Repertoire & Skills

Each player will have a repertoire of songs. The categories of songs in the repertoire are "specialty songs," which are songs the character has practiced so much/knows so well s/he can do it in his sleep (+5); "practiced songs," which are songs the character practices often or has practiced often enough that they are particularly good at it (+3); "known songs," which are songs the character knows but has not practiced often (+1); "familiar songs," which are songs the character once knew but hasn't played in a long time (-1).

The longer you've been making music, the more specialty songs you can likely have. We'll discuss for each character, but Jack has "Dues for Deserel."

For songs that the character does not know at all, other skills come into play. If a copy of the song is set before them, then their "reading" skill comes into play. This is their ability to play & read music at the same time. "By ear" is their ability to pick up a song while listening to it played. "Improvising" is their ability to make it up as they go.

"Showmanship" is a skill that is separate from musical ability. Most of the characters probably don't have this, but those that do can use it to sway the right audience. "Audience reading" might also be an applicable skill to have here.

Audience

The main groups are common audiences, learned audiences, & unattentive audiences. Common audiences you find in the taverns you play. They like what's popular & they like a good show. Learned audiences are usually comprised of other musicians, nobles, or scholars. They will pay attention to your skill, not your showmanship. Unattentive audiences exist only when you play a function where you are intended as background. Showmanship & skill will be lost on them unless you make a special effort. It's this quality that will determine the best way to sway the audience.

Hostile audiences & friendly audiences also exist. The most hostile audience can only be swayed by exceptional success at showmanship and/or skill, depending on if they fit common or learned audience status. The friendliest audiences will applaud up to a special failure. This is a sliding scale, most audiences being neutral. It's this quality that will determine the difficulty in swaying the audience.

Other factors exist to be considered. An audience of conservative elves will likely enjoy classical elven music. An audience of screaming Jack Crane fans will applaud wildly for an exceptionally failed "Dues for Deserel." Etc. Each audience the band encounters in game will have to be read to set up the setlist, then we go from there.

Instruments

An exceptionally well made instrument can offer a bonus to the player. Dionysus's violin & Jack's bass are the two so far in the game. More to come.

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The idea is basically to have a dice mechanic as complex as combat for when the band plays music, because the center of this campaign is the music, not the combat. While there will likely be combat, & there will definitely be obstacles that require a solution outside of music, the central theme is music.

I decided the easiest way to do this is to mimic combat in a way. Under Tim's suggestion, I think it will break down something like this:

Elements of combat = Elements of concert:

Initiative = ??? Is this needed? Can we come up with something here?

Actions = Playing or Improvising?

Weapons/Armor = Instruments/Pieces?

Stun/Wound = Affect on crowd

So my current thought is that you roll your base skill "to hit" the crowd, difficulty determined by their receptiveness (GM decided). If you "hit," you get bonuses to affect the crowd. Your instruments & the choice of setlist add or subtract from it.

This is a rough draft, so everyone fall in with your thoughts. What have I left out from the elements of combat? From the elements of a concert? What might help? Etc.

Thank you.

Feedback:

[22:16] Zorikin: i think what the music system needs is a little embellishment to make the performances feel more unique, not a cumbersome simulation engine like the combat system

[22:16] liamtheruiner: fair enough. any ideas in that line?

[22:18] Zorikin: think more about the audience

[22:18] liamtheruiner: hmm.

[22:18] liamtheruiner: well, my goal is to make the concerts more interactive & to have a system that will make the contest feasible, & the audience can definitely be a strong part of that

[22:19] liamtheruiner: i'm just not sure how to execute it

[22:21] Zorikin: work it out qualitatively first. define the range of possible audience contexts, player choices, and results. after that, we can map it to a mechanic.

[22:14] Cthulhusicle: Music is definately important enough in this game to maybe warrent a complex system

[22:14] liamtheruiner: indeed

[22:14] Cthulhusicle: But I worry that the more complex it gets, the more the associated roleplay will degenerate, as often happens with combat.

[22:31] liamtheruiner: i was hoping i was onto something with my stun/wound thing, but he's right. i need to diversify the audience

[22:32] jackballpez: I think maybe you need to think about the types of audience members you'll have. Rather than thinking of them as a single entity?

[22:32] liamtheruiner: right

[22:32] liamtheruiner: but that's a very big list

[22:33] jackballpez: fair enough. But maybe we have to deaal with a couple per performance?

[22:33] jackballpez: opponents as it were?

[22:33] jackballpez: and our job is to impress them

If impressing the audience is the goal, scores in showmanship might come up. A balance between good music & good showmanship might be an issue. This might be the difference between a 17 in pop music & a 17 in classical. Or a pop audience & a classical one.