Battle Zone Guidelines: FAQs

I had no idea what kind of can o' worms I was opening by introducing this set of guidelines. I allowed the questions to pile up like a heaping mound of mashed potatoes, then prepared this valiant attempt at a FAQ sheet. If your question isn't here, complain......er....e-mail me.

1) There are characters that have pre-established powers that we all know about, like the Emperor. Are these older characters going to lose some of what they have been able to do here?

A) No, but they will be closely regulated. In the case of characters such as the Emperor, Luke Skywalker, or Kyp Durron (all of whom have been used on the BZ), I will convert them to the BZ system on an "as needed" basis. For further information about movie and book characters, see the Major Characters section.

2) As far as attributes and skills go, what are some guidelines? Like, what is considered strong or weak or average. What are maximums and minimums?

A) A rank of 10 or less is considered low, a rank of 15-30 is considered average, and a rank of 35-50 is considered high. Ranks above that are of substantial proficiency in that field. There are no maximums for a rank in a skill and attributes will be held at a maximum of 20% over the maximum average for that race (as a general rule).

3) What do a character's Force skills need to be at to be considered a Jedi Knight? A Jedi Master?

A) A character is considered a Jedi Knight when their master bestows that title upon them. If they have Control-25, Sense-30, and Alter-10 and their master declares them a Jedi Knight, then that is up to the master. A Master, however, is a hair more complex. I think that a master should have at least two of their Force attributes around 45 each, and they should know many of the Force skills available to them (even as many as 60-80% of the Force powers).

4) I attend college/post from a library. I don't own my own computer, I don't have access to a scanner, and I am not allowed to download software and things of that nature, which also prevents me from changing the options. Time is a key factor, and there doesn't seem to be any way for me to earn points as I don't have and can't make a picture of my character. What else can I do to earn points?

A) I can appreciate the enemy that time can be (trust me, this becomes more and more evident to me each day). I understand and appreciate that some people have no way to scan a picture, if they have the ability to draw a picture in the first place. This is why I am so open with my snail-mail address. Most of you live so far away from me that I have little fear in giving it out, and would find a stalker to be a high form of flattery. If you do not already have my address and want to get something to me, please ask for it.

HOWEVER, pictures are not the only way to earn points:

Updating your character profile: every few months, your character profile becomes slightly inaccurate. It may be desirable for you to update it from time to time. Do not attempt to do this more than every few months, but you will earn points if you do this a few times each year. (25 points)
Write a story involving your character: I will upload it and link it to your profile. It is fun to be able to find out about a character's mysterious background. (25-100 points, depending on the length of the story and how detailed it is)
Give me help with archiving: I'm very gratuitous with points for this favor. Going back to the time issue, I don't have all the time I would like to type on the computer to accomplish all of these things. (35-100 points, depending on the size of the file)
Provide me with proofreading help: I hate it when I mess up, and want to see it corrected ASAP. If you point out a few errors, I will thank you with points. (10-25 points, depending on the number of errors spotted. I have been known to make quite a few!)
Tell people about this place: I'm a glutton for punishment, and I will award you for increasing my workload here at the BZ! If you get a person interested in the BZ, and they start posting, you will receive points for getting them to participate, as long as they stick around. (25 points)
Surprise me with something: I am out of ideas just now, but suggest something, and if I like it, that will be one more thing you can do to earn points.

5) Ships: If a character pays the points to have 100 ships, but for story purposes has 65 of them destroyed in a battle, will it cost more points to get those ships back?

A) Initially I thought to have ships come from a character's point value, and at startup this will still hold true. However, after a battle, when a character is missing ships (oh no, another accounting nightmare in the works), the repair and replacement of the ships will come from the existential "BZ Bankroll of Joy!" Just don't get carried away with repairing and replacing ships too quickly. BE REALISTIC!

In addition, adding brand new ships to a fleet will cost extra (this has nothing to do with repairing and replacing). If I wanted to add to the destructive capability of "Omega" Battle group, by adding 12 ships, I would need to have the experience points to do so. This takes lots of points because it is so spendy!

6) Attributes: Are attribute numbers set in stone, like in the RPG, or can you boost them later. For example, if someone started with a 20 perception, can it be increased to 25 later, or is it only skills that can be boosted? I'm assuming that Control, Sense, and Alter can be boosted.

A) Excellent question! Yes they can. Attributes and skills can both be boosted. Please see the Advancement section. Control, Sense, and Alter can be boosted. *side note, you can boost your attributes in the RPG. The rules for that are on page 14 of the 2nd edition rule book by West End Games.*

One player in particular provided me with the biggest source of questions about this new system, and since I spent so much time typing up answers and responses to him, I felt I should attach some of his questions and my responses. For the sake of space, I will summarize his questions.

7) The system is too long to learn, too long to maintain.

You have a fine point in stating that you will be the one to determine how the points are allocated, but I am the one who distributes the points to you. I will keep the character sheets (and each player will have a copy if they want one, of course), so that I will be up to date on each character. If you, having a copy of your character sheet, write me a quick little message saying "I'd like five of my recently awarded Happy Points to go to 'X' skill......." then I will put the points where you ask and then send you the updated character sheet. I know you won't like this, but this is how I want it. It is not your responsibility to do the number crunching AFTER the initial point bid. I will take that task on.

As far as checking your character sheets, in my experience, players generally have their character's abilities committed to memory within a few game sessions, and I can't see that this would be that much different (assuming that we all have the capacity to memorize things, and I am willing to believe that we are all intelligent people). Is it presumptuous of me to assume that you could quite possibly be able to remember if your character can program a computer, or throw a knife?

8) Role-playing

(You can get the context of his questions on RPing from my response)

What did I call the BZ before this system was introduced? Role-playing. The question is not what I considered it, but what you considered it. Your words were "As far as I'm concerned, we're more storytellers than we are roleplayers."

It seems that we have the same thoughts as to the definitions of role-playing and storytelling, and that interactive RPing is a melding of the two, but where our thoughts diverge is on the issue of skills.

your thoughts on what must be present for interactive RPing:

People create a character and write stories. When different personas meet, they craft a story based on the replies of the other player.

I agree, but I must add that I cannot do some things that you may be able to do, or may not be able to do. If "Jeno the Wonderpuppy" has no "skill" listed to base his actions on, he will therefore assume he can do it and be able to accomplish anything (another "god-character" concern). For that reason, I deem the skills a necessity.

My example based on your "Mr. X ~vs~ Captain Everything" heavyweight title match comes to mind once again. You state that you will have no need for such challenges once school starts (challenges in reference to figuring out how Mr. X would defeat a physically overwhelming opponent with the skill system). How then, do you intend to do anything on the BZ? Just a quick thought that I wanted to draw your attention to. If you won't have time for such a challenge, how will you have time for writing posts at all? every action demands an equal and opposite reaction, and if you are unable to meet that challenge, the reaction will be that you do not post. Am I right? If the working of the challenge of Mr. X not being physically on par with Captain Everything is a challenge, so is the writing of the post in general. Without this system, you will still be online participating in the interaction process, through chats or e-mail, to determine what will happen in the story. That is the main challenge, in my opinion, and if you won't have time to deal with the creative process one way, how will you manage it the other way?
As an example of overcoming a physically stronger opponent, there could be a knife hidden in your boot, a poison dart, or some other means of dealing with it. Yes, by the new system, Mr. X would need a "thrown weapons" skill, OR through the 'art of role-playing,' suffer the disadvantages of being unskilled and therefore lack the accuracy to do it. This may sound like I have provided your argument for you (and that's what I am trying to do), but even in role-playing* games there is a chance of accomplishing something you are not skilled to do. If, in the writing of it, the player shows his character overcoming the odds in a believable way, I would see that as a chance to 1) earn those 'points' and 2) participate in the 'art of writing.'

9) Unfair advantage for people who draw... They can earn extra startup points

Do you see a character picture as the only way to earn extra points? For I have listed other ideas. For starters, why not write a story about your character's past? I know, you may want to reveal that in a slow manner on the BZ itself. But if you write a lot then this may be the avenue you will want to pursue......and you can continue to write stories and they will be posted, but I'm only going to use one picture at a time.
Does that make sense? A picture of a character is not the "end all, be all" way to earn points.

Your question: "Will your players, in their private e-mail, stick to the rules, or will they toss them to the wind?" I cannot be in all places at all times. I would like it, as GM, to be involved in all story developments, but the BZ has never worked that way (and I won't impose on it like that). If two players decided to throw their skills out the window in favor of the 'art of writing,' my preference would be that they still be able to justify why something takes place if questioned.

10) If you have to do skills, why can't you just give them RELATIVE VALUES ~vs~ 100?

If a skill value of 100 meant 100%, then Blaster-100 would mean that they could never miss. Look at this example to see what I have in mind: Hothead Joe has a blaster skill of 100. His two opponents, Mickey and Minnie have it at 65 and 15, respectively. Compare their skills to Joe's. Joe has a 35 percent chance of outdrawing Mickey, while he has an 85 percent chance of taking out Minnie. That's where the numbers find their relativity.

I like the percentage idea, but after a while, everyone would have 100's in their skills, and we would have to spill over into the 200's, and the 300's. dividing one number into the other to find a comparative ratio will work better, IMO.

11) About the growing aspect...

It is not my fault that school keeps people busy, and I know that many are very busy all the time, but what I would like is that people write to me to describe their growth, or better yet, post it on the BZ. If you gain 20 experience points, and wish to develop your skills and learn a new ability, write out how you find your mentor and RP it. That is how I run my games in my living room. People just don't automatically gain a new skill, they have to RP the learning process.

12) SKILLS

You think I borrowed too heavily from the RPG? My friend, I converted the RPG to a simpler version that I felt would work for the BZ. Of course I borrowed heavily from it. But I think that while I included skills that are superfluous, there should be a full range of skills available. If you don't like a skill, don't buy it..

If there are any other questions, I will do my best to place them up here.
E-mail me if you have any question about anything you have read.

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