• Merge 7.7 back with parent wiki
• Update system7 wiki style

In 7.7, build is too finicky. Lots of tiny, unimportant decisions.

Idea: make it as similar to 5e as possible. Why? Partly because there are some decent ideas there, but also...it's the world's most popular RPG (probably). Wouldn't hurt to update the formula a bit.

New class list:

The purpose of classes is mainly to guide players through the process of selecting basic skills and configuring attributes so that they may be effective, and have some idea how best to employ their abilities. But, technically, classes are not required.

A class is just a pre-defined set of selections for Attributes and Skills. PCs are free to create their own class, or just go classless, selecting Attributes and Skills freely according to (INSERT NUMBERS HERE).

At level 1, you select a power source:

• Practitioner (subtypes: wizard, witch, warlock, druid, priest, etc...)
• Monster (subtypes: vampire, dragon, faery, etc...)
• Chosen (subtypes: slayer, wielder of legacy, hunter, mantle-wearer, etc...)
• Gearhead (subtypes: armor jockey, mad scientist, alchemist, etc...)

You can advance your power source at level 2, 4, 7, 10, 15, and 20.

• You can either advance an existing power source to the next rank (where available)
• Or gain a new power source at rank 1

Gone are the days of a set list of skills and powers. What? Are you kidding? No. This is 5e-compatible, remember? Any sort of proficiency in a skill, power, or (for that matter) a set of tools is just that: a proficiency. You get a certain number of them at character creation, and few more as you level up. All it means is that you add your proficiency bonus to rolls (or maybe something else involving partial success or whatever; rules TBD).

So what about heavy weapons? Dodge? Parry? Willpower? Basic stuff? Well, generally speaking, these are ability checks, with proficiency bonuses where appropriate. Same goes for your powers. Trippy, right? Sure simplifies the ol' skill list.

There is, however, a need for more specificity beyond just "I get a +5 to swing heavy axes around". This brings us to Feats.

A Feat represents a specific technique, built upon your basic skills and powers, but mastered to the point of reliability under pressure. Whereas anyone can run across a tightrope while being shot at by goblin arrows--provided a suitably fancy Dexterity check--you can swing dance on the motherfucker while playing the accordion, with no check involved. If anything, feats are a way to stop rolling checks for things, rather than enabling entirely new possibilities (although, in some cases, they make you more effective in scenarios where, with the right circumstance and skill checks, you already some lesser form of advantage; for example, attacking from stealth already grants advantage to attack, but with Sneak Attack, you can inflict critical damage).

Feats are powerful, and therefore ought to be expensive. 7.5 taught us that one per level is too much. One per 2 might not be so bad (especially if feat-happy PCs can gain a bonus feat or two with the right race selection).

When it comes to supernatural powers, they are essentially described as uses of a skill, complete with necessary DC targets. But there's usually a bit of english one can put on a power, that can only come with seasoned expertise--thus, certain powers may add possible feats to select.

Power List

There is still a master power list. For now, assume the Disciplines are proficiencies (i.e. you can become proficient in "Shadow" or "Fire", and therefore attempt to use any of the powers in that discipline via skill checks).

Powers are meant to be costly and risky, pretty much every time they are used. Said cost and risk can be mitigated through careful, methodical casting (i.e. rituals) or by crafting special items to aid in offhand use (i.e. magic items). It's also possible to "master" a specific power, reducing the cost and risk involved. (RULES TBD: will probably involve spending Skills or Feats to achieve)

Expertise and Mastery

Take a feat to gain Expertise. Take it later to gain Mastery. Or something.

If you have a power source that allows magic, and you have the right skills, you can attempt to do just about anything that skill ought to let you do, whether or not it was written down by the system designer.

However, these attempts should always be two things:

• Costly
• Risky

Cost

Definitely need Mana, Strain, or some combination thereof. Mana shouldn't just be a number that goes down with use and goes up with rest. That's too easy.

Brainstorming:

• Hit Points
• Ability damage
• Morality?
• Sanity

Strain

• Each time you use your power skills to manifest a power, you take Strain to one of your ability scores. (Different caster types have different options)
• Over-simplifying it: if it cost 5 mana in 7.5, it'll cost 5 Strain in 7.8.
• Strain doesn't do anything in-game until it meets or exceeds the ability score in question.
• Once it does that, it imposes disadvantage on all checks involving that ability score. Furthermore, once so strained, an ability score cannot be further strained until it recovers.
• Strain recovers at a rate of 1 per ability score per long rest.

It should be quite possible, in difficult times, for practitioners to run out of available Strain. Thus, every option of Practitioner should offer at least one "lifeline", an open option for more power, in place of Strain, should they choose to exercise it. Of course, there is always a Price.

Risk

Unless you've mastered a power, there should always be an element of risk. Power uses should have DCs that are non-trivial, and even the most basic use of power, if attempted under duress, has some chance to go awry. At a simple level, this means all non-mastered power use is a skill check, and all skill checks can fail (regardless of DC, at least at non-epic level). Rebalancing the numbers ought to help.

General rules for partial success and total failure can guide most of these mechanics.

Mastery

Expertise and Mastery make failing checks less likely. Further, each specific power should specify ways in which Expertise and Mastery reduce risk, along with allowing new uses and techniques. A special "mastery" rule beyond that is probaby unnecessary.

Certain types of practitioner (i.e. Sorcerer) will probably have special mechanics for mastering powers, such that skill check failure is little to no concern for them.

Magic Item Crafting

All practitioners should be able to expend material resources to aid in their craft--rules should be specified for how this works. The basic guidelines:

• For a reasonable amount of resources, one can craft a Spell Focus, which aids in the casting of a specific spell (i.e. power), eliminating variability (i.e. skill check failure chance), and perhaps even providing some or all motive energy (mitigating or eliminating Strain).
• Obviously, the more useful the item, the more it should cost.
• All such items are expendable. Truly permanent items (artifacts) exist, but cannot be crafted with run-of-the-mill magical crafting skills, and typically require a portion of the crafter's soul (or equivalent energy) to keep them running.
• Techniques exist (read: feats) to customize such items to your exacting needs. For instance, some items can remain passive until needed (such as defensive spells woven into clothing or armor), some might trigger in certain scenarios (i.e. wards and traps), and others might augment your own physical actions (i.e. weapon enchants). Items can even be crafted to be useful to those without knowledge of your powers, or even those with no magical ability at all. However, the cheapest and most efficient enchantments are those made by you, for you to use.

(Meta note: mine the old Spellcraft skill/feat list, the S5 "enchantments", and of course the good ol' item crafting feats/skills)

Powers, like Feats, are things anybody (with magical ability--see below) can learn. Any wizard can learn any Power, assuming access to the underlying knowledge, and the willingness and ability to master it.

Conversely, Power Sources (better name, anyone?) are in-built, part of your physical existence. You aren't always born with them, per se, but, for all intents and purposes, you may as well have been. The abilities they grant cannot be easily taken away. Relative to skills, feats, and powers, they are reliable, not too risky, and (depending on many factors) not as costly. This, of course, makes them very valuable--which is why they are so expensive, from a character build point of view.

By way of example, here is a quick brainstorming list of abilities that should be granted by Power Source, not by skills, feats, or powers:

• dragon rage, shifting, breath weapon (barring feat-based improvements)
• vampire fangs, super speed, super strength
• soulgazing, sensing vestigia, death curses
• manifesting, shaman transformation, avatar (divine magic), death knight powers, etc (System 6 path abilities, mostly)
• being an elemental, outsider, fey, etc