See the New Stat Block and Significant Details!

In the next few days we will be releasing some free preview material for Temporal Probability Agency. Before we do, though, I would like to give you a first look at some of the new features you’ll be seeing. Today, let’s talk about Significant Details and Stat Blocks.

Significant Details.

I’ve discussed this idea in the past, never letting on that it was a feature we’d been working on for a long time. The concept is simple. Reading block text to your players is a terrible idea. Instead, we’ve included a list of concise but powerful details for every scene, encounter, and important character.

Here is an example of the beginning of an encounter:

The characters arrive at a rather normal and dull split-level home. The lights have been left off and the Mafia hitmen are already there, hiding in various rooms in the house. There should be no outward evidence of exactly what is going on.

• Sight: Peeling beige paint.
• Smell: Pine-Sol and Cigarette smoke.
• Sound: A neighbor’s television.
• Vibe: Uneasy vulnerability.

As you can see, the first paragraph of any encounter sets the scene. Then comes the list of Significant Details. You don’t have to read them all at once. Pepper them throughout your descriptions so that you never have to take your eyes off the players.

Stat Blocks

The standard Savage Worlds stat blocks are simple and concise. We like that about them, but that doesn’t make them as easy to use in combat. As they are, they require a certian level of system mastery or a lot of book flipping. Worse yet, they make it really easy to forget important information when you need it.

We set out to solve those problems.

You’ll notice several things looking at this stat block. First, obviously, is that it is not very small. We’ve sacrificed size for accessibility. The Apathy Stat block has a description, followed by significant details.

Edges, Hindrances, and special abilities are now broken up by category. Not only does this make them easy to find when you need them, but it calls attention to them when you might otherwise not notice.

Each major combat action functions as a category to make it stand out. Edges are listed with the actions the affect, sometimes being listed multiple times if necessary.

Most importantly, each edge, hindrance, and special ability has a simple description of what it does, so you don’t have to reference it during combat.

Your Comments

If you like what you see, or you simply have questions, let me know in the comments.  The Apathy Stat Blocks are my baby, so if you love them, hate them, or just want to offer advice, I’m your man.