The Forge Archives

Fuck, why not just make it Limits & Obligations?

I really want Obligations in there, because I want there to always be the possibility of Pushing for someone else's sake, even if you can't Push for your own sake.  Especially when it comes to the Last Push.

Or, maybe I'm just being a dork in trying to limit the Push exclusively to Psyche traits.  Maybe it's "You can Push for your own sake only when invoking a Psyche trat; you can always Push for someone else's sake."

Okay, so I'm nearly done with the re-write of the text.  Here's a rundown of what's getting changed:

1. The text is being, in general, tightened up.  There's some convoluted phrasing in there that needs to be fixed, there's a lot of wordiness that needs to be cut down, there's too much explication of things that are clearly implied by the rules, and there's far too much repetition.  Poison'd, which is exemplar in its tightness, is what got me thinking about this, and an admonishment from Paul settled me into doing it.

2. Stuff about the setting is being stripped down.  I've realized that I've got eight years worth of writing stories about the Rustbelt and playing the game in its various forms, and all of that stuff is trying to present itself as canon.  I'm now beating it down with a baseball bat, saying, "You won't add anything to people's enjoyment of the actual game!"  It keeps getting up and saying, "But I'm so cool!" but I keep beating it down.

2a. The true Setting (in Big Model terms) of the game is "a place where hardship and desperation are the norm, and there are forces at work urging people toward depravity" -- everything else is the Color of the Setting.    Discussion of the setting in the text is being stripped down to the presentation of that core, the Rust, and a few examples, so that individual groups can truly do their own take on it without me breathing down their necks through the text.  Color will be mostly absent in the text; I think that illustrations and the CD of original music (to be included with the ashcan) will handle Color nicely on their own.

2b. The overture has been changed to make the origins of the 'Belt a mystery.  I've realized that, in presenting it as due to the consequences that abuse of capitalism has on the working classes, I was addressing Premise for the prospective players.  That is robbing them of possible fun.  I don't want to do that, not even a little bit.

2c. With the exception of the overture and the short piece found in the Character Dynamics chapter, all fiction is being removed.

2d. At some point, I will write "Color Supplements" that will be available for free online in which I will detail the Counties used in my play and stories, and also present glossaries of Rustbelt slang, in-depth explorations of specific cultures (esp. underground and adventuring cultures), and perhaps some fiction.

3. Neither Connections nor Obligations is going into the rules.  Furthermore, Limits are out.  For one thing, they are pretty obvious, and, for some reason, writing them down seems to rob them of their impact. The intended functionality can be handled quite well by the GM asking the player how the character feels about a morally questionable act.  For the other thing, Paul is probably right that real human connection is the fruitful void, and all the good Limits revolve around how you treat other people.

4.  Criteria for the Push are definitely being implemented.You may Push if any of the following apply:  you are acting to pursue Hunger; you steadied your nerve with Vice or Faith; you are close to or already suffering Withdrawal and acting to get your fix; you are acting to uphold your Faith; you are acting to heal/redeem/absolve your Woe; or you are acting on behalf of someone that you care about.

5.  Traits are out. So that you don't get stuck with one die on crucial rolls, in their place is a situational Advantage system that does basically the same thing in an on-the-fly manner, with a "one advantaging factor = one bonus die" guideline.  Bonus dice granted by special equipment, weaponry (gun against melee, f'rinstance, gives an advantage to the shooter), and magic are subsumed into this as well.

Whew.  When I get this done, it is going to be AWESOME.

Dude, you are fucking possessed! I'm really excited about it.

Paul

Sounds like good changes, especially stripping it of color. I think your playtest sessions got me to understand the setting the best since they are what got me into reading the rules and I was a bit confused when all the goofy things like riot control rhinos were mentioned (although I'd totally used them and I've already used the kidney-stand). Advantage dice seem to solve the sword vs. knife issue as well.

A question about armor: since hit locations are no problem what use is armor at all? You can have someone with ankle to neck plate armor and he'll still just get stabbed in the face. Advantage dice for fighting someone who tries hitting you in a sweet spot? Hide all armor under clothes?

It feels wrong somehow to have disadvantage dice (cancels out advantage dice and pick the lowest one) for difficult rolls. I'll try it out next time anyway, hoping to get my game going on friday.

Paul,
I am excited too!  And also super-nervous!  Increasingly, as GenCon approaches.  I started smoking again, I'm so nervous.

Wilmer,
To tell the truth, armor has never been used very much in the game, even in the older versions, so I hadn't really thought about that.  But I can see the problem.  I think that Advantage dice are probably the best way to handle it (one for "I'm armored," unless in a melee brawl with someone else who is armored, you get the picture).  And converting edged/bullet damage to blunt damage at the armored location, for purposes of whether it can be taken to Sweat or not.

One thing that I'm really liking about the Advantage system is how clear-cut it makes jockeying for advantage in fights.  "I push him off-balance!" is suddenly so easy to handle; Tough vs. Tough (or maybe Slick/Spry) to see if it works, and if it does then the guy gets an Advantage die next round, for "The other guy is off-balance."
And, of course, stuff like "We're in the open and my weapon has more reach" "We're in real tight, and my weapon is smaller" (yes, the weapon advantage rules in Sorcerer & Sword are the shiz-nite) "I've got him pinned to the ground" "This pre-Rust gun is actually accurate."

I hadn't thought of Disadvantage; I was just gonna let both sides in conflicts have Advantage where it applied.  But Disadvantage  might be neat.  It's worth testing, certainly.