Keywords

Keywords: Overview

Keywords in Flagstone are words with mechanical meaning within the game; they are game mechanics all bundled up in a neat little word. Keywords come in three types: System keywords(see below), Methodology(ies), and Accent(s)s. Each category of keywords plays a very specific role in the formation of abilities.

Keywords that belong to character progression are defined in the Chakra(s) to which they belong. The definition includes their valid usage for all categories for which they are relevant. Some words, such as item, food, ore or metal, are system keywords and are defined in their relevant section of the rules. System keywords have special significance in defining item types and attributes that are necessary for the other systems in the game to function. Often times, these will overlap in unexpected ways.

Keywords from a chakra become available to be used in ability creation when the chakra and relevant sub-domain are selected for use in a loadout. Characters gain access to all keywords within the subdomain when it is chosen. Access to keywords found on weapons or items requires that the keyword be available for use in the active loadout. This does *not* mean that a character wielding a sword forgets how to use a sword, it means that the character has not spent time training with that particular weapon in their current configuration of armor and abilities.

Reserved Keywords

In Flagstone, there are some keywords that are reserved by the game's system:

These keywords are the base for all character actions within Flagstone. They are available to all characters, regardless of build. On their own, the represent the most basic and undirected attempt at a core task, such as combat, magic, crafting, or interacting with the environment or NPC's. In a word, they are clumsy, unsophisticated, and crude. As such, using the reserved keywords directly will only produce EEE rated results.

People, Places, and Things

Often, there will be a need to refer to a specific person, place, or thing. There are a number of reserved keywords specifically. Primarily these apply to assigning valid targets for bilities and actions. The list of reserved object keywords is shown below:

Methodologies

Methodologies are keywords that override one of the base reserved keywords, setting up a new action with the same basic goal, such as physical attacks, social interactions, or crafting. For example, any methodology that overrides 'Strike' will be attempting a physical attack. Methodologies determine *how* something happens, and what actions the character must perform to complete the ability. For example, to use strike, the character must succeed in an attack CR.

Methodologies have several parameters that must be specified, such as the [Source] and [Target]. By default, the source is the wielder using the ability, and the target may either be themselves or a touched target, which requires a CR attack roll against an unwilling target. Other parameters that may be present are [Attribute], [Damage Type], and [Status]. Specifying or modifying these parameters is the job of accents.

Accents

Keywords that modify or specify the parameters of a methodology are called Accents. Accents can be used to specify a type of target, status effect, or other attribute. When used in this way, accents increase efficiency and potency by one rank. Accents may also be used as modifiers, to change the output parameters of an ability, such as adding a status to a character, altering the damage type, or modifying the attribute to be affected. When used in this way, accents decrease the efficiency and potency by one rank. If a modifier being added to an ability would reduce its potency, range, or efficiency below E, it is applied as a penalty.

In this fashion, the more specifically defined an ability becomes, the more potent and efficient it is over time; while modifications that expand the scope of function reduce efficiency and potency. This tradeoff can be overcome by directly upgrading the potency, range, or efficiency by making a successful research attempt and paying any associated cost in dream seeds.

Note: Actors, locations, objects, and other game elements have attributes and pools that can be specified by using an accent. The effect that an accent has depends on which attribute it is specifying. Accents are presented in their present tense form. Changing the tense of an accent changes how it is applied. For example, the accent 'Burn' could be used to specify a 'burning' target, or target who is afflicted with the 'burned' status. It could also be used to specify a status to be applied to a target.

Object Accents

Object accents specify or modify the parts of an ability that specify a person, place, or thing. For example, a called shot might use an object accent to specify a particular limb or vulnerable part on a creature. In most cases, default object accents in the table above will be sufficient.

Some Object Accents will have other qualifiers associated with them, such as a weapon or damage type, or a lable such as 'Toxin' or 'Consumable'. These tags act as specifiers for the keyword, defining the particular category of actors or objects that can be addressed with that keyword.

Using an accent in this way limits the scope of the ability, but also increases the potency and efficiency each by one rank.

Effect Accents

Effect accents are generally about how something shows up in the world. Is it a fireball, fire dart, fire arrow or a firewall? Is it exploding, imploding, or otherwise having a more defined shape and scope of action? Effect accents are about the physical manifestations of magic in the world.

Functionally, effect accents either alter the targeting parameters of a methodology by changing the area effected and modifying how that area is affected, or by changing the nature of the output of an ability, such as creating or changing the shape of a creature or object. For example, the 'explosion' expression causes the impact of an ability to expand outward from the source in a radius with a fall off based on the rating. Spreading the force of an action over an area naturally reduces its concentration while allowing multiple targets to be affected. Unless otherwised specified using an accent, abilities that affect an area will target all creatures in the area.