Creating the Cradle TTRPG

TLDR:  http://cradle-rpg.wikidot.com

 

When I originally had the inspiration to create a Table Top Role Playing Game (TTRPG) game system based on a book series, I knew it was going to be a lot of work. But the more I worked on it, the easier it became. It’s been over a year since I started and the progress I’ve made feels great but there is still plenty more to do. The goal of this post and others like it, is to serve as a status update for Cradle RPG game system. Considering this is the first update, it will cover a lot about my inspiration and the history of this project up until this point. For the uninitiated, the Cradle RPG system is based on a book series written by Will Wight. If you couldn’t tell, I love this series and highly recommend checking it out. It’s a master class in “hard world building” and ever increasing power levels.

Inspiration and Origins

The Cradle book series written by Will Wight is excellent. It’s direct correlations to Taoism and personal advancement made me feel right at home. I personally enjoy video games and TTRPGs, and without consciously thinking about it, this world and series fits perfectly into a potential video or TTRPG universe. There are level ups, cool equipment, and even magic. Although many of those terms have been altered to better fit the Cradle theme. The magical martial arts that Wight portrays is a fantastic framework for a TTRPG.

When I came up with the idea to turn the world of Cradle into a game, I happen to be a Game Master  for a Pathfinder 2e campaign at the time, and was fully invested into the TTRPG culture. I wanted to be playing constantly and couldn’t take my mind off the subject. So I decided to combine both the Cradle universe and TTRPGs.

I invited my friend over to discuss what a Cradle RPG system might look like. This friend not only introduced me to the Cradle series, but was also a player in the Pathfinder campaign I was running. Needless to say, he was very interested in this project. We hashed out some high level details that have stuck around to this day, but most of that brainstorm session has been lost to time. However, my motivation and desire to complete the project hasn’t.

 

Dice

A signature mechanic of TTRPGs is using dice to add a bit of randomness into gameplay to make things interesting. I want to keep dice and math overall fairly simple, so I would like to have players use a SINGLE die for all rolls. I am not 100% sure what I want that dice to be. Right now everything is designed with a ten sided die (d10) but I am also considering a twelve sided die (d12). Using a d10 is nice because people are familiar with base 10 numbers, and quickly determining bonuses is easy to understand. However, I plan to do some subtraction and/or division to change the madra cost of techniques, and as a result working with a number that is more flexible for division might be easier.

There are plenty of resources showing a base 12 number system has a lot of advantages over base 10, and I encourage you to look those up. At a surface level, the number 12 is easily divisible by 2, 3, and 4, making it trivial to calculate things like one half, one third, and one quarter. 10 is only easily divisible by 2.

This could be helpful if you need to determine the cost of using a technique at a lower advancement level. An Underlord handicaps themselves by only using techniques equal to a Low Gold. If techniques cost less madra when used at a lower advancement level, what should that cost reduction be? A flat reduction? A percent reduction? I don't know yet, but I'm always trying to figure out the most fun  and thematic methodology.

When I was first conceiving this system, I envisioned using a d10 so I will stick with that for now. Everything else in this post will assume the player is using a d10.

The Path Manual

One of the first bits of inspiration I had was to make character creation around the idea of creating a  new path or possibly following a pre-existing path. Instead of having a traditional class or job, it made sense for players to have a ‘Path’. Continuing the theme, they would be using a ‘Path Manual’ instead of a character sheet. Every Path should have techniques to improve. And this is when the real question popped up: what advancement level should player start at? If Characters start with an already competent Sacred Artist, or at least one that isn’t a child, they should start at a level that most teenagers a have reached, especially teens that are naturally gifted at combat which player character typically will be. So starting at the rank of Low Gold made the most sense to me. This implies that a player's Path Manual would have to be filled with all the things they learned up until that point.

Iron Body

The books lay out a basic frame work for the kind of  foundation a Sacred Artist should have. Copper is the first step and doesn’t come with any unique benefits. Advancing to Iron comes with an Iron Body. This will prepare a Sacred Artist for the rigors they will have to endure along their chosen path. It sets one up for success down the line. Players would have to select an Iron Body and the boons, or  possibly negative effects, it gives them. Looking to the main series for inspiration, we see Lindon is given the Bloodforged Iron Body which boost his stamina and ability to recover from bodily injuries and poison at the expense of extreme madra consumption. Yerin is given the Steelborn Iron Body which improves her physical strength increasing the speed and intensity she can wield her swords. The book mentions other types, but I think these two example set the stage for what an Iron body should do for a Sacred Artist. It is an investment into the physical stability and well being of a Sacred Artist.

 

Jade Cycling Technique

After Iron comes Jade and a specialized cycling technique that will increase madra storage and control. This is another investment a Sacred Artist must make in order to improve their spiritual prowess. Because the concept of a spirit and madra is so foreign and fantastical to the reader it is difficult to put into words exactly what cycling is. This is still something I am working on explaining to the players. While I can rip off Wight, I would prefer to re-word things to be more concise and require less context to understand. In the Cradle series, by the time the reader is watching Lindon advance to Jade, they have become accustomed to much of the books terminology. I don’t have that luxury. Ultimately, I want new players to be able to pick up this system without any prior experience with the book series.

Where was I … Jade Cycling Techniques. At this point in a Sacred Artists career, they may begin to draw attention from others for their abilities and decide to keep their Path Manual a secret. As a result, Jade cycling techniques are not often shared outside of one’s family or sect and we don’t see many examples of cycling techniques in the book series. However, there is one prime example, the Heaven and Earth Purification Wheel. This is taught by Eithan to Lindon when he has advancing to Jade. As a player in this world, one should adopt or create a cycling technique that provides spiritual benefits that will grow alongside them.

 

Gold Sign

In the books, Sacred Artists who reach the level of Low Gold often obtain some physical change as a result of ascension, known as a Gold Sign. This ranges from something as seemingly inconsequential as a change of eye color, to growing additional pairs of arms. There are ways to avoid a gold sign but those methods are reserved either for specific paths or for the extremely wealthy who are able to provide enough advancement materials to their young prodigies that they are able to break through to Low Gold by sheer madra capacity.

I also chose to add in the ability to establish a contract with a Sacred Beast. The same way Lindon does. I thought this could be a very interesting game play mechanic and it would definitely appeal to those looking to play a “summoner” or “pet tamer” type class that other popular TTRPGs offer. While establishing this type of a connection is rare in the world that Wight created, it will likely be a main stay for the TTRPG.

It’s worth noting that contracts with Sacred Beasts are not limited to Jades or Golds. When I was working on concrete advancement criteria and benefits, or in this case character creation, I was using the main characters of the books as a guide and template. Lindon meet his first contracted Sacred Beast, Orthos as a Jade about to break through to Gold. So Sacred beasts are part of the character creation and as of now are considered when a Sacred Artist reaches the Gold Stage. I suspect I’ll end up changing that somewhere along the way. I could see a situation where a new player wants their back story to include a Sacred Beast that has been bonded at one point or another to everyone in a family, and it’s their turn to establish this bond. It’s totally possible for that bond to be established at birth.

 

The Four Families of Techniques

Another critical part of character creation, and advancement is techniques. These are essential components of combat (and social interactions if used correctly). This naturally lead to a though exercise about what exactly techniques were and how they could be gamified. And thus, the level up mechanics were born! Each time a Sacred Artist levels up they are given technique points. Technique points can be spent to learn new techniques to continue filling out your Path Manual. Or they can be used to hone your existing techniques. I felt this was a fantastic way to express diversity between characters and give each player the ability to make the character their own. Two people on the same Path can still have vastly different level ups such that one of them has spent all their Technique points learning new techniques to be as versatile as possible. Meanwhile the other player spent their points honing the few techniques they already know. While they only have a few options in any given situation, those options are extremely strong and will be able to change the course of a fight in their favor.

Learning a new technique is as simple as picking a cool action your character would like to do and designing a technique around it. Because of game rules and limitations, I felt it was easier to force each technique to belong to a single class Forger, Enforcer, Ruler, or Striker. But we all know that nearly every technique has elements of each of those aspects. In games things tend to be simpler than their real world counter parts, and just like the residents of Sacred Valley, forcing techniques into nice and neat boxes makes it much easier for players to comprehend and use.

Honing a technique is another way you can spend your points. Each technique comes with multiple ways to Hone it, each with their own costs. But I’m not sure how I want to properly utilize this system. As of writing this, the wiki has some example techniques and what it would look like to hone them.

Ideally I would like players to make up their own techniques and honing prospects. However, this puts a large burden on the players and game master. Not only do they have to actually come up with the raw technique, but they have to also dream up ways to enhance that technique through honing. They must correctly balance each upgrade, or risk having the character become over or under powered. While monsters haven’t been fleshed out yet, it is worth the thought exercise to anticipate some player attempting to have their energy beam attack do “infinity” damage and kills everything in one hit. Obviously this is a ridiculous attack, but what if also comes at the cost of the users life? Is it balanced then? I think this whole system is a good starting point but needs to be more fleshed out and concrete. There should be guide lines for players and GMs alike to be as creative as they want while also allowing for a consistent challenge through encounters.

Leveling Up, Advancement, and the Level Difference Modifier

So, what exactly does a level up represent? My knee-jerk reaction was to make advancement the same thing as a level up. This thematically works well, but it does keep levels fairly low, as there are only a handful of advancement levels above Low Gold. It also doesn’t accurately describe the power difference between each of the advancement ranks. If you take Dungeons and Dragons as an example, a level 5 fighter and a level 6 fighter are similar in power. One hits slightly harder and has more Hit Points than the other, but otherwise they are very similar in power. However, if you take an Underlord and an Overlord from the world of Cradle, one could sneeze and kill the other. 

Enter the Level Difference Mod[ifier]. This intrinsic attribute is a dynamic modifier that indicates the power level difference between two Sacred Artists. If a High Gold were to fight a Low Gold, the High Gold would receive a substantial buff for everything she does.  All die rolls would receive a flat bonus equal to half the maximum value of the die. In the the case of a ten sided die, every roll would get +5. This is a big difference in power. It translates to being 50% stronger than other Sacred Artists at your former advancement level. However if two High Golds were to fight, neither would get any bonus because they are at the same level. This is one method used to make the game have a relative power level. This also scales up when two combatants are more than one advancement level apart. The higher level Sacred Artist receives the +5 for each stage of advancement above the opponent. In absolute terms this means an Underlord would get +15 when fighting a Low Gold. When the highest possible value on the die is a 10, and your opponent gets +15 armor, +15 on their damage, +15 to everything... it would be impossible to win that fight. the Underlord could roll the lowest number on the die every time, and the Low Gold could roll the highest number ever time and the Underlord would still be victorious.

The concept of the Level Difference Mod was tickling the back of my head for some time. I wanted to find a way to make the different advancement levels feel distinct and distant in terms of power, but I didn't want to bog down players with a ton of possible bonuses, multipliers, and all the other things that come with traditional TTRPGs. However the Level Difference Mod does subvert the subconscious (or conscious) desire to watch numbers go up. You don't necessarily "feel" stronger because when fighting people of a similar strength, nothing has really changed. But you "are" stronger because you can now demolish people of lower advancements.

Global Modifier and Feeling Stronger

In order to achieve a sense of progression and strength, there should be some modifier that increases when ever the player advances independent of the enemies around them. This is the Global Mod[ifier]. It goes up by 1 for every advancement level. The purpose is to give players a sense of becoming stronger. From a mechanical perspective it also allows players to have more bonuses (power) compared to enemies. Although enemies haven't been fleshed out yet, I anticipate them not having random bonuses unless it's thematic. So that means that the Global Mod is unique to plyers characters. And at higher levels it really does make a difference and benefit the players that much more. For example after Overlord the bonus is +5 or greater which is the same as being an entire advancement stage above your opponents! This modifier does get combine with the Level Difference Modifier and can result in some powerful characters These two systems are intended to be combine and were design to create a sense of power that only the players can possess. They should be the main characters of the story anyway. 

At this point I haven't play tested any of these systems and I have no idea if this will feel fun at all. But the sentiment is still a good one and I look forward to seeing these two systems evolve.

Health and Madra

In Wight’s universe these two systems are some of the most fluid, and its impossible to quantify either of them. Plus I wanted to do something a bit different here. I always found that the idea of a characters Health Points or Hit Points (HP) shouldn’t change at all. What is actually changing is their resistance to damage and their ability to heal. Having HP stay the same number throughout a character’s life has 2 key benefits. The first being when attacks are strong enough to overcome resistance/armor and actually hurt the target it will be obvious if the attack is powerful or not. And the second benefit being the sense of growth and improvement a player feels is stronger. For example a level l, character with 100 HP is attacked and an incoming attack is strong enough to deal 20 points of damage, that is a fairly strong attack and hit for 1/5 of his health pool. Now lets take that same character and make him level 5. The attack that previously was strong enough to harm him will now do considerably less damage, maybe even no damage if their resistance/armor is high enough! I'll discuss Armor in a future post.

Madra on the other hand does thematically increase as a Sacred Artist grows and gets stronger. One detail that is repeatedly mentioned multiple times when Lindon is early on in his advancement, is how he must condense his existing core[s] and make the madra tighter and smaller in order to make room to store even more. This gave me the impression that madra is a tangible force that has a relative volume. One must warp the space that madra takes up in order to be as space efficient as possible. This is still subject to change if the idea shows itself to be too complicated or unfun. It's definitely true that gamers like watching numbers go up…. Anyway the Level Difference Mod solves the scalability problem in a very concise way, as a result when a Sacred Artist uses techniques its assumed they are using them at a power level equal to their own. Because their core is more dense, and can thematically store more madra, then they don't have to consider the change in cost. While not explicitly stated it is percentage based

This enables Sacred Artists to intentionally handicap themselves and use techniques at lower advancement levels for a cost reduction. Though I haven't quite settled on what that reduction should be.

Both Health and Madra can be thought about in terms of percents more than stat values. This also helps making game balance and creating new technique easier to understand. A player or GM doesn't have to wonder if something is “strong”, they should know right off the bat that something that deals essentially 50% damage is strong and should be treated as such. And wouldn’t you know it, percents are inherently a relative measurement. In a game where power levels are vastly different thinking in percents makes things a lot simpler to create and understand.

In the next post...

In the next post I hope to document the thought process behind the rules of play combat and my thought process behind those design decisions. I also plan to discuss Honing techniques a bit more and attempt to put into words my intentions about technique creation. 

Check out the wiki: http://cradle-rpg.wikidot.com