New-Orleans-in-the-Shadows/Notes/MVP Phases/Phase 0 - Pre-production.md

Phase 0 — Pre-production

• Basic attributes for all classes All stats start with a random roll of 1D6 (1-6), weighted by class (+1 to two primary attributes). Skills are capped at 20 in MVP. New players can re-roll any three stats once during character creation. Six skill points granted at level 1, then 2 skill points every level thereafter (level points can be saved and are additive with training).

  • Core Attributes

    • Physical Attributes
      • Body (BOD): Measures physical health and resilience
      • Agility (AGI): Measures hand eye coordination, flexibility, nimbleness, and balance
      • Reaction (REA): Measures reflexes, awareness and response time
      • Strength (STR): Measures how strong you are
    • Mental Attributes
      • Willpower (WIL): Measures resistances and weariness from spellcasting.
      • Logic (LOG): Measures rational thought
      • Intuition (INT): Measures Instinct
      • Charisma (CHA): Measures force of personality, persuasiveness and charm

  • Special Attributes All attributes except ESS and HP start at 1 and can't be trained. They can only be modified by gear (cyberware, bioware, etc) or leveling (1 point every other level). ESS starts at 6 and decreased with cyberware/bioware installation. ESS affects MAG/RES (-1 per point of ESS lost) and the ability for support magic to affect you (less ESS means less "human" for healing spells to affect, etc).

    • Health (HP): Measures physical well-being and damage tolerance. Based on BOD and STR and modified by gear.
    • Essence (ESS): Measures just how Metahuman you still are
    • Edge (EDG): Measures luck and provides temporary boosts
    • Magic (MAG): Measures a Mage or Adept's ability to cast and weave spells
    • Resonance (RES): Measures a Technomancer's ability to interface with the Matrix (not used in MVP)
    • Initiative (INI): Measures quickness in combat, based on REA and INT, modified by Edge, cyberware and gear.

• Character leveling

  • leveling is a marathon, not a sprint. Characters should take weeks or months to level up, not hours.
  • Characters level up based on total character XP earned from jobs, training, and other activities.
  • Character XP is not exposed to players, but is used to determine when a character levels up.
  • Leveling up grants
    • +2 skill points to allocate to attributes
    • +1 to a special attribute of choice every other level

• Define the 3 MVP classes: Skills, gear, and attributes NOTE: Cyberware will be expanded post-MVP. Cyberware trades Essence for permanent stat modifiers and passive abilities.

  1. Street samurai
     • Focus on armed combat, heavy armor, and physical strength. Tank role.
     • Skills: Combat master, cyberware, tactics
     • Gear: Swords, pistols, body armor
     • Attributes: High BOD, STR
     • Class perks: +1 BOD, +1 STR
  2. Mages
     • Focus on spellcasting, magical knowledge, and elemental control. DPS role.
     • Skills: Spellcasting, assensing (seeing auras), summoning elementals
     • Gear: Swords, pistols, light armor
     • Attributes: High WIL, INT
     • Class perks: +1 WIL, +1 INT
  3. Shamans
     • Focus on spiritual guidance, nature magic, and healing. Support role.
     • Skills: Healing, nature magic, spirit communication
     • Gear: Totems, herbs, ritualistic clothing
     • Attributes: High WIL, CHA
     • Class perks: +1 WIL, +1 CHA

• Define initial city districts/landmarks (pure flavor in MVP, but helps UI)

  1. French Quarter
     • Primary hub for social interactions, markets, and quests.
     • Landmarks: Jackson Square, St. Louis Cathedral, Bourbon Street, Tipatina's
  2. CBD
     • Business district with corporate offices, high-rise buildings, and upscale shops.
     • Landmarks: Hancock Whitney Center, Place St. Charles, Canal Street
  3. Warehouse District
     • Industrial area with docks, warehouses, and shady dealings.
     • Landmarks: Mardi Gras World, Fulton Street

• Decide the pacing levers

  1. Energy
     • Base energy: 100 points (modifialble by perks, items, etc, but locked to 100 for MVP)
     • Regen rate: 5 points per 5 minutes (fully regenerates in ~2 hours)
  2. Training duration
     • XP needed to level up a skill: 10 + (current skill level x 2)
     • Short training: 15 minutes, +1 skill XP
     • Medium training: 1 hour, +3 skill XP
     • Long training: 4 hours, +10 skill XP
  3. Job generation cadence
     • New jobs generated every 30 minutes
     • Maximum of 3 active jobs at a time
     • Chance for a blind Johnson contact to appear at login or once every 24 realtime hours upon refresh (10% chance, based on clock time)
       • Offers a random high-risk, high-reward job outside normal rotation, 48 hour cooldown on failure
  4. Job cooldown
     • Job difficulty tiers:
       • Easy: 5-minute cooldown
       • Medium: 15-minute cooldown
       • Hard: 30-minute cooldown
     • Failure penalty: 15-minute additional cooldown on failed jobs at medium and hard tiers