[Doodle Dungeon] Power 19

[knicknevin]

This is one of those loose ideas that rattled around in the back of my head for years; it was a name and very little else, but then it all came together over about 5 days, starting at CONception. This is what it's all about

1.) What is your game about?
It's a typical fantasy dungeon crawl: monsters, traps, treasures, magic and, of course, heroes.

2.) What do the characters do?
They have a typical fantasy adventure that includes exploring a dungeon or just roaming through a fantasy landscape, trying to achieve immediate goals.

3.) What do the players (including the GM if there is one) do?
They use their resources to create scenes: the resources are simple shapes drawn in pencil and a scene starts off as a blank sheet of paper. All the players (no GM) take it in turns to roll dice to see what they can draw next: they make their sketch and, if they think it looks like anything, they write that tag next to their doodle and narrate what happens.

4.) How does your setting (or lack thereof) reinforce what your game is about?
Setting is optional: I use dungeoneering as a default because it is something everyone has some degree of familiarity with. The emphasis of the game is on pastiching (is that a word?)the tropes of well-known genres and, in that sense, using a cartoonish approach to narration reinforces what the game is about.

5.) How does the Character Creation of your game reinforce what your game is about?
You draw your character in an iconic way that represents their archetype; the same goes for any Traits you create for them, so again, cartoon reinforces parody.

6.) What types of behaviors/styles of play does your game reward (and punish if necessary)?
The game rewards cheek & imagination: when you draw something, you get to say what it is based on your interpretation of what a few simple lines and other marks look like. Players are encouraged to push their luck and squeeze the maximum amount of interpretation from the minimum of amount of information.

7.) How are behaviors and styles of play rewarded or punished in your game?
When another player disagrees with your interpretation of a doodle, they can initiate a Conflict with you; additional game resources are at stake in Conflicts. So players are rewarded for being contetntious & cheeky by pushing other players to respond with a Conflict, from which they can earn more resources.

8.) How are the responsibilities of narration and credibility divided in your game?
Everyone takes a turn at drawing & narrating the scene, but you can spend resources to interrupt another player & edit what they have drawn. Players share the responsibility for telling a coherent story, scene by scene.

9.) What does your game do to command the players' attention, engagement, and participation? (i.e. What does the game do to make them care?)
This game has a unique style (drawing as well as narrating)and encourages them to think graphically instead of only verbally. Each player is trying to think 'outside the box', so you are entertained by the creativity of others but must also stay alert to what they say in case you want to challenge it.

10.) What are the resolution mechanics of your game like?
Pencils are used in a short round of 'Odds & Evens' : both players secretly point their pencils up or down, then reveal them. If they are both pointing in the same direction, the current narrator wins the Conflict; if they are pointing in opposite directions, the disputant wins.

11.) How do the resolution mechanics reinforce what your game is about?
Firstly, pencils are used to resolve things in a game about drawing doodles! Secondly, the resources at stake allow players to edit the scene by drawing anything or erasing anything, at any time.

12.) Do characters in your game advance? If so, how?
By entering scenes, characters can gain Traits and increase their die pools; by entering Conflicts, they can gain more resources.

13.) How does the character advancement (or lack thereof) reinforce what your game is about?
Advancements give players more control over what they draw in future scenes by extending their range of drawing tools.

14.) What sort of product or effect do you want your game to produce in or for the players?
First & foremost, the game should be amusing: if the players laugh loud & long, the desired effect has been produced. Second, it should exercise mental & physical functions that are little used in roleplaying, e.g. graphic imagination and drawing skills.

15.) What areas of your game receive extra attention and color? Why?
The drawing tools: these get an extensive section on what they are & how to use them, including what they CAN'T do. This section of the rules is as humourous as possible, partly to make it less of a chore to read but also to link them concpetually to the tone of the game.

16.) Which part of your game are you most excited about or interested in? Why?
The drawing: I'm not aware of any other game that uses artistic skills to this extent, which makes it unique and noteworthy.

17.) Where does your game take the players that other games can't, don't, or won't?
Whole new areas of their brain get an airing for the first time in an RPG!

18.) What are your publishing goals for your game?
I don't have any experience with publishining: I'd like to see the game reach as large an audience as possible, by whatever means are most effective.

19.) Who is your target audience?
Experienced gamers with a well-developed sense of humour, though there may also be a target market amongst newcomers to role-playing who are attracted by the unique artistic aspect of the game.

[Calithena]

Hi there -

You might be able to nick some useful bits from Zak Arntson: http://www.harlekin-maus.com/games/fungeon/fungeon.html .

[Simon C]

I don't know if this would work for what you had in mind, but have you thought that it might be fun if, rather than drawing something, and then getting to interpret what it is, you draw something, and then the next player interprets what it is.  I know that playing "pictionary", there's always a lot of laughs when someone's drawing what to them looks EXACTLY like a tiger, and the other players are like "goose!" "ummm, clock!".  Also, there's more room for the "cheeky" factor, when someone draws something that's pretty clearly one thing, but you can interpret it as something else, e.g. Player One:*draws an awesome looking dragon* Player Two: "Allright! Look at this cool golden dragon statue I found!"

[Valamir]

Man this takes me back to my very first roleplaying experiences (ok, technically, my second as my first was a free form rail road where my character got chopped into bits by the other player cuz they were bored...but I digress).

Back in my elementary school days we were way into mazes.  We'd draw truly heinous mind bending mazes that would span across sheets of giant draftsman paper with psychedelic swirls of tiny little hallways.  Then we'd challenge each other to see who could get through it fastest.

Once we discovered roleplaying, we started drawing little iconic pictures in the maze.  If your path crossed one of these icons then "roleplaying happened" which basically meant taking time out to fight the orc or the skeleton or the dragon or whatever other doodle was drawn on the map.

I can still remember the wierd little arguements -- "ok now I gotta fight the goblin"..."dude that's a minotaur, you gotta fight a minotaur"..."minotaur! no way, its got pointy ears like a goblin"..."dude those are horns"..."you suck as an drawer those totally aren't horns"... heh.