HUD:
Brass Menagerie uses the GPHUD system. When you click the hud you will see the following buttons:
- Titler: Can add up to 3 lines of info on your character. Also can choose attach point and adjust the height.
- Character Setup: Create character name(s) and retire characters; spend points; see character sheet.
- Money: Check your tholar balance; pay tholar to another player; ask for tholar payment.
- Faction: Only works for faction leads.
- Reset Health: Reset after you initially add all the points and after a combat scene.
- Dice: Buttons for d20, roll against, and each trait.
- Admin: Only works for owners.
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Use /2 to post with the character name.
You can also use /2/me to remove the colon after the name.
If you use Firestorm viewer, did you know you can add a channel box to add the 2 so you don't have to remember it with each post? Go to Preferences, Chat, Typing, check the box that says 'Add a chat bar in the nearby chat window.' This works with any RP channel you use.
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When you create a new character, you receive 35 points to distribute among 8 abilities. NO BEGINNING ABILITY SCORE MAY BE HIGHER THAN 15. If you build your character with a higher starting score than 15, your points will be reset and you will need to remake. No character is completely focused on only one thing, and your character should reflect that.
Abilities:
Attack: Attempting to hit an opponent. How this is done is up to you and should be emoted in your post. This can be a punch, an axe blow, a ranged attack with whatever weapon the character is wearing, a magical spell, or whatever else you decide to use. All attacks are resolved in this way.
To use an Attack Action, post your action and click the HUD. Click the Dice menu, and select “Combat Roll Against”, and select your target from the names that pop up. The system will then make an attack roll, add your modifiers, and make a defense roll for your target. If your target’s defense roll beats your attack roll, the attack has no effect. If your total attack is higher than the target’s defense roll, you do damage equal to the difference between the two.
Defense: Your defense score is automatically rolled by the system when attacked, and result is posted. Whether it is dodging out of the way, blocking an attack, using a magical shield to absorb it…this is all shown by your post.
Healing: You can make a roll to heal yourself or another character in combat. Healing requires an investment of effort and training. You will not be able to make a healing check until your Healing score is 10 or higher. Like making an attack roll, you click the Dice button on your HUD, then click Healing Roll, then pick your target. This can be magical healing, offering a potion, a power your character has, an injection of a crazy steampunk chemical, whatever you like. The better your healing roll, the more the target heals.
Persuasion: The ability to get others to do what you want; usually countered by target rolling Willpower. Maybe haggling for a better price. A vampire using innate persuasion abilities against a victim. Please keep in mind, Persuasion is NOT mind control! You won’t likely be able to convince a player to give you all their money, or their best weapon, or to leave the love of their life to run off with you. But, maybe, they will be convinced to help you out with a couple of coins. Or be inclined to buy you a drink. OOC consent before using is advised.
Willpower: Willpower is mental toughness. You can use Willpower to counter a persuasion roll against you. As mentioned above, even if you lose, you are not controlled by the person using persuasion (Unless you as a player want to be). Willpower can also be used to resist magic that affects the mind, to hold out just a few more moments against a sleep spell or gas, or to resist the overwhelming urge to go to the bakery and spend all your money.
Stamina: For every point of Stamina you spend, you raise your health by 3 Hit Points. That's it. Simple, but important.
Perception: Your ability to notice small details. Depending on your character, this can be easily incorporated into any RP scene with the agreement of all involved. A target number will be assigned, and if you beat it, you will get some information. You only get one roll to spot a certain thing. Characters that want some mystery about them can also add things to their titler like “Tell me if you beat a XX on perception”, then choosing to reveal to that person some less than obvious detail.
Aptitude: The nebulous ability to do physical things. Need to walk a narrow ledge? Climb a wall? Swim against a current? Throw a rock and hit a button? All Aptitude. Target numbers for event uses will be provided. If you are using it for RP shenanigans, pick what seems right.
AOE is allowed during combat scenes when there are at least 3 against 1. This attack can be used every 4th turn.
Those are your basic ability scores. Pretty much everything that matters should be able to be decided by these rolls. Additional abilities become available at various upper levels to modify and enhance these abilities.
NPCs:
NPCs exist to fill in with more than just the Player Characters running around. They run the shops when no one else is around. They sweep the streets, light the lanterns, tend the power stations, and are ICly around when a PC is not.
NPCs are not a tool to make characters more powerful. You may not have a group of NPC thugs to help you win a fight without worrying about dice rolls. NPC police (Watchers) exist, of course, and are always around on patrol, but they will not all come running because a PC Watcher blows a whistle or yells for help. A forest hermit may not call on a pack of wolves to protect them from a bandit. NPCs are a tool, not a crutch.
Now, there can be cases where a character might have an NPC companion, henchperson, pet, or what have you. That is great. It can be a wonderful roleplay tool. But keep the above in mind. You want your NPC buddy to follow you around, crack jokes, and make comments? Excellent. You want your NPC wolf to stalk alongside you through the woods to add to your mystique? Go for it. Need your NPC butler to carry a package for you, or help you with repainting your house? By all means. What they can't do, however, is fight for you, chase someone down, rob a building while you keep watch, etc.
That said, there is one exception to the above. At certain levels on the hud (Lvl 20, 35, and 50), a character earns the ability to choose an additional trait - something that gives them an edge beyond just their skill points. One of those abilities is Companion Attack. It allows, every 4th round, for a companion or pet to attack alongside the character. The Companion Attack can only be chosen at one level, so choose wisely. A button will appear on your hud options when chosen and you are free to roleplay that the extra attack is done by your oddly ninja-like butler or your pet iguana. Have fun with it.