SR5 Karmagen, 1st draft only. Still tweaking. Put together for fun. Options

[ElFenrir]

It was suggested I give this it's own thread, so I figured why not.

Disclaimer: I know SR5 just came out. I'm not trying to be like all 'damn, SR5 Prio System is broke n stuff.' I personally like how the Prio system is set up-however, I also like Karmagen. I know others like Karmagen. So I figured, why not. I don't think it'll hurt anything.

WARNING: TEXT BOMB INCOMING.

Okay, so my base plan. I'm running with *730* Karma. After considering the freebies people got in the line(and they're taken out, so you need to buy Magic and such), as well as some changes here and there, and the Bonus Karma, it was between 700-750, and I decided on 700+Bonus Karma and then rounded up 5 more for 730.

I'm nixing the freebie points; no free Magic or Skills. As cool as they are, it's give and take, and Karmagen gives up the bennies for what is essentially complete character control. It's a fair enough trade, IMO.



-Nuyen will be on a 1 for 2,000 basis, capping at 450k. Which means up to 225 Karma can be spent. (Debating up to 500k. I might go with 500k. Need to consider. It's 250 Karma, so it's a over a third of it, which sounds pretty fair to me. Or 470k, reflecting what one can get with Bonus Karma included. That would be 235 points worth. Still waffling on the maximum here.)

-Attributes cost as the book, New Rating x 5. See the next section, though, for how I deal with modifiers in this. You are allowed to spend up to 420 Karma on Attributes. Special Attributes are not counted in this, but you don't get the freebie points either, remember. You can still only have 1 at the natural max(again, special attributes not counted.)

-Skills are skills. They cost skill cost from the book.

-Under Karmagen, as said, no more freebie points for Magic or other Special Attributes-they're going to come right from the pool, but NOT count against the max allowed Attribute Points.

-Magic, Adept, and Technomancy should have a cost, but I don't feel this should be excessive-20 Karma for a Full Mage or Mystic Adept, 10 for an Adept or Technomancer is what I'm playing with.

-Going to be giving free Knowledge and Language, as well as Contact Karma. Knowledge/Language Karma, I saw how much Karma it would cost to take 4 Knowledge Skills at Rating 3, Plus 1 Language at 3. That's 30 Karma. This, IMO, is appropriate for someone with 3's in Intuition and Logic. 3+3=6x5=30, so I think Int+Logx5 Knowledge and Language Karma is pretty solid.

-Contacts. I think a cost of Loyalty + Connection x2 works for the Contact Costs. Under standard rules, a 3 Charisma nets 9 Contact Points. I'd say Cha x 6 Karma would equalize it. Since 9 contact points would come out to two Contacts, one 2/3, one 2/2. Under Karma, these guys would cost 10 and 8 each. 3x6=18. Works out well.

-Spells cost 5 Karma each, up to twice a person's Magic is allowed.

-Mystic Adept Power Points costs 5 Karma each, up to their Magic rating.

-Technomancer Complex Forms are 4 Karma each as per the book.

-Race Cost so far will be 35(Elf), 55(Dwarf), 65(Ork), and 130(Troll.) All stats are purchased from 1. No minuses, but then the new stats are added on. In-game, stats are purchased the same. So at chargen, it costs an Elf 25 Karma for Agility 4. (3+1=4.) In game, if he wants to buy it to 5, he'll pay 20 Karma(since a 4 would be 20 Karma normally.) A Troll buying Body 6 at chargen pays 10 Karma. In-game, they'll pay 15 Karma for a 7. They'll pay 25 Karma to raise their Charisma to 3 at the start. If they buy their Cha to 2 at chargen, it's 10 Karma, the 3 in game will cost 15. So all costs are the same, solving that issue. Yes-this means Humans purchase Edge as if it were one point lower; their 3 edge at Chargen will cost 10 Karma, or their 3 Edge in game will cost 10 Karma.

To put it short, if a stat would have a minus, it's purchased as normal in game or in chargen. If a stat has a bonus, it's purchased at a level of 'Current Stat-Bonus'. It will still cost a Troll who wants to get maxed-out Body; yes, his Body 10 will cost the same in game as a Human 6, but the Human also started with more Karma.

Metahuman Costs were adjusted appropriately, using the formula I had whipped up in a lower post. With a higher cost at the start, it'll help counterbalance the attribute costs in game. It will also make it so people aren't pushed to play a 'stereotype' for a certain race, but they won't be penalized if they wish to, either.

Whew. Again-this is the first draft. I'm still tinkering with concepts to ensure certain concepts don't end up destroying or not. It's going to take more time to perfect.

EDIT 1: Changed Race costs and how that's purchased. No more minuses. Currently: Draft 2. Took out examples since they were made under the old draft.

New Concerns: Trolls may still be undercost. Other races feel fine. Concern for Trolls being able to raise their big stats super fast in game, though it won't be cheap to do so in any case(a Troll who starts with Body 8 and wants a 10 in game will still need to pay 25 for the 9, and 30 for the 10, and 55 Karma is nothing to sneeze at. I don't think it sounds that inappropriate, but tables who heap on extraordinary amounts of Karma awards may find them progressing quickly.)