Anyone have suggestions for stats/stat names for a TRON insired hack? I’m looking for computer-y, internet-y, or tech-y sounding words.
So far I’ve got Accuracy (self-explanitory), Interface (for technical stuff like manipuating the Grid), and Network (for social interactions with other Programs).
I’m looking for one or two more. Something for a body/strength/hard stat and a willpower/resolve/cool stat.
Integrity and Aggression?
None of these really feel Tron-y, to me – Tron was more likely to have silly, colourful, short, pop-y, 80s “hip” names for stuff. You know, like “rez”/”derez.”
Have you watched Tron: Uprising? Might be a good source of terms to use.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084827/quotes
Just a thought.
I like Integrity, but you’re right. It doesn’t sound that TRON-y. I was thinking about “Resolution” for a strength/resolve/willpower stat because of the double meaning. Not that resolution (as in screen resolution) is part of the stat’s use, but it sounds computer-y.
I’ve started watching TRON: Uprising, Alex Norris and am a few episodes in so far. It’s enjoyable. I’ll have to go back and watch the original TRON, too. Including TRON: Legacy, those three pieces of media are my source material for Moves, playbooks, and what characters would so in a game.
Permission, priority, integrity, stability.
Resolution is perfect since Tron already established the notion of “deresolution.”
I like “Permission” for a technical/Grid manipulation stat. It implies the effect the Program is trying to create is already there, they just can’t access it.
“Priority” sound like a good name for a speed/quickness stat. I’m wondering how to use it though.
Of course now I’m thinking that the options and effects for each move should be called “sub-routines”. I’m also wondering if I can somehow do “binary” for die results. Like 00, 10/01, and 11.
Look at the coin slap mechanism here:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/michaelmindes/coin-age-a-pay-what-you-want-area-control-microgam?ref=TMGemail
You could play with 3 coins that you read in sequence (nickel, dime, quarter) with the outcomes being all heads, more heads, more tails, or all tails. Maybe structure moves as yes (1/6), yes and (2/6), yes but (2/6), and no (1/6)? That would give you nice binary strings (though it reminds me of the pull mechanic from Do).
Resolution, as in — persistence of operating integrity, is used as a reference to a program’s physical essence and firm obstinate continuance in a course of operating parameters. Losing resolution is akin to becoming fragmented to the point of critical failure, having either an identity disk or internal core memory data deleted, or undergoing attenuation beyond the point of self repair. It is part of both Hard and Cool in the Apocalypse World Engine terms, and effectively encompasses the spiritual and physical body of a program.
Priority, as in — an established or inherent right to computational precedence urgency, either established by the command of current order methods on the grid, or by user designed exploits embedded in a program’s code. This is part of both Sharp and Weird in the Apocalypse World Engine terms, and effectively encompasses the mental and physical felicity of a program.
Static is the manner in which a program might produce noise to confuse, conceal, or coerce another program into a desired state, or manipulate a specific grid function. This is Hot and Weird in Apocalypse World Engine terms, and effectively encompasses the social acumen and stealth ability of a program.
You have to think of the world inside the system as transcendental, the physical rules of the User’s world have no meaning in a reality that exists in the fundamental form as an essence of flowing information. Physical and Mental existence is synonymous, and what Users think of as Physical is otherworldly and Spiritual to a program’s limited perspective inside a network of connected electronic boxes.
Also, multiple grids exist… as every mainframe network is effectively a Grid, if designed with enough computational power and appropriate architecture.
Master Control Program had access to several interlinking Grids of considerable size around the world in the first movie, but CLU had direct control over a much smaller Grid Network.
This sounds awesome. I look forward to seeing where you go with it.
You’ve given me a lot to think about William Mims . Thanks. 🙂 Resolution and Priority definitely work, though Static sounds like it would be a move name more than a stat name. Producing noise to interfere with another Program’s operations with the intent of confusion, coercion, or concealment is definitely something a character could do. Though I don’t know if it would happen often enough to be a stat. A basic move though? Maybe. A playbook move? Almost certainly.
You’re right that the “real” word of the Users has no bearing at all on the virtual world of the Grid. There is no concept of physical effort, as everything is virtual.But the Programs in TRON are anthropomorphic, and as such, still do act like people in many respects. If things move too far in a “virtual” direction, I feel you’re pulling away from TRON and heading closer to a William Gibson-style cyberpunk matrix setting.
Plus, from a game play perspective, the more accessible the game terms are, the easier it is for player to wrap their heads around actually playing. So, I completely agree that the “laws of reality” for the Grid should feel virtual and be different from actual reality. But if they are completely different i think it will not feel like TRON and will be difficult to play.
This requires more thought.
Just like the other two stats, Static also has two meanings, motionless and interference. I play on the double meanings in each of these words intentionally.
Static is effectively a personality and religious stat within context, the program’s ability to spread influential code, and the amount of such influence invested into the program by the Authorial User… hard coded Charisma in the classical divine sense of the term… but also the ability to mask from trace routines, and influence environments like TRON and Flynn show some capacity for. As such a User on the Grid represents a lot of disruptive Static potential, but so can a well made program like CLU.
If the Grid didn’t come across as a sufficiently different world with a different metaphysical accessibility linguistically, and just fell on the jargon of the Real World of User’s with neon lights everywhere… that wouldn’t feel like TRON to me.
The religious mystical perspective of the common program’s choice of words and implied meanings, is very much a part of the setting; And I feel I was drawn in most by the intentional modern revision of the 1884 classic scifi Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin Abbott used in the TRON concept.
Gibson was furthest from my mind, though I can’t really deny his influence on the aesthetics used in the environment. Interesting that you made that connection, but I adamantly reject TRON as truly falling into a Cyberpunk genre.
I absolutely agree, William Mims ; TRON does not feel like cyberpunk to me, which is why I feel pushing too far in the “things don’t work here they way they do in the real world because this is cyberspace” direction would make the game feel less like TRON and more like running the matrix in a Gibson novel.
In TRON for example, there’s still gravity on the Grid, as things fall “down”. There’s still terrain (both “natural” and Program- or User-made) and there’s still weather. Programs are anthropomorphic, both acting and interacting with each other in very human ways. The world of the Grid isn’t completely unlike reality. But as you said, it isn’t simply a virtual mirror of the real world. It is its own reality, with slightly different rules, rather than a “virtual simulation” of reality.
I really do like the double meanings of Resolution, Priority, and Static. They were not lost on me. And I do like the concept of Static masking or interfering with normal Grid routines. As you said, I could see Users (Sam and Flynn) or powerful Programs like CLU having a high Static stat as their presence on the Grid can interfere with it.
But to put it into game terms, I’m having trouble seeing that translate into a basic move. Because if Static is a stat that all characters have, then all characters will, and should, be able to use the basic moves linked to Static. As you don’t see regular Programs routinely performing activities that would fall under the social/stealth interference that Static represents, I don’t think it can be a stat that every character has. It feels very odd, even somewhat mean and insulting, to give characters a basic stat that most of them can’t use. Which means Static would be limited to specific playbooks.
Unless Static starts off incredibly low for the average Program. So low that the player will never use it, as the chance of failure is so high. In the probabilities thread I posted (https://plus.google.com/108053817066303198241/posts/hnb4rqtXhQM) I noted that using “binary dice” makes +1/-1 modifiers really powerful. Setting a stat at -1 means the character will succeed at a cost only 12.5% of the time, and outright fail the other 87.5% of the time. That is not an attractive option at all. So setting Static at -1 for the average Program is a wy to include it on the sheet but also says “don’t use this”.
That still seems a bit jerky to me though, including a stat on the character sheet that most players won’t get to use. I suppose Programs could use Static the way characters use Synth in Hamish Cameron’s The Sprawl hack. If you have an appropriate piece of cyberware, you can roll+synth to make moves instead of using the normal stat. Doing something like that would allow characters with a high Static (like Users) to make moves using Static, representing that they affect the Grid’s normal operations (and therefore get the move’s effect without using the normal stat).
That’s cool, but I still don’t think I want to put is as a basic stat on every character sheet.It’s also really powerful if it can be swapped out for every other stat.
Average programs are typically going to be dedicated utility types,
Crom: Look. This… is all a mistake. I’m just a compound interest program. I work at a savings and loan! I can’t play these video games!
I would see certain conditions making a bonus for stats that exceed the normal operating limits of programs, such as the Digitized tag gaining a Static bonus.
Competing in most of the Game Grids would likely use Static at average operating ranges, but doing something in the Game Grid that is beyond the realm of normal procedure… like breaking through the arena wall into the sub-net, and dodging the various hunters by exploiting terrain features that normal programs are not optimized to navigate… that requires an exceptional amount of User-like adaptability, and that represents a lot of environmental interference and stealth to the Grid.
Having that kind of raw charm and presence, is also akin to the divine aspect of Charisma in social situations… Digitized Users inherently inspire more awe in the programs that make their acquaintance; But, some programs have been inherently invested by their Authorial Users with a higher amount of pliancy and charm — such as provided by the Hacker program tag that Clu, and Clu 2.0, are imbued with.
You and I are in complete agreement about what Static represents and who would have it, William Mims. This discussion is really, really helpful. Thank you.
However, I’m struggling to think of one or two basic moves that would use Static as their associated stat. If Resolution is the Hard/Cool stat, it would have Go Aggro, Act Under Pressure, and Seize By Force type moves as basic moves. If Priority is the Sharp/Weird stat, it would have Read a Sitch, Read a Person, and Open Your Brain type moves as basic moves.
If Static is the Hot/Weird stat, it would have Seduce/Manipulate and Open Your Brain type moves as basic moves. Which makes total sense fictionally. Getting another Program to do what you want (through seduction or manipulation) is you interfering with their normal operations in some way. It’s kind of a negative action, which fits with Static’s negative connotations. Using Static in an Open Your Brain type move that interferes with the Grid’s normal operations (allowing you to do things a Program normally couldn’t) is different from using Priority to Open Your Brain, which would only let you work within the Grid’s normal parameters.
Huh. I think I’m coming around to the idea of Static as a basic stat after writing that all out. I think there might need to be some limits on the “Grid interference” aspect for “normal” programs though. Using Static to “seduce/manipulate” another Program into giving up some information or to bypass a localize encryption key (a door lock) is one thing. But using Static to have a massive effect on the Grid (such as Flynn shutting down the End of Line club in TRON: Legacy) is another.
Yes, I think we managed to weave crossing points of acute and obtuse angles, along the net equation of a singular vector, resulting in an interesting isometric vector graph of an evolving shape, that would require a much more complex algorithm to map out in dimensions currently unknown,
AbeBooks’ Review: Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott and The Annotated Flatland by Ian Stewart
Or, more simply… I think we are of similar minds in our expectations.
Resolution – you either get your Game On! or Resolve Runtime when things get tough.
Priority – you could Scan a Program or attempt to Access and Command an object’s code.
Static – you can also Impress a Directive onto another program or object, or if your feeling like a religious nut Tap the Codestream to spot hidden code and deviant parameters, or access some of the fragmented memory in an area or program, or talk to a User in the Real World.