Novus 2.0 tidbits

[imported_Rasyr]

I am going to use thread to talk a little bit about Novus 2.0 to let you know what is coming down the pike.

First, let me start off by repeating what I said on the FHG Home page to refresh your memories.

• Levels - In the original Novus, there are levels, but they are more of a guide than anything else. Novus 2.0 will lose levels completely. Instead it will use a point based system for development of your character.
• Classes - Classes in the original Novus were more along the line of starting packages, granting a specific set of features and skills to a given character. In Novus 2.0, there are 4 classes of characters (Casters, Fighters, Rogues, Mixed). Theses are nothing more than generic methods of classifying a type of character. Each of the classes has a number of what are called Training Paths. While they resemble the Classes from the original Novus, they are built differently and much more balanced. The current manuscript currently has 40 Training Paths available.
• Cultures & Backgrounds - In addition to select a Culture and a Background. Culture is basically the type of society that the character grew up in. Backgrounds describe more about how the character was raised and the things they did as a young adult, prior to settling into their Training Path. Some Cultures and Backgrounds may not seem to fit together very well. It is up to the Player to determine a backstory for the choices made and how they work together. Personally, I think this makes the player more invested in his character overall. The current manuscreipt contains 11 Cultures and 56 Backgrounds
• Skills - Skills are at the heart of the game. There are about 24 or so core skills, but many of them have either sub-skills (each is developed separately and the bonuses for the skills are completely separate) specialties (specialties allow for focusing on a specific aspect of a skill, other specialties may be used with a negative modifier). Spell casting is a skill still. And individual Spells are still learned separately as before.
• Talents - These are special skills (that do not follow normal development) and/or abilities that help define a character more fully. The Training Paths make use of them quite well. There are nearly 90 Talents in the manuscript right now. Some are listed as Trainable, while other are not. Those that are not Trainable may only be acquired during character generation, or by acquiring them through a package of some sort provided by the GM. For those that are Trainable, that means you can save up Character Points and purchase them for your character.
• Monsters - Currently there are about 50 monsters in the manuscript and the current plan is to about about 50 more. The Monsters are all built the same way as the characters, even non-intelligent ones. Each monster contains a point rating (how many points used to make it), that can be used as a guide for whether or not the players can or even should try to face off against them. There are guidelines on how to judge this as well

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[imported_Rasyr]

Ok, let's talk about development of the character.

Novus 2.0 will do away with levels, they were not really all that important anyways as there was very little that depended on them.

Now, you have 2 items, Character Points (CP) and Experience Points (XP).

Now, when you start making a character, you get 15 Character Points to spend. As you spend them, they are moved over to XP. Thus once you have spent them, you will have 0 CP and 15 XP.

Now, you also have a few choices to make during character generation as well.

First up, you get to choose your Race. Each Race gives you some modifiers to your Stats, and a few other defining characteristics, as well as some talents that all members of the race also get. Each Race also gives you a number of CP and a number of XP. And that varies for each race.

The current playtest document contains the following Races:

• Asgerdi - These are essentially very large humanoids (between 7 and 8 feet tall). They look similar to humans, writ large.
• Centaurs - Half man, half horse, a classic race.
• Dwarves - a tock fantasy race
• Elves - another stock fantasy race. Elves in Novus are long-lived, but they are not immortal as might be found in some other games.
• Gnomes - a smaller race, they often look like miniature humans for the most part. Very magical in nature.
• Halflings - Another small race. These look more like miniature elves, but their pointed ears are less pronounced. Very different from the elves though
• Humans - the baseline for any game, since we are humans. hehe
• Orcs - have a slightly porcine-like appearance with upward jutting tusks.
• Rachni - sometimes referred to as Spiderfolk, they have a distinctive look, recessed ears, and vestigial mandibles extending from just before their ears. They have 4 digits per extremity
• Vrosi - This is another diminutive race, averaging about 4' tall, they look like a cross between Gnomes & Halflings, but with a greenish tinge to their skin.

Kindred Talents
Each race has 2 related Kindred Talents. You must spend CP to acquire one of these.  For example, a Human who acquires a Major Gnomish Kindred Talent is considered to be a Half-Gnome, while one with a Minor Kindred Talent would be a Quart-Gnome.

And yes, it is possible to mix-n-match. Major Kindred Talents have costs ranging from 10-14 CP, and Minor Kindred Talents have costs ranging from 5-7 CP. Since you only get 15 base CP to start with (plus whatever you get from Race & Culture & Backgrounds, and the Kindred Talents are ONLY allowed to be acquired during character generation.
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[imported_Rasyr]

Once you select your Race, the next step is t select the Culture your character was raised in. There are 11 choices. Each Culture provides the character with a some skill ranks worth of skills commonly known by that culture.  Each Culture also awards your character 10 XP.

Side Note: Once character generation is fully complete, if you have spent all of your CP, your character will have a total of 100 XP..

Next up is Backgrounds. Backgrounds could be considered your apprenticeship training, the sort of thing you were learning to become before your adventuring life began. Who knows, your character may actually have gone adventuring to raise the capital to open his own business.There are some that are race specific for some of the races, but they also include things like Beggar, Blacksmith, Bowyer, Farmer, Fisherman, jeweler, locksmith, etc... There are over 50 Backgrounds in total.  Some give skills or "skill specializations, and some even give CP.


My next post will cover Training Paths, but first I must sleep....

[Trentin Bergeron]

I am loving these refinements Tim. Just downloaded and skimmed the playtest document v11. Good stuff!!

[darb]

This looks really great. It has a strong GURPS thing going on but with a Novus take on it. It is a really cool direction you are going in. I love that you have maintained a nicely trim skills list but have lots of interesting options for backgrounds and professions. That is exactly the right approach I think for a game these days. Keep the goodness flowing!

[Maestro]

Are combat styles still going to be used in 2.0?

[imported_Rasyr]

Yes, and some will be included in the Core  -- For example, the Dual Weapon style for the Armsman mentioned in the other thread, at least one Martial Arts Style for the Martial Artist and one for the Monk. and a couple of styles for the specific weapon combos

[AresLunthar]

I can't recall if all of the races above are included in Tyroln?

[imported_Rasyr]

Asgerdi and Centaurs are not (currently), but the rest are.

The Gnomes live to the north, and ride war goats, and also herd other types of goats.

The Vrosi and the Arachni share the land to the South. Both races are arboreal in nature, due to the conditions on the worlds that they each come from.