My Design Resume…

I’m currently still mulling about the idea of making my own game, and so far all I’ve got are sporadic flashes of inspriation of setting.  But before I can really get around to writing that down, I need to consider the backbone of the game… mainly, the system.

What I’m looking to do is come up with a product that I can sell on pdf format for both local and international consumption.  RPGs aren’t big here in the Philippines, and having a product that really gets out there for people to enjoy is something that is a holy grail to me.

And so here I am trying to figure out a system for this game.  And for that I’m going back to all of the other side projects I built for fun back when I had a wealth of time… before employment.

When I was 11 years old I remember taking out a ratty old typewriter with really stiff keys and hammering out a game of my own.  The rules were imbalanced, everything revolved around d10’s and percentile (I only had 2d10 at the time,) and it was a standard Fantasy Heartbreaker… but man, that was one fun summer.

Since then game design has been an on again, off again thing for me, having dabbled in two 24-hour RPG efforts:

• Crack Kung-Fu Fighting Bunnies, Go! – In the dystopian world of underground animal fighting, a new sport has gained prominence among Space Pirate Circles. Now all Space Pirate Asteroids feature a Bunny Arena! In an electrocuted 2-meter ring sits two fluffy bunnies, cybernetically enhanced and drug-fueled to become the ultimate in underground sports entertainment. [Card-Based Resolution, Rules Light, Comedy]
• Yakuza Armageddon – Step into a world gone to Hell as Yakuza gangsters given strange powers fight their way out of the madness. Features young punks versus demons and card based resolution system. Inspired by the Persona and Megami Tensei games. [Card-Based Resolution, Rules Light, Modern, Horror] (This setting was later expanded upon and developed for Precis Intermedia Gaming’s  Gamer’s Advantage Exclusive Content in 3 parts, Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3)

And so here I am, trying to figure out a good system.  So far, I’m considering a 3d6 based resolution system, since I like the whole bell curve of probabilities it brings.  Also on the practical side of things d6’s are probably the only dice that are easy to get here in the Philippines.

Now it’s just a matter of figuring out resolution systems and subsystems.  It’s a tricky task, and I’ll probably come up with some really inelegant systems at first, but maybe once I get something written up I can get it up here as a draft and get a few responses on whether or not I’m designing towards the proper direction.

2 New Impulse Buy Inducing Games…

A few good looking Fantasy games that are making my Impulse Buy reflex ache.  I’ve made a point to go around browsing various rpg related sites (don’t we all?) and these two have gotten my attention as of late:

• Spellbound Kingdoms – Described as “A dark and paranoid magical Renaissance” I nearly threw my credit card on the screen as soon as I had a chance to look over the site.  What really got my attention in this game aside from the promise of swashbuckling intrigue, strange and dangerous magics is the fact that the writing on the website shows a very personal, very real love from the creator.  Frank Brunner clearly loves his work, and the website conveys a powerful, almost giddy delight of the setting.  Another plus to this game is the fact that they actually have a Combat Primer up for downloads, to help introduce the idea of fighting styles and the fact that it is a game that doesn’t have initiative ratings.  Instead, all actions are resolved at the same time, and only foresight and luck will dictate if you choose the appropriate maneuvers to beat your opponent.
• Dragon Age: Dark Fantasy Roleplaying – The latest game from Green Ronin, and based on the upcoming Videogame RPG Dragon Age: Origins (from Bioware of Baldur’s Gate fame,)  this game has a lot of promise.  The idea of a starter kit for levels 1-5 in a boxed set sends waves of nostalgic amusement over me, and I’m confident that Green Ronin will come out with something awesome.  Check out the interview with Chris Pramas over at Gamebanshee for more info. (Now if they could only come up with a Mass Effect tabletop rpg…)

In addition to the upcoming HERO 6th Edition and Geist: the Sin-Eaters, these two games have my very close interest right now.

The Countdown Begins…

I’ve just been informed by the GMs of the current games that they plan to wrap up the campaigns that they’re running in about 4-6 sessions.  That pretty much means that the torch is officially going to be passed to me again, and as I’ve mentioned before, there are 2 possible campaigns that I will be running when my turn comes up:

• Scion: Hero - Children of the Gods take on the modern world, shouldering otherworldly responsibilities, while taking on the agents of the Titans.  Action, intrigue and lots of mythological easter eggs abound, and expect to see at least a couple of skyscraper sized bad guys now and then.
• Mage: the Awakening: Boston Unveiled – Part 4 of the ongoing chronicle of the Mages of Boston.  The Prince of 100,000 Leaves has begun to act, as his agents gather the components necessary for his return.  Alongside them, the Cult of the Doomsday Clock advance their deadly agendas forward in a near unstoppable advance.  But impossibilities are nothing in the world of Mage, and the characters ready themselves to do what they must in the face of threats both from the Fallen world and beyond.

Between the two of them, nMage obviously has the most history.  But it’s not like I haven’t done my homework for Scion either.  That said, I’ll be calling for a vote among my players on what they’d like to play this weekend so I can finally commit my time to planning one game instead of switching from one to the other.

Am I excited to be GMing agian?  I’d have to say, yes.  My short stint as a player in the Hunter: the Vigil game has been enlightening, and I think I’ve learned a thing or two from Sheimaruen’s handling of certain players.  I’ve taken notes, and I feel that I know my players just a little better so that I can actually do even better this time.

So here we are.  Let’s hope that I get a solid vote soon… the more prep time I have, the better I suspect I’ll do.

Motivational Triggers

In a talk with Rvelasco over Instant Messenger today, we got to discussing Aberrant, the old post-modern superhero rpg from White Wolf.  While that talk was interesting, it was what came out of it that caught my attention.  I realized that I was particularly vehement about the concept of the Strong dominating the Weak that offends me in a level that bothers me personally.

And so this post.  Motivational Triggers are the little things inherent in each Player that sets them off, no matter which character they play.  It’s an interesting concept because it might be the magic bullet that GMs can rely on at one point or another (but not always, of course, that way lies laziness.)  What defines a Motivational Trigger?

Motivational Triggers are circumstances, events, and conditions that a Player finds undesirable to the point that it compells them to have their characters act towards resolving, destroying or changing the said condition.

The value of these to a GM is immense.  By finding these triggers, he manages to change players of the reactive stance to a proactive one.  In doing so the campaign gains momentum, and a life of it’s own.  Rather than tugging and straining at the bit like a horse hitched to the front of a cart, the GM is then free to begin working on flourish and style as the game is already in motion.

My personal Motivational Trigger seems to lie with Social Equality.  Oppression usually sets me off and results in my characters going all out in terms of fixing the situation in any way they can.  Most of my GMs will agree with that, seeing my Jack Bauer-esque Gnome, ruthlessly devoted Phoenix Bodyguard and even the Deadpan Snarker Moros Forensics Professor.

What are your Motivational Triggers?  What are the considitons, situations and events in a game that make your characters literally go all out?

Specificity in Gameplay

Being that I’m actually entertaining the possibilty of writing my own game, I’m thinking about this a lot more than usual.  I think that it’s imperative that a game designer stop and think about the game he plans to make from the ground up.  More importantly, he has to find out just exactly what kind of enjoyment he’s hoping to deliver with it.

Bitten by the Bug: Writing my own Game

It’s no surprise that a lot of people who do play or run RPGs get it in their heads that they can write one themselves.  I’m certainly no exception, which is why I’m writing this post.  I’m certainly no pro at game design, but I do hope to be able to come up with a professional product with tight writing, good artwork and memorable gameplay that will be worth shelling out money for.

That said it’s always a good idea to write stuff down.  At the moment I’ve got a few ideas in my head as for the setting, and the characters.  I have a few notes with regards to what kind of gameplay the game will support, and just how extensive the rules have to be.

As far as I’m concerned, I’m hoping that I can present a game well worth shelling money out for.  I’ve spoken to a few friends of mine who have experience in layout and design, so I can make up for what is clearly my weakness (don’t ask me to draw.)

My chosen publishing format will be in PDF… and payment via Paypal.  With any luck, I’ll be able to profit, even just a little bit from this effort.  Once I’ve got some stuff written down, I’ll probably start on a few previews from time to time here on the blog.  Don’t worry, this blog will still remain focused on gameplay, GMing advice, and the occasional book review.  I won’t be turning it into a designer diary unless I get some sort of public demand.

[Scion] Return of the “Yes, but…”

Today we’ll be talking about the “Yes, but…” philosophy of gaming.  The first time I’ve heard of this was in Exalted, when people were discussing how to run a game where the players were meant to be able to deconstruct a setting the moment they hit the table.  Exalts were demigods, divinely powered humans given the means to enact sweeping changes to Creation the moment they were exalted by the gods.

Given the sheer nature of the game, it was a slight paradigm shift.  Suddenly, rather than Level 1 characters who fought rats for experience points, the basic starting character was more than able to hurl an Ox-Cart onto a group of guards, or easily dispatch of a sorceror terrorizing a village by summoning a demon to wale on them.

Many GMs didn’t exactly know how to deal with this, and were therefore forcing their tried and true methods:  throw bigger opponents.  Just to somehow even the odds, GMs were throwing lesser gods, elemental dragons, and entire armies at new characters, just to somehow reassert the older philosophy of gaming.  Same old stuff… bigger scale.

In reaction to this, a group of other GMs realized that the power level of the player characters was deliberate.  Rather than fight this sudden increase of power by slapping down even more points on the villains, these GMs figured that the game was all about the consequences.  It enabled large scale change because it was about What Happens Next.

And so the same goes for Scion.  As children of the Gods, even starting Scions can pick up a car and swat some gangbangers with it if properly motivated.  With the change in setting to a modern-day one, a whole new can of worms opens.  Religious persecution or worship, Advertising opportunities, Politics, the Military, the Media… people hoping to become children of gods too, strange secret sex cults revolving around these godlings, hoping that perhaps their children might bear the spark of greatness too.   These are the things that spring forth from the actions of the players.

The game is bigger than them not because the monsters are huge (which they are), or just because of combat.  The game is big because all of a sudden the world is watching the Scion’s every move, judging them, worshipping them, emulating them.

At it’s very core, the “Yes, but…” mentality of running is one that revolves around permission:

“I swat the guy with a backhand that twists his head around thrice and declare myself the new President of this country!”

“Sure.”  the GM answers, but then follows up with the complications of ruling a country, other ambitious scions doing the same to others, and the power struggles that happen next.  Rebel Scions might believe that it is not their place to do this, while others realize that the first was on to something… if they can hold the title.

It’s the complications that fuel these stories and games, and I feel that this is the path that would suit me best in Scion.  Given the nature of the characters, and the players, this should prove to be very interesting indeed as they struggle to push the agendas of their parents, all while balancing their personal lives, public appearances, and how they handle the mortals that stand in awe of them.

[Still Scion] Making Myths…

So, after reading the corebook and talking to a f ew friends regarding the system and the setting… and I’ve decided to just have fun.  Scion is a game that plays heavily into the myths, and it’s important to note that if anything Myths were at the lowest common denominator… entertaining.  Sure some were tragic, but in the end they all had something in them that made them worth remembering.

So here I am, fiddling around with the book, before  I put it aside and ponder… how do I make this game Mythic for my players?  So far I’m only certain of 4 characters… one being a Scion of Odin, another a Scion of Morrigan, one of my players is considering playing crossdressing twins and another of the Amatsukami, but no specific god or goddess (yet, though vote swings in favor of Amaterasu.)

So, first order of business is to do some heavy-duty research on the myths.  I’ve found some good sourced on the net for stuff on the Norse (they seem pretty popular) but I might run into a dead end with the Aztec ones.  That said, it’s exciting and I’m looking for ways already to fold, spindle and mutilate my own stories from Myths, while incorporating elements to the modern world.

Overall I’m still debating on the general mood of the game, there’s certainly a couple of players itching for cinematic level combat of the likes of the Beowulf Animated Film, but there should be room for godly politics, and personal stories as well.

I suppose this is where all my pre-planning must halt.  Until I get the rest of the character concepts in full, I’ll be running in circles.  I’ll see what I can do to talk to my players and find out what they intend to bring to the table.

[Pointyman Reads...] Scion: Hero (Long)

I’ve always been a big fan of Mythology.  Journey to the West, the Odyssey, the Labors of Hercules… Myths form the very foundation of our stories in the modern world.  As such, White Wolf’s Scion piqued my interest when it first came out.  I bought the corebook when it came (miraculously) to Philippine shores, and I picked up the PDF versions of the succeeding books, especially the Scion Companion, which had the Celestial Bureaucracy, and addition that made me very happy given my Chinese heritage.

In any case, I’m planning to run a Scion campaign sometime in the future, and as preparation, I figure making a read-through of the book would help me better understand the rules, and get a better feel of the game.  I’ve read through the rulebook before in my spare time many months ago when I first bought the book, but I’ve got my study mode on today, so hopefully this will be more fruitful.

[Scion] Still Planning… Tiny little worries

As the title indicates, I’m still working on putting together a Scion campaign.  As I review the book, I suddenly remember the tiny little snags I’ve seen in the system that bother me.  Mainly:

1. Dexterity The Uberstat – Something that I was glad to leave behind in nWoD, Dexterity seems to be the most important stat in the entire game.   Aside from granting the impossible to ignore Untouchable Opponent benefit, Dexterity also handles the accuracy of attacks and a host of other combat variables.
2. Oh look! Minions! – It’s relatively easy for a starting Scion to spend bonus points to get a plethora of combat-capable goons at their disposal.  Why bother with fighting Titanspawn head on when you can dial a number and send your Einherjar to do it for you?  It sort of dulls the very point of actually being tasked to do anything when you can delegate it to a small mob of thugs?

Perhaps I’m being overly critical, but it does worry me.  Some might say that I could always just slap on restrictions on Maximum Dexterity and disallow Followers in the game but that might be overly restrictive… and be perceived as me making sure that the Scions don’t hit their full potential.

At this point, I will be talking to my players, after all, they’ve got as much stake in this game as I do.  I’ve already thought about it, and I’m fairly certain that I won’t just be throwing combat at the characters all the time.  That should somehow manage the Dexterity’s importance and lower it in the overall scheme of things.  Surely there has to be other, non-combat opportunities that should prove to be equally important.

As for the Minions, that’ll have to be handled by the players as well.  They’re mature players, and perhaps in talking to them about this concern, they and I can come to some sort of middle ground.  Minions are well and good, but they’re certainly not the stars of the show.

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For my next steps, I’ll be going through the corebooks, starting obviously with Scion: Hero… I’ll be working on several posts, scribbling my notes and comments on the game.  I feel that it’s important for a GM to be able to study a system back and forth to be able to run it coherently.

As for those who’ve run or played Scion, what are your experiences?  Did you notice these, or am I jumping at shadows?  Any advice for a first time Scion GM?