Notes for Forms game

CURRENT SIMPLE SUMMARY OF GAME MECHANICS

So, everyone starts with a number of d10s, let's say 5d10 for now.  Your average person will have generic bonuses to this roll, both in the form of more d10s and in flat bonuses/penalties such as a +X or -X.  PCs have undergone a process that throws their essences out of whack, aligning them with one of the five dice categories.  This gives them a pool of dice they can draw from to cast spells or augment their abilities  in line with their moulding type.  Whenever they do so, the dice move from their pool to the GMs, and he can use them against the PC when they make tests in line with their opposing type.

Difficulty is currently communicated in dice pools, so when trying to break down a door, you roll against the door's dice.  Easy would be 3d10 for example, so your average dude would be rolling 5d10+(Strength bonus) and trying to beat the door's 3d10 roll.




PLATONIC SOLIDS
120 total possible value used to compare.

30d4, Tetrahedron, primary spread from 64 to 86 (1.31% to 1.31%) http://anydice.com/program/b43

20d6, Cube, primary spread from 57 to 83 (1.25% to 1.25%) http://anydice.com/program/b66

15d8, Octahedron, primary spread from 53 to 82 (1.21% to 1.21%) http://anydice.com/program/5e94

10d12, Dodecahedron, primary spread from 48 to 81 (1.12%  to 1.12%) http://anydice.com/program/65e8

6d20, Icosahedron, primary spread from 44 to 82 (1.19% to 1.19%) http://anydice.com/program/650



BOOK OF FORMS, CHAPTER ONE

1.1 As has been said before, the state of the universe is one of Order,
1.2 Set such that no single entity is without position or shape,
1.3 So follows the patterns such as those of man, bird, beast, plant, et cetera,
1.4 Such is normal, and self-evident, and most think entirely natural,
1.5 But few truly grasp the extent of such Order, its greater implications, its Form,
1.6 Such understanding is beyond most for in its comprehension lies great power.

2.1 Other philosophers, scholars, teachers, all have noted order exists,
2.2 Knowledge is, after all, widely regarded as worth knowing for the sake of knowing,
2.3 And so such things as the anatomy of man, and bird, and beast, and plant, and et cetera,
2.4 They are known to us, we have tools, we have our minds, we have our eyes,
2.5 We can readily see the various forms they take, the blood and organs and skin and feathers and sap,
2.6 And we say that we know these things, but we do not grasp their Form.

3.1 A Form is such a thing as to imply more than seeing or observing or sketching various shapes in clay or wax or dirt,
3.2 Nor can it be said to encompass understanding mundane facts, such as that the stomach draws life from food.
3.3 Form implies understanding on a basis of use, of practicality, of manipulation,
3.4 Such that one who understands the Form of the stomach might easily cause it to digest things toxic to it in safety,
3.5 Or perhaps instead cause the growth of ulcers or cancerous tissues, as destruction also requires mastery in such a case,
3.6 Forces in this world exist on a spectrum, as has been noted by those who see the world as elements.

4.1 The elements are often listed in an Order of their own, Usually categorized by some nature that is derived from their Form,
4.2 Such as complexity, consistency of composition (purity) or occurrence (predictability), or concentration in familiar things.
4.3 These orders are often adopted for the sake of convenience or out of convention, I will refer to them as follows;
4.4 Void, Air, Fire, Water, Earth,
4.5 For this is the order in which they began, inverse to our ability to comprehend,
4.6 As the farther we move from the safe familiarity of home the more foreign and unnatural we become to those who knew us before.

5.1 Revulsion and suspicion are not entirely unwarranted reactions to those who accumulate knowledge,
5.2 Such reactions are, after all, the nature of survival, and it requires a special sort of person to ignore them.
5.3 Still, these are not constants, they are not based in Form, they are merely reactions to it,
5.4 And as all such creations are destined to change, morph, redirect, to mutate into something else reactionary,
5.5 But even change is a Form, a natural state of progression towards some unknowable yet predictable future.
5.6 The Order, the Form of this world is comprehensible, and thus controllable, as follows in basic:

6.1 Space, All-Encompassing and impossibly vast, the rest sit within its 20 boundaries. Icosahedron.
6.2 Dust, which floats weightlessly in clusters at the 12 planes of the heavens. Dodecahedron.
6.3 Stars, blazing magnificently beyond our reach.  The eight constellations burn passionately from the night sky.  Octahedron.
6.4 The Celestial Bodies, following which flow across the heavens more-or-less in time with the 6 months of our seasonal cycle.  Cube.
6.5 Two Suns at day, two Moons at night.  Their slow, steady pace does not falter or wear down.  Tetrahedron.
6.6 Our World, familiar, predictable, orderly.  Smooth and flawless with or without us. the Shape of This World is a Sphere.

tl;dr: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Kepler-solar-system-1.png

Relations:
Icosahedron; Void (Peace/Emptiness); Universe; Mind (In the sense of illogical feats, 'magic')
Dodecahedron; Air (Acceptance/Rejection; Dust; Lungs and Mouth (Speechcraft, Illusion)
Octahedron; Fire (Love/Hate); Stars; Stomach and Entrails (Energy)
Cube; Water (Purity/Contamination); Planets; Blood and Lymph (Health and Sickness, Recovery)
Tetrahedron; Earth (Stability/Rigidity); Suns and Moons; Mind (In the sense of rapid and accurate processing of facts, speed and accuracy)
Sphere (d10); Order (Structure); Earth; Union (The body working together)


Pilz: basically you can gain power via a process called 'moulding'
Pilz: wherein you forcibly embed Forms into a part of your body or nature
Pilz: but once you do that, it is inextricably tied to that part of you
Pilz: so someone who ties a FOrm to their voice, for instance
Pilz: every word they speak could set of a chain of disaster in their surrounding area
Pilz: so you've got to be very careful about how that works
Pilz: right now this is sort of up in the air
Pilz: as to how that works
Pilz: but the general theme I want to work with is that grasping some part of the truth to such a degree requires sacrifice
Pilz: or if not sacrifice, embracing some degree of serious change in yourself

Example structure:
Make a PC, choose a class/archetype/whatever
you roll d10s which are modified somehow (see below) by other rolled dice, the size of the other dice depends on your class.

like 5d10+(Level)d(Class)

Except not that, because that would not work.

Might be more like 5d10+(value determined by similar total possible values)d(Class)

3d10 +/- (Dice)
[10:21:12 PM] Pilz: 5d10 = success rate
[10:21:33 PM] Pilz: 5d4 or 4d6...1d20
[10:23:09 PM] Pilz: 5d10 = 30
[10:23:23 PM] Pilz: 2d20
[10:23:45 PM] Pilz: fail<30<succeed
[10:24:02 PM] Pilz: fail=penalty
[10:24:09 PM] Pilz: success=bonus
[10:24:30 PM] Pilz: 25 or less, fail, 35 or more, bonus
[10:25:12 PM] Pilz: 5d10 = 30
[10:25:16 PM] Pilz: d10s
[10:25:23 PM] Pilz: 4d10
[10:25:33 PM] Pilz: ???
[10:26:48 PM] Pilz: 3d10 = easy
5d10 = med
8d10 = hard
[10:26:52 PM | Edited 10:49:04 PM] Pilz: 10d10 = Lunatic

using dice things above....

you get a 'pool' of special dice which you can spend in-session to influence rolls, but then the GM gets them and can spend them against you in relevant situations
Can also spend dice in the same way to activate certain powerful abilities.