One-page RPG's: once a week!

[Philippe Tromeur]

I'll write 52 1-page RPGs next year, one per week...

In fact, since I'll post them on Mondays, there will be 53 games : http://tromeur.com/53/

[Philippe Tromeur]

I've started the challenge ! I hope I'll be able to beat GM Sharka...
http://tromeur.com/53/

First RPG was Totemique (shamans against Cybernet, the God-Machine)
Second game was Spherurges (what if giant balls fall from the sky and obey your will ?)
Third game will be Enigma (the enigma machine deciphers the Voynich and other manuscripts, becomes sentient, sends nazi guys to fetch more books ... stop them !)

Al games are in French, of course (maybe some day I'll translate some of them...)

[Ron Edwards]

I am excited about this, Philippe.

Best, Ron

[Philippe Tromeur]

The challenge may sound like insane, but in fact several of the games will use the same system and background.

For example, at least three of the games will be about a lovecraftian WWII, with a similar system : Enigma (nazis + grimoires + Nyarlathothep), Magna Mater (eastern front + Baba Yaga / Shub Niggurath), Yonanugi (japan empire + deep ones + Cthulhu)

The first two games use approximately the same system (kewl powerz are different).

[Eldrad]

No good to me!

It's like they are in another language or something!

[Philippe Tromeur]

It's like they are in another language or something!

Yes, they're in French, but I may translate some of them into English (Enigma is translated ASAP).

[Philippe Tromeur]

20th RPG uploaded tonight !
Four more games and I'll beat rpg.net... (and I'll be halfway).

Games so far are :
Totemique : Shamans against Terminators...
Spherurge : Big magic balls...
Enigma : Nazis with grimoires...
Nicolas Sarkozy : The life of a French president...
Urbi et Orbi : Special agents of the Vatican...
Yonaguni : A new island has risen, ninjas explore it...
Rogue Trader$<Apocalypse sur Seine : Civil war in Sarkoland...
: "Special Criminal Investigation" TV shows...
Somnambules : The frontier between dream & reality is thin...
Bastides et Bulettes : One of the shortest d20-based OGL Fantasy games...
Dernier Sang : We are Legend...
Vision Cul : "They Live" meets "American Pie"...
Sephiroth : Qabbalistic exploration of the solar system...
Ailleurs et Ici : Another game of dimension-hopping...
: Generic stuff...
: Be one of the Blue Men from China ! Save the flame...
Vortex : Doors have opened between earth and alternate universes ! Blast the invaders with your giga-guns !
Expression Libre : Do what you want...
Etudiants, dian, dian ! : Be a member of the famous French C.R.S. anti-riot company, during the 1968 unrest...

[Emily Care]

What a great project Phillippe! I wish my French was better.
best,
Em

[Philippe Tromeur]

That's a stupid project, but I'm proud of it anyway.

[GregStolze]

Spherurge : Big magic balls...
Nicolas Sarkozy : The life of a French president...
Urbi et Orbi : Special agents of the Vatican...
Vision Cul : "They Live" meets "American Pie"...

I want to know more about these three...

-G.

[LukeSineath]

I translated Orbi et Urbi.  It's a little rough in parts, but the mechanics are here.  Hopefully Phillipe won't mind and will smooth out my translation.  It's an action game, seems comedic.

Orbi et Urbi

In this role-playing game, players act as secret agents of the Vatican commissioned to investigate heretical sects, (some kind of) scientific doctrine, blasphemy and
communism.

Agents are defined by two characteristics: Urbi and Orbi.  Six dice are divided in any
fashion between these two stats.  There are also two secondary characteristics, Faith
and Life, equal to 3, but a player may transfer one point from either Urbi or Orbi to either of these.

Urbi (the city) represents intelligence, life experience, refinement, religiosity, etc.
Orbi (the world) represents sportsmanship (as in, affinity for playing sports, not "gentlemanliness"),
fierceness, sexuality/sensualness, savoir profane (I'm not sure how to translate this.
I get the sense of it; it is parallel to "life experience"--savoir-vivre-- above.)

Examples:
Brother Antoine: Urbi 4d, Orbi 2d
Faith: [][][] Life: [][][]

Sister Francine: Urbi 3d, Orbi 2d
Faith: [][][][] Life: [][][]

Brother Patrick: Urbi: 1d, Orbi 4d
Faith: [][][] Life: [][][][]

Actions
To perform an action, roll a number of six-sided dice equal to either Urbi or Orbi.  The result is the highest die value plus the greatest number of matches: +2 for doubles, +3 for triples, +4 for quadruples, etc.
Exempli Gratia: a player rolls 2, 2, 2, 4, 4, for a final result of 7: 4 for the highest die value, +3 since the highest match is a triple.

Combat
Fights are contests of Orbi, which last about 10 seconds (? is that right?).  The character with the lowest roll loses one point of Life, but two points of Life if the winning roll was twice that of the losing roll. Guns inflict an extra point of damage.

Zero Life means one falls into a coma; below zero...death.  One point of Life is regained each day.

Experience
At the end of an adventure, a character gains 1d in Urbi or Orbi, or one point in Life or Faith.

The Force of Faith
A character may pray for God's help.  In order to do this he must spend a point of Faith and make a roll against a variable difficulty (from 6 to 10). (I'm not sure what you roll, how many dice.)

• (I can't figure this one out): 6
• to catch a taxi at a particular point in time (immediately): 8
• to strike someone with lightning: 10

 
Faith points are regained after one assists in a Dominican Mass. (I'm not sure if you have to conduct or merely attend the Mass.)

Scenario
Ok, this last bit is a paraphrase, not a translation: the characters are trying to uncover a network of thieves who steal the wine used in Mass and sell it to Chinese bars.  The adventure should end at the docks of Hong-Kong, with lots of kung-fu and explosions.  Think John Woo.

[Philippe Tromeur]

I translated Orbi et Urbi.  It's a little rough in parts, but the mechanics are here.  Hopefully Phillipe won't mind and will smooth out my translation.  It's an action game, seems comedic.

Thanks for this translation !

savoir profane (I'm not sure how to translate this. I get the sense of it; it is parallel to "life experience"--savoir-vivre-- above.)

"profane" is everything that is not linked to religion. The strict translation would be "layman", but it's not exactly the same meaning.

which last about 10 seconds (? is that right?)

the combat rounds are 10 second long.

A character may pray for God's help.  In order to do this he must spend a point of Faith and make a roll against a variable difficulty (from 6 to 10). (I'm not sure what you roll, how many dice.)

It's an Urbi roll (I forgot to state it).

• (I can't figure this one out): 6

"Double your number of dice for a single action" : 6

Faith points are regained after one assists in a Dominican Mass.

No... It should be "Faith points are regained after one attends a Sunday Mass."
"Assister" = "To attend"
"Dominical" = "Which is related to Sunday"

[Philippe Tromeur]

The latest games are :
Zogabollo : a mysterious game of violence and abstraction
Yuz : lifepath-based fantasy RPG
Ninja 2000 : ninjas of the 80's
Arcanes : a generic RPG based on Tarot
Alerte Ninja 4 : the action movie storytelling game
Guerriers de Mars : giant vermin and barbarian violence on prehistoric Mars

[Philippe Tromeur]

Someone from the Story Games forum has translated Enigma into English : http://membres.lycos.fr/boulet00/Enigma_en/enigma_en.html

And yesterday, I've uploaded Magna Mater (dark adventure in Transylvania), the third mini-RPG of Lovecraftan WW2 adventure, after Enigma (Alan Turing against Nazi sorcerers) and Yonaguni (ninjas againt Mi-Go and Deep Ones).

[Philippe Tromeur]

The contest is almost over ... 4 RPG's left !