Empathy. the game 1.0

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Sherilyn Jackson
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1 & Character Empathy the game 1.0 1

2 CHARACTER & EMPATHY THE GAME Setting Creation In groups of 3 or four. Before the characters are created, the group decides the setting for their game. A setting can be a time period or an area of the country or on another planet. It can be a genre, like science fiction, fantasy or noir. The setting can have multiple facets Such as, it can be a post-apocalyptic, noir, mystery. The Game Master (GM, or instructor in this case) will create a narrative outline based on what the group has decided for the setting. Character Creation Create a character which they will act and improvise as during the course of the game. To create this character come up with a Main Concept for the 2 3

3 character. This is who the character is in their essence. It describes who the character is, their function, their purpose, their job. For example: Archaeologist professor and adventurer in the ancient world (Indiana Jones) Create an Internal Conflict for their character. This should be the thing that gets the character into trouble. The character isn t able to control this personal flaw. Maybe they aren t even aware of the flaw. For example: Fear of snakes. Get into groups of three or four. Each Player will create a very short story (perhaps just a few phrases or sentences) of their character s first adventure. From this adventure the Player will decide what the character learned and how this shaped their character. This will be the First Aspect of the character. For example: Chased some treasure hunters and now believes ancient artifacts belong in museums not to turn profit. For example: Receives a scar on chin after trying to wield a bull whip. Then each Player chooses another Player and they come up with a story for how their characters met each other. From this adventure each Player, again, will decide what their character learned from this adventure and how it shaped their character. This will be the character s Second Aspect. Then each Player choses another Player and creates another story for how their characters met each other. Again, from this adventure each Player decides what their character learned and how this forever altered who their character is. This will be the character s Third Aspect. This will be called the character s Skill Mastery. The Skill is selected from the General Skill List Players will use their character s skills in game play with almost automatic success. The skill will be a designated +4, always. Typical skill challenges require a +4 on a dice roll in order to succeed. 1 = a simple everyday task anyone can do. 2 = an easy task. 3 = a difficult task. 4 = a task which requires skill mastery. 5 = more difficult than expert skill mastery can achieve. 6 = best-in-the-world level 7 = a near impossible feat 8 = an impossible feat 9 = a near miracle 10 = a miracle If the Player s character doesn t have a skill a specific task calls for in order to accomplish the task, the Player must roll the dice. Dice rolls break down like this: 1-2 = negative 3-4 = neutral 5-6 = positive Character Death Then each Player will decide on one skill their character is an expert in. 4 5

4 In a given game situation, your character may die. Death can occur in different ways, not sure loss of life, but when they lose the situation or if some overwhelming negatively charged event occurs and the character fails to overcome it. In any case, your character exits game play. Character Points Game play their Character Point tokens! Players will receive character points in the form of tokens. These tokens are give out to players as reward for acting consistently as their character This can come in the form of choices, decisions or things they say. The more accurately the player acts their character, the more tokens they receive. These tokens can be used to boost dice rolls to overcome obstacles or satisfy tasks within the game narrative. For instance: A player s character comes across a safe in a bank and they need to steal the money inside. The safe has an elaborate lock system and the character does not have a lock-pick skill. To pick the lock the GM says it would take a roll of 4 positives or higher. The player rolls the dice and The game is very open-ended, open-world, open to everything comes up with two 5, a 6 and a 1 for a positive roll However. Play should limited by the characters aspects, of 3. The player then uses one of their Character behaviors and all things consistent with the concepts the Point tokens to get the last positive to satisfy overcoming the obstacle, picking the lock, but setting off supply a series of connected, narrative outlines with which player has created for their character. The Game Master will all sorts of alarms in the bank! the Players can travel along or deviate from. Much of the These tokens also may be used to boost a skill. sequence of events will be determined by what the Players For instance: If a player s character gets into a bar decide they want their characters to do in a given setting with fight with a professional MMA fighter and they also a presented set of details in mind. The idea is to create a story have a fight skill. The GM says they need 6 positives to defeat the fighter. The player can expend it came from just one person s imagination and choices. with these characters which never would have been possible if 2 Character point tokens to boost their fight skill which has a default of 4 to overcome the obstacle Players can invoke their character Aspects to help them and pound their MMA enemy into pulp. achieve certain results or steer them down a narrative path. However, the player with the most tokens at the end of the The Game Master can compel characters Internal Conflicts to Game session wins. get the Players into trouble and create conflict. The danger is that the character may die before they make it to the end of the story if they don t use When a skill challenge is presented Players can use their Skill 6 7

5 Mastery to give them an advantage or just try their luck at an unskilled roll of the dice to see how their luck may fare. Skill List THE GAME MASTER IS THE AUTHORITY. Players select one skill for their character from the list below: Athletics Athletics allows you to overcome any obstacle that requires physical movement jumping, running, climbing, swimming, etc. Burglary The Burglary skill covers your character s aptitude for stealing things and getting into places that are off-limits. Craft The skill of working with machinery, for good or ill. Deceive Use Deceive to bluff your way past someone, or to get someone to believe a lie, or to get something out of someone because they believe in one of your lies. Drive Drive is the equivalent of Athletics when you re in a vehicle you use it to successfully accomplish movement in the face of difficult circumstances, like rough terrain, small amounts of clearance, or stunt driving. Investigate Investigate obstacles are all about information that s hard to uncover for some reason. Analyzing a crime scene for clues, searching a cluttered room for the item you need, even poring over a musty old tome to try and find the passage that makes everything make sense. Notice You don t really use Notice to overcome obstacles too often but when you do it s used in a reactive way: noticing something in a scene, hearing a faint sound, spotting the concealed gun in that guy s waistband. Physique You can use Physique to overcome any obstacles that require the application of brute force most often to overcome a situation aspect on a zone or any other physical impedance, like prison bars or locked gates. Provoke You can Provoke someone into doing what you want in a fit of emotional pique. You might intimidate them for information, piss them off so badly that they act out, or scare them into running away. Rapport Use Rapport to charm or inspire people to do what you want, or to establish a good connection with them. Charm your way past the guard, convince someone to take you into their confidence, or become the man of the hour at the local tavern. Fight Shoot The Fight skill covers all forms of close-quarters The counterpart to Fight, Shoot is the skill of using combat (in other words, within the same zone), ranged weaponry, either in a conflict or on targets both unarmed and using weapons. For the ranged that don t actively resist your attempts to shoot weapons counterpart, see Shoot. them (like a bull s-eye or the broad side of a barn). 8 9

6 Stealth You can use Stealth to get past any situation that primarily depends on you not being seen. Sneaking past sentries and security, hiding from a pursuer, avoiding leaving evidence as you pass through a place, and any other such uses all fall under the purview of Stealth

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Lesson 3. The Novel ASSIGNMENT 8. Introduction to the Novel. Plot. Character

Lesson 3. The Novel ASSIGNMENT 8. Introduction to the Novel. Plot. Character The Novel ASSIGNMENT 8 Read the following Introduction to the Novel and the background to The Call of the Wild by Jack London. Then read pages 1 24 in the novel. When you finish your reading, study the