House of Eidolons Design Philosophy: Spheres of Play

 

Spheres of Play: 

In TTRPGs, there are what I like to call spheres of play. A sphere of play is any prominent modality through which a character can or will interact with the world. For most TTRPGs, the most emphasized and well-constructed modality is Combat. This is the most well-defined system in rules books and thus, where most players will spend their time and most GMs will build encounters full of them. The other spheres of play are Social and Stealth. Social is often the next most utilized system but often has very few guiding rules or principles and the degree to which it can impact the game is wildly dependent on the GM. Stealth, on the other hand, tends to have a few more rules but is also often underdeveloped and lacking in its overall impact. Where the rules for stealth are defined is usually concerning combat. 

In House of Eidolons, we seek to provide a robust and enjoyable combat experience and also to create a more defined and impactful Social and Stealth sphere for the game. In addition, we created a fourth sphere, one that is a staple to most Cyberpunk, we call this fourth sphere netdiving. Netdiving is the digital space where Eidolons can manipulate the Omni-Network (Omni-N), a global matrix-like space of information mapped to the Real. Eidolons who play in the fourth sphere interact with the Overlay (think augmented reality) and Submersion space (think matrix space). I could go on about Omni-N and Netdiving but that is for a later post. 

Four Spheres:

In House of Eidolons, we built the system around these four spheres, each playing a key role in the success of contracted missions. It is possible for a team to not interact in one or more of these spheres but by doing so they limit their tactical options and often increase the difficulty of achieving their objective(s). Therefore, a well-rounded team that operates in all four spheres of play will have the most options available and often an easier time. 

So, let us dive into the four spheres of play in House of Eidolons and explore what they look like and what systems are in place to help give them structure and impact in the game. 

Sphere 1: Combat:

The sphere of play we all know, love, and basically are forced to play within. Combat is the most direct way to interact with the fictional world. It says, “Hmmm, I want X and I am going to use whatever direct force is available to me to get X.” Though combat can, at times, be complicated we all pretty much understand it, and our brains know how to go about it right away. Something instinctual in our brain tells us that if you want Suzie’s dolly then punch her in the face and take Suzie’s dolly, problem solved. 

Combat is fun and exciting and most TTRPGs dedicate near all of their game to systems of combat for you to play within. So much so, that when we sit down to TTRPG it often feels like a series of combat encounters with a plot strung in between. You may be one of the lucky few who has had a DM/GM who was able to take the game in other directions and make the game more about the plot than just your character becoming more powerful in combat. However, the truth remains that most TTRPGs emphasize this part of the game and have little to no guided systems for the stealth and social spheres of play. 

Don’t get me wrong, combat is fun! It is also an easy way for new players to learn the game and get hooked. However, if you are like me, you will eventually want more out of TTRPG sessions then just combat or will look to solve problems more abstractly and cleverly than with a rocket launcher. It is nice to have a system that truly lets you do that when you're ready for it. 

Sphere 2: Stealth:

The second sphere of play I consider to be stealth. It is similar to combat in that it is often a direct approach, “I want X so I am going to sneak over to X and take it when no one is looking”. However, it is a more complex sphere because it most often involves continuous active problem-solving and is usually higher risk. 

When a character is breaking in and sneaking through an enemy hideout they must be constantly be participating with their surroundings, peaking around corners, slipping past unaware guards, lifting an object from an unsuspecting mark, and avoiding detection in all its forms. This requires a keen eye for detail, constant awareness of the surroundings, and the ability to make snap decisions to remain undetected. If you fail, well you are in a really bad position, deep in enemy territory with likely little backup, the stakes are high. 

For the reasons listed above stealth is a bit more difficult to operate in and new players can struggle with operating in this sphere of the game until they feel more confident and comfortable with the systems at play.

However, in House of Eidolons, we have made stealth a more robust system that allows the undetected character to perform a Coup De Grace attack against targets to instantly KO that target. We wanted a system that allowed a stealth character to take out the targets they needed to, hide the bodies, and continue in their stealth mission. We were tired of systems that said, “Congrats on sneaking up on this enemy, you deal extra damage to them and now they turn around beat your face in, and call the rest of their enemy buddies”. This sort of stealth only felt good in giving you extra damage for combat, we wanted something different and I believe our system of stealth, concealment, and Coup De Grace allows players to really sink into the role or even play their entire Eidolon career in that sphere of play, having a blast the entire time. 

Sphere 3: Social:

The third sphere of play is the social sphere. This is an abstract sphere of play but rather simple in its execution. All of us understand social manipulation to an extent, if you don’t then congratulations you are likely a saint and going to heaven, or whatever. For the rest of us, we saw Suzie’s doll, go up to Suzie with a rock, and told Suzie all about how amazing our rock is until she wanted to trade her doll for our shitty rock, and we happily took that trade. 

The social sphere of play relies on the character's ability to manipulate others into getting what they want. You don’t necessarily need to sneak but simply walk up to people and either charm them, lie to them, or intimidate them into doing for you what you want. Rinse and repeat. The difficulty is in realizing who is easy to manipulate and how to go about manipulating them to ultimately achieve what you want to achieve. It is a simple sort of play but you need to think abstractly about the world, how will X person help you get to X objective or can they? Maybe X person will get you to Y person, Y person can get you halfway to X object so you will need to convince Z person to get you Y object, etc, etc, etc. 

The social sphere requires you to look at the problem and solve it abstractly, it requires on-the-fly problem-solving, and just like stealth if you mess up, you can find yourself in a really dangerous place with little support to back you up. For this reason, I would argue that the social sphere is a little more difficult to grasp and use effectively than the stealth sphere but not by much.

In House of Eidolons, we have built social interaction into every character through the use of contacts. This can be a very simple system that helps the team get the info and resources to pull off their mission well but it can also be a lot more. Either way, part of its function is to help each character begin to immersing themselves into the world and interacting socially with NPCs, teaching them that you can work with NPCs to achieve the things you need. From there, all you need is some good Social skills to manipulate the hell out of people and maybe slap on a disguise mustachio.

Sphere 4: Netdiving:

The fourth sphere of play is netdiving. It is not one that you have likely come across in other TTRPGs unless they are cyberpunk and even then, it has likely functioned more as a mini-game than a fully immersive experience. Netdiving in House of Eidolons is an abstract and complex endeavor that will require a lot of thought, reading, and clever play to pull off well. That is not to deter a person from trying to be a netdiver but it is to say that, especially if new to TTRPGs, it is probably not the best first choice, we encourage you to ease in with something a bit more direct. 

Netdiving involves manipulating all the things that are connected to the Omni-Network (Omni-N). This is done through a suite of programs or direct hacks depending on the situation. What programs you load into your stack drive will greatly change your capabilities and lacking the right programs can leave you in a bind quickly. In addition, there are two (actually three but more on that another time) levels to manipulating Omni-N. The first is through the Overlay (think augmented reality). While manipulating objects connected to Omni-N through the Overlay you remain conscious and cognitively aware in the Real and every object represents its connection point to Omni-N. This is the simplest and most direct way to interact with Omni-N and netdiving.

The second method is going into Submersion space. To do this you lose all cognitive function in the Real and awaken within the matrix-like space of Submersion space exactly where your physical self dove in. From there, your digital projection can move to other regions of Submersion space and manipulate the real from this abstract space. In Submersion space, several core game systems change and often it requires a whole different set of programs to be functional and survive in Submersion space. However, despite all these things, manipulating the Real from submersion space is much more powerful and it can be a horrifying experience for anyone at the mercy of a Netdiver manipulating their gear and surroundings while they have no ability to fight back against it. 

Netdiving feels simple on the surface but through play testing the game we realized that it is often a very foreign and abstract space to play in and that most players struggle to grasp and cope with that. It requires a good understanding of the universe and a clever mind to know how, where, and when to manipulate things to be most effective or downright god-like. It can be a super rewarding and powerful role to play but will require you to think very abstractly, problem-solving, and think critically all along the way. 

Visualizing the Spheres of Play:

To drive the blog home, let us visualize the spheres and their relationships. 

 

 

So as you make your first character, be thinking about what sphere of play you want to operate within. Perhaps you want to build a character that can operate within a couple different spheres, great! Just remember the chart above and think about your experience playing TTRPGs and how much time you want to commit reading ad understanding the game materials before hand. If you are experienced and love reading and understanding the rules before ever playing, then likely you will do just fine as a Netdiver. If you just want to get into the game and ;learn from playing the game, then I encourage you play with the combat sphere.

Regardless of your choice, I think you will find that House of Eidolons handles each of the spheres of play with well thought out rules to make them functional and rewarding. Enjoy!