[Swords of the Skull-Takers] At least I'll die knowing who I am

[Ron Edwards]

Hi,

I'm playing Swords of the Skull-Takers, a solo game by Joe J. Prince written initially for both the Ronnies round and the Solitaire RPG contest in Janary 2011. I realized I'd always meant to get around to it, found the latest version (at the indicated URL), and visited an occult bookstore (New Age? Is there a difference?) on the way home from work. I emerged reeking of sandalwood, "blessed," according to the guy behind the counter, and rather pleased to have found a small-sized, classy Visconti-Sforza deck from the 15th century. I'd thought about some trippy modern design, but the only other ones they had in that physical size (which I really wanted for some reason) were about cats or dragons. If this Gorgon deck were available in physical form, I'd have picked it up like a shot, though. Anything but that fucking Rider-Waite thing and its plethora of over-stuffed-symbology spawn.

The game plays really, really smoothly: easy, fun, engaging, and statistically always "on the jump." With some sticky-notes, it's easy to re-pack the current card arrangement and bring it out again unchanged, so one can put it all away and return to the game later. I've played ten (fictional) days so far and intend to finish it out either to victory or death. You can find my current play journal transcribed, slightly cleaned up from my scribbles, here, including a record of cards drawn and used.

You can probably see I chose a very off-brand setting, where "sole survivor" means something different than merely being alive. I wanted a setting where lots could happen in terms of Color, and I could use many different situations rather than "looked for another can of peaches in the rubble today." It wasn't until after introducing Curtis that I realized how much They Live was influencing me, in basic concept although not in all its details or tone.

My thoughts at the moment include --

Journaling is worth some serious consideration. The writing is the role-playing, no "do it then journal it" as I feared (see thread links below).

The response to the playtesting reports in this version are spot on. Interludes are great as such, and they also lead to a chapter format which allows whole new concepts to enter the setting. I could, for instance, cue a whole different behavior or even a large-scale change in the setting based on these punctuations.

The card-play works perfectly with events and various dramatic turns, because it's really consequential. If Joe and Curtis hadn't been hosed by ties on day 8, then the night wouldn't have been such a disaster. Or if Joe hadn't been lucky on that latest night.

Character development is awesome. I started with the idea that from other people's point of view, Joe would be nuts, although I was willing to see where that went. He seemed to settle down a little after abandoning his drug project.

Card-counting is possible, but I'm too lazy.

Mechanically, it sure is tough when the first "match" card is a middle value. The best of course is when you get a really high or low card to start, then the opposite to compare with it, for an easy final choice.

Ties are a bitch! This is not a criticism; they prompted a particular positive "hosed" quality based on perception biases. Kind of like a fumble.

Occasional misplays are a fact of play. I messed up a couple things as I went along, but simply shrugged and went ahead. At one point I missed a Night phase, but hadn't done anything beyond the beginning draw of the next day, so I just discarded everything I'd drawn, and started over with that Night phase.

The deadliness issue of the first draft (see below for links) is wholly solved. I like the chances of death and rewards so far; it's flat-out perfect, in fact.

My interest now is whether there's the chance of staying stuck, cycling through until I hit the Death card. Not the chances of death due to that or through injuries;  those work fine. More specifically, I wonder what's the likelihood of actually managing to build (any) victory with the Major Arcana. Seems pretty far out of reach.

I don't think it's possible to be stuck long, actually. It may look like Joe's doing OK, but he's still Hurt, he has no cache at all (hence no victory conditions either), and he made it through that last hellish night on pure luck, cards-wise. And he has only one Interlude left.

I'd sure like to see some other people play this game!

See also the original version for comparison if you're interested, and for orientation concerning these older Ronnies threads, [Swords of the Skull-Takers] Ronnies feedback and [Swords of the Skull-Takers] John Connor gets Terminated; the latter includes a link to Gregor's journal from the game he played.

Best, Ron

[Hasimir]

SOLD!
Your actual play really sparked my interest for this game... I'll post if I end up playing it :)

[Ron Edwards]

I'll post the account of the last turns I played here in the post.

Alessandro, let's talk more about specifics and ideas, so this isn't merely a matter of promotion. Also, Joe (the author, not my character) is still playtesting this version (0.3), so he needs more than enthusiasm. What exact features excited you about the play report? What seems different about this game?

For my part, I want to think a bit about how character-centric both of my solo game experiences were, for The Plant (see other thread) as well as this one. I really got into both characters, in exactly the opposite of the way that older solitaire games have played, in which characters are notoriously pawn-like. Is it easier because there's no audience? Or is there something about the specific rules in each of these games which promote character-development and player-investment in them, which could be productively brought into group play too?

*******

[Day 11. Joe is Hurt. Draw = 2coins, Qcoins; KNswords; 4cups, succeed.]

November 4th. I'm practically one of them now, moving unseen, going where I want, carrying my sword. No one notices, or they explain away what they see. Money? Ha! What was I worrying about? I walked into a bank and walked out again, loaded. Bills will never bug me again. I figure I'll stay with the job, after some more leave and when I feel better. What did the recruiter say, years ago? "A workplace full of resources and opportunities." He had that right. Bought everything I needed to set up the alarm and traps.

[Night rules: Kswords, negate with 2coins from cache. Note Joe is a Worker and could build the barricade without losing a turn.]

Vaporized two of them in the night, easy. Took the third myself, sneaking up just like he thought he'd do to me. It's good to be home!

[Day 12. Joe is Hurt. Draw = Qcoins (stayed from last time), 2wands; 5swords, Acoins, fail.]

November 5th. I think they did something to me, either last night or in one of those other fights. Did something to me inside. My face and cuts are healing fine, but I know something's not right. I tried a bunch of medications I looted from the clinic, but nothing worked. It's like a reverse fever - deathly cold, shiver and shake. It passes, but today, it knocked me down for hours.

[Night rules: KNcups, 8 coins]

I don't know what's worse, fighting them in the night, or when they stay away, like this time. Because the whole family next door - their heads, kids too -- And to stand there when the realtor came along with her sign, all the neighbors talking about what a good sale it was in this crappy economy, while the whole time I could watch the birds stripping the meat away. I can't just mark time like this, trading others' lives for mine and my family's.

[Day 13. Joe is Shaken. Draw = Awands, Qcoins (remains); 4swords, 9coins, succeed.]

November 6th. Better at last! I was right about the dopamine - went the whole day with no shakes, and I'm almost myself again. Lucky too, I couldn't have hidden it much longer, and it's time to put on the shirt and tie again now. My "disguise."

[Night rules. 8swords, 10swords, Aswords; took 3 hits - down to At Death's Door.]

I'm alone.
Barely alive.

[Day 14. Joe is At Death's Door. Draw = 9cups, Qcoins; Pcups, 5cups; gamble, 6swords, succeed, gaining The Star.]

[Note: I do have the option to discard The Star for the final Interlude. But I can't bring myself to give up the gain, only to re-boot with no real advantage.]

November 7th. The day is gone. I was out of my head for most of it, barely remember some asshole trying to talk to me about "the accident." I'm piecing together something else -- I think I understand them, or see that there's something going on that's bigger than all of us, hunters and prey (and me) together. Have to try to put it together, write it down -- it's important! But later. Now, I'm so tired.

[Night rules. Acups, 7swords, 4coins, Pwands; Kcoins, 6cups, Qwands, succeed.]

Slept like a baby all night, here in the hospital. Except that they tried to get me. Stupid fuckers! That army they sent last time couldn't do the job, and I took out all of them this time without even really waking up. Pissed me off, though -- in my dreams, I nearly had it. The Answer.

[Day 15. Joe is At Death's Door. Draw = 5coins, 2swords; 8coins, 9 cups, succeed; gamble for Boon, KNcups, fails.]

November 8th. So close! I was thinking about some weapons I might use, get some serious drugs or something here in the hospital and dose myself into thinking that way again. Zonked out for hours, and yes, just like the dreams last night, I almost had it. Next time. If there is one. I have nothing, no alarms, and I have to admit last night I was lucky -- and while I was out so long, they cleaned the room and all the swords were gone, cleaned up thinking they were trash.

I know they're coming tonight again. If you find this, then it's up to you. Find the Answer.

[Night rules. 4wands, 9cups, Qcups, 7swords; 9swords, 2cups, Awands - fail on the very last one. I could discard The Star to stay alive, but it means too much to Joe, and I can't.]

*******
Best, Ron

[Hasimir]

mmm... I think what draws me is the sensation of producing someting tangible and shareable (in the form of a diary).
And produce it in a fun, not-tiresome way.
(if I was to "just write" I would have no fun and produce something horrible)
And make it into as a sort of episodic thing... I want to play one game-day each real-day.

I don't know, this attracts my interest :)

Also the kind of story this game tells.
Simple but engaging... personal... I don't know, that's just how I percieve it just by looking at it.
I suppose actual play will better define my opinion.

[Hasimir]

Day 1 played... my first entry took quite longer than expected, but then again I've been MUCH more verbose than the examples on the book.
I gess I wanted to better establish the initial situation... or something...

One problem I had.
Exploring by day I tryed to guess the next card and... it came out THE SAME value!
Not higher nor lower.
I just put it aside and flipped a new one, did I do wrong?

Also, during my day exploration I earned a minor NPC (3 of cups).
Can I use it asap to explore or build... or do I have to wait until next Day phase?
Not being sure I opted to wait (it also made more sense in my fiction).

Anyway I've posted my entry on Facebook (sorry, just in italian) using my real Name and Town as character and location... my friends will be quite puzzled tomorrow :D

I'm gonna reshuffle all used card, except for the 3_of_Cups I have in my Cache and a 1 of coins as a possible exploration venue for tomorrow.
Oh... and I'm an Explorer.

[Ron Edwards]

Hi,

I treat ties as failures, as the rules say my card has to be higher than the other one for me to win. And a tie isn't higher.

(I've found that game designers have to be careful about this. You can say "higher than" all you want, which absolutely and explicitly means that a tie must be an ordinary failure, but for some reason, people refuse to read it that way.)

That was a big deal in my story, when Joe and Curtis both drew ties for their final cards in the same turn.

Since you're an Explorer, you draw three cards while exploring instead of two. (You're probably doing that.) Since you're not a Worker (like Joe), then you have to give up exploring for a day to spend a Coin card from your cache to make a barricade; otherwise it just sits there in the cache and does nothing while they cut you apart at night. I was able to have Joe simply spend the Coin card and still explore, and come home to the barricade he'd quickly made.

Best, Ron

[Ron Edwards]

Shoot, I forgot to finish my final paragraph. Regarding the NPC from the Cups card, I think it goes right into your cache as part of the current turn, and then is only available to play from your cache on the next turn.

I understand what you're saying about the attractive qualities of the game. I like the idea of taking my account and actually producing into a visual electronic form that would serve as an artifact of play, to be enjoyed by others as a genuinely readable and entertaining thing. That was actually one of the sub-challenges of the Solitaire RPG Challenges that Joe explicitly tried to meet with this design, and I think he succeeded - that is, if you and I can be responsible enough to present our documents appropriately.

Best, Ron

[Hasimir]

played Day 2... another NPC question... TIMING

So I have an NPC in my Cash.
Day phase starts.
WHEN do I have to decide the use of my NPC?

If I have to choose right away, BEFORE the exploration starts... game goes one way.

But if I can also commit the NPC at a later moment I can act in a more convenient way... for example I can go Exploring and IF I earn something I can commit the NPC to Build a barricade rathern than perform his own Exploration.

Actully no; writing this I now see that it must be all set beforehand.
Because the NPC must be either with me exploring, on his own exploring, or at the camp building.
If I say nothing and go exploring it has to be assumed he follows me.

Ok, timing is not an issue... move along.
But I find it should be clarified.
Just as the part when a card flip comes up as a tie.
I agree that logically it makes sense that if the result is not a match to my bet then OBVIOUSLY my bet is lost... but the text is phrased in a way that draws the attention on the flipped card more than on your betted outcome, it always specifically talks about being Higher or Lower than the card... and it is not an immediate thing to ascribe "tie" in the lost bet area... after all, the result is not Higher nor Lower ... there could be a third outcome! :P
(no... I know... but still...)

[JoeJPrince]

Thanks for the great playtest Ron and I'm glad you're starting a game Alessandro!

Skull-Takers has been on the back burner for a while, it's good to return to it. My friend Matt has pledged to do some artwork for the final game, but it may be a lengthy project, ideally we want enough images to illustrate all the major arcana. 

Just to quickly reiterate what Ron said - ties are failures. One of the major boons is Judgement, if you manage to get this card in your cache then you win ties - which is very handy.
I will make the rules for ties more explicit in the next version of the text.

I found Joe's journal quite gripping, I was rooting for him towards the end and felt genuinely sad when Curtis got taken out, leaving Joe alone again. This is great, a design goal was for play to create these meaningful artefacts that can be enjoyed independently of even knowing the game. I'd like to see whether people return to their old games and inherit previous character's journal.

I'm fairly pleased with how the game plays overall. It was a struggle to find a solo mechanic that provided a reasonable level of adversity, whilst leaving some degree of meaningful player choice. High/low does not seem like much but it is surprisingly satisfying to get it right! 

I have a couple of design questions buzzing around at the moment:
Is there enough variety in the cards you can try for during the day?
Would the game benefit from more narrative prompts?

Looking at Ron's playtest I don't think these alterations are really necessary, but other folks might disagree - I'm aware not everyone has Ron's gift for narrative construction.

Thanks again, it's great to have a fresh perspective on a design that was in limbo!
   
Cheers
Joe

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Joe,

Great to see you here!

To go straight to your design questions, one strategy to consider would be to list your criteria for a good setting, already partly done with your questions ("why are they more active at night," e.g.), and then to give a couple of examples illustrating how much leeway the player has regarding interpreting fictional goals within each suit.

I might be the wrong person to weigh in on the idea of more narrative prompts, because I tend to provide intense color for setting and characters, often inventing characters when the rules don't say I can't (like the other possible "survivors" Joe saw at the amusement park, but on my initial success when trying to get a Cups card). Doing that means that when a cue comes up that happens to look like a build-up from that detail, I treat it as one. My self-centered take would therefore be to describe that exact process.

However, perhaps the better design advice from all these years of experience should be this: make sure it's a problem before you try to fix it. That means getting a bunch of people to play and see what comes out of that. Otherwise you end up writing for abstract gamers "out there" who actually exist nowhere but inside your head, and that always goes badly.

As a minor system point: did you see how horribly Joe got hit at night that one time? Three swords for three cards, and he took one hit in each one of them. I confess I was totally harsh in color-interpreting it as the deaths of his family as well as injury to him, but considering my feelings as I looked at those swords land on the table, one-two-three, no less seemed called for.

I was thinking about the tarot deck - you should definitely do it! As far as one customer is concerned, I happen to be prefer the European style of illustrating the Minor Arcana with ordinary card-symbols, i.e., the suit and pips, rather than illustrated scenes, so "only" 22 illustrations would be enough for me. And the world has seen far too many tarot decks with eighty images and over-ornate trim in each card - one punchy image-hit per card would be perfect.

Best, Ron