After Sunburn

Here' to getting ahead of myself. *clink*

I've already begun thinking of what comes after Project Sunburn. What's next for the Escapade Engine?

• Sunburn 2
• Yore
• Spectrum: World

Sunburn 2 is the most likely one. I've got a plot nicely set up to walk the players into, and I'm pretty familiar with the world already. Same goes for the players. I feel most confidant with this one.

Yore was the second "first test" of the EE I had planned. Basic medieval fantasy, except it was based in a desert, Arabian-style environment for the first half. The bland, medieval-Europeans were the bad guys, just to shake things up. I have no doubt this one is going to happen, but most likely after Sunburn 3.

Spectrum is really the self-actualization of the Escapade Engine. The engine is designed for simplicity and adaptability. It can easily reconfigure to horror, pulp sci-fi, modern, etc. Or, it can simulate all at the same time. This is the ultimate end goal. Spectrum is an expression of that- hopping around in time and space Chrono Trigger style, taking laser guns to the prehistoric era, or using powerful, ancient tattoos to fight evil. Maybe both at the same time.

Either way, there's always more inspiration out there. Speaking of which...

I've been thinking for some time about a nomadic experience- one where the goal is simply to go, and things appear by the side. The video game Journey is a good example of this. The original inspiration for Project Sunburn was the movie Hunter Prey (2011, it's on Netflix). Granted, I took most of the survival message, but the idea still appeals to me.

As does a non-violent campaign. The best use of this would be a test for the Speech rules. After all, the way to make skill checks interesting is to give them actual interplay, like combat. Roll die -> Get result is boring.

More rambling later. For now, I need to get off my high horse and make some bunker maps.

Stay cool.

Armor, stats, and predetermination

Been a while.

Ultimately, there are three kinds of armor in PS:

• Light Armor: The standard-issue EMPIRE gear. Conveniently fits humans. I expect most players will be wearing this. Good protection, almost guaranteed to stop pistol shots. Little loss to Sneak.
• Heavy Armor: ... Duh. It's heavy. Good protection against most things. Big hit to Sneak, and possibly Sleight of Hand. But, honestly, there's not going to be many Sleight checks in here.
• No Armor: The lightest, stealthiest, most vulnerable armor possible. Definitely for rogue-type characters who want to get their Sam Fisher on. I'm thinking of dropping the EMPIRE troops' observation skills to make this more appealing. But, that said, the last thing I want is five people in pajamas assassinating their way across the sands of OHS-817, despite how funny it is to think about.

Stealth will be useful in the tunnels under the catch pad, as well as Hellhammer fight (which I'm having serious thoughts about changing).

Considering the variable number of players in this- and any- campaign, the stats for EMPIRE will be modified with this algorithm:

Number of players = X

1D6 + 7 - X = base

Base + 0 = patrols
Base + 1 = bunker population
Base + 2 = Hellhammer population

The basic idea behind this was that as they destroy bunkers, each one will be progressively harder. The grunts on patrol will have absolutely no idea what they're about to be hit with. The people in bunkers will have a slightly higher warning, and anyone in Hellhammer is just hardcore. The players will get XP after their desert wanderings, as well as clearing a bunker, so it only seems fair.

With that math, a single player (starting at 210 XP or so) will be fighting D6+8 grunts in the last bunker. Holy crap. That would be a fight to enjoy.

Finally, I've been thinking about the mentor-figure they start the campaign with, on board the Brahma. He is going to die. No matter what is attempted, or decided, he will not survive the crash on the surface. He is pre-determined, in a way. For dramatic effect, I'll even roll a die after the players decide whose capsule is going into the rift.

Colin Porter, Ph.D.

The first hour of gameplay is going to be character creation, building atmosphere, and endearing Dr. Porter as hard as I can. The campaign doesn't truly begin until he dies, which I hope will be a really heart-wrenching moment.

I'm going to make a character sheet for Colin. It's a good example for the players, and it makes them think he'll be joining them on the surface. Most of his skills are going to be Speech and Education. It's a dump stat in Project Sunburn. I'll make sure the players know that "he's got it covered." I really hope my micro-expressions don't give it away. I'd also feel really bad if a player actually tried to play that angle.

If any of my players eventually start reading this... I'm sorry. I'm so, so, sorry.

... People read this?!?

Hello,

So I found out I have 15 views from France and Russia... Hi, hope you like it.

This blog was really intended as a dump-space for my RPG stuff, but I'm okay with having visitors. Go ahead and leave a comment, I don't bite.

... Except in-game.

On player death

It would be all too easy to just let players be conveniently invincible. But then it's not really a challenge- it's sightseeing. Don't get me wrong, I like sightseeing, but there needs to be an element of challenge and fear involved. If you really mess up, you will die. Your resources, including your HP, will be fatigued and exhausted. But that's not fun!

My policy (both for RPs and RPGs) was that no one will die... permanently. It served its purpose nicely, but there was still no viscerality to it. I could make a convincing firefight, but eventually someone will realize- there never was any real danger. There never will be. We can do what we want, and the GM will have to go with it. I'm invincible!

So, I'm putting up new ground rules. This is still a loose guideline, and heavily ties into the "you're special" intro to every campaign evar.

• Players get a "warning shot." Unless if it very obviously should kill them (detonating a nuke), my dice will conveniently miss them. Hopefully they'll get the idea and scramble for meds.
• Anyone who dies will get to go out in the most spectacular way possible. No boring deaths. If they're going to die, then dammit! I'll give them an exit they'll remember for quite a while.
• Resurrect: The character comes back to life, but at a cost. Either XP, or something nasty comes with them.
• Reincarnate: Make a new character with roughly the same XP. I don't want death to be a character replacement mechanic, but at the same time, I'm not going to punish them too thoroughly for dying. The dice are trying to kill me.

This is roughly how I'm going to do things. Warning shot -> spectacle -> resurrect/reincarnate.

In Sunburn, they'll have defib shockers which bring them up to 1 HP. I'll even make them roll dice for it. Certain negative HPs have harder and harder DCs to beat.

(Medicine) + (Ability Dice, D8 for humans) vs Second Wind DC

• 0-10 : DC 4
• 11-20: DC 6
• 31-50: DC 9
• 51-100: DC 12

It'll work for now. More will happen in testing. For a couple of people slugging it out with machine guns doing +2 over the "light" armor, I think we're good.

AP

Obviously, a work in progress. For the time being, a "turn" is about 5 seconds. Everyone's turns should, supposedly, happen all at the same time. But that sounds like a terrible way to spend an evening. So, here are the basics, building off of what happened last post:

• Guns have a maximum number of shots/turn. It is still 5 seconds, and even the most coordinated shooter will be held back by his equipment. Say we have a 25 AP character with a 10 AP gun: Carry two of them. 10 AP to shoot the first one, 5 AP to switch, then 10 AP to shoot the second one. It's almost like dual-wielding. Far from perfect, but it's what I got.
• Walking has a maximum distance. How much of their turn is dedicated to movement I leave to them. I'm thinking 1AP/square, and sprinting takes 1AP/2 squares. But, they can't do anything while sprinting.
• Stealth rules need to be ironed out, but here's the 'rough: -0 while staying put, doing nothing. No penalty for making another stealth check (think of it as digging in further). -4 while walking. -7 while sprinting. -12 while discharging a firearm (grenades don't count). Effects stack. Any character who is "in stealth," successfully, cannot be targeted.
• Any character who attacks from stealth gets an automatic critical- the equivalent of maximum accuracy roll. For players, this is an 8.
• Carry weight is 2x strength + 1x concentration + 5x carry weight + 40, max is 200.
• Oh derp.

More later, as always. Maybe I'll actually get off my ass and make maps...

On the nature of RPGs

So I was reading Grognardia the other day. He had some good points about story, and the "essense" of 1e. But, most importantly, he directed me to a page about Gygax: Story is more important than gameplay.

In this day of high-fidelity video games, the mechanics of any tabletop game are sorely outdated. It's easier to make a "game" for pen and dice, but there's only so much complexity. Doing Fallout-style accuracy predictions would be a pain in the ass.

So, what does that leave us with? Story. Narrative. Characterization. The players, with a focus on the GM, make the game come alive for everyone. It's a truly immersive experience, only limited by your imagination. And even then, the average group is ~6 people. That's a lot of imagination.

Without story, it would be a grind. I'm thinking of my first "official" 4e (don't laugh, I had no idea) adventure, and how bland it would be without characterization. You might as well just play chess.

The players make the game come alive, and nestle it into their minds. That immersion- that raw emotional power- will never be emulated completely by a computer. I have no doubt it will come close, but a GM will always be able to make a more convincing cast of characters, and environment.

"Pen-and-paper role-playing is live theater and computer games are television. People want the convenience and instant gratification of turning on the TV rather than getting dressed up and going out to see a live play. In the same way, the computer is a more immediately accessible way to play games."

-Gary Gygax, via Wikiquote

I'm not saying anything bad about video games- I think they're very fun, and I routinely play them instead of working on Project Sunburn.

... Now who's immersed in what?

But, it's all pre-packaged. Without the guiding hand of a human GM, it's all so samey. It's not personal at all. You're just receiving what everyone else does. But, honestly? That's okay. Some days I'd rather kick back and turn on the TV.