Design Pilosophy: Plug-&-Play

Design Philosophy: 

For this special weekend blog, we are going to talk about one of the pivotal design philosophies of House of Eidolons. I like to call it Plug-&-Play and what I mean when I say that is that nearly every system in the House of Eidolons has a base thing and various component things that can be plugged into it, changing how it operates or what it is capable of. It is as simple as that. 

When I was designing House of Eidolons I wanted to create a system that gave maximum agency to the players. After all, if we want to play a system that gives us limited parameters on what we can be and what we can do we can simply go play a video game, and games like Baulders Gate and Cyberpunk 2077 let you be and do a hell-of-a-lot! So in my mind, a TTRPG has to give you more agency than a video game can or will ever give you. Part of that comes with custom stories, ways to interact with the world that simply are not possible when code is involved, and player choice helping to steer the narrative being told. However, I believe it should also be available to the player character and their composition as well, the gear they use, the abilities they have, and the many options of design available to them. 

So, I created a Plug-&-Play system that gives the players immense agency in how they function and the options available to them. In every system that defines the player's character, the player will work with a base and choose the component parts to plug into that base to make it wholly their own and virtually unique to that specific character. From the player class, to equipment, cybernetics, pharmaceuticals, etc. All of it operates in this way. 

Lastly, I think that in a Cyberpunk setting, so much of the world and genre is about all the different things available to humanity. Corporations are endlessly innovating and the ways humans now interact with the world are not just physical but digital as well. Customization of the character feels like a must in a Cyberpunk universe, where everyone is striving to find their place and make their mark in a world where the heights seem impossibly unattainable and the lows just keep getting deeper no matter how far you fall. But I ramble. 

But the Balance!

Right about now other game designers and game masters will likely be thinking that such a system will be nearly impossible to balance and I would tend to agree. However, this is where I began in the crafting of the rules, everything was built around this concept, which meant we had to reimagine many standard or traditional systems, most importantly, decoupling the Power Fantasy from the Outcome. What I mean by that, is that the capabilities, lethality, and skillsets of the characters are only one piece of the puzzle required to complete the mission. However, I could write an entire blog just on that design philosophy and will, in the near future. 

In general, in a system like House of Eidolons it is much harder to make something that is “Overpowered” and adjusting it is much simpler because, again, the Power Fantasy is untethered from the Outcome. That is not to say that we haven’t had overpowered things, boy have we made some wacky stuff that we needed to address immediately and readjust. However, those instances have been few and far between. 

The Plug-&-Play Class:

So where did we begin with this Plug-&-Play system? We began with classes. Classes, in my experience, have been a major culprit in preventing player agency and causing immense headaches around balancing. Often classes have entire, unique systems self-contained within the class making it so that certain items and gear inevitably are strong, if not broken, in one class while marginal or useless in another. So then the designers tweak the item or adjust the class abilities making it more “balanced” but in so doing create another imbalance somewhere else. The culprit in my mind is that the TTRPG class has become the basis for the unique player experience rather than just a piece building up to the greater whole that defines the character and what they can do. In the same sense, items, gear, and the things your character uses are a devalued piece of what makes your character who they are.

In House of Eidolons, we demoted the importance of the class. Not in a negative way mind you, at least we don’t believe so. We simply made it another piece that informs on the greater whole of the character you are creating and want to play. In House of Eidolons, everyone can shoot a gun, swing a gravity hammer, or with the right gear deploy crippling programs on their enemies. What class you choose just helps you do some of those things better or in a different way that others could not. The class helps inform the directionality of your character, it's like the dotted lines on the road, helping you steer your character in a certain direction, but nothing is stopping you from going over those lines or completely off the road, sometimes offroading is a fun time!

So in House of Eidolons, your class is the base and the components are the ability trees and subsequent abilities unlocked down each one that you plug into your character to make them function how you want them to function. We took a queue from video games and ability trees that are often found in them. In the same way, when you choose your class you have several ability trees you can choose from and progress down. In what order or way you progress down the trees is entirely up to you. Want to go down a tree entirely before dipping into another tree? Great! Want to take a single ability and then save up to immediately Sub-class to grab an ability tree from another class? Awesome, go for it! You the player, have the agency to build your character in the way that seems the most fun, unique, lethal, etc. It is your Power Fantasy, no more class guardrails. 

Okay, you got me, there are some guardrails, you can’t just mix and match everything endlessly but they are wide apart allowing you an insane amount of customization. To drive the point home, go read my Character Costomizability & Power Fantasy blog: https://penburrow.blogspot.com/2023/12/character-costimization-power-fantasy.html

All the Gear

So, if the character class is only one small piece of the character’s whole what makes up the other pieces? I’m glad you asked! In House of Eidolons, we have many Plug-&-Play character modification and gear options. What sphere of play the character plays in and how you want them to function will determine which of the gear/modification systems you interact with but all of them follow this same Plug-&-Play design philosophy (a Base with many components that plug in for new modalities, options, and power).

Equipment:

Equipment is the next system. This includes weapons, armor, and utility items/gear that your character will equip. Weapons, whether firearms or melee weapons all have a base weapon with a simple profile. On that profile, the weapon will list the modification slots it has available and the types of modifications that go in them. You can buy the base weapon and use as-is but you can also purchase modifications for the weapon and boost/change it into something more powerful or different. 

For example: a Katana has a [Blade] and [Hilt] modification slot. After purchasing the base weapon I can go read through all of the blade modifications and hilt modifications that can be attached. I decide that what I really want is a Throttle Hilt and Projection Blade. This transforms my Katana into a perpetually blazing katana that after slashing my foes ignites them on fire with [Burn:2], dealing 2 fire damage to them at the start of each of their turns. 

Example 2: A pistol has the [Barrel], [Body], and [Scope] modification slots. I decide that I want my pistol to have more of a kick and I don’t mind losing the [Semi-Auto] fire mode for a stronger [Single Shot]. So I get the Revolving Chamber body modification which bumps my damage from 2 to 3 and gives me the [Pierce:2] tag, allowing 2 of the damage to puncture straight through the enemy's armor. Lastly, I decide I want to make sure these bullets simply ignore enemy armor so I slap a Propulsion Barrel modification on giving the weapon another [Pierce:1] for a 3 damage [Pierce:3] pistol that simply pierces all of its damage straight through to my enemy. 

As you can see, it's a simple system. Buy a base weapon, buy the desired modification, and make your weapon the kind of death machine you need it to be and that fits your character's brand and style. Now, imagine many more modifications for firearms, many different ways to build that pistol, and remember that is one of many base guns you can buy and modify. Now your guns and melee weapons can all be tailored to the character you are building. 

The armor is the same way but with only one modification slot per body segment the armor covers. This allows you to protect your arms or legs differently than your torso and head. And don’t forget about shields. And all of this is just the equipment system, we haven’t even jumped into cybernetics, their modifications, and upgrades.

Cybernetics:

Cybernetics work in the same way but with cybernetics, you replace a sub-segment of your body with a cybernetic base. Each Cybernetic base has 2 hard or soft points built in (player’s choice). The modifications you can get for that cybernetic base give it the majority of its abilities and flavor and each modification requires a number of hard or soft points to be socketed. 

For example: In the last mission I had my arm severed from just below the elbow by an enemy's katana. We pull off the mission but not without me bleeding all over the place from my stump arm. Hey, it happens. Anyway, I have a cyber doc hook me up with a hand and forearm cybernetic base (good as new!). I then see I can modify a hand cybernetic with Cyberclaws by using a hardpoint on the hand sub-segment. I do that and also see I can drop some more Crypt (money) to upgrade them to be Vibro Claws, giving them a little [Shred:1] to help strip armor off my enemies more quickly with the claws. I still have a softpoint on my hand and decided I would like some utility. I see the Swiss Fingers, which are amazing, so I get those installed as well. Now my hand can slash up my enemies up close with vibrating razor claws and deploy mini utility tools or hide tiny objects within the fingers. My hand is now a badass Mr. Gadget mauling machine. Neat!   

All cybernetics work like this, replace a hunk of soft flesh with a hardier cybernetic base then modify the base into what you need it to be. Like weapons, there are A LOT of options to let you become the best robo-boy or girl money can buy.

Likewise, that little EMS installed during gestation into your brain is also packing four modification slots. These slots become essential to the Netdiver or Psion classes but also have a lot of utility options for other characters and classes! 

So, you are starting to see it. Plug-&-Play classes, equipment, cybernetics, and EMS. So your character is feeling complete, with so many different ways to kit them out and build them. Oh, wait. What about programs?

Programs:

That’s right, just like the rest, the programs that Netdivers or anyone with a working Core Processor and Stack Drive, use this Plug-&-Play system. For programs, you buy the base program and then purchase additional upgrades to that program that ramps up its impact or even transforms its functionality. 

Let us use the program Hack: Friendly for example:  Hack: Friendly is deployed using a sub-action to hack into a security system, like a weapon detector or camera, and tells that device that you are in fact friendly and not a threat. Now slipping through the weapon detector with a shotgun under your trench coat becomes a walk-in-a-park. However, my next mission has multiple systems I need to fool at the same time so I drop some crypt to upgrade the number of targets the program affects with a single deployment, great! I also pay to bump the power of the program, giving me a bonus to my hacking skill when attempting to breach the CSV of the devices with the program. Lastly, I see that I can upgrade the program to be deployed using a Reaction in addition to a Sub-Action, allowing me to deploy it out of the turn sequence to fool a security system I missed if it goes off, so I grab that too. Now my Hack: Friendly program is much more powerful and versatile to fit the needs I have for my play style.

Other Netdivers will focus on different programs and abilities and prioritize the upgrades to those programs differently based on their play style. That is the point, every system is built to fit YOUR power fantasy and give you as much agency as possible within a structured TTRPG. 

Pharmacy:

Thought we were done, didn’t you? Nope, there are also drugs in this game, because duh, it's cyberpunk. Just like everything else drugs use the same system but to a slightly simpler degree, since they are consumable. Drugs give the user or target the positive and negative effects of the drug for a set duration of turns. Though the drug effects remain the same you can purchase drugs at different dosages amplifying the effects of the drugs or adding new effects to them. 

But wait, there is more! A character can Juice Box in between missions, loving terminology for combining two drugs for a more powerful drug. In this process, the user selects the positive and negative effects of the two drugs to add to the newly created juice box. In this way, even drugs and the creation of all your own custom new drugs is again, a Plug-&-Play system, giving you all the lovely feelings that Walter White got from being a Chem Chef. Speaking of cooking chemicals, the Sprawl Doc class may-or-may-not have an ability tree dedicated to it (more on that this next Thursday)!

So of course, that is it…

Drones and Vehicles:

Nope! Want some drones? How about a motorcycle? Yeah, we got those, and just like everything else they come in different sizes with all kinds of fun modifications to make them your own. Plug-&-Play away, mounting that kitted-out Automatic Machine-gun to the flatbed of your pickup truck that you traded out the tires for hover engines. Likewise, build your drones for stealth recon, utility, or brutal combat, whatever you need and desire. 

Few, we made it…

More to Come:

Sort of. We have another couple of Plug-&-Play systems we are hoping to release with the core rule-book and are still being tested. If we hit some of our crowdfunding goals we will be adding them to the core rule books! What are they you ask? The first is Genetic Mutations. Want to spit venom, have bestial claws, or a tentacle? We got you covered and each of these has plenty of upgrade mutations to customize them. Want to become a cyberpunk vampire who drinks blood and uses that to heal? Oh yeah, you can do that too! Want to grow a tail or even wings? It is all there and all of it is Plug-&-Play like the rest.

The second is Pet-Familiars. That is right! You too can have a cyber doggo to run alongside you and bite people with its cybernetic jaw. Too small, you can always mutate it to a Dire Form and ride it into combat too. Can anyone say Cyberpunk mounted combat? 

More in the Future:

The great thing about a Plug-&-Play system and game design to support it is that the expansions are near endless. We can release tons of new content that you can simply plug into the core rules to add elements to the game that were not there before, or not. Either way, the game function continues to work because the Power Fantasy is Untethered from the Outcome. It's a beautiful thing and I think once you try it out it will be hard to play anything else. 

So, when you think about House of Eidolons and the kinds of characters you can create, think about your class, yes, but also remember that it is just one of many pieces that feed into what makes your character and when you pick and choose and progress your character, each-and-every time they will become a unique creation. The options for unique characters are massive in this game and it is so ridiculously fun!

Conclusion

Okay, we made it. The Plug-&-Play system of House of Eidolons is one of its defining features that will allow you to leap around on mechanical legs shooting bolts of electricity from your flame thrower turned arch-launcher. It will allow you to be that stealth assassin with hands and eyes that bypass biometrics and a silenced pistol mounted to deployable mounting in a [Ghosted] internal storage unit of your cybernetic forearm. It will let you run around jabbing newly created combo drugs into the arms of allies with Swissfinger deployable finger injectors to roid them out in combat. 

The options are endless and your Cyberpunk Power Fantasy has finally found a TTRPG system that can adequately accommodate it!