1984 Prime - a roleplaying game of what could have been

[Rossum]

[hamsterprophet]

[Rossum]

[Bob the Fighter]

i was perusing the families... i like that approach to Fixed Characters; it sorta meets the concept halfway, i think.
while looking at all the perspectives on the war, a thought occurred to me: maybe a major factor in Exploration could be the clash of cultivated opinions with the wonder, dread, and awe at the devastated planet.

imagine coming out of the shelter, your head full of images of the Reds marching through Milwaukee. you've got a stun gun, rations on your belt, and ... wait... it's snowing. do i have my... oh my god, a deer. wouldja look at that! it's beautiful..

i think that Agenda and Human Instinct could totally be at odds with one another, as well as different Agendas being at odds with each other too. cool!

[matthijs]

What do the players do? What kind of adventures are we talking about? This sounds like it could be anything from Gamma World through T2000 to that FGU game (Operation Phoenix, or something?).

(Why are post-nuclear-war stories so often about heroic Americans trying to rebuild civilization? (Because they're mostly written by Americans, I guess. Oh well.))

[adgboss]

This a nice Fallout (computer game) feel to it. I think my biggest question is how the politics of the different families will manifest in Play. Is it simply color/flavor or are there hidden agendas that can not only influence play but provide experience / currency for the Player who follows them?

Sean

[Rossum]

[Rossum]

[Rossum]

Mechanics thoughts:

At this point, I've got a non-random and light framework. My design goals are twofold: One, to ensure that players will always know their character's capabilities. An element of risk is still present. Two, to reflect the resource-poor state of the world. The Earth's renewable resources have been crippled because of humans; so follow its inhabitants.

I've yet to playtest other than a few thought exercises. Playtesting could go either way, depending on productivity.

Characters have three stats right now: Body, Soul, and Mind. (Should I discover the need to expand on this, I'll go with six stats for power and control of each: Strength and Dexterity, Knowledge and Wit; and Will and Charisma.) Each stat corresponds to a different All-American color poker chip: Red for Body, White for Soul, and Blue for Mind.

I envision a twelve-point scale, with twelve being the highest. Players will get one chip for each point of statistic. Chips represent both capability and reserve ability.

Two kinds of tests: Unopposed Challenges and Opposed Contests.

Challenges are any attempt to perform an action versus something static: jump the ledge, fix the device, spot the hidden. Each Challenge has a minimum requirement expressed in terms of how many statistic chips worth of effort it requires. In order to meet a Challenge, a player must demonstrate they have that many chips in reserve. The player does not lose chips when meeting a Challenge.

Example:
"I want to jump across to the ledge and pull myself up."
"That's a Body-7 challenge."
"I've got eight left."
"Okay, you do it."

Actions like walking, talking, and a continuing will to live are considered to be rank 1 Challenges in the three stats. This will tie into damage/fallout/consequences.

Contests are any attempt to perform an action versus something dynamic: physical combat, fasttalking, theivery, any piloting or working with Pre-war devices and tech.

1. Initiator antes with 1-3 chips of a given color and narrates action.
2. Defender matches the ante. If the Defender doesn't have the chips, they can can match 2:1 with different color chip. Either way, narrates action.
2a. Defender can elect to not match ante and yield. In this case, the Initiator loses one chip of each color dedicated.
2b. Others may elect to assist either side by spending 2:1 for the same color or 3:1 for a different color.

3. AND THEN A MIRACLE OCCURS and chips are reclaimed. This prevents players from not acting for fear of running out of chips.

Please feel free to poke holes, find flaws, or laud strengths. Constructive criticism only, please.

Wine: Barter goods from the HAVEN to foster relationships with surviors include sustenance for the Body (food, water, shelter), Mind (technology, science, history) and the Soul (culture, music, literature... and Wine.)

Entomology: I'm going to include giant bugs. See: Them!, etc.

Sadly, I'm very tired and must now to turn off the oven. More to come tomorrow, including characters and cards.

MDK

[Rossum]

I've got a teaser page online now at:



You can see the new logo, slight changes to the intro text, and the best use of the <BLINK> tag in years (sorry, Safari users).

MDK