Equipment Update!

The Spell Matrix

Before, I would refer to this as "The number of meta-magic abilities you may use on a single spell" now I refer to it as a "Spell Matrix." This not only simplifies terminology but also allows some additional functionality in that items or other abilities can increase your "spell matrix" instead of "the number of metas you may use on a single spell" or increasing your intelligence modifier which would also increase your chance to hit with spells.

Weapon Training And Weapon Damage

Weapons have all had their damage normalized (they no longer deal variable damage). So instead of 1d8, a weapon now simply deals 4 damage with bonuses from your strength and any skills you may have taken as well as any maneuvers you may be using. Damage dice with weapons now come from overarching weapon training abilities:

Weapon Modifications

12 new weapon enchantments are finally in the game! these enchantments should add some serious lethiality to all characters.

Elemental Control- Tying it all together

Elemental control adds a new functionality to mages, allowing them to become a support class for melee and ranged combatants, while still maintaining their own ability to bring the pain.

What's to come

I printed off the character sheet recently and noticed that it needed a lot of work. I expect that it will still have the same overall look, but with some changes in spacing and some new elements.

From here, I also intend to expand the lore, but in a different way: instead of adding new races, and new conflicts, i intend to add more detail to what is already there.

This update brought to you by:

I wanted to take a second to send a big "thanks" to Freddy Meyer from the German group. This update  was mostly motivated and brainstormed by him. After coming out of the more nebulous part of the internet and knowing nothing about the system, he has helped in a lot of big ways.

so thanks, Freddy

Oops!

Apparently when i reformatted recently i lost the last revision of Theory Character Creation. But not to worry! between backups and the online-hosted PDF version I have managed to put everything back together.


New martial abilities
Recoil:

Recoil should greatly improve a defensive player's ability to move quickly and defend themselves simultaneously. More ranks means more movement for the same amount (or lower amounts) of AP.

Swiftstrike:

Swiftstrike should greatly improve an offensive players ability to move quickly and deal massive damage at the same time.

Changes to existing abilities:
All Proficiencies are now 3 rank skills (instead of 5 ranks)

I felt that a +10 bonus to hit from a single skill was just too large (especially with a 100xp progression). instead, +6 should be more in line with the bonuses granted by other skills and the low experience cost should still make the skill attractive.

Arcane Shards no longer have an attunement

This means that if your mana is unattuned, it will remain unattuned. If your mana is attuned to fire, it will remain attuned to fire. If your mana is attuned to Fire and terra, it will remain attuned to fire and terra.

Clarifying defensive maneuvers

The battle to clarify the way that offensive and defensive maneuvers function continues!

One does not simply march into more lore!
In the future I expect to increase the amount of lore provided in the game. In the past I have created additional factions and conflicts as well as counter-factions. Next I intend to add more detail to the political, economic, and roleplay aspects of these factions and the places that they live. I have sketched a map of the universe and intend to turn it into a more comprehensive map which will be featured in the lore book.
also, I may or may not be getting a googledoc soon with more lore detail from one of the original co-creators of the universe and the system.

New additions and a change of pace

The New Stuff
The new additions in this update include another new faction: The Duranthian Initiative. Man has not been content to be scattered among the stars and hunted like dogs by the droids who took our home-world.  The Initiative fights the Revolution of Steel at every turn, seeking to take Earth back from the droid menace.

Mana shards are back in the game! These shards of pure magical energy are used by a wide range of combatants (not just mages). In addition to providing a bonus to a player's mana pool (at the cost of health) each shard provides a unique ability, or enhances an existing one.

A new defensive maneuver is available: Recovery. This ability should alter the tactics of combat slightly by adding an unexpected twist to the strategy of melee vs (any) combat. It's two sub-abilities: Balance and Equilibrium should keep enemies off balance and never knowing what to expect next.

A Change of Pace
Fall semester begins on the 29th. Meaning that my 40 hour work week becomes a 55 Hour work week (not including homework). Updates to the system will likely slow down, but I will still be watching my email and the blog.

Telekinesis joins the fight!

Telekinesis added
Telekinesis is now available to characters in the 'skills' section of character creation. In theory there are four schools of telekinesis: Push, Crush, Blade, and Deflection, as well as 3 meta-abilities to modify and enhance each one. A special thanks to my friend Chris (FatManInTank) for helping me flesh these skills out!

How to calculate hit added for telekinesis, melee and spells
I have added a small table to the beginning of each relevant section on how to calculate hit with telekinetic attacks, spell attacks, melee attacks, and ranged attacks.
For reference:
Telekinetic hit = wis mod + any abilities that boost telekinetic hit
Spell hit = int mod + any abilities that boost spell hit
Melee hit = str mod + any abilities that boost melee hit
Ranged hit = spd mod + any abilities that boost Ranged hit

Disturbance shadow skill fixed
an oversight on my part, the shadow mage skill 'Disturbance' Referenced an ability that no longer exists! the skill now simply contains the correct information and hasn't really changed.

The Revolution of Steel joins chapter 5
The Android faction that forced Man to flee earth has joined chapter 5 as a playable faction. Join them in their  endless march to scourge the human race to oblivion

Theorycrafting Take 2

I have finished re-recording the first episode of theorycrafting and it's now up on youtube. Theorycrafting will be a web series that will visually explain the theory system to players and give them a better understanding of how to do the things that they want to do. In the future, we will make 3 characters in an episode focused on character creation. Then, we will take those characters onto the battlefield in an episode that highlights combat.

Creatures of Our Galaxy by, Dr. Jessix G. Fellin

"I have spent the better part of my life searching the universe for some of the most exotic, strange, and dangerous creatures that habitat the many different planets. These writings contain some of smallest animals to the largest monsters that I, and my team, have found across many different systems. My hope, our hope, is that this will be a field guide to fellow scientists who are examining the animals and foliage or the systems we examined."


A friend has begun writing and creating a bestiary of some rather interesting creatures to add to the Theory universe. I definitely look forward to these new additions and will begin adding them to the lore document as they arrive. so keep an eye on the blog for new updates and new threats!

Theorycrafting Episode 1: Overview

If you managed to catch the video while it was up, you probably noticed the horrible audio quality. this is an issue that i believe i've resolved, but it means that i have to re-record and re-upload the video. this should happen in the next couple of days.