tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59648002841678317762024-03-04T23:31:00.459-08:00Your Dice are StupidA blog brought to you by the admins at the Laughing Stick.Carolmonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15420328398844088530noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964800284167831776.post-55576520877704617882012-05-27T10:59:00.002-07:002012-05-27T10:59:28.228-07:00The End.I've listened to much of Mr. Jacob R Possin's voluble oratory, but I
admit I'm a little confused. Sure, I'm just an average person and not
some intellectual, all-knowing brainiac, but it seems to me that Jacob
should just quit whining about everything. Unless you share my view
that Jacob loves presenteeism with the kind of irrational passion
normally reserved for sports teams, there's no need for you to hear me
further. How can we expect to condemn his criminal ineptitude if we
walk right into his trap? We can't, and that's why it is not difficult
to see the undercurrents of jujuism in Jacob's remonstrations. Okay,
that was a facetious statement. This one is not: The term "idiot
savant" comes to mind when thinking of Jacob. Admittedly, that term
applies only halfway to him, which is why I assert that someone has been
giving Jacob's brain a very thorough washing, and now Jacob is trying
to do the same to us. <br />
Jacob's expostulations can be rightly understood only as what some
careless toughies have been brave enough to call them: a failure.
Whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to help people
break free of Jacob's cycle of oppression. Does Jacob do research
before he reports things, or does he just guess and hope he's right?
The reason I ask is that I cannot promise not to be angry at Jacob. I
do promise, however, to try to keep my anger under control, to keep it
from leading me—as it leads Jacob—to popularize a genre of music whose
graphic lyrics explicitly urge intellectually challenged maggots to
descend to character assassination and name calling. <br />
While it is essential—and among my highest priorities—to put to rest
neurotic and uninformed convictions such as Jacob's, whenever I turn
around I see Jacob turning us into easy prey for vulgar polluters. To
deny such a truth would be to deny the evidence of our own senses. He
thinks I'm trying to say that ethical responsibility is merely a trammel
of earthbound mortals and should not be required of a demigod like
Jacob. Wait! I just heard something. Oh, never mind; it's just the
sound of the point zooming way over Jacob's head. His personal interest
in seeing his diatribes shoved down people's throats is infantile but
that's to be expected of Jacob. <br />
Jacob can make no claim to a distinguishing talent of any kind.
(Read as: Jacob goes ballistic every time I so much as hint that his
servitors have discounted their brain as a useless organ.) His henchmen
argue that cell-phone towers are in fact covert mind-control devices
that use scalar waves to beam images into people's brains while they
sleep. These are the same dissolute blackguards who wipe out delicate
ecosystems. This is no coincidence; there are two things we need to do
right away. First, we need to empower the oppressed to control their
own lives. Second—and this is critical so get out your highlighter—we
need to defenestrate his ideas and deponticate his expedients. Once
those two things are accomplished we can finally start discussing how
the earth presents a wonderful example of variety in all classes of the
animal and vegetable kingdoms. People, beasts, and plants belonging to
distinct classes all exhibit special qualities and peculiarities.
Unfortunately, Jacob's special quality is that he once tried convincing
me that his communications won't be used for political retribution.
Does he think I was born yesterday? I mean, it seems pretty obvious
that Jacob hates it when you say that his spleeny principles are like an
onion that reveals layer after layer of statism. He really hates it
when you say that. Try saying it to him sometime if you have a thick
skin and don't mind having him shriek insults at you. <br />
Jacob's prevarications emblematize an increasing deturpation of
cultural standards and a triumph of the meretricious. It's also true
that I find his tirades presumptuous, tyrannical, rambunctious, and more
than a little hateful, but that'll have to be a subject for another
letter. Almost without exception, Jacob can justify anything that
brings him a profit. Well, that's a bit too general of a statement to
have much meaning, I'm afraid. So let me instead explain my point as
follows: Ill-bred spoiled brats do not deserve the assistance they
receive from society. There are several logical contradictions in his
position on this matter. For example, Jacob claims that the world is
crying out to labor beneath his firm but benevolent heel. You should
realize that absolutely no empirical evidence obtained by scientific
means exists to support that claim. Alas, that doesn't stop Jacob from
making things worse. <br />
Judging by the generally delirious nature of Jacob's dupes, I can see
that Jacob would have us subvert time-tested societal norms. May God,
in his restraining mercy, forbid that we should ever do this most ribald
and insensitive thing! There are two related questions in this matter.
The first is to what extent he has tried to spoil the whole Zen
Buddhist New Age mystical rock-worshipping aura of our body chakras.
The other is whether or not my dream is for tired eyes to open and see
clearly, broken spirits to find new energy, and weary arms to find the
strength to take personal action and expose false prophets who preach
that Jacob is entitled to feed us a fanciful load of horse manure as
unassailable truth. If you study his insensate attitudes long enough,
you'll come to the inescapable conclusion that when people see
superstitious imbeciles <em>behaving</em> like superstitious imbeciles
they begin to realize that if you read between the lines of Jacob's
anecdotes, you'll undeniably find that Jacob is typical of discourteous
zobs in his wild invocations to the irrational, the magic, and the
fantastic to dramatize his apothegms. Let's consider for a moment,
though, that maybe in legal terminology, Jacob is guilty of <i>suppressio veri</i> or "concealment of truth". Then doesn't it follow that Jacob's personal motto is "never forgive and never forget"? <br />
The whole of Jacob's cuckoo worldview may perhaps be expressed in one
simple word. That word is "absolutism". Let me explain: If you're
the type who dares to think for yourself, then you've probably already
determined that Jacob's rich repertoire of evil snow jobs serves only to
glorify the most chauvinistic conspiracy theorists I've ever seen.
That's the sort of statement that some people insist is illiberal but
which I believe is merely a statement of fact. And it's a statement
that needs to be made because his jibes are based on a technique I'm
sure you've heard of. It's called "lying". <br />
Jacob, does the word "unexceptionableness" mean anything to you? Who
is he to say that drug money is being used to pay for the construction
of huge underground cities intended to house both humans and aliens who
serve a secret, transnational shadow government? He says that the
purpose of life is self-gratification and that therefore newspapers
should report only on items he agrees with. Hello? Is Mr. Logic down
at the pub with a dozen pints inside him or what? Jacob's opinion is
that diseases can be defeated not through standard medical research but
through the creation of a new language, one that does not stigmatize
certain groups and behaviors. Of course, opinions are like sphincters:
we all have them. So let me tell you my opinion. My opinion is that
Jacob has been using all sorts of jiggery-pokery to convince people that
the best way to serve one's country is to declare that there is an
international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our
precious bodily fluids. That worldview may be appealing, at least to
mendacious drug addicts, but it severely limits our national
conversation on critical policy issues. Perhaps more painfully, Jacob
hates you—yes, you, because you, like me, want to promote peace,
prosperity, and quality of life, both here and abroad. <br />
Given what we know about Jacob's picayunish fulminations, I'd say
that his recent use of solipsism to marginalize dissident voices is
about par for the course. Jacob says that he holds a universal license
that allows him to hand over the country to saturnine slimeballs. You
know, I don't think I have heard a less factually based statement in my
entire life. <br />
We have a dilemma of leviathan proportions on our hands: Should we
halt the adulation heaped upon volage-brained bullies, or is it
sufficient to create and nurture a true spirit of community? Before you
answer, let me point out that we must pronounce the truth and renounce
the lies. If we fail then all of our sacrifices and all of the dreams
and sacrifices of our ancestors will have been in vain. The key is to
realize that thanks to Jacob, our national and individual sovereignty is
fluttering precariously in the wind. This is equivalent to saying that
Jacob takes things out of context, twists them around, and then
neglects to provide decent referencing so the reader can check up on
him. He also ignores all of the evidence that doesn't support (or in
many cases directly contradicts) his position. I have a problem with
Jacob's use of the phrase, "We all know that…". With this phrase, he
doesn't need to prove his claim that terrorism is the key to world
peace; he merely accepts it as fact. To put it another way, he talks a
lot about totalism and how wonderful it is. However, he's never
actually defined what it means. How can Jacob argue for something he's
never defined? I wish I had a lot more time to answer that question.
Unfortunately, the following comment will have to suffice: I shall not
argue that Jacob's newsgroup postings are an authentic map of his plan
to reduce us to acute penury. Read them and see for yourself. Okay,
there's no reason for me to be unctuous, so I'll leave you with this
concept: You should never be impressed by positions or titles but only
by honorable deeds.Carolmonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15420328398844088530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964800284167831776.post-9815957517980449922012-04-21T14:01:00.001-07:002012-04-21T14:01:10.583-07:00Criterion City V002After a brief Hiatus to work on my entry for the Game Chef Competition I have done some more work on Criterion City(I really need a better name for it...). So without further ado here is Criterion city V002.<br />
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<a title="View CriterionCityV002 on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/90557215/CriterionCityV002" style="margin: 12px auto 6px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block; text-decoration: underline;">CriterionCityV002</a><iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" src="http://www.scribd.com/embeds/90557215/content?start_page=1&view_mode=list&access_key=key-2lhodkb0hxudcqhdooym" data-auto-height="true" data-aspect-ratio="0.772727272727273" scrolling="no" id="doc_84793" width="100%" height="600" frameborder="0"></iframe>]<br />
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I changed a few of the conflict mechanics, and added a lot more on the City creation side of things. let me know what you think of it, and the changes i have made!The Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05612947040870278748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964800284167831776.post-73314563078790084812012-04-14T01:21:00.003-07:002012-04-14T01:41:25.321-07:00Game Chef 2012I have just submitted my game design for this years Game Chef competition. Overall I think I have a decent game idea. I am now waiting for the next phase to move forward. while I am doing that I thought I would reflect on some of the interesting moments I had while Designing my game Whispers In The Dark. Firstly, the mechanics took longer than I thought they would when I started out.<br /><br />On the start of my design I knew that I was going to be using a card mechanic in the game. i have been in love with cards since I was five, and I love using them in Role Playing Games ever since I cracked open Marvel Saga Edition for the first time.<br /><br />Originally I was going to go with a very simple mechanic. one person would play the Character and two people would be the GM, there were only two paths in my game at that time. basically it would be high card wins and that person would get to tell the story for a while. it worked, but there was no strategy and no real skill involved.<br /><br />I had two major breakthroughs that really cleaned up my design. First, I realized that the character was a hindrance and so got rid of him. the second was breaking the game down into four parts. this allowed for the idea of suits to come forward, which led to my thinking on Whist, Spades, Bridge, and Sheepshead. I realized I needed a level of strategy that basic high card could not really offer. so I added trump cards.<br /><br />originally each player would have their own trump, but that idea lasted...not long. it was a bad idea. it led me to the idea of rotating trump. which I think is interesting. I would like to have tested this a bit more, but in a week there is only so much you can do.<br /><br />the dismissing of the character as a player option really opened up the game for me. now the game was about controlling the life of this character and trying to get him to your path. there are four paths in the game each is illuminated by a Lantern. each lantern tries to get the player to go down that specific path.<br /><br />The game title came out of my own life in a lot of ways. Often, to me, it seems like I am making descisions I don't fully understand for reasons I cannot explain. this game is very close to an autobiography in that regard. it is very easy to get the character to accomplish little and flounder in life, to head in a particular direction is very difficult.<br /><br />Overall I would have to say that the biggest surprise for me was that I came close to the 3000 word limit, hitting 2528 words. that blew me away as I am usually really bad at writing.<br /><br />Here is my game submission should any one like to look at it.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/89336496/Whispers-in-the-Dark">Whispers In The Dark</a>The Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05612947040870278748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964800284167831776.post-8842303490651584972012-03-31T00:15:00.003-07:002012-03-31T00:17:06.712-07:00I have Made a rough(very rough) version of the character sheet for Criterion Sheet. Here it is:<br /><a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/87433139/Criterion-City-Char-Sheet-01">Criterion City Character Sheet Mark 1</a>The Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05612947040870278748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964800284167831776.post-58653041259344438932012-03-30T19:38:00.002-07:002012-03-30T19:48:08.235-07:00Criterion City Pt. 3: Finally a FirstI finished My first draft of Criterion City. I would love to here your thoughts on it. I realize there are probably some basic ideas that I missed or something, so let me know if it confusing. also if you want to playtest it I would love to hear how it went. I have only run a few games so far...seems to work.<br /><br /><br /><a title="View CriterionCityV001 on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/87415457/CriterionCityV001" style="margin: 12px auto 6px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block; text-decoration: underline;">CriterionCityV001</a><iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" src="http://www.scribd.com/embeds/87415457/content?start_page=1&view_mode=list&access_key=key-brxbak4xzcc69q4hpqi" height="true" ratio="0.772727272727273" id="doc_57827" scrolling="no" width="100%" frameborder="0" height="600"></iframe>The Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05612947040870278748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964800284167831776.post-22006645227796587682012-03-23T20:42:00.003-07:002012-03-23T20:57:38.493-07:00Criterion City Pt. 2: Think of a wonderful thoughtSo the core mechanic is thus: Only roll dice when the challenge is a contest between two beings. there are no static numbers. You roll two six-sided dice in a standard action, then you add your power(if it is relevant), a memory(if it is relevant and only one memory per roll), and any external dice(places have descriptors that add dice, as do weapons, clothing, and other unique things). Add all those together and compare it to the roll of your opponent. high roll wins.<br /><br />Conflict is parsed out in three rounds, win two out of three and you win the conflict. The winner gets to place a descriptor on the opponent's character. This can be avoided through escalation. If you lose you can choose to escalate and start another three round conflict, however the loser of this conflict steps down one of their dice and the winner gets to place a descriptor on the loser. You can try once more should you lose this conflict. when you escalate for the third time the result is the end of your character. that character cannot be played again should you lose.<br /><br />so that is the core mechanic(for now).<br /><br />I will start tomorrow on statting up some NPCs and some of the locations in Criterion City as well as example descriptors and the like, maybe even character creation.The Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05612947040870278748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964800284167831776.post-71053697093808713702012-03-23T14:03:00.005-07:002012-03-23T14:51:18.270-07:00Criterion City Pt. 1: Big O Inspired by GodotI was listening to an old episode of <a href="http://masterplanpodcast.net/">The Master Plan</a> and it mentioned <a href="http://www.evilhat.com/home/a-penny-for-my-thoughts/">A Penny For My Thoughts</a>. This got me thinking about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_O">Big O</a>. To be fair, I have only watched a couple of episodes of it. I really liked what I saw. its set in this world where everyone lost there memory(also, there are giant robots...yeah). Also I just had finished reading through <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiting_for_Godot">Waiting For Godot</a>, which has a great deal to say about memory and life and death. All of these thoughts were sort of coalescing in my mind while I was zoning out in class and I sort of doodled a game concept. It is not done yet, and I would like thoughts on it, but here is what I have so far:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Last year everyone within Criterion City awoke with no knowledge of who they were. They had skills, but any knowledge of there history of the history of the world was gone. A few of them became something more. They became the Arete.</span><br style="font-style: italic;"><br style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Dome surrounds Criterion City. All that is known is that it cannot be breached. We cannot leave the city. The Wraiths are the only beings to enter or leave The Dome. The Wraiths come to attack the city. We seek our past. And in finding that, we may know our future.</span><br style="font-style: italic;"><br style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;">We live in the city of now, the city of here. there is no tomorrow, for yesterday is a void.</span><br /><br />The game is set to have two kinds of stories intermixed. The first is over the top super-powered action. the second is a game of recovering memories, yours and those of other people. For this I see two separate pools of dice: one that is your power, and one that is your memories. i think the memories will be added to as the game goes on, where the powers will be a bit more static.<br /><br />You will play one of the Arete. you have power and something about you stands out from the crowd.<br /><br />Your memories will be represented by a series of images, decided by the other players. they represent those things which resonate with your character's soul. they will be played by the person to your left, and you will play the memories of the person to your right. Echos are when you do an action that you have done before, but don't remember it. right now how it works is, you let your memory get a temporary bonus(don't know what yet) and you get a bonus to your current roll, due to familiarity. <span style="font-style: italic;">I don't have a whole lot more than that about it at the moment.</span><br /><br />The powers will be dice that you can add to your actions that allow you to do the impossible.<span style="font-style: italic;"> I have been playing a lot of </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.margaretweis.com/">cortex plus</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> recently so I am kind of loving having multiple kinds of dice and the concept of steeping up dice has been interesting to me since I read the first iteration of </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.peginc.com/games.html">Deadlands</a><span style="font-style: italic;">.</span> When you help another person get a memory back, you can step up a power. If you defeat a Wraith permanently you gain a memory and step up a power.<br /><br />When you make your character ask these questions:<br /><ul><li>Where did you wake?</li><li>What were yo wearing?</li><li>Who were you with?</li><li>How old do you appear?</li><li>How did you react to that?</li><li>What skill, or skills became immediately apparent?</li></ul>I want these questions to be mechanically important as this is about all the character's know of themselves. I am still working on it. These are the things that they will cling to.<br /><br />This is crucial: The Wraiths know your history. The know who you are.<br /><br />There are no history books. the only information available are science books(no mention of history) and fiction and mythology.<br /><br />I will need to define the city a bit more, though I would like it to be fairly minimalist. also I think there will be some sort of Pro Tem government, though I have not worked that out yet.<br /><br />Here are some of the random thoughts that influence me about this game, maybe they will help you understand what I am trying for:<br /><ul><li>Without a past experience, we are doomed to repeat our actions.</li><li>Without a past the present has no meaning.</li><li>Life becomes circular.</li><li>The things you do remember take on incredible significance.<br /></li></ul>The Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05612947040870278748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964800284167831776.post-81168870185780581822012-02-01T23:31:00.000-08:002012-02-01T23:46:39.986-08:00final art project<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgObfXhF4KYOkqFL-yga1yLIvGuf2XX2DGdm82ypv_Q9LLtvHVQmxjjyY6XykFjytlSyQEYy9Tj0yfyytC5ly29OzweiIxTNJOAA0W4Vtmw98cMVblkG3j9rmkE6eeYiSiV3oIoAX5Wr58/s1600/IMG_1145.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; 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cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvR30ErkVJW4V70XzB6emSgk9P0_L-XsDGyv3iluSHwP6Tuwya7fIx7vOTRLMEHnBfEZrzfXi1MF9t1yaIe0Py2PNJN1Hp_6k7bvgaPkwu6gH2ZEOvmm1nnulrQcbhApLTfLFMCUI0KwY/s400/IMG_1155.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704438711956510530" border="0" /></a>The Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05612947040870278748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964800284167831776.post-54173176961402208582012-01-31T15:17:00.000-08:002012-01-31T15:18:12.734-08:00War In The Heavens pt. 21: Reneasance<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal" align="LEFT"> I know it has been a while since my last game design post. I hit a bit of a wall on the design and so was at a loss for a few months on what to do about it. I recently had a bit of a breakthrough, and I thought I would go over it. I hope this will be the first in a series of posts leading to some form of a complete game.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal" align="LEFT"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal" align="LEFT"> I have made a few decisions on the nature of the game, some of you may like them some may not. I have decided to limit the game to one empire for the players to be part of. Most of the game back story was focused on The Empire of Man. So I have decided to go with that feeling. The players will be playing Scions of the Sovereign of the Empire. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal" align="LEFT"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal" align="LEFT"> Because of this, a whole new area of game design opened up for me. Due to the sharp focus the number of stories that can be told become more specific. It will work like this. The players will be a cabal of Scions sent to a system to deal with an issue. That issue will be designed by the players. Basically I took bits from Diaspora and Dresden files(system design and city design respectively). The GM will ask questions about the system that the players will be sent to. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal" align="LEFT"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal" align="LEFT"> I will start with the system. How many planets, and who lives there? Then move on to the planet(s) in question. What are the threats and themes of the planet? Who are the faces? I am working on a random set of rolls to help with creativity while adding in the boundaries required to keep the setting themes going. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal" align="LEFT"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal" align="LEFT"> I really like the fractal nature of Fate, in that everything and anything can have aspects and the like. This allows the layering of aspects on a scene. The problem with doing this leads to there being an abundance of Aspects to pull from and I wonder if I should go with the scope limits from Diaspora.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal" align="LEFT"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal" align="LEFT"> This leads to my altering the proto-thought I was having about triggers. Instead of inventing a new thing that is basically an aspect, why not just use aspects to do the job. So I will be looking at adding an aspect to each stat. Each of them will need to be able to be compelled.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal" align="LEFT"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal" align="LEFT"> So those are the changes I am leaning toward at the moment. Let me know what you think.</p>The Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05612947040870278748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964800284167831776.post-4500685022737988942012-01-16T16:23:00.000-08:002012-01-16T16:31:12.740-08:00Procedural<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoH2fy19-ni-zDRjZ96Ci2I8AxrTcmjcj23tR-Mo82cQoFl_F6M3QJuWRP6R1XlY8fUbrCtHGacVki1er6M-OV6gOTKz1ffnNjkNJzGLT8Z8nbxYL3A7vp7pPSAqAGZFSg3HNoNFz9K14/s1600/IMG_1044.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoH2fy19-ni-zDRjZ96Ci2I8AxrTcmjcj23tR-Mo82cQoFl_F6M3QJuWRP6R1XlY8fUbrCtHGacVki1er6M-OV6gOTKz1ffnNjkNJzGLT8Z8nbxYL3A7vp7pPSAqAGZFSg3HNoNFz9K14/s400/IMG_1044.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698391807500337730" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1HHaBSQOwb2hk4qYhO1BpeRbZuJFwM_wNp98h45OcKByhK2usEmkj9spBrxuqYH-qGX98S3IoN1ddxSWsnEeuGRCeQto_n0xUDrSs7myppM52GOPaKBTgIXtoXD-R3zUMp0yhtfUWl1E/s1600/IMG_1045.JPG"><img style="float:left; 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margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj3txykCAWTAJbcIk5PIVeRdHE1QTc7lpB3gHuTliPOOoyPkq7LHj_qyhPF3MeCfynTZCczaoUDr9Y29BTbGFFdVivjb0M4OS0dvup6qji7PJIlDLySm1_Da_cuLl2lcMzAIfE3HqtABg/s400/IMG_1029.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698391125218484482" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm4yGqK-P_OBgGP_pV5sNQr7y1IUnd8l0JTLdW01pQOZn0tgzRSAliwVVauRRV-qenYFKSfCXhjqJC5c3GTb2iwDWu64G-AMXGIR-PI7SyvzEsTO98XhydgzusLlvacdmZ149GQ1EIjuw/s1600/IMG_1028.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm4yGqK-P_OBgGP_pV5sNQr7y1IUnd8l0JTLdW01pQOZn0tgzRSAliwVVauRRV-qenYFKSfCXhjqJC5c3GTb2iwDWu64G-AMXGIR-PI7SyvzEsTO98XhydgzusLlvacdmZ149GQ1EIjuw/s400/IMG_1028.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698391118884085138" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHHqniElyLt7HNY4uux3miwqIq5Bk2H-A5VMUySXFnOpe5AbHKXbKlF7pC9p4vkdeaA1ty0VJkfthg7uFH05neINwvalm1o-VIlFOd2mF1Xw6OmIqswfITusEx3_VGYXSSDBUJGNYv3eo/s1600/IMG_1031.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHHqniElyLt7HNY4uux3miwqIq5Bk2H-A5VMUySXFnOpe5AbHKXbKlF7pC9p4vkdeaA1ty0VJkfthg7uFH05neINwvalm1o-VIlFOd2mF1Xw6OmIqswfITusEx3_VGYXSSDBUJGNYv3eo/s400/IMG_1031.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698391156590065346" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiUk0-7pxyOV235CM23w5WDy__CGJXt-Ul85ZyIGRV2uRmfX3A98nBDbiGrQSq_sU557MeiB145Dhy_cQDuvZb3a0OJ6MODOog_Ra2dlypb25cOYMwzUpZKRQbLj3-EqM5XA2ez2XqP1o/s1600/IMG_1026.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiUk0-7pxyOV235CM23w5WDy__CGJXt-Ul85ZyIGRV2uRmfX3A98nBDbiGrQSq_sU557MeiB145Dhy_cQDuvZb3a0OJ6MODOog_Ra2dlypb25cOYMwzUpZKRQbLj3-EqM5XA2ez2XqP1o/s400/IMG_1026.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698390731146443554" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ6XGN8V1piD7Lfl2ZPQrE-ljVpTVvfKy-xmfcoXEJWViYqZYWEOkvtwwDgr-R59fIi64NyiXl2GoD7nFhOUR-BdE7AbO8080g7yyHsSMAa0kTYJKMqTQr1bOrdXBHMHMWZsE92pBb4_4/s1600/IMG_1025.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ6XGN8V1piD7Lfl2ZPQrE-ljVpTVvfKy-xmfcoXEJWViYqZYWEOkvtwwDgr-R59fIi64NyiXl2GoD7nFhOUR-BdE7AbO8080g7yyHsSMAa0kTYJKMqTQr1bOrdXBHMHMWZsE92pBb4_4/s400/IMG_1025.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698390716398820930" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2NAR5prFh8zsHeS2KQAHw_n5OfWJ2g5MvP-9hfVWpH0HDu5HX-cpyG0SU_BHxO_Rnu5D85ATUuLZEdVCHtDbBt2GLkdy2T5jBVjO7X2jhnci47ORb34LKBcQ5u2ZZIRtW4HvKgUtEUPQ/s1600/IMG_1024.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2NAR5prFh8zsHeS2KQAHw_n5OfWJ2g5MvP-9hfVWpH0HDu5HX-cpyG0SU_BHxO_Rnu5D85ATUuLZEdVCHtDbBt2GLkdy2T5jBVjO7X2jhnci47ORb34LKBcQ5u2ZZIRtW4HvKgUtEUPQ/s400/IMG_1024.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698390706815140466" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_vMscf12o4o59lEp_4EjRWO1sEaR2MG0yz1meGbDddPGPOG86-DsSFbuKVr7v1XKGgpP4JxbHWJ5O8ZV_mKxXhm-JQfebayelYrZnuZxS6al-InmlctFkmuys64rZ8i1rObi4AaO2aSM/s1600/IMG_1023.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_vMscf12o4o59lEp_4EjRWO1sEaR2MG0yz1meGbDddPGPOG86-DsSFbuKVr7v1XKGgpP4JxbHWJ5O8ZV_mKxXhm-JQfebayelYrZnuZxS6al-InmlctFkmuys64rZ8i1rObi4AaO2aSM/s400/IMG_1023.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698390706231362674" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimK6f9z9z5WDznY1qMgAV7uyDM6jWfVdOg9O0cCjDBQiEp3rTwaxj1QY19PY2JpRGPB_cJ66ZTSsZR9gkZVcIxYn1ngb_RcqjT0DGoq3vSzEaFHFk6VDymUhTlGmu3sBvne7QOLINrnNg/s1600/IMG_1027.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimK6f9z9z5WDznY1qMgAV7uyDM6jWfVdOg9O0cCjDBQiEp3rTwaxj1QY19PY2JpRGPB_cJ66ZTSsZR9gkZVcIxYn1ngb_RcqjT0DGoq3vSzEaFHFk6VDymUhTlGmu3sBvne7QOLINrnNg/s400/IMG_1027.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698390740419842818" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Here is a procedural of a whole drawing.The Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05612947040870278748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964800284167831776.post-4134354561597036742012-01-12T23:39:00.000-08:002012-01-12T23:43:02.535-08:00More pictures<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitot0a55dywZV89NJf-rKoS8fbuGE-FhIHH2mPgZDuuKjkediKHeechQTKjG-RHRn8O0z0cfPWIY1n0xG7CoBI1RZkVdKdwKZxBu-lLahxMOkcTz6J4QMlhLXna84fpJ0d9BuYy7Gtex8/s1600/IMG_1036.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitot0a55dywZV89NJf-rKoS8fbuGE-FhIHH2mPgZDuuKjkediKHeechQTKjG-RHRn8O0z0cfPWIY1n0xG7CoBI1RZkVdKdwKZxBu-lLahxMOkcTz6J4QMlhLXna84fpJ0d9BuYy7Gtex8/s400/IMG_1036.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697018287904184290" border="0" /></a>Still life, still working on it<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgndqygtix6PZw2XIxlwzWzyQ_qO4k2KX7qdzk0D5PWztX-1HKT48ldVfmbJiuUdDpQsSAENkzDQSe-fQlEM8KuG9u2n1ESIIt9RsOJJQEc9wJCmBY19-3ipfnTe3oB8CXdfPTGVECkFg8/s1600/IMG_1022.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgndqygtix6PZw2XIxlwzWzyQ_qO4k2KX7qdzk0D5PWztX-1HKT48ldVfmbJiuUdDpQsSAENkzDQSe-fQlEM8KuG9u2n1ESIIt9RsOJJQEc9wJCmBY19-3ipfnTe3oB8CXdfPTGVECkFg8/s400/IMG_1022.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697018283570079602" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVLDPYWUA1IsR6SsMGLUo2sN6_34yyveN8K7aA8GZZreBBCJQtkfXQ3aKbCJa53iI02g-C3JQC8ZriULr6Z6xZG7OcxGM-uOPJ4rn6GlOwJBneoqbJ5k3wJdhYV2sTPXLI6SriSIsyoxo/s1600/IMG_1038.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVLDPYWUA1IsR6SsMGLUo2sN6_34yyveN8K7aA8GZZreBBCJQtkfXQ3aKbCJa53iI02g-C3JQC8ZriULr6Z6xZG7OcxGM-uOPJ4rn6GlOwJBneoqbJ5k3wJdhYV2sTPXLI6SriSIsyoxo/s400/IMG_1038.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697018293417221074" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Flowers<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />CastleThe Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05612947040870278748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964800284167831776.post-27552961950533380072012-01-09T21:48:00.001-08:002012-01-09T21:51:34.461-08:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggActA7fvpNMuDyRBgZdbFDruMGMro6rSSBgr1aOx3hOr2lTWu8g4-vZ6iYlrgkyFhjK6I3g79TGPL_FhgyrclDJRnwU1jhyphenhyphenZ2KgGLJNVN-mXQ9Opv6YjK5I0RmpQwGwbYjH7HpNwWsuk/s1600/IMG_1008.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggActA7fvpNMuDyRBgZdbFDruMGMro6rSSBgr1aOx3hOr2lTWu8g4-vZ6iYlrgkyFhjK6I3g79TGPL_FhgyrclDJRnwU1jhyphenhyphenZ2KgGLJNVN-mXQ9Opv6YjK5I0RmpQwGwbYjH7HpNwWsuk/s400/IMG_1008.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695876697029690610" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCf3FAYp9GMxir8fyOK76yNZRm9Kq_Mu_HHyfmpijv2Dbbqa-7x4IrN1SGk3vshelVQchzpVBay68ayFP4r64LprupgL_sdk1issrNJ7xRihri8gl5jSFO72hY_kVL1n7w1pcsGGejPkI/s1600/IMG_1007.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCf3FAYp9GMxir8fyOK76yNZRm9Kq_Mu_HHyfmpijv2Dbbqa-7x4IrN1SGk3vshelVQchzpVBay68ayFP4r64LprupgL_sdk1issrNJ7xRihri8gl5jSFO72hY_kVL1n7w1pcsGGejPkI/s400/IMG_1007.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695876678843255586" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0EQFISYWdULqGcp3TZADjdpWmEG69m91rBnGbxJTInHh2hXid6M99GSHMJnIWGX6JXtSA2f9Y2y3BvDmmtX1wtephT4fRtGC1_QjqZ_OVtyL8uU-zfoeUPOKIKVo0188Fg6CBx9BEr30/s1600/IMG_1000.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0EQFISYWdULqGcp3TZADjdpWmEG69m91rBnGbxJTInHh2hXid6M99GSHMJnIWGX6JXtSA2f9Y2y3BvDmmtX1wtephT4fRtGC1_QjqZ_OVtyL8uU-zfoeUPOKIKVo0188Fg6CBx9BEr30/s400/IMG_1000.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695876670173438354" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEWuAqxO4PanupoaBW8Wf64z0Lx7f6qAQzv_T5sDJyPYTa0ZE6p_nItp9X1-_-xppZEgsfvdm6_bOK_DSd0F1eShGY97YSBMyL8F0ugVkUnDCU5k-8zfVo6avoKJ-nPEVIZqM79p8-71c/s1600/IMG_1016.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEWuAqxO4PanupoaBW8Wf64z0Lx7f6qAQzv_T5sDJyPYTa0ZE6p_nItp9X1-_-xppZEgsfvdm6_bOK_DSd0F1eShGY97YSBMyL8F0ugVkUnDCU5k-8zfVo6avoKJ-nPEVIZqM79p8-71c/s400/IMG_1016.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695876701217135042" border="0" /></a><br />I made some drawings! Check 'em out!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />This one is a Warg. From the Monster Manual.The Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05612947040870278748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964800284167831776.post-75062631041755525752011-10-26T20:01:00.000-07:002011-10-26T21:32:42.340-07:00Laughing stickwe made a new episode of TLS<br /><br /><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0" id="LastFramePlayer" height="60" width="173" align="top"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="false"><param name="movie" value="http://www.talkshoe.com/resources/talkshoe/images/swf/lastEpisodePlayer.swf?fileUrl=http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-31060/TS-552235.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="bgcolor" value="#EEF9C1"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.talkshoe.com/resources/talkshoe/images/swf/lastEpisodePlayer.swf?fileUrl=http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-31060/TS-552235.mp3" quality="high" bgcolor="#EEF9C1" play="true" loop="true" scale="exactfit" name="LastFramePlayer" salign="lt" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" height="60" width="173" align="top"></embed></object>The Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05612947040870278748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964800284167831776.post-60679964922875227352011-10-26T16:43:00.000-07:002011-10-26T16:44:59.493-07:00War In The Heavens pt. 20: I think I can, I think I can...<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal" align="LEFT"> Well, here I am. I have a rule set. OK, I have most of a rule set. I am foundering in two key areas. In order to explain what my issues with the game are I will go into some of the basics of the game. Then I will go into what my specific issues are and the ideas I have floating around to fix them. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal" align="LEFT"> So in War in the Heavens the players have four attributes, Love, Duty, Pride, and Wrath. In any given scene the players will use one of those attributes as the core roll. You have a strength which is listed at four dice and a weakness listed at zero. The other two attributes are at two dice. For each attribute you have between one and three Triggers. Triggers are the scenarios, people, and items that allow you to use the attribute in a scene. Your strength gets one trigger, your weakness gets three, and the rest gets two each.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal" align="LEFT"> And that right there my friends, that is wherein my problem lies. The triggers. I need them to be generic enough so that they can be used in several scenes(at least one scene a session). I also need them specific enough that they mean something. It is at this point that I am stymied.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal" align="LEFT"> My other issue is with the GM parts. I know what I want the game to do, I am just unsure on how to help the GM to bring that experience to the forefront. I have several game types. The adventures will start with the discovery of a new system through the jump gate. If the other stellar nations have not found it yet, then you try to bring under your nations control through missionaries, politics, or war(when necessary). If another nation is involved then it is down to the previous methods as well as espionage, and cold wars. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal" align="LEFT"> So how do I do that? Well that is the question, I guess. I do not have much on how to emphasize these aspects of the game. I need a way(or ways) to make this the central theme of the game. I will keep working on it, hopefully inspiration will strike.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal" align="LEFT"><br /></p>The Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05612947040870278748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964800284167831776.post-23138629775820847672011-10-21T11:00:00.000-07:002011-10-21T11:02:28.750-07:00New TLS EpisodeWe had new episode! Carol and I discuss the games we are designing.<br />check it out!<br /><br /><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0" id="LastFramePlayer" width="173" align="top" height="60"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="false"><param name="movie" value="http://www.talkshoe.com/resources/talkshoe/images/swf/lastEpisodePlayer.swf?fileUrl=http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-31060/TS-550089.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="bgcolor" value="#EEF9C1"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.talkshoe.com/resources/talkshoe/images/swf/lastEpisodePlayer.swf?fileUrl=http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-31060/TS-550089.mp3" quality="high" bgcolor="#EEF9C1" play="true" loop="true" scale="exactfit" name="LastFramePlayer" salign="lt" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" width="173" align="top" height="60"></embed></object>The Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05612947040870278748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964800284167831776.post-62818418399896618342011-09-28T21:44:00.000-07:002011-09-28T21:44:12.498-07:00War In The Heavens pt. 19: Further Mechanical Musings
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Alright, new post, lets do this! I have been tinkering with the
system a bit tuning it to better represent what I am looking for. I
have changed the attributes to a bit more abstract. Also I have
worked out half of a system for implementing die rolls that I think
is really on the mark. However, I still need to work a bit more on it
before it is run ready.</div>
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Firstly the attributes. I have focused the attributes more on
motivating force rather than task orientation. In this I have changed
them. Now they are, Love(obsession), Pride(hubris), Anger(wrath),
and Duty(blind faith/slavery). I have what they are, and I have
possible downsides/weaknesses for each(or maybe just cool names). My
issue comes to this, how do I ensure that people will use the
attributes other than their strongest one. In other words, how do I
ensure that there is a mechanical reason to pursue actions outside of
your strength?</div>
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I have a few answers to that percolating in the old noggin. My first
thought was to allocate certain actions, or maneuvers, to each
motivation. This was a little too focused for what I had in mind.
Then I thought of the actions/maneuvers having differing difficulties
depending on what motivated you that scene. Then I thought of
limiting your motivations. Each scene you could only use a motivation
that you had not used before that session. But that leads to all
kinds of weirdness. Not necessarily bad weirdness, but I am not sure
if that is what I am looking for.</div>
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Then I started reading through Apocalypse World. And the idea of only
gaining XP through the use of attributes that are picked by other
players. I like that, and I am considering using a rule like that for
my game. You only gain XP(or its equivalent) when you use your
weakness, or you strength. This puts an interesting emphasis on those
two attributes. Not sure if I like it, but we will have to try that
out in play.
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The other big issue I am running into is this idea I had. Basically I
started out with the idea that lying was easier than telling the
truth, in the short term. Specifically in regards to convincing
people to do what you want. However the downside to lying is bigger
than the truth. So far so good. I can model that fairly simply. The
issue arrived when I started breaking it down a little further. You
can tell the truth or lie subtly or do it vulgarly. But therein lies
the problem. How does that dichotomy change things. Is a subtle lie
easier? Is a subtle truth harder? What about vulgarity? How does that
shake things up?</div>
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I haven't come up with any conclusions on this problem. I am going
back and forth in my mind about it, as I think this will effect the
whole of game play when it is complete. Also I need to work on some
kind of advancement mechanic, and right now there is not enough for
that to exist. Maybe I won't have one.</div>
The Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05612947040870278748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964800284167831776.post-11631519610396138932011-09-11T13:16:00.000-07:002011-09-11T13:17:14.223-07:00War In The Heavens pt. 18: the end of the begining.<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">Alright, confession time, I really love making worlds. It has become a problem. I really can't do more system work; not until I have tested it in play. As I have no current gaming group willing to play it, this is problematic. So I spend a good part of my design time coming up with new worlds, and new people who live in them. This is not, in itself, a bad thing, but right now it is conflicting with my desires as a designer.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">I want a game world that is a framework, not a straightjacket. And the longer I sit here without playing, the less freedom the world will have. I have enough back-story to fill a book. But I don't want the players to play in my world, I want them to play in a world they built. I am not sure if that makes sense. Oh well, its out there now, right?</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">So, there you have it, I have reached the point I talked about in the first post. That place I get to in every game I design, when I fail. I cannot go further, and I have come far enough to be upset by that. </p>The Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05612947040870278748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964800284167831776.post-85184955385145889502011-09-07T22:13:00.000-07:002011-09-07T22:14:39.460-07:00War In The Heavens pt. 17: Breakthrough, break out!!<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">Today I was talking over the last blog post with a fellow designer and he mentioned an interesting idea. It has lead me back to the idea of the players being able to form their own religions. He looked at the questions I am using for the basis of the religions. He pointed out that I should put template terms(basically some standard terms for ease of use by the players) attached to the questions I already use.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">This kind of blew me away. I had toyed with the idea of player created religions early on in this project(I know, I have only been working on this a month, so its all early days, but you get the idea). I had given up on that idea when I couldn't work out how to do it. Now, after I had given up on that idea completely, here comes the solution. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">So now I have to work this back into my game. I have two of the three major galactic civilizations worked out. So if the players want to make their own religion that leaves one major civilization. I guess that works. One major religion to play with and who knows how many minor ones. It would also be useful for the GMs to use when creating all those heathens what needs converting or killing. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">Also I have been reading through Bulldogs!it uses the FATE engine. I am really enamored with the way it handles character creation. Specifically I like the way races are designed. They get a series of powers, which decrease the amount of refresh available. They also have a listing of four or five aspects that are common to the species. The player picks two for their character to use. I want to use this for my game. Not this directly, but something like this will be used for the religions in my game. Things are starting to come together with my game. Though the attributes/skills/stats are still too vague for my uses yet.</p>The Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05612947040870278748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964800284167831776.post-13083498047484938552011-09-06T20:11:00.000-07:002011-09-06T20:14:43.897-07:00War In The Heavens pt 16: Modeling Faith(not well)<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">I have been working, the last few days, on the religions of my world. As it is central to the world building I did not want to just gloss over this. However, I did not want to have them come across as these monolithic static entities. Today while I was in class(to be honest, I wasn't all that focused in class, we were just watching <u>Antigone</u>, take of that what you will)I came up with a series of questions, That I think will help me come up with aspects for the religion. <i>For this I will be using The Empire of Man as my sample culture/religion.</i> Here they are:</p> <ul><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in" align="LEFT"><span style="font-weight: bold;">What behavior does this religion encourage?</span> <i>In the Empire of Man there are two things sought, obedience and loyalty to Sovereign and her Scions. Also there is a sense of family loyalty, and pride in bloodline. People are encouraged to know and keep their place in the world. In the peasant and slave classes Hard work and obedience are seen as high ideals. </i> </p> <ul><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in" align="LEFT"><span style="font-weight: bold;">How does it encourage this behavior(stories/parables/sermons/etc)?</span> <i>Among the peasants and slaves one day a week is spent in worship and reverence. There are missionaries sent to every zone(an area holding around a thousand people) on those days to speak sermons and stories. They carry an image-staff(need a better name), that adds holographic and other sensory illusions to enhance the stories. The peasants are kept illiterate so this is there main source of education. The houses of the Scions and Monitors are allowed to learn to read, and each house keeps the two holy books in the household. The books are the Tenets, the smaller book that discusses the morality and rules of the faith, and The Histories, containing mythologized stories of Sovereigns lives. they are not raised by the family directly, instead they are raised in special schools where they are indoctrinated into the faith from age five to age fifteen.</i></p> </li></ul> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in" align="LEFT"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Where did everything come from?</span> <i>Long ago, before the discovery of the Gates, before the rise of Sovereign and the Empire of Man there was the age of darkness. Little is known of of this age, or of what came before. All that is known that we came from a place called Earth. During the darkness arose Sovereign. First among gods, she may change her face and body, but her essence remains. She brought forth the Empire of Man.(basically she is the birth of the world the Empire knows. She found the Gate and led them to conquer many many systems. Still working on how to make this sound like...not crap)</i></p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in" align="LEFT"><span style="font-weight: bold;">What happens when you die?</span> <i>Sovereign died during the darkness, then she brought herself back confirming her divinity(this is how her body snatching is described in the holy books, she dies then is reborn fully formed in a new body). Because of this she became the gatekeeper to the lands of the dead. Please her and serve her and you get sent to the lands of plenty. If you really pleased her in life, she will catch your soul and raise it up, you will be reborn into one of the peasant houses(if a slave), the Monitor houses(if a peasant), or Scion Lineages(if a Monitor). </i> </p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in" align="LEFT"><span style="font-weight: bold;">What is sin? What behaviors are discouraged in this religion?</span> <i>There is a serious difference in taboo/forbidden behavior dependent on your standing in society. Basically the only truly unforgivable behavior is disobeying Sovereign, showing disloyalty, or betraying your family. Those are the only truly unforgivable sins. All others can be bought off with money or service to the empire. This has lead to the creation of the Legion of the Damned. They are soldiers who joined to pay off theirs or another person's sins.</i></p> <ul><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in" align="LEFT"><span style="font-weight: bold;">How is this behavior discouraged?</span> <i>For the disloyalty or disobedience, there is only one response, slow public death. For betraying your family you can choose a swift death or becoming a suicide soldier in the Legion of the Damned. There rest of the punishments/discouragements are an intricate web of byzantine rules and bureaucratic red tape.</i></p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in" align="LEFT"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Why was this behavior originally frowned upon?</span> <i>The first two big rules are fairly self explanatory. So I will work on the last. This came about from the scheming of the Scion Lineages. They were always seeking advancement and it was becoming a detriment to the smooth running of the Empire. So Sovereign declared the rule of Familial Loyalty. This happened so long ago that no one even remembers the original reason. There are a couple of big stories in The Histories that illuminate this point.</i></p> </li></ul> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in" align="LEFT"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Who can speak for/to the gods/god/morality/philosophy?</span> <i>Working on this, haven't quite got it yet.</i></p> <ul><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in" align="LEFT"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Is there a hierarchy?</span> <i>Heck yes there is! The whole society is so hierarchical that it would be ludicris to not have the priest class(or whatever) be extremely hierarchical.</i></p> <ul><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in" align="LEFT"><span style="font-weight: bold;">How is that arranged?</span> <i>At the end of the day everything is about Sovereign, but I haven't worked out the details.</i></p> </li></ul> </li></ul> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in" align="LEFT"><span style="font-weight: bold;">What external factors effect the religion?</span> </p> <ul><li style="font-weight: bold;"><p style="margin-bottom: 0in" align="LEFT">The original world/the government/secular factions(merchants and the like)/etc.</p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in" align="LEFT"><i>In the Empire religion and politics are practically one and the same. So the highly charged political atmosphere affects how the religion is used in various planets and zones. While you cannot change the Tenets, you can get away with a lot of smaller heresies within specific areas. Corruption is fairly rampant in the Empire.</i></p> </li></ul> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in" align="LEFT"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Is there a method for dealing with those who question the tenets of the religion?</span> <i>I kind of covered this in the Sin bit. But I will use this to describe briefly what I mean by this. In some religions there are rote responses to many questions that have come up over time, apologetic rotes would fit in this. Also there are in some other religions specific people who are allowed to speak out in specific ritualized ways against specific tenets of the faith, that would be covered here as well. </i> </p> </li></ul> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in" align="LEFT">So there they are. Yep. Anyway, let me know what you think. Are there any questions that seem unnecessary? Any that are missing? I would appreciate any feedback on this bit.</p>The Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05612947040870278748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964800284167831776.post-62966883736383032532011-08-31T22:04:00.000-07:002011-08-31T22:06:02.198-07:00War In The Heavens pt. 15: He can fight! He can fly! And he can CROW!!! <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">Oh, the cleverness of me. How clever I am! Well, OK maybe not so much, but I did finally get my game to alpha testability(mostly). I have finished my rules, for now. Obviously I will change them as I test the game out, obviously. Obviously, I will do that. But my game can now be played(waits for the applause to die down), thank you. I still have a lot to do on the setting. And of course there are going to be specialty rules and such. So it will still be a while before I publish this bad boy.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">Here is a brief overview of how the game works. There have been a lot of changes. There are six stats, which I only have the working names for. These stats are: <b>Strength</b>, <b>quickness</b>, i<b>ntelligence/education</b>, <b>perception/cunning</b>, <b>cleverness/wittiness</b>, and <b>charm/sweetness/sincerity</b>. As you can see the names need...to not suck.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">For any task you will have a number of six sided dice equal to your ranking in a stat, plus any aspects you tag(each will add one die). You can only add one aspect per scope. A scope is what an aspect is attached to. If you have an three aspects on your character, you can only use one per turn as you are the scope for those aspects. If your gun has an aspect, then the gun is a scope. If your ship has one, then the ship is the scope for that aspect. You get the idea(I hope). I really like this part from Diaspora, and so I am using it in my game. When you roll the dice you are looking for any dice that come up five or higher. This is called a success(barring a more creative term). Some tasks will require more than one success, but lets not fret about that just yet.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">When you get your stats, you choose which will be your peak stat(this will start at four), and which is your weak stat(this will start at zero). The rest of your stats are at two. There are going to be stress tracks based on the stats...but that’s still a little hazy right now. Maybe I should average them out? I don't know.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">You start out with four aspects. But they are not as free form as other FATE games aspects(not that that's a bad thing, just I think this might work better for my game). You will choose a <b>Vision</b>, a <b>Commandment</b>, a <b>Crusade</b>, and a <b>Failing</b>. I may add others as I go along, but this will get us going for now. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">Now there is a new twist on Invoking that I am kind of excited about(though again, it may not work). When you invoke an Aspect to gain extra dice, you get a potential complication. What this means is that when you roll the dice if you roll a one then you get a complication. If you succeed the roll despite the one, then there is a minor complication. If you fail the roll and there is a one, then there is a major complication. I think this is a really neat idea, though I think I may have to nail down precisely what constitutes minor and major in my game.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">Finally, as this is a game about faith and war. I thought it would be neat to have a mechanic that might help represent that. Right now I am calling it Tragedy(but really it is more like loss of faith), but that's kind of stupid so I have to get a better grasp of what it is all about. It is kind of like Sanity in Call of Cthulu, and a bit like dark side points from any of the Star Wars RPGs. When your Tragedy(gah, I hate that name) track fills up you are removed from play. Either through madness, despair, or death in some manner suitably tragic. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">It works like this, in the game there are two ways of receiving Fate points. One is the standard compelling an Aspect, that FATE players know and love. The other is by gaining Tragedy. When you choose to gain a point of tragedy, you get a number of Fate points equal to your total tragedy(counting the point you just gained) that must be spent this session(preferably this scene). I like this mechanic because the game then emphasizes the sacrifice made in the name of what's right. While, at the same time, shows the numbness and loss of faith that the universe could allow someone to be pushed so far.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in" align="LEFT"><i>I don't know why, but as I was designing the game, my mind kept coming back to the opera part of Space opera, and so I want it to kind of be a tragedy. Also it sort of fits the grand/epic adventure feel of the game as well. Also as I designed this I discovered more and more how much I was influenced by FATE. Seriously, this game is basically just a bit of a re-skin on FATE. A little different, but mostly the same. Sigh, oh well, work with what I got. Maybe something awesome will happen!</i></p> The Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05612947040870278748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964800284167831776.post-2284090032550014782011-08-30T11:31:00.000-07:002011-08-30T11:34:20.819-07:00War In The Heavens pt. 14: Emergent Play <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">I have been reading through <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_Wheel">Burning Wheel</a> and Diaspora more and more as I work through this project. Reading through Diaspora got me itching to reread through classic <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traveller_%28game%29">Traveller</a>. So, I did. And in reading through it I realized something. It is flipping awesome. Mostly in that it seems to not have a setting to it. Instead the setting(and make no mistake there is a setting), is revealed through play. And looking through the other games I have been focusing on I realized that this is true of them, as well.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">In Burning Wheel the game is very much revealed as you play. The mechanics emphasize a certain style of play. In the lifepaths you get a very specific feel of how the world is as you make your character. If I had to pick one system to run a Middle Earth game it would be Burning Wheel. Every aspect of the game leads you to that sort of feel. Now having read through some of the other stuff done with the system, it can be said that other games are just as viable, just setting up different life paths. And that is true, I am merely talking of what is presented in the book. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">Diaspora looks very open ended on first glance. Hell, the damn thing sort of looks like a text book on gaming with Fate. It is all the needed items, with no clutter. No unused space, almost everything in the book is rules or about the rules. If you look within that architecture though, the game is dripping with setting. From the first piece of fiction to the last the game is all about telling a very specific story. It just doesn't come right out and tell you specifically what the story is. It is about being on a ship, traveling from system to system and the troubles that occur in that regard. The problem a lot of people who deride this game is that they never played Traveller. Diaspora is Traveller with a smoother rule system, and slightly different set pieces.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">OK, so what have I learned from this? How does this help me with my game? The short answer is that it has shown me a couple of things I didn't realize I was in love with. First, I love Life Paths in games. What this means, to those who do not know, is that character creation takes a number of steps. Each step represents a time period in your character's life. In Burning Wheel, you start with birth, in Traveller you start with your first Job, and Diaspora starts with early childhood(in a very nonspecific way). Then you go through the character's life up to the point where your character is now gaming. I love this because it forces you to have a back story. You know where you came from, who you were involved with, that sort of thing. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">The second thing I realized that I loved was the minimalist approach to setting. I am not saying that I want to work less on the setting, nor that I am lazy and just want the easy route. This is far from the easy path in design. When you have as much space as you want to write you can put any old idea you have down, and then call that setting. With the minimalist approach, I have to look at every sentence, every idea, and ask myself, is this necessary? Does this sentence add to the game? My goal for setting now is to try and do what diaspora did with its setting. Little blurbs here and there, and the rest is explained through mechanics.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">I also really love Traveller adventures. Seriously go check them out, they are some good stuff. I really like how each adventure adds to the setting. I will endeavor to do something like this with my game. I would love to put out several adventure books, each adventure in them adding a bit more to the world. That way, everyone learns about the setting together, in play. Which is important. We do not roleplay in order to read things, we role play to go on adventures. If you have to read several chapters on the setting then you are really missing out on the real joy of gaming. Which is gaming. So I want my setting to be integral to gaming. There will be few to none true setting splats. Instead there will be things that you can do that will get you involved with the setting. </p> The Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05612947040870278748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964800284167831776.post-71400972722299747852011-08-27T01:01:00.001-07:002011-08-27T01:01:52.351-07:00War In The Heavens pt. 13: Killing cows <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">Today I will kill the sacred cow. I have tried to make it work and still cannot, so I am removing the precision rule from my game. I will have a far easier time accomplishing my goals if I do so. I am also removing the Roll/Keep idea. While I like the mechanic it adds a level of complexity that I am unsure I need, or indeed want.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">Let me break down the reasons leading to this decision. When I started I had three things I was very much in love with, Roll/Keep with the precision mod, aspects, and a simple die pyramid type thing. I realized fairly quickly that I could make two of those work together but not all three. I could use Roll/Keep and aspects, or I could use aspects and the stat pyramid. If I tried all three I got a mess. How would you get a pool high enough to have more than three or four dice, then which would you keep? How do you figure that number. Also how would you have enough dice rolled that you would stand a chance of getting within three of the target number on either side? As you can see it was a mess.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">I am still in love with my precision mechanic, and I will revisit it later. Maybe I will find a way of making it work, but for now I am leaving it by the way side.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">On a setting note, I have decided that weapons technology has advanced faster than defensive technology. I think that this will aid me in adding more sword play to ship fights. On the ground or in space powerful weapons can be fired with impunity. However, on a boarding action any stray shot can penetrate the hull. This will lead(in my mind at least) to the use of melee weapons when trying to take a ship. I also could add some societal reasons for this, in that the peasants are not trusted with heavy weapons, as a way for those in power to remain in power. This is a major tactical shift, and so I will have to think on this more of course. This is just what I am think about at the moment.</p> The Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05612947040870278748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964800284167831776.post-8780757059525330712011-08-24T01:48:00.000-07:002011-08-24T01:50:32.220-07:00War In The Heavens pt. 12: this is important <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">This post is going to be a response. Not to anything said by anyone else, but to an argument I had in my head as well as thousands of blog posts, forum messages, and articles I have read over the years. The question I posed to my self, about games in general, and this game specifically, is this. Can a game be good on it's own merits?</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">Now, what do I mean by this? What I mean is kind of complicated though the core idea is simple. I have often heard that game system Y is bad, because the players had a bad time with it. This is usually followed with some sort of advice, usually falling into three categories. One the reply will say that they need a better GM. Two the response will be in total agreement with the statement, adding in a new story of how they had a bad experience. The third will ask questions to the original statement, and by the way the questions are worded it is clear that the reply is just a set up to bash the way that that player plays(something like, “well of course the game sucked you failed to realize the interaction of Rule A and Rule F! If you played the game properly you would realize Game Y is awesome! You suck!”). </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">Now I will admit these are not the only responses I have seen. These are, however, the ones I have focused on for the sake of this discussion I had with myself. Basically what makes a game good? More specifically, who makes a game good? Is it the GM, the players, or the game designer? </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">I realized that what made a game good was a solid combination of all three. A shocker, I know. I will wait a moment while you pick your collective jaws off the floor. I admit, this is not revolutionary thought. None of this post is particularly mind blowing. This is just a way for me to focus my thoughts about my game.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">So, a game's design is important, but so are the GM and players. You could have the best designed game in the world, but if the GM and players were not doing their part, they would say that the game sucked. The game designer very rarely gets to tell the players or GM that they suck. Actually I can think of a few times this has happened, and as both a player and a GM this response pissed me right off. How dare the designer tell ME haw to play the game. At least that's how I felt when I read that first section of the <u>Aberrant Player's Guide</u>. As a designer I have to be aware of that. Once I have written my game, it is no longer my game, and yelling at people who play the game wrong will make me more enemies than friends. Again, I know, shocker, right. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">So if I cannot control the quality of players and GMs out there, then I must work to produce the best game I possibly can. I can't take any shortcuts, nor can I assume the players know what I am talking about. It doesn't matter how elegant a system I present, if I present it wrong. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">I can influence the players and the GM, of course. I can use the fiction, and add advice relevant to my game. But over the long hall my opinion will matter less than some thirteen year old kid who picks up the game, because he liked the space ship on the cover(or what ever I put there, seriously, I haven't even play tested yet and you want cover art? Savages). His idea of what the game is matters far more than mine. See when he buys that book, the game is no longer mine. It is his game. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">I will try to keep that thirteen year old in mind when I write this. After all, he is me. He is you. He is where we all were when we first walked into that shop. You know <i>that </i>shop. The one with the bearded fat man behind the counter. You walked in and the smell of old models, dust, paint and binding glue slammed into you like a freight train of awesome. He ignored you of course. This is the ritual, you must speak up. This terrifying man is allowing you to grow up just a little. You see that first book, you know the one(for me it was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teenage_Mutant_Ninja_Turtles_and_Other_Strangeness">TMNT&OS</a>). You pick it up and walk to the counter. His eyes glance at you briefly from his dog eared copy of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundation_series">Foundation</a>. The rest of his body is unmoving. With shaky hand you present your money. He nods. The book is yours. At least that's how I remember it.</p> The Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05612947040870278748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964800284167831776.post-53213530501618425232011-08-22T15:18:00.000-07:002011-08-22T15:19:26.286-07:00War In The Heavens pt. 11: Stupidity and Writing <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal" align="LEFT">I have been working on the setting pieces for this game for close to a week now. I have to say, not loving it. I sit down to write; I know what I want to write. When I get the moment of truth, when fingers hit the keyboard, I can't figure how to present it. I can write stories, I know this, as Ihave in the past. I can work out histories and background. Yet I have no idea on how to present the information that is interesting. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal" align="LEFT">
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal" align="LEFT">Here is an example of what I have been working on, take verbatim from my notes:</p> <ul><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal" align="LEFT">There is a god king. Beneath him are his scions. He maintains his immortality by transferring his consciousness to a new body. Each of the Scion legacies, is descended from a child of one of his bodies. They have been bred for centuries for specific purposes. Below the scions are the Monitors. They are the group of men and women dedicated to rooting out and solving problems. There are also Heralds, who serve as both missionaries and special forces.</p> </li></ul> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal" align="LEFT">See! It doesn't even really make sense outside of my head. I know I want one of the cultures to be ruled by an immortal god king, and his semi divine progeny. This allows for a an interesting pseudo-feudal government. But as you can see the presentation is severely lacking.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal" align="LEFT">
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal" align="LEFT">The other issue come down to the language of myth. I want there to be this sort of Ur-myth of Earth. Mankind left Earth so long ago that they no longer remember anything about it, it has been a legend for thousands of years. I was going to do a bit of fiction about it, of someone telling the myth of earth as he learned it. It didn't turn out quite-well, here see for yourself:</p> <ul><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in" align="LEFT"><i>My grandfather told me the story, when it was my time to learn. He told me the story of Earth. How we came from there, and to there we will return. One day, we will return. Earth was the land of the gods, immortal capricious and cruel. Some of the gods looked around at their people and said, “ This is not right. It is wrong that our people suffer from the whims of the other gods!” Gathering up the faithful, they tested them. Those that passed the test were taken. They flew through the sky in a chariot made from fire. But the gods of Earth were angry at the betrayal...</i></p> </li></ul> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">I sort of stopped there, with good reason I think. The reason being, its shit. I did not think that it would be the writing aspect of this game that would give me the biggest trouble. Yet here I am, lost. Trying desperately to steer this hulk away from that damnable iceberg that is writers block(lack of talent? Inherent stupidity?).</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal" align="LEFT">I would appreciate any thoughts. I will continue to work on what I can, and try and push through. Sometimes I wish I were like the writers you see in the movies. Were they can just lock themselves away and write nonstop. Not thinking about eating or sleeping, the writing just sort of takes over and they merely channel the creativity. In my experience that has never happened. It is real work to be creative, you gotta go down a great many blind alleys before you can find a workable path.</p> The Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05612947040870278748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964800284167831776.post-70108128949070218112011-08-20T01:00:00.000-07:002011-08-20T01:01:43.705-07:00The War In The Heavens pt. 10: unstable mechanics charge way too much <p style="margin-bottom: 0in" align="LEFT">Yesterday's post illustrated a few things to me about my game that I had not considered. I realized that the mechanical pieces of my game do not fit well together. I have three parts to the mechanics so far. I really like each of them, but as it stands they are not a unified whole. I know that I promised a bit of setting fiction here today, but I think that this is a more important item on the old to do list.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in" align="LEFT">
<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in" align="LEFT">So first lets take a look at the three mechanical pieces that I have at the moment:</p> <ul><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in" align="LEFT"><b>Aspects: </b><span style="font-weight: normal">I have a very specialized form of aspect in my game. The aspects allow for a re-roll, or add a die to an existing roll. Also they can be invoked for effect, compelled, and used in maneuvers like an aspect in any Fate game. I really like Fate, and so it is no surprise that I am utilizing a lot of what I have learned from that system in my own. Currently Player Characters will have four aspects:</span></p> <ul><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in" align="LEFT"><b>Vision:</b><span style="font-weight: normal"> Vision will be the characters view of himself. I see this as kind of a high concept. Basically who and what is your character? The tricky part will be making this useable in play, but I think that with a few examples and the proper advice section this should be easy enough.</span></p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in" align="LEFT"><b>Commandment:</b><span style="font-weight: normal"> This is a little more nebulous. So I think I will be making a concrete set of commandments for the players to choose from depending on the culture they come from. This will be kind of like the Magic keywords in HeroQuest. Where you pick a god, belief structure, or magical philosophy and you can pick a set of keywords from that section that define your character. I think something like that will work here. Though I think the players should have a say in how it is presented as an aspect. This need some work, but is small potatoes as far as my mechanical issues go.</span></p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in" align="LEFT"><b>Crusade:</b><span style="font-weight: normal"> Your crusade is your current goal. I see this a bit like a Belief in Burning Wheel. This will be the thing that drive's your character for the foreseeable future. Basically this may change from session to session, or story to story. This will need to be worked out as a group as the Crusade will be the same for everyone in the group. Now the phrasing and emphasis will change from player to player. And if I use a patron system(like in Traveler) then perhaps the patron(i.e. The GM) will have a say in it as well. This is the Aspect that may change the most in play testing, as I am unsure how well it will work. </span> </p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in" align="LEFT"><b>Failing:</b><span style="font-weight: normal"> I am not sure I like the term Failing for this. I have thought about using Vice or Fault, but they don't really capture what I am looking for either. This is going to be an aspect that will be primarily used for compels. It will work a lot like Trouble in Dresden Files. This is what complicates your life.</span></p> </li></ul> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in" align="LEFT"><b>Roll/Keep:</b><span style="font-weight: normal"> I have this idea for precision in this. Basically you set the target number and roll a number of dice. You add up only a certain number of the rolled dice. The closer to the target number the better. There will be a three point area around the target number. For example if the target number was twelve, the the success margin would be between nine and fifteen. I really like how this sounds. However, I have not play tested this idea, and I am completely unsure how it affects probability. I have so many variables with the other parts of the system that I am unsure how to calculate how hard it will be to hit the mark every time. I love the concept, but am unsure it will work. Also there is the thought that if the number of dice you are allowed to keep is too high, or the amount of dice you roll is too close to the amount you keep, then there could be problems with hitting low numbers. In fact low numbers seem to be the issue here. I do not yet have a fix.</span></p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in" align="LEFT"><b>Attributes:</b><span style="font-weight: normal"> I want there to be a set of attributes, between five and seven. I want there to be a primary attribute and there to be a weak attribute. The weak attribute will have no inherent pool. The primary will have a higher than normal pool. The remaining will all be at a standard pool. This leads to a problem. How to do the Roll/Keep with this system? I see a few ways around the problem. The one I am leaning toward is similar to aspects, only there will be no fate involved, but that changes the part about aspects. Basically my idea is to have a bunch of key ideas about your occupation, beliefs, and culture, as well as having equipment. Each of those gives you one die to a roll, but they can stack with others. This would allow for you to pull in a great deal of concepts into a roll, theoretically making them more meaningful. The idea sort of comes from the Smallville RPG, kind of. Again though I am unsure how this will feel when the dice fall. Another issue is that I do not have any names for the attributes, as I am unsure what I want them to model.</span></p> </li></ul> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in" align="LEFT"><span style="font-weight: normal">So those are my issues with the mechanics as I have presented them. I have a few ideas for some fixes, as you can see, but overall I am a bit stymied. I guess I will have to play around some more with them to get something I feel works. The big question is will it be fun? And to that I do not know yet. I have a system that is coming together slowly, and a setting I think is interesting. But that's all me, we'll see when I start testing this.</span></p> The Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05612947040870278748noreply@blogger.com0