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Topics - Jens

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brainstorming & development / A different dice mechanic?
« on: June 10, 2014, 10:16:33 AM »
I'm probably beating a dead horse here but a search of the forums didn't show exactly the same idea used before.

A big caveat is that I haven't re-read the AW book for a while so I don't really remember how PvP conflicts are supposed to be resolved. I remember it as being fiction first? However the people I play with semiregularily have the idea of initiative hardwired into the backbones of their black murderhobo souls and think that solving stuff as they come up hint at some kind of "unfairness".

An idea I had was to exchange rolls for a single dice. A result on the lower half=missed, upper half=yes, but, and top result=10+
Add the actual stat to the roll as normal. So on a D8 1-4=missed, 5-7=yes, but 8=success.
The bigger the dice, the less impact of the stat. However in a PvP situation the biggest die wins. So on a D4 roll stats are amazing but you'll be trumped by bigger dice.

Neat? Stupid? Unworkable? Already hashed?

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brainstorming & development / A Giant hack
« on: June 05, 2014, 04:46:47 AM »
Hello. Among other things I'm working on an AW hack where the players are Giants in midieval England. The idea germinated in this story-games-thread: http://story-games.com/forums/discussion/comment/429872 As you can see it was Potemkin that had the great idea from the beginning but then revised his outlook. I continued on with the original premise.

Now I've gotten stuck on the moves. The stats I've settled for are Violence, Cunning, Finnicky and Wyrd. Violence and Cunning are pretty self-explanatory, Finnicky is everything to do with humans and Wyrd is to do with the domain of spirits.

So far these are the basic moves I have:

Rage - swift and mindless violence is dealt. Roll +Violence +1. Add one to Fatigue/Hunger.
-6 Fail, You suffer Harm as established and the MC can make a hard move
7-9: Success, You suffer Harm and Deal Harm as established
10+: Success, You suffer Harm and Deal Harm +2 as established

Attack - violence is dealt in a controlled manner. Roll +Violence
-6: You suffer Harm and Deal Harm as established
7-9: Success, you suffer Harm and Deal Harm as established and choose one from the list below
10+: Success, you suffer Harm and Deal Harm as established and choose three from the list below
Suffer less Harm (you suffer -1 Harm)
Deal greater Harm (you deal Harm +1)
Rout the enemy
Take hold of something important
Gain the advantage

Demand - Threaten to get what you want. Roll +Violence
-6: Fail, the MC can make a hard move
7-9: Success, they do as you want but you must promise something first and keep this promise.
10+: Success, they do as you want but you must promise something first. It is up to you if you keep your word or not.

Foraging and Hunting - The giant spends a day Foraging and Hunting. Roll +Cunning

-6 Ravaging! The Giant cannot control its hunger and cleans the area of anything edible. The area of the map is turned fallow and the Fatigue/Hunger stat is reduced by two. Also any settlements in the area get their Wealth reduced by one. If this means a settlement gets reduced to zero wealth that settlement is deserted and left in ruins.
7-9 Overeating. Despite the Giant’s intentions he or she cleans the land. The Fatigue/Hunger stat is reduced by one and the area of the map is turned fallow.
10+ Foraging and hunting. The Fatigue/Hunger stat is reduced by two.

Read a situation - See where opportunities and dangers lie. Roll +Cunning OR +Finnicky depending on the opposition (Giants or Humans)
-6: Fail, the MC can make a hard move
7-9: Success, you can ask one question from the list and the MC or player will answer truthfully
10+: Success, you can ask all questions on the list and the MC or player will answer truthfully
Who is most dangerous?
How can I escape?
What are the motives of the others?
How can I gain the upper hand?

Manipulate - Get another giant to do what you want, Stat: Cunning
-6: Fail, the MC can make a hard move
7-9: Success, they do as you want but you must promise something first and keep this promise. The other Giant marks experience when doing it.
10+: Success, they do as you want but you must promise something first. It is up to you if you keep your word or not. The other Giant marks experience when doing it.

Talk to the spirits - Get knowledge from the spirits, Stat: Wyrd
-6: Fail, you loose something important and the MC can make a hard move
7-9: The MC will tell you something new and interesting about the current situation, and might ask you a question or two; answer them
10+: The MC will give you good detail. If you already know all there is to know, the MC will tell you that.

Demand of the spirits - Control the weather, increase fertility of the land, etc, Stat: Wyrd, must give up something vital (a finger for minor stuff, all of childhoods memories for more important stuff).
-6: Fail, you loose something important and the MC can make a hard move
7-9: The spirits accept your offering but demand a promise. If you follow through mark experience.
10+: The spirits accept your offering.

Haggle - Bargain with humans, Stat: Finnicky
-6: Fail, the MC can make a hard move
7-9: Success, you get your deal but you must promise something first and keep this promise.
10+: Success, you get your deal but you must promise something first. It is up to you if you keep your word or not.

OK, so I realize a bit of these rules make no sense without the other rules but I'm just wondering if you spot anything missing if the players are 20ft Giants ravaging peasants in 17th century England?


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brainstorming & development / Deathwatch: Apocalypse - A Space Marine Apocalypse World mashup
« on: May 27, 2014, 09:43:43 AM »
Why Deathwatch: Apocalypse?

This is my Apocalypse World (AW) hack of Fantasy Flights Warhammer 40.000 RPG Deathwatch (DW). DW is a game where the players take the roles of gene-enhanced super warrior monks battling the enemies of mankind’s fascistoid Imperium. That star spanning colossal being the last line of defense between humanity and certain extinction. Since the players take the guise of glory seeking warrior monks coming from different chapters, a lot of internal rivalry is to be expected, and is also somewhat catered for in the rules.

However, I feel that the game really falls on its face when it comes to the action part. Instead of being the action filled romp it ought to be, filled with oath taking, boasting and ‘for the Emperor’-s it is a sluggish, bookkeeping fest of future world simulation. Not at all what I had expected when I opened the book. Since having played through a small campaign which died out due to the tedium of the rules I have been searching for a game system that would allow me to play DW the way I had imagined it would be.

Reading on the forum that someone had started a reskinning of the “The Regiment”-hack I realized that AW was probably the system I had been looking for. In AW reality is brutal and unforgiving and everything is tethering on the brink of oblivion. At the same time relations between the characters are important and help drive the story forward. This coincides with how I see how DW should be. But The Regiment introduces a more fine-tuned combat system than AW, a more simulating approach if you will. That is exactly what I want away from in Deathwatch. But still a lot of the very good ideas from The Regiment have been shamelessly stolen.

Considering that the subject matter is 7’ tall superhuman warrior monks 38.000 years into the future simulating reality should not be among the concerns of the game. Creating a fast paced action focused game where questions of valor, glory and chapter history are more important than how large the percentile gain is of a night vision scope when firing through smoke, on the other hand, should.

So this leads me to using the original AW as basis for my hack. When I found Mike Sands’ “The Juggernaut” playbook I knew I was onto something.

Why I originally had not thought about doing an AW hack is that the original playbooks are very singular in how the players create their roles, whereas in DW character creation is very binary; i.e. Chapter/Class. But now I believe I have a solution. It came to me as I sat folding playbooks for a game of AW. My printer at home is unable to print both sides so I simply printed them and then folded them back to back. Holding them in my hands I realized how I could combine the cool playbooks with the binary Space Marines of the future. I’ll make one side of the playbook the class and the other side the chapter!

So this is how Deathwatch: Apocalypse came to be.

I have a playtest document set up that should include most of what you need to try it out with four players. I.e. rules, moves&oaths, an ork beastiarium, armories, five specialties and four chapter backgrounds. I recommend that you print one each of the armories and moves.

I realize that I've forgotten to add an MC agenda but the whole game hinges on the MC being versed in 40k lore so it basically boils down to: Keep it grimdark and invoke history.

Here's the document: Deathwatch: Apocalypse

TL;DNR: Deathwatch has stupidly complicated rules, AW rules fit better, voilá!

Sadly, no space marine mammals included

Please feel free to comment and feed me feedback, for the emperor.

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