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The Free-Form Tick System

Version 1.0 (13 June 2007)

The following is an attempt to provide a non-dice-based 'rules' system for use with otherwise free-form RP. It is based on a system of turns -- generally known as 'posts' -- and Ability Ranks. In a nutshell, the more powerful an Ability, the higher the Rank and the more turns/posts it takes to execute.

Please note that this is notintended to be a fully-working 'hard' PnP rules-set. There are no dice, and little attention is paid to numbers like hit points and characters levels. Instead, it is meant to be a kind of rough guide when attempting adversarial actions in otherwise free-form RP, hopefully with the intention of reducing 'godmodding' accusations.

This is a 'working document' and subject to change and clarification. It is released under Creative Commons by-nc-nd. Permission is given to repose these rules in whole or in part, so long as a link is given back to this page (http://furced.net/ffts.php).

Feedback and suggestions are welcome.

Definitions

Ability: The basis of the FFTS. Losley speaking, an Ability is an action, made in a turn, which has some kind of consequence to the storyline or to another player. See Ability Basics.

Damage Levels: An indication of how much physical damage a character has sustained. Similar to Fatigue, however it cannot generally be regenerated naturally.

executed: The turn in which an Ability is actually performed (as opposed to any Preparation or Fatigue Turns).

Fatigue Levels: An indication of how 'tired' a character is after performing an Ability. See Fatigue Chart.

Rank: A rough measure of the power of an Ability. Has a direct relationship to its 'cost' in turns.

tick: One turn. See turn.

turn: One 'post' in an RP session. This can either be your post or the post of another person directly involved in the current scene.

Ability Basics

All abilities have a rank which determines how many turns it takes to enact, not including the turn in which the ability itself is performed. By default, these turns are taken as preparation, and are performed before the turn in which the Ability is executed.

During a preparation turn, a character may not perform any other Ability, however they may perform a basic move.

Preparation turns may be 'traded' for fatigue turns. Fatigue turns are performed after the Ability has been executed. On the first Fatigue turn, a character may only use a Rank 0 Abilities, on the second he may use Rank 0 and 1 Abilities, on the third he may use up to Rank 2 Abilities and so forth until all Fatigue turns have been 'spent'. For example:

Laucian has just performed an Ability that has given him 3 Fatigue. Next turn -- the first turn of Fatigue -- he may perform only Rank 0 Abilities. On his second turn, he may use Rank 1 Abilities as well. On the third turn, he may use Rank 2 Abilities and if he acquires no more fatigue on this turn, he returns to normal on his subsequent turn. If, however, on his third turn of Fatigue he performs a Rank 2 Ability that give him an additional 2 Fatigue, his Total Fatigue increases to 3 (1 remaining Fatigue Turn, plus 2 new turns) and the next turn he returns to only being able to use Rank 0 abilities.

When a character's elapsed Fatigue Turns is equal to their Total Fatigue, they are considered to have returned to normal and both counters are reset to zero.

Preparation turns may be 'traded' for Fatigue turns at a factorial rate. That is, 1 Prep becomes 1 Fatigue, 2 Prep becomes 3 Fatigue (2+1), 3 Prep becomes 6 Fatigue (3+2+1), 4 Prep becomes 10 Fatigue(4+3+2+1) and so on. Abilities higher than Rank 0 must always have at least one turn of Preparation.

Note that high levels of fatigue may have additional implications (see below).

A basic run-down of the different Ranks is as follows (please see below for some more specific Ability descriptions):

Rank 0: Insignificant magic (e.g. conjuring lights), non-damaging physical attacks (e.g. an open-palmed slap). Most everyday actions that require little to no effort (e.g. opening a door, moving a short distance) are considered to be Rank 0 Abilities.
Rank 1: Standard attacks, minor non-offensive spells.
Rank 2: Minor offensive spells, powerful attacks.
Rank 3: Minor multi-target abilities, moderate offensive spells.
Rank 4: Minor rituals, moderate multi-target abilities, major offensive spells.
Rank 5: Moderate rituals, major multi-target abilities.
Rank 6+: Major rituals, truly epic feats.

Fatigue

Fatigue is a measure of how physically and emotionally drained a character is. Low levels of fatigue may make a character tired, irritable and cause them to have difficulty concentrating. At higher levels, even the most basic actions become more and more difficult to complete, eventually incapacitating a character to the point that they have no option but to rest. Some common symptoms of different levels of Fatigue are described below:

Fatigue 0: The character is physically and emotionally fine; they are well-fed, well-rested and uninjured.
Fatigue 1-4: Minor exhertion, roughly equivalent to running a short distance or ascending a steep flight of stairs. The character's breathing may be a little faster and a little harded, but overall they are not having difficulty performing most tasks. Alternatley, the results of eight hours without food or eighteen without sleep.
Fatigue 5-6: Moderate exhertion; the character may break out in a sweat, and their breathing becomes laboured. Tasks become slightly more difficult (all effective Ranks are increased by 1). Alternatley, a character who has not eaten for a day or not had decent sleep for twenty-four hours.
Fatigue 7-8: Major exhertion; the character is becoming physically exhausted. They are likely to be quite emotionally distressed, and have difficulty concentrating. Tasks become noticibly more difficult (all effective Ranks are increased by 2). Alternatley, a character who has not eaten or not had decent sleep for two days.
Fatigue 9: Significant exhaustion; the character is likely to be highly distressed and have extreme difficulty concentrating on even mundane tasks (all effective Ranks are increased by 3).
Fatigue 10+: Levels of Fatigue this high are physically dangerous to the character. He is likely to experience hallucinations and be highly emotionally distressed and prone to self-harm. Even the most basic of tasks become all-but impossible (all effective ranks are increased by 5). It is difficult to induce this much fatigue in a character accidentally; it is usually the product of deliberate actions (not allowing sleep for three to five days) or extreme magical rituals.

Fatigue levels of five or less may be 'ticked off' as per usual, with one level being lost per turn. Fatigue higher than this, however, does not resolve itself naturally and instead the character must remove it by sleeping for at least eight hours plus two hours for every fatigue level above 6.

Fatigue levels induced by lack of food or sleep may never be ticked off; instead they can only be resolved by either eating (in the case of starvation) or sleeping (in the case of lack of sleep).

Damage

As a general rule of thumb, physical attacks do damage equal to their rank in Damage Levels to the opponent. Magical attacks do damage equal to one less than their rank (this represents the greater versatility of magical attacks).

Damage Levels are added to a user's Fatigue score for the purposes of working out ability penalties. However, Damage Levels may not be ticked off like Fatigue, and instead must be healed -- either magically or naturally -- as appropriate for physical injuries.

Dodging

Almost all physical and most magical attacks may be dodged. A character may dodge at any time, so long as they have not performed any other action in that turn. Dodging is a special Ability whose Rank is variable depending on the Rank of the attack being dodged, and is the only non-zero ability that does not require at least one Preparation turn.

In order to dodge, a character must declare the Rank of his intended dodge ability. Turns for this are split between Fatigue and Preparation as per normal, however no more turns may be spent in Preparation than an opponent is spending on the attack that is being dodged; that is, the dodge must be executed on the turn immediatley following the opponent's attack turn (this is why dodges may have no Preparation).

The Rank of a dodge determines its effect; if at least as many Ranks are spent on the dodge as were spent on the initial attack, the entire attack is avoided and no damage is dealt. If the Rank of the dodge is less than the Rank of the ability, the dodge's Rank is subtracted from the attack's Rank in order to determined damage, to a minimum of 1 Fatigue or Damage level (dodges that aren't 'full' always do at least minimum damage).

Some Abilities may not be dodged; these invariably have high Ranks to compensate for their unblockable nature.

Interrupts

Abilities do not always go off without a hitch; a carefully chanted spell or a well-aimed arrow can still be disrupted by a well-placed blow or a blinding flash. In terms of game mechanics, an Ability is considered to be interrupted if, during its Preparation turns, the character attempting to use that Ability is in turn the victim of another ability that is of equal or higher Rank.

If an Ability is interrupted, it cannot be executed and all Preparation turns spent thus far are considered 'wasted'. However, it does not induce any declared Fatigue Turns.

Not all Abilities can be interrupted, however uninterruptable Abilities generally have a higher Rank than normal Abilities.

Channelling

In general, an Ability is only executed in one turn; the effect happens in an instant and does not carry over into subsequent turns. This is not true, however, for Abilities that are channelled. A channelled Ability happens over multiple turns; so long as a character concentrates on it. The effect of a channelled spell is considered to continue for as long as a character wishes it to, so long as it is not interrupted or otherwise ended in a way specified by the Ability itself (e.g. a sheilding spell that ends after it has absorbed a certain amount of damage).

Channelled Abilities are considered to be 'in effect' from their turn of execution, and may run over any Fatigue Turns. However, a character may not use any Ability in a turn in which she is both channelling and Fatigued. Once her Fatigue Turns have expired, she may only use Abilities with Ranks lower than the Ability she is channelling. If one of these Abilities in turn is channelled, she may then only use Abilities with Ranks lower than this and so forth.

A character's channelled Abilities are considered to be interrupted if she uses an Ability with a Rank equal to or higher than the first still currently channelled Ability, or if she is the target of an opponent's Ability that is at least one Rank below the current lowest Rank Ability she is channelling. For example:

Alis is currently channelling a Rank 1 and a Rank 4 Ability. Both Abilities would be interrupted if she attempted to use a Rank 4 Ability, or if she were the target of an opponent's Rank 0 Ability.

Template Abilities

The following is a list of suggested example Abilities and their Ranks. Individuals are encouraged to use these 'templates' in order to create customised Abilities for their characters and continuities.

Physical

○ Slap [Brawl]: An open-palmed slap. This 'attack' does no actual damage, and is generally the precursor to further violence.

•+ Basic Attack [Brawl]: Either a punch, kick, bite, claw or other similar basic attack with a fist, claw, foot or other natural weapon. This Ability inflicts one level of Damage at Rank 1, and one additional level per two additional Ranks.

• Basic Attack [Melee]: A basic appropriate attack with a common melee weapon, such as a sword or mace. This Ability inflicts one level of Fatigue (or Damage) at Rank 1, and one additional level per additional Rank.

•+ Basic Firearms Attack [Firearms]: A basic attack with a firearm, such as a gun or rifle. The rank of the ability is determined by the weapon being used. A pistol or revolver is a Rank 1 ability (reloading is also a Rank 1 ability), and may fire one bullet per turn. A flintlock pistol or other musket is considered a Rank 2 ability; the extra rank is traded for Fatigue turns to represent the time spent reloading after a shot. A gun capable of a short burst is considered a Rank 2 ability and fires three bullets per turn. A gun capable of rapid fire is considered a Rank 4 Ability and fires ten bullets per turn.

•• Basic Ranged Attack [Archery]: A basic appropriate attack with a bow, crossbow or similar weapon. The additional rank represents the time taken to reload and to aim. This Ability inflicts one level of Damage at Rank 2.

•••+ Unblockable Attack [Brawl]: Either a punch, kick, bite, claw or other similar attack with a fist, claw, foot or other natural weapon. This Ability inflicts one level of Damage at Rank 3, and one additional level per three additional Ranks. This ability may not be dodged.

•••+ Unblockable Attack [Melee]: A basic appropriate attack with a common melee weapon, such as a sword or mace. This Ability inflicts one level of Fatigue (or Damage) at Rank 3, and one additional level per two additional Ranks. This ability may not be dodged.

Magical

○ Light [Fire, Conjuration]: The mage concentrates momentarily and creates a free-floating light-source. This light can be of any colour, and gives off no more illumination than a standard torch. It may be moved around the mage's body at will, though extend no further than an arm's lengths away in any direction.

•+ Innervate [Restoration]: Restores one Fatigue Level at Rank 1, and one additional Fatigue level for every additional Rank.

••+ Elemental Attack [Fire/Earth/Air/Water/etc., Destruction]: A basic attack with a small amount of the chosen element. It may only target a single opponent, and the effect is not 'lasting' no matter the chosen element (e.g. opponents' clothing does not catch fire, they do not drown, etc.). The attack inflicts an opponent with one level of Damage at Rank 2, and with one additional level for every additional Rank.

••+ Spell Shield [Protection] (Channelled): A basic sheild against magical attacks. Can be cast one one single target. At Rank 2, negates all Rank 0 spells on that target. At Rank 3, negates all Rank 0 and one Rank 1 spell on the target. At Rank 4, negates all Rank 0 and an additoinal 2 Ranks worth of spells (e.g. one Rank 2 spell, two Rank 1 spells) on the target and so forth. Does not partially negate spells.

•••+ Heal [Restoration]: Restores one Damage Level at Rank 3, and one additional Damage level for every additional Rank.

•••+ Unblockable Elemental Attack [Fire/Earth/Air/Water/etc., Destruction]: A basic attack with a small amount of the chosen element. It may only target a single opponent, and the effect is not 'lasting' no matter the chosen element (e.g. opponents' clothing does not catch fire, they do not drown, etc.). The attack inflicts an opponent with one level of Fatigue at Rank 3, and with one additional level for every three additional Ranks. This attack may not be dodged.

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