendan Cass has kindly provided the webspace already. I just need to get around to loading it.

The SRD will consist of the Core of the system that has been fleshed out for Ragnarok. With the SRD you will be able to see how Ragnarok was "Built", how it "Balances" as a game, and you will have all the tools to tweak it yourself if that is what you want to do.

But you won't have to if you don't want to. Settings like Ragnarok, Knights-Marshal of the Commonwealth, Metal Gods, and others will be there waiting for you, all set to play out of the box.

Below, is a peek behind the curtain, so to speak, of how the Core is constructed. You don't need to know or use this unless you choose to build your own stuff using the SRD.

Core Powers are the set of game parameters, things like Damage, Range, "To Hit" Configuration, Duration, Area, Number of Targets, etc, that define a power. Not all parameters apply to all powers (sensory powers are not likely to have a damage parameter, for example), but all similarly-based powers across what is to be a "multiversal" system need to line up in terms of ability and cost.

SO, here is the Core Power for Attack:

Attack: This is the power to attack others, doing damage in Hits and/or Wounds.

Base Parameters:

- To Hit Bonus: Mental (Magical, Psychic) or Co-ordination (Ranged Physical)

 - Damage Bonus = Intellect (Psychic, Magical) or Agility (Ranged Physical)

- Single Target

- Instant

- Base damage 2

- Wound Threshold 5

- Range 10 (Inches/ squares: each of which is 5 feet across)

We can alter Attack to suit different purposes in the game. For example, we can remove Range from the Core to create a melee version. That also suggests some other alterations based on how melee combat works AND on game balance. Like this:

- To Hit and Damage Bonuses: Co-ordination To Hit and Intellect for Damage, or Physical To Hit and Might for Damage.

- Single Target/ 1 square

- Base damage 2

- Wound Threshold 5

- Range 0: Close Combat

• Add one of the Talent Variables

So the base melee attack is a little different (Range 0, for one). But because we removed the range, and kept all the other parameters equal to the base Attack power, we have a note to add one "Talent Variable", whatever that is.

Talent Variables are alterations to the numerical values of the parameters of a Core power. Here are the talent Variables for Attack:

• Add +1 to Damage Bonus
• Double Range
• Double Area or Number of targets
• Reduce WT by 1

So according to our note for the Range 0 Close Combat Attack, we get to choose 1 Talent Variable to compensate for the loss of Range 10. We could up the Base Damage to 3 (making the attack more likely to penetrate armor and inflict a Hit) or Reduce the Wound Threshold by 1 (which means it is more likely to cause serious damage rather than a Hit. In another diary, I will talk about Htis and Wounds in more detail).

Doubling the range does not apply to a 0 range power. But we could double the area, or increase the number of targets to 2. A Flame-thrower comes to mind for a close combat area weapon, or a short range Lightning arc, jumping form one target in melee to an adjacent one. And we can add more than a single Variable - at a cost (stay with me, there is an example of this in Fires of Hel, below).

We can tool-out Attack in other ways besides a melee option. Below are a couple of setting specific ones for Ragnarok.

Firespitting (Eldritch: Sorcery, Muspelborn, Wyrm-Fostren): You spit, or hurl a bolt of fire at a single foe; Co-ordination to hit, Range 10, Damage INT+2, WT 5, Cost to cast: 0.

If you look closely, this is actually Attack relabeled for Ragnarok. The brackets note the Backgrounds that access this talent. After all, not just any viking can spit fire. Eldritch means it is a magical talent reserved to the Eldritch races or those who have their blood coursing through their veins. Sorcery is the magical art of elemental manipulation. Muspelborn are the Fire Giants and their kin, including half-fire-giants. Wyrm-Fostren are those who have sworn themselves to the service of a Wyrm (the dragon of Germanic Mythology). Having any of the above Backgrounds, or the Talent: Sorcery, means a PC can learn Firespitting.

Here is another Attack power, a little more tricked out than Firespitting:

Fires of Hel (Eldritch: Draug, Sorcery): You summon Corpse Fire to burn your enemies to ash. Make a Mental vs. Normal Difficulty to summon the fire. Compare your roll result to the Defense of any target caught in the Fires of Hel. On a success, roll damage. Each time you cast this spell in an encounter, the difficulty rises by 2. Place the Corpse Fire where you wish, within 10, and do your INT+2 Damage, with a Wound threshold of 5. The fire remains for your Fate in Turns, and you can expand its area of 1 square 5 foot by 1 square of radius per Fate Point you expend; or spend a Fate Point, make the fire mobile, and with a Major Action move the square of fire a distance of 10.

Here we have extended the duration from Instant, and added Limitations to offset the increased potency of the power. By extending the duration to Fate in turns we given the spell the ability to alter the battlefield (or scenario, or targets) in a more lasting way. By allowing the caster to increase the area of the spell, or move it around, we have made it even more versatile.

To offset this, we have made the casting chance escalate over the course of an encounter. This means that most casters are unlikely to be able to cast the spell repeatedly in an encounter.

As well, to increase the area, or move the location of the Fires of Hel, you have to expend a Fate Point. Fate Points are a limited resource in the game, and must be managed carefully. So a draug or sorcerer has to decide when she casts this spell: Does she ramp it up, knowing that it will only move if she uses her Major Action for a turn to move it? Will the increased area benefit her enough to incur the Fate Point cost. Or would she be better off doing something else?

Many Talents in Ragnarok the RPG are based on Core Powers, tricked out like you have seen above. Everything from the Obfuscate Talent (based on Core: Invisibilty) or Glamourye (based on Core: Illusion), or Skarphedin (Based on Core: Armor).

Some powers may not be represented in every setting. Core: Teleport, for example, may not be available to player characters in Ragnarok, because you don't find the talent in the source material for the setting, but would be a must for a superhero setting. Or maybe it will show up in Ragnarok, as a power of the gods.

And in Ragnarok - you can play a god!