Apologies in advance

[JimmyB]

Okay, just to explain a few things, this game was developed around 4am in the morning, with the help of several bottles of red bull and a couple of pints of snakebite, inspired by one of those stange conversations that comes about at that time.

If you do not feel that cannabalism can ever have comedy value, I recommend that you read no further.

Otherwise, the game follows a little further down, feedback would be greatly appreciated:










1 Premise
You are stranded on a mountaintop, a desert island, the arctic, somewhere in the middle of the desert, wherever. Hell, for all I care you can get yourselves stranded on the moon. Its not as if this game is designed to be realistic.

You have to survive. That's it. Simple enough, no?

No, not really. Especially since everyone else is also trying to survive, your biggest hindrance is your own morals, your biggest asset is a recipe book and you have no idea when you'll be rescued.

Oh yes. Add to this the fact that while there is plenty of water, medical equipment, and similar, you have no food.

What you do have plenty of is people.

I think the rest becomes clear quite quickly.

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2 Character generation
Step 1: Come up with a name for your character, and your team. No, this does not have to be a serious name, and if you really want to play a game about other people trying to kill and eat someone named after you then you can use your own name.
Step 2: Choose where to spread your 25 points between followers, leadership, ambush and cookery. Make sure that none are below 4 or above 10.
Step 3: That's it.
Step 4: No, really.
Step 5: Oh alright, if you really want more then come up with a team flag and speciality dish.
Step 6: Still more? Uh, plan out a base? Draw out detailed pictures of each member of your team? Do you really want to get that attached to dinner?

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2.1 What does it all mean?
Your name – Uh, the name of the leader of your team. That was easy, wasn't it?

Team name – Take a wild guess.

Followers – The number of people who have taken membership in your team, due to your elaborate promises and outright lying. This is the number of skulls that you take from the pool at the beginning of the game.

Leadership – How good you are at lying and promising impossible things to members of other teams, poaching, uh, stealing them. Poaching is something else altogether. This is to do with the dice you roll to steal other team's followers, and to defend your own.

Ambush – Whether or not you can work out that hiding under leaves and leaping out at people is better than standing in the middle of the road. No one said you were smart cannibals. Your ambush also gives you a better chance to get nice, fresh, succulent meat.

Cookery – How well you can cook up long pork, the better your cookery the more nutrition you'll get from the meal. You'll also be more likely to keep your team members.

Anyone having any trouble so far? If you are it might be worth trying a different game. Maybe Monopoly.

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3 Setup
Take a number of skull counters equal to your number of followers. Take a number of dice equal to your leadership (use d6s for this). Take another number equal to your ambush (preferably a different colour of d6). Finally take a d10 for your cookery.

Mark down your name, team name, number of members (with each of their names and personal histories if you decided to go that far, and if you did I pity you, I really do) on your sheet. If you have counters then don't bother marking down the number of members, just put the counters in the group box, also listed as the parlour.

Once everyone has taken tokens add together everyone's total number of tokens and divide by two. Use a calculator if you must. Any fractions should be rounded up. These tokens are the loose people wandering around the island.

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4 Rules
The player with the fewest followers starts. If two players have the same number of followers then the player with the highest ambush of those two starts. If they have the same ambush then flip a coin or something, I really don't care.

Right, now that the first player has been decided on, guess what. They get to make the first move.

A player can choose any of the four actions below as their move:
­ Recruit: The player tries to recruit from either the free pool or from another teams members. If there are people left in the free pool then the player recruits one automatically. If there are none left in the free pool then the player must choose another team to attempt to recruit from. They should roll their leadership dice, as should the other player. Total these dice. If you beat the other player's leadership dice then you steal one of their team members, plus another one for each multiple of six that you beat them by, plus a single point of leadership. If they beat yours then nothing happens.
­ Poach: Poaching another player's team-mates allows you to convert them instantly into a meal, without bothering adding them to your own team first. Each player involved should roll their ambush dice, and add their number of members. If the attacker wins the roll then they can take one member from the other team and move them directly to their own table. You do not gain any bonus for cookery if you do this.
­ Cook: You may sacrifice one of your own team members in order to move their counter from your parlour onto the table. When you do this you must also roll 1d6. If you roll under your number of members then you move one team member into the free pool as they abandon your team. You should also roll a number of dice equal to your cookery, if you roll over your number of followers then you gain one point of leadership, if you fail then you lose one point of leadership.
­ Mob: This makes the usual need to feed at the end of your turn unnecessary, but you gain no leadership bonus for good cooking. You simply pitch your members directly against another team, rolling d6 for each follower. The other team should do the same. If you win then the other team loses a member and you are exempt from feeding for that turn.

Once your turn has ended you must feed your people, unless you mobbed. If you have someone on your table then you are fine, otherwise you lose one point of leadership, and a single member from your group as your people tear them to pieces.

You win the game by being the only player left. If at any time your followers reaches 0 you have two choices. You can either try to run each turn, by rolling your ambush against everyone in turn. If you lose to anyone on this roll then you are added to their parlour and are out of the game. If you win then they cannot target you this turn. Your other option is to simply give yourself up to one of the team leaders.

For added fun you should describe in simple terms how you are serving up a team member, except in mobbing. Including little details like 'and your last team member is going to be roast with stuffing and an apple in his mouth' just adds to the fun of the game, as well as causing odd looks from any onlookers.

[garapata]

Check out BATTLE ROYALE for more ideas on approaching this game scenario.
And why not add the added element of mishaps.

When a mishap is rolled, that person gets into a complication.  Probably, he breaks his ankle in a fall and now can't move about?  Or maybe he get's sprayed by a skunk on the face and is blinded for the next few hours.  

Complications can add a new twist to otherwise a kill, talk scenario by adding new tricks the other character can use to his advantage?

[Simon W]

Tasty.

Simon
http://www.geocities.com/dogs_life2003/

[JimmyB]

Someone mentioned mishaps, which sort of translated in my caffeine-addled brain to the tables below. The other thing brought up was complications which could be used by the players against one another, one again interpreted through my current rather strange logic to the stuff following the tables.



4.1 Advanced game
4.1.1 Interference
At the end of each turn, a player can choose to roll on the interference table appropriate to the action they took, so long as that action was successful.

Recruit
d10 Result   Effect
1   One of your people sees through your blatant lies, and turns to the other side. Nominate another team and transfer one of your followers across to them.
2   A trouble-maker in your team is stirring things up against you, fortunately you manage to catch him and have him eaten before too much damage to your credibility is done. Lose 1 follower and 1 leadership.
3   A trouble-maker in your team seems to be trying to stir things up against you. Fortunately you manage to turn him into extra rations before he really gets his protests off the ground. Lose 1 follower.
4   Your latest recruit turns out to be ill, with food poisoning. Next turn your people will react as though they have not been fed, regardless of your action for the turn.
5   A ritual sacrifice led by your latest recruit boosts morale in your team. You lose one team member, but gain an extra leadership as people begin to look up to you more.
6   Your new recruit is a tactical genius, or at least more so than most. Gain 1 point to your ambush.
7   Your new recruit is a marvel, he has brought with him one of his team's best recipes. Add 1 to your cookery.
8   It's a miracle! One of your team has given birth. How this happened no one is quite sure, but you may ignore the results of not eating for your next turn.
9   A trouble-maker trying to stir things up against you is caught and disciplined before he can act properly. Not only does he become a loyal supporter of yours, but people will obey you more. Gain 1 leadership.
10   Your lies have been more effective than you thought, you pick up an extra team member from a team of your choice. Feel proud, evidently you are actually a capable leader.

Poach
d10 Result   Effect
1   Feel proud, you have just proved that long pork needs to be cooked extremely thoroughly. Your team suffer from intense food poisoning, for your next turn you may make no action.
2   Your people were hungrier than you thought, they turn on one of their own number as well as the poached member from your rival team. You lose 1 member, but do not need to feed your team for your next turn.
3   In a pitiful bid to save their life, your poached meal offers to trade some cookery information for their life. You may choose to reroll your poach action in order to gain 1 point of cookery.
4   Your target was more nimble than you thought, and manages to escape from your grasp. In desperation your people turn on one of their own for food. Lose a follower, and the poached member is returned to their team.
5   Your target was slipperier than you originally thought, somehow managing to escape and take your cooking pot with them. Unfortunately the massive pot over their head causes them to run off the edge of a cliff. You may choose to feed your people one of their own in order to stave off hunger.
6   You got a particularly large specimen. They will happily provide food both for today, and for tomorrow. Not only are your people fed for today, they also have food for tomorrow.
7   In a desperate plea for his life, your capture gives up his tactical knowledge for the chance to live. Unfortunately you cook and eat him anyway.
8   Your poached meal decides that it would be better for him to sell out his old team members. For their next turn, his old team can take no action against you.
9   The poached meal turns out to be particularly well-nourished and tasty, for your next turn you gain an extra 1 point of leadership.
10   One of the poached meal's team member's friends comes along with them, trying to rescue them (amazingly enough there are actually friends in this situation). As well as a free meal you get another member added to your team from the targeted team.

Cook
d10 Result   Effect
1   Your meal is somewhat undercooked, lose one point of leadership.
2   The sight of you butchering one of your own team purely for the sake of the survival of the rest has actually sickened an extra one of your team. The extra person flees your team, heading for the free pool.
3   Your failed cooking attempt has used up the last of your team's favourite seasoning. Reduce your cookery by 1.
4   The meal is badly cooked, and in fact unhealthy, you lose your next turn as your team spend the time vomiting up their team mate.
5   The member who chose the short straw is one of the skinniest on the team, they do not fill up the stomachs of your team mates, who choose another to eat as well.
6   Your cookery is fantastic, your team are filled up not just for this turn, but also for the next, as they spend the next day eating leftovers.
7   Just as you are about to spit and roast your team member, there is a rustle from the undergrowth. You have caught possibly one of the last pigs on the island, return the cooked member to your parlour. Unfortunately with no hunting skills it is unlikely you'll manage to repeat this.
8   Experimentation has allowed you to discover a new seasoning. Your cookery is raised by one as you make use of the new flavour in your dishes.
9   The scent of your cooking is fantastic. You gain a member from the free pool. If there are none in the free pool then you instead gain one from a team of your choice.
10   The meal is perfectly seasoned and cooked, gain a point of leadership.

Mob
d10 Result   Effect
1   Your mobbing has been an absolute failure, as one of your members is killed in the attack. On the plus side you can eat their body tomorrow, saving you from having to cook normally.
2   You manage to grab an extra, stray member during the mobbing. If there are any people in the free pool then add one of them to your team.
3   You miss your intended target, if there are any people in the free pool then remove one of them, and put them on your table.
4   Hmm, it seems you have actually come up against some degree of intelligence. The targeted team managed to disappear before you could capture tonight's meal.
5   The struggling of the meal and the adrenaline flooding through its system seems to add to the flavour. You gain 1 point of leadership for your next turn only.
6   The pure savagery of your attack catches the other team off-guard. In the confusion, as well as tearing apart one of their members for food, it seems some people switched side. Each of you rolls 1d6. The highest dice roll gains a member from the other team.
7   The noise from your attack has attracted a savage. Add one member to the free pool.
8   You burst in on the other team, while they are eating. For their next turn they will count as not having been fed, and you will get a free meal for your next turn, with cookery bonus as normal.
9   Your target turned out to be little more than skin and bones, completely unfilling. Your people turn on one of their own number for food tonight.
10   Your target is a star prize. You get food for both this turn, and your next turn.
Note that extra meals earned do not actually stack, so you cannot gradually build up a massive stockpile. A free meal for the next turn will go bad after that turn, whether or not it is eaten. Normal meals do not 'keep' over till the next turn if uneaten.

4.1.2 Specials
Each team chooses one of the following specials at the beginning of the game, and then another every time one is used up. Note that only one can be used by each player each round, i.e. a player refreshes their specials at the beginning of their turn, and may not make use of it until the turn when they used their last one.

Pit trap: If someone attempts a mob against you, they lose one of their members to you, and you gain a free meal.

Patrols: If someone tries a recruiting drive against you, then it will fail automatically.

Barricade: If someone attempts to poach one of your members, you get an extra two dice for the ambush.

Foul meat: When a team of your choice cooks a meal, they will receive no nourishment from it, and must eat another as well.

These specials should either be printed out on tiles and given to players face down, or chosen at random using some mechanic of your choosing, or chosen by players each time they receive one.

[Mike Holmes]

Check out the game Isolation that Jesse Burneko was working on a long while ago. http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=1548
Mike

[JimmyB]

I can see some similarities between the two games, but to my mind Isolation seems a lot more serious, whereas Eat the Dead is designed pretty much purely as a beer and pretzels game. Less focus on inter-personal relationships, more on turning persons into recipes.