update from sparkleup

writing/post-self/pbta.md

@@ -8,7 +8,95 @@ TODO:
 
 [TOC]
 
-# About Post-Self
+# Play sheet
+
+## Creating a character
+
+* Pick a name and pronouns for your character
+* Distribute points:
+    * One stat gets 3 boxes ticked
+    * Two stats get 2 boxes ticked
+    * One stat gets 1 box ticked
+    * One stat gets no boxes ticked
+* Pick a dissolution strategy
+* Set reputation to 1,000Ŕ
+* Come up with three virtues:
+    * Each should have an upside and a downside
+    * Keep one of these virtues secret from the other characters, but let the MC know
+* Come up with three abilities:
+    * ...
+
+## Taking an action
+
+* Roll your dice:
+    * Stats: as many d6 as you have boxes ticked for that stat
+    * Leverage: as many d6 as you have boxes ticked for that character
+    * Test reality: take two sanity and gain a die
+    * Abilities: Add 1d6 when using an ability
+* Take the highest
+* Result:
+    * 6 --- Success
+    * 4--5 --- Success, but at a cost
+    * 1--3 --- Failure
+
+## Aiding
+
+* Describe what you are going to do to aid another character's roll
+* Take one point of sanity
+* Add 1d6 to their roll pool
+
+## Forking and merging
+
+(read up on flashbacks in BitD)
+
+* Ephemeral forks (no merge expected):
+    * State what you're going to do and resolve it in a single roll
+    * Roll *savvy* to fork, do not merge
+* Longer-running forks (merging expected):
+    * Add that fork to the party or **briefly** follow them through a bit of story (discuss with your group ahead of time)
+    * Roll *savvy* once to fork and again to merge
+* Result:
+    * Tasker:
+        * 6 --- Success
+        * 4--5 --- Success; take the number of *un*ticked *savvy* boxes in sanity
+        * 1--3 --- Failure; take the number of *un*ticked *savvy* boxes in sainty
+    * Tracker:
+        * 5--6 --- Success
+        * 2--4 --- Success; take the number of *un*ticked *savvy* boxes in sanity
+        * 1 --- you fail; take the number of *un*ticked *savvy* boxes in sanity
+    * Dispersionista:
+        * 4--6 --- Success
+        * 2--3 --- Success; take the number of *un*ticked *savvy* boxes in sanity
+        * 1 --- Success; take twice the number of *un*ticked *savvy* boxes in sanity
+    * The MC may modify the sanity risk depending on confounding factors such as how long the fork has been around
+
+## XP and leveling
+
+* Gain XP at the end of a session every time you did one of these (max 2 per):
+    * Succeeding on a test reality roll or used an ability successfully
+    * Expressing one of your virtues in a fulfilling way
+    * Recoup 2 points of sanity
+    * MC's bonus
+* When XP is maxed, add a die and untick the XP slots
+
+## Sanity
+
+* Recouping sanity:
+    * At the end of a session or while resting, describe what you do to realign yourself with your virtues
+    * Roll 1d6 per eight triangles you have ticked.
+    * Result:
+        * 6 --- Recoup up to 8 sanity
+        * 4--5 --- Recoup up to 4 sanity
+        * 1--3 --- Recoup up to 2 sanity (and you may be a bit tetchy afterwards)
+* When sanity gets maxed out:
+    * The character is taken out of play until they can recover
+    * For the next session, they only have 8 sanity triangles available
+
+# PHB
+
+# MCG
+
+## About Post-Self
 
 > *"All artists search. I search for stories, in this post-self age. What happens when you can no longer call yourself an individual, when you have split your sense of self among several instances? How do you react? Do you withdraw into yourself, become a hermit? Do you expand until you lose all sense of identity? Do you fragment? Do you go about it deliberately, or do you let nature and chance take their course?"*
 
@@ -45,11 +133,11 @@ Powered by the Apocalypse is a tabletop role playing framework developed by Megu
 
 A perfect combination.
 
-# About the Post-Self universe
+## About the Post-Self universe
 
 In this setting, your story takes place more than a hundred years in the future in a time where humanity has figured out how to upload consciousnesses to a digital world called at first simply the System (a holdover from its early days of secrecy, so vague a name as to keep discussions hard to trace) and later, after a launch of two smaller copies out of the Solar System, Lagrange --- the construct that remained at the Earth-Moon L<sub>5</sub> point --- and the two launch vehicles (LVs), Castor and Pollux. <!-- A bit awkward here -->
 
-## The shared dream
+### The shared dream
 
 The System is not a purely digital haven. It's not a construct bound by our ideas of some virtual reality. They tried, at first, and some remnants remain from that --- new creations or instances are still tagged with a unique hash in the form of hexadecimal digits and System denizens still speak of sims and avatars --- but that's not how the System ended up working. When it was first created, those who remained *phys-side* couldn't conceptualize it in any other way. Those *sys-side*, however, knew better. Rather than an analogue to virtual reality, it was more like a consensual dream. What was possible on the System was limited to that which all minds could consensually imagine together.
 
@@ -57,7 +145,7 @@ This was, at first, pure chaos. That limit alone was not quite enough: what all
 
 The fact remains, however, that the world has more in common with a dream of the physical world than the 'net.
 
-## Timeline
+### Timeline
 
 2115 --- February ??
 :   The first partially successful upload leads to a breakthrough and, shortly after, the foundation of the System.
@@ -83,7 +171,7 @@ The Gap
 2400 --- December 31
 :   A series of events leads to an interruption in the functioning of Lagrange lasting thirteen months and ten days. Nearly 1% of instances within the System are irretrievably lost.
 
-## Sensoria
+### Sensoria
 
 The ways in which an instance interacts with the world are mediated through their *sensorium*. The sensorium is the sum total of all senses that an individual has. This includes the usual senses as well as those sensations particular to the System, such as interacting with the perisystem architecture or the feasibility of creation or forking, both of which will be described below.
 
@@ -97,13 +185,13 @@ One final use of sensoria is to send *sensorium messages*. These are senses that
 
 For instance, one might wish to share with a friend the feeling of the ACLs of a space changing without speaking out loud, or perhaps the full experience of a delicious meal.
 
-## Sims
+### Sims
 
 Locations in the System are known as sims, an artifact from the pre-System 'net days. Sims may be public or private. Public sims are usually open to anyone and can be accessed by querying the perisystem architecture for their *tags* (e.g: Josephine's#aaca9bb9).
 
 Private sims are generally owned by a single individual, clade, or family. These sims tend to have much more restrictive *ACLs* (from 'access control lists', but now generally used to refer to fine-grained permissions) which can limit who may enter, whether or not the location is visible to others, who in the sim may create new objects, modify boundaries, and so on. The owners have full ACLs, including the ability to grant others owner status and rescind their own (though every sim must have at least one owner).
 
-## Forking and merging, individuation, and clades
+### Forking and merging, individuation, and clades
 
 Introduced almost by accident, the concept of forking allows one to create a new *instance* of oneself. This copy is completely identical, but as soon as they're created and their experiences begin to differ, that instance starts to undergo the process of *individuation*. They form their own memories, and their experience of the world is colored by those memories.
 
@@ -125,7 +213,7 @@ Relying more heavily on forks to accomplish tasks, **trackers** may keep instanc
 
 Clades can form quasi-familial units or not even really talk to each other; it's really up to the individual. There's a mild taboo against relationships between *cocladists*, though the greater they have differentiated, the less that seems to be an issue. While one can rescind one's membership in a clade, this is similar to distancing oneself from one's family: your down-tree instance is still your down-tree instance.
 
-## Life beyond scarcity
+### Life beyond scarcity
 
 Contrary to fears, by the end of the 2100s, System capacity had far outstripped its actual usage. As space grew and grew, the cost of forking and creating sims dropped further and further almost to the point of becoming negligible.
 
@@ -137,25 +225,25 @@ These processes are largely transparent (as is the market itself; anyone can che
 
 As such, few think about the reputation market all that much after about 2220 This coincided with a massive wave of reforms to the reputation market hitting at the centennial Secession day in 2225 that essentially obviated it for most individuals.
 
-## Eternal memory
+### Eternal memory
 
 TODO
 
-## The perisystem architecture
+### The perisystem architecture
 
 The perisystem architecture is the conceptual foam of computer-stuff in which individuals reside and items such as sims, food, very nice fountain pens, and very fine paper exist. However, it also contains large amounts of information in the form of books, the reputation market, and various information feeds.
 
 Some maintenance of the perisystem architecture is required, usually by engineers both sys-side and phys-side. In the instance of the two launch vehicles, for instance, PA engineers managed the DMZ. On Castor, this area was later called Convergence
 
-# Playing the game
+## Playing the game
 
 *Post-Self* is a tabletop role playing game powered by The Apocalypse, a lightweight framework for RPGs.
 
-## MC and players
+### MC and players
 
 When playing, players are led along by a master of ceremonies, or MC, on an adventure. As they move through the story, they form relationships with one another and NPCs around them, specialize in skills related to the System, and work to accomplish their goals using the tools built into the world that they inhabit.
 
-## Agendas and principles
+### Agendas and principles
 
 *Agendas* are the three reasons you play the game. The first two are filled in for you, but the MC should fill in the third for themselves:
 
@@ -182,7 +270,7 @@ When playing, players are led along by a master of ceremonies, or MC, on an adve
 * \_\_\_\_\_
 * \_\_\_\_\_
 
-## Virtues
+### Virtues
 
 Each player chooses three *Virtues* for their character. They pick two that the other characters know but one that they keep secret.
 
@@ -238,7 +326,7 @@ Avery
     * *Faith* --- When others are cold, distant, or even just solitary, ey has a hard time connecting with them and will often not bother.
     * *Sharing* --- If you're not going to share with JC, ey isn't going to share with you! Ey guards eir possessions, knowledge, and time jealously from those who don't share.
 
-## Stats
+### Stats
 
 There are six stats associated with characters describing how they move through the world
 
@@ -346,7 +434,7 @@ Avery
     >
     > The MC replies, "Oh, so you're going to try and sneak in another little hint? Okay. Q doesn't quite pick up on that in terms of a date, but does nod. They look very serious. "I will try your coffee tomorrow, yes." You don't necessarily get the romantic date you were hoping for, but you do at least get another chance to meet with them."
 
-### The Leverage stat
+#### The Leverage stat
 
 *Leverage* is a unique stat that specifically deals with interacting with another character, player or non. Are you helping someone? Trying to stop them? These are the two main situations when you will roll *Leverage*. Every character has a different leverage score for every other player character and any NPCs added to the party, which are noted on the character sheet.
 
@@ -373,7 +461,7 @@ Avery
 :  
     TODO
 
-## Dissolution strategies
+### Dissolution strategies
 
 As mentioned, there are roughly three ways of approaching forking for those who live in the System: Taskers, Trackers, and Dispersionistas. These *Dissolution Strategies* affect how well you're able to fork, but also how much more damage you might take on failure.
 
@@ -397,7 +485,7 @@ Dispersionista
     
 What this comes down to is the fact that, the more likely you are to fork --- that is, the closer you hew to a Dispersionista lifestyle --- the more likely you are to succeed, but the higher the cost if you fail. The less likely you are to fork --- the closer you are to being a Tasker --- the more likely you are to fail, but the lower the potential cost.
     
-## Sanity <!-- move before sanity -->
+### Sanity <!-- move before sanity -->
 
 In such a world where physical damage suddenly has less meaning, health is measured in terms of *Sanity*. After all, you have only a simulacrum of a body; if that gets damaged, why, just fork yourself a new one!
 
@@ -421,7 +509,7 @@ Avery
 :  
     TODO
 
-## Player moves <!-- personalize -->
+### Player moves <!-- personalize -->
 
 * When you do something relating to [specialty], add +1.
 * You have the ability to [do some sort of active special power]. It counts as a basic move using [stat].
@@ -430,7 +518,7 @@ Avery
 * When you do [specialty], mark XP.
 * Add +1 to [stat].
 
-# Preparing to play
+## Preparing to play
 
 Overview:
 
@@ -440,7 +528,7 @@ Overview:
 * Set your starting reputation and sanity
 * Choose your moves
 
-## Creating characters
+### Creating characters
 
 [![Charsheet!](https://rpg.post-self.ink/filled-charsheet.png)](https://rpg.post-self.ink/charsheet.pdf)
 
@@ -456,7 +544,7 @@ Each PC has a relationship stat with each other PC. Tell the players to do this:
 
 The next stage of creating characters is to pick 3 moves. When a player picks a move, they pick an option from the list below, give the move a title, and fill in the blanks. Each move gets recorded on their character sheet. <!-- talk about moves first, etc -->
 
-## Session zero
+### Session zero
 
 As an optional step before the game, it might help to have a session zero. These sessions are a good way to help strengthen both the players' bonds with their characters and with each other. There are many different ways to help get all the creative and social juices flowing. These aren't necessary, and need not even be their own sessions independent of the first session, however, setting aside time specifically to build up the world can be eminently useful. In fact, they can even be a good time for building the players' characters from the ground up in a collaborative and communal style. Here are some ideas for what to do:
 
@@ -496,13 +584,13 @@ Safety and expectations
     
 ((Talk about how to handle forking, limits, autonomy of forks, etc))
     
-# Gameplay
+## Gameplay
 
 The game is like a conversation. People describe what their characters do, ask questions about what’s going on, and talk in character. If someone says something that seems untrue or unreasonable, the MC is allowed to say, "I don’t think that’s possible, but you could instead [make some other interesting choice], if you’d like."
 
 At some point, the MC will determine that something requires a roll. Actions require a roll when they are opposed by other characters or run the risk of interesting failure. When one of these conditions is met, the player needs to roll for a basic move. The MC will name which stat applies to the situation. The player rolls two six-sided dice and adds their stat to the sum. The effects depend on the basic move in question.
 
-## MC
+### MC
 
 Early in the first session, the MC should juggle two responsibilities:
 
@@ -511,11 +599,11 @@ Early in the first session, the MC should juggle two responsibilities:
 
 Astute players will realize that these two things can sometimes be at odds with one another. MC, the way you navigate this combination of responsibilities is by honouring your Agendas and your Principles.
 
-### Dangers and the bigger picture
+#### Dangers and the bigger picture
 
 Between sessions, or even during them, the MC can create Dangers. Dangers are things that might cause problems for the PCs, or fight them for resources, or block the PCs on their path. When you create a Danger, take an index card. Write its name, and its Ambition, and 1-3 MC Moves. Its Ambition is whatever this thing wants and strives for. If the PCs don’t do anything about the Danger, the Ambition will either happen or it’ll be attempted and disastrous effects will result. The MC Moves are things that the MC can add to their list of MC Moves whenever the Danger is afoot.
 
-### MC Moves
+#### MC Moves
 
 The MC moves are the specific things you say in any moment. There are two different cases where you use the MC Moves, and you use them differently in each of those cases. When the players look at you expectantly, you make a regular MC Move. When a player fails a die roll (getting 6 or lower), you make a hard MC Move. John Harper best described how to handle those two cases, so I'll quote him:
 
@@ -553,13 +641,13 @@ A list of MC Moves is already written for you, waiting to be customized. Cross o
 * \_\_\_\_
 * \_\_\_\_
 
-### PCs and NPCs
+#### PCs and NPCs
 
 (( TODO ))
 
-## Players
+### Players
 
-### Player moves
+#### Player moves
 
 Player moves come in three general forms:
 
@@ -567,7 +655,7 @@ Player moves come in three general forms:
 * Helping and hindering
 * Savvy
 
-#### Taking action
+##### Taking action
 
 When you take an action that risks failure or opposition, roll with one of the basic stats. On a 10+, you succeed at your goal. As appropriate, the MC might award you: resource points, harm dealt, or a bonus to carry forward. On a 7-9, the MC will offer you a hard bargain or a cost. If you agree to that hard bargain or cost, you succeed at your goal (and as appropriate, the MC might award you resource points, harm dealt, or a bonus to carry forward).
 
@@ -575,17 +663,17 @@ When someone succeeds (with a 10+ or a 7-9) on a Taking Action <!-- make sure th
 
 Sometimes, succeeding on a Taking Action roll means that the PC is set up for future successes. In these cases, the MC can award a +1 bonus that the PC can apply to their next roll. The player should mark that bonus on their character sheet.
 
-#### Helping and hindering
+##### Helping and hindering
 
 When you help someone or hinder a player character, roll your *leverage* stat with that person. On a 10+, add or subtract 2 from their roll. On a 7-9, the MC will name a cost; if you accept the cost, add or subtract 2 from their roll.
 
 When you help someone or hinder a non-player character, roll your *leverage* stat with that person. On a 10+, they either succeed or fail --- your choice. On a 7-9, the MC will name a cost; if you accept the cost, they either succeed or fail --- your choice.
 
-#### Savvy
+##### Savvy
 
 *Savvy* moves are those that specifically deal with the System itself. While these essentially boil down to being the same as taking an action, they're called out here due to each of them having setting-specific implications.
 
-##### Forking and quitting
+###### Forking and quitting
 
 An integral part of life on the System is forking, where individuals may create a copy of themselves, whether for a task or to live out on their own. Optionally, that fork may *quit* and *merge* back down, wherein the initial individual (known as the *downtree instance*) may receive their memories.
 
@@ -613,40 +701,40 @@ After the early 2200s, forking on the System is essentially free, incurring only
 
 ((Link to session zero 'talking about forking'))
 
-##### Accessing the Perisystem Architecture
+###### Accessing the Perisystem Architecture
 
 TODO
 
-##### Sensorium
+###### Sensorium
 
 * Intensity
 * Messages
 
-## Tracking resources
+### Tracking resources
 
-### Sanity
+#### Sanity
 
-### Reputation
+#### Reputation
 
 Whenever you roll a highlighted stat you earn a point of XP. Mark it on the XP section of your sheet. When you hit 5 XP, erase all of it and take a new Player Move. If you’ve already got at least one move that references each of your specialities, you may create a new specialty and reference it in the Player Move you purchase. <!-- check to see if applicable -->
 
-## Harm and sanity
+### Harm and sanity
 
-## Taken out of action
+### Taken out of action
 
 When a character has all of their harm sections filled in <!-- not too-->, they’re taken out of the action. The specifics will vary based on genre and context. In a Hardy Boys game, being taken out of the action means disappearing under mysterious circumstances (to wake up tied to a chair later) or being put into a coma. In an apocalyptic gang fighting game, being taken out of the action means being killed. When a character is taken out of the action, they’re no longer playable – either they’re dead or they’re the functional equivalent of being dead. If the character was a PC, the player should create a new character.
 
-## Carrying forward
+### Carrying forward
 
-## Tracking experience and *Leverage*
+### Tracking experience and *Leverage*
 
-## Overflowing with memory
+### Overflowing with memory
 
-## The shared dream
+### The shared dream
 
-# Story ideas
+## Story ideas
 
-## Battle royale with politics.
+### Battle royale with politics.
 
 * PVP or PVAI in a combat focused setting
 * Fairly lethal, but it's revealed to be a game of sorts: as soon as you're "out", you wind up in a war room of sorts, doing some political maneuvering
@@ -664,7 +752,7 @@ Questions for the MC:
 * Can players form alliances with NPCs?
 * What are the win conditions? What is the motivation for the players?
 
-## Finding a lost self
+### Finding a lost self
 
 * Work for a sort of PI agency
 * Hired by a root instance to find a lost up-tree instance
@@ -681,13 +769,13 @@ Questions for the MC:
 * Was this maybe just a setup by an old clade to make life interesting?
 * Do the PCs pick up any NPCs along the way? Does the root instance come with?
 
-# You
+## You
 
 *Post-Self*, as an open universe, invites the creation of your own story and explorations of the subtler implications of the mechanics. The world is what it is by virtue of what we, as participants in its creation, make of it.
 
 As such, I freely invite you to share! If your story takes off, feel free to post about it, share actual plays, write up your plots into stories and modules! Hell, even if you don't want to share it far and wide, I would love to hear what you come up with; feel free to [drop me a line](https://makyo.is). If you're particularly proud of what you've done and are open to others experiencing it, I'm plenty happy to post your contributions as part of the 'canon', such as it is. Modules and RPG plots will be posted on [rpg.post-self.ink](https://rpg.post-self.ink) and stories on the *Extra Stories* section of [post-self.ink](https://post-self.ink/extras/).
 
-# Resources
+## Resources
 
 Safety and expectations
 :