Character creation feedback

[kaleotter]

So, lacking content for other systems, and not in the mood to run *another* pathfinder game for the time being, I decided to try out N.E.W. With my players. We created 3 characters. A Droid Engineer, A Drunken Borian former criminal and a Venetian Psychic. While character creation went relatively well, we did run into some problems.

1. It needs to be clarified weather characters start play at their minimum age or at 0 y/o.

2. The equipment prices are all over the place. it should not be cheaper to buy a communicator than to buy a seven man tent. This applies to a large number of objects on the equipment list.

3. There are a large number of psionic abilities that don't have a listed level and do not have a physical description. If these are incomplete, then they should be left out of the document until they are ready to be used, as this is confusing to people trying to build psions.

4. Many traits are based on charisma being +5, Like over half of them. This is very good for talky guys to have an interesting quirk, but not so good for people with 4 or lower charisma, this makes the choices of trait far too limiting. Suggestions from my group were +Str Burly, or +End Tenacious.

5. Ammo. How does it even? I mean. every weapon has an ammo type measured in d6's, and the description for the ammo counter references ammunition rules, which - and this is important Don't appear to exist.This is problematic. I mean. Do my characters weapons have a clipsize equivalent to the dice roll (a minimum of 1 or 2) or is this how many shots they can reload into a gun as a reload action, which doesnt make any sense. Who loads individual bullets into a gun during battle? this needs to be clarified, with the rules on ammunition appearing directly under the ranged weapon table, or having their page number directly referenced. This is basic stuff people.

 

[Morrus]

Thanks! Did you enjoy it?

Characters start at the age given in their staring career (usually 2d6+6, but not always).

The traits list may well be expanded if there seems to be a desire for it!

Prices of communicators and tents - I did want communicators to be common and easy to get. An 8-man tent today costs quite a bit; more than a cheap cellphone or walkie-talkie.

Re. the ammo - yep, you're absolutely right. Basically, the ammo was going to be a countdown using the countdown mechanic. Turned out in one playtest that that mechanic wasn't really suitable, but the column is still in that table. I'll make sure it's gone for the next update!

 

[kaleotter]

Thanks! Did you enjoy it?

I loved the character creation! its simple enough to learn and doesn't have the problem of travellers arbitrary randomness. I don't know if we'll play the system until its a little more complete, but I'll be keeping a close eye on it.

Characters start at the age given in their staring career (usually 2d6+6, but not always).

Ah yes, but the minimum given age for Characters like Venetians is 30. At a minimum a character can be 13 years old. It might be better to either apply a modifier to career lengths for a longer lived races that would make the length of careers come more into line with the given age brackets, or to assume that the minimum age a character is before taking a career is the minimum the age listed for being an adolescent.

The traits list may well be expanded if there seems to be a desire for it!

This seems fair. Maybe you should poll your play testers to see what kind of interest there would be in an expanded traits list. I for one would be behind the idea. Its only a very situational 1d bonus and it adds something to the character, and provides for character growth.

Prices of communicators and tents - I did want communicators to be common and easy to get. An 8-man tent today costs quite a bit; more than a cheap cellphone or walkie-talkie.

Okay, it seems here that the problem was a misunderstanding, one of my players suggested that the scanners were slightly cheaper than a 7 man tent, which to him made no sense. I went ahed and read the entry for the tent.The problem here is that the seven man tent is more of a survival shelter than an actual tent (presumably inflatable with a pressurised interior and an airlock entrance? (its not described in too much detail), which is an item that justifies the cost. It might be pertinent to rename this item "Survival Shelter - 7 man" or something similar to indicate that it is considerably advanced than what the average player will think of as a tent.

It might also be pertinent to include a general advancement level for each item, so DMs and players can get a good idea for what sort of technology should be available on very primitive or advanced worlds.

Re. the ammo - yep, you're absolutely right. Basically, the ammo was going to be a countdown using the countdown mechanic. Turned out in one playtest that that mechanic wasn't really suitable, but the column is still in that table. I'll make sure it's gone for the next update!

I was thinking about that. All projectile weapons should maybe have a clip size, and only accept bullets for that kind of weapon, but perhaps energy weapons should have a standardised battery (with its capacity based on its quality) and each shot from that weapon consumes a certain number of shots from the battery. You should also consider amending the Combined weapon, so that all energy weapons draw from a single universal battery, because that would make sense, rather than having batteries sticking out at odd angles from your giant multitool-gun thing.