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Characters in Sensation are relatively simple in terms of separate components. I personally have a bit of a dislike for systems that rely too heavily on Stats to
define Characters. Real people don't really consist of series of numbers that define
their various physical and mental capabilities, as well as their degree of proficiency
in skills. As a result, I am trying to keep the number of Stats to a minimum. I will
grant that in certain cases the various components of a Character could simply be
dismissed as Stats by another name. However, this is where good GM'ing will make all
the difference, as it is possible for the GM to treat the non-Stats components as
either completely Stat-like, or almost entirely dissimilar to Stats.
Characters in Sensation consist of three different components. These components
are:
- Sensory and Non-Sensory Stats
- Advantages and Disadvantages
- Skills
That first group of components are the only blatantly Stat-like Stats in the game. They are rated with numbers and the numbers often translate into Dice-pools or Check targets. However, their is currently a grand total of only 7 different Stats, although there is the option adding another 3 to the mix. However, if the system functions as it should then the optional extra 3 stats should not be necessary and might even be detrimental to the game.
The other components are not formally rated using numbers, being in essence similar to Skills in UA (I.e. Customisable and very flexible) and Merits/Flaws in Vampire et al. Advantages/Disadvantages and Skills both bear similarities to both of the aforementioned features from other systems, but differ from each other and the aforementioned systems in various ways.
Hopefully this page will have given you a better idea of what makes a Character in Sensation. Once the actual pages are up for the three different Character Components you will be able to get a much more complete idea of how each component fits into things.
Comments
Dump the lil' gits 'ere...
d@vid May 2:
subject to an example of play (see comment in SensationBasicConcept)
why restrict characters to a maximum of "heightened" awareness? if I'm
playing a game all about sensation three levels of fidelity seems a bit
low (could characters get "more powerful" through play, perhaps by experience
or artefacts? or perhaps an expanded mid-range would be appropriate?)
p.s. seen the potential link on warping reality, this begins to answer my questions :)
Character's are not really restricted to a level of heightened awareness only. I'm not
entirely sure where exactly this three levels of fidelity idea came from. If you look at the ratings for the SensationCharacterStats you will see that character Senses can reach levels defined simply as Cosmic. At Cosmic level a character's Sense will be heightened to a ridicolous level. A character with a Cosmic rating in Sight could pick up individual sub-atomic particles merely by looking at an object an concentrating on the idea of doing so. The level of power, so to speak, for Senses ramps up in a rather exponential manner. This means that it is unlikely that normal player characters will be able to permanently reach such levels of awareness with any degree of ease. A lifetime of experience and hard work may be required, if the GM decides. However, this is not a total downer. As the SensationStatChanneling section will reveal the mechanics of in detail, even normal
character's can temporarily channel their Senses in order to enhance one, or possibly more, Senses to incredibly increased levels for a short time, time enough, perhaps, to perform some vital task only possible when one's Senses are at Supernatural or Cosmic levels. Of final note, Sensation will feature an exerience system, in order to reflect the fact that characters change over time.
