Saturday, May 24, 2014

The blog has moved.

I'm back to working on Tribute, but the blog has moved here. It's my new site, WorldsWorkshop.com.

It's where I'll put all of my various creative projects, or at least the ones that are fiction or gaming-related. I'm still working out the kinks, but there are forums up. I had a wiki, but it was slain by spam. I'll use the blog for dispensing material, and upload PDFs of finished material.

As of  this writing, there is only one post up, but from now on I'll link there when I talk about the game online. Head on over and read about what's going on in the game.
 
Thanks for reading.
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Monday, December 16, 2013

A personal update.

I just wanted to post an update about why I haven't been keeping up with the blog and my design work.

I never finished the NaGaDeMon game, so that may or may not be forthcoming.

In short, I have had some personal issues. Along with my own serious weeklong illness, a close relative finished a long battle with cancer in the past few days. I had traveled to spend some time with her during November, and was unable to work on games. I'll be going to her funeral this weekend.

It has been admittedly hard to find games as important as real life lately.

It's going to be a while before I come back to the game writing. When I do, I'll likely work on Tribute before I work on Crank.

Thanks for understanding.
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Saturday, November 2, 2013

My NaGaDeMon Game- Crank





I've been struggling with the 12 functions and making sure they all interact properly,  and frankly I need a break. I know I haven't posted anything on the blog in a while, so I figured I could combine my break with some new posts. 
 
This month is National Game Design Month, or NaGaDeMon. It's the game design counterpart of National Novel Writing Month. I do think it's strange that they hold it on the same month as NaNoWriMo, since I might have liked to participate in both. Oh well.

The idea behind NaGaDeMon is to write or finish a game in a month. Tribute is too far along, so it would feel like cheating to me. Also, I couldn't honestly commit to getting it done in a month. I'd rather get it right. 

Anyway, I've had an idea for a simple comedy game for a while, called "Crank". The premise of the game is that internet crackpots must band together to save the world. A typical adventure might involve Sasquatch, the Shadow government, The Greys... and Scientology. A typical party might include a New Age mystic , a Hollow Earth theorist, a guy who claims he's an ex Navy Seal, and an alien abductee.  

The cool aspect of the game on a mechanical level is that you play an incompetent who basically fails his or her way to success. 

I figure it will be a nice diversion and let some of the Tribute stuff I've been working on percolate a bit. I'll tag any posts I make about Crank as Crank related. 

About Crank

To play, you need: 

  • A literal bucket of pipped six-sided dice of the same size. This is community property in play. Have each player and the GM contribute about $10, and buy as many dice from a dollar or discount store as you can. I can get them 10 for a dollar locally. So yes, you need a whole lot of dice. I recommend a sand pail or galvanized bucket to hold them all.
  • A Character Sheet
  • A Pencil
  • Graph Paper

The Core Mechanic: Risk Dice

Crank's core mechanic is pretty different, and like Tribute's it's pretty fiddly. That might end up being the hallmark of my games. 

In Crank, unlike most other games, you don't want to roll a lot of dice, because dice represent the risk you're taking. 

When you want to try something  in the game, the GM will tell you what the Risk of that action is. For example, he might say, "Shooting out the tire is 18 Risk".  You can push you luck by trying for more damage or another effect, increasing Risk further. 

Once you know your Risk, subtract your appropriate attribute and skill ranks from the Risk, and roll the remaining dice. If you roll even a single 1, you fail. Anything else, and you succeed.  If you succeed, your dice go back in the bucket until the next roll. 

If you fail, all is not lost- slide all of the dice you rolled aside without allowing them to change face. They're called your "Atlantean Dice", and you'll need them later. If you succeed, you do not generate Atlantean Dice. 

Failing on a single 1 might seem harsh, but this isn't a game about highly trained operatives- it's about largely incompetent men and women who are the only ones standing between the world and  genetically modified Jersey Devils who want to clone the president.  Even so, the probabilities aren't that bad- there's an incentive to try crazier stunts once you're already rolling a lot of dice. Here are the probabilities: 

Risk Dice
Chance of Success
Chance of Failure
Risk Dice
Chance of Success
Chance of Failure
1
83.3%
16.7%
11
13.56%
86.54%

2
69.4%
30.6%
12
11.22%
88.78%

3
57.88%
42.12%
13
9.35%
90.65%
4
48.22%
51.78%
14
7.79%
92.21%

5
40.19%

 59.81%

15
6.49%
93.51%
6
33.49%
66.51%
16
5.41%
94.59%
7
27.91%
72.09%
17
4.51%
95.49%
8
23.26%
76.74%
18
3.76%
96.24%
9
19.39%
80.61%
19
3.13%
96.87%
10
16.16%
83.84%
20
2.61%
97.39%

Atlantean Dice and Glyphs

The dice that you move aside on a failure are called "Atlantean Dice".  With them, you form "Glyphs", images which give your character lucky breaks, or activate special effects and abilities. They are somewhat metagame, but they also have an in-game rationale.

Here's an example of the concept of a Glyph: 
1

1
4
1

1
 

Black spaces represent dice, but don't worry about the numbers yet. I'll get to them in a minute.
When you make a Glyph you form a pixelated image with the dice that corresponds to an in-game effect. For example, by forming one glyph and using it, you might be able to cause your opponent to fail a roll automatically.  Until you activate a Glyph your dice are not committed- you don't have to keep building a Glyph just  because you started it. 

The number of pips on the rolled value of an Atlantean Die matter for making glyphs; you can only place a die adjacent to as many neighbors (at right angles) as the die has pips. Dice at a 45 degree angle do not count as adjacent for the purposes of this limit. 

This means that a die with a 1 on it can attach to 1 other die, a die with a 2 can be adjacent to up to 2 other dice,  and a die with a 4 on it can be adjacent to up to 4 other dice.  Dice with 5 and 6 can be adjacent to up to 4 other dice.

Pips on the die
Number of Adjacent Dice
Use
1
1
Useful for terminating a line without using a bigger die.
2
2
Useful for turning corners or making bridges between larger sections.
3
3
Useful
 for 
continuing 
a 
line 
while 
branching 
in 
another 
direction, 
or 
branching 
in three
 directions.
4,5,6
4
Useful
 at 
the 
center
 of 
glyphs that 
branch or for filling space.

After you've made a Glyph, you can activate it at any time before the end of the session. Activating it gives you the game effect that it offers. The GM may also allow you to save Glyphs between sessions, such as when the game ends on a cliff hanger. Fill in boxes on graph paper to save your Glyphs between sessions, and cross them out as you use them. 

Glyphs aren't purely metagame- they represent the fictional alphabet of Atlantis in the setting- symbols of power that give mystical results when invoked. Aside from metagame effects, they can also be used to activate things like spells, alien technology, etc. 

Here are some example Glyphs and their effects. The final game may or may not use these exact images or rules, but the principle is the same.  As mentioned before, black fields represent a die. The number in the middle of each field represents the minimum die roll that fits there. 

Mote
1

1
4
1

1

Dice: 5
Duration: One Roll
Effect: You may activate this Glyph to receive a -2 to your final Risk Value, meaning that you must roll 2 fewer dice to succeed.
Notes: This is the simplest Glyph possible. 

Circle

2
2
2
2

2
2
2
2
Dice:8
Duration:  One Roll, Retroactive
Effect: Activating this Glyph allows you to cancel out a single 1 that you have rolled, potentially turning a failure into a success. No matter how many 1s you cancel, the roll is treated as a roll with the original number of dice.


 Lesser Star

1



2
3
2

1
3

3
1

2
3
2



1


Dice: 12
Duration: One Roll, Retroactive
Effect: You may nullify any single roll by opposition that would affect you, turning it into a failure. You may not affect your own rolls. The targeted roll has no effect on you, and does not get to be rerolled. 

Sacred Eye

1
3
2
3
1



1

2

2

1

2
2

2
2
2

2
2
1







1

1
2



2
1



2
2
2
2
2



Dice: 27
Duration: One scene
Effect: You get a hint from the GM about what's really going on in the adventure. This hint must be useful, such as briefly seeing through an Alien's disguise, or having a government agent forget an important file when he escapes.  If you've already guessed this secret, there is no need for the GM to give you extra information, but he or she can confirm your suspicions. The GM should prepare potential ideas for such hints ahead of time when possible, since this Glyph will come into play in most adventures with an element of mystery to them.

The Serpent of Obstruction

1






2
3
2





2
3
2






2







2
2
2







2







2





2
2
2

1



2



2
2

2
4
3
2


2
1
3
3
3
3
2
2
2

Dice: 33
Duration: One Scene
Effect: You may declare one fact about the scene that is inconvenient for your opposition, such as a jammed gun, a flat tire, or another of their enemies showing up. You may not kill your opponent outright, but you can cut off options or set them up for death.
Notes: Snakes are an ancient symbol of obstruction in the real world. 
 
Vortex

2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2







2
2

2
2
2
2
2

2
2

2



2

2
2

2

1

2

2
2

2

2
2
2

2
2

2





2
2

2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1








Dice: 45
Duration:  1 full round
Effect: You may selectively change one die per roll made by anyone during this round. Help your friends, hinder your enemies.
Notes: This one takes a lot of dice for the effect, but the dice it requires are easy to come by. 

Conclusion


You may have noticed that some of the Glyph costs seem too cheap for what you're getting. There are two reasons for that- I'm going by instinct at this stage, and I want some of the effects to be rarer than others.  Also consider that these are just examples at this stage. The final Glyphs may be very different. 

Thanks for reading.
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