Characters, Dice, and Determination

      Character creation in this game will be very flexible. I am going to have rules for creating a character from scratch including choosing backgrounds, a focus, and development for a career path as well as balancing stats. For the people who are lazy, new to RPGs, or just need a quick character there will be rules to roll against a table similar to how you would create a NPC in this game. Finally for those who are completely new to RPGs and would be overwhelmed by character creation there will be maybe 12 pre-made characters who will be staring in the fiction throughout the book. This will give new players to the game a way to see what is possible with a finished character and the fiction will illustrate game mechanics instead of boring blurbs about game mechanics. 

      Right now I am still trying to figure out the backgrounds that will be included and some examples of focuses as well. Backgrounds will be like archetypes for the character where there will be multiple options. For example if you were to choose investigator as a background you would get a bonus to perception since investigators are extra perceptive. Now the focus would be the type of investigator you would want to play. An investigative reporter for example would have abilities that involve communication skills, recording information, and possibly getting photographic evidence. While another player might want to play an investigator that is a detective. Detectives know how to spot a criminal or tell if someone is lying. They would know how to handle a firearm and hold their own in a fist fight. This wouldn't limit the player to only these type of characters though. An investigator could be any type of character the player can come up with that involves investigation. I will soon have a definitive list of the backgrounds available.

     A.T.L.A.S. will be using a modified 3d6 system. Each die will represent the 3 major stats of the game which are mind, body, and soul. So I am calling this the MBS die mechanic for now. Mind and Body will each have 3 sub-stats.

Mind: Intellect, Willpower, Perception

Body: Strength, Agility, and Health

Soul will not have any sub-stats but will have multiple uses in the game. It's function will be a combination of things like the equivalent of Hit Points (there will not be HP in this game), function similar to the luck stat in other games, and even have a purpose when a character tries to do something heroic. 

      Right now the roadmap for this project is as follows:

• Complete the mechanics for dice resolution and make sure the math is play tested well.
• Figure out what the exact character background will be that are used for character creation.
• Write all the rules for character creation.
• Make a couple of the pre-built characters to play test some more.
• Write the rules for gameplay itself which will include things like the parts of a turn, rules for chases, combat, etc.

So this is where I'm at right now. Once I get the above complete I will be putting together a quick start guide to be able to test these rules out a little more.

Introduction

A.T.L.A.S. is a pulp themed game I am developing. It is inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, Jules Verne, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and so many other incredible writers of the weird, fantastic, and imaginative adventure tales. When I began thinking about how the game would be I thought about the properties of the pulp stories and came up with the following:

• Good and Evil are Black and White. There are no shades of gray. 
• The protagonist may make appearances in multiple stories but there is no real chronological order. 
• Geography is not always accurate in historical settings.
• Science it not consulted when technology is invented. (Cosmonauts wearing glass bowls over their head to travel in space, automatons have no obvious power source, etc.)
• A protagonist could be in multiple stories that have no continuity. 

And the most important thing....

• Anything could happen and nothing is impossible that the mind cannot imagine.

So taking all of that into consideration I came up with some of the following features of the game:

• Adventures will be episodic. They could easily be as short as a one shot or strung together to develop a lifelong campaign.
• Due to the episodic nature of the game a player could miss a night without their character lagging behind the other players. The player could bring their character to another groups game easily. A player can make a new character for each game session and go back to an old character for the next session.
• Player creativity will be rewarded more than dice rolls to overcome obstacles, although the luck of the dice roll will still play its part.
• Character generation will be fairly quick.
• There will be no experience levels. Instead the character will develop by completing adventures. 
• The setting will leave room for adventures on earth around the time of the industrial revolution where the world is still very unexplored, there will also be a hollow earth that will be similar to a low magic fantasy setting (there will be dwarves, elves, and fairies but they are exceedingly rare), and of course adventures in space. The characters could move between these settings from one adventure to the next. Anything can happen that the mind can imagine.

Another aspect of the game is the different ways it could be played. It is well suited for 2 players or a large group. It could be played the classic way with just pen and graph paper or with miniatures. There will be rules for miniature skirmish games and even an option for short solo play. 

I have a ton of work ahead of me now. Most of the game mechanics are just theory right now but I will post as I get more completed.