[Blazon] Four types of relationships

[Troy_Costisick]

Heya,

The GM then must play a card of the same color, the same rank, or a face card.  There isn't much choice, he must play the red 4 in his hand.  And since it is red describe something good for the player.
quote]

-Now that is something really neat.  I think your resolution system has some real potential, there.  It's certainly one of the coolest card systems I've ever seen.  Speaking of systems, my earlier question was about reward systems.  In each RPG there are several mini-systems that work together to create the Whole System.  In the next few days, I'll be writing an article about this for my blog.  If you get a chance, check it out.  It might help you decide what you want to do.

Peace,

-Troy

[stack0v3rflow]

-Now that is something really neat.  I think your resolution system has some real potential, there.  It's certainly one of the coolest card systems I've ever seen.  Speaking of systems, my earlier question was about reward systems.  In each RPG there are several mini-systems that work together to create the Whole System.  In the next few days, I'll be writing an article about this for my blog.  If you get a chance, check it out.  It might help you decide what you want to do.

Yeah well I can't take much credit for that part.  I do mechanical playtesting with my son (six).  I knew that I wanted a card system so I looked at card games and there were two big type, trick taking (like hearts) and card shedding (like crazy eights).  So I taught my son how to play crazy eights.  Looking at the color was easier than looking at the suit for him (and me).  One thing I noticed was that he got excited when he got the change the color.  The other thing was that it had momentum, when it was red it stayed red and when it was black it stayed black.  I wanted more reversals of fortunes, so we stopped playing and since he had played daddy's game now it was time for daddy to play his game, Duel Masters.

Not that he can read, but he's seen the show and likes the pictures on the cards.  He knows that the picture on the card is a monster that you summon by playing the card and he knows that the higher the number in the lower left, the more powerful the monster.  Also some internal "logic" like missiles can't shot fast underwater, the card "Roar of the Earth" is cool and therefor the most powerful card.  We play like this.  Daddy plays a monster card and tells him what kind of monster it is.  He plays another monster card that is more powerful than daddy's card.  Daddy's card is removed.

He noticed six monsters in that my heart wasn't in it, so he did something that only he could do, we took a couple of falls.  He played monsters and described how my monster was stronger.  Then it hit me, just because you are taking one side doesn't mean that you can describe bad things happening to that character.  And the momentum and reversals match cinematic type battles.

I know this doesn't answer your question on the reward system, but I like that my son developed most of the system for me.

(By the way, these ideas are not unique.  Doing a search afterwards on "Crazy Eights" brought up this thread where Jack Spencer Jr had a very similar idea five years ago)

As for relationship mechanics, I think I've found inspiration.  I want the game to be leading up to introspective, that's the whole purpose of the third phase, the quest, but still have relationships be a big deal.  For violence, love, and faith, three quotes from an author, Hermann Hesse:

That's the way it is when you love. It makes you suffer, and I have suffered much in the years since. But it matters little that you suffer, so long as you feel alive with a sense of the close bond that connects all living things, so long as love does not die!

Which is perfect because no one seems happy in courtly love for long.

If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn't part of ourselves doesn't disturb us.

It's a very different way for me to view relationships, but even makes hatred more introspective.

The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Who would be born must first destroy a world. The bird flies to God.

Which sums up the three stages that I want my game to have.  First stage is exploring and discovering the egg.  The second breaking it.  The third leaving it behind.

[Darren Hill]

If you're going with the elements, might I suggest instead adopting the Four Humours? That would give a much more medieval feel and still has elemental connotations.

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Another page with an emotional chart

[stack0v3rflow]

If you're going with the elements, might I suggest instead adopting the Four Humours? That would give a much more medieval feel and still has elemental connotations.

I don't think that I am going for the elements anymore, but the Humours are an excellent idea for another game.  This game is more sex and violence and faith.  In terms of the Humours, I'd be rewarding everyone for being Choleric and trying to discourage the other three.

But I think that they are a great idea for a medieval themed game, just not mine.

So I want to ask you something.  Your description makes it sound like Violence, Sex, and Faith are the three main arenas of conflict.  How does your game reward/punish the behaviour of the knights in each of these arenas?

After the weekend I finally have an answer for you.

During conflict resolution, one side or the other may draw more cards by either elevating or escalating (to steal a term from Dogs) the danger or the intimacy of the conflict.  For example, pulling a knife in a bar fight or saying "I love you" for the first time.  By doing so, the escalating player draws five new cards in his or her hand, but must also take five cards face down.

At the end of a conflict, the winner decides how many of the loser's face down cards he or she wants to turn in for a draw of new cards (up to five).  The winner may also use up to five of the loser's face down card pile to build a positive relationship between the player's knight and an NPC that makes sense.  The remaining cards in each pile cause changes to the game world.

The first four cards remaining in the face down cards pile (need better name) go towards creating a negative relationship between two of the characters in the conflict.  The next five are used to create a one time Bruised trait on the character.  The five after that are used to create a two time usuable "Wounded" trait on the character.  Any cards after that mean a possible death of the character.  Unless the players play a total number of faith points equal to five plus one for every three cards left in the pile.

So the chart goes like this:
1-4: bad blood
5-9: bruised + bad blood
10-14: wounded + busied + bad blood
15-17: dying, spend 5 faith points to save + wounded + braided + bad blood
18-20: dying, spend 6 faith points to save + wounded + braided + bad blood
ect

Faith should be a lot like the Key of the Vow from TSoY, except that some one else must administer the oath while you pay faith points to sanctify it.  You even get points for breaking the oath.  You can use faith points to cause a reversal of fortune during a conflict (but not at the end of a conflict), to sanctify another oath, or to save the bacon of yourself or another player.


I think it's obvious that I've gone past the scope of the initial post, but I want to thank you all for your ideas and help.  Hopefully my next post will be Playtesting.