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.