[While We Were Fighting]A Board Roleplaying Game

[Peter Nordstrand]

Is While We Were Fighting (see here and here) a boardgame or a roleplaying game? Apparently this is something that makes a lot of people nervous. As if there was some kind of very important barrier between the two that must be upheld. I don't even think I understand the question. While We Were Fighting is both. It is a roleplaying boardgame. It is also a card game. That uses dice.

Playtests have shown that part of the problem has been that the parts of the game that deal with the big picture (city politics, economics, plague, mobs running wild in the streets, stuff like that) didn't quite work out like I planned. Now, this is probably going to surprise some of my playtesters, but I've decided to solve the problem by making parts of the game even more boardgame like.

Check this out.

Deciding Phases
To determine which phase happens when I'll use a card mechanic stolen from a game called Michigan Rummy. A standard 52 card deck is used. The cards in each suit rank from 2 (lowest) to Ace (highest).

Order of Play

The gm deals one hand to each player (including herself) and one dummy hand. Cards are dealt out one at a time. Some players will have one card more than others, but this is inconsequential. The players look at their cards, and and order them, but do not show them to each other. The dummy hand is placed face up on the table and ordererd by rank and suit.

The person to the left of the gm begins. He begins play by playing his lowest diamond, placing it face up on the table.
Every time a card is played, it is followed by a maneuver phase. There are four types of maneuvers, and what kind is used depends on the suit of the card just played. Each type of maneuver phase has its own special rules.

spades — city politics
hearts — personal story
diamonds — asset management
clubs — crisis

Personal Story is the central phase of the game. This is where all the role playing tiakes place, where players make important moral decisions for their characters, where story is created. The remaining phase types are fairly abstract and boardgamey. City Politics is all about buying influence in the city council. Asset Management is about investing in business ventures, and managing your wealth. Finally, a Crisis is a major event, such as a foreign invasion, the black death, and peasant uprisings, and it affects everyone in the city. A crisis builds up slowly during the game but only breaks out if certain conditions are met.

Once the maneuver is concluded, whoever has the next higher card of the same suit must now play it. This card is followed by a maneuver phase, and then the next higher card of the same suit and so on until either the ace is reached or no one can play because no one holds the next higher card of the suit. The latter happens if the card is in the dummy hand, or if it has been played earlier. A player who plays a card that no one can follow must pay a fine. Whenever an ace is played, a special event occurs (see below).

When the sequence ends, the turn passes to the left. That player must now play the lowest card in a suit of the opposite color of the last sequence. E.g. if the previous card was red (diamond or heart), the lowest black (spade or club) card must now be played, and vice versa.

As soon as all players has run out of cards, the play stops. The deck is reshuffled, and new hands are dealt by the gm.

Whenever an ace is played, a special event occurs.