Filed under: Games, Rogue Games, entertainment, thoughts | Tags: 12°, design notes, Dolphin, game design, Games, Rogue Games, thoughts, writing
Before I dive into the next post, there are a few questions I want to answer. These are answers to some emails, tweets, and messages I have gotten since I first started talking about this.
Q. Is Rogue Games going to publish this?
A. Yes.
Q. When will this be released?
A. When it is done.
Q. Really, there is no plan to this?
A. No.
Q. You’re crazy.
A. Yes, I know. That is not a question by the way.
Q. Is this going to be a roleplaying game?
A. Yes.
Q. So, let me get this straight. As a player, I play a dolphin?
A. Yes. All characters are dolphins. The entire game takes place under the sea.
Q. Will Dolphin run on 12°?
A. Yes. The mechanic is perfect for a game of this type. Dolphin is more narrative in the type of adventures you run and play in. 12° is a good mechanic, that when you take it to the core, allows for easy task resolution. It does not get in the way, and does not make things too complicated. The type of actions that take place in the game, needs a mechanic like 12° to drive it.
Q. If you are using 12° will this be similar to how the mechanic is used in either Colonial Gothic or Thousand Suns?
A. No. Both of those games are different in tone and the type of rules you need are different as well. Both games need — let alone require — rules allowing for Skills, structured combat, and add on features that a game such as Dolphin does not require. The best example of this is Skills. Both Colonial Gothic and Thousand Suns need them. Dolphin does not. Why? For a couple of reasons.
First, the player characters are all dolphins, and because of this, they pretty much are all able to do the same things. What Dolphin will do is merge Skill Tests in with ability Tests. By that, if you want your PC to fight, it is a Strength Test. Abilities — in Dolphin — set your skills. This is similar to what is done in Toon, but unlike Toon, you will not have a list of skills listed under each ability. Instead, all Tests, are driven by the appropriate ability.
Secondly, these are dolphins after all. I am going for a different tone with this game, and because of this, I do not need the complexity that is found in Colonial Gothic and Thousand Suns.
Q. So what is the tone? You mentioned Finding Nemo before, are you trying to do a game like that?
A. Yes, and no. What I want with Dolphin is a game that allows me to run — and play — adventures that are more drama. I want to run a game that can be more cienamtic, as well as one, that does not bog down the play. What I am doing with this game, and what the players have been doing, is more narrative.
Anyway, this should bring you up to speed on the what and how. Next post will be about the setting.
Filed under: Games, thoughts | Tags: design notes, game design, Lost Works, thoughts, writing
I’ve been a fan of Chaosium’s Call of Cthulhu (though truth be told, Pacesetter’s CHILL is my favorite horror game of all time). Between 1999 and 2000 I ran a monthly Call of Cthulhu game, which marked the first, and last time I ran a regular campaign of the game. Nothing against the game, but I have always found CoC to be a much better game if it is run as a season (6 to 8 sessions forming one adventure arch). The reason for this is that the long term sanity of the player’s characters is such a fleeting thing, that eventually the long term exposure to things that go bump in the night, reduce the character to a mass of mental goo.
Still, the experince of running CoC on a regular basis was fun, and I did learn a lot. These lessons helped shape the thoughts that I brought to Colonial Gothic.
What follows is one of the creations from that monthly CoC campaign, The Dewey Manuscript. Sadly, this is the only thing that is left from the campaign — I cannot find the notes or any of the other things I created for the campaign. They might have been lost in one of the many moves that took place between 2000 and 2007.
The Dewey’s Manuscript
Born on December 10, 1851 in a small upper New York State town, Melville Lousi Kossuth Dewey is known as the father of not only the current field of Library Science, but the inventor of the Dewey Decimal System. Unknown to most, Dewey was also a scholar of the mythos and well read on a number of occult topics.
Dewey’s interest in the occult started when he was younger. His father was a scholar and interested in ancient cultures. As a youth, Dewey read as many of his father’s books as he could. It was also at this time that Dewey began to develop a love of libraries. He saw the state of disrepair his father’s book collection was in, and he took it upon himself to organize it and repair many of the books. While attending Amherst College, Dewey worked as a student assistance in the library. One of his major responsibilities was to reorganize the library’s special collections area. It was during this project that Dewey refined a organization system he had developed while he was younger.
Dewey’s System was one based on a number classification scheme. This scheme is based on a well-developed hierarchies and a network of relationships among topics. The system is dived into ten main classes which cover the entire world of knowledge. Each main class is divided into ten divisions, and then each division is further dived into ten sections. What his system allowed was a way to easily and quickly catalogue books and make their retrieval easier. This system was a success and soon every major library was using it to organize their collections.
Besides the creation of his classification system Dewey changed the vocation of librarianship to a modern profession. In 1876 he helped establish the American Library Association and served as the organizations secretary from 1876 to 1890. he also served as the ALA’s president during the 1890/1891 and 1892/1893 terms. He also was a promoter of library standards and was a pioneer in setting standards for library education. If that was not enough he also formed a company to sell library supplies which eventual became the Library Bureau. In 1883 he became the librarian of Columbia College, and while there he founded the first library school in January 1887. In 1889 he became the director of the New York State Library and retired from this position in 1906. besides his interests in library science Dewey was a spelling reformer. Some of the first printed editions of the classification scheme was done in reformed spelling.
Unknown to many but the inner circle the American Library Association was formed so that students and scholars of the Mythos could share knowledge. This inner circle used the guise of librarians to collect, catalog and share numerous books dealing with not only the Occult but the Mythos. Dewey, who by 1876, was a respected authority of the mythos and worked hard to amass a collection of as many books as he could. He used his position as the librarian of Columbia College and the New York State Library to build a collection that members of the ALA inner circle could use.
Dewey’s Manuscript is the original handwritten draft of what would become the 1st edition of the Dewey Classification System. The manuscript numbers a total of 800 pages, and is stored between two simple wooden book covers. These covers are then secured with a red ribbon. The bulk of the manuscript is devoted to the number classification system. Every subject is broken down and a person can after a few minutes classify any book on any subject. Unknown to all but a select few there are a few spells buried with in the manuscript. To cast them, a person must start with the broad subject, and work their way down through the tables. Once this is done the spell is able to be cast. Another item of interest is that there are many references to mythos topics buried within the tables. These references were dropped from the printed version but they exist in manuscript form.
There are only two copies of the manuscript known to exist. One is kept in the ALA archive, and many are unaware of its mythos connection. The other copy is kept at Columbia College and is part of the Dewey Collection. The head archivist is a member of the Inner Circle of the ALA and controls access to the manuscript.
Dewey’s Manuscript—in English, by Melville Dewey, 1876. Sanity Loss 1D3/1D6. Cuthulhu Mythos +5 percentiles; average 4 weeks to study and comprehend. Spells: Curse of Darkness, Keenness of Twoalike, Unmask Demon.
Filed under: Games, Life, thoughts | Tags: design notes, thoughts, writers, writing
Zachary Houghton asks a intriguing question: “what’s your Appendix N? What fiction has influenced your campaigns, play styles, and writings?”
The question is one that really makes me think. Here is my list:
Alexander, Lloyd.
Anonymous. Song of Roland.
Bradbury, Ray. Something Wicked This Way Comes.
Bullfinch, Thomas. The Age of Fable, The Age of Chivalry, Legends of Charlemagne (aka Bullfinch’s Mythology)
Carroll, Lewis. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland; Through the Looking Glass.
Feist, Raymond.
Heimingway, Ernest.
Howard, Robert E.
Irving, Washington.
Lewis, C.S. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
Leiber, Fritz. “Lankhmar” series.
Lovecraft, H.P.
Malory, Thomas. Le Morte d’Arthur.
Moorcock, Micheal.
Moore, Alan.
Poe, Edgar Allen.
Rosenberg, Joel.
Stoker, Bram.
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Hobbit; The Lord of the Rings.
Looking at this list, I now understand why some of my games are the way they are.
Filed under: Games, Rogue Games, thoughts | Tags: © 2009 Rogue Games, colonial gothic, design notes, Rogue Games, thoughts
Over at the Rogue Games blog, I have talked about the new rules found in Colonial Gothic Revised that cover the creation of creatures. Monsters, as I write in that blog post, is one of the areas lacking in the original version on of the Colonial Gothic Rulebook. With the revised version, this was one of my goals — expand the rules for creatures.
Anyway, here is an example of a monster that appears in the book. It also shows off the new rules as well.
Leeds Devil
Might 9, Nimble 10, Vigor 8, Reason 5, Resolution 5, Resolve 25, Vitality 42, Fear -2
Skills: Tracking [7]
Abilities: Bite, Flight [90-feet/Round], Fear, Horrific Visage, Moan, Second Wind [5 Sanity (10 with a Dramatic Success) lost for successfully hitting Target].
Sometimes known as the Jersey Devil, the Leeds Devil, as rumors go, is found in the Pine Barrens located in the southern regions of the New Jersey Colony. This creature has always existed in one form or another, and those seeing it, describe it the same way: a creature standing 8-feet in height, with a long neck, crane-like legs ending in hooves, and large bat-like wings, and a head resemble a dog. The creature, when encountered is viscous, and has a taste for human flesh.
As for the origins of the creature like most things there are more theories than facts. Some of the more plausible one are as follows:
- The Legend of the Jersey Devil traces the creature to Deborah Leeds. The Leeds family lived in the area of the Pine Barrens, and Leeds – who had given birth to 12 children – was pregnant with her 13th. The delivery was very difficult for her, and she invoked the Devil’s name. When the baby was born, it immediately, grew into a full-grown devil and escaped the house. Before doing so, the creature killed the family, and after devouring them, gained the taste for human flesh.
- Another version states that Mrs. Leeds, upon discovering she was pregnant with her 13th child, exclaimed that if she was to give birth to another child: “May it be a devil.” When she gave birth, her child was the creature.
- Another theory holds that the Mr. Leeds was a prominent merchant who treated his workers and indentured servants very poorly. So bad was this treatment that one of them placed a curse on the family, and the result of this curse was the birth of the creature.
- Some whisper that Mrs. Leeds, who was a Quaker, refused to convert from her faith. The Puritan Preacher was so angry with her; he proclaimed that her next child born would be Satan’s offspring.
- One final tale tells that the child was born a monster and that Mrs. Leeds raised and cared for it until she died. Upon her death, the child flew off into the swamps of the Pine Barrens and now lives there to this day.
What should be noted is that despite all attempts to track down the Leeds, and confirm any of the details had failed. No one can find them, let along anyone who knows of them. For every answer discovered, there always seems to be more questions. Besides the links to Mrs. Leeds, the Lenape whisper about a creature of great evil which they call Ehangelikgik. The creature, according to the shamans, is the enemy of Mani and is but one of many who serve the great evil known as Machtalappajo. These creatures stalk the land and hunt the righteous so that the world is prepared for the coming of Machtalappajo. This creature is ancient, and a danger to all.
Historical Background
The region called Popuessing by the Lenape roughly translates to the “Place of the Dragon.” When Swedish explorers arrived to the area named the area Drake Kill. With the arrival of the English, the area, they dubbed the region the Pine Barrens. Coupled with the rumors of the creature, the region gained a reputation for being a “mysterious place.” The fact that the region is isolated and a favorite for those trying to escape notice helps make the stories of the area darker. Loyalists, fugitives, religious dissenters, military deserters and others seeking a place to hide. Some formed small groups of bandits, as well as communities known as “piney.”
Filed under: Games, Rogue Games | Tags: © 2009 Rogue Games, design notes, SS&S, thoughts
Work on Shadow, Sword & Spell is going well. James is busy working on his sections dealing with tone, setting and character backgrounds. For me, I am working on a lot of the rules and gears driving the game. There is still a lot to do, and like any project that is being worked on by us, I am still waiting on James to finish his thinking. (An aside: this thinking involves epic length phone calls where the two of us talk through the things nagging at our thinking).
What we are doing with this game is giving everyone options. By this, like Thousand Suns, Shadow, Sword & Spell, is going to be a toolbox. GMs, and players, have a lot to choose from when running their games. These options are not just setting options, but rules options as well. By this, if you want more lethal combat, then you choose the options facilitating this. If you want a less lethal combat, you choose others. Case in point, here is an example from the Action & Combat chapter. This is still rough, but it is perfect in showing what I am talking about:
Armor
Wearing armor is an effective means for a Hero to defend themselves against damage. All armor has an Armor Value (AV), which a number is telling you how much damage your armor absorbs when attacked. For example, your Hero is wearing chain mail (which has a AV of 35). Any damage your Hero takes below this AV 35 is absorbed by the armor, anything above this value is passed to the hero. For example, your Hero is hit by an attack causing 50 points of damage. The armor absorbs 35 of this, and the remaining 15 is passed to the hero.
Option
This option makes combat a little more deadly, and Armor behaves the same way as above. The only change is that any Dramatic Success has the damage pass the armor and go directly to the hero.
Option
This option, if your Armor takes damage over it’s AV, the AV is reduced by a number of points equal to the overage, and stays this way until repaired.
There is more details to come, but the guts of this is important. By choosing from the offered options everyone can decide on how they want to play the game. There is no “right” way with this, and this for us is important. Every game of Shadow, Sword & Spell is going to be different, though all these games run on the same rules. Mixing and matching options allows you to really make the pulp fantasy game you want, and this, for me, is very cool.
Filed under: Games, Rogue Games, thoughts | Tags: design notes, fantasy, Rogue Games, SS&S, thoughts
I have been silent when it comes to Shadow, Sword & Spell. This has now changed.
For those just joining us, Shadow, Sword & Spell is a new game James and I are working on. The game deals with fantasy, or as James recently put it:
It’s our take on the “humanistic fantasy” of the 1930s through 1960s — Howard, Leiber, Fox, Vance, Pratt, De Camp, and so on. Like Thousand Suns, it’s intended as a “tool box” game, so that each referee can use it to create his own vision of the swords-and-sorcery genre. The full game is scheduled for a Fall release, but a playable preview should be available at GenCon this August.
The first question, and it is one that I have gotten in tweets as well as email, is a simple one:
What is humanistic fantasy?
Without getting philosophical (I leave that for James to do), I am going to share what I feel is humanistic fantasy. This is a topic I have been thinking about for awhile, and it is one predating not only Shadow, Sword & Spell, but Rogue Games. It is the thinking that inspired the creation, in part, Colonial Gothic. In a nutshell, humanistic fantasy is fantasy divorce of demi-humans as playable races. In essence it is putting the emphasis on humanity, and using humanity to highlight the fantasy.
Upon reading Howard, Leiber, Fox, Vance, Pratt, De Camp, Lovecraft and the like, the first thing you notice is that they heroes are humans. Using humans, it allows the fantasy, where it intersects with reality, stand out. Applying this to a fantasy game, taking the traditional (and not so traditional) fantasy races out of the gaming equation, it puts fantasy back into fantasy.
So why are we doing this? Genre burn out. When one plays, or works, with fantasy, there is always the desire to go all out and throw as much as you can into the soup. After awhile it is boring to have just an “elf,” or a” dwarf,” or a “goblin.” You need to have cat people, birdmen, and a every growing hodgepodge of playable races because the same old same old, is no longer fantastical.
So why humanistic fantasy? Is it our desire to be pro human? No. It is about our desire to get back to the roots of fantasy, and allow things to be mystical again. In order to allow for the type of fantasy we want to explore — pulp fantasy — we need to strip away the trappings we are accustomed too. Doing this, allows the fantasy to stand.
So what does Shadow, Sword & Spell give you? The options to play pulp fantasy game inspired by not only Robert E. Howard, but Clark Ashton Smith and H.P. Lovecraft.
Yes, you read that right.
This is not going to be a “Conan Game.” Or a “Deamlands” game. It is going to be a game about tone and feeling. Horror and discovery. Lost and mystery.
It is going to be a game about fantasy.
Filed under: Games, Rogue Games, thoughts | Tags: © 2009 Rogue Games, colonial gothic, design notes, Rogue Games, thoughts
In the past I’ve written about the small changes I am making to how magic work in Colonial Gothic. Here is an example of a new spell that will be found in the game. Note this is still rough and will see some tweaking.
Bolt
Time: 1 Action
Range: 40/50/60
Duration: Instant
Performed On: Others
Sanity Cost: 0A recent development by European powers, Bolt marks the first active work in creating magical spells that have a more useful purpose – combat. Bolt was first used actively during the Seven Year’s War, as well as limited engagement in the colonies during the French and Indian War. With the end of hostiles, the knowledge of the spell became widely known, and since then, mages looking for a means to protect themselves from harm, has started learning this spell. The first recorded documentation of this spell is found in the little known work Een verhandeling over de toepassing van het mysterieuze Kennis, written by Gysbert Vansteenwijk, which was published in 1710. The work had a small printing, and the printer died upon publishing the work.
Successfully casting Bolt, the caster creates a bolt of elemental force that can hit target and cause damage with a damage value of 3(20). The caster can choose the bolt to be any elemental type they choose: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Magic. A Dramatic Success in casting Bolt has it cause double damage, while a Dramatic Failure has the bolt explode in the caster’s hand with them taking damage.
Filed under: Rogue Games, thoughts | Tags: © 2009 Rogue Games, colonial gothic, design notes, Rogue Games, thoughts
I am coming into the home stretch with getting the book done. It should be off to editing this week. I am way ahead of schedule, which is a good thing. The reason for being so far ahead is due to really enjoying this game. I like what I am working on, and I like the changes being made to this game.
Here is a snippet of the chapter I am polishing now:
Chapter 5: Action
Your Hero is your means of interacting with world of Colonial Gothic, but what your Hero does, and how he does it, is governed by the 12° system, described in previous chapters. This chapter builds upon the foundations laid down earlier, providing expanded sub-systems for important actions your character takes during the course of an adventure. To put it more simply, this chapter shows you how to fight, perform and act against the agents of the occult and supernatural. (Ok, not in real life, but in the context of the game!)
Personal Combat
When you’re a Hero, you need to respond to situations when others can’t (or won’t). Some Colonists might choose to settle conflicts peacefully rather than fight a monster. This might work in polite society, but when a vampire comes knocking at your door, talking is not going to help. Eventually your Hero is going to need to fight.
Before getting into the mechanics of action, keep in mind that when declaring your Hero’s actions in Colonial Gothic, you’re describing a scene in a movie. At times, your actions will be unbelievable; at other times you might take risks where any sane person would wait until its safe.
Telling Time
Personal combat is divided into units of measurement called Rounds. A Round does not necessarily correspond to any specific real world length of time. Instead, a Round is how long it takes for all characters involved in a situation to complete all their available Actions. Thus, it is an arbitrary unit intended to help both the Game Master and players keep track of who does what, and when, in the course of a combat. Rounds are not realistic representations of anything; they are a game convenience. If you need to know how long a round is, it is roughly 1 minute in length.
Initiative
Which character gets to act first in a Round is determined by his Initiative rating. Initiative is determined by the following formula:
D12 + ((Nimble + Reason) ÷ 2) +/- modifiers = Initiative Rating
[BEGIN BOX: Initiative Modifiers]
Initiative Rating can be modified by any number of factors, as determined by the GM. Characters wandering into an ambush might rightly receive a penalty to their Initiative Ratings, while those laying a trap for their opponents might receive a bonus. Likewise, previous combat experience might modify Initiative Ratings as well.
[END BOX]
Actions proceeds throughout a Round based on Initiative Rating, from highest to lowest. In the case of ties, the character with the highest ((Nimble + Reason) ÷ 2) acting first. Once the initiative order is determined, it remains fixed until combat is completed. The only exception is if a character chooses to delay acting in a Round until later than his Initiative Rating would normally warrant. If he does so, his Initiative Rating drops to the new, lower rating and stays there until combat ends.
Initiative can be determined either on an individual or “per side” basis. What this means is the GM can has every character, including NPCs, roll individually for their Initiative Rating or designates a single character per side in the conflict whose Initiative Rating he will use to determine who acts when. Typically, the character with the highest Tactics skill is the best person to designate for this task, but players should feel free to offer alternative suggestions. In general, individual initiative works best with smaller numbers of combatants, while per side initiative works best for large fights between many opponents.
Actions
An Action is whatever your character chooses to do during a Round. Normally, a character has only one Action per Round. If he wishes to attempt more than one Action in a Round, he suffers a multiple action penalty.
Multiple Actions
A character attempting more than one Action in a Round, suffers a penalty, the severity of which is determined by how many additional Actions he attempts. For each additional Action beyond the first, a character suffers a –1 TN penalty to every Action he takes that Round. For example, a character attempting three Actions in a single Round, suffers a –3 TN to all three of their Actions, including the first one they would normally get without penalty.
So there you go. The revisions are not going to change the game — they are going to make it better. Bringing the game in line with the flavor of the rules James and I have been working on, helps refine the ideas and streamline play. It also, and this for me is what is the most important thing, allows fans of one game, to know how to play our others. There might be a few tweaks, but in the end, if you know one, you know them all.
Filed under: Games, Rogue Games, thoughts | Tags: colonial gothic, design notes, Rogue Games, thoughts
I hate Stat Blocks.
I realize such a statement comes as a surprise to most, but it is true. I do not know many who consider Stat Blocks a neat thing. In fact I am sure if you polled every gamer the majority would say that Stat Blocks stink. (The minority would probably say they do not know why I am even ranting about such a frivolous item).
So why I am even thinking about Stat Blocks?
Colonial Gothic Revised.
When James and I work on 12° our goal is always simple: create a rule set we would want to play. A lot of the things we did (and still are doing) with 12° is all about this. Creating a rule set we like. The embracing of the 12-sided die, Target Number, loose structure that allows for scaling, and the like, are all in the game, because this is what we like. We wanted a system that was flexible, and that would allow us to scale it up and down the complexity scale as we saw fit. It was this that led us to create Rule #2:
The setting defines the rules, the rules do not define the setting.
The one area where we have struggled is Stat Blocks.
Stat Blocks, by their nature, are gaming shorthand for Game Masters. A good stat block has all the info a GM needs right in front of them. It allows them to not have to refer to multiple books, and gives them the important bits so play at the table does not slow down.
A good Stat Block should be clear and concise. By this, a GM should not have to stop and think what the information is telling them. With one glance, they should know all relevant information.
Stat Block from Tegel Manor (1977 edition)
SIR RUNIC THE RUMP PALADIN LG 6 20 -1 8 15 5 7 11 9 17 +3 Sword possesses +3 plate, +1 Ring of protection (in addition to his paladin’s +10% ST), 255 GP, 160SP and 24CP.
I love Tegel Manor, but I hate the Stat Blocks. For me the detail those sparse — which is good — is too sparse, because it forces you to stop and remember what the numbers represent.
Here is a better Stat Block. This is from X1 The Isle of Dread (1983 edition).
Pirates (40): AC 5; F1; hp 5 each; MV 120’; #AT 1; D 1-6 or by weapon; ML 7; AL C
What I like best about this Stat Block is that for D&D, everything you would need to know is here. You have the number of combatants, their Armor Class, how much damage they can take and the like. Even better, te Stat Block is more of a Stat Line, in that it fits on the line, and does not disrupt the flow of the text.
It is in Call of Cthulhu from Chaosium, which we see a Stat Block that is both useful, and compact. The following comes from The Complete Masks of Nyarlathotep (third Edition, Reset and Revised), 2001:
For me, like most things, it is CoC which does it right. Complex games, with a lot of options need more information when it comes to the Stat Block.
Where I think Stat Blocks become to much is with the advent of OGL/3.0/3.5. For me, one of the big turn offs of these games is the amount of detail that came into play. For example, see here. That is just too much information, which takes up far too much room. When I use to write d20 material, it was the Stat Block which drove me away from the system.
With Colonial Gothic, I have never gotten the Stat Block. This is why it has look so different form release to release. With Colonial Gothic Revised, and with the bringing on more freelance writers for all our games, I realized that the Stat Block had to be addressed. Clarity needed to be found, and consistency had to be discovered.
Originally, the Stat Block was going to be something like this:
Wolf (2) 45 Vigor.
Yeah, not helpful. Too minimal.
More tweaking, and revising, and I am still not happy. Finally, what I decided to do was thinking about the problem from a different perspective. I asked myself a serious of questions:
- What information is the most important?
- Do you want it a block, or on a line?
- What would a GM need to know?
- Abbreviations or full spelling?
The answer for Question 1, was simple. Since all the games based on the 12° system uses a Target Number derived from a Stat, the Stats needed to be in the block. In addition, how much damage is caused, skills known, and any other features.
The answer for Question 2 took me awhile to figure out. Originally I thought I would go the CoC route, but the more I did so, the more I grew to hate that style. Thus, I am now leaning toward a single line.
Question 3 was the easiest question to answer, and was answered by figuring out the answer to Question 1.
It is the answer to Question 4, which has taken me the longest to answer. I strive for clarity, and for me, abbreviations tend to not be clear. Yet, the more I work on games using 12° the more I realize, that abbreviations, when the come to the Stat Block need to be used.
In answering these questions, I cam to realize what I needed to do — rethink the Stat Block for 12°.
Right now, here is what I am leaning toward, Stat Block-wise, for Colonial Gothic Revised (note, I am using the current version of the rules for this example):
Northern Copperheads (2): M 3, N 10, V 3, R 1 Res 3, A 2, V 15. Stealth [10], Bite [Damage equal to Might], Poison [d12 Damage to Vigor, half for successful Vigor Test].
I still have some refinement to do, but I like the look of this.
Filed under: Rogue Games, thoughts | Tags: © 2009 Rogue Games, colonial gothic, design notes, thoughts
As I mentioned a few days ago, magic in Colonial Gothic is getting a face lift. It is not going to be anything major, just a simple clearing up of a few things. As Rituals are now, the game mechanics are vague, and such things as how long it takes to cast them are not clear. Here is one example, please note that this is very rough, and I am still doing revisions:
Awake
Time: 1 Action
Range: Touch
Duration: Days equal to caster’s Resolution
Performed On: Self, Others
Sanity Cost: 0
By performing this spell, the intended person is not be able to sleep for days. A person unable to sleep is unable to replenish his Vitality without the use of magic, and regain any lost Sanity. For each additional rank in this spell, past the base rank, the number of targets effected is increased. For example, if a mage has 2 Ranks in this spell, they are able to affect two targets upon casting this spell.
For this spell, success or failure dictates whether or not they get a penalty. Successfully casting this spell the target is unable to sleep for a number of days equal to the caster’s resolution. While suffering from this spell the target is unable to sleep, and because of this they are unable to regain any lost Vitality naturally or regain any lost Sanity as well. In addition, due to being unable to sleep the target suffers a -1 to all TNs due to being tired. Dramatic Success, the target in addition to reaming awake and unable to gain lost Vitality and Sanity, lose 2 Sanity per day they are awake. In addition, they still suffer the -1 to all Tests due to being tired. Failure, to cast the spell, means the target is unaffected. A Dramatic Failure has the caster hit by the spell, and they suffer the effects from lack of sleep.
Above is rough, but you can see the slight changes being made to make magic clearer. The other changes is that Rituals are now known as Spells, and two types exist: Common and Arcane. Spells will still have the flavor that exist now, as well as still maintain the same sense challenge it takes to cast them — objects and ingredients. More importantly I am carrying on the tradition of creating little histories for each spell (as seen in Poor Wizard’s). So this change is not that major of change, just a refinement of ideas.
