A System for Lunatics

"Lunacy n. Intermittent insanity once believed to be related to the phases of the moon"

--Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary

I know that a lot of you have been eagerly awaiting the next mechanics discussion. In fact, as I have polled various readers about the topic they would like to see, a discussion of game mechanics has been consistently requested. However, I have been somewhat coy to reveal further mechanics details since my "Making of a Hero" column, where I first introduced my ideas for the Alyria system. Believe me, though, there has been good reason.

Soon after the "Making of a Hero" column was posted, I was approached by my co-conspirator with a system proposal. He sold me completely on his idea. My imagination was captured and I immediately adopted his proposal for Alyria. The system is called Diverse Lunacy and, if I may say this without sounding arrogant, I think that it is a step into new territory in game design.

Ah, here is my co-conspirator. No, take off that mask! Much better. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my distinct privilege to introduce my co-conspirator, Scarlet Jester. He has taken over lead mechanics design on Alyria, and he has been doing an excellent job so far.

So, what is so special about the Diverse Lunacy system? It is rather simple. There are no numbers in the Diverse Lunacy system. Instead, every attribute and trait is described using the phases of the moon.

I will pause to allow you to collect your thoughts.

Yes, I know that this is a strange idea. You may think that Jester and I are crazy for even considering it. However, there are very solid reasons for this design choice.

The initial impetus behind the design of Diverse Lunacy was the search for a symbol-based game mechanic. So many systems use numbers in so many different ways that they have lost their intuitive feel. Just what does a Strength of 5 mean? That's pretty good if you're using the Storyteller system but lousy if you're playing D&D. Let's pick on Storyteller some more. Just what does a roll of three successes mean? Certainly there are answers, but they are not immediately apparent from the system results.

Now take a look at Diverse Lunacy. What if I said that a certain character had a Force of Crescent? Better yet, let us say that, on the character sheet, an actual Crescent moon was written down. Now, when you glance at the character sheet, you can immediately grasp how Forceful the character is. There's only a sliver of moon showing, so this character is fairly weak. A Force of Full, on the other hand, would be wonderful, and again, this could be intuitively grasped just by looking at the character sheet. Even better, the phases of the moon are wonderful for describing Virtue and the moral Traits that are the basis for characters in Alyria. In this case, the light or darkness of the moon indicates if the Trait is good or evil and how intense the Trait is. So, a character with a Virtue of Crescent is slanted towards evil, while a character with a Full Moon Virtue is a saint. Again, the use of the moon phases aids in the intuitive understanding of the character.

This intuitive feel extends to action resolution as well. Alyria makes use of a special Moon Die with the phases of the moon on it. When two characters are in conflict, each chooses the Attribute that fits his current action and then rolls a Moon Die, attempting to meet or exceed the other character's Attribute. If both players succeed, then whoever has the higher Attribute wins. If someone rolls a Full Moon, then he wins, regardless of Attributes.

Let's say that Shiva and Angela are squaring off for a fight. Shiva has a Force of Half-Moon, while Angela has a Force of Gibbous. Both will roll a Moon Die. If one of them rolls a Full Moon, then she will win automatically and the results are narrated as appropriate. If Shiva rolls a Gibbous or better without Angela rolling a Half-Moon or better, then Shiva wins. Angela wins if she can roll a Half-Moon or better, because even if Shiva gets a Gibbous, Angela's higher Attribute wins the day for her.

Traits are incorporated simply. If the character has a Trait that is appropriate to the situation, then the character can activate it to change the potential outcome. This works differently for good Traits than evil Traits. If a character activates a good Trait (Gibbous or Full Moon), then the character uses that Trait in place of his Attribute. If a character activates an evil Trait (Crescent or New Moon), then his opponent uses that Trait in place of his Attribute.

So, in the previous example, let's say that Shiva has the Protective Trait at Gibbous. If it were appropriate to the situation, she could activate that Trait and use its Gibbous rating instead of her Force of Half-Moon. Now, instead, let's say that Angela has the Rage Trait at Crescent. If she were to activate this Trait, Shiva would use the Crescent rating instead of her normal Force rating.

Simple enough, isn't it? Yet, it is profound. The system slides into play when necessary and then fades into the background when it is not needed. However, there is one more reason why Diverse Lunacy appealed to me when Scarlet Jester first presented it to me. Although my previous system attempted captured most of what I wanted, in retrospect it feels a bit dry. The softly glowing moons of Diverse Lunacy are more aesthetically pleasing to me than mere numbers, suggesting the romantic melancholy that pervades Alyria. Rather than invoking mathematical precision, the Diverse Lunacy draws on symbolism and poetry, joining itself seamlessly to the world that I am crafting. You may think that I am a lunatic, but every time I see my Moon Die, I feel a thrill of excitement. More than any of my other system attempts, this feels so right and good. I almost cannot describe it.

There is much more system to share with you, but I am out of space. For now, trust that design work continues apace, and that somewhere in the vast mists of the imagination, Alyria continues to coalesce, my dearest dream slowly, surely, coming into existence. I am glad that I am able to share it with all of you.