Bite-sized thoughts 2

Villains-

There's a few rules for villains I bumped into while reading on RPGs. It's so simple, but I didn't fully realize it until I thought about it.

Rule 1: They have to be bad. If the players have no moral disagreement, there's no conflict, and he's just another buddy of theirs. So many of my villains had perfectly reasonable intentions, but just went about it in a convoluted, evil way. They were compelling enemies, but none of them were truly hateable.

Rule 2: They have to be visible. Keep reminding the players that there's a bad, bad dude out there. He's on billboards, his minions are constantly looting caravans, he's screwing with the stock market, or he's so popular everyone is talking about him. Be creative, and remember that his actions (and the results of) are just as good for face-time.

Rule 3: They have to be a legitimate threat. No good if the players just stomp on him. He learns from his mistakes, switches up his strategies, and is always looking for allies, just like the PCs are. I was watching Logan's Run the other day, and Box (robot who catches and freezes people for food) fails at this. Forty seconds of fisticuffs and being shot at, and he falls over. Complete push-over, in more ways than one.

Apocalypse Proliferation-

We are living in a post-apocalyptic world. A great empire rose above all others, and controlled the world. It was called Rome. Now, it is no more- pictures on a wall, words in history books, and a memory of a simpler, more barbaric time.

I'm forced to believe "apocalypse" has replaced the word "disaster," due to its biblical undertones. Almost every RPG I can think of has ruins. Someone lived in them once, but now they don't. There's a reason. It could just be that they made newer buildings, or they could have been scourged by the sun. Either way, "apocalypse" is hardly a blanket term, and I'm trying to cut back on using it as one.

Dice rolls/surprise rounds-

In any non-threatening situation (no time limit, no one trying to kill you), dice should auto-crit. Maximum possible roll, automatically. For one, it's boring as hell to roll for everything. For another, it gives the surprising party an edge in combat, infiltration, etc.

Speech is Combat-

I love Fallout. To my grave, I love it. But, the speech skill is so gaudy. "I'm one point short of being able to convince you to drop dead for me. That's how I roll." There's no intensity, no interaction- like real talking.

So, my theory is to use an engine similar to combat. Everyone who participates in the conversation is in "the grid." Anyone who chooses to not be a part of it isn't represented, so they cannot give or take flak. Then, the combatants go around using various attacks- joke, boast, coerce, admire, etc. Slowly, the enemy's "distrust" is whittled down, until they'll work with you, or are convinced of X, etc.

Because trust is something I'm leaving to the players (not the characters), anyone important will also have a "patience" bar. If it runs out (by making successful attacks against players) the character thinks they've had enough, and exits combat.

It's not a perfect solution, but it's an improvement. It's versatile, interactive, and has parallels in actual conversation. If you aren't even good at talking, your character should have an option to remain in the conversation, and buff someone by just agreeing with them. Nodding, saying "yeah, truth," etc.

I'm not going to implement this for a while. Sunburn is already too damn large. But, this is definitely going to happen. Press X to convince the man to not kill himself.