I was inspired to write a big post and even record a video for this prompt, but pesky health problems have stolen my spoons whilst I was half way through; I’ll return to it after this event. Meanwhile, here are some links I gave to someone asking for investigation mechanics assistance.
Whilst not relating to mechanics, I also recommend checking out GURPS Mysteries. Many GURPS books are well written and this book I think is exceptionally well put together, providing a great exploration of the topic.
Years ago I persuaded some players that played lots of Call of Cthulhu to give SFRPG a go by highlighting how a core part of the game is about investigation; fortunately they enjoyed the games I ran. If veteran Investigators find SFRPG to fulfil their investigation needs, it shows the system does not need things, but like with many old games I have been pondering of adding mechanics from newer games to it. In this case using the Hunt Rolls from Trophy RPG, but I have not gotten to playtest this yet, but I will get to playtest it when I run my Game of Death fused with Twin Peaks adventure I am working on; day 19.
I hold the opinion that the best investigative #ttrpg adventures are driven by the motivations of the characters. It shouldn't be about a job or payment, but about a need the character have to unveil the truth. #RPGaDay2020pic.twitter.com/FTwNVep5wN
I am not a fan of investigative adventures in the tabletop role-playing hobby, since I feel they are too often just boring who-done-it style scenarios. Are there any good scenarios around that are more why-did-it-happen? #RPGaDay2020#ttrpgpic.twitter.com/EieLbAfnUD
This is a non-exhaustive list; I still have many posts to read today, so I might be adding more links. I’d recommend searching the hashtag and judge those great answers for yourself: #RPGaDay2020, some people use #RPGaDay.
The Change prompts a passionate response from me, about exploring how a tiny Change can cause large effects. After playing some games for a while, usually a campaign/chronicle, I love exploring how even a tiny change to a mechanic can majorly changes things. I appreciate that this can cause surprising results. Some players don’t like this. Plus, not every game suits this. To clarify, I am referring to things that change during play, the areas of the environment can change, possibly whole laws of reality. Whilst this is not a common event for games/settings like D&D, it can happen, whereas it’s built into Mage: the Ascension via Reality Zones, likewise the varying effects on Changelings that the different regions of the Dreaming have. Similarly, games that focus on parallel worlds like GURPS Infinite Worlds or Cypher System’s: The Strange, etc.
An old at KJC Games work meeting discussing different designs for Quest, our high fantasy play-by-mail RPG (later PBeM), and how to beat the memory limitations we had; the problem with working with old Pascal code. The aim was to reduce how much human moderation was needed with certain game aspects, so we could spend that time writing more and better stories, providing players more meaningful role-playing choices. The relevancy to tabletop is that I worked on designs to introduce tiny modifiers to achieve large effects on the game. I drew inspiration from RPGs like Mage, WFRP’s Realms of Chaos (Elric setting 😉) and Magic: the Gathering; from the global enchantments to Artifacts like Howling Mine; how different dynamic tweaks in play could change the feeling and maths of a game, without destroying what the game is. I surprised my old boss, who was happy to hear I was improving my ideas and how I explained them; in my first year working with him, I’d typically talked about big sweeping changes; I was still learning how agile the reality of business was and learning the delicacies of balancing the different preferences of each game’s community.
This leads me to my Street Fighter RPG (SFRPG) answer for today. From the 90s I have pages of game notes about adding/tweaking mechanics to achieve different outcomes. Like many role-players passionate about martial arts, real and fake, I was also a fan of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) and Mortal Kombat (MK), etc. When I first saw MK and learned its setting, I pondered how to handle the mysterious Outworld within Street Fighter, maybe borrowing from D&D’s Manual of the Planes, or the various Umbras for the World of Darkness? But… I knew one thing was common for players of SFRPG, the design approach taken resulting in a surprising speed of play, despite the sheer number of maneuvers. So any alteration to combat could quickly bog the flow down.
I ran an alternate SFRPG game that was similar to the TV show Mortal Kombat: Conquest, where characters could receive Blessings and Curses. For example: Shichifukujin (Seven Lucky Gods) Blessing grants +1 Attribute as an Auto Success once per day, which could be allocated before or after a roll! This is not quite the same as a Merit/Advantage or Flaw/Disadvantage, because it can come and go. Although once per day, this is a powerful ability, for example, a botch can be negated, or a character could see how much damage an opponent has done to them and then grant themselves +1 soak, or make their Dexterity one point higher, which could mean they gain that lucky bit of speed to avoid a nasty combo. Crucially once per day is a big restriction; is it best to save it? Luck is a fickle thing, each time they use their Blessing they could lose it, starting at 1 in 10 and raising by +1 each time it’s used. Characters could do things to please the Shichifukujin, doing so could reduce or even reset the counter. Initially, it resulted in players taking more time to decide, but after a short while, most of the time it was quick, thus not undermining the speed of play aspect of SFRPG.
As I’ve nearly caught up on Punho do Guerreiro (Warrior’s Fist) translations, I have been able to see what the team has previously explored. After RPGaDay I can go over my old ideas and work on a series of articles for the fanzine. 🙂 Also I’ll emphasis clarity of presentation, unlike the section above. 😉
Based upon this old temporary blessing idea, I added something similar to my Trophy Gold Incursion entry. I will be breaking down what I did, in a later blog post, the good and the bad.
My current game design fascination is the moment in a story when everything changes. The colour palette switches, or a new piece of information changes everything, or the previously-established rules (of physics, of magic…) are thrown away.
2. Change: Much history of migrant workers can be traced through changes of seasons and traveling, from Alaska packing / fisheries down to the vineyards, temp residence in the cities and so on. How to model / respect this history? How to speak of adventurers in this framework?
2. #RpgADay2020 Change: my favourite definition of story was "things change in resonant ways" Like all definitions this notion has started feeling destructive to me. Rooting narrative in change seems to lead me to trying to center them around quantifiable exchange and control pic.twitter.com/tc0VIdoo49
This is a non-exhaustive list; I still have many posts to read today, so I might be adding more links. I’d recommend searching the hashtag and judge those great answers for yourself: #RPGaDay2020, some people use #RPGaDay.
Since I committed myself to giving two replies each day, one for any RPG and one for Street Fighter RPG, I get twice the fun each day to finalise my thoughts. Where to begin? How best to begin? So many options, so I’ve brought back my #PieChartofIndecision to help me decide, plus to help prevent me from writing a rambling blog; like talking about painting figures and models. 😉
My Street Fighter RPG Answer
I have created a new fighter: Yūta Shirou. They could become a Circuit Prospect, maybe added to a future issue of Punho do Guerreiro (Warrior’s Fist).
My Any/Other RPG Answer
A week ago I began writing a long article analysing about how I started designing my adventure for the previous Trophy Gold Incursion competition. Due to a family health emergency, I didn’t finish it before this year’s RPGaDay started. In part because the article had grown and I also added the question of how and why I begin many of my games the way I do. On a related note, I sometimes use the approach: In Media Res, particularly with one-shots or for short gaming sessions. There is a great video by Complex Games Apologist talking about this technique, linked below.
Linking numerous thoughts shown on my pie chart together, I decided to write about an old subject dear to me: Mage. The classic World of Darkness could end in numerous ways; of course, there was no requirement to align any of the old game lines with what became the Chronicles of Darkness. Interestingly there was one idea that provided a strong link for the end of Mage: the Ascension, to the beginning Mage: the Awakening, which is an idea I have been working with in one of many Mage chronicles. For anyone curious, Charles Siegel explains one method to Terry Robinson on an episode of Mage the Podcast. The World of Darkness infamously almost had its beginning explored via Exalted, but that idea was abandoned, still the links are there. The Beginnings of Cycles.
Samwise Seven shows us a cool location and discusses family
This is a non-exhaustive list; I still have many posts to read today, so I might be adding more links. I’d recommend searching the hashtag and judge those great answers for yourself: #RPGaDay2020, some people use #RPGaDay.
Batjutsu 