Thursday, April 26, 2007

Proposal: Pack…Kill!

Self Killed—Clucky

Adminned at 27 Apr 2007 08:13:15 UTC

Add the following sub-rule “Pack Mentality” to 2.6.2:

Two or three Lifeforms may at any time by mutual consent form a Pack. The Pack is given a number that is one greater then the current number of Packs existing (not including itself). The Pack number is always one greater than the current number of Packs existing (not including itself). A Pack cannot contain more than three Lifeforms or less than two. If any action is taken that would make a Pack contain less than two Lifeforms, then that Pack is disbanded. If any action is taken that would make a Pack contain more than three Lifeforms, the last lifeform to join the Pack is ejected, or, the Lifeform that would be entered into the Pack by that action is not entered into the Pack. There is a GNDT column “Pack” that contains the Pack number of the Pack that each Lifeform belongs to, or “-” if the Lifeform belongs to no Pack. If a Lifeform is in a Pack, then Hunting is altered thus:

  • The Chase phase is carried out as usual, except that the result of the first DICE10 is added to the Appendages value of the Lifeform with the highest Appendages value in the Pack.
  • In the Fight Phase:
    • Y is the higher of the two values: either 2 * the Hunting Lifeform’s FF value +1, or the FF value of each Lifeform in the Pack +1 (i.e. if the Pack contains three Lifeforms with FF values 4, 3, and 5, Y is 13).
    • Z is altered the same way, if the Target Lifeform is in a Pack.
If a Hunt is successful while the Hunting Lifeform is in a Pack, all the members of the Pack recieve 2 Nourishment, and the Target Lifeform loses X nourishment, where X is the number of Lifeforms in the Pack.

Add column to the GNDT: Pack.

posted by alethiophile at 26 Apr 2007 16:36:00 UTC Comments (8)

Comments

Clucky: he/him

26-04-2007 17:11:53 UTC

against

The concept needs some work:

1) “FF” is not defined anywhere in the ruleset.

2) How energy is consumed is not dealt with. This would only work if each lifeform in the pack must spend 1 energy.

3) How DNA is dealt with is also not mentioned here.

So yeah, back to the drawing board and hopefully we can get something ironed out. I like the concept of packs being used for defense as well and would like that to be flushed out more. Like, it should be harder not only to fight but also to catch a lifeform that is part of a pack, right?

Amnistar: he/him

26-04-2007 17:18:12 UTC

yeah, that makes sense, for defensive purposes you can use total FF as well, and perhaps there can be a *pack feed* option which costs X Energy Spent by the pack as a whole….somethign similiar?  I do like the idea though

Amnistar: he/him

26-04-2007 17:21:39 UTC

also, how do traits affect pack hunting/defense?  Do you gain the benefit of any trait as long as 1 lifeform possesses this trait?

alethiophile:

26-04-2007 19:02:04 UTC

against OK, self-kill for now. I’ll be working on a new one. Let’s keep this discussion open for ideas.

alethiophile:

26-04-2007 19:03:14 UTC

FF, by the way, is facial features. I was tired of typing it out over and over.

Amnistar: he/him

26-04-2007 19:12:15 UTC

yeah, we should add an abreviation section to the Evolutionary variables rule

Amnistar: he/him

26-04-2007 20:44:17 UTC

Oksy so, how about this as an idea:

When performing any Gameplay Action under the Energy Rule a Lifeform may choose to perform the action instead as a Pack. 

When performing a pack action the lifeform pays X Energy, where X is the cost of performing the action normaly +the number of lifeforms in eir pack (traits can reduce this price as normal, but only traits the lifeform possesses).  Then perform the action as normal, except rather than using their own Variables and Traits, they use the highest variable for the pack, and any traits that any memeber in the pack possesses.

Axeling:

26-04-2007 21:25:24 UTC

Also, what’s the point of the Pack Number?  It seems that all packs will have the same number.