Nova Sol Evangelion; unstable teenage pilots in undead cyborg warmachines

Hey everyone, thanks for taking a look at my thread!

I've recently been working on a *World hack with which to play an Evangelion game, focusing mostly on representation of canonical 'magic' effects of the AT Field, the berserk state, extremely dangerous combat, and struggling within your relationships. Tying it all together into a cohesive whole has been the primary labor of this work, mostly because there are so many separate events and effects that I feel should have ripples throughout play.

At this point the things I've drawn and altered from other *World games are...
... combat and damage mechanics from The Regiment
... stats and moves from Apocalypse World, Dungeon World, Mass Effect World, and fan-made playbooks for them
... equipment and customization from Adeptus Evangelion v2.5
... Strings from Monsterhearts
... some dice mechanics from Magical Burst

Something that is a big step away from *World games is a sort of 'soft' playbook idea; not only do you have background effects, but you also have your career moves, Evangelion equipment and Unit Type effects, and weapon or equipment use. Whether or not this idea will blow up in my face, I'm not sure yet! Play-testing begins as soon as I can get an opening in my schedule, so we'll see. Some of the playbooks are still in the idea stage at this point, too, but there are certainly enough to play with the basic mechanics.

Oh, and I cut out individual XP - you advance after every major combat sortie. Because Evangelion is quite thematically arranged around each Angel (18 in the original series), I thought it appropriate to have Advancement based around those milestones.

At this point I would really like it if more experienced *World players and hackers could take a look over what I have so far. Is it too much? Too little? Too many or too few subsystems?

Thank you for your attention!

The full current version can be found here: NSE v0.3.

The Stats

• Nerve: You are disciplined, graceful, calm, and cool. You are a person of intention and subtlety. You embody the Super-Ego, and your archetype is Rei.
• Sharp: You are considerate, methodical, and educated. You are a person of introspection and habits, and embody the Ego. Your archetype is Shinji.
• Contact: You are inquisitive, exploratory, and empathetic. You are a person of emotion and intuition, and embody Libido, the life-drive. Your archetype is Misato.
• Spine: You are aggressive, forceful, and powerful. You are a person of instinct and passion, and embody the Id. Your archetype is Asuka.

The Basic Moves

These moves are mostly lifted directly from their original resources, however the Oversynch options come from the 'Overcharge' rules of Magical Burst, by Ewen Cluney. Not all moves have Oversynch at this point, and may not in the final version.

Assault
When you attack an enemy, roll+Spine. On a 10+ you damage the enemy and avoid their attack. At your option, you may choose to do +1d of attack but expose yourself to the enemy's own attack. On a 7-9, roll your attack and choose one:

• You have to maneuver to make the attack, placing you in danger of the Magi’s choice (damage in return, environmental risk, in-plug sync danger, etc.)
• You have to take what you can get: -1d attack dice.
• You have to make a few attempts; reduce ammo by one.

- Oversynch: On a 13+, you roll your damage dice, avoid their attack, and impress, dismay, or frighten your enemy, and may still choose to do +1d of attack but expose yourself to the enemy's own attack.

Protect
When you stand in defense of a person, item, or location under attack, roll+Contact. On a 10+, hold 3. On a 7–9, hold 1. So long as you stand in defense, when you or the thing you defend is attacked you may spend hold, 1-to-1, on the following options:

• Redirect an attack from the thing you defend to yourself.
• Halve the attack’s effect or damage.
• Open up the attacker to an ally, giving that ally +1 forward against the attacker
• Roll Incidental attack dice against the enemy.

- Oversynch: On a 13+, you may choose to hold 3, as above, or gain a clear advantage over your enemy.
- Special: If you protect an ally from an attack that would have critically wounded or killed them, they may choose to remove a point of Tension that they hold over you, or hold +1 Tension.

Defy
When you act despite an imminent threat, roll+Nerve. On a 10+, do what you set out to without the threat coming to bear. On a 7-9, you stumble, hesitate, or flinch; the Magi will offer you a worse outcome, hard bargain, or ugly choice.

Help/Hinder
When you assist or interfere with another on a roll, say how you do so and roll+ bond stat, whichever of the two is appropriate to your action.  On a hit, they take +1 (help) or -2 (interfere) to that roll. When helping, you may instead choose to calm them down by rolling +Contact, healing a stress critical box. On a 7-9, you also expose yourself to fire, danger, retribution, or cost.
- Hint: Use Nerve for level-headed thinking and advice, Spine to push or pull them along, Contact to exploit your relationship with them, and Sharp to use whatever leverage you have.

Dominate
To be the boss, force another person to do what you want, or tell them what's what, roll+Spine. On a 10-12 hold 2, and on a 7-9 hold 1. Your target may hold +1 Tension over your bond to defy you (superseding your dominate move if they gain a strong hit). If you do not share a bond, they may create a bond by opposing you. Spend your hold 1-to-1 on the following results.

• Take something from them.
• They do or say what they think you want.
• Take +1 forward against them.
• You harm them.
• You impress, dismay, or frighten your target.

On a 13+ hold 1 for the options below, or hold 3 for the options above.

• They won't do anything against you for the rest of the scene.
• You may kill them.
  

Discern Reality
When you closely study a person or situation, roll+Sharp. On a 10+, hold 2. On a 7-9 hold 1. You may spend your hold 1-for-1 to ask the following questions of the Magi or targeted player-character. Take +1 forward when acting on the answers.

• What is about to happen?
• What should I be on the lookout for?
• What here is not what it appears to be?
• How can I get you to ____?
• What do you want right now?
• What is Eva to you?

Open your Soul
When you open your heart to the reality of Eva, roll+Contact. On a hit, the Magi will tell you a new and interesting detail about the current situation, and might ask you a question or two; answer them. On a 10+, the Magi will give you a valuable detail. On a 7-9 the Magi will give you an impression. If you already know all there is to know, the Magi will tell you that (which can be helpful in its own way).
- Oversynch: On a 14+, you may ask any question of the Magi; they must answer truthfully, reveal an alternate secret to you, or you may choose to state something as truth.

Keep it Together
When you need to keep it together in the face of physical or emotional trauma, overwhelming violence, horror, or suffering, choose the action you hope you don't do from the list below and roll+Nerve. On a 10+, you keep calm and carry on, and do none of them. On a 7-9, you or the Magi chooses one of the options you didn't select. On a failure, you do the thing you hoped you wouldn’t.

• Freeze up, let my friends down, fall behind.
• Panic, disengage, flee.
• Get confused, lost, leave myself vulnerable.
• Collapse, let go, give up.
• Lose control, go wild, do unintended harm.

Other Moves

What the heck is Oversynch, right?

Each Synchronization Ratio depth is listed with a Depth Name, the fictional Depth Effect on the pilot and Evangelion, the Synchronization Ratio value required to reach each depth level, and the AT Field value associated with that depth.

During Evangelion combat, if either of the dice rolled in a move show 6, roll another d6 and add it to your original result, and continue to do so for as long as your newly rolled dice show 6’s. These are called Synch Ratio dice. However, when this occurs, increase your Synchronization Ratio value by one point for each new Synch Ratio die as you grow closer to the soul of Evangelion.

As your Synchronization Ratio grows higher, and you grow closer to the soul of your Evangelion, your power and vulnerability rise as one. If your Evangelion suffers a critical wound while at...

• ... Safe Depth Limit or higher, your pilot suffers feedback as they experience the same pain on their own body and must attempt to keep it together in the face of critical wounds.
• ... Absolute Depth Limit, feedback is so strong as to require hospitalization for nerve-scarring after the battle. The pilot is likely mentally scarred as well; discuss the specifics with your Magi.
• ... Terminal Depth Limit, the pilot’s body suffers the same injuries as their Evangelion. Your pilot may be crippled or dead upon plug-retrieval.

It is unknown what occurs in the Great Beyond Depth as the Magi Supercomputers have provided no useful data. Loss of bodily form for the pilot and the breakdown of normal physical laws surrounding the Evangelion are common hypotheses, though whether the pilot’s mind remains in control is oft-debated.

Your Synchronization Ratio does have some small benefit when higher, however. You are closer to the soul of your Evangelion, and more able to put to use its AT Field. At Operational Depth and higher, you gain access to the AT Field move.

And that move is...

Use AT Field
When you bend reality to your will with the power of the Eva, roll+AT Field value. Describe the effect your AT Field has on your Evangelion or your environment. Using the AT Field this way can never deal damage directly, or heal damage directly. On a 10+, the effect helps your efforts, but choose one. On a 7-9, it helps, but choose two.

• The effect won’t last long; you need to hurry to take advantage of it.
• It affects either much more or much less than you wanted it to.
• It has unforeseen side-effects and may draw unwanted attention.
• It saps your energy, and you take -1 forward to your next roll.

On a miss, something went wrong. Your effect took shape, but you will likely regret it.
- Oversynch: On a 13+, choose none of the above if you are not dealing damage directly. You may also choose to heal or harm with this move, with attack dice equaling your AT Field value (see Synchronization Ratio table) and two weapon tags of your choice. Attack Intensity is determined as usual. If healing, roll your damage dice in reverse in the AI, healing what you ‘hit’. If you choose to heal or deal damage, choose one of the following; the choice you make may affect your rolled dice, at the Magi’s discretion.

• The effect is immensely powerful; you lose your footing.
• The effect is precise; you miss noticing something important.
• The effect is long-lasting; you lose track of something you are attending to.
• The effect is subtle; you lose grip of something you are holding.

On a 16+, you may create any effect you desire, using your AT Field value for any pertinent dice or statistics.

Going Berserk
When creating a character, you choose your berserk type, which includes a trigger condition, a 'what happens next', and a custom bonus. This is the move to actually determine how well that goes for the pilot.

Berserk
Your Evangelion goes berserk. You cannot stop it. Roll+Contact. On a 13+, you reach apotheosis, and retain perfect control of the monster you are; hold 4. On a 10+ you retain your mind and self; hold 2. On a 7-9, hold 1 only. On a 6- you go unconscious and gain none of the options below, though your Evangelion still goes berserk and is completely out of control...

• You retain control of your Evangelion’s target.
• You do not suffer physical harm.
• You do not suffer mental harm.
• Your allies are not damaged by your berserk rage.
• You succeed at a single simple goal of your choice, with the Magi’s approval.

Recovery
The more often you berserk, the more dangerous it is. After every berserk, but before you exit your Evangelion, roll+ number of times your pilot has been within a berserk Evangelion. On a 13+, you lose yourself entirely. On a 10-12, you lose a part of yourself. On a 7-9, you come out changed, but otherwise fine. On a 6-, nothing happens.

The last really unique move I have is the Hedgehogs' Dilemma, which follows:

Hedgehogs' Dilemma
The only way to reduce held Tension over you from someone whom with you share a bond is to show your true feelings, such as by sharing an emotionally or physically intimate moment with a character with whom you have a bond. The moment could be frank conversation, desperate last breaths, consoling someone while mourning another, or anything else that both players agree is appropriate to trigger the following move.

Revealing your true self can be painful or frightening, and, ironically, those with more vulnerable hearts are more easily able to do so. This is the only move that benefits from a low stat value, and where it is beneficial to get a lower roll result.

When you show your true feelings, roll+Nerve. On a 10+ you grew too close, and it hurt you; hold +1 Tension over your bond with them. On a 7-9, their Tension remains the same, but choose one:

• You take +1 forward and so do they, bolstered by the truth.
• You may revise one of the stats on your bond with them as your true feelings change your relationship with them.
• They may revise one of the stats on their bond with you as your true feelings change how they think of you.
• They may revise the description of their bond with you.
• You both take -1 forward in moves affecting one another, for good or ill.

On a 6-, you choose one of the above, and they hold -1 Tension over your bond.


The full Tension rules can be seen in the main document.


This is a reverse stat move. I made it this way to enforce a dichotomy between protecting oneself from harm (Nerve is used for defy and keep it together) and allowing others to get close to you, emotionally. The fear of emotional pain in this case directly keeps one from letting others into your heart, but also keeps you safer from being hurt as a pilot.