Investigation Project (split from GAS)

[Vulpinoid]

I had a great idea for a direction to progress with this contest, based on something that I haven't really seen done very well in a lot of games...

..Investigation.

Then I saw this.

http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=26682.0

It deflated my bubble a bit.

While first glance shows that this type of mechanic shouldn't have too much trouble being ported to other systems, I still think there are plenty of other options for exploring the notions of investigation within an RPG.

As an alternative, I was thinking about the concept of enlightenment within roleplaying games. This could be mystical, metaphysical, or otherwise. The kind of thing that is touched on in White Wolf's "Mage: the Ascension" or "Kindred of the East". I'd love to see a system that describes characters perceiving more about the workings of the universe around them, and have to players actually feel like they have a better understanding rather than just increasing a single number of a character sheet then leaving the rest to GM fiat.

I'll leave that for another challenge.

For the moment, we've seen that it can be done.

Let's see how else it can be done.

Simple challenge, design a new subsystem for Investigation within a roleplaying game. Something that really makes the players feel like their uncovering useful clues and contributing to the effects within play.

V 

[Jason Morningstar]

Good luck with the contest!  You should go over to Story Games and announce it there as well. 

[imago]

Week 1 (Monday, Sept 1 - Sun, Sept 7): A week to submit an idea
Week 2 (Monday, Sept 8 - Sun, Sept 14): A week to talk about it and generate a bit of constructive feedback
Week 3 (Monday, Sept 15 - Sun, Sept 21): A week of fine tuning the result
Week 4 (Monday, Sept 22 - Sun, Sept 28): Presentation of final concepts

Is this going to be the timetable for the/this month's project? Because I'm interested and I think I have something for your new (Investigation) challenge.

[Vulpinoid]

Yes. If anyone is interested in submitting an idea, please do.

I'll put forward an idea by the end of the week, and everyone who has done so can then discuss their concepts next week.

I'll welcome any further input from interested observers as well.

Please submit any ideas in spearate threads to avoid too much clutter or cross talk in this single thread.

V

[imago]

So, it would be something like this:

Stages of Mystery, or how to include progressive, linked mysteries on any existing system, using d10s, etc..

posted on a separate thread (on First Thoughts? here? I'm not clear about this. could anyone clarify where should we post our proposals?), presenting first steps, actual mechanics and discussing, right?

Actually, can you clarify what should a submitted idea include at this stage (first week)?


Also, should we try to provide guidelines on plugging our subsystems to a game with existing Investigation mechanics, such as Call of Cthulhu, World of Darkness or games that have attributes, powers related to or any other traits as Intelligence, Perception, etc.?

[Vulpinoid]

Hi Imago,

Yes, start a new thread within the Endeavor forum (like how people have done for challenges in the past). We'll keep the enitre thread within this part of the forum, include the abbreviation [GAS] in the subject title so we know which posts are related to this challenge.

As for the submissions of ideas, I've found a lot of games deal with Investigation really badly. You can't really run a convincing game in the mystery/detective genre when a single role of the die determines if you solve the case or not.

If you can find a way to enhance the tension, to build the mystery and gradually reduce the mystery as players and characters get closer to the truth then you're on the right track.

If you want to make an investigation system that is linked to a specific game system, that's valid, but missing the point a bit. I'd like to see some great concepts that could be applied to any game. If you come up with a general concept, and then compliment it with some ideas about how it could be linked into a few game systems then that's spot on.

Another option could be to generate a system that is completely independant of game mechanics (eg. drawing jigsaw puzzle pieces from a hat).

Perhaps the system developed could be a stand-alone game in it's own right, a game that is played parallel to another gaming product to add depth and richness to the play.

I'd like to see some interesting exploration ideas in the first few posts from contributors, things that we can discuss next week.

V

[imago]

Hey, Michael.

I really took into account all your points for my Stages of Mystery idea, not only because they were good but I had some similar ideas.

I am really waiting to see what you think of it, as well as welcoming any other observation from interested parties, because I do feel it needs fine tuning and some bits of playtesting, though I think the latter will be unconclusive and dependant on which base system is used. Or maybe not.