The Great Combobulator

Beyond the Mirror

NuTS, here comes the fun — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:44:00 +0000

Ho appena provato quello che ritengo al momento un gioco molto promettente.

Beyond the Mirror incentra la narrazione intorno ai temi cari a Bladerunner e per gli amanti del film non può che essere un'ottima occasione per rivivere il sapore forte di questo cult-movie.

Il gioco è ancora in fase embrionale, ma si vede già dove l'autore (Tazio Bettin, conosciuto come Suna su GcG) vuole arrivare e secondo me la strada è buona.

C'è un incidente che accomuna tutti i personaggi e dà un motivo per unirli nello stesso racconto.

Nel mio Playtest, una stazione orbitante extra-mondo degli anelli di Saturno è esplosa e il mio personaggio è uno dei sopravvissuti; ho giocato uno scienziato ex-carcerato, mandato su questa colonia penale come responsabile di una delle squadre di ricerca.

L'altro PG coinvolto era una detective che doveva capire se qualche replicante fosse coinvolto nell'incidente.

I personaggi sono caratterizzati da tre memorie, delle vere e proprie "polaroid", scatti di momenti fissati nel tempo, senza consecutività e senza divenire. Queste memorie sono il motivo per cui si gioca: il sistema porterà il gruppo a capire se si tratta di memorie vere o di memorie instaurate e/o finte.

A seguito dei conflitti ogni Memoria riceverà un segnalino Aurora o uno Crepuscolo e quando ci saranno tre segnalini di un tipo, la memoria sarà vera (3 Aurora) o finta (3 Crepuscolo).

Oltre a questo, ogni personaggio ha un punteggio di Stress che cresce col gioco e con i fallimenti dei conflitti.

Esiste un play-status tale per cui un personaggio viene automaticamente decretato "replicante".

A seguito del play-test ho suggerito a Suna un paio di punti sia di Color sia di Sistema sul quale secondo me è possibile spingere, tipo l'obbligo di avere nel cast dei personaggi un detective; non importa che sia giocante o non giocante, ma l'indagine simil-poliziesca offre una maggiore possibilità di sviluppare personaggi che sono messi sotto stress da un interrogatorio dal quale possono uscire "diversi", nel senso di scoprirsi replicanti; anche la definizione delle tre domande iniziali che portano alle tre Memorie è da sistemare, ma sicuramente è solo un problema di forma.

Il Conflitto gira su 1d6, +3dFudge. Il d6 decide chi vince la posta, mentre i 3dFudge "colorano" i ricordi legati alla Memoria che viene ritenuta pertinente al Conflitto. C'è la possibilità di "spendere" i risultati Fudge per modificare il risultato del d6, oppure sacrificare punti del d6 per far diventare positivi i dadi Fudge.

Meccanica stimolante, ma serve, secondo me, una sorta di Reflective Narration a seguito del tiro per lasciare che il giocatore dia una "giustificazione narrativa" al risultato Fudge.

Spero di rivedere il gioco aggiornato molto presto, perché è quel genere di regolamenti che trovo davvero suggestivi e intriganti perché costruiscono gioco sull'esplorazione psicologica, piuttosto che fondare psicologie fisse con cui giocare.

So tired, so busy.

Lair of The Tark - Game Designing and Writing Blog — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:11:37 +0000

So this month will be a busy month. I have a new youtube series in the works. I'm getting my stuff up on Kobold Quarterly and I'm going for the gold with The Escapist. I really don't have much else to say other than if anyone out there has any sleep to spare I would love to have some.

Structure of Play

Dave M — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 03:24:00 +0000

Structure of Play
Most of these elements don't have any mechanics wrapped around them. But, I think it is important to understand how the game was designed to flow.

Brainstorm topics, ideas and themes that everyone would be interested in.
The group determines who is the Mastermind.
The Mastermind combines those ideas into an Antagonist that they are excited about.
The Mastermind describes the Antagonist and what they are currently doing.
The rest of the players design characters around the themes/activities highlighted by the Antagonist.
The Mastermind should develop Plots around each characters' Goals.
The first Session starts
Each player Selects a Scene
Once the players have all had a turn, the Mastermind sets a scene.
Scenes continue until the Session is over.
Sessions continue until each character is able to complete their Story Arc (they complete or change their Goal).
Story Arcs continue until the Adventure is complete (At least one Story Arc is completed for each character).

The Scene is the smallest unit of play. Players take turns setting Scenes.
The Session is defined as any continuous period of time where the group is playing together.
Next, is the Story Arc. This is the Plot that unfolds when a character attempts to support or refute their Goal. A Story Arc is considered complete when either a Goal is accomplished, or the character changes their Goal.
Finally, there is the Adventure. This is a Series of Story Arcs that proceed until each character has completed at least one Story Arc each.
Does that make sense to you? What do you think?

Phew, Glad That’s Over!

Ash — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 20:06:27 +0000

Finally, Christmas is out of the way. Honestly, it gets more of a strain and less of a joy every single year. Sometimes I wish I could just forget about the whole thing, if only the Retailers would let me.

Anyway, I need a rest for a week or two, partly to recover, partly to sort out a few other niggling problems in my life, and partly because I often find it helpful to take a break and come back to a project later with a clear head.

-Ash

Children of Sin, d10 Design contest entry.

Lair of The Tark - Game Designing and Writing Blog — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 04:15:03 +0000

And there came to pass a time of great harvest and all men of the earth and the sea went forth into their fields and there boats and harvested the great bounty for in time to come there would be a great famine and the labor of man was the only path to salvation. Yet one man chose not, for he was apathy and from his lassitude was borne the first son; sloth.

And as the man rested upon the hills overlooking his fellow men laboring against the famine their came into his sight a luscious maiden of great fertility. And from this sight he became longing and from his immense desire he bore his second son; lust.

Yet the maiden was betrothed to his brother who worked the fields of his home to feed his family. Because of her unparalleled beauty and marriage to his brother he became jealousy. And from his covetous hunger was born his third son; envy.

Denied his desire, the man went down the hill to his brothers home. Seeing their brother not laboring they cried, "Why dost thou not labor? Dost thou not know the coming famine?" And the man replied, "I shall not work. For I am wealthy and require not to labor." And from this boast he became arrogance. Thus he bore his fourth son; pride.

And so it came to pass that the man went into his brothers home mournful for being denied his desires. Thus he drank deeply of his brothers wine until he was witless and drank more beyond that for the image of his brothers wife plagued his eyes and tore at his heart. Thus he became overindulgence, and from his unquenchable thirst he bore his fifth son; gluttony.

Without the paradise found between the thighs of his desire he sought satisfaction in his wealth. Yet even in this he found no satisfaction for he took and stole from his fellow man never finding enough gold to satisfy his hunger and drown out the lust for his brothers wife. Thus he became dissatisfaction, and from his glowing piles of wealth thus was born his sixth son; greed.

Filled wiht despair the man approached his brothers wife and demanded to lie wiht her and she said, "I cannot lie with you for I am married to your brother and cannot betray him for thou art witless and lazy. From thine hands come showers of gold but no love and from thine loins comes only lust but not compassion. No, I will not lie with thee." Thus the man became rage. And from the body of the woman he sculpted with his hands his seventh and most terrible son; wrath.

Geek gifts YOU should have!

Jarvis — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 07:24:00 +0000

The holiday fairy was kind this year, I got some truly awesome Geek Gifts. I'll tell you why they're cool and show you where to find them.

Zombie Cinema

Why It Rocks: A badass little boardgame/rpg hybrid about the zompocalypse. Each player narrates a little scene until a conflict between characters comes up. Then dice are rolled, losing character moves down the board (toward the zombies) and winning character moves up (toward Escape). A tie moves the zombies closer to the characters. Lean, mean, and looks like a load of fun!

How Much: $20. There's not much in the way of pieces, but it's pretty enough. Parts + Concept is definitely worth 20 bucks.

Awesome Adventures

Why It Rocks: Someone thought the award-winning FATE rules for Spirit of the Century were far more tedious than necessary. Someone felt a 'pulp' game needed to be faster and sleeker. Someone took the love and the time necessary to retool FATE into a game that truly rocked. This... is everything I wanted Spirit of the Century to be. This... is the essence of FATE.

How Much: $20. Very, very worth it. Spirit of the Century is a great game and well worth $30. Awesome Adventures is a much better game (my opinion) and definitely worth $20.

Dice Sampler - Set of 105 (no, seriously)

Why It Rocks: A nice, clear mini-tackle box sort of thing containing...

35 d20s - more than enough for D&D!

30 d10s - more than enough for World of Darkness or even Exalted!

10 each of d12s, d8s, d6s, and d4s - 10 each is the number I'd have picked myself, more than enough!

How Much: $12, that's the best part! As a gamer, of course I've got enough dice. But now for $12 I've got a spare box I can pull out if someone forgets theirs or if I'm running for newbies that don't have their own sets yet. This thing would sell in a game store for like $40, but for $12 a starting gamer could get all the dice they'll ever need! Well, mostly. But you know what I mean! :-P

Alright, I've shown you mine. What did you get this year that I'm totally going to be jealous about? Send us a link and tell us why it rocks!

Migrating to a new blog

Dan — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:55:29 +0000

I’m trying to consolidate my web presence, so further design discussions for Final Hour of a Storied Age will be happening on www.danmaruschak.com.

I have a new playtest report over there, and I’m also launching an “actual play” podcast which features the first two playtests of the game: Designer vs. Reality.

Back on the Trail

Ash — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:53:49 +0000

Feeling a lot better now, and back working on the project. I’ve finalised my basic layout and started doing the full spread for the first chapter, the basic rules. It’s 15 pages initially, but that’s going to extend a bit when I insert the illustrations and neater formating.

I’ve also been working on some simple diagrams to illustrate the more complex rules, but that’s stuff for the next chapter. When I get a chance, I’ll slip a few more images into the Artwork section.

Soon I hope to start work on a few more of the 3D aspects. I’m merging hand-drawn human characters with simple 3D backdrops and vehicles rendered with a quasi-comicbook filter. I rather like the way it looks, personally. Very individual. Anyway more on this as and when I have something to show! The important thing is, the show’s back on the road.

-Ash

Sei Mesi

NuTS, here comes the fun — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 09:28:00 +0000

Sono passati sei mesi da quando questo blog è stato avviato.

Tracciando un bilancio, direi che si può parlare di esperienza positiva.

L'idea di autori che provano giochi di altri autori piace molto e si capisce che c'è l'esigenza di avere un gruppo di playtest critico.

Da questo gruppo sono passati alcuni titoli, che coincidono anche con i progetti più completi al momento in circolazione; al di là di Elar (che era quasi un must), i NuTS hanno provato Osok TRUE, Ravendeath, Moonfolk, Dawn of a New Tomorrow, Sangue e Piombo.

Sono arrivati alcuni regolamenti interessanti che presto verranno provati e commentati.

Chiaramente gli impegni di lavoro e di gestione dei vari progetti relativi ai gdr non lasciano poi tutto lo spazio che si vorrebbe.

Forse è un momento in cui un semplice blog non basta più e serve una struttura più ampia.

That’s it I’m out.

tarkxt — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 02:11:39 +0000

Too much to do and this years game chef just isn’t compelling enough to stick around. I hope I was an aid to some people. As for Gnome I’m just putting it on the shelf of forgotten projects to perhaps return to at a later date.