[The Few] Power 19

[Meinberg]

I'm Michael Meinberg, and after reading through Socratic Designs' archives, I've decided to go ahead and put forth my first game design for some perusal.

As is often the case, the title is a work in a progress.  I like, though, that is alludes to the Marine's slogan, while emphasizing the idea that there is no one else out there to replace those lost in the conflict.

The setting is near-future, in the wake of an alien invasion that wipes out most of the planet's population and has conquered the rest.  The aliens are meant to be very mysterious, though I will provide motivation and statistics in a GM-only appendix.

1.) What is your game about?

At the core, the game is about soldiers.  It's about the choices they make on and off the battlefield, and how that effects their lives and the lives of the people around them.

2.) What do the characters do?

The characters are soldiers in a war against an invading alien force that has wiped out or conquered most human life on the planet.  They are on the front lines in a war that has seemingly no end, and have to deal with surviving the battles and dealing with the claustrophobic conditions that the war has forced them into, when they're off the battlefield.

3.) What do the players (including the GM if there is one) do?

The game is split into two segments: on the battlefield and off the battlefield.  On the battlefield, each player controls a squad while the GM controls the enemy forces, leading them in tactical maneuvers, using abstracted rules rather than the intensive model based system popular to war games.  Off the battlefield, each player controls the commander of their squad, but can at any time take control of a member of another's player squad, in order to portray the social circumstances they've been placed into.  Off the battlefield, the GM creates background characters and leads the other players into social conflicts.  In both stages, it is the GM's responsibility to moderate conflict resolution.

4.) How does your setting (or lack thereof) reinforce what your game is about?

The setting contributes to the cramped confines of the off the battlefield segments, and helps provide a sense of mystery to the on the battlefield antagonists.

5.) How does the Character Creation of your game reinforce what your game is about?

Character creation will impact both segments of the game differently.  For the on the battlefield segments, character creation is the first tactical decision that must be made.  For the off the battlefield segments, character creation will provide a template for character behavior.

6.) What types of behaviors/styles of play does your game reward (and punish if necessary)?

On the battlefield, making wise tactical decisions and taking the time to understand the circumstances are preferred to moving in without any caution.  Off the battlefield, players are encouraged to direct their characters in accordance with their personality traits rather than in opposition to them.

7.) How are behaviors and styles of play rewarded or punished in your game?

On the battlefield, making the right tactical decisions will lead to less unit damage.  While squad leaders are unlikely to die on the battlefield, suffering too much unit damage will lead a death spiral on the battlefield and psychological consequences off the battlefield.  Off the battlefield, characters acting in their own interest will lead to conflicts, and only through conflict resolution will stress levels be reduced.  Once stress levels become too high, negative consequences take place on and off the battlefield.

8.) How are the responsibilities of narration and credibility divided in your game?

On the battlefield, the GM leads the narration, creating antagonists and circumstances for the other players to react to.  Off the battlefield, the non-GM players should take a more aggressive lead, with the GM only providing the backdrop for the drama of the characters to act out.

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?)

Through the advancement and narrative focus on the squad leaders, the players of those characters should grow attached to their trials and tribulations, and seek to see them advance further.

10.) What are the resolution mechanics of your game like?

The resolution mechanics of my game are meant to be relatively simplistic.  Furthermore, while most games either increase or maintain the standard deviation of results as skill level increases, my mechanics will decrease standard deviation as skill level increases.

As a basic summary, the goal is to roll high.  Unskilled characters roll a d12, while characters with increasing levels of skill roll smaller dice, but add to the result the difference between the maximum of their die and 12.  For example, a character of medium skill might d6 + 6 instead.

Most conflicts can be resolved with one roll from each player involved, though combat is slightly more complicated, with a few additional rolls as necessary.

11.) How do the resolution mechanics reinforce what your game is about?

Combat is meant to run quick and deadly, and the choice between numbers or protective equipment is a very strategic one, meant to encourage various roles on the battlefield.  It also encourages well thought out plans to ensure the maximum possible benefit before the first die is rolled.  Off the battlefield, conflict resolution is meant to be more free form, used only as a method of settling disagreement between the direction of the narrative flow.

12.) Do characters in your game advance? If so, how?

Characters in the game advance in a variety of ways, most of them traditional.  Squad leaders increase their skills by using them, but their skills can degenerate if they become complacent in their skill or if they botch horribly.  The size and equipment of their unit can be improved through requisitions from higher-ups in the military structure.  Non-traditionally, players need to deal with the acquisition of stress, which can be either a detriment or a resource depending on how it is used.  While stress is the most "crunchy" off the battlefield form of character advancement, characters off the battlefield also advance their personal storylines and develop deeper character traits through their interactions with other characters.

13.) How does the character advancement (or lack thereof) reinforce what your game is about?

No matter what the characters do, the only way they have out of the war is through their own deaths.  Character advancement is the means by which the characters can avoid that fate, or how they can find a way to make their deaths meaningful.

14.) What sort of product or effect do you want your game to produce in or for the players?

I want the players to come out with a greater view on the psychology of their characters, and provide a combined, interactive narrative experience.

15.) What areas of your game receive extra attention and color? Why?

The main areas to receive extra attention are the living spaces of the soldiers, and the communities they've formed together, since that is the central focus of the off the battlefield experience.  The main focus of the on the battlefield segments will be on the weapons of war and the tactics developed to utilize those weapons, since they form the root of the players' decisions on the battlefield.  The aliens will receive relatively little attention, but a deal of color, to maintain their mysteriousness.

16.) Which part of your game are you most excited about or interested in? Why?

I'm interested in the fusion of a more psychological game with some of the tropes of standard wargaming.

17.) Where does your game take the players that other games can't, don't, or won't?

I have little certainty that my game is treading new ground, but I believe that it's focus on the human element of fighting a large war distinguishes it from other games.

18.) What are your publishing goals for your game?

I intend to publish it online as a .pdf.  And if it sells well (by which I mean at all), I will consider POD publishing.

19.) Who is your target audience?

My target audience are people who enjoy both crunchy wargaming and personal narratives.


I think I can get the wargaming aspects right through some intensive playtesting, but I'm worried about the off the battlefield segments, mostly in how much mechanics should be involved and how much of it should be left freeform.  I'm really only experienced with more traditionally games, so if anyone could recommend some indy games that focus on this kind of play that would be a good start for me.

Other than that, I am worried that the game might be too traditional, and would end up competing too heavily with the powerhouses.