Here's my $0.02 worth of opinion. --- RulingNations@aol.com wrote: > RulingNations@aol.com wrote:> 12 TRAITS: > > SCOPE is the size and population of the society and its components Based on some of the discussions we've been having on the list lately, I really think that instead of Scope being one number, we need two: one number for area, and one for population. The current rules make the assumption that societies with large populations occupy proportionally large land areas(when your society is a nation). This doesn't do justice to the variety of societies we have here. > RESOURCES is the wealth and knowledge available to a society Again, might want to subdivide Resources into, say, Agricultural and Industrial. How well can you feed your people and how well can you "feed" your industries? > DEVELOPMENT is what a society is capable of, its economy Are you talking about tech levels here? > CONTROL is the measure of how much a society dominates its members Perhaps an axis running from anarchy on one extreme to totalitarianism on the other? On the other hand, I forget exactly where I first read this, but I think most political scientists believe that you need two axes, social and economic, to accurately portray political viewpoints. The classic example would be the American liberal who favors minimal governmental interference with social behavior but wants heavily regulated markets opposed to the American conservative who wants heavy regulation of social behavior but minimal government interference with markets. Someone who feels that government shouldn't be involved in regulating anything would probably be an anarchist, while someone who favors heavy government involvement in all aspects of life is likely a totalitarian. > AGGRESSION is the amount of violence in a society Is this internal violence, reflecting tension within a society, or external violence, directed at neighbors? > COMMUNALISM is the amount a society de-emphasizes individuality Being American, I'd probably just call this Individuality; the greater the number on the positive side, the more individualistic, while the farther negative you go, the more communalist you become. > INNOVATION is the amount a society accepts changes and new ideas > PRAGMATISM is the amount the practical is emphasized over the > mystical I would think that Pragmatism and Innovation influence each other to a certain degree; when a society has extremely high values for pragmatism, most of their innovative energy is probably going to be directed into improving existing technologies because if they don't see an immediate practical application for a new discovery, they won't follow it up. On the other hand, when they *do* see an immediate application for a new discovery, they'd exploit it to the full. I also imagine that when a society's Pragmatism number is down in the far Mysticism end of the scale, they too would have problems with innovation, because they spend so much time looking inward. > PROVIDENCE is the amount of long-term thinking in a society Maybe Foresight would be a better term? The word "Providence" always makes me think of two things: 18th Century Christians and Rhode Island. It's kind of a loaded term. > TOLERATION is the amount a society accepts those outside itself Good idea. > TRACTABILITY measures how willing the population is to be ruled We kind of have this already, as the Consent determinant that each Key Element receives, indicating how much popular support they have. I don't think we need to add Tractability; the current method allows more flexibility. > UNIFORMITY measures how much a society isn't divided internally Another good idea. In our world, Japan and Korea would probably come close to the maximum value for Uniformity, the US would be down near the low end(because of our ethnic diversity and deep political divisions), while countries with civil wars and strong separatist movements like Afghanistan, Indonesia, and the Congo would be well into negative numbers. > If a player (or GM) wishes these traits can be subdefined. For > example, > Control might be divided into Bureaucracy, Law Enforcement, and > Social > Stratification. Military forces would be based on scope, and > Resources > could be divided into Food, Gold, Iron and the like. > > 6 SKILLS: > > A Society's skills are it's ability to _do_ things (as opposed to > traits > which are it's ability to _be_ things). Using the Crafts model: > > ARTS deals with non-practical, but often morale-building, matters > BIOLOGY deals with living things (agronomy, medicine, etc.) > MILITARY deals with combat and espionage > PARANATURALISM deals with magic and mysticism > MANUFACTURE deals with physical items (weapons, transportation, etc.) > PSYCHOLOGY deals with people's minds (advertising, diplomacy, trade, > etc.) Another possible division, more in keeping with the general level of development in Midsea: ARTS, as above. MILITARY, as above. MAGECRAFT, as Paranaturalism. INDUSTRY, as Manufacture. AGRICULTURE, self-evident. PHILOSOPHY, the mind. NATURAL PHILOSOPHY, the sciences & most social sciences, but see below. POLITICAL ECONOMY, political science & economics (in real history, political science and economics weren't considered as seperate subjects until after 1776, when Adam Smith published _The Wealth of Nations_. And at the current level of development in the Midsea(traditional economies), it's not inaccurate to consider them the same.) > As with traits, these can be subdivided. > > GIFTS AND FAULTS work essentially the same as in Fudge, except they > affect the society as a whole. (Note that unlike traits and skills > gifts > and faults are not ranked.) > > An example gift might be to give a society a navy in addition to its > army. Eh, not neccessarily a good example. A society that's large enough with access to ocean, like the ancient Mystic Realm of Mir or the old Cedonian Empire would automatically have a navy--in fact, any society on the Midsea that engages in trade is going to have *some* kind of naval force, if only for customs/excise and anti-piracy purposes. For some societies, like Kaeir, their navy is their primary force, with the army secondary, or replaced by marines. > An example fault might be that a society does not have a technology > that's considered standard. Do you mean sub-standard, or just incompatible with what everybody else uses? > Gifts and faults aren't subdivided, but they may have prerequisites. > For > example a society might want to get the Accounting technology to > improve > it's trade, but in order to do so it must first pick up Primitive > Accounting. Hrm. I like most of your ideas, but I worry that they may make things more restrictive for the players. Andrew Janssen > Jefferson (Exquaestio) > http://www.picotech.net/~jeff_wilson63/rpg/ > > PS I'd also change the terminology a bit. Traits become Capacities. > Skills become Crafts. Gifts become Glories. Faults become Burdens. > > If it looks familiar, much of the system above is based on _GURPS > Traveller: First In_ by Jon F. Zeigler (who I happen to know plays > FUDGE). > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, send mail to celandra-off@phoenyx.net. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? 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