Replicant Society Stress Triggers (old post)

 

How about a way back post. This is something that I originally posted fourteen years ago. Was working on a Blade Runner type of game called Replicant Society where the PC's where the replicants trying to survive and hide among the human population. I think somebody has already done something like that since then.

But still some of the ideas I had for stress triggers make me want to try and actually make a little mini game. Really rules light, more about handling stress and surviving in plain sight. Maybe one day. Anyways here's my original thoughts on the matter.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Been hashing out some ideas for a game based on Blade Runner and the novel it was adapted from 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep'. Currently it's called Replicant Society and the players will be the Androids. This first little bit I posted over on my G+ stream. Might as well do a repost here.

Here are some quick ideas on stress triggers and android model types. This is all just ideas I've been writing down over the last couple of days.

One thing that androids do not have is a lifetime of experience. This is especially true in the area of the minds ability to handle stressful situations. Thus it become necessary to track the various types of stress that they are especially vulnerable to. Now some model types are more resistant to various types of stress than others. Now let's look at the four key stress triggers.

Socialization – This is the ability to handle constant social interaction with a variety of people in multiple situations.

Sexual Contact – The intimacy of sexual contact with a living being.

Combat – This is one stress trigger that androids tend to share with their human counterparts.

Emotional Crests – Intense amounts of any specific emotion. Be it fear, happiness, love.

Now the various model types are listed below. Each has specific triggers that they are more resistant while others they seem more susceptible to.

Administration – Resistant to Socialization.
Pleasure – Resistant to Sexual Contact and Socialization. Susceptible to Combat.
Combat – Resistant to Combat and Emotional Crests. Susceptible to Sexual Contact and Socialization.
Caregiver – Resistant to Emotional Crests and Socialization. Susceptible to Combat.
Labor – Neutral regard with all triggers.
Entertainment – Resistant to Socialization. Susceptible to Combat.

Two Centric Styles

 

This above post got me to thinking on something that happened in my game group recently. We had a really good player who was also a really good person. He was a great addition at the table and everyone enjoyed playing with him. Everything was great when we were playing a game that was heavily class based, in particular Cyberpunk 2020 and RED. 

But then when we moved on to another game that had no classes and was much more 'build your own' things began to not go so well. The new game, while still very trad based, focused much more on individual characters and being what you want to be. Instead of where you belong in a group or team. 

He had some issues which we tried to help him out with. Character creation was a hurdle. What his character should be doing. Things like that. Eventually he dropped out saying he felt 'rudderless' and had no direction of what he should be doing. Now there were other issues like he loved having games with lots of lore to fall back on. But I think this may have been the central issue. 

It wasn't until I read the above post that it clicked in my head. He hadn't game for over a decade at some point, only recently getting back into gaming. So I think the over all style of gaming he was used to had shifted somewhat. I never noticed because I stayed in the gaming hobby and never really got out, only burnt out a few times. So the shift was something that never caught my attention. 

Adventure-Centric really harkens back to the way DnD used to be. You played the Cleric, your job was to be the healer, back up combat person and occasionally turning the undead. The Thief found traps and unlocked doors. Etc and so forth. Premade adventures where designed around going in with a well rounded party with each person doing their part to keep moving things forward. Even with modern games that do have classes they are much more open to interpretation allowing much more room for them to built outside of a central focused role. 

Now while I don't think you can define gaming between just these two filters it does help provide a lens to see things through. Now understanding this I'm hoping I may be able to talk him back to the table for a bit. Just need to discuss ahead of time what his characters adventure-centric traits could be and giving a focal point. He may like it, he may not. But he's one of those guys I consider a friend and I hope to game with him again in the future. So I will give it a shot. 

In the end I think this lens of two styles of play will help me (and a few others) understand the people at the table a bit more. Seeing what they are looking for and what they want. By no means is this anything like an overall classification of gaming styles. Just something more to think about. 

Sprawlvember 12: Trusted

 

Trust as an attribute in Cyberpunk games. This is very much a rough draft, constructive criticism is welcome. This is part of #Sprawlvember so search up that hashtag for more fun stuff.

This represents how much fixers, corpos, and other folks you have to do business with trust the runner. Because word gets around on the street, good and bad, whether you want it to or not. Everyone talks and they will be talking about you at some point.

The level goes on a scale from zero to ten. With the zero being the worst possible level where folks regard you as true street garbage that nobody will work with. Ten being the top of the line trust you with the most delicate jobs. Starting level should be decided by the GM and the backstory the players come up with for their characters. I would suggest somewhere from three to five.

Increasing or decreasing your Trust is done in small doses usually by adding or subtracting .1 or .2 at a time to or from your current level. So at times your character will have something like a 4.6 or 7.2. For rolling purposes the goal is roll under your current score paying attention only to the first number and not the incremental after it. So in the case of the 4.6 you need a 4 or under.

Things that add to your Trust.

- Successfully completing a job

- An extra .1 for completing a job above and beyond expectations

- Positive media exposure for yourself

- Showing proper respect and appearance at important meetings

- Making the person that hired you look very good

- Building community among your fellow runners

- Anything else that the GM thinks would make you gain more Trust

Things that subtract from your Trust

- Failing at a job

- Losing another .2 for spectacularly failing a job

- Looking bad in the media and being seen as a terrible person

- Blowing off etiquette and manners with important people

- Making the person giving you a job look bad

- Angering your community of fellow runners

- Becoming a criminal of a heinous nature (sex offender, serial killer, etc) can drop it a full point

- Anything else that the GM thinks would blow your Trust score down

When you are trying to set up a job, acquire specific merchandise or get into the good graces with some important NPCs you need to roll against your Trust. The object is to roll under your current rank. Now failing doesn’t mean you don’t get what you want but that there may be side effects. Here are a few examples.

- The cost of the item you want will go up

- It may take longer to acquire the item

- They will still get the item but you have to pay up front

- The job will pay quite a bit less

- There is no up front pay for a job you are about to take

- They may not tell you all the “need to know” information about the job

- May actively sabotage you ability to do the job by warning the target

- Whatever else the evil brain of your GM can think of.

Now of course there are sometimes some extras for succeeding in your Trust roll by a great deal. Here are a few examples.

- They can get you the item at a bargain or get it faster than expected

- They tack on an extra bonus if you complete the mission successfully

- The upfront pay is higher than normal

- Passing on extra information to the runner about the job

- You get a selection of jobs to pick from instead whatever scraps they have

- They recommend you to others to work with in the future

- Whatever else the generous brain of your GM can think of.

How detailed do you need?

 I do so love 80's and early 90's TTRPGs. Everything about them just hooks me and reels all my attention in. Just look at this hit location chart, overly detailed to say the least. Not as bad as, say, Phoenix Command but it's still pretty over done. Even has a second chart for when the target only has their upper body exposed. 

For those wondering this one is from the original RECON game released in 1982 from Role Playing Games Inc. 

DnD Starter Set not an RPG

Well according to the WPN page over on the Wizards site the Dungeons and Dragons Starter Set is no longer an introductory set to the roleplaying game. In that short little description they refer to it as a board game twice. Even calling it the "ultimate Dungeons and Dragons-inspired board game". 

This really says all you need to know about the direction that Hasbro is wanting the game to go. But I guess they don't know that Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying went this direction for a while as well. All pieces and parts with the least amount of roleplay as possible. That version was ultimately scrapped and they went back to a standard ttrpg design.

So with this being the new Starter Set and it not being a RPG I'm not sure what to recommend to folks who want to dip their toes into the DnD hobby. Guess some other starter for another game line. 

WttC - The Immunity Stat

 

Immunity

The world of ‘Welcome to the City’ is one rife with pollution, toxins and other nasty stuff that’s all around. This can take a toll on a human body, and it does. Especially for the Work Crews who have to venture into some of the worst areas of the city to take of their jobs.

The Immunity stat is how we keep track of how well their body is holding up… or not holding up as the case may be. Whenever the character is exposed to something highly toxic, gets splattered with waste or goes to long without their filter mask then a roll could be called for.

Rolling for an Immunity check is done by rolling a number of dice equal to your Immunity stat. Normally only one success is necessary although if there exposure is something drastically bad then a higher number may be required. This roll cannot be pushed. Success means you are fine but a failure results in your Immunity stat being reduced by one.

Every PC starts out with a six rating.

Now let’s talk about what happens as that level drops. For every point below six it increases the necessary XP to increase a skill or buy a specialty by two points. Example: If you are at a three Immunity then it will cost four extra XP. At a four you are at one negative die for all physical activities. At a two you are at two negative die for all physical activities and one negative die for all mental activities. At a zero they fall into a toxic shock and are broken and will die if not treated at a medical facility within a day.

Recovering Immunity.

If you reach zero and are treated at a medical facility they can stabilize the PC. The character then wakes up with an Immunity level of one.

You can receive a cleansing treatment at a hospital. This requires a substantial amount of money and a week stay in that facility. When finished you will gain back one point of Immunity and will make an Immunity roll. If you fail, nothing happens this time, but for every success you will an additional point back as well.

Also spending XP is another way. For every ten XP spent you will gain back one point.

Like what you see here? Then check out my Ko-Fi page to show your support. 

WttC - Year Zero Engine starting point

 

Reworking the game to use the Year Zero Engine from Free League Publishing. I'm really liking my experiences with that system so far and it's available for free to use. Going to try and push this one to actually make it to the playtest level, unlike before. 

What I've decided on so far. 

The four stats and twelve skills. Some modifications here to fit the setting but not much. 

Force (Strength)

Close Combat (Strength)

Stamina (Strength)

Marksmanship (Agility)

Mobility (Agility)

Piloting (Agility)

Machinery (Wits)

Observation (Wits)

Survival (Wits)

Medical Aid (Empathy)

Manipulation (Empathy)

Persuasion (Empathy)

Stealth will be a specialization instead of a skill. Computer Operation will be a specialization that works with Machinery since people who actually know how to do anything beyond the very basics with a computer are not that common. 

Stress Dice will be used. 

A health bar, similar to the one in Alien, will also be used.

Need to add in some sort of Toxic measure in there. To show how badly the toxic environment has affect the well being of the characters. Thinking of something similar to the Immunity Check that was in the old game Kromosome from the Amazing Engine line. Not sure how I'm going to do that yet.

That and the basics of Psionic abilities as well. 

Welcome to the City - PMCS

 

Much of the hardware that new Operators get assigned to use in Welcome to the City isn't of the best quality. It's all made by the lowest bidder, out of date, some of it already well used and prone to breakdowns and failure if not maintained. 

So I'm going to work in PMCS (Preventive Maintenance Checks and Services, something the US Military does all the time) for the characters to do. When the players have their PCs do weapon breakdowns and cleaning, vehicle maintenance and general clean up duties while working. Basically setting up a sheet for the GM to keep track of when it's done, or more importantly, when it's not done. After so many missed times on gear that is used then there is a chance of breakdown, malfunction or outright failure. 

Of course gear that you don't use isn't going to be a focus. So if you go a week without pulling PMCS on your handgun but also haven't used it during that time I'm not going to make it an issue. 

All Work Crew vehicles will have a manual inside of them. The manual will have the name of the vehicle with a dash ten (- 10) after it. All gear comes with their own dash ten manuals as well, usually pocket sized and sometimes pretty worn out from the previous owner. Whether or not the PC carries this around with them is another issue altogether. I will add a minimum skill level needed to have before the character doesn't need the manual anymore to pull it's maintenance checks. 

In a Work Crew vehicle all necessary basic maintenance equipment is stowed inside. Anything major like a complete motor overhaul will need to be done in a garage or turned in for replacement Also inside the vehicles are basic kits for communication gear and hand held equipment. For firearms each Operator is issued a cleaning kit as part of their standard Basic Blue package. 

If you like the posts you read here then consider showing your support over on KoFi or in other ways on the Support This Blog tab. 

Masters Workshop - Story Cards

 

Working on my own game world, yet again. It has a lot of background details, yet again. But I don't want to force my players to have to read through all of it when a good chunk my never have any affect on what they do. Most of it is just there to explain how the world got to where it is. But I also have players who love details like that. So that got me thinking. 

I'm going to make story cards and rate what level of world lore you need to know what's on a specific card. 

Then those who want the details can read them as they want as long as they are within their characters lore rating. Those who don't but suddenly find themselves asking a question or something does have to do with what's going on then you could just hand them the need-to-know cards for a quick read. Again, as long as they within their lore rating. 

Example: In my scifi setting there was what's called the 'Big Crash' in computer data that happened around forty years earlier. Since all the currency at the time had gone digital this caused a lot of devastation and huge problems. As a result the government went back to solely physical currency known as 'chips'. Now most players just know that physical currency is a thing and digital is not and don't care about the back story. 

Now let's say they find a box full of old Cred Sticks while searching through some old building. I tell them they are pre Big Crash. If they ask what it is I check the card for the Big Crash and it's a Lore Rating 1 so I hand it over so they can read it if they want. Some may not even care and that's fine. 

This helps me introduce history and lore as it is necessary or wanted. No handing over a thirty page world bible and telling them to absorb all that in. But it's also there for those who want that explosion of data to read through. 

Sort of a physical wiki. Now I guess I'll be picking up some more index cards and a new card holder while at the thrift shops. 

If you like these blog posts then consider tossing me a dollar or so over on Ko-Fi.

Masters Workshop - PC Death

 

There is a post over on BlueSky that got me thinking. I made a screenshot of it below. 

I've played in a few games where you will spend an insane amount of time making characters. Tons of fiddly bits and stuff to figure up or buying gear. Then just an hour into the game and one bad roll, all that is gone and the PC is dead. So you start all over again.

Needless to say after a few times with stuff like that happening I said "fuck this, not fun anymore" and left. This has probably been on of the main reason I soft ball the first few games of anything I run. So the players can get into the feel of the game a bit and so they don't have to do character creation all over again.

Now I've never played or read Tenra Bansho Zero but I remember some folks up in arms over this rule. I like it and I don't myself. Probably because I've dealt with my fair share of problem players over the years and if they figured out they couldn't die no matter what, well the amount of stupid shit they would attempt is something I don't even want to think about. But I get the general idea. Three hours of character creation and then the first chest you fail a trap check on and get a bad save, BANG you're dead. Now you sit there and crunch numbers why the rest of the table gets to play. No thanks.

A friend told me Colonial Gothic has a 'Coin' mechanic that allows you a one time 'cash in' if your character dies. It saves them from death but they may have recovery time, bad injuries, etc. But you get to keep on with that one PC and that sounds doable. 

But my main take away is that after hours of character generation a system with instant character death is a whole shit load of no fun. Simple systems where char gen is only five or ten minutes, that works. Hell something with mostly premade char gen with only a couple tweaks would be the best idea. At least for those who want to run high mortality games where one wrong roll ends things.

Personally I like more invested character creation. More personality is developed that way and you are more able to play what you want. This enables you to, y'know, have more fun. 

So I'm thinking of something akin to a mechanic where it gives you that second chance. But it doesn't shield you forever. But once it's used it's gone. Because I don't want to have the idiot squad doing stupid shit and never learning that there are better ways to do things besides leading with their face into combat. 

What are your thoughts?

Like what you read on my blog. Well I do have a Ko-Fi page and would appreciate support.

Members of the Guard webpage

 

Well I've started work on trying to get one of my old homebrew ideas up and fully running into a stand alone game. So to do so I've decided to go with a route that brings me joy and nostalgia and sat up an old fashioned webpage over on NeoCities. Learning HTML again was actually kind of fun surprisingly. 

I'm taking my old 'Question of Faith' setting and morphing it into a more defining title of "Members of the Guard". Then slowly pulling bits and pieces I have scattered all over into that one central location. You can find that webpage RIGHT HERE if you are interested. 

Also threw a Ko-Fi link at the bottom and a link to my Truly Rural Productions facebook page on there as well. Hopefully this will gain a little bit of momentum once I get to set down with my group and do some actual playtesting. 

Any questions feel free to drop them into the comments here. 

Advanced Fighting Fantasy Deluxe sale

 Over on DrivethruRPG the Advanced Fighting Fantasy Deluxe Edition is now on sale. Now this is one of the best rules light fantasy games that I've ever had the pleasure of playing and running. The rules are based off of the old Fighting Fantasy books like The Warlock of Firetop Mountain and the Sorcery! series. I highly recommend this one folks. 

Cyberpunk 2020 - New Netrunning Rules 0.1

 

This is a very, VERY, rough draft for some simplified Netrunning rules that I'm working on for Cyberpunk 2020. Getting rid of the "game within a game" style with the Datafort maps and so on. Hopefully taking it down to just a few rolls along with some game play involving getting info in the real world to help with those rolls. Anyways, here is that super rough draft that will be updated over time.

Simplified Cyberpunk 2020 Netrunner rules.

Roles necessary to the Netrunner.

Navigation – How to find your way to someplace

Intrusion – How to get into someplace

Data Access – How to find the info you want

Operation – How to operate machines via the net

Combat – How to fight another runner if necessary

Rolls are done by rolling a D10 and adding in your Interface skill and beating a target number or opposed roll if there is another runner your going up against (or a sufficiently advanced AI). Now there are programs and gear that can drop the target number or give some other affect. Some may completely negate the need for a roll altogether.

NAVIGATION

This is probably the easiest roll to negate. All you need is the path to the target destination on hand. Either from a map app or maybe purchased from another runner. Most Map Apps will give you quick ways to public locations on the net. Now those locations hidden on the net that are private may require a bit more work to get. There are some modified Map Apps passed around by runners that have some. But there is also a market for folks to locate and sell the pathway to the location for whoever wants to offer the most money.

If you have a map to the location there is no need for a roll. But if you’re out looking around in an area where a Datafort is supposed to be it will take a roll, probably a difficult one, to find it.

Another way is get a location is breaking into the location via hardlink at the server site or via a line that runs direct. But that usually involves some breaking and entering of the physical kind.

INTRUSION

Now the easiest way to lower the target number for your Intrusion roll is of course by running some software that breaks through the code gates, walls and ICE. Software you buy today may also be useless a few months later when corporations upgrade their own software to counter it.

Another way is to have the proper passcodes and identification to get through. With those you could even negate the roll completely. However getting that information is really tricky. Again physical breaking and entering may work if they have that data handy. Or even some good old fashioned kidnapping of a runner or executive and ‘coercing’ them to tell you what you need to know.

Failed Intrusion rolls can result in damage to your software, hardware or in the most extreme cases there can be damage done to the runners brain.

DATA ACCESS

Once in finding exactly what you are looking for may take a miracle. The needle of data in the haystack of files and drives. Again Apps can help with the search and lower the target number. Or having the actual information on where it’s at can negate the need for a roll. For example, if you know the data is on on the laptop in the executive corner office under the folder called “Family Pics” then you got a clear shot to get what you need.

OPERATION

This is hooking into equipment and systems that are ran from the datafort. Anything from robots on an assembly line to security cameras monitoring the sublevels of a corporate safe house. Depending on how secure they are sometimes an App is all you need to get access without a roll. Others will require either much better Apps and a roll or passwords for operation.

COMBAT

Fighting it out with another runner or an AI who is advanced enough to think and act like one. This is where things can get tricky. There is no straight target number to beat, instead you have to roll better than the opponent. Various Apps can give you special tricks up your sleeve but slugging it out is not a preferred by most runners who are deep in someplace they aren’t supposed to be.

Zener card resolution part 2

 

More on using Zener cards as a means of resolution for a Silent Hill style game. 

Each character has a list of dark secrets or terrible things they have done. This is used to generate what kind of encounters they will have and the general themes of the game. Also it can affect the outcomes of draws. When they are forced to make a draw in the face of one of these pieces of their checkered past they are considered 'Stressed'. At this point the GM puts a token on one of the symbols in front of the players. If the draw results in more pulls of the symbol that is stressed than the result is considered a cataclysmic failure. More damage, terrible results, etc are all possible outcomes. 

Damage is done in small doses, usually one point at a time. With two points being reserved for cataclysmic failures or big bad guy type encounters. Whenever a Fight draw is made that results in zero successes than the character takes a point of damage. This is recorded by placing a damage token onto one of the symbols in front of the player. The damaged symbol can no longer be chosen by the player for their pulls, however the GM can still place a 'Stressed' token there.

Weapons are a bit trickier. Most allow for the player to pull an extra card on a Fight pull. Some allow a player to chose an extra symbol for the pull. Those of incredible power may even allow both. There are a few creatures that are more susceptible to specific types of attacks. In those cases it allows the player to chose one of the two types of bonuses above and apply it to the pull. 

Those are my thoughts right now. More to come later I imagine. If you like what you see here let me know. Also you can click on the Amazon and Drivethru links on the side, or the 'support this blog' link at the top to help toss a few dollars my way as inspiration to keep working.

 

Resolution via Zener Cards

 

Okay strange game mechanics idea. Thinking of using them for my Silent Hill style game where you have three stats. Fight, Flee and Think. They are ranked from one to five.

In front of each player is a picture of the four symbols from the Zener psychic testing cards. Whenever you have to make a stat test you place a marker on one symbol of your choosing. Then you pull a number of cards from the top of the Zener deck equal to the stats rank. If you match the symbol you marked then it's a success. If you match twice it's a critical success. If you get no matches then it's a failure.

Add in some kind of fear or stress mechanic and if it's triggered when you score a failure on a test then it becomes a major failure. Of course a super simple wound/impairment tracker in there as well. Plus some dark secret type things to help you build what kind of encounters the group will have.

The idea would be for small groups of players, Maybe like three at max. Anyways this is what I've been thinking on tonight.

Gone Fishing part 2

 

Let's take another look at the difficulty number on fishing holes. 

As was pointed out by Kyrinn S. Eis there needs to be some sort of meaning between the different ranges of difficulty. Otherwise who wouldn't just spend all their time at a level 5 hole and never bother with any of the tougher ones. 

Area and opportunity. Some places just may not have a good place to fish. Going across a wretched land may provide very few spots and they may be hard to get anything out of. So all you may come across is level 20 holes that produces very little. Also when going on an adventure you may not get a choice of where to fish along the way. That great place where they are jumping the kobolds may be camped out around.

Another factor to show the difference may be in the quality of fish. That hole with a difficulty of 5 may produce nothing but Perch and Bluegill all day long, maybe a rare bass from time to time. While that hole up around the bend may be hard to fish out of but produces some of the biggest Catfish anybody has ever seen. You could also put some high end fish in the harder places as well or even some that are spell components or magical in nature. 

Finally one more reason to make the difficulty of a fishing hole important is to increase your skill. You can only increase your skill at a hole that has a difficulty than your skill level. So if you get to level 5 in your fishing skill you will have to leave that easy fishing hole and go someplace tougher to get better. This could also lead to some adventuring just to get some time at those hard to fish from holes that may be rare. 

Next installment I'll try to get a few sample Fishing Holes written up. 

You can find the first part of Gone Fishing RIGHT HERE, or you could click on the 'fishing' label attached to this post to find it.

So if you liked this and want to see it expanded upon with more details please share it around and let me know (like in the comments section). If you really liked it you can always buy me a Ko-Fi over on the right side of this blog or look at other options in the 'Support this Blog' tab at the top. 

Fishing minigame

 

One thing we see in so many video games out there is a fishing minigame dropped into a regular (usually fantasy) game. Even if what the game is about has nothing to do with fishing there are so many that offer up a chance to toss a line into the water to catch something. So why not do that with tabletop roleplaying games for something a little different. 

So I present to you the very rough, very unplaytested, Truly Rural Publishing Fishing Minigame Rules. These may change, they get all sorts of changed, none of the fish charts are all encompassing. Hell I may never work on it again, who knows?

The fishing rules revolve around a single D20 roll. You add your fishing skill + any bonuses + die roll and beat the target number of the fishing hole. The amount over the target number you roll determines what kind of fish you catch from the chart for the fishing hole.

A characters fishing skill starts off at level 0 and can go all the way up to 20. To raise your skill level you must spend a total number of days fishing equal to the next skill level. So to go from level 0 to 1 you must spend 24 hours of time fishing while going from level 1 to 2 will take 2 days or 48 hours. Keep track of your fishing time. The fishing hole determines how much time it takes to catch a fish.

Bonuses are from gear or magical items. Common gear bonuses are +1 for decent fishing gear, +2 for top of the line gear. Magical Items and specialized gear will be listed in the next (hopefully) instalment of these rules.

The Fishing Hole stats. A fishing hole has a target number that must be beat. As a rule the less likely one is to catch a fish from a fishing hole the higher it's target number. So a hole with a target number of 5 is easy to catch fish out of. The number then goes up by fives (5, 10, 15, 20) as the more difficult it is to catch a fish. The amount of hours needed to catch a fish is determined by dividing the difficulty by 5. So a difficulty 15 fishing hole may take up to 3 hours to catch a fish. There just aren't many there. Specialized gear (again forthcoming) can reduce that time.

Finally I have up one chart for freshwater fish that can be caught. This is a very basic list and each fishing hole could have their own custom tailored list with as many or as few types of fish in that location. I'll be doing more details on to this in the future.... if people are interested. Here is the basic list, the number on the left is how much you beat the target number by and the fish you caught is on the right. 

1-2      Crappie

2-4      Bluegill

5-6      Perch

7-8      Large Mouth Bass

9-10    Rainbow Trout

11-12  Striped Bass

13-14  Catfish

15-16  Flathead Catfish

17-18  Walleye 

19-20  Salmon 

So if you liked this and want to see it expanded upon with more details please share it around and let me know (like in the comments section). If you really liked it you can always buy me a Ko-Fi over on the right side of this blog or look at other options in the 'Support this Blog' tab at the top. 

Part Two can be found RIGHT HERE. Or you can look at the labels on this post and click on 'fishing' to find it and future installments. 

Happy Fishing.

Narrative design - The Archer

 

Thinking along the lines of narrative game design elements and mixing a few in with a more traditional system for Kainis. One idea I've toyed around with is that each player has a number of 'Story Points' to spend on special abilities. These abilities are determined partially by a rough character class outline and the rest through choices made during character creation. Here are a few I came up with for The Archer.

First off The Archer does not keep track of arrow count unless the GM deems it necessary in a 'limited resources' type of game. So running out is something that needs to have impact in the game.

"My Last Shot" - This means The Archer is using their very last arrow on their character. Done at a time when it really needs to count. It results in gaining an improved chance of success and and improved amount of damage to the target. Cost: 1 point.

"Scrounging for Arrows" - Usable after The Archer runs out of arrows in one way or another. They spend a few rounds looking over the bodies of enemies or through a suitable location that may logically have a few laying around. For every story point spent they get a single arrow. Keep track of these because when they are used you have two choices. Use the arrow normally and you gain the story point back OR use the arrow with an increased chance to hit and you lose the story point you spent for that arrow.

"For your consideration" - This is done to perform a trick shot in a non-combat situation. By spending one point you automatically succeed in making a simple trick shot while not under any sort of duress. 

"Using what is at hand" - Used during close combat where ranged attacks aren't very feasible. The Archer is able to use an arrow as a stabbing weapon using their ranged attack skill although the damage is half of a normal arrow hit. Cost: 1 point.

WthC - Quick and dirty combat goals

Combat isn't going to be mapped out and a lot more open to the theater of the mind. Maybe some quick layouts so the GM can tell the players where things are but no movement squares, no rigid rules on facing and all that. The goal is to keep it fast and loose.

What each player wants their characters to do will be declared and the action pretty much all takes place simultaneously. Nobody going before the others unless they opt to pause or the character has a special ability granting them first action. Each one doing their thing while the NPCs are also doing theirs. The goal is to make it cinematic and rewarding those who put a bit more thought into their actions than just "I shoot at it with my pistol.".

In Welcome to the City giving a bonus die is one of the crutches used to move the players into doing this. Rewarded to a player when they think of something a bit more exciting or dramatic than the standard declaration of attack. Firing at the enemy while diving backwards over a road block to seek a bit of cover. Stepping a foot forward as you headlock your opponent so they fall forward slamming their head into a steel beam. Bum rushing a startled opponent and clamping a hand over their mouth with one hand while running a blade into their belly with the other.

All of these, give them a bonus die. Even if it logically makes the action more difficult to pull off give them that reward for using their imagination a bit and make it easier for them to successfully perform the action. Of course do remind them that the action needs to be something specific and not to try to do multiple actions into one motion.

Combat order will be along the lines of: Describe your action - Roll to perform that action - Roll for any damage done. Keep it quick and fast paced if you can.  While combat is an entertaining, and often important, part of the session it shouldn't take up a huge section of the game time.

WtcC technology distribution

As per usual the future is here, it's just not evenly distributed.

Technology is one of the biggest gaps between those at the top and those at the bottom. This is very apparent to the characters who are given only the basics of what is necessary to do their jobs. As the cost of equipping them with the latest and best tools is deemed to costly, especially given the low survival ratings for new work crews.

In the area of weapons they are typically given old fashioned slug throwers instead of the more advanced laser and micro projectile armaments. Using caseless ammunition as a cost saving measure, with durable frames and low jam or misfire designs they are high end standards.... of a style of weapon that was passed up decades ago. Anything else beyond that is issued out 'as needed' per assignment or once the worker gets to a specific level of promotion.

Medical care is also very standard. Medical kits that are issued in their vehicles are basically useful for stabilizing an injury with a few injections to help a worker continue on with their job until its completion. A major injury resulting in loss of limb or organ are usually replaced with a cybernetic replacement instead of vat grown full genetic one.

Communications gear usually in the form of headsets or 'sticky' wearables. However they go through a set of older towers and commo lines that are woven through the city like veins. Some areas these connections are sparse, broken or downright non-existent. If they are lucky their vehicle has a base unit that is somewhat better and can get a signal out even when the work crew is ten levels down in an abandoned subsector of the city.

Personal protection gear is somewhat restrictive and doesn't cover all the body. Limiting hard plates to the larger sections of the body like the abdomen, chest and upper legs. They are, however, given decent boots and gloves as injuries to those parts of the bodies seem to affect the completion rate of assignments the most.

Now this doesn't mean that a worker cannot have better equipment. They may buy it themselves if they can afford it or come across it through other means. The City does not cover lost or damaged personal items in these cases.