And here's why I don't talk much about setting here - setting is peculiar to the game, while System can be abstracted and borrowed, amplified, tweaked, extended, and components used in a variety of ways with other games. I posted a huge setting exposition yesterday concerning Outremer, but no one commented, asked a question, or made a suggestion - and this is typical when I talk about a Setting.
Setting somehow "belongs" to the designer in a way that system doesn't - and this is true even for copyright purposes. You can legally take mechanics you didn't create, and, so long as you express them differently, use them as you like. If settings are too much alike, you can have real problems.
So the setting "belongs' to the designer, to be accepted or not as is. When I talk about settings, I'm flying blind. I'm not getting any echoes. I just have to go with my gut, which I've been doing all along. This blogging format does me no good. With System, I get return, feedback. It belongs to everyone, and everyone feels they can comment. That rocks! It's a totally different feel.
So there you go, Bill, Mr. Setting! Why I don't talk about settings.
-clash
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Outremer: A Brief Time of History
This will probably bore the pants off of everyone, but I've done that before and I'll do it again! My current project, Outremer, is alt history based on the Crusader states surviving until the mid 16th century - the same time frame as OHMAS. Like OHMAS, Outremer is a Blood Games II game. The point of departure for Outremer occurs during the Second Crusade:
The history of Outremer is the same as ours up until the Second Crusade. Edessa had fallen to Zengi of Damascus, who died soon after, and was succeeded by his son Nur ad Din. Conrad of Germany and Louis of France set out on Crusade with the object of retaking Edessa, Louis with his young and fetching wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, who had a suit of armor made for her. Conrad, as in the real world, set off overland to avoid Roger of Sicily, with whom he was feuding, was betrayed by the Byzantines, and the German army was destroyed. Unlike in our timeline, Louis went by sea, as he and Roger were on good terms, with Roger helping him out. Louis landed in Alexandrette, and went over the mountains to Turbessel, where Jocelin II, Count of Edessa retained a rump state.
From there, they attack the Syrians in the county, drawing down the army of Nur ad Din for a battle in front of Saruj, where Louis is killed. The army, led by Jocelin and Eleanor, retreats in good order to Bile, where Nur ad Din assaults them again. This time, however, inspired by Eleanor, the Franks crush the Syrians, and Nur ad Din is killed, along with Jocelin. The army marches into Edessa and restores the state, with Eleanor as Princess of the new Principality, which owes no fealty to Byzantium.
This removes Nur ad Din, who never takes Egypt, which is thus still Shi'ite. Saladin, the son of one of Nur ad Din's generals, has only Damascus and Aleppo for resources, instead of an empire with Egypt and the Hejaz. Eleanor marries Henry II of England, but their son Richard is eventually Prince of Edessa.
Instead of the third crusade happening, Baldwin IV, the leper king, did not die in 1185 - leprosy is a disease which does not kill you, but opens you to opportunistic infections which do eventually kill you, so he could have died any time - and was alive when Saladin took Tiberias in 1187, after the death of his young nephew and heir Baldwin V. His army was defeated but not crushed - because he wasn't an idiot like King Guy in our timeline - and Baldwin was able to retreat to Caesarea, where he was beseiged. He sent messengers to Tripoli, Antioch, and Edessa, but Saladin took Jerusalem and all the rest of the kingdom.
Richard marched an army south from Edessa, joining forces with the Prince of Antioch and the Count of Tripoli, and marched to the relief of Caesarea. He took back the northern coast of the kingdom down to Haifa, with an epic seige of Acre, suffering all the while from Muslim attacks on his flank. From Haifa, he broke the seige of Caesarea, and with Baldwin, set off for Jerusalem. The armies under Richard and Baldwin broke through into Jerusalem, but were unable to oust Saladin's men from the city. After a long and fruitless battle in the city, both parties agreed to a peace. Saladin's younger brother was to marry Richard's sister, and become heir to the Kingdom of Jerusalem when Baldwin, without heirs and a leper, died. Richard retained the northern coast as a separate and independent duchy, ruled from Acre. The Kingdom was to be both Christian and Muslim - that is, without favoritism - with the royal family Muslim. The thing was done. During the third Crusade, Richard did offer his sister in marriage to Saladin's brother, but Saladin did not think he was serious, apparently.
In Outremer, Baldwin IV ruled Jerusalem for four more years before dying in 1192. Saladin was assassinated in Damascus in 1190. At the same time, the Assassins took Homs and carved out a state between Damascus and Aleppo, breaking them apart while Saladin's sucessors squabbled. Richard's father Henry II died in 1189, and Richard became King of England. He had three sons. The eldest, Henry, became Prince of Wales. The second, Bohemund, was Prince of Edessa, and the third, Baldwin, Duke of Acre.
There is more, but this is the essential difference, the key point. By retaking Edessa and removing Nur ad Din, Saladin had a much smaller army, with fewer resources. Nur ad Din never took Egypt and overthrew the Fatimid Caliphate. The states of Outremer are able to play off the Sunni Caliphate in Baghdad against the Shi'ite Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt and the Assassins in Homs. The Assassins, who were Ismaili Muslims, separate Damascus from Aleppo, and play the Christian and Muslim states against each other.
So why am I setting this 350 years later? Because I am more comfortable with Renaissance than Medieval times for one, but also to give the setting a chance to stew and mature. What was raw in 1190 becomes smooth in 1560. Religious changes have time to foster and spread. Those 350 years were not peaceful and serene, far from it! There are always low grade wars, crises, rebellions, political machinations, and strange stuff galore - there are four more more states that come into being during this time - but there is also a modus vivendi, a working relationship with shifting alliances, which makes for a wonderful renaissance stew.
-clash
The history of Outremer is the same as ours up until the Second Crusade. Edessa had fallen to Zengi of Damascus, who died soon after, and was succeeded by his son Nur ad Din. Conrad of Germany and Louis of France set out on Crusade with the object of retaking Edessa, Louis with his young and fetching wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, who had a suit of armor made for her. Conrad, as in the real world, set off overland to avoid Roger of Sicily, with whom he was feuding, was betrayed by the Byzantines, and the German army was destroyed. Unlike in our timeline, Louis went by sea, as he and Roger were on good terms, with Roger helping him out. Louis landed in Alexandrette, and went over the mountains to Turbessel, where Jocelin II, Count of Edessa retained a rump state.
From there, they attack the Syrians in the county, drawing down the army of Nur ad Din for a battle in front of Saruj, where Louis is killed. The army, led by Jocelin and Eleanor, retreats in good order to Bile, where Nur ad Din assaults them again. This time, however, inspired by Eleanor, the Franks crush the Syrians, and Nur ad Din is killed, along with Jocelin. The army marches into Edessa and restores the state, with Eleanor as Princess of the new Principality, which owes no fealty to Byzantium.
This removes Nur ad Din, who never takes Egypt, which is thus still Shi'ite. Saladin, the son of one of Nur ad Din's generals, has only Damascus and Aleppo for resources, instead of an empire with Egypt and the Hejaz. Eleanor marries Henry II of England, but their son Richard is eventually Prince of Edessa.
Instead of the third crusade happening, Baldwin IV, the leper king, did not die in 1185 - leprosy is a disease which does not kill you, but opens you to opportunistic infections which do eventually kill you, so he could have died any time - and was alive when Saladin took Tiberias in 1187, after the death of his young nephew and heir Baldwin V. His army was defeated but not crushed - because he wasn't an idiot like King Guy in our timeline - and Baldwin was able to retreat to Caesarea, where he was beseiged. He sent messengers to Tripoli, Antioch, and Edessa, but Saladin took Jerusalem and all the rest of the kingdom.
Richard marched an army south from Edessa, joining forces with the Prince of Antioch and the Count of Tripoli, and marched to the relief of Caesarea. He took back the northern coast of the kingdom down to Haifa, with an epic seige of Acre, suffering all the while from Muslim attacks on his flank. From Haifa, he broke the seige of Caesarea, and with Baldwin, set off for Jerusalem. The armies under Richard and Baldwin broke through into Jerusalem, but were unable to oust Saladin's men from the city. After a long and fruitless battle in the city, both parties agreed to a peace. Saladin's younger brother was to marry Richard's sister, and become heir to the Kingdom of Jerusalem when Baldwin, without heirs and a leper, died. Richard retained the northern coast as a separate and independent duchy, ruled from Acre. The Kingdom was to be both Christian and Muslim - that is, without favoritism - with the royal family Muslim. The thing was done. During the third Crusade, Richard did offer his sister in marriage to Saladin's brother, but Saladin did not think he was serious, apparently.
In Outremer, Baldwin IV ruled Jerusalem for four more years before dying in 1192. Saladin was assassinated in Damascus in 1190. At the same time, the Assassins took Homs and carved out a state between Damascus and Aleppo, breaking them apart while Saladin's sucessors squabbled. Richard's father Henry II died in 1189, and Richard became King of England. He had three sons. The eldest, Henry, became Prince of Wales. The second, Bohemund, was Prince of Edessa, and the third, Baldwin, Duke of Acre.
There is more, but this is the essential difference, the key point. By retaking Edessa and removing Nur ad Din, Saladin had a much smaller army, with fewer resources. Nur ad Din never took Egypt and overthrew the Fatimid Caliphate. The states of Outremer are able to play off the Sunni Caliphate in Baghdad against the Shi'ite Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt and the Assassins in Homs. The Assassins, who were Ismaili Muslims, separate Damascus from Aleppo, and play the Christian and Muslim states against each other.
So why am I setting this 350 years later? Because I am more comfortable with Renaissance than Medieval times for one, but also to give the setting a chance to stew and mature. What was raw in 1190 becomes smooth in 1560. Religious changes have time to foster and spread. Those 350 years were not peaceful and serene, far from it! There are always low grade wars, crises, rebellions, political machinations, and strange stuff galore - there are four more more states that come into being during this time - but there is also a modus vivendi, a working relationship with shifting alliances, which makes for a wonderful renaissance stew.
-clash
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Player Characters, GMs, and Issues with Authority
I run a lot of military games, and I write a lot of them too. In fact I'm writing one right now - In Harm's Way: StarCluster. When I mention one of these games on a forum or by talking with someone, i often get some variation on this response:
"Oh, that sounds neat, but my group would never go for that! They can't stand anyone having any authority over them! They'd just sabotage the whole thing."
I am usually dumbfounded - or I was until I heard it so many times! Why does this reaction happen? It happened once or twice to me many many years ago, but I attributed it to a character thing, not a player state of mind. It has *never* happened with my current group, who are all - except for my wife, who is ageless, beautiful, and wise - between 18 and 23, and they have been gaming with me since they were 12-13, the period you'd expect to be rebellious and resentful of authority.
Bill Corrie of Hinterwelt said that it was because of the way I GM it, that my group trusts me. I think that's true, but that leads to the corollary thought of "Why don't these other groups trust their GM?" That leads to the thought that maybe these guys, or maybe their predecessor GMs, abused their player's trust, or never earned it in the first place. Then that leads to thoughts on those indie games with a curtailed or sharply defined GM role...
Then I wrench myself back from staring into the abyss, and focus on what can I do to help GMs. I've begun putting together a GM help section for IHW:SC concentrating on running military or military-esque games, where the PCs are part of a greater organization. I'm asking here for thoughts from anyone reading this - is there any advice you might have that I can put there? I know I'm not the only one to run this kind of game - someone keeps buying them! - and I know I'm not the source of all knowledge.
Thanks in advance!
-clash
"Oh, that sounds neat, but my group would never go for that! They can't stand anyone having any authority over them! They'd just sabotage the whole thing."
I am usually dumbfounded - or I was until I heard it so many times! Why does this reaction happen? It happened once or twice to me many many years ago, but I attributed it to a character thing, not a player state of mind. It has *never* happened with my current group, who are all - except for my wife, who is ageless, beautiful, and wise - between 18 and 23, and they have been gaming with me since they were 12-13, the period you'd expect to be rebellious and resentful of authority.
Bill Corrie of Hinterwelt said that it was because of the way I GM it, that my group trusts me. I think that's true, but that leads to the corollary thought of "Why don't these other groups trust their GM?" That leads to the thought that maybe these guys, or maybe their predecessor GMs, abused their player's trust, or never earned it in the first place. Then that leads to thoughts on those indie games with a curtailed or sharply defined GM role...
Then I wrench myself back from staring into the abyss, and focus on what can I do to help GMs. I've begun putting together a GM help section for IHW:SC concentrating on running military or military-esque games, where the PCs are part of a greater organization. I'm asking here for thoughts from anyone reading this - is there any advice you might have that I can put there? I know I'm not the only one to run this kind of game - someone keeps buying them! - and I know I'm not the source of all knowledge.
Thanks in advance!
-clash
Monday, January 4, 2010
Thoughts on Traits and Edges
Some new stuff I have been thinking about for In Harm's Way: StarCluster:
First, the comments coming back to me have been exceedingly positive! Thanks all for participating! We haven't found a lot of problems, but we'll keep hacking at it.
Second, I've decided to change the concept of giving a world Traits to giving the world Conditions. Conditions trigger bonuses which are always in play - they are part of the environment, a condition - so long as you have an appropriate Edge. For example, if the condition is Snowy, and your Edge is Extreme Weather, that would match well. Traits are resources which are depleted during play and refresh every session. I think Conditions & Edges are a much better way to hard-code what a world is like mechanically.
Third, I'm adding a small mechanical change to make Traits into more of a currency. Up 'til now, when you use your traits up, they are gone until next session. What I am introducing is that when player characters uses traits to their detriment, they can gain one point back in that trait per point of trait used. For example, your character has a trait of "Hot-Tempered 2". During a bit of roleplaying, if you decide to give yourself a penalty of 2 Small, however that is expressed in the task resolution sub-system, you can add back 2 points into your Hot-Tempered trait. You can only use this method to refresh spent points - you can't gain points over your normal totals, which are the amounts you have at the start of the session. It's still not a full-blown currency like Fate points - I don't like Compels, and prefer that the players initiate anything - but now you can reward yourself for good roleplaying.
Fourth, I'm teaming up with Albert Bailey again for Outremer! I worked with Albert on StarCluster, Cold Space, Sweet Chariot, Book of Jalan, and FTL Now, and we work together really well! His depth of knowledge concerning both history and religion is astonishing, and will be vital to succeeding with Outremer.
-clash
First, the comments coming back to me have been exceedingly positive! Thanks all for participating! We haven't found a lot of problems, but we'll keep hacking at it.
Second, I've decided to change the concept of giving a world Traits to giving the world Conditions. Conditions trigger bonuses which are always in play - they are part of the environment, a condition - so long as you have an appropriate Edge. For example, if the condition is Snowy, and your Edge is Extreme Weather, that would match well. Traits are resources which are depleted during play and refresh every session. I think Conditions & Edges are a much better way to hard-code what a world is like mechanically.
Third, I'm adding a small mechanical change to make Traits into more of a currency. Up 'til now, when you use your traits up, they are gone until next session. What I am introducing is that when player characters uses traits to their detriment, they can gain one point back in that trait per point of trait used. For example, your character has a trait of "Hot-Tempered 2". During a bit of roleplaying, if you decide to give yourself a penalty of 2 Small, however that is expressed in the task resolution sub-system, you can add back 2 points into your Hot-Tempered trait. You can only use this method to refresh spent points - you can't gain points over your normal totals, which are the amounts you have at the start of the session. It's still not a full-blown currency like Fate points - I don't like Compels, and prefer that the players initiate anything - but now you can reward yourself for good roleplaying.
Fourth, I'm teaming up with Albert Bailey again for Outremer! I worked with Albert on StarCluster, Cold Space, Sweet Chariot, Book of Jalan, and FTL Now, and we work together really well! His depth of knowledge concerning both history and religion is astonishing, and will be vital to succeeding with Outremer.
-clash
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Tinderbox Station
Randomly rolled up for a thread on RPGnet, from In Harm's Way:StarCluster:
Tinderbox
World Description: Space Station/Habitat (This was a given.)
Cultural Technology Level: 10 (The highest)
Settlement Status: Independent State
Population: 100s of millions
Type: Humans and Aliens (Kiskit)
Cultural Traits: Hot Tempered 3, Argumentative 2, Arrogant 2
World Traits: Crowded 2, Gaudy 2, Spicy1, Rich 2
Political Traits: Ineffectual 3, Honest 2, Comic-Operatic 2
Tinderbox is the only inhabited "world" in the system of the same name. It orbits the dim red dwarf closely. There is a rich asteroid belt just outside, and a frozen water world farther out, from which raw materials are mined, but no substantial population lives outside Tinderbox itself.
Tinderbox is an enormous rambling structure, ostentatious and glittering. It is settled by a mixture of Kiskits and Humans in about equal number. The technology level is very high, and as the only source for antimatter and fusion gasses on this section of a rich trade route, Tinderbox has wealth to spare.
Tinderbox belongs to no supra-system organization, being independent and unaligned. The government is regarded as a joke by most citizens. Though government functionaries try their best, they are routinely scammed, avoided, beaten up, laughed at, and ridiculed. They are able to collect so few taxes that they stumble along on a mostly voluntary basis.
Private enterprise is a powerhouse. Most anything imaginable is available if you have the wealth. Even the poorer Humans and Kiskits of Tinderbox are comparatively wealthy compared to most places, and know it. They are arrogant, and love to duel. One had best be polite to a Tinderboxer!
-clash
Tinderbox
World Description: Space Station/Habitat (This was a given.)
Cultural Technology Level: 10 (The highest)
Settlement Status: Independent State
Population: 100s of millions
Type: Humans and Aliens (Kiskit)
Cultural Traits: Hot Tempered 3, Argumentative 2, Arrogant 2
World Traits: Crowded 2, Gaudy 2, Spicy1, Rich 2
Political Traits: Ineffectual 3, Honest 2, Comic-Operatic 2
Tinderbox is the only inhabited "world" in the system of the same name. It orbits the dim red dwarf closely. There is a rich asteroid belt just outside, and a frozen water world farther out, from which raw materials are mined, but no substantial population lives outside Tinderbox itself.
Tinderbox is an enormous rambling structure, ostentatious and glittering. It is settled by a mixture of Kiskits and Humans in about equal number. The technology level is very high, and as the only source for antimatter and fusion gasses on this section of a rich trade route, Tinderbox has wealth to spare.
Tinderbox belongs to no supra-system organization, being independent and unaligned. The government is regarded as a joke by most citizens. Though government functionaries try their best, they are routinely scammed, avoided, beaten up, laughed at, and ridiculed. They are able to collect so few taxes that they stumble along on a mostly voluntary basis.
Private enterprise is a powerhouse. Most anything imaginable is available if you have the wealth. Even the poorer Humans and Kiskits of Tinderbox are comparatively wealthy compared to most places, and know it. They are arrogant, and love to duel. One had best be polite to a Tinderboxer!
-clash
Saturday, December 26, 2009
In Harm's Way: StarCluster in Playtest
For those of you interested, IHW:SC is now back in playtest. I am very happy with all the changes I made, and I think I have covered everything. Chargen is pretty much the only thing that hasn't changed since the previous playtest. I am *much* happier with starship and vehicle combat! Virtually everything is extremely customizable - clusters, worlds, aliens, ships, vehicles, and of course, characters. No two games will ever be the same, but the feel of StarCluster will be there. The use of traits throughout lends a consistency to everything. I wish I could have used the same combat system for vehicles and spaceships, but I couldn't do that and keep the physics based feel of StarCluster.
That was the important point for me. I could have a military game, but it wouldn't be StarCluster if it didn't feel right. These customizable elements end up feeling like a part of StarCluster that I never designed, which is just perfect!
-clash
That was the important point for me. I could have a military game, but it wouldn't be StarCluster if it didn't feel right. These customizable elements end up feeling like a part of StarCluster that I never designed, which is just perfect!
-clash
Sunday, December 20, 2009
When Last We Heard From Our intrepid Heroes....
My notes establishing the end situation in my group's last OHMAS session, so we can pick things right up after Christmas:
1: There is a huge pocket on the bottom floor of the bell tower at Cambridge, being held stretched open by Franklin, a Ghost-cloathed-in-flesh familiar of the Warlock Edgar. The pocket is full of both charred and living earwigs.
2: There is a Salamader of unusual power sizzling in the pocket, frying and eating earwigs.
3: The Warlock Gwylliam and the Magus Rev. William are covered in live and dead earwigs, having just scrambled out of the pocket.
4: The Human Changeling Whit is in the form of a tabby cat, who is hunting and eating said earwigs.
5: Rev. William has a earwig which has eaten into his brain, and which is sometimes controlling what he does - each time he does anything he rolls a die. Even, he acts as himself, odd, he acts as an insect would.
6: Gwylliam is holding a glowing pin in his teeth. On the end of the pin is an Anchored Will-o-the-Whisp.
7: The Warlock Edgar is waving a torch at the earwigs, keeping them away from the entry.
8: The Savant Isabelle is near her husband Whit, trying to avoid the horrifying earwigs. It was she who opened the pocket, saving Gwylliam and William from certain death as they fell from far up the bell tower, both having fallen when Insect-William tried to eat his way into Gwylliam's brain. Luckily the proto-matter of the pocket is soft and rubbery.
9: Gwyilliam's familiar, the Sylph Melissa, is currently discorporated, and in the form of a swirling wind in the center of the bell tower.
This is the chaos I call home. You wouldn't believe what happened to lead to this...
-clash
1: There is a huge pocket on the bottom floor of the bell tower at Cambridge, being held stretched open by Franklin, a Ghost-cloathed-in-flesh familiar of the Warlock Edgar. The pocket is full of both charred and living earwigs.
2: There is a Salamader of unusual power sizzling in the pocket, frying and eating earwigs.
3: The Warlock Gwylliam and the Magus Rev. William are covered in live and dead earwigs, having just scrambled out of the pocket.
4: The Human Changeling Whit is in the form of a tabby cat, who is hunting and eating said earwigs.
5: Rev. William has a earwig which has eaten into his brain, and which is sometimes controlling what he does - each time he does anything he rolls a die. Even, he acts as himself, odd, he acts as an insect would.
6: Gwylliam is holding a glowing pin in his teeth. On the end of the pin is an Anchored Will-o-the-Whisp.
7: The Warlock Edgar is waving a torch at the earwigs, keeping them away from the entry.
8: The Savant Isabelle is near her husband Whit, trying to avoid the horrifying earwigs. It was she who opened the pocket, saving Gwylliam and William from certain death as they fell from far up the bell tower, both having fallen when Insect-William tried to eat his way into Gwylliam's brain. Luckily the proto-matter of the pocket is soft and rubbery.
9: Gwyilliam's familiar, the Sylph Melissa, is currently discorporated, and in the form of a swirling wind in the center of the bell tower.
This is the chaos I call home. You wouldn't believe what happened to lead to this...
-clash
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)