Cooperative Storytelling System
Instead of having 1 GM and several players, the game supposes that everyone will take turns being GM and player.
SETTING UP STEP 1: SETTING
Agree on an overall mythos. Are you playing in classical high fantasy genre? Spacefaring sci-fi? Cyberpunk? Steampunk? Agree on a world everyone wants to play in and can run stories in.
SETTING UP STEP 2: POINTS
Agree on an amount of starting experience points. Every player begins with the same number of points to spend as they see fit. XP can be used to buy and enhance characters, creatures, items, special abilities, etc. that are under your control or control of one of your characters.
SETTING UP STEP 3: ORDER
Decide among yourselves who will go first, second, third, etc. in the GMing order. While GMing, a player's Playable Characters are put on ice and do not engage in encounters actively nor earn XP or they can be assumed to be acting in the background and counteracting other challenges that the active players don't have to deal with. GM spends GMP to build encounters and challenges and PCs gain XP whenever they beat a challenge (splitting it amongst them each time they overcome a challenge). Failing a challenge means no XP is gained. Each encounter also reveals some story element as the GM determines. The GM sets up 3 or more plot points to be revealed by the encounters and XP is gained for revealing each plot point.
SETTING UP STEP 4: BUILDING THE ADVENTURE
Each adventure, the GM has an amount of GMP (Game Master Points) equal to 5 x sum of all the other players' XP. The GM buys monsters, characters, traps, and hazards based on their difficulty/level/challenge rating that serve as obstacles and challenges for the players in order to accomplish goals and quests and missions that grant them XP. Each encounter should spend no more than 1/5th this total amount and no less than 1/20th this total amount allowing for anywhere between 5 and 20 possible encounters per adventure.
A monster, character, trap, or hazard typically costs 1 point per level for a linear game like D&D 5e. For exponentially growing games (aka "quadratic growth), it's be 1 point for level 1, 3 points for level 2, 6 points for level 3, 10 points for level 4, 15 points for level 5, 21 points for level 6, etc. You also pay 50% more for each creature beyond the 1st creature and each trap/hazard beyond the first trap/hazard within the same encounter.
At the end of every encounter, PCs can gain a SHORT REST or a SURGE, depending on the story. They get a LONG REST at the end of the adventure.
KUDOS
At the end of every adventure everyone votes in secret for using scraps of paper handed to the GM:
MVP in Action Scenes, MVP in Social Scenes, MVP in Exploration scenes, and MVP in roleplay. An MVP gets +1 surge per achievement, max 3 at any one time. If they feel no one deserves the MVP they can give it to the GM for a great adventure or write "no one". If any surges are leftover "no one" surge becomes 10 XP for everyone including the GM.
COMING SOON (STILL NOTES)
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STEP 3: Building Encounters
Adventures are made up of action scenes, exploration scenes, and social scenes. We recommend each one have at least one of each and at least 6 scenes total, preferably with the first scene setting up the adventure's story and the last one being a 'boss fight' that concludes it.
Each scene awards players 100 xp if they are successful. They might get 150 if they achieve a critical success or only 50 if they fail. If they fail miserably and go complete off the rails, they may get none.
The final scene typically grants double XP while the first one usually grants half.
HOW TO WRITE A STORY
6 steps
EVENTS/LOCATIONS/INSTANCES
Each adventure has limited locations and instances players can be. If they attempt to leave these, they enter the "side quest" zone. Side quests can be made on the fly, but they typically aware very little XP (1/10th) unless the GM figures out a way to make it crucial to the story and replace an existing scene with it.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Every character has goals and creeds etc. When they achieve something they get XP for roleplaying their character 1/10th. A majority has to agree that it works for their character. The GM can take a secret vote or simply ask. If there's any disagreement the GM is tiebreaker. Achievements can put some players ahead of others but everyone must feel this is fair as a result of them going the extra mile to fulfill their character's goals, roleplay, etc.
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<b>Name:</b> Name your character (include titles and alter egos).
<b>Role:</b> Label your character with a character concept.
<b>Traits:</b> List the 3-6 adjectives that best describe your character.
<b>Credo:</b> Description of character's personality and goals.
<b>Description:</b> Description of character's appearance and some basics on their
concept and background.
<b>Hero Points:</b> 1
<b>Ability Points:</b> # unspent out of / # total
<b>Abilities:</b>
AbilityName (Rank#) (# points spent on ability)
AbilityName (Rank#) (# points spent on ability)
AbilityName (Rank#) (# points spent on ability)
<b>Weaknesses:</b>
WeaknessName (Rank#) (# points gained from weakness)
WeaknessName (Rank#) (# points gained from weakness)
WeaknessName (Rank#) (# points gained from weakness)
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<b>Ability (tier):</b> Brief description of ability.
<b>Ability (tier):</b> Brief description of ability.
<b>Ability (tier):</b> Brief description of ability.
<b>Weakness (tier):</b> Brief description of weakness.
<b>Weakness (tier):</b> Brief description of weakness.
<b>Weakness (tier):</b> Brief description of weakness.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:06, Fri 16 Feb.
