Two Heads, Two Players

[Delkarnu]

I am going to start a PbP game soon, and two people are going to play a Troig, one for each head. Each head gets independent actions, and I was wondering what everyone thought for ruling on Character Creation.

Gry's Stat book gives us:

Troig
Home Planet: Pollillus
Attribute Dice: 12D
DEXTERITY 1D/3D+2
KNOWLEDGE 1D+1/4D
MECHANICAL 1D+1/4D
PERCEPTION 2D+1/5D
STRENGTH 1D/3D+2
TECHNICAL 1D/3D+2
Special Abilities:
Ambidexterity: Troigs are naturally ambidextrous, and suffer no off-hand penalties.

Hard to Surprise: Because a Troig’s heads are constantly looking out for one another, they are difficult to surprise. As such, they gain a +1D bonus to all search skill checks to detect ambushes.

Multitasking: Due to the fact that their two heads share two arms, Troigs can do two things at once and suffer no penalties. Each head performs separate actions in combat, as well. The two heads can combine actions, as well (refer to the rules for combined actions, SWD6, pages 82-83).

Two Heads: All Troigs have at least two heads, and each head houses a separate mind and personality. The two heads share a limited form of telepathy, and they can understand one another perfectly even if one is speaking a language the other does not know.
Move: 10/12
Size: 1.9-2 meters

I was going to give each player full attribute dice and skill dice at creation (10D for my game), but specified that Dex and Str would have to match, along with any full body skills (dodge, running, sneak, jumping, etc), but we were discussing if this would be too overpowered for the players

[vong]

as a note, both players (Ankhanu and myself) are also GMs and their GM senses are tingling thinking that this is over powered.

I think that you shoudl give the same dice to both players (eg starting dice between them for them to split up as they see fit) and give both players access to the others skill sets. Perhaps giving a bonus 1D or 2D to each player for a skill that they can do that the other cannot... (eg 80% of skills taken are shared, and they each get 20% for their own. as a being they will have 120% of the skills, but only access to 100% of them at any given time)

i dunno, giving player 20D starting skills is quite powerful

(as i jested with Ankhanu he cover the skills and attributes, and i just put all my skills in force skills )

Basically having 2 players with full starting dice allows them to min max alot more alowing for much more powerful characters (i dont have to worry about perception, so ill max out these things and just rely on my other half to notice the world around me. you coudl even take it as far as one pleyr maxes out 2 of the mental skills and mins out the other two, and the other player does the opposite, giving a much more powerful build)

So giving full dice in my opinion is too much, but I must say as a player I dont mind taking and advantage I can
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[Esoomian]

I'm playing a Troig on another board and I control both heads.

It strikes me from this part of the description 'The two heads share a limited form of telepathy, and they can understand one another perfectly even if one is speaking a language the other does not know.'
that the two heads can have different skills and abilities.

Normally a single player would play the being (I mean can you imagine if one head was a Jedi and the other was not, or worse the other was a Sith?) but it should be possible to have two players co-ordinate.

What I'd suggest is that they both get the full skill dice (after all they are two players) but all skills they can share (strength, dex and some perception skills) should cost double.

Edit: Now I read Vong's post I'd include all force abilities in the list of things that cost double.
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[Delkarnu]

For the Force, I would say those have to match as well, seems like being force sensitive would be a genetic issue that is shared. So each has to spend attribute dice, skill dice at creation, and cp to raise as the game progresses.

Maybe all attribute dice would have to match, each has to pay for shared skills and force abilities, but the rest they can spend as they wish.

[Esoomian]

I'd already assumed attributes have to match.

If the players have to pay double (or each payer plays once) for skills that can be shared (including force powers) and unshared skills cannot be used by the other player/head then it should be balanced.

How do you plan to handle character points/force points? Give the players twice as much and they spend them individually or let the players share the same amount but they can also spend them on the whole being (rather than per head)?
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[Delkarnu]

I'd give each player the same cp as the other players get, but for force, and shared skills, both players have to spend the full cp

Head 1 can spend 5cp to raise astogation from 5D to 5D+1, while head 2 spends 5 cp to raise streetwise from 5D to 5D+1 but to raise dodge each player has to spend 5 cp to raise it from 5D to 5D+1.

[Ankhanu]

This is workable. I do like the idea of both having to raise shared skills simultaneously; it just makes sense
As for CPs and FPs, CPs can be assigned individually, though most actions warranting them will be shared. Chances are there wouldn't be much reason to assign different CP rewards, but I don't see why you would have to restrict yourself with a ruling not to. For example, the main reason I could see for giving one head more CPs might be for RP bonuses.
FPs should be handled for the being as a whole, however, simply due to the nature of the Force and the intense interconnectedness of the two consciousnesses.

I'm still not sure about the full 10D each for skills though. I mean, though we're two players, we're still a single character. Two characters would have separate life experiences molding who they are, whereas a Triog has the same life experiences from vaguely different perspectives. Plus, I don't like the idea of two players having a stronger character than a single player playing both heads... and letting 1 player control a 20D character would be a painful GM experience.
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[Delkarnu]

yeah, i meant same as other players to mean cp for the section and bonuses for rp, and not splitting the cps for the player between the heads while everyone else gets full cp

[Esoomian]

There is a danger that it will lead to an overpowered character however it must be remembered that apart from shared skills each head only has access to 10D worth of skills, if it doesn't know the skill then it will have to ask it's other head to do the tasks for it, this might irritate the other head/player who could then start lecturing his other head on the virtue of leaning skill XYZ. Fun to watch and fun to role play.

However a possible solution would be to say that because both heads have had largely similar life experiences they may only put 2D (or another arbitary amount) of starting skills into something that the other head doesn't have.
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[Delkarnu]

I like that

[Ankhanu]

[Esoomian]

Sounds like it's going to be a fun game.

*Just has to poke the sleeping bear*

You know occasionally Troigs have three heads. You shopuld try to get another player to play the same character. That'd be a blast to watch.
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[Esjs]

It seems to me that the starting dice issue would be the same as the skill improvement issue with CPs.

Basically, yeah, both characters getting the same starting dice, but when applying them to shared attributes, they both have to apply the same amount as if it were their own attribute.

Another way to look at it: think of these two as if they were twins (who would normally be separate characters) who just happen allocate their starting dice the same way on the "shared" stats. Then for the non-shared stats (Knowledge, etc.), they can each allocate their remaining dice as individually desired.

So, giving each of them 10D starting is not "overpowering" because they'll each be forced to spend their own in matching ways on the shared stuff.

Am I making any sense?

[Edit]

Figuring out the Force is going to be interesting. I can see the body being Force Sensitive but only one head having Force skills and powers (e.g. only one head can perform TK).
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[obidancer]

I agree with the shared life experience. How about out of 10D, 7D should be spent on common/shared skills, and each player could spend 3D in individual skills. That would make a 13D (7D common, 3D head 1, 3D head 2) character, but the dual personnality will compensate for it.

I think DEX, STR and MEC should be shared (with a few exceptions maybe, like Astrogation) while PER, KNO and TEC should be individuals (again with a few exceptions like Sneak maybe).

For Force skill I'm still unsure. The Force sensitivity should be shared of course, but I can picture one head having more aptitude to tap inbto the Force.

[edit]: thus I agree with Esjs!

[Gry Sarth]

Heck, you could have your entire gaming party share the same Troig character! That would be one freaky solo campaign.

Anyway, I don't think a double-headed Troig would be an overpowered character, even if each head had it's own full individual stats. Fundamentally, what's the difference between a two-headed alien and a pair of very close buddies? In both cases you have two characters that work as a close team, completing each other, covering each other's weaknesses and adding their potentials together. The only difference is that with a Troig the team embodies a single character, but it's still a team. Though there might be advantages to having a pair of adventurers bundled together in a single package, there are also disadvantages: one of them will never escape to come to the rescue later, forget about the ol' stormtrooper disguise trick... plus dating can be tough....
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