The Sprawl: XP

My playtests at Big Bad Con crystalised my dissatisfaction with the current stat highlighting XP system that I'm using in The Sprawl.

I'm planning to go the TSOY route and use some variation of keys. At the moment I'm thinking each character will have a key and the mission will have a key. This will also provide more structural guidance for the kinds of things that happen in different kinds of mission. My intention is that they should be relatively modular or modifiable so that if the MC devises a mission that comprises, say Wetwork, Extraction, and Sabotage, then different parts of different keys might apply at different times.

More to come as time allows.

I playtested using TSOY Keys straight yesterday, and it worked well, so I'm definitely going to head the that direction for the next iteration.

what's the status on a new version btw? I'm deeply interested )

I have a couple of upcoming deadlines, so the next version is in a holding pattern at the moment. I have a large pile of cyberpunk media to work through once I get back on the wagon though, so I'm excited to do so.

I also need a good flavourful replacement name for "keys"; suggestions welcome!

aspect, face, facet, angle, aim, approach, perspective, slant. Just from a quick glance at a thesaurus. You could say that characters have aims and missions have approaches and when they align... magic? Or call everything an "angle". *shrug* Take or leave. I don't really 100% understand the mechanic, so I might be off the path. :)

I was trying to think along the cyber angle, but something that gets at the punk aesthetic might work well actually, since the punk is the most human part of the genre... Thanks!

(It's also good to know that a proper explaination of Keys won't be preaching to the choir!)

If the keys have to do with the mission, maybe call them Directives?

Ah, that's good! Thanks, woodsman!

Here we go, the current draft of part of the new advancement system: http://www.ardens.org/2013/06/advancement-directives-and-personal-directives/