IMTU reference charts

[daltoncalford]

Skills
Although it does not really apply to the discussion of Tasks and Task Resolution, it should be noted that there are different types of skills (a specialized type of attribute).

General skills are those skills that show a common thread of knowledge across all the specialized skills that derive from it. For example, if you understand what a gun is, and you have handled guns before, odds are you can adequately use an unfamiliar gun or class of gun. You won't be a marksman, but you know enough to get by.

Specialist Skills are for those skills that you have concentrated in a particular area of knowledge. Using the above example, you can use any type of gun, but due to extra training, you are better with rifles.

Master Skills take the idea of specialization even further, where you have taken your training in a particular area to the point where you can make a particular type of rifle perform exceptionally better than a normal specialist. This is the area of the trained sniper/marksman.

General Skills are easy to get, but, they are limited to level 5 in attribute level.

Specialist Skills require the appropriate general skill(s) and only have a attribute level limit of 10.

Master Skills require the appropriate specialist skills and they are limited to an attribute level of 15.

Scale
Scale has been discussed in the Die Modifiers section, but, it's full detail and impact affects both the storyline of the game as well as the game mechanics. When you are describing something that is a order of scale larger or smaller than another item, think of what is average at the smaller scale, and think about the larger item being about 10 times that size. So if the average human is around 150 pounds, the average human+1 scale is around 1500 pounds (plus or minus some depending upon the attribute value of the larger scale).

If you work with the assumption that from one scale value to the next is a multiple of 10, you won't go wrong, but, remember, the game system is a simulation designed for game playing and narration, not for hard and fast scientific real world modelling. If something just does not feel right when working with different scales, change it.

 

[daltoncalford]

Techniques
The concept of Techniques is an extension of the standard TD system. Techniques are “special” TDs that are linked to a specific character or item. Normally, when describing a situation, when a TD or series of TDs are described to the players by the referee, those are the only choices available for the players at that time. If a character or item has a “Technique” and that “Technique” applies to the situation, then that technique may be used to either augment or replace one of the earlier stated TDs.

For example, two different individuals of equal skill in brawling are facing off in a unarmed fight.
The normal TDs available to the two people would be
All Out Attack
All Out Defence
Attack with Block
Attack with Dodge
Improvise Weapon
Grapple
Disengage

If neither of the combatants learned any techniques, they would have no other choices in this melee.
If one of the combatants had learned a technique, such as “Drop with Leg Sweep” they could use it to better their chances in the fight. Even a lessor fighter, using techniques against a better fighter is at a marked advantage. The fighter with the higher brawling skill may be able to get higher levels of success than the individual of lesser skill, the the techniques allow the junior fighter to make moves that can not be countered by the other fighter.

The list of techniques which range from combat schools of training to software hacking and pilot manoeuvres are all listed in the “Skills, Talents and Attributes” handout.

 

[daltoncalford]

xample of the System in use

Joe Average
Attributes
Strength 7
Lifting 6

Tries to move a piano due to the nagging of the better half. (Formidable – roll 9 or better)

Move Piano Across Room
Formidable (Complex-4) 5 min FT 3
Strength, Lifting

Now, poor Joe, is not a professional mover, nor is he particularly strong. As his highest attribute that applies is his strength, that will be his primary attribute while his lifting skill will become his secondary attribute.

The best he can hope for is just getting the job done. Odds are, he will take multiple tries just budging the piano across the room bit by bit.

Now I am not going to repeat the percentage odds of a number coming up on 2d6, but I will post the possibilities for poor Joe.

Joe's Strength is 7, his Skill is 6 and his target is 9.....No chance of a superior or better success.

He has a 11.1% chance of a marginal success and a 16.67% of a complete success, a nice 27.77% chance of success, better than 1 in 4.

Now, his skill is 6 meaning, he has 41.67% chance of a normal failure, which means, he didn't budge it and has to spend more time to try again.
Of course, this is what hernia's are made of, poor Joe's strength is 7 (his primary attribute), but, he is trying to roll a 9, which means, if he rolls an 8, he has had a disastrous failure (13.89%) - bad back, possible surgery needed, should have gone for a beer and ignored the wife.

Even if he rolls a 7 - Equal to his strength (his primary attribute), he has caused himself some grief (pulled muscle, fight with the wife due to some improper words spoken in the midst of the pain....)

Now lets say, it was a coffee table, and not a piano - average difficulty (5 or better)

First, since the target number is less than his secondary attribute (his lifting skill), there is no chance of anything but a simple failure.

On a roll of 4 or less (16.67%) he has put in the wrong place, wasting his time, but otherwise, no harm done.

On a roll of 5 (11.1%) - it's a marginal move, he was not really trying and the wife nags him.

On a roll of 8 or better (41%) he has moved the table, not a problem.

On a roll of 7 (16.67%) His sweet talking and pleasant smile has his wife off of his back and he did it fast enough that he can get back to watching the game.

On a roll of 6 (13.89) He has convinced his wife that the rest of the furniture is in the perfect place and she is bringing him a beer while he catches the rest of the game.........

So you can see, depending upon difficulty, attribute and skill, you can sort of predict the range of possibilities of what is going to happen

 

[daltoncalford]

Ok, Going for breakfast, I should get the combat handouts ready this evening - alot of formating needs to be finished for the game - this forum gets the stuff once the html popups are complete.

best regards

Dalton

 

[daltoncalford]

Ok, I am working on room descriptions and picture popups. I went over the scenario layout and there should be nothing more than a few fist fights in the first few sessions.

So, that is it for this session. Hope it has been interesting.

Further posts can concern starship design, combat or character creation.

Make your vote known and I will polish up the appropriate section from the THE rules for posting here.

best regards

Dalton

 

[daltoncalford]

Here is one of the combat charts

Combat Procedure

1.)Determine number of sides involved in the encounter.

Determine Range

Determine Combat Scale

Determine Surprise/Combat preparedness

Determine each sides starting initiative

2.)The Combat Round

The acting side begins by resolving any automatic actions members of their team are involved in. These actions are outside the leaders command and control.

For each level of appropriate tactics skill held by the leader of the acting side, the acting side gets one action.

The individuals involved for the acting side, each state what tasks they are attempting to perform. The leader chooses which tasks will be attempted from this available selection. Any stated tasks that are no selected by the leader, are lost.

After each task is attempted and resolved, any automatic reactions that the opposing sides are responding to are applied.

Once the acting side has finished their tasks, the next side in initiative order becomes the acting side.

3.)End of Round
Determine victory/ending conditions
Determine moral effects
Determine initiative for each side

 

[Berg]

The adventure aspects are for play in Screen Monkey?

P.S. Is that why you needed Universe... ?

 

[daltoncalford]

Yea,

I have CC2 and sec2cc but, the output, is designed for paper. When trying to setup multiple formated graphic screens, Universe is definately better. It took me a little under an hour to convert my Firebird data structures to the datastructures Universe uses. I then took the available data and used seamonkey's html editor to come up with a template that I then converted into text segments and put together a sql stored procedure that when I select from it, it generated page after page of system data sheets. When AS2 is released, I may automate it to generate system views and planetary views, but, I didn't have the time to do that for todays game.

I am using openwengo's voip clients and our santara telco switch to conference everyone together (you type in character, and speak out of character).

Our technical setup/test run was two weeks ago, and today we play.

Wish me luck. This is my first start-finish web only gaming session. The work involved is about three times that of a normal game.

best regards

Dalton

 

[Berg]

Originally posted by Dalton:
Wish me luck. This is my first start-finish web only gaming session. The work involved is about three times that of a normal game.

Wow

Sounds very cool...
I think with any online RPGing (Screen Monkey, GRiP, whatever), after the intial setup (which can be lots of work), it tends to smooth out and become somewhat easy to maintain with all the labour saving features of computers.

Although they can create extra work on their own...

 

[daltoncalford]

Well,

5 hours of gaming, and my daughters put an end to it.

Only 2 technical glitches and one bad script that had me typing/talking more than should have happened.

Overall, a very good experience with the players asking to go again next week.

Does anyone want me to continue posting my notes to this forum?

best regards

Dalton