Possible Changes to the Character Sheet?

[Howl]

Hey guys!

So I was thinking. V20 and W20 made some changes to the character traits. I don't want to copy those systems exactly, but I was considering making a couple of small changes to the standard abilities on the Mage character sheet.

Basically what I'm proposing is this:

-Remove Dodge. All rolls to dodge in combat will be made with Athletics (as with W20.)
-Remove Law. This knowledge will fall under the Academics umbrella (you'd need high Academics to get a Law degree anyway.)
-Swap Technology from Skills to Knowledges (again, as with W20.)

This leaves 1 open Talent slot and 1 open Skill slot.

-Add Animal Ken to Talents (I know it's normally a skill, but I think it fits fine as a Talent.)
-Add Larceny to Skills.

The reason I picked these two was because, while they can be accomplished with other traits, neither of them really fall easily under any of the standard abilities. But that said, if anyone has an alternate suggestion (Empathy, perhaps,) I'm happy to listen.

Of course, this is just an idea. I won't make any changes unless I get at least a majority approval - possibly not even then. So let me know what you think and we can go from there.

Regarding changes to active characters: I won't do anything without warning you guys first, and if such a time comes, I'll ask everyone to e-mail me with whatever changes they need to make to their sheets (swapping points from Dodge into a different ability, etc.) It's an easy fix right now, since no one's spent any experience yet.

[CourtCat]

My only issue with this is that, as I understand it, there's an M20 in the works already. Chances are good that these streamline-y changes are made anyway, but it might have gone a different way instead. And, when M20 comes out won't we be switching to it? Regardless, I voted that yes it's a good idea.

[mnemosyne]

I like the changes, they make sense to me!

[Shayla]

I say go for it! If they've made those changes in all the other systems, then I think its fairly safe to say they will continue the trend.

[CourtCat]

(My big thing is actually Linguistics ability vs. Language merit. Ah, well!)

[Howl]

(05-08-2013, 03:06 PM)CourtCat Wrote: My only issue with this is that, as I understand it, there's an M20 in the works already. Chances are good that these streamline-y changes are made anyway, but it might have gone a different way instead. And, when M20 comes out won't we be switching to it? Regardless, I voted that yes it's a good idea.

We may indeed switch to M20 when it comes out, though I can't say for sure until I see what they do with it. That said, it may be a while before that happens, and even in such an event, I'd try to make the transition as non-jarring as possible. And of course I'd talk to you guys and get a consensus before I did anything. Personally, I'd rather do what I can do now to improve things and not worry about what may or may not happen in the future, but I totally understand this concern.

Shayla Wrote:I say go for it! If they've made those changes in all the other systems, then I think its fairly safe to say they will continue the trend.

Well these changes aren't quite the same as what they've done previously. I think it's safe to assume that they'll get rid of Dodge and move Technology to Knowledges. They may also add Larceny to skills, since they did that in W20. But the rest of it was just my own personal judgment call. As for dropping Law instead of Linguistics (which is what they did in W20,) I just felt that made more sense for Mage. Law has the potential to be used in dice situations (rather than just background and narrative) in WtA a lot more often than in MtA. Whereas I've rolled Linguistics in MtA numerous times in varying situations.

But, that said...

CourtCat Wrote:(My big thing is actually Linguistics ability vs. Language merit. Ah, well!)

Yeah, I think we may just be of different minds on this one. But I understand your line of thinking. Linguistics would be difficult to convert easily if we do decide to change it. But I promise, if such an event occurs, I will figure out a way to make it fair and not screw anyone over. (Your character won't lose any languages - or anything else.)

Personally, I'm still very much in favor of leaving Linguistics as it is. I feel like the merit system, while fine for characters who just want one or two additional languages and have no particular background in linguistics itself, makes things really difficult for characters with a strong language background. That said! It might work well as a background instead (which would solve both problems.) As I mentioned, I'm happy with it as it is, because I actually like to use linguistics as a multi-purpose trait - not just a repository for known languages. But if I'm in the minority on this one, I'd certainly be willing to consider re-vamping it into a background.

If anyone else feels strongly about this, feel free to let me know. Otherwise it's probably going to stay as it is.

[Howl]

Ok, it looks like we've got a unanimous vote from all the current and soon-to-be mage players, so I'm going to go ahead and close the poll. Look for an announcement tomorrow regarding my final decision!