Post/Author/DateTime	Post
cbolt_toak 09-17-04, 09:01 PM	Before the MetaPlayer System: Player: "I steal from the beggar." DM: "That's mean. ok." Player: "I murder him." DM: "That's meaner. ok." Player: "I tear him apart ritualistically and devour him, chanting words of madness." DM: "That's evil. ok." Player: "I trap his soul into a magical gem and sell it to my devil master, in extange for 50 virgin female slaves, well, until I am done with them." DM: "What the...um...ok..." Player: "I then begin an evil cult using the slaves as seductresses to entice men into the shrine, where we either gouge them or trap their soul to be sold." DM: "Unholy crap. ok." Player: "Then I convert all funds and souls I collect into a massive weapon of magical energy that will engulf the whole Material Plane in evil fire." DM: "Ok, that's where I draw the line." With the MetaPlayer System, its looks more like this: Player: "I steal from the beggar." DM: "ok." *erases something and writes something down* Player: "I murder him." DM: "Roll a d20." Player: *rolls* 17. DM: "Ok, your character convulses slightly, and then you cut the beggar's head off." Player: "Odd... ok, I tear him apart ritualistically and devour him, chanting words of madness." DM: "Roll a d20." Player: *rolls* 5. DM: "Your character screams, holding his head with his hands in pain, and then relaxes after a min or two." Player: "Well, the ritual?" DM: "Nope, your character stopped you." Player: "Huh? How? Why?" DM: "Ask him." Player: *quizzical look* "Um, Rothmairn, why didn't you do the ritual?" DM (As Rothmairn): "I couldn't let you do it. I am bad boy but not a madman." Player: "Do as I say." DM (As Rothmairn): "NO! I won't listen to you anymore! Get out of my head!" DM: *Rolls dice* "Roll a d20." Player: *rolls* 12. DM: "Aw, just missed it. Your spirit fades. The character is free of your control for..." *looks at paper* "5 days." Player: "What the...ok..." DM: "Welcome to the MetaPlayer System." Player: "This sucks." The MPS And Alignment System, Here it is, *Copies text from his document*: Cbolt’s MPS and Alignment System The MetaPlayer System (MPS) is the representation of the player in the D&D world, setting their characters apart from NPCs, and setting the world apart from their Characters, now deemed a Player-Possessed Character or simply Player Character. Here’s how it works: -MPS: The MetaPlayer System, or the MetaPlayer Spirit. What the player of the game is referred to when speaking about the player and the player’s character in different context. -MPS Points: Measured like experience to gain levels, known as the MPS Level. You gain MPS points by suggesting actions the character likes and would not have taken and by being a good out-of-game conduct (DM’s discretion). You lose/spend MPS points by forcing the character to take actions they don’t want to take, and out-of-game misconduct (DM’s discretion). If you reach 0 MPS points you cannot force the character into any action, and if a spending of MPS points would put you into the negative, you instead become unable to communicate with the character for 1 round per negative MPS point. Misconduct, however, can drive the MPS into negative points, and if the negative points equals or exceeds the amount of experience the character has, the MPS dies, and the person playing is no longer allowed to play. (DM may have ways to redeem the MPS, such as trials and tests involving how to play the game or ways for the rest of the group to restore the MPS, at a cost to themselves) -MPS Level: The current level of the MPS, defined by the amount of points the MPS currently has. As the MPS Levels up, it gets the poor range of Will Saves, which is used as an opposed check against the character when the character resists the MPS. -Alignment Score, Character’s: The 6 values of Law, Neutral, Chaos, Good, Neutral, and Evil. (Neutral for both axes) Displayed on a statistics block as L#/N#/C#-G#/N#/E#, where # is the value of that alignment. Since the average person is not all-good or all-bad, The character’s Alignment Score for each of the 6 can go up to 1000 x the HD of the character, and beyond that would reduce, in the given priority, checked for every 1 the maximums are changed: 1. The next highest maximum. (If the other two maximums are equal, goto 2) 2. The next highest value. (If the other two values are equal, goto 3) 3. The neutral value. (If the max being increased is neutral, goto 4) 4. The MPS’s choice. For example, a 1 HD character could have 1500 Evil, but then they would have a maximum Good value of 750 and a maximum Neutral value of 750, regardless of what the score would be otherwise. -Alignment Score, Action’s: An action’s alignment score is just like the characters, except that it is DM set/changed, it has no definite maximums, and can have negative values. Once a character performs the action, their alignment values increase/decrease according to the action’s alignment score. The values of the action take the following into account: 1. The number of rounds the action takes. (Increases all the values) 2. Whether non-aligned objects/places are involved. (Increases both Neutral values) 3. Whether aligned objects/places are harmed. (Decreases that alignment’s value) 4. Whether aligned objects/places are helped. (Increases that alignment’s value) 5. Whether people are harmed (Increases Evil value and Increases Good value if people are evil) 6. Whether people are helped. (Increases Good value and Increases Evil value if people are evil.) 7. Whether a reason/purpose was involved. (Increases Law value, Decreases Chaos value) 8. Whether no reason/purpose was given. (Increases Chaos value, Decreases Law value) -Alignment Type: Whether an action or a character, an Alignment Type is it’s “official alignment” like Neutral Good or Lawful Evil. To figure out the action/character’s alignment type, use this formula or each axes individually. (Uses the example L400/N10/C200-G200/N800/E500) 1. Take the neutral and add the least of the extremes twice to it. (10+400 and 800+1000) 2. Subtract the greater extreme from it. (410-400 and 500-1800) 3. If the value is positive, then the label is the greater extreme, otherwise it is the neutral. (Lawful and Neutral) 4. State the official alignment. (Lawful Neutral) The character’s Alignment Score decides how many MPS points are spent/gained by whatever action the MPS has the character take. If the action’s Alignment Score in any of the 6 values is X points, where X is 1000 for every HD of the character, above or below the character’s respective value, or if the values for the Alignment Types exceed this range (Like a very evil action being done by a good character), then the character makes a Will Check to stop the MPS. (For the purest good is capable of great feats of selflessness, but will not bother in the simple pleasantries, and the lesser good is a decent person, but won’t endanger themselves for a cause). If the Will Check succeeds, you expend twice the amount of MPS points you would have, or if you cannot spend that many, you become unable to communicate/control with the character for a day for every 10 you could not spend. If within the suitable limit, the number of points gained/loss use this formula: (Base MPS Value x HD) - Variation Base MPS Value is a DM set value usually similar to DCs involved in the action that sets the amount of MPS points that would be gained if the Variation is 0. Variation is the sum of the differences in all 6 alignment values for the action and the character, which means for each alignment value, the absolute values of the action and the character would be subtracted, and the totals added up . For example, in the above character and action, the Variation would be 150+60+190+790+80+420 = 1690. If a 1st level character with those statistics attempted that action, and it has a Base MPS Value of 10, then the MPS would have to pay 1680 MPS points in order to have their character do the action, unless the character succeeded in a Will Save (since the task exceeds 1000, with only 1 HD), then 3360 points would be spent for nothing. How's that look? Any feedback? (As if you read the whole thing, and if you did, thanks.)
CzarGarrett 09-17-04, 09:04 PM	Interesting system, but seems like it would add too much in the way of extra record-keeping. I've always been a fan of simple tally marks under lawful or chaotic and good or evil, depending on starting alignment. When that LG character has a lot of checks under chaotic or evil, then I force a change.
Supercilious 09-17-04, 09:04 PM	Sounds like an elaborate way to railroad a campaign and make the PC's DMPC's IMHO.
cbolt_toak 09-17-04, 09:21 PM	Ah, yeah, one application I have for this system is to decide where players go when they die, and any offspring they have (Cause I play generational games.) Start off naturally good/evil/lawful/chaotic/neutral. Also, if they build up beyond the HD enough, they become Celestial, Fiendish, Axiomatic, or Anarchic, or their children become them. The people I play with love this. It gives them an autopilot setting that goes "Character, go get some supplies", and the character does everything for them, and they can go and get a can of soda out of the fridge. (Normally, without it, I put the whole game into manual. You walk, you talk, everything, and I keep track of how much time you waste thinking.) And when we have new players, it sets them straight and ready for an game of D&D with adults, otherwise their foolishness could get their "player spirit" killed, and be unable to play again. They value how much control I put into a long and in-depth game of D&D, and all I ask for is feedback and advice, and useful/intelligent critism in a good degree. And yeah, they are DMPC's in their own right, or "Demi-DMs" as one friend calls it. They get the kind of control DMs, and throw alot of of their previously annoying mundaneness over to the real DM, who being me, doesn't mind figuring the extra stuff. And there is only 2 things to keep track of, Alignment and MPS points, I even made a set of squares on all my character sheets for it. (Total of 6 Squares for Alignment, one for MPS Points) And a small booklet/notepad to keep track of the MPS costs of various actions, which if you fill it out as much as you can and organize it, it comes to be a lifesaver from random scraps of paper.