Updated Emotions System

[Sir Not Appearing on Forum]

Here's the general layout of the new Emotions system for 3.0.

This will hopefully make things a lot easier when it comes to Player/NPC and Player/Player interactions during game sessions. Since it is no officially written down I'm pretty much giving you guys the rough draft of it, but don't let that fool you, this is pretty much how its going to be.

Reasons for Change
The Emotions system has always been weak, and I think only really covered at the most two pages in 2.0. Since interactions are VERY important in game its of no surprise that this should become a main component of how things operate and so I have given quite a bit of thought into updating it.

Components
The three main components to the updated emotions system is Personality Traits, Race of character and Alignment. All three of these areas will have a direct impact on the emotion point levels for each character the character in question is dealing with, and this will even go so far as interactions with "nameless" NPCs such as generic soldiers and shop keepers.

How it works
The entire emotions chart will be re-created from scratch, and will actually now have a maximum of 10 points, with a minimum of -10. Zero will be used in the middle to measure the chart for characters the player has not met or does not know. Zero will only be used for generic characters, basically the nameless ones mentioned above. Depending on events that transpire the character can drop their emotion level with characters or increase their emotion level with characters. There are several ways of determining what is gained and what is lost depending on the severity of the act. The maximum level a character can lose of increase is 3 points regardless of severity. Since emotions can change between person to person quickly in real life emotions in Gaia Saga can quickly bounce around the table just as easily.

Before I get into severity of good and bad point increase or loss, lets take a quick look at the updated emotions chart and what each corresponding point means for the character it is being represented for. I will start at the bottom of the barrel first and work my way up.

Emotion points listed on your character sheet represent the feelings that the designated character has towards YOU.

-10 (Arch-Nemesis): The character in question has complete and utter hatred for you, your family, your friends and you ancestors and known relatives. If any interactions are made these character normally attack and try to kill first and ask questions later.

-9 (Nemesis): The character in question despises you to the point where they constantly make plans for your downfall, either by killing you or by making your life a living hell. They will target friends and family but will not necessarily kill them or hurt them, although they may in order to get to you.

-8, -7 (Severe Hatred): The character hates you and may even wretch at the sound of your name. They will never attempt to help you if you are in trouble and will sometimes cause dangerous things to happen in order to bar the way for you.

-6, -5 (Hatred): The character hates you and will make you know it by other verbal or physical means but will not necessarily try to kill you or kill those close to you. The character will not, however, have any problems with making situations worse for you when given the chance.

-4, -3 (Cold): The character has no feelings for you and is for the most part completely numb to your existence. They do not wish bad things to happen to you but they also could care less if something bad does. A cold character will not attempt to help you in any way and will most often times not accept help from you even if they desperately need it.

-2,-1 (Distrust): The character either does not know you well enough to trust you or has a bad feeling about you when they are around you. Characters with this level tend to not deal well with your character but will offer help if it will also help them in the process.

0: The measurement for not knowing someone at all or for generic NPC interaction.

1,2 (Distrust): *Same as -2,-1 listing.

3,4 (Trsutworthy): The character sees you as someone they can at least trust general knowledge and information too. They are not your friend by any means but they also have no problem with offering a helping hand if the need is great.

5,6 (Acquaintance): The character sees you as someone they can trust with their belongings and their problems, but will most not likely tell you all their deepest secrets and dreams. A character with this level foresee's you as someone they can rely on and for the most part a friend. At level 6 the character can Martyr roll for you if they wish to do so, but will no go out of their way to do so at every chance.

7,8 (Friendship): The character is truly a good friend of yours and trusts you with secrets and any information they feel will help you and them out equally. The character will often allow you to borrow needed items, will share gold with you if you are in need of it, and will give tips and useful information to you when the need arises. A character with this level can always attempt to martyr roll for you as long as they are within martyr distance.

9 (Best Friends): The character sees you as a member of their own family and considers you their best friend. Multiple characters can have this level of emotion with your character, in which case they are all considered close friends in a world where there may not be many. A best friend will always try to help you out when you are in a pinch, even to the point where they will sacrifice a great many things to make sure you are happy. Best friends MUST make martyr rolls for you if they are in range.

10 (Bond): This can either be perceived as love in a romantic way between two people or as a forever lasting bond of endless and limitless friendship if not. The character will literally do just about anything for you if you are in need of something or you are in trouble. Bonded characters MUST make martyr rolls for you if they are in range and if you are slain then they will gain "depression" as a disability. This level also allows team work abilities and spells to be used.

Since this can always change based upon events, its best to keep a close eye on your emotion levels with others during the course of the game to give you a general understanding of what to expect.

Racial Issues
Some races have certain habits that others may find unacceptable of appalling. In this case the emotions level will be adjusted to show this. If a character has a racial hatred towards another race it will be listed in their racial abilities area in 3.0 and will be considered a purchasable disability for the character.

Racial morality is based upon what a race finds acceptable and what they do not. Actions a character performs based on culture habits can still be judged by other races as not acceptable and could cause loss of emotion points on the table. If the racial disability is listed as being purchased on the character sheet then the character is allowed to act on this disability even if it may go against their personality traits. This may sound a bit confusing and against the purpose of personality traits in general, but if something is viewed as being acceptable in one culture they might not see anything morally wrong with the action and therefore it may not coincide with their traits.

For generic NPC interaction race of your character can cause them to increase or decrease their emotion level with you while you interact with them, meaning that their zero status can quickly change to something else. This is of course taking into consideration your personality and how you act towards them and also your alignment.

Personality Traits
Personality traits are of course the acting guidelines you need to follow while you are playing your character. As stated above, race may have a passive effect on this area in several ways. A Drakulian tribesman may do some terrible things and treat women as lesser beings, but that is viewed as acceptable and fine in their culture. A drakulian character can still act these cultural views out even if they do not have any personality traits that coincide with the action. The only thing about performing these actions is of course the fact that other races normally will see these acts as being negative, and will therefore have negative effects on their emotion points with the character performing them. Some disabilities for races will include the need for adjustment to personality traits, others will not. Those that do not assume that the character considers the act perfectly normal and does not realize the affect it may have on making friends.

Personality Traits should still be used to decide alignment of the character as they always have and you should still act on what they state, but cultural issues act as their own form of trait depending on the situation.

Severity
Dramatic increase or loss of emotion points can be calculated based upon looking at the character being affected by the action and taking into consideration the traits, race and alignment of that character. Here is a general outline of severity and gain and loss.

-3 points (+3 points): For a good aligned character this could lower points based on evil acts performed in front of them by your character, something that greatly offends them due to race, or greatly makes them reconsider you due to religious of morality comparison. For villain characters this is generally the opposite where the more evil the act the more respect and more close they feel to your character. Neutral characters will only increase or decrease by 1-2 points.

-2 points (+2 points): For good aligned characters they may increase if they feel you have done something notable towards them or others. This is generally a mild area as it may be as simple as giving a beggar your last coin or using your last bandage to heal someone you don't know. Villains will gain respect for you if you for instance do something terrible to someone individually, and so on.

-1 point (+1 point): General and easiest of them all. Usually represents word of mouth to the character in regard to your own. Has a lot to do with verbal communication and the like and how you handle yourself in communicating amongst your peers. Shows how even a party of quiet loners can slowly but eventually reach a bonded status.



That's pretty much the main idea in a nut shell guys. What do you think? I think its a lot more powerful and efficient then the last system was.

[Sir Not Appearing on Forum]

Well, the old system indeed served its purpose well, but I think having the new -6-6 system makes it a lot more clean cut and easier to keep track of. I was planning on updating it regardless if people had problems with it or not.

It is true, if players can constantly act a certain way between different characters and remain acting that way and changing their outlook and perceptions of people due to what happens in-game then they really don't need emotion levels listed for other player characters. But, there are definitely some situations where players tend to just change their emotions with a particular character on the fly just because it would e more convenient for them to do so at certain times. If players were indeed playing their characters correctly then they would go along with what they perceive would be the emotion level towards another character and would not alter if placed in a bad situation.

An example of this is a character that is best friends with another character and would normally try and help out that character if they were in a horrible situation, but then they ignore those feelings and run away at the hint of that character being in danger. Even if the possibility of surviving an encounter is slim I still think the player of the character should rush in to help that friend out regardless of what happens to them. Due to them not wanting to possibly take the time to make a new character though, they run away and ignore the emotions. Same goes for when characters attempt to martyr or rescue another player character just because if they don't that character will die. If you don't care about the character why risk your neck for them?

I will say this though: I like the majority of the rules where they are right now. They are simple and easy to learn. I will not in any way change the basic mechanics to make things more complicated.

[Sir Not Appearing on Forum]

What I'll end up doing for this I think is including the option for GM's to allow players to keep track of emotions with other player characters if they want too. Shannon told me she keeps track regardless because it helps her out, but I think for the most part players will be able to keep track of how they interact with their peers. You should be able to decide if a character you control likes another player character.

But, as I said before, I will have it in 3.0 as an option to keep track of both. The rules will be there, it will just be up to who is controlling the game to decide what happens.

[Sir Not Appearing on Forum]

Yeah, it does have its uses during games every now and then. So as right now guys, use it when you need to use it and keep track of other players as needed.

I am going to update the emotions lists we have already with the new system mentioned here though next time we play. Whenever the hell that is.