[Dead Inside] Prelim Playtest #3 (Very Long)

[chadu]

Oh, and part of the whole point here is that what you have maybe is more suitable for newbs than "gamers." So sell it to the newbs, instead. Or both.

That is, as they say, the Plan. (And why I've been mildly pursuing reviews and interest outside of the hobby-sphere. About the only fruit of that thus far has been the Washington, DC City Paper article. . . which, alas, didn't incoporate any good info on my website or RPGNow sales pages.

CU

[chadu]

Ah, yes: "the Nastygame."

True, but they will be so damn cool. I would really like to run an "evil" DI game, because the mechanics push really hard towards being stylish bad guys, rather than gumby bad guys.

Right. I could so see this. You end up with these Doctor Doom/Jack Lint [1]sorts of badguys, with their twisted codes of honor and surprising secret kindnesses. They save kittens so that they can eat. your. soul!

[1] Michael Palin's torturer character from Brazil.

Since even bad guys need to conserve their Soul, DI ensures that evil protagonists will still be largely sympathetic.

Right. . . and that can get really interesting.

For example, here's a campaign idea: Meeting the Buddha on the Road. (snip)

Oh, man. That's sweet!

Would you want to go with full-blown Imago over a Sensitive or a Mage, though? Ooh, you could go with the NPC being a Mage who hasn't yet reached Immortality... and the Mage's Shadow is aiding the PCs!

Then again, as an Imago, you'd get the benefit of the Bodisattva being really, really "weird-from-without" as the Cosmos yanks him back and forth to serve others, I suppose. Whereas a Mage would probably more likely be "weird-from-within."

Any way you cut it: damn cool idea.

CU



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[chadu]

re coop/comp: you talk about spotlight time. Is that part of the mechanics or just how you talk about it in your write up? Were they competing for some "official" (ie determined by mechanics) position of lead, or was it an informal "we're dealing with this character now" kind of thing? The example of one person talking over another made it sound like the latter.  Which makes it sound like an issue of ettiquette rather than mechanics.

It's just how I talk about it in my write-up; yes, I think it's mostly an aspect of etiquette. Interesting how it had an effect on play, though.

(I might speak slightly in the GM's chapter on spotlight time for everybody, either in "Running the Game" or in "Adventure Design," but it's pretty much just advice, not mechanics.)

CU