Trouble a-brewin’?

24. November 2009 by admin.

Had some interesting feedback today. It seems there are some matters in GEARS that need attention. Most pressing is a problem surrounding the Automatic Growth rule; it simply causes low-power characters to grow too fast, because low Abilities grow much, much faster than high-level ones. It’s a math thing, in that the reduced range of rolls makes it far more likely to get even the exact success needed to grow without significant investment in the appropriate Learning Ability (for those who have not read the rule, this is probably complete gibberish). Anyway, it looks like ‘low-level’ Abilities will not mean as numerically low as intended, and the Difficulty guides will need some reshuffling. Hopefully that’s all, because I have come to like the rule in its few weeks of testing.

As for the whole “guides for creating things” ordeal, some progress has been made. The structure for creating Special Powers (creating effects like magic, superpowers, or anything else that is a bit beyond normal Abilities) is progressing, and the general structure for creating gadgets and larger machines (including vehicles) is looking good. The one flaw at the moment is that especially the Powers system is just not rigid enough; it relies a lot on subjective interpretation of a superpower or the like, and is prone to heavy manipulation by devious players. There are no really devious players in the playtest pool, which might be a bad thing now…

Anyway, Third Draft is growing nicely. It’s about 50% added material, and that is written in very short form, meaning more defined rules will be needed. There are Boosters, Disabilities, and a lot of other things in the works. Also, the Talent Abilities list has been set up, all that is needed is the writing of each Talent Ability. This is a big step ahead, since it means the Talents have now been picked.Soon, the rules written can refer directly to the, and oh how many of them need that!

I will stop it here. I have noted, while transfering entries from the old blog, that I write far too long blog entries. I need focus, and I need restraint (Restraint being one of the new Talents, btw!). Otherwise, I babble. I do it for love of the game, and the work, though. So… I’ll just be quiet now.

See ya!

Posted in Boosters, Disabilities, Third Draft, Superpowers, Old blog, Machines, Magic, Playtests | 1 Comment »

Entry 16: Boosting the Game

1. November 2009 by admin.

.::: Entry 16, 2009/10/31 :::.
However basic it might seem, one thing I have found again and again is that players love bonuses. The idea that something, anything, boosts your character’s ability at doing something is very appealing, and often motivates players to venture farther and further than they otherwise would. I have already discussed some ways to promote style in games, back in Entry 4, ways that include awarding points for doing things that match the style. Character growth, as discussed in Entry 5, takes in the classical XP concept, the idea that points used in character improvement come from actions during the game. But the concept of points is very flexible.

The idea of booster points, or simply ‘boosters’, is nothing new in RPGs. Abilities, items, even deeds, allegiances or other less tangible things have provided boosts in various games. ‘Metagame’ boosters, meaning booster points that do not represent anything in the game world at all, have also been seen before. The basic idea is that each player has a portion of points that can be used to boost a character ability or other good thing in a tight spot. At their simplest, a booster works by each spent point giving a +1 on an ability for a single deed or short space of time.

Rationing booster points thus become a big deal in these games, and the way they are handed to the players will determine a lot about how those players play the game. Awarding them for certain deeds will push the game towards those deeds, while awarding them at specific intervals (either in the game world (like one point per day the characters go through) or in the real world (like one point per session that the game is played)) will make them something to watch carefully. Whether they can be hoarded or need to be spent to make room for new points also affects things greatly.

:: Basic Mechanics ::

The standard mechanic of a booster is to let a player spend points to add a bonus to some ability during the game. Thus, spending 8 booster points adds +8 to some ability for an action or a period defined in advance. One variation is when the boost is required to use the ability at all; only when points are spent will it work, and the rest of the time, the character just needs to work with whatever else is available. This works best with very special abilities. The two main versions are ‘1 point, one use’ and ‘1 point, 1 level’. The former means that the character has the ability, at some predefined level, all the time. It just cannot be used without spending one such point. The other version means that the character probably does not have, and cannot have, the ability separately. The amount of points define the level of the ability, for that one use (or period) only!

:: Game Boosters ::

The highest thematic level of boosters are those that are meant to affect the game as a whole. They may be given at the beginning of an adventure or a session, or they may even be fixed at character creation; when spent, they are gone!

A game booster is meant for very special situations, like when the character(s) is in a bind or when something great is at stake, possibly the happy end of the entire adventure. The purpose for them is to be scarce, to be something that has to be considered carefully before use. More often than not, they will tip a/the scale in the adventure.

This sort of booster is rarely explained in terms of the actual game world; it exists because it benefits the game (it’s a so-called ‘metagame trait’). Restrictions may apply to its use, often based either on the type of game run or the type of character the player has. Such restrictions will most likely be on what it can be used for, but it might also be in the form of consequences beyond having spent the point. For example, every point spent might make the gods less likely to heed the character’s call, if that fits the game.

:: Risky Boosters ::

An interesting twist on the above booster points is the idea that the players actually do not know their number of points at the start, probably due to some random element in deciding the number (if there is a system, the average players in an extended campaign will soon figure it out). The risk involved is that the players may suddenly try to spend one or more points… and there are none left! In a dire situation, that could be quite bad. Alternately, spending points when there are none left might even provoke a punishment, like the intended bonus becoming a penalty, or some components of the game world turning against the characters; overspending might attract evil spirits, bad luck, or even such concrete things as the wrath of your boss (in such cases, there should probably be a rational connection between the points and the aforementioned boss, or it will just be, well, silly).

There are several reasons risky boosters can be interesting in a game. Firstly, it will make players wary about spending points, even when they know they have them. The idea that they do not know when they will run out promotes careful use, since every point spent is another push towards an unseen catastrophe. Calculation in boosters thus all but goes straight out the window, making it suspenseful nearly every time. Players will learn to rely on their characters’ abilities, and only draw on points when things are really dark. Or maybe not even there; if spending a point risks disaster, maybe they will only spend them when they feel they can get out of any disaster coming! Every player might have his or her own philosophy on spending points, because it’s suddenly about nerve and evaluation your situation.

:: Earned Boosters ::

Rather than just handing out X amount of booster points at regular intervals, the game can include ways for players to actively earn the points during play. The idea of awarded points has been considered in Entry 5 for the purpose of character growth, but similar methods can be used for earning booster points for later use. Having the method of earning them be doing something that matches the genre or promotes the game allows the GM to encourage certain behaviors or goals for the adventure.

Earned boosters can quickly dominate a game. The more important they are for success, the more players are likely to strive to earn them. How good a thing that is depends on the game and the players. If they are important the game basically becomes about earning them more than anything else, and the fewer things will earn points, the fewer things the players will be doing. Less importance on points will make them a thing worthy of considerations but in the end weighed against so many other things, and a wider variety of ways to earn them will widen the amount of things that characters do to obtain them.

One option is to make the methods of earning points character-centric. This works best if the ways of earning them are tied to the kind of character played. For example, a warrior might earn them for brave fights, while a religious person might earn it for doing good (or evil!) work. This can help define characters, not just by what he can do but what the players will want to be doing. Assuming that the point earning methods are chosen as part of character creation, players can pick the kind of play they wish to support.

I like this method. The idea of promoting the concepts intended in characters matches up with my aims for the game, and adding details to actions by letting them enhance other action sounds good. My one worry is the method of implementation, as every ability can’t be made a booster ability.

One other option is to have the earning of booster points come from less controlled events during the adventures. Successes in certain deeds, or even failures, can trigger the earning of points. This offers some options for the implementation, since the point-earning abilities need not be purchased directly. The technical aspects of it still elude me somewhat, though.

:: Situational Boosters ::

The final option that comes to mind is to let points be earned by circumstances that characters are pulled into. Like earned points, the circumstances can be universal (every character gets points for the same things) or individual (what a character gets points for depends on the character). This can be used to heighten the intensity of certain situations in much the same way that the standard earned points can heighten the value of certain deeds. Situational booster points can thus improve the storytelling value of scenes, which fits my idea of how I would like to see the game. It can be used, for example, to make powerful emotions stand out, offering a boost when characters are angry or frightened or even exhilarated. Booster drugs or potions are a standard concept in sci-fi and fantasy, but situations may act the same.

Using situational booster points brings up the question of not only what they can be used for, but how long they are available. The situations may be the period for use, as well, or the idea of situations might not be as plausible. If the situation is, say, being angry, it only makes sense that the points must be spent while still angry. Adding the option that unused points may slowly decay as the situation evaporates might be worth considering, but even without it, there is the motivation that the player will simply spend the points when he or she sees the situation run out. This allows for some explosive ends to the situations.

Again, the problem becomes implementation. The trouble of adding earned booster points to a character is not diminished by the boosters being based on situations. The big problem is whether or not situational booster points are a good or a bad thing, since some will require the character to get into bad situations to be of use. If they even require something bad to happen directly ot the character, such as injury or broken will, it only makes the positive versus negative issue harder to judge.

In spite of the challenges in implementing these booster points, I feel that they will add enough to the game to define one or more methods to make them a part of the game, though possibly optional.

Posted in Boosters, Character creation, Old blog | 1 Comment »