sleepless : a one nighter insomniac horror game concept

[paulmjessup]

Hey all.  New to this board and all that natch.  I've recently gotten back into doing table top RPG's (I've done tons of video game RPG's, and even created a site for playing/downloading/reveiwing in the vid RPG scene: http://indie-rpg.net/rpgdx and a community of good vid RPG designers at http://indie-rpg.net , my page is http://indie-rpg.net/mandrakeroot, but is currently undergoing a revision and is half complete) because I've just bough a few good games, and will be getting back into table top gaming shortly.

One thing I've always done is created my own games.  Mostly out of necassity over desire (until I was 16, I could not afford a game manual, so I designed the games me and my groups played).  So, after getting back into things, the desire to create has risen again.

I've got a few games in mind I wish to "create" and "design", but I thought I would start off small first.  Here's an idea I've been kicking around for awhile.

The basic concepts are here, but the actual mechinics are non-existant as of yet, mainly because I'm stil working on the concept.  WHen the concept is fleshed out to a degree I feel comfortable with, I'll start working on the mechinics.  Mainly because this is a short, one-nighter game, I think the mechinics should be influenced and show the actual game concept in it's very nature.  

So here's the basic concept.  It's a one-night, all nighter game.  The game itself should be played in mostly real time, starting at 3am and lasting until the crack of dawn.  The reason for this is that in the game you play insomniacs.  Willing insomniacs.

The game will have the basic charcater+GM rules and regulations as most table top RPG's do (no equal interactive fiction for this one, there will be a hidden/not so hidden powers that be).

The characters will play people who have lost two or more days of sleep.  The balance of the game will be to keep your character awake, as well as keep sane from the lack of sleep, as well as survive.  The characters are losing sleep (willingly) because of a series of consecutive nightmares.

The nightmares will be the same for all the individuals, who will, at the start of the game "know each other" (no pandering around with character meet-ups or forced group gatherings.  How the pc's know each other is up to the group).  The nightmares are so frightening, that recently, they've decided, as a group, to try not to go to sleep, for fear of the return of the dream, and maybe the end of their lives.

Now, the nightmares themselves are no ordinary dreams but demonic forces (much like Succubi and Incubi) who have been gently swallowing bits of the soul of the players in each nightmare.  Now that the players are no longer asleep these demons are angry.  Upset that they're victoms no longer exist, they begin to manifest themselves in reality.

This happens slowly, of course, during moments of insomnia called "micro sleep".  This is an actual condition of sleep loss where the brain goes into a dream while the person is awake.  It causes hallucantions and etc.  The players, during micro sleep, will begin to be hunted by the demonic forces.  As in real life, micro sleep happens more and more often while the player is awake.  The longer they are awake, the more likely they are to go into microsleep.

At the end of the game, the players that are still sane/alive/not asleep "win".  The game ends at the crack of dawn.  Most likely, though, the players will either go mad, or fall aslepp (where they will be killed) or get killed during microsleep.

[Jonathan Walton]

At the end of the game, the players that are still sane/alive/not asleep "win".  The game ends at the crack of dawn.  Most likely, though, the players will either go mad, or fall aslepp (where they will be killed) or get killed during microsleep.

Personally, I think this idea rocks.  One of the good things about starting play at 3am is that eliminated players will probably feel all too happy to quit playing and go to sleep.  The main problem with elimination-style competative games is what to do with players who've "lost," and your plan has a really elegent solution: they go to bed.

Of course, half the appeal of such a game would be to have a group sleepover where everybody stays up until the crack of dawn playing this game.  You could hang out and watch movies until 3am, at which point the game would begin and players would have to struggle to keep awake.  I really like the idea of an endurance match being part of the game.

I think you have all sorts of precedents for "demons hiding in your nightmares" too.  You should suggest that the group watch Nightmare on Elm Street before playing the game, just so they could get in the right frame of mine ("Get it?  Don't fall asleep!  That's the premise.").

You probably want to keep the mechanics as simple and elegent as you can, especially if you expect people to play it when they're sleep deprived.  Also, what happens if the GM falls asleep?  It seems unfair to have a double standard.  I think the game would almost work better as a GM-less game, so each player had an equal oppotunity for success or loss, but YMMV.

EDIT:  Oh yeah.  And welcome to the Forge.

[paulmjessup]

well that is an interesting proposition I haven't thought of -- what if the GM does fall asleep?  Never even considered that, and yeah, that would be a double standard.

maybe It could work as GM-less game.  Haven't played too many of those to really decide though.  This would really drasitclly change the rules
though (maybe for the better), well, not rules maybe but concept.  How do I keep the game fare?  How do I keep it so the players have to fall to the whim of the outside forces?

since it is a competitve game (of sorts), keeping thisn fair and just is really a good high point.  Don't want the players pulling off one of those "But I shoot your character!"  "did not!" kind of dealies that can sometimes happen with a GM-less game.

Maybe a moderator?  Or a refree?  if he falls asleep, though, the game can be doomed as well.  This can create some interesting group mechics logic.

Yeah, I was planning on keeping it simple, not rock-paper-scissors simple, but jsut a roll of a d6 or something to that effect.  Keep everything streamlined.

Now this adds in (a GM-less version of the game), some interesting problems that could have just as many interesting conclusions....for example, how would the creatures/nightmares act?  Who would control them?

It seems unfair/odd to me that the players should tell the story of their own doing/undoing.  Again, their could be some interesting mechanics to come up with as a solution.  And the challenge of keeping it simple throws another happy wrench in the works (happy because this game is now becoming a very unique challenge!)

I like the idea of watching films before hand, to get the players into the mood.  Nightmare on elmstreet would work perfectly.  And the point was to actually have the players in teh same "state of mind" as their characters, sleep deprived.  Also adds to the cool factor of doing it in real time and the game could be very immersive.

Hrm.  Time for to go to work on a simpel outline and some basic game mechinics.  I plan on this game being as simple as possible, to the point of where the manual will be at the most 5 pages.  If not less than that.

thanks for such a thought-provoking response!

[Jonathan Walton]

Here's a interesting idea that just struck me:

• have each player serve as the "tormenter" of another, playing that player's nightmares
• you could set up a chain so (if you had 4 players): P1 torments P2, P2 torments P3, P3 torments P4, & P4 torments P1.
• if players wanted to keep playing after their characters had fallen asleep or died, they would become "freelance tormenters" becoming a part of everyone's nightmares.  This also means that, as players get eliminated, there will be more and more tormenters popping in and out of your dreams.
• the players' incentive for tormenting the others would be trying to get them removed from the game, increasing their chance of winning.  Because of the "chain" design (as opposed to two players tormenting each other), you woundn't be able to compromise ("I won't torment your character as badly if you won't torment me too bad") and it would be completely in your interest to make life miserable for the other players.

In any case, I think the GM-less style would be completely possible and a worthy challenge.  I'm glad you think so too.

Later.
Jonathan

[paulmjessup]

Well the shared tormentor idea is interesting, and I'll probably go with that, but might ditch the chain idea...a bit too reminscent of Wraith, a game which makes me want to gouge my eyes out.  

Here's some basic ideas on what I have so far:

The game is split up into several sessions that will last the night.  The first session (whcih will roughly be the first hour of play) will be background and design.  Here is the basic flow for that session:
+1. the group decides on a moderator.  Usually someone who has played the game before, or knows the rules inside and out.  the moderator is basicly only a moderator for this first session.  After this, gameplay wise, everyone is equal.  The moderator has  extended responsibilities during this session that other players do not.  These are: 1. keeping order and focus.  Do not allow anyone to diverge from the game play, no idle chit-chat or clowning around, or talking about things "outside" of the game. 2. The moderator must make sure everyone knows the rules before hand.  3.  He/she is the one who keeps the order of events in the first session going.
+2. With the moderator chosen, the first session begins.  Moderator explains the rules, and then begins by asking everyone to design characters.  Character design is a group process.  No pen and paper are used.  The group describes character traits, concepts, etc.  Therre will be several example questions used to help aide this process in defining characters.
+3. Everyone then receives several tokens.  There will be three sets of tokens to be kept track by the player.  The first set of tokens (5 tokens in this set) will be the player's health.  The second set (10 in this set) will be the players sanity.  The third set (10 also in this set) will be the players wakefullness.  If any of the token sets reaches 0, that player is dead.
+4  The players design the tormentor for their characters based on the characters background.  Again, this is a group exercise, with the group being able to veto anything they think is absurd or drawing the line.
+5. The scenerio is decided upon.  Agian, a group decision (with some example scenerios in the manual to make the first time of playing this easier), the scenerio is basicly where this is happening, what is going on, how things led up to this point, the characters and how they know/interact with each other, and all the basic background stuff to keep the game interesting for the 2-3 hours of play that will commence.
+6  With the scenerio decided upon, the characters designed and their tormentor's created, session 2 begins.

session 2:
 This is the main session, normal gameplay.  Everything pretty much happens in real time.  The moderator starts game play, and then ceases to become a moderator.  The players take turn in describing what they are doing/what's going on.  The group can veto anything silly.
 
 Next comes the rules for two important aspects of the game: weariness rolls and microsleep rolls.
 
 Every 15 minutes the players roll 1d6.  On a 4,5,6 the character goes into microsleep.  They lose two of their sanity tokens and 1 of their sleep tokens.  Then, when the player is in microsleep, the other players get to play the tormentor.  If a player has been killed off, that player autimitacally plays the tormentor.  If more than one player are dead, they roll 1d6 each, the lowest roll becomes the tormentor.  If there are no "dead" players, then all of the players (but the player who is being tormented) roll 1d6, lowest roll becomes the tormentor (ties, roll again).
 
 The tormentor can then warp reality to attack the player (much like in waking dream), and may actually physically attack the player if he decides to take on a physical manifestation.  Attack rules will be explained later.
 
 Now, also, every 15 minutes players roll 2 d6 to see if there characters become weary.  They need to roll under the number of sleep tokens they have remaining.  If tehy fail this roll, tehy subtract 1d6 rolls worth of sleep tokens.
 
 Combat rules:
 
 Combat is basicly simple:
  the attacker and the defender each roll a 1d6.  If the defender is lower than the attacker roll, no dammage is taken.  The defender then gets to describe the outcome.
 
  If the attacker rolls lower, the defender takes away 1d6 worth of life tokens.  Then the attacker get to describe what happens.
 
  That's it so far, the rough concept anyway.  What do you guys think?