I've posted a massive rant over on SG. It's actually kind of interesting. I did this instead of reading "Only Revolutions", so I hope someone gets some use out of it!
(I may expand this, either here or there. Any ideas, folks? Tell me stuff!)
Two personal thoughts.
Some time ago, I created an RPG ("Struggle") with very competitive elements. It was designed for two players, very quickly, and it wasn't perfect. But it had some good bits. My friend and I tried it, and had an interesting story. We both enjoyed ourselves; but it was clear that I enjoyed it more than he did. He seemed kind of... let down, after. But he decided to play it again.
So we did, much to the same result. He said to me after, "I think you've got some good ideas here, and this could be a good game. But it's not a game for me.". He stated the competitive elements (and the fact that they overwhelmed the story at times), as one reason. I think Rob had a similar moment here ("I'm sure this is great, but it's just not for me"), and it's actually got me thinking about a few things.
The other thought involves Magic. I've played that for longer than I've played RPGs, but probably less often - at least 7 or 8 years, though. And every time I play in a "serious" environment, like a tournament or at a card store (with strangers), I feel kind of "meh". Not bad, but not great.
But when I'm with friends, playing, I enjoy myself much more. And it's not just who I'm playing with. We still play to win, always, to the best of our ability. But A) We try to do it in fun ways, and B) We don't really care all that much.
But, primarily, the "fun" I get when playing Magic is the same "fun" I get when playing many RPGs (Beast Hunters comes to mind, as does Baron Munchausen) - throwing each other into tricky situations and watching them escape. It's racing to find the right solution. It's doing something clever or tricky. It is, on occasion, drawing the right card at the right time.
I'm rambling here, but the main point is this: Both RPGs and board/card games have spectrum of playing styles, both within types of games and within a particular game. This isn't really news, but it affects people all the time - and I daresay there's interesting, not-fully-explored design lessons in that fact.
4/8/09
The Foundations of Gamism
In my mind a so-called "gamist" game has certain requirements to be truly effective and engaging:
First: Each player (including the GM figure, if any) must have equal opportunity. Not equal power (effectiveness) but the equal chance for power.
Caveat: If there are "sides" or "teams" (player VS GM, for example), each side or team must have
equal opportunity. In a case of one GM and five players, for example, the GM's opportunity for
power should be roughly five times that of a player.
Second: This opportunity must work in the system, and it must be enforced.
Example: 3.0 & 3.5 Dungeons and Dragons - The CR system should match the GM's opportunity
to that of the player-team. However, it doesn't work very well and isn't enforced.
Third: There must be different domains (physical attacks VS magic attacks, power VS quickness, etc...) and different choices within each domain. Some choices should be better than others, especially situationally, but each domain should be roughly equal in opportunity.
Fourth: Choice is the basis of the game. Some choices NEED to be better than others. Choices will fall roughly into two catagories: Pre-Game/Between Game (for example, character building) or during game. Some games will emphasize the importance differently, but different players will enjoy the pre- or during- choices in different ways.
Fifth: Randomness is not needed, but may be useful. The game should not really too heavily on randomness, however - it should rely on player skill.
Sixth: There must be a way to "win" or at least some clear indicator of success, and players should not be made to feel bad becasue they are more effective (or "win") more than other players.
There's more, but this is a start to me putting some thoughts together. More later. Any ideas, folks?
First: Each player (including the GM figure, if any) must have equal opportunity. Not equal power (effectiveness) but the equal chance for power.
Caveat: If there are "sides" or "teams" (player VS GM, for example), each side or team must have
equal opportunity. In a case of one GM and five players, for example, the GM's opportunity for
power should be roughly five times that of a player.
Second: This opportunity must work in the system, and it must be enforced.
Example: 3.0 & 3.5 Dungeons and Dragons - The CR system should match the GM's opportunity
to that of the player-team. However, it doesn't work very well and isn't enforced.
Third: There must be different domains (physical attacks VS magic attacks, power VS quickness, etc...) and different choices within each domain. Some choices should be better than others, especially situationally, but each domain should be roughly equal in opportunity.
Fourth: Choice is the basis of the game. Some choices NEED to be better than others. Choices will fall roughly into two catagories: Pre-Game/Between Game (for example, character building) or during game. Some games will emphasize the importance differently, but different players will enjoy the pre- or during- choices in different ways.
Fifth: Randomness is not needed, but may be useful. The game should not really too heavily on randomness, however - it should rely on player skill.
Sixth: There must be a way to "win" or at least some clear indicator of success, and players should not be made to feel bad becasue they are more effective (or "win") more than other players.
There's more, but this is a start to me putting some thoughts together. More later. Any ideas, folks?
3/29/09
Union City Chronicles: Issue 0
Union City Chronicles
Issue 0: No Laughing Matter
Part 1
A young (though not as young as his appearance implies) prodigy begins investigating a series of robberies on behalf of The Organization. The robberies are being perpetrated by a small time member of the Clown Mafia, Bozo the Pogo.The detective, one Dex Scott, captures Bozo and interrogates him, discovering a link to John Freight, JR, the son of a rich businessman. Both Scott and Bozo are found dead soon after. Part 2Two Orginization members, Dr. Benjamin Scott and the Phoenix Avenger are briefed regarding Dex's murder and are asked to look into it. They first talk with a man who's name changes every time they hear it. This man is a Clown Mafia member turned double agent, and he points the finger at Frieght and another, shadowy partner. He warns the heroes and off they go to confront Freight.After being asked to wait for a time, our heroes meet Freight. At first he denies any involvement, but after he sees the heroes are immune to his fearsome presence, he takes a more direct route - slugging the good doctor out a 39th floor window. Luckily the Phoenix Avenger has his fair share of tricks up his sleeve.He transforms into a blazing phoenix, torching Freight's office, and swoops out to catch Scott. Our heroes return to the window for a moment, trading threats with Freight, and a vendetta is born.
3/11/09
The Resistance
"Take up arms, my friends! Write your promises out on the walls of the city and let the people know that there is still freedom!"
It began two years ago when MegaCorp ruled a lockdown on the city. No people, goods, or even ideas got in or out.
Sure, they had been heading this way for a long time. Some people hoped this wouldn't happen. Some didn't care.
But now it's too late, and we all suffer for it.
The government has been bribed. The police are little more than mercenaries. The rescue workers are heroes for hire. Artistic expression, scientific thought, and even love... all these are forbidden, except when they are mandated.
The old and tired will not save us. They are too set in their ways and too reliant upon the establishment to fight. We must save ourselves. We will - nay, we must, for it is our responsibility - use every tool and weapon at our desposal to rid this city of it's oppressors and return freedom to our people - body, mind, and soul.
The Resistance is a game about underground cells of artists, musicians, fighters, lovers, destroyers, leaders, haters, masterminds, cons, acrobats, hackers, and much more... they all have one thing in common. They wish to free their city and prevent the destruction and decay they feel is iminent.
Inspirations include (in no real order) Grey Ranks, Jet Set Radio, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns/Strikes Back, Misspent Youth, Punkerslut's Writings, Bomb The Suburbs, Fight With Tools, and a few other things.
Characters use music (particularly pirate radio), art (graffiti and flyers), public demonstrations, private lectures, sabatoge and on rare occassion violence to attack the company and inspire others to join the cause.
Gameplay is only roughly developed, but I'm imagining some sort of hybrid between Grey Ranks, In A Wicked Age, and something that hasn't been written yet. Working on it!
It began two years ago when MegaCorp ruled a lockdown on the city. No people, goods, or even ideas got in or out.
Sure, they had been heading this way for a long time. Some people hoped this wouldn't happen. Some didn't care.
But now it's too late, and we all suffer for it.
The government has been bribed. The police are little more than mercenaries. The rescue workers are heroes for hire. Artistic expression, scientific thought, and even love... all these are forbidden, except when they are mandated.
The old and tired will not save us. They are too set in their ways and too reliant upon the establishment to fight. We must save ourselves. We will - nay, we must, for it is our responsibility - use every tool and weapon at our desposal to rid this city of it's oppressors and return freedom to our people - body, mind, and soul.
The Resistance is a game about underground cells of artists, musicians, fighters, lovers, destroyers, leaders, haters, masterminds, cons, acrobats, hackers, and much more... they all have one thing in common. They wish to free their city and prevent the destruction and decay they feel is iminent.
Inspirations include (in no real order) Grey Ranks, Jet Set Radio, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns/Strikes Back, Misspent Youth, Punkerslut's Writings, Bomb The Suburbs, Fight With Tools, and a few other things.
Characters use music (particularly pirate radio), art (graffiti and flyers), public demonstrations, private lectures, sabatoge and on rare occassion violence to attack the company and inspire others to join the cause.
Gameplay is only roughly developed, but I'm imagining some sort of hybrid between Grey Ranks, In A Wicked Age, and something that hasn't been written yet. Working on it!
2/23/09
PRIME
Disclaimer: Other dudes thought of this stuff. D. V. Baker's In A Wicked Age gives use the owe list, and the basis for the dice method comes from a thought on a Story Games thread.
So, here's the basic idea.
Roll some dice. You pick the size. Bigger size is bigger risk, but better chance of narration.
Ah, ah, ah. Let me explain, folks.
Whoever rolls the highest narrates the scene however they like, except they shouldn't be too much of a jerk and they need to remember who won what.
Whoever gets a prime number succeeds on their action. If opposed actions both get successes here, higher number takes the cake with lower getting a lesser success.
SUCCESSES
D4 - 1,2,3
D6 - 1,2,3,5
D8 - 1,2,3,5,7
D10 - 1,2,3,5,7
D12 - 1,2,3,5,7,11
D20 - 1,2,3,5,7,11,13,17,19
If you neither get a success nor narration, put your name on the owe list.
You can do some stuff with the owe list. I need to work on how this game works, more.
So, here's the basic idea.
Roll some dice. You pick the size. Bigger size is bigger risk, but better chance of narration.
Ah, ah, ah. Let me explain, folks.
Whoever rolls the highest narrates the scene however they like, except they shouldn't be too much of a jerk and they need to remember who won what.
Whoever gets a prime number succeeds on their action. If opposed actions both get successes here, higher number takes the cake with lower getting a lesser success.
SUCCESSES
D4 - 1,2,3
D6 - 1,2,3,5
D8 - 1,2,3,5,7
D10 - 1,2,3,5,7
D12 - 1,2,3,5,7,11
D20 - 1,2,3,5,7,11,13,17,19
If you neither get a success nor narration, put your name on the owe list.
You can do some stuff with the owe list. I need to work on how this game works, more.
2/2/09
Transient
A (really, really quickly made) game inspired by K. Not quite what he wanted, but on it's way, I guess.
Character Creation
Each player plays a spirit. I don't know what sort of spirit. I don't care. Figure something out, kthx?
You have 4 stats and a bunch of traits and something called Karma, and like... a goal or some shit.
STATS
Your stats are Community, Greed, Need, and Rage. Basically, all living things are motivated by one (or more) of these four things. No, I don't have any science to back it up. It makes sense here.
Put a 1 in one of 'em. 2 in another. 3 in yet another. Can you guess where the 4 goes?
TRAITS
You have a bunch of traits. Pick three and rate them at 1,2, and 3. Star one of them. These are things built into you... I dunno, shit like "I am the ghost of christmas past" and "Seen the fall of nations" and "Cold-Blooded Killer". Stuff about your spirit. Make it cool, and have it make sense in the context of the current game. Your friends will appreciate it.
OTHER STUFF
Goal: Make up something your character wants to do. It should be big (You're like... immortal or something), but manageable in small chunks. See above about being cool and making sense.
SHAPE
You start off in a basic shape, some sort of creature you've possessed. Pick something from Rank 1, below. Yeah, they suck. You did some bad shit to end up down here. You have a trait, "I'm an X" with it's rating at the animal's rank. It gets a star, too.
Doing Stuff
So you want to do some stuff to accomplish your goal? You can't. Hah. You're a spirit. Good lu... Oh, wait, you have a possessed form?
Okay, you can tempt that form to do stuff. Choose a stat. Try to roleplay (I'm not going to explain that) tempting the creature using that stat. Roll the stat against the creature's rank. If it's something important (to your character), you can choose to fail to gain Karma. You can't like... roll to see if the animal takes a piss and then auto-fail to farm Karma. That's dumb.
If you fail? Nothing happens. The animal does what it wants. Sucks to be you. You do get a point of Karma, though.
If you succeed? Roll (Used Stat) + (Creature's Rank) against some difficulty. The GM will pick it. Don't know what a GM is? Probably this isn't the right game for you. Ask me, I'll recommend something cool. Oh, yeah, and winning sucks too. If you succeed in tempting a creature, lose a point of Karma. Karma can go negative, too. That'd be real bad, though.
Traits are cool. You can use a trait to reroll any number of dice up to the rank of the trait. You cannot, obviously, reroll dice you didn't use in the first place. You can only use each trait once per scene (whatever that is!), and the trait has to make some sense in the current roll (narrate it, whatever the hell that means).
Starred traits also let you roll a new die in addition to rerolling some dice.
You narrate actions before you roll. You reroll dice after you roll them. You narrate traits when you reroll. Figure that one out, folks.
You can bet Karma to try to win a (non-tempting) action. Pick a number, up to your current Karma - as an absolute number (one good thing about negative Karma? Probably not). Add an additional number of dice equal to 1/2 the Karma bet to your roll. If you win, lose Karma equal to that bet. If you lose, instead only lose half as much. Yeah, it sucks. Only do it if the roll means something to you.
Advancement
So you want to be something more powerful than a flea? Well, you can switch form at any time, under two conditions - A) The form must be somewhere near your current form & B) It's rank squared cannot exceed your Karma.
When you change forms, you can spend a point of Karma to gain a trait "I was an X" at one point.
If your Karma drops (probably because you're an asshole who likes to win or something) below your current form's Rank squared, all your stats and traits drop to 1 until you move into a form with a lower Rank. And you cannot increase your Karma until you do so.
Appendix 1 - Supernatural Shit
Once you reach 25+ Karma, stuff gets weird. You can turn Karma into dice at a 3-for-2 rate, act without tempting your body (you don't add it's Rank to your roll, though), and you can use the Mystical Ranks (5-8). Using a Mystical Rank creature pisses off reality, though, so you lose 1 Karma whenever you attempt to tempt it. But you get to be cool and magical.
Appendix 2 - Necromancy
You can possess corpses. You can possess a corpse at one rank higher than your normal limit, but you still can't possess Mystical Rank corpses unless you have 25+ Karma. Possessing corpses pisses off reality, just like possessing Mystical Rank creatures (see above) and possessing a Mystical Rank corpse pisses it off twice as much.
Appendix 3 - Objects
You can possess an object or even an area or something. Once you do though, you can't do shit (unless you have 25+ Karma and can act supernaturally), and it actually costs you a point of Karma to leave (you can leave for free if you somehow have 0 or less Karma). Items have no rank. You can add any of your stats to anyone who uses the item/acts in the area and you can use your traits on their rolls.
Appendix 4 - Swarms
You can control a group of creatures all of the same type. This counts as one rank higher, and you can only use "Community" to tempt them. You get like... I don't know, a free die when actually doing stuff with them (not tempting).
Appendix 5 - Ranks
And now, the moment you've all been waiting for! These are just samples. Make shit up. It's what this whole thing is all about. This list is probably horrible inaccurate.
1: Domesticated Cats & Dogs, Harmless Birds, Insects, Wimpy Fish
2: Harmful Birds, Wolves, Wild Dogs, Dolphins
3: Big Cats, Bears, Whales, Sharks
4: Humans, Really Big Cats
5: Bugbears, Owlbears, Other sorts of (Word)bears, Goblins
6: Unicorns, Golems
7: Chimera, Dragonish Things, Basilisks
8: Dragons
Appendix 6 - GMing Advice
Hey, I didn't say it up in the rules, but you should reward players with Karma and punish them when the do stuff that's "Good" or "Evil". Define these yourself, in the context of the game, and don't be a total ass about it. Be consistent.
You're most important job is finding out what the character's care about and challenging that. Also, messing with their Karma so it fluctuates. Make them make difficult choices (succeed here or keep my Karma?). Tease them with Karma betting. Look at their goal as a starting point.
I don't know what a good difficulty is for non-tempting actions. Between 2-8 at normal levels. Once you hit Mystic Levels, I'd say 4-12 would do. Look at what ranks everyone is using, and base things off that. Mix it up once in a while to mess with things.
Final Thoughts
24 Hour RPG? Fuck that. This is like a 1/2 Hour RPG. Comments and suggestions, are, of course, welcome. Try playing it, maybe?
Character Creation
Each player plays a spirit. I don't know what sort of spirit. I don't care. Figure something out, kthx?
You have 4 stats and a bunch of traits and something called Karma, and like... a goal or some shit.
STATS
Your stats are Community, Greed, Need, and Rage. Basically, all living things are motivated by one (or more) of these four things. No, I don't have any science to back it up. It makes sense here.
Put a 1 in one of 'em. 2 in another. 3 in yet another. Can you guess where the 4 goes?
TRAITS
You have a bunch of traits. Pick three and rate them at 1,2, and 3. Star one of them. These are things built into you... I dunno, shit like "I am the ghost of christmas past" and "Seen the fall of nations" and "Cold-Blooded Killer". Stuff about your spirit. Make it cool, and have it make sense in the context of the current game. Your friends will appreciate it.
OTHER STUFF
Goal: Make up something your character wants to do. It should be big (You're like... immortal or something), but manageable in small chunks. See above about being cool and making sense.
SHAPE
You start off in a basic shape, some sort of creature you've possessed. Pick something from Rank 1, below. Yeah, they suck. You did some bad shit to end up down here. You have a trait, "I'm an X" with it's rating at the animal's rank. It gets a star, too.
Doing Stuff
So you want to do some stuff to accomplish your goal? You can't. Hah. You're a spirit. Good lu... Oh, wait, you have a possessed form?
Okay, you can tempt that form to do stuff. Choose a stat. Try to roleplay (I'm not going to explain that) tempting the creature using that stat. Roll the stat against the creature's rank. If it's something important (to your character), you can choose to fail to gain Karma. You can't like... roll to see if the animal takes a piss and then auto-fail to farm Karma. That's dumb.
If you fail? Nothing happens. The animal does what it wants. Sucks to be you. You do get a point of Karma, though.
If you succeed? Roll (Used Stat) + (Creature's Rank) against some difficulty. The GM will pick it. Don't know what a GM is? Probably this isn't the right game for you. Ask me, I'll recommend something cool. Oh, yeah, and winning sucks too. If you succeed in tempting a creature, lose a point of Karma. Karma can go negative, too. That'd be real bad, though.
Traits are cool. You can use a trait to reroll any number of dice up to the rank of the trait. You cannot, obviously, reroll dice you didn't use in the first place. You can only use each trait once per scene (whatever that is!), and the trait has to make some sense in the current roll (narrate it, whatever the hell that means).
Starred traits also let you roll a new die in addition to rerolling some dice.
You narrate actions before you roll. You reroll dice after you roll them. You narrate traits when you reroll. Figure that one out, folks.
You can bet Karma to try to win a (non-tempting) action. Pick a number, up to your current Karma - as an absolute number (one good thing about negative Karma? Probably not). Add an additional number of dice equal to 1/2 the Karma bet to your roll. If you win, lose Karma equal to that bet. If you lose, instead only lose half as much. Yeah, it sucks. Only do it if the roll means something to you.
Advancement
So you want to be something more powerful than a flea? Well, you can switch form at any time, under two conditions - A) The form must be somewhere near your current form & B) It's rank squared cannot exceed your Karma.
When you change forms, you can spend a point of Karma to gain a trait "I was an X" at one point.
If your Karma drops (probably because you're an asshole who likes to win or something) below your current form's Rank squared, all your stats and traits drop to 1 until you move into a form with a lower Rank. And you cannot increase your Karma until you do so.
Appendix 1 - Supernatural Shit
Once you reach 25+ Karma, stuff gets weird. You can turn Karma into dice at a 3-for-2 rate, act without tempting your body (you don't add it's Rank to your roll, though), and you can use the Mystical Ranks (5-8). Using a Mystical Rank creature pisses off reality, though, so you lose 1 Karma whenever you attempt to tempt it. But you get to be cool and magical.
Appendix 2 - Necromancy
You can possess corpses. You can possess a corpse at one rank higher than your normal limit, but you still can't possess Mystical Rank corpses unless you have 25+ Karma. Possessing corpses pisses off reality, just like possessing Mystical Rank creatures (see above) and possessing a Mystical Rank corpse pisses it off twice as much.
Appendix 3 - Objects
You can possess an object or even an area or something. Once you do though, you can't do shit (unless you have 25+ Karma and can act supernaturally), and it actually costs you a point of Karma to leave (you can leave for free if you somehow have 0 or less Karma). Items have no rank. You can add any of your stats to anyone who uses the item/acts in the area and you can use your traits on their rolls.
Appendix 4 - Swarms
You can control a group of creatures all of the same type. This counts as one rank higher, and you can only use "Community" to tempt them. You get like... I don't know, a free die when actually doing stuff with them (not tempting).
Appendix 5 - Ranks
And now, the moment you've all been waiting for! These are just samples. Make shit up. It's what this whole thing is all about. This list is probably horrible inaccurate.
1: Domesticated Cats & Dogs, Harmless Birds, Insects, Wimpy Fish
2: Harmful Birds, Wolves, Wild Dogs, Dolphins
3: Big Cats, Bears, Whales, Sharks
4: Humans, Really Big Cats
5: Bugbears, Owlbears, Other sorts of (Word)bears, Goblins
6: Unicorns, Golems
7: Chimera, Dragonish Things, Basilisks
8: Dragons
Appendix 6 - GMing Advice
Hey, I didn't say it up in the rules, but you should reward players with Karma and punish them when the do stuff that's "Good" or "Evil". Define these yourself, in the context of the game, and don't be a total ass about it. Be consistent.
You're most important job is finding out what the character's care about and challenging that. Also, messing with their Karma so it fluctuates. Make them make difficult choices (succeed here or keep my Karma?). Tease them with Karma betting. Look at their goal as a starting point.
I don't know what a good difficulty is for non-tempting actions. Between 2-8 at normal levels. Once you hit Mystic Levels, I'd say 4-12 would do. Look at what ranks everyone is using, and base things off that. Mix it up once in a while to mess with things.
Final Thoughts
24 Hour RPG? Fuck that. This is like a 1/2 Hour RPG. Comments and suggestions, are, of course, welcome. Try playing it, maybe?
1/22/09
Fire from the Mount
Okay, I want to make a game about (fantastical, not real) early Christiandom.
You've got competing Acolytes, each with an agenda. They spread the word of Christ (modified to suit said agenda) throughout the land.
You'd have stats like Charisma, Clarity (how much your words and writing make sense to the common people), Miracle-working (either fake or real) and so on.
But Christianity as a whole would have a stat of Coherence. If anyone's teachings stray too far from another's, people notice and are less likely to convert. Or, alternatively, you have feuding and infighting. Either way, not good.
So you have a constant balance between pushing your agenda and staying close to what has already been established.
Furthermore, as the game continues and teachings are fleshed out, it becomes more and more likely that any given teaching will contradict another (I imagine this might give an advantage to anyone who had a high "initiative" or something).
Sounds pretty interesting so far...
What do you all think?
You've got competing Acolytes, each with an agenda. They spread the word of Christ (modified to suit said agenda) throughout the land.
You'd have stats like Charisma, Clarity (how much your words and writing make sense to the common people), Miracle-working (either fake or real) and so on.
But Christianity as a whole would have a stat of Coherence. If anyone's teachings stray too far from another's, people notice and are less likely to convert. Or, alternatively, you have feuding and infighting. Either way, not good.
So you have a constant balance between pushing your agenda and staying close to what has already been established.
Furthermore, as the game continues and teachings are fleshed out, it becomes more and more likely that any given teaching will contradict another (I imagine this might give an advantage to anyone who had a high "initiative" or something).
Sounds pretty interesting so far...
What do you all think?
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