messing around with Otherkind, poking it with a sharp stick

[Matt Wilson]

I had this cards idea based on otherkind, sort of a cousiny generic kind of game.

You get dealt X cards, at least three, maybe more via some character ability.

You assign one card to each of 3 categories: success, setback, story.

They're all compared to a draw made by the GM, maybe random, maybe planned, depending on the stakes or something.

If the player gets the high card in each comparison, that's good. If not, that's bad.

Success is whether you achieve what's at stake.

Setback is whether there's a related consequence of some kind.

Success is who narrates, and also who has the say over what the setback is if it comes up.

So you've got this gambling crisis, since you don't know what the opposing card's going to be. If the stakes are high, will you risk some sad consequence to get a success?

To beef up the game a bit, you could have Trollbabe-like re-draws based on suits or numbers or something. So maybe you have the 3 of spades as a magic hat. If you're dealt a spade, maybe you can elect to redraw. If you're dealt the 3 of spades, that card is wild and is a guaranteed win.

Just some ideas, is all. That's as far as I got.

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Matt,

Cross-reference this with Once Upon a Time ...

H'm!!

Best,
Ron

[Joshua A.C. Newman]

I love this idea: consequences vs. success. It's why I take d4 traits in Dogs as often as possible. I think this mechanic is more graceful than the Primetime Adventures one. More fluid, but, of course, more difficult to assign by trait.

So perhaps this: Your number of traits is your hand size. Each card is first assigned to a trait, then to Success, Consequences, or Story.

For example, If my "I'm Physically Invulnerable" trait is used for Consequences, the consequences are related to that trait. That is, if it was a failure, maybe I throw myself in harm's way, but I don't manage to protect someone because I wasn't fast enough. Maybe the stakes were, "Do I stop the zeppelin from crashing?" and I did it, but this person died, my invulnerability not being enough.

I love the idea of choosing what you pay to get what you want to get. Very heroic.