Have you managed to get any play-testing of it done so far?

Unfortunately not,having not been able to get any playing of any kind done for a while.

Simon Proctor
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I had a quick read over this last night and it is a really nice idea. Seems you are going for a kind of 'Once upon a time' kind of mechanic, would that be about right?

Why are you using polyhedral dice. If you want this to be played on the move I would dump dice and card mechanics and go for something like coin tosses which are easier to do on the move.

I think the conflict mechanisms neeed to be a bit chunkier with people challenging more putting a bit of oneupmanship in there. At the moment there doesn't really feel like there would be a lot going on between the players, no real incentive to challenge.

Maybe each player writes two or three things down they want to get into the story and then you find out who has got the most of their elements in at the end?

More thoughts on this when I have woken up a bit more.

Cheers

Iain

Lead Developer Mob Justice RPG

'The Giant Brain' has launched.

Oh that sucks. I had a while post written then lost it.

I'll summarize, I wanted a simple framework to let people tell stories. Something to let them focus on keeping the story flowing and less on competition. One problem I find with 'Once upon a time' which I love as a game is people get so hung up winning it and tell the most banal tales to get their random pieces of gubbins in.

The reason for dice was A) I figured they'd be easy enough to get hold of and B) I envisaged the act of drawing a dice from your pocket as being easy enough to do even if you are walking.

But I'm planning on adding to the game with optional rules to allow for more competition and such like. Plus rules to cut back the competitive element even more.

But first I need to get some play testing done.

Simon Proctor
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I'd like to talk more about the dice: a game focussed on travelling. Perhaps there are other, common things that you could use as randomisers in this instance, rather than having a pocketful of dice.

There's a lot of potential here, so the first real question is: are you commited to having the dice in there or are you open to other ideas?

Cheers
Malc

Contested Ground Studios

I do like the dice and would like to keep them as an option but would open to other ideas. In fact I've had a few just sitting here. I'll post them when I get to work and have though about it some more.

Simon Proctor
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I'd like to see how the dice pan out before you bin them. You had a strong initial concept: on a train, with a bag of dice, looking for a way of making up stories.

Now, I'm not convinced there's a role-playing game in there. Maybe more a Parlour Game, but you do have a definable way of "winning". It reminds me perhaps of Baron Munchausen, which uses coins so maybe they're best avoided?

Anyway, try dice. I like the reveal bit of the dice and the different values (and I like the closed hand bid).

Is there a way to guess an opponents hand? If we get it right then it doesn't count?

Just that at some point we'll know you only have 1 die left and it would be good if we had to guess whether you were using the die or an open hand.

Well the thing with the dice is they are balanced in so far as each one (due to the dice bonus) has the same expected value. The larger dice (d12, d20) give you more chance of getting a high number but more chance of a low as well. So it's a gamble. I quite liked that.

I never really saw it as a role playing game as such more of a framework for telling stories and interacting. I like the idea of focussing on the 'down time' between the major adventure bits. in some ways I was thinking of what I'd like to see D&D player doing.

Or something like that.

Simon Proctor
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Sounds solid, well solid enough to be tested.

I really think any other talk is just speculation. So, do you have a trip coming up where you can try this out? Or when will you see John Wilson next? He is the kind of guy you need to test this with!

If it is crap and broken he will find out for sure.

Well I do now have the funky car so can come through on a whim (and a small amount of cash for teh petrol). I'm just really out of practice and in a complete funk about gaming.

Which is why I haven't really done anything with it. We are looking at houses tomorrow but I could come through on Sunday.

Simon Proctor
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...find out a Sunday where we're free and I'll be in on the game too. Maybe not this Sunday, what about the week after? I'll badger John!

Badger Badger Badger Badger!!

Mushroom Mushroom!!!

I think I need to lie down now.

Simon Proctor
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