Difference between revisions of "Character customization"

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= Appearance =
 
= Appearance =
  
Your character's physical appearance is influenced by the following traits: their constitution, sex, age, height and weight, skin color, hair color and length, the presence of distinctive traits like tattoos, scars, etc. or not, and if applicable, any traits unique to their species.
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Your character's physical appearance is influenced by the following traits: their constitution, sex/gender, age, height and weight, skin color, hair color and length, the presence of distinctive traits like tattoos, scars, etc. or not, and if applicable, any traits unique to their species.
  
 
With the exception of constitution, all traits related to appearance are purely cosmetic and up to you to decide.
 
With the exception of constitution, all traits related to appearance are purely cosmetic and up to you to decide.
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== Sex and gender ==
 
== Sex and gender ==
  
By and large, your character's sex and gender are only really important for a handful of occupations (such as [[shrine maiden|shrine maidens]], who are all female), and has no effect or influence on the rest of your character's skills and abilities.
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Your character's sex and gender generally have no effect or influence on the rest of your character's skills and abilities. You may define your character however you wish; any sex and any gender identity is valid.
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Certain occupations do have sex-based restrictions (e.g. [[shrine maiden|shrine maidens]] are biologically female). Feel free to speak to your GM if your character's background or occupation is one of these occupations.  
  
 
== Age ==
 
== Age ==

Revision as of 22:55, 11 January 2021

Navigation: Main Page Getting started, step 4: Character customization




Once you have selected your species, it is time to customize your character and build a character sheet.

On the previous page, we discussed three elements for your character: the basic concept and ideas in your mind, whether they are a native to the Mazes or an otherworlder, and the species. If you're wondering why we haven't yet talked about things such as names, backstories, or stats other than racial bonuses, this is the page where it will all become clear, and you will find out why it was done in this order.


What's in a name?

After you've decided on a species, you can now decide on a name. As mentioned in the previous page, humans and halflings generally speak Common (English), while youkai speak their own language (Youkai language, the equivalent of Japanese). These linguistic tendencies extend to names, both given names and family names. Humans and halflings typically have English or Anglo-Saxon names, and Youkai typically have Japanese names. Names with Italian, Nordic, German, or Hispanic origins do exist, but are rare and usually reserved for specific characters or groups of characters.

Although it's possible for a human to have a Youkai given name or family name, or for a youkai to have a Common name, this generally suggests a mixed ancestry and is not recommended unless you are prepared to explain a little backstory for your character. The GM has the right to accept or deny a name that doesn't sound like it would fit in the Mazes.

Your character may optionally be known by a nickname, a shorthand, a callsign, or some other preferred name or designation, and you are free (and even encouraged) to explain where the nickname comes from.


Appearance

Your character's physical appearance is influenced by the following traits: their constitution, sex/gender, age, height and weight, skin color, hair color and length, the presence of distinctive traits like tattoos, scars, etc. or not, and if applicable, any traits unique to their species.

With the exception of constitution, all traits related to appearance are purely cosmetic and up to you to decide.

Constitution

If your character is a human or a halfling, the chosen constitution trait will also modify your character's stats. If your character is a youkai, the listed modifiers do not apply.

You may choose among the following constitution descriptors:

  • Average - This character's constitution and body are within the norm for their species. Provides no advantages or disadvantages.
  • Slender - This character is slim and lightweight. Humans and halflings get Agility +1 but Base limb health value x0.9.
  • Thin - This character is lithe and frail. Humans and halflings get Agility +2 but Base limb health value x0.8.
  • Athletic - This character is fit and sporty. Humans and halflings get Strength +20% but needs 1.25x more food and water every day.
  • Muscular - This character is a bodybuilder. Humans and halflings get Strength +40% but needs 1.5x more food and water every day.
  • Overweight - This character is chubby and unfit. Humans and halflings get Agility -1 but Base limb health value x1.1.
  • Fat - This character is round and tubby. Humans and halflings get Agility -2 but Base limb health value x1.2.

Sex and gender

Your character's sex and gender generally have no effect or influence on the rest of your character's skills and abilities. You may define your character however you wish; any sex and any gender identity is valid.

Certain occupations do have sex-based restrictions (e.g. shrine maidens are biologically female). Feel free to speak to your GM if your character's background or occupation is one of these occupations.

Age

The age of majority in the Mazes is 18 years old for all species. The listed age group may also reflect the character's maturity level. Characters under the age of 18 are children and should not be playable (or even depicted) in a typical MazeWorld session.

It is uncommon for humans and halflings to live longer than 70. Youkai lifespans can go into the hundreds, averaging at 300 years for most species, although some individuals exceed that number. Kitsune, in particular, may not die of old age and can reach thousands... although with no guarantees of mental stability.

Humans and halflings:

  • Teenager (between 18 and 22 years old)
  • Young adult (23 to 28 years old)
  • Adult (29 to 40 years old)
  • Middle-aged (41 to 50 years old)
  • Aged (51 to 65 years old)
  • Old (over 65 years old)

Youkai:

  • Teenager (between 18 and 22 years old)
  • Young (23 to 40 years old)
  • Adult (41 to 100 years old)
  • Middle-aged (101 to 200 years old)
  • Aged (201 to 300 years old)
  • Old (301 to 400 years old)
  • Elder (over 400 years old)

Other appearance stats

You may also list height, weight, skin color, hair length, hair color, eye color, some distinctive traits (tattoos, scars..), and if applicable, species-specific traits.

Species-specific traits apply if you are a halfling or a youkai. They are:

  • Halflings:
    • Canine, Feline: Ear shape and color, tail color
    • Equine, Murid: Ear color
    • Lagomorph: Ear color
    • Squamata: Tail color
    • Salientia: Skin color (overrides regular skin color)
  • Youkai:
    • Hakutaku: Horn shape
    • Jorougumo: Color of spider parts (abdomen, legs)
    • Kappa, Oni: Skin color (overrides regular skin color)
    • Kasha, Kitsune, Guhin: Ear and tail color
    • Kirin: Tail and scale color
    • Satori: Third eye color
    • Tengu: Feather color
    • Yousei: Wing color


Background information

Though not strictly necessary, it is generally considered good form to write a paragraph or two about your character's background. You can talk about where they come from, what job or occupation they have, what sort of personality they have, or whatever else you'd like - the scene is yours on that one! The point is to describe your character in ways that the rest of the sheet can't get across, and to serve as a quick reminder for you, other players, and your GM of what that character is like.

This can be especially important if your character is a native of the Mazes, as that backstory must be sufficiently believable and reasonable. As with everything else, the GM has final say on what constitutes an acceptable backstory.


Statting

"Statting" redirects here.

Statting (short form for Statistical customizing) is the act of customizing your starting character's statistics and equipment, so that it conforms to the player's desired playstyle.

Statting is done in multiple parts:

  • Primary stats
  • Skill attribution
  • Equipment selection
  • Character sheet building

A blank character sheet template can be seen here. Using a copy of this sheet to build your character and manage your inventory is highly recommended!

Primary stats

If you've followed the Getting started guide to build your character, you may have noticed that your initial choices (particularly, choice of species and constitution) have already introduced modifiers to certain stats. In this section, you will get to further modify and fine-tune some of these stats. You may start seeing other types of stats you haven't seen before being mentioned - don't worry

The following six stats can be modified:

  • Natural Pain sensitivity: Your character's tolerance to Pain damage. Percentage value, which serves as a multiplier to Pain damage received. By default, 100%. Lower is better.
  • Natural Strength: Your character's strength. Percentage value, which serves as a multiplier to the amount of damage dealt in melee. By default, 100%. Higher is better.
  • Pain Blackout Threshold (PBT): The amount of Pain at which point your character will lose consciousness (blackout). By default, 100%. Higher is better.
  • Maximum Blood: The amount of Blood inside the body of your character. Numerical value. By default, 20.0 units. Higher is better.
  • Limb Health multiplier: The amount of Limb Damage each of your limbs can sustain before being disabled. Multiplier to the character's Base limb health value. By default x1.0. Higher is better.
  • Maximum Endurance: The amount of Fatigue at which point your Character will be exhausted. By default, 100%. Higher is better.

Racial and constitution modifiers

The first thing to do is to check your chosen species and constitution, and the corresponding modifiers, as they'll affect your stats before even spending points to change them.

Humans:

  • Human: No modifiers

Halflings:

  • Canine halfling: Pain sensitivity 110%
  • Equine halfling: Base limb health 77, Max Blood 19
  • Feline halfling: Strength 90%
  • Lagomorph halfling: Pain sensitivity 110%
  • Murid halfling: Max Blood 21, Strength 90%
  • Squamata halfling: Base limb health 56
  • Salientia halfling: Strength 110%, Pain sensitivity 110%

Youkai:

  • Guhin: Base limb health 90, Max Blood 26, Pain sensitivity 78%
  • Hakutaku: Base limb health 75, Max Blood 21, Pain sensitivity 93%
  • Jorougumo: Base limb health 46, Max Blood 13, Pain sensitivity 152%
  • Kappa: Base limb health 42, Max Blood 12, Pain sensitivity 167%
  • Kasha: Base limb health 48, Max Blood 14, Pain sensitivity 146%
  • Kirin: Base limb health 88, Max Blood 25, Pain sensitivity 80%
  • Kitsune: Base limb health 56, Max Blood 16, Pain sensitivity 125%
  • Oni: Base limb health 150, Max Blood 43, Pain sensitivity 47%
  • Satori: Base limb health 56, Max Blood 16, Pain sensitivity 125%
  • Tanuki: Base limb health 70, Max Blood 20, Pain sensitivity 100%
  • Tengu: Base limb health 100, Max Blood 29, Pain sensitivity 70%
  • Yousei: Base limb health 20, Max Blood 6, Pain sensitivity 350%

Calculating max limb health

As explained in the previous page, each playable species has a Base limb health value. What is described in the "Primary Stats" section is Limb Health multiplier, a multiplier that is applied to this base value.

For instance, if your character is a Squamata halfling (base limb health value 56) and you've selected 1.2x Limb Health multiplier, then you will increase your character's base limb health to 67 (56 x 1.2, rounded). In turn, this will give your character the following maximum limb health:

  • Head: 10 (1/7 x 67, rounded)
  • Torso: 38 (4/7 x 67, rounded)
  • Hips: 29 (3/7 x 67, rounded)
  • LIMB group (arms, legs, tail): 19 (2/7 x 67, rounded)
  • EXTREMITY group (hands, feet): 14 (1.5/7 x 67, rounded)

Spending points to affect primary stats

You can spend up to 6 stat points to adjust your primary stats to your liking, at the following rates:

  • Natural pain sensitivity: Spend 1 point = -10%
  • Natural Strength: Spend 1 point = +10%
  • Pain Blackout Threshold (PBT): Spend 1 point = +5%
  • Maximum Blood: Spend 1 point = +1.0 unit
  • Limb Health multiplier: Spend 1 point = +0.1 to the multiplier (1 point = x1.1, 2 points = x1.2, and so on)
  • Maximum Endurance: Spend 1 point = +10%

You can also buy extra points in a given statistic, in which case the listed effect applies in reverse.

  • Example: If you buy 2 points in Strength, your Strength will be reduced by 20%, in exchange of being able to spend 2 extra points elsewhere.

You cannot spend or buy more than 4 points in any given statistic, but you do not have to spend all of your points. If you don't spend all of them, however, you are not entitled to extra advantages down the line, so adjust carefully!

Skill attribution

The next part of statting is attributing skills (and skill levels) to your characters. Certain species introduce free skill levels as part of their racial bonuses, but for the most part, new characters are blank slates for you to customize.

Skills in MazeWorld are grouped in two categories: Combat skills and Non-combat skills. This section will list and briefly describe each skill, without going into too much detail. As a rule of thumb, improving your combat skills generally results in increasing your character's accuracy and lethality, whereas improving your non-combat skills either improves your existing abilities, or unlocks new ones.

Combat skills

Combat skills are grouped into subcategories and reflect level of skill and proficiency with the corresponding type of weapon. In total, there are 29 combat skills grouped into three subcategories: Firearms (11 skills), Heavy weapons (4 skills), and Melee/Other weapons (14 skills).

Firearms

  • Bolt-action
  • Lever-action
  • Pump-action
  • Automatic pistol
  • Automatic rifle
  • Automatic shotgun
  • Semi-automatic pistol
  • Semi-automatic rifle
  • Semi-automatic shotgun
  • Double-action revolver (DA)
  • Single-action revolver (SA)

Heavy weapons

  • Grenade launcher
  • Rocket launcher
  • Planted explosives
  • Flamethrowers

Melee and other weapons

  • Archery
  • Axes
  • One-handed clubs
  • Two-handed clubs
  • Crude weapons
  • Knives
  • One-handed swords
  • Two-handed swords
  • Staff/Pole weapons
  • Whip/Lash weapons
  • Exotic Melee weapons
  • Exotic Ranged weapons
  • Thrown weapons
  • Martial arts

Non-combat skills

There are 9 non-combat skills in total. If the GM deems it necessary, certain non-combat skills may be locked by the GM. Locked skills may, at the GM's discretion, either cost extra points to give to your character, or be entirely impossible to acquire during character creation and will either not be acquired at all, or given as part of a reward or a quest during the session.

  • Hunting - The ability to harvest meat from dead creatures
  • Crafting - The ability to use crafting kits and specific combinations of ingredients to build items
  • Handloading - The ability to use handloading kits and ingredients (casings, powders, primers, projectiles) to manufacture and customize your own ammunition
  • Mining - The ability to use mining tools to extract ore from veins and patches
  • Negotiation - The ability to speak, convince, deceive, barter, and negotiate
  • Repair - The ability to use repair and cleaning kits, maintain weapons in working order, and restore broken weapons back to working condition
  • Lockpicking - The ability to use lockpicking kits to defeat locks
  • Healing - The ability to use medical equipment and administer drugs to heal oneself and others
  • Evading - The ability to evade and parry enemy attacks, and to deliver counter-attacks

Spending points on skills

You start out at Level 1 (Unskilled) in every skill, and you must reach a certain amount of Skill Points to increase your skill level. Every skill has five levels, in order from level 1 to level 5: Unskilled, Basic, Skilled, Expert, and Master.

All combat skills have the same thresholds: 10 SP to reach Basic, 25 SP to reach Skilled, 50 SP to reach Expert, and 100 SP to reach Master.

Non-combat skills have different requirements and thresholds.

When spending points on combat skills, you will obtain Training Points (TP) for them in return. 10 Training Points are worth 1 Skill Point. Training Points are normally earned through training exercises in the game, and you cannot get more than 250 TP per combat skill - just enough to reach Skilled, and no more. There is only so much experience your character can get by training; you must be on the field to progress any further.

When spending points on non-combat skills, you will be buying a certain skill level directly. If your GM has locked certain non-combat skills, your character will be Level 0 (Unaware) in these skills, and you cannot progress at all to Level 1 until you buy access to the skill (if your GM allows it) or unlock the skill during a session. The recommended cost of unlocking a locked skill is 1 point.

Combat skills: 1 point = 50 TP

  • Skill packages: Certain combat skills are closely related, and you can get a 'discount' and pay a little less than you normally would if you bought them individually. It costs 3 points to get 100 TP (Basic), and 8 points to get 250 TP (Skilled) in all of the skills included in the package.
    • Pistol package: Semi-auto pistol + Automatic pistol
    • Rifle package: Semi-auto rifle + Automatic rifle
    • Shotgun package: Semi-auto shotgun + Automatic shotgun
    • Revolver package: Single-action revolver + Double-action revolver
    • Club package: One-handed club + Two-handed club
    • Sword package: One-handed sword + Two-handed sword

Non-combat skills: 2 points for Level 2 (Basic), 4 points for Level 3 (Skilled), 8 points for Level 4 (Expert)

  • If any non-combat skills are locked, they should cost 1 point to unlock and obtain Level 1 (Unskilled).

GMs are free to adjust the costs of skills depending on how much experience and capabilities they wish the players to have. The recommended costs are ideal for new but balanced characters. The costs can be adjusted up or down, depending on whether you prefer your PCs to have less, or more talents at their disposal.

Equipment selection

Unless the campaign is supposed to start with them naked and defenseless, every character should have at least a few pieces of gear in their starting inventory.

At the very least, clothing, armor, some load-bering equipment, and at least one or two weapons (preferably weapons that match your character's, plus accessories and ammunition as needed. Extra stuff, such as food, meds, or items necessary for non-combat skills (e.g. lockpicking kits), should also be considered.

The recommended method of equipment attribution is for the GM to set a monetary budget, and let the players peruse this very wiki to pick and choose their starting gear themselves. Any left-over or unused money should be turned into cash for the characer to carry, or added to the character's bank account. Specific restrictions on types of items should also be introduced, in order to avoid min-maxing for the best equipment right from the beginning, and generally to prevent starting characters from getting 'too good' gear.

These are only recommendations for balanced starting characters. GMs are free to adjust or ignore these recommendations entirely.

Recommended parameters:

  • Budget per character: Parallar symbol.png 5000
  • Maximum Rarity for weapons: 3
  • Maximum Armor Class for clothing and armor: A3
  • Must purchase a set of clothing (1 top, 1 bottom, 1 footwear)
  • Must purchase a backpack of some sort

Naturally this isn't the only way to pick or assign gear. Ultimately, it is up to the GM to determine the best way to assign equipment. Here are some pointers:

  • Rather than select from the entirety of the game's selection of items (which can be dizzying), the GM can create a pool of "starter" items, and let players spend their budget among these pre-selected starter items only.
  • In lieu of a starting budget, the GM can create a point spend system, or even a limited amount of items from which to choose from.
  • GMs can take out the "choice" part entirely and simply assign new characters standard-issue equipment. Ideal for military or police-themed campaigns.
  • The sky is the limit! If you have other ideas entirely, run with it!


Building the character sheet

Once you have finalized your character's details and equipment, it's time to actually build your character sheet!

Object lines

Two different kinds of object lines.

"Object line" and "Object lines" redirect here.

In MazeWorld, items can be represented in the game through the use of object lines. Object lines are, as the name implies, singular lines of text designed to hold all of the information about a given object. The information may be a little compressed in order to fit into one line.

The purpose of object lines is to be used, edited, copied, and pasted onto inventory sheets. They are, in a sense, ready-made nuggets of information about every object in the game. Certain object lines are incomplete or are designed to be edited. GMs may edit or add information to certain object lines (to indicate quantity, battery remaining, ammunition loaded, maintenance stats, etc.) as needed.

Object lines generally follow similar nomenclature; they begin with a word between [brackets] denoting the category of the object, followed by all or most of the relevant information about that object.

Example:

  • [Weapon] Class 5 Short - R2/Regular - KA-BAR (Knife) - Slash (Sharp), Stab (Piercing) - Steel - Butchering - Weight: 3
    • This object line describes the KA-BAR. Note that there is no mention of the weapon's condition; it is up to GMs to determine the condition of the weapon.

It is highly recommended to use the object lines instead of freeform text to keep track of your inventory!

The majority of Tsuchinoko's commands are designed to return object lines, and constitute the primary reason why the bot is practically required to play the game.

For a complete, searchable directory of the game's object lines (and the source text of every other Tsuchinoko command), please see this folder. Feel free to use these documents to copy the object lines relevant to your character's equipment, and paste them onto your character sheet.

Final review

Before getting ready to play, make sure that your character sheet is complete and ready. Your GM should review every player's character sheet and give all of them the green light before proceeding, and should retain edit rights over all player character sheets.

If your GM is the really cool type, they will offer you the courtesy of building your character sheet for you, so you don't have to do any of the steps described above yourself. This courtesy should be extended to new players, particularly if they are eager to play. If that's how it was done, you shouldn't need to do anything else! Assuming, of course, that the GM hasn't made mistakes while building your sheet (re-read the sheet before giving it to your player!)

If you are a player and you've followed this guide to build your very own character sheet, you should send it to your GM for reviewing and double-checking.

Once everybody is ready and cleared, then congratulations, you are now ready to play a MazeWorld campaign!


Conclusion

If you've followed this Getting Started guide, you should have a complete character sheet, and you should be ready to play! Feel free to keep reading the wiki if you wish to familiarize yourself with how the game works, particularly if you are a GM.

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4
Introduction Basic concepts Character creation Character customization