Role-Playing Game

The RPG is a playable version of the Sim that enables humanistic roleplaying and playtesting long before the Sim's technology becomes playable.

Shooting

This is what old-fashioned role-playing looks like: players, GM, books, profiles, pencils, papers, dice, snacks, imaginative storytelling, improvisational acting.

“How do you define what is real?”

The Empowerment Sim is a fictionalization of reality for the purpose of exaggerating, expressing and experiencing revolutionary potentials without leaving the confines of your own mind. All art is an interpretation of the world, realistic games are no different. Never forget that the game distorts reality to simplify it and make it playable. Real life is not so predictable and safe. Real people don’t follow any game rules, and rules about the way the world works are at best rules of thumb with exceptions everywhere to trip up the unwary.

Playing the Sim

When you play the Empowerment game, you create a unique fictional character that lives in your imagination and in the imagination of your friends. One person in the game, the Gamemaster(GM), controls the people that live in the fantasy world. You and your friends face the dangers and explore the mysteries that your Game Master sets before you.

Choose Your Own Goals

Each character’s goals are different. Your character might: • Risk everything to ensure the survival of democracy and freedom • End hostilities between nuclear powers on the brink of war • Expose lies and tell the truth as an intellectual willing to speak out • Enact electoral reforms that ensure more representative elections • Run for political office to govern a city, state, nation or agency • Become an entrepreneur and start a revolutionary new business • Lead humanitarian relief efforts to help the suffering victims of war • Champion causes and hold protests that arouse awareness and change • Form a union to defend the trampled rights of workers • Or spearhead union-busting campaigns for corporations

This Is Our World

Sim Empowerment is about the strangest place we know, our world. Fact beats fiction.

This is not a pure fantasy game about outlandish tabloid paranormal stuff. It is not a game about occult conspiracies run by aliens ruling the world. It is a game about the actual world as we know it. You have to start with what is real, what is actually changeable and what can be done today. There might well be an overarching conspiracy, but what chance do you have of beating it? Your chances of changing something proveable and real is much greater.

This Is A Simulation Roleplaying Game

It’s a simulation of the real world. It’s designed to give you life-like experiences of activism within a fictional context where nothing you pretend to do really matters or carries consequences.

It’s a game of your imagination where you get to tell stories through the use of rules and by taking on roles of the main characters in the story. The story is like a movie, except all the action takes place in your imagination. There’s no script to the movie (other than a rough outline used by the Gamemaster); you decide what your character says and does.

Players are the improvising actors of individual characters . Each player is responsible for choosing the actions of their character. Players role-play their character to make them seem like real, distinct personalities with identities and ideas of their own.

The Gamemaster is like the director, writer and film crew rolled into one, deciding what the story is about and taking on the roles of all the other characters: the villains, the extras, the special guest stars.

The Gamemaster also keeps track of the rules, interprets the outcomes of actions, and describes what happens. If you want to be a Gamemaster, see the Gamemastering chapter for more information. Creator

Together, players and GM create a story, and everybody has a great time. And in Empowerment, you might even learn something useful.

A game can be as small as 1 Gamemaster and 1 Player or as large as multiple Gamemasters and thousands of Players in a massively multiplayer environment. A gamemaster and 2-5 players is an ideal number. If you’ve played role-playing games before

You’ll find many similarities between Empowerment and other popular game systems, but many things are different. This is an Introduction to roleplaying for those who might not yet ‘get it’ but know other games, including CRPGS and MMORPGS.

The present-day premise of the Empowerment differs from nearly every other RPG in that you are dealing with a world like our own with more down-to-earth challenges than the usual futuristic and fantasy fare.

Ideas are a revolutionary way of influencing the world and roleplaying characters by changing how people think and act through the power of persuasion.

Unique characters created with or without cookie-cutter classes. Skill points are assigned freely. No two characters are alike. Skill-based combat that treats initiative, defense, movement and attacks as skills rather than as separate rules. This makes the game easier to learn and faster to play. It also puts violence in its place as a last resort.

Pros and Cons help you define an identity for your character based on what qualities and capabilities make them different. This goes beyond the concept of feats.

Realistic technology provides all the coolest toys with which to accomplish your missions. Many items are customizable using tech features that reflect their real-world differences.

Open licensing lets you contribute to the game system with your own creative input. If you have ideas for ways to improve or expand the game, you can publish your work without fear of legal smack down.

What You Need To Roleplay

To start roleplaying, all you need are the following:

Players & Gamemaster

In human roleplaying, you can play with just two people, a player and a gamemaster. In computer simulated roleplay, you can play solo or online. In solo, you play single-player with the computer as gamemaster. In online play, you can play with many other players and GMs over the Internet.

Every game is run by one or more game masters, the essential players who run the story with the players like narrators for improv actors. Hosting: You need to arrange a suitable area in which to play. Plan something to eat in advance so as to minimize interruptions.

Rule Book, Profiles, Paper & Dice

You’re already reading the rulebook, Empower Thyself, which tells you how to play.

Profile sheets should be prepared detailing all the player characters and GM NPCs in the simulation.

Pencils and scratch paper should be supplied for everyone. Graph paper and counters are nice to have for mapping purposes.

Two or more ten-sided dice for each player are a must to keep rolls quick.

Reference Material

The GM may use and provide a range of reference material with which to answer questions about the world relavent to the simulation. Therer are many references including computer resources like Wikipedia.org, the CIA World Factbook and Google search . The GM may restrict the use of reference material by players beyond the character’s reasonable knowledge skills.

Resolving Risks By Taking Chances

When you try to accomplish something, you take your chances of succeeding against the risk of failure. Your chance of success depends on a combination of the risks and your chances. You succeed if your total chances and luck meet or beat the risk. Your chances are a combination of ability, skill, circumstances and luck added up to a % to compare with the difficulty of the task.

Luck: The Unpredictable Factor

In real life, luck manifests as a variety of explainable but unpredictable factors. In a simplistic simulation, your luck is a randomized number from 1 to 100, generated by rolling ten-sided dice (see ‘Rolling Dice’ below) or using a computerized pseudorandom number generator.

Rolling Methods

There are three ways to roll chances: Method 1: percentile Risk vs Luck RISK OF FAILURE = RISK – CHANCE FACTOR LUCK (1-100%) MUST BE EQUAL TO OR BELOW THE RISK Eg. 90% risk –+30% chance = 60% risk > 40% luck roll, failure! Method 2: chance + Luck vs risk comparison LUCK (1-100%) + CHANCE FACTOR MUST MATCH OR BEAT Risk Factors Eg. 40% luck roll +30% chance = 70% chance > 60% risk, success! Method 3: Opposed Chance + Luck VS Chance + Luck Comparison LUCK (1-100%) + CHANCE FACTOR MUST MATCH OR BEAT OPPOSITION’S LUCK + CHANCES Eg. 40% luck +30% chance = 70%, vs opposition 20% luck +40% chance = 60%, 70% > 60%, success!

Positive And Negative Factors

Your chances of success can be maximized by combining as many positive factors and as few negatives as possible. Be mindful of the risks determined by the task at hand and the helpful factors at your disposal. If you apply the necessary skills, abilities, equipment, ideas, knowledge and other relavent factors, you have a chance of overcoming enormously risky odds. If you jump into an ill-considered risk without planning, you have to be incredibly lucky not to fail miserably.

“He will be successful who directs his actions according to the spirit of the times.” —Machiavelli

Factors Beyond Your Control

No matter how much you try to account for risk factors, the world is full of surprises and need not obey the rules by which you expect it to operate. In simulation, GM discretion applies.

If the result of the % roll + the factors equals or exceeds the Risk, the test is successful. Any other result is a failure. A “natural” 100% or 1% before factors on the luck dice roll is not an automatic success or failure. Fractional Chances

Sometimes the chances of something happening are less than 1% in 100. If a risk including positive chance factors exceeds 100%, or is less than 1%, a 100% or 1% triggers another luck roll added or subtracted from the first to yield a number as low as –100 and as high as 200.

Beyond 100%

Success or failure is almost certain when chances or risks exceed 100%. With a 100% or more chance, you are sure to succeed unless the risk exceeds is also 100% or more.

Taking Chances and Rolling the Dice

Whenever you gamble and risk taking your chances on an uncertain outcome, you’re rolling the dice. Maybe you’ll win, maybe you’ll lose, but if you don’t play the game, you can’t win.

“Certainly the game is rigged. Don’t let that stop you; if you don’t bet you can’t win.” —LL

When an outcome is uncertain, you can use random numbers to simulate the results and determine what might happen. In computer games and simulation, this is done automatically. In computerless roleplaying, dice can be rolled. The dice to be rolled and the results caused vary by the situation.

Percentages

The most common randomization needed is a luck percentage (abbreviated as %), a number between 1 and 100. There are two simple ways to get percentages:

Rolling Two Ten-Sided Dice

You can do this by rolling two color-coded ten-sided dice. Call one color as the tens digit in advance.

For example:

A roll of 7 and 8 gives you 78. A roll of 0 and 5 gives 5%. A roll of 0 and a 0 gives 100%

You can speed things up by rolling only the the tens digit assuming the ones to be 0 and rolling the ones only if your tens is 0 or within 10 of the risk you need to match. Or you can roll large and exotic 100-sided dice.

No Dice? Draw number cards

You can download and print a simple deck of business card-sized number cards. Each card has a number from 1-100 on it and the cards are printed 10 to a page using smooth preperforated business card paper available at any office supply store. The deck can be printed with one number to each card (100 cards total) or two numbers to a card (50 cards total) or four numbers to a double-sided card (25 cards total). Multiple decks can be printed for improved randomness.

Other Ranges Of Numbers

If you need a number in a range other than 1–100, you can do it several different ways. If the number is close, you can randomize 1-10 or 1-100 and disregard anything outside the desired range, repeating until you get an acceptable number. You can also use other dice (abbreviated as d4, d6, d8, d10, d12 and d20 for their numbers of sides). Number ranges can be expressed in terms like “3d20+5” which means to roll 3 20-sided dice, add them, and add 5 to the result.

Multiple Dice For Curved Results

The more dice you roll, the greater the curved averageness of results and the less you will see extreme highs and lows. A GM can opt to roll 3 dice and keep the middle or tied result to make high risks riskier and low risks safer.

Roleplaying Roles Without Any Rolling

It is perfectly possible to role-play without recourse to dice or game systems of any kind. Nothing stops you from focusing solely on the role-playing and storytelling element, leaving the arbitration of conflict up to the Gamemaster’s judgement. But rolling dice is part of the fun, so why exclude it? If you find certain game rules cumbersome, the GM can streamline things and skip looking through the rulebook to make a judgement call. A GM can arbitrarily determine risks or even results without slowing down the game to do it by the book.

How Do You Win A Role-Playing Simulation?

Unlike most games, real life isn’t always about winning. You’re not really trying to “defeat” the world (created by the Gamemasters) or compete with your peers (other players). The world is ultimately on your side, providing opportunities for you to succeed if with effort (and a little luck).

If the whole world were out to get you, you would already be dead.

Reality could arbitrarily defeat you any time it wanted to. Instead, both players and the world are creating an entertaining group story. Everyone plays their part in the shared adventure of life and no one knows exactly how it will end. Each choice by a player or the world contributes to what happens. The characters may accomplish all kinds of goals and missions, but even defeat can be entertaining, because it is more about enjoying the journey than reaching the objective.

Who Can Role-Play

Anyone can role-play. Empowerment deals with real-world subject matter that demands a certain maturity to deal with the world’s realities both beautiful and terrible. A recommended minimum age is 12 years old, but it depends on the individual and parental discretion. If you’re a young person, you might like to show your parents the book before you read any further and expose yourself to something objectionable to them.

IMPORTANT: Role-playing is Fiction

The action of the Empowerment game takes place in the imaginations of the players. Like actors in a movie, players sometimes speak as if they were their characters or as if their fellow players were their characters.

These rules even adopt a casual approach, using “you” to mean “your character.” In reality, however, you are no more your character than you are the king when you play chess. Likewise, the world implied by these rules is an imaginary one.

Nothing in any game should be considered 100% real. The creators of games are not responsible for your actions. You should not do anything risky based on information in a game. The game is only an entertaining reflection resembling the real world. It may inspire you to do your own research from real-world sources, but you should not act solely on a game.

Repeat the following: “I will not do anything illegal or stupid and blame it on games. I’m responsible for my own actions.”

GM Option: Using Rules Options

Sections beginning with “Option:” are variations on the standard game which the Gamemaster may choose to adopt or ignore. They change the way things work to suit a different style of play and the Gamemaster decides what rules he or she is comfortable with using in the game.

People Power

Empowerment is first and foremost about people. Simulations revolve around the people involved. When you roleplay a simulation, players each take control of a particular person as their character and admins take control of other people the players will interact with. Like television or movie stars, characters make up the world created by the players. Each player takes on a particular character, like the actor playing that role. The Gamemaster takes on all the supporting roles and characters that players interact with. rewrite

Profilng People Qualitatively and Quantitatively

In Simulation, people are described by a number of details and statistics that explain who they are and what they can do. Cultures describe who you are with details like where you came from, what you look like, etc. Ideas describe what you think. Ideas are learned from and passed between people to influence behavior. Careers describe a particular professional skillset. Abilities describe your inherant physical and mental capabilities and talents such as strength and intelligence. Almost everything you do is affected by your abilities.

Roles describe the professional skillsets in which you specialize. Skills describe your learned capabilities and knowledge such as craftsmanship and political science. In addition to the specialized skills such as chemistry and piloting, many basic tasks such as climbing and listening are skills that everyone can do. Each skill helps you do some specific things.

Qualities describe your more distinctive qualities and capabilities.

Specialties can provide you with almost anything, but many factor into your skill chances or enable you to do new things. Technology is the stuff you use to accomplish tasks. Better technology can improve your chances. Experience describes your accumulated skills.

Why Empowerment Is Free

The Empowerment is made available both for free and for sale. It sells many high-quality printed books because of the inconvenient inferiority of printing the download yourself. People can already download PDFs of most RPG books from file-sharing services. Many still buy the books because of their superior usability, and those who are content with the downloads can’t be stopped anyways. It is better to embrace freeness than to fight it.

“Now what do you do?”

This is the question that preoccupies mankind.

Different Spheres of Action

The world is made up of many different spheres of activity that interweave to form the fabric of civilization. There are many genres of play to suit different styles and subject matter.

Media

Investigative Journalism is the perfect campaign style for accomplishing diverse missions about areas of interest. Dealing with news organizations and the journalistic search for the truth.

Activism

Grassroots championing of causes and lobbying of governments and corporations. Issue Politics Political organizing and campaigning follows later as it takes more resources and experience. Electoral Politics What happens when you take power relates to all the other areas combined.

Law

Fight landmark legal battles that change the course of history. Act as a lawyer, a police investigator, an FBI agent, etc., Bring dangerous criminals to justice.

Diplomacy

War and peace, trade and terrorism, these are the issues of international relations.

Business

Creating a startup company to do something new and innovative. Businesses can give people prosperity and fill important social needs.

Science

Research breakthrough technologies or discoveries that change the way we live and understand the world.

HumanitarianISM

Work with relief agencies to alleviate suffering in crisis areas of the world.

Example Of Role-Playing

The following is a short transcript of the conversation between storyteller and players that typifies role-playing.

GM: You wake up and notice your computer is flashing an alert.

Journo: I get up and check my email.

GM: You have a new message from Anonymous Tipster, subject: “Your Laptop is insecure, Read this at a web cafe.”

Journo: Strange. I put on a suit and go to the nearest Net cafe.

GM: They’re charging $5 per hour.

Journo: That’s robbery but I don’t have time to argue. I pay and check my mail on one of the cafe computers. I open the message.

GM: It says only “Look under the table.”

Journo: I search under the table while trying to hide what I’m doing.

GM: Okay. (Rolls dice secretly.) You find an envelope.

Journo: I put it into my briefcase. I go to the Waterfront Cafe and buy a paper to read in the corner before I hide pulling out my envelope and reading its contents behind the paper.

GM: (Rolls.) Nobody seems to notice. You look at the papers and the first thing you notice is they’re full of numbers. Big lists of figures and sums with numeric codes.

Journo: Can I determine if it is accounting related? GM: (Rolls.) Yes, it looks like accounting records.

Journo: Do any of the numeric codes look familiar?

GM: Not to you.

Journo: Okay, I need an accountant to analyze this and I need to do so discreetly. I do a web search for accounting

Game Balance

Many games are designed to impose some kind of balance between different strategies and forces to keep the game exciting.

Your Power Level

The sum total of all your skills constitutes your overall power level. Power level is a rough measure of how powerful you are including things other than just skills. Advantages and disadvantages increase or decrease your power level too, and are covered in the next chapter.