The Salem Broomstickriders

[Kenway]

Here's just a little something I'm working on.
   It's 1692.  The PCs are all witches.  They have a "secret identity" for the day, but at night they can choose to pursue vigilante justice or to exact petty revenge.

   Character creation:
   Pick which day of the week you were born on.
   Pick a zodiac sign.
   Each PC starts with 5 Gossip/Busybody points (D6's).

   Campaigns:
   Before each game session, find a newspaper or whatever and each PC reads their horroscope.  It must guide their character's play that session.
   Depending on the players, adventures may consist of investigating and combatting the forces of evil or just causing trouble.

   Gameplay:
   Gossip points are the main focus.  Your players do not cast spells like normal.  If you want to do something magical, or want to make something otherwise happen that you are not directly involved in, you offer up one or more Gossip points and say that you "wish ill" or "wish fortune" upon a certain target.
   When another player takes the points, he rolls them.  If any roll is 3-6, you "succeed."  The Busybody narrates the results in a gossipy fashion, "Did you hear what happened to..." or "I heard..."  Depending on the situation, the Busybody may be actually narrating what his own character is saying, or may be narrating somebody random in the town.

   Trials:
   When you reach 0 Gossip points, you may accuse another player of being a witch.  The GM oversees the Trial, roleplaying the Magistrate or whatever.  The trial only ends when the accuser has received from the other players (given as normal) what would be his equal share of the total Gossip points of all the players.

                How I envisioned it:
                The game is meant to be unpredictable and chaotic, but not really silly.  The PCs are supposed to kind of interpret "good" and "bad" Gossip effects very openly.  PCs are meant to turn on each other, and make temporary "alliances" so they can get more Gossip points, but never really try to kill each other.

                Sources:  Rick Swan's "The Complete Guide to RPGs" review for the old rpg Witch Hunt.
Mechanics: Gossip is inspired by The Pool and Inspectre (cofessionals).

[Ron Edwards]

Hi there,

This post gave me that little "boink" feeling, although sort of around-the-corner in my mind, if you know what I mean. Something's there ....

So I read it again, and the Classic Forge Question arose: what's the goal? The Premise is ... to outdo/beat one's fellow players? To get into the stereotyped witch-mentality in a kind of guilty-pleasure way? To address issues of secrets, lies, communities, and so on?

Focus it toward the goals of the real people in play, and I'm really interested. Roy's instant-classic Structured game design might be a good place to check next.

Best,
Ron

[Kenway]

Here's what I have so far:
  Here's my attempt at a Premise:  Good witch or bad witch, all witches are sisters.

  The idea is that the witches are so powerful they can do pretty much whatever they want- but there's always the unwritten code that they should never kill each other.
  A typical campaign will have the PCs as all long-time associates.  Or maybe 1 new PC will get added, disrupting the familiar relationship map...
  Hopefully, the PCs will forge a dysfunctional family-type dynamic and try to make life hard for each other, but in the end nobody gets killed.
  Gameplaywise, the idea is to muck things up and make very strange and embarrassing things happen to each other as well as the residents of the city.
  The PCs should constantly get threatened with being exposed as witches but this should probably never really happen.
  Like described earlier, the thing I want is for the players to turn on each other and forge temporary alliances.  This is where the heavy Pool influence comes in.  Seemingly simple events, eg. somebody's pocketwatch goes missing, should lead to chaos and confusion as the witches use powers that they don't fully control, gossip flies (no pun intended), and personal secrets (PCs and townspeople) get exposed.

  Hey, maybe an actual relationship map for the town would be an important component of gameplay.  As gameplay progresses, gossip will cause the map to be modified/filled in as secret affairs, vendettas, etc. will get exposed.
  Hmm, I might have to revise the premise.

[Kenway]

Here's what I have so far:
Here's my attempt at a Premise: Good witch or bad witch, all witches are sisters.

The idea is that the witches are so powerful they can do pretty much whatever they want- but there's always the unwritten code that they should never kill each other.
A typical campaign will have the PCs as all long-time associates. Or maybe 1 new PC will get added, disrupting the familiar relationship map...
Hopefully, the PCs will forge a dysfunctional family-type dynamic and try to make life hard for each other, but in the end nobody gets killed.
Gameplaywise, the idea is to muck things up and make very strange and embarrassing things happen to each other as well as the residents of the city.
The PCs should constantly get threatened with being exposed as witches but this should probably never really happen.
Like described earlier, the thing I want is for the players to turn on each other and forge temporary alliances. This is where the heavy Pool influence comes in. Seemingly simple events, eg. somebody's pocketwatch goes missing, should lead to chaos and confusion as the witches use powers that they don't fully control, gossip flies (no pun intended), and personal secrets (PCs and townspeople) get exposed.

Hey, maybe an actual relationship map for the town would be an important component of gameplay. As gameplay progresses, gossip will cause the map to be modified/filled in as secret affairs, vendettas, etc. will get exposed.
Hmm, I might have to revise the premise.

[Kenway]

Okay, here's my revised try at making a premise.  Well, actually I have 2 I'm interested in, both with moderately punny connotations:
   -Everybody has a skeleton in their closet.
   -What a tangled web we weave.
   The premise and gameplay is focused around the Relationship Map.

   Game Play:
   Each game session will start with one PC put on Trial.  This PC will have about 15 Gossip points.  As the GM (Magistrate) interrogates the PC, Gossip points are given to the other players as described above in the rules.  The PCs gaining Gossip points will introduce NPCs and/or connections which they will write down on a blank sheet, constructing a Relationship Map.
   Eg.   GM:  "Where were you last evening?"
      PC1:  "I was at the old mill at that time."
      GM:  "Do you have a witness to back you up?"
      PC2:  (gets a Gossip point from PC1) "I vouch, sir.  I am Thaddeus, a cook at the Blue Boar.  I was receiving a shipment of ground flour."
      GM:  "Noted."
      PC1:  "I also recall seeing John Michael's son wandering near the pasture with a girl- I believe it was Thaddeus's niece, Martha!"
   And so forth.
   After the trial concludes, the PCs can mull around for a while outside the courthouse.  Everything seems back to normal right?  The next day, something seemingly innocuous happens.  A cow goes missing.  The PCs, being Busybodies, get involved with things.  Little by little, they would interact or see various town members introduced at the Trial.  Eg. the cow wanders to the river and the PCs see Old Man Richard burying... something.
   Townspeople might be seen sneaking around, or somehow doing something *seemingly* regular.  I'm thinking it's kind of like GURPS Illuminati, but here each person is part of their own little 1 or 2 person conspiracy.
   As PCs spend Gossip, the links of the townspeople would get elaborated upon and explored.  Meandering's okay, but hopefully a particularly interesting tread will get picked up and the PCs will work together on it.  Eventually, the whole town would get dragged into things, and finally when the stage is set, somebody's big hidden secret should get revealed (like a secret affair, attempt at murder, etc.).
   Hopefully, hilarity and chaos will ensue.
   All because something as simple as a wandering cow combined with some meddlesome witches.

   Player types:
   Along with the personality/astrology stuff above, the PCs can figure out their basic "busybody style."  They may be a sneaky voyeur, a foolhardy muckraker, a callous loudmouth, etc.

   More Design Notes:
   So every townsperson has one or more really big earth-shattering secrets.  It seems very soap-opera-ish, but I think the interesting twist is that the PCs' own "secret" is that they're witches, which would get them burned at the stake if ever revealed.
   The PCs have to watch out for their own skin and because they pay attention to town gossip and have mischievous powers they don't fully control, they uncover other people's secrets intentionally or unintentionally, directly or indirectly- but always with outrageous consequences.