[24 hour game] Affairs of State

[bluegargantua]

Hey,

 Just finished my submission for the 24-Hour Game.  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/24HourGames/files/">You can pick it up here.

 It's called Affairs of State and players take on the role of diplomats from a made-up country trying to live the good life in the Imperial City.

 I look forward to hearing what people think.

later
Tom

[Jeph]

Hmm. I've just done a quick read-through, nothing thoroug, but what I've got so far.

The Premise/Setting: I wouldn't play this game, but then, I prefer action (not the furniture-moving kind, though) to the court.

The System: Elegant and simple. I use matching myself in Pagoda.

Skills: Couldn't you find a word that suited the genre better than "sucky"? Inept, perhaps? Also, what to Trained skills matter, when Average skills are also at 4 dice? I'd suggest making either (a) Trained at 5 of (b) Average at three.

The Greed: Vices and such seem to be the style of the week. However, I don't really see much of a mechanical tie-in to the rest of the game here. Is there something I missed?

-Jeff S.

[lumpley]

Now that sounds like a fun and funny game.  I would totally play it.

I want there to be a way to secure the object of my Greed.  Like if my Greed is women I want to be able to write down names of women who'll say yes to me, or if it's food standing dinner invitations, things like that.  Maybe I could cash in some of my bonus dice for it?  Like if I seduce Duchess Serrene once, I can cash in a couple bonus dice now for a free bonus die to seduce her from now on, or something?

-Vincent

[clehrich]

I like this game a lot.  I do think the current die rules are a bit clunky, though.  The cool part is the alliances, and you want that to happen a lot.  So maybe you could do this by selling dice?  That is, if you say "2-1," I offer to sell you 2 more, in return for one bonus die.  I have to stump up if you say yes -- I can't lie about how many I've got if I sell them, and that takes me out of the running immediately.  But it does mean that you win this roll, probably, and I get an extra for next time.

Incidentally, I think if someone calls my bluff and I can prove that it wasn't a bluff, I should get two dice, not one.

All this in my mind points to dice as a resource -- not just the bonus dice, but all of them.  So I can sell you dice temporarily for a die of your permanently, and if I beat your bluff I get your dice, not bonus dice, and so on.

Hmm.  I think I'd have to see this in action.

[clehrich]

Oh, one other thing.  For me, the sign of a game I like is if I immediately start generating a character in my mind.  Without boring you about details, how about:

Senator Charrskyn, Baron of Urrilm, in the Kingdom of Mu, special Ambassador to the Vulture Throne.

Description: The short version is, handsome in a 50-ish way, hawk nose, piercing gray eyes, elegantly dressed, clearly very intellectual, highly cultured voice.
Greed: Fine Art
Skills --
Specialty: Appear to be an expert
Trained: Forgery
Sucky (and yes, that's a poor term): Physical combat

I can just see him holding forth interminably about intaglios and patinas, until people start actually inviting him to their homes to examine their art collections, and eventually start "loaning" him things to examine carefully back at his place.  Heh heh....

[bluegargantua]

1.)  The term "Sucky skill"

Yeah, that needs to change.  "Inept" is a good choice.  "Shortcoming" might be another good one.  The word "skill" itself is (as mentioned in the text) something of a misnomer, so it might all change in the end.

2.)  Trained Skills have the same number of dice as Average Skills

Well, if you don't have Training in a skill that requires it, you only roll 1 die.  So it shows that you're Average in something that most people can't do at all.  Here I need to toss in some guidelines to help GMs determine what requires Training and what doesn't.

3.)  Greed

The Greed is there to provide a ready made plot hook and something for the PCs to shoot for.  I like the idea Vincent suggested about making the Greeds "named".  Rather than just say "I always go for booze", it could be more along the lines of "I'm going for the Elker Highland Scotch that Ambassador MacDonnelan has".  Or perhaps you could have a general Greed and then pick a specific Greed during play.  Achieve the object of your Greed and you get a bunch of bonus dice to use later.  While working towards achieving your Greed, you have a substantial die penalty for actions that don't directly move you towards the goal.

On reflection, it might be nice to have a Gold, as in Heart of Gold.  This would be something that causes you to act more altruisticly.  So perhaps you're always nice to orphans or you never fail to hold the door open for a lady or something like that.  Helps round things out a little bit and makes the characters a bit more redeemable.

4.)  Selling dice

I want the bidding round to skip along and I'm afraid about it turning into a haggling contest.  But perhaps, if you want to ally with someone, you roll your dice pool as normal and when it's your turn to bid, you take out any matching set and place it in front of the player you're supporting.  Everyone can see the new dice that have been added and it may tie in nicely with the other stuff the player has hidden (if he's telegraphed what he wants well enough).

5.)  Bonus dice on a bluff

Yes, I did want to have double rewards if someone called your bluff and you were telling the truth.  Forgot that.  oops.

Cool.  Sounds like the effort yielded some decent results.  Of course, aside from mechanics tweaking, what this really needs is a deeper color section.  Enough to give people the idea, empty enough to let players fill in with stuff from their imagination.

later
Tom

[lumpley]

Oopsie!  No, I meant I want to be able to get my greed fulfilled in a lasting, reward mechanic type way.  Like, when I start play my character sheet says:

Greed: Fine Dining

And two sessions later it says:

Greed: Fine Dining
- Standing invitation to brunch at Mssr. delLorraine's salon
- Maitre d' at the Blue Barrel believes I can advance his career

Maybe with bonus dice attached, maybe not.

I'm not a fraudulent ambassador for my health, after all.

-Vincent

[Emily Care]

Good game, Tom.  I especially like the "mediation" option. Nice match of mechanics to game flavour since you are encouraging your players to engage in the fast talking their characters will be doing all the time.

Same with bluffing on the dice.  What's the card game that is very similar to that aspect of your game? "Bullshit" or "I Doubt It".  Don't forget to publish it with a drinking game variant.  Though one might perhaps have to sip absinthe to this game....

--Emily Care

[Mike Holmes]

It already is a drinking game, Em; it's called Mexican Dice. Played with two dice, the results of which are read highest die to lowest die like a two digit number. Usually, if you call someone, and they were telling the truth, then you drink (instead of them). Also, certain rolls are special:

2-1 is "Mexican" and trumps any other roll
3-1 is social, reveal it and everyone drinks, and you start over.
4-1 is reverse, reveal it to make the person that rolled before you drink, and then start again going in that direction.
These are standard, but there are several non-standard ones like:
5-2 ? Noses, the player reveals his roll, and touches his nose. The last player to notice and touch their nose drinks. Then play starts over again.

In Mexican, if you call a bluff, and lose, you drink. I like the idea of every round being a question of who gets hosed.

Tom's rules actually look somewhat like a combination of Mexican and "Bar Dice" which is somewhat like a pokerish version of Yahtzee.

Tom, look at some of these drinking games for lots of cool options for your mechanics. I really like what you have so far. If you could put in rules for special court NPCs who were "interference" for players trying to get their ways, I think that would be a cool addition. You know, the sly vizier who's always looking out to advance his own position by catching people like the PCs. Or beaurocrats who stand in the way with red tape. Etc.

Mike

P.S. "Gentlemen, Affairs of State must take precedence over...affairs of state." Mel Brooks, Blazing Saddles

[bluegargantua]

Emily:

Don't forget to publish it with a drinking game variant. Though one might perhaps have to sip absinthe to this game....

 They say that gaming rots your brain...   :)

What's the card game that is very similar to that aspect of your game? "Bullshit" or "I Doubt It".

Thanks. That's the game(s) I was trying to remember.

Mike Holmes:

Tom's rules actually look somewhat like a combination of Mexican and "Bar Dice" which is somewhat like a pokerish version of Yahtzee.

And there's also a game called Liar's Dice which is very similiar (and has been sold under a variety of names).  And the whole Compromise mechanic is straight out of Cosmic Encounter.

Initially, I got the idea for mechanics while soaking in the tub.  Up until that point, I'd been working on a game idea where you spent points to build up a relationship map and then played through it.  But a quick paper test showed that the points were all skewed and it would probably take too long to correct them.  Once this idea popped in, I wanted something to take advantage of the bluffing and the Premise just dropped into place.  The game jumped up and started writing itself.  I was thinking myself pretty clever, until later, as I'm drifting off to sleep when I realize how very cribbed the system was.  However, I think there's a good model here to build on.


Mr. Holmes again:

If you could put in rules for special court NPCs who were "interference" for players trying to get their ways, I think that would be a cool addition. You know, the sly vizier who's always looking out to advance his own position by catching people like the PCs. Or beaurocrats who stand in the way with red tape. Etc.

Yeah, there should be some way to work that in.  Maybe you can petition the GM for bonus dice in exchange for letting an NPC wreak a little havoc.  You're forming a Narrative alliance with an NPC under the old "Enemy of my Enemy" theory.  An interesting way to help drive the story along.

"Gentlemen, Affairs of State must take precedence over...affairs of state." Mel Brooks, Blazing Saddles

Consider that appropriated.  :)

later
Tom