[Diaspora] Advancement in Diaspora

[Byron Kerr]

Greetings all, as one of the co-authors of Diaspora when I heard some
feedback about players wanting their characters the option of advancing as
their careers advanced. Here is the solution that I came up with, a lot of
help from my fellow Diaspora authors.

Cheers,
b.kerr

*Advancement in Diaspora*

B. Kerr.

Diaspora’s roots twist between Traveller and Spirit of the Century,
character advancement is not integral to those systems, therefore when
designing Diaspora our character generation remained true to the previous
systems and caused players to create skilled, capable and powerful
characters. Characters in Diaspora start fully developed and the changes are
subtle and nuanced. An Aspect may be swapped out for a more relevant one
after a particularly engrossing or life-changing adventure, Skills shift
slowly one level at a time. It is a long process to reinvent a character.

Not everyone prefers this style of gaming, one of Dungeons and Dragons major
selling points is leveling up of character and watching them improve over
time, as Diaspora is intended to be a tool kit for forming Clusters, even
Universes, below is detailed an alternative way of creating characters while
leaving room for advancement and progression for the players and their
characters.

Create characters as described in Chapter 3: Characters in Diaspora.
Complete the five phases of life and select ten Aspects.

Instead of using the default 5 level skill pyramid (and 15 subsequent
skills,) cap the character with a pinnacle skill of 3.

   X

 X X

X X X

These characters will therefore have 9 skills (one at level 3 – their
pinnacle skill, two at level 2 and three at level 1.) Characters like this
represent young characters, ones fresh from the academy or older characters
who have never left their planet before their moment of crisis. Newly
exposed to the width and breadth of the cluster, these characters have the
possibility of improving themselves, their abilities and gaining renown
throughout the cluster.

Upon completion of each session, the characters shall improve a skill. This
starts at level 1, each subsequent skill increase builds up the pyramid;
level 2, then level 3, then level 4. After four successful adventures
characters will have a new pinnacle skill level of 4. The empty skill slot
could be filled during game play when a desired, but currently unselected,
skill was needed for a situation during the session’s play.

     4

   X 3

 X X 2

X X X 1

(Numbers represent the order that skills are added, at the conclusion of
each session.)

This means they have survived and might even be starting to thrive in the
cluster. Their pinnacle skill may be their original level 3 skill shifted
one spot higher or any other skill they so wish. It may be something brand
new that they’ve just discovered about themselves while exploring the
cluster.

Upon successful completion of this level 4 pyramid, characters begin at
level 1 again and as they improve can, after another five successful
advancements have a 5 level pyramid. Should the players and the GM so
desire, there is nothing to stop them from continuing their quest for
improvement as after another six promotions the characters will have a Skill
pyramid with 6 levels (by this point the characters renown should pretty
much span a cluster of 6 to 10 systems.)

      (15)

     9 (14)

    4 8 (13)

   X 3 7 (12)

 X X 2 6 (11)

X X X 1 5 (10)

(So after nine sessions the 5-cap pyramid is complete. Numbers in brackets
indicate the sequence of the expansion slots if the ref wants a 6-cap.)

It is important to remember that Aspects may be changed over the course of
the game, swapping one unused or no longer relevant Aspect for something new
that has happened during the game is encouraged. Remember to make the shifts
gradual and that characters may only have 10 Aspects at any time.

In addition to the new skills the characters add, they may shift an existing
skill up or down one level at a table agreed upon time or adding a brand new
skill at level 1 at the expense of an existing level 1 skill.

It is not advised to continuing advancing character since a level 7 pyramid
means character would enjoy 28 skills, as the default starting skill list
contains 35 skills this would mean having a 7 level pyramid would only be
missing 7 of the skills.

Below is listed a bare bones chart of how to take a character starting with
a Skill cap of 3 up to a character with a Skill cap of 4. Following the
numbered charts beyond that to evolve into a Skill cap 5 character is
numerically represented, taking that a step further to make a very powerful
Skill cap 6 character should be straightforward.

            Go! Enjoy! Explore! Advance!



-- 
Byron KerrThe well travelled non-Traveller of VSCA publishing.
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