Mutation Nation: Teenage Mutant Actions

The unique thing to a game is its skill list. With Mutation Nation, my first thought for a X-men inspired supers game was the laziest, I'd admit. Eventually though, I would move onto something that felt better for it. I think I found the right list. Things you can spend forever tweaking.

The first skills- I should probably call them actions, since Mutation Nation is borrowing so much from Forged in the Dark games, but my brain defaults to "skill." Action is a better term for it, the suggestion that a character is acting or is proactive versus skills, which could be seen as reacting to obstacles in the scene. I get that. 

Anyway. The first skills mechanic I devised for Mutation Nation was pretty lazy on my part. They were freeform- borrowing from 13th Age with each being a word or phrase that the player could create to define their character. This is lazy because its me putting the onus on the players, which hey, sometimes is fine. Most of the time, that works.

It was me forgetting a lesson I got from Fate Core I need to try to remember more. Shared collaborative narrative tools are great, but trying to have players create more than three items on their own, creates a blank page problem. Players aren't uncreative. Its just without something to build off of, blanks can take awhile to fully flesh out. Powers in Mutation Nation were already freeform as well, skills also being freeform made them an additional burden of creation for players to do out of nothing. 

It also removes from me a tool for helping set the tone and flavor of the game more. I switched from freeform to a list of sixteen skills, and now, to twelve skills. Err. Actions.

Copying from Girl by Moonlight, Blades in the Dark and other places to try to get a list together, this is what I think captures my interpretation of what we seen in X-men media:

Physical
Defy. You face your opposition with courage, bravado or your strongest attack. You can add truths about rebellion, disobedience and conflict between allies. You might defy a foe proudly with a counterattack. You could try to defy to convince others to back down (but Command might be better). 

Tend. You tend to injuries with compassion or forgiveness. You can add truths about medicine, past injuries and lingering traumas. You could try to Tend to someone to convince them to tell you something secret (but Sway might be better). 

Savage. You overcome obstacles with athleticism, wildcraft or instincts. You can add truths about nature, wildlife and athletic prowess. You could try to Savage your bonds to break loose (but Tune or Wreck might be better).

Overwhelming
Command. You compel swift obedience with intimidation, power or inspiration. You can add truths about hierarchy, leadership and organizations. You could try to Command people to persuade them (but Sway might be better). 

Attune. You attune to otherworldly forces with insight, patience or dark pacts. You can add truths about alien presences, supernatural beings and premonitions. You could try to Attune to better understand your situation (but Analyze might be better). 

Wreck. You destroy obstacles with savage force or clever sabotage. You can add truths about objects destroyed, weapons of any kind and physical obstacles. You could try to overwhelm someone with sheer force (but Savage or Defy might be better).

Social
Express. You express yourself with feelings or words. You can add truths about emotions, art, and particular things said. You could try to express something that inspires others to act on your behalf (but Command might be better). 

Resources. You access resources with wealth or favors. You can add truths about finances, political value and agreements. You could try to use resources to deceive someone into looking the other way (but Darkly might be better). 

Sway. You influence someone with guile, logic or charm. You can add truths about conversations, relationships and social standing. You could sway someone into obedience or affection (but Command or Express might be better).

Subtle
Darkly. You act darkly with stealth, deception or trickery. You can add truths about deception, covert operations and conspiracies. You could darkly sneak attack someone (but Savage might be better).

Analyze. You analyze something or a situation or someone with reason, science or empathy. You can add truths about motives, processes and reactions. You could analyze to track someone down (but Savage might be better).

Tune. You tune and use technology with tools, experimentation or hacking. You can add truths about technology, tools and artificial intelligence. You could tune a vehicle for a charge attack (but Defy might be better).

Some notes.

I've grouped them into groups of four. Physical, Social, Overwhelming and Subtle. The big difference in how I've grouped things compared to other FitD games is grouping these in four, not in three. This was a necessary choice to fit with the Grid (I'll post about that eventually). Tend and Tune are my own little inventions, while Defy and Analyze are stolen right from Girl by Moonlight. Savage is a variation on Hunt in Blades in the Dark. Resources is literally the skill lifted right from Fate Core- it remains a great way to abstract wealth to me, and it allows for interpretations other than money for players.
Darkly is the weakest named skill here. I wanted to call it Dark, but even that isn't quite right yet. It probably will change.

In Mutation Nation, skill ratings are added to power ratings to determine the total dice rolled. The idea is that Skills are a basic way characters interact with the universe, while powers are a enhancement or supercharge on your skills or your resisting attributes. The goal is a tool box of different kinds of actions players can reach for, then add their powers to help communicate where they want to take the story to.

I'm not sure these are the best ones yet. It feels like it covers the range I think work best. But hopefully play testing will tell me if there needs to be more or not.