CORE Screenplay Manual (or v2.0 alpha 1)

Published by Lonnie under Releases on October 15, 2007

Hey gang, here’s a copy of the first alpha release for the version 2 of the rules. This change has come about from all of the fantastic discussion in the last month or two here on the forums, and I want to take a moment and thank every one of you!

This is the “Rule Book” that was discussed. So, yes, we are in effect splitting the rules into multiple books now. This covers all of the rules needed to play the game, but does so in a non-setting specific way. Just the facts, ma’am. This means we need some volunteers to start pulling together some short settings that provide worlds that people can play in. I’ll be working on a Hell’s Kitchen setting when I can, and have asked History Dave if he would be willing to do the Ides of March (Roman Empire) setting. We’ll see if time allows for him to do this. I would love to see some others.

Some of the changes that are included in this version include (may not be all inclusive):

• Criticals
• Attributes and Skills have a range of 1-5 now to allow more drama through the die rolls
• Story Points have been expanded to a full system that combines Tokens (from Spirit of the Century), Plot Points (from Serenity) and Hero Points (from 007). Because it just made sense, they were also tied in with character growth and allow for more give and take with the players and Director.
• Expanded Rules have been removed completely from the base rules, to allow them to be added as Mods at some future point.
• Equipment rules have been removed so they can be tweaked per setting, though we might have to add this one back in - let me know what you think.
• Some of our unique rules, like Training Montages, Healing Scenes and Conflict Scope have been clarified and expanded to make them easier to understand and more prominent in the system.

It should be noted that this is not 100% representative of the final system. Certain portions are still needing to be written, but I wanted to get this out there so everyone can comment, and we can revise as needed. Here’s a list of what I can think that needs to be finished:

• The Introduction needs to be expanded to incorporate some of Glinbog’s excellent intro to roleplaying information.
• The entire Act 3: Directing needs to be written. This will include advice for Directors on creating new settings based on these rules. I’m hoping everyone who decides to build a world can help by telling me what advice they wished they would have had, or even writing it up for inclusion.
• The credits need to be added back into the system and updated so everyone gets their time in the limelight.
• The intro needs a section on Inspiration that tells a bit about the other systems that influenced our design, like the ones listed above, as well as the Shadow of Yesterday.

And, finally, here’s Alpha 01 of the Version 2.0 Screenplay Manual.
Enjoy!