The Art of Destruction

[Jake Norwood]

Hi...I'm sorry to have jumped in late on a thread that called me out by name...

There are two thing developing here. One is a FRAG RPG, more or less, and the other (more original intent) is the Blow the Crap out of Stuff RPG...no respawns, still an RPG, but really chaotic and violent.

I would like to see something with a lot of random complications, and both stark Director-stance stuff and really stark you-rolled-it-you-keep it stuff...thing like 100% randomy rolled characters, insane blow-stuff-up tables, and other stuff on that end. On the flip side the "narrate your own death and become GM bit is brilliant, and I'd want to see more of that.

I gotta go now, but believe you me, I'll be back!

Jake

[Jake Norwood]

Okay, I'm back.

Mechanically, I'm thinking something like this:
Lots of tables, because the game I envision is a bit over-the-top. These aren't RoleMaster or even TROS tables, though. They have several out-there details to make things really interesting. This doesn't have to exclude Memento-Mori kind of Director stuff, though. Something like this:

(*Note: the numbers are arbitrary, as there's no die mechanic in my head yet)

Table 2.6: Hitting, Missing and Damage
1-Hit friend
2-Hit something in the environment that is really bad (gas tanks, glass floor, whatever)
3-Miss: stuff splatters or shatters everywhere, causing terrain problems for 2 x damage yards
4-Miss: nothng happens...
5-10: Damage
5-surface wound, like a cheek graze, or a bullet goes through the coat. Heros gain one die, mooks loose one die
6-flesh wound or equipment gets hosed. Heros gain 2 dice, mooks lose 2 die
7-chunks go flying. Roll on Table 2.7: Chunks. Heros loose 1 die, mooks lose 3.
8-Permanent resulting disability. See Table 2.8: Amputation and Other Fun Stuff. Heroes loose 3 dice, mooks loose 4.
9-mortal wound, but it'll take a while to die. Heroes lose 5 dice, but get a one-time 10-die bonus this scene; mooks loose 5 dice.
10-kill, either really slick-clean or TROS messy. Heroes become the GM, Mooks are donwn-and-out.

The only way to kill or be killed is to recieve a 9 or 10 wound. Same for killing the other guy. Less paper work, less wierd abstractness ala "hit points."

Getting wounded as a hero isn't a bad thing normally, as it makes you "cooler" for having survived it, and you go on. The down-side is that a bigger wound does begin to wear you down. All "paperwork" would be handled by adding or subtracting dice to your hand/pool/whatever, making things go real fast. Also, the fun thing about these wounds is that everytime you get a little one you getmore dice, so if you get hacked up bad, you go looking for more trouble, hoping the dice will make up for it.

Other factors could/should be included, such as "who gets to describe this," the attacker or the defender--the overall effect doesn't change, but the "winner" gets to decide if the surface wound is to the face, hand, whatever, altering the pacing and mood of things.

I've actually got a whole bunch of ideas for this now, but I don't want to hijack the thread. What I'd really like to do is sit down and design this now...it's got me going. Too bad I have "real" books to write...

Jake

[Lance D. Allen]

I've actually got a whole bunch of ideas for this now, but I don't want to hijack the thread. What I'd really like to do is sit down and design this now...it's got me going. Too bad I have "real" books to write...

Everyone needs a break sometime, even when you've got deadlines and dollar signs. Keep notes on this on your computer, or in a folder somewhere, and whenever you're feeling TRoS burnout coming on, take a break, and work a little bit on Blowing Stuff Up. (The Riddle of Random Destruction (TRoRD)? ::ducks the thwap he knows he deserves::) Any stuff you come up with I'm sure we'll be happy to poke at to keep your interest in the game lively.

[Jake Norwood]

Actually, I'm feeling a little burnt-out right now, so last night I penciled out a bunch of "rules" for the game...

I'll be posting a link to them shortly, maybe today.

Either way, I'd love to hear what ya'll think of what's up above.

Jake

[Lance D. Allen]

The overall idea of your charts there seem quite intriguing, as do the projected results. What I'm not certain of is exactly why you chose the scale you did. Perhaps it's just my ingrained idea that the roll to hit and determining the effects should be more separate than that. I do like the fact that when you make the roll, it's not a matter of "Do I hit?" or "Do I miss?" It's more a matter of "Okay, I rolled blah. What happens?"

I'd like to see the dice-mechanic you're thinking of tying into this. I'm assuming that it'll be a dicepool system from your comments, and from your stated preference for rolling lotsa dice. If that's the case, what exactly would the numbers on the chart refer to, successes? If that's the case, it seems like it ought to be easy to get successes, because it takes 5 just to hit your target.

Oh, and one suggestion.. No matter what happens, no matter who rolls what, or who "wins" what contest, I think the player should always have the option to describe their own character's death. If they choose to have the GM do so, or even another player, that is their choice, but the right should always be theirs. One of the most deprotagonizing ways to die is to have no control over the circumstances of character death.

[Jake Norwood]

The 1-10 scale is what you roll on one die. You get dice from your pool to add to that one die, and you keep the best one. More later.

Jake