Long Pig - Chapter 1 - Request for Comments!

[Thomas Tamblyn]

Oops - double post.

[Thomas Tamblyn]

I think you've saved me half an hour of tooling around thesaurus-land. Thanks much.

My thesaurus is my friend and on the internet, http://www.thesaurus.comshould be every game designer's best friend.

Oh - and I like your new scale much more (though I think Roadkill is more ... favoursome ... than Vile.)

[Spooky Fanboy]

Iago--

tasty as hell, my friend. tasty as hell. Now let's see some more meat on those bones!

[DP]

*applauds*

Well done, my friend. I do so like the style of the first chapter--black humour often calls for deadpan. As others suggested, change the style in other chapters; your writing skills are obviously up to the task.

I think you're on to something when you inspire character generation in this forum, as in Wolfen's case. All the mention of descriptors reminds me of a bit from a Vestibules sketch in the form of a radio ad for "McGee's Sporting Goods," whose proprietor might make a good character:

Hello, my name is Zalgon 26 McGee, owner of McGee's Sporting Goods. Like you, I am a human being. I share your biology, and your morals. For instance, I find the idea of eating another human being...unappealing.

[clehrich]

Incidentally, there's a novel by Geoff Nicholson called The Food Chain, in which there is -- or may be, that's one of the questions -- a club in London which serves the ultimate delicacy.

I will say that the more I think about this game (which is more than I can justify, making me wonder about myself), the less interested I am in playing anyone but a Hannibal Lecter-style aesthete-sans-morals.  I'm just not seeing the appeal of being a raving maniac who drinks blood in his basement.  Now befriending someone, inviting him over for dinner, and then making him the main course --- and then serving him, suitably disguised, to unsuspecting annoying pseudo-intellectuals --- sounds like far too much fun.

Maybe I should quit the diet, huh?

[Lance D. Allen]

Maybe I should quit the diet, huh?

No no.. Stay on the diet until Fred is done with the playtest version, at least. Long Pig would be a most appropriate way to break your abstemious culinary habits.

[iago]

I will say that the more I think about this game (which is more than I can justify, making me wonder about myself), the less interested I am in playing anyone but a Hannibal Lecter-style aesthete-sans-morals.  I'm just not seeing the appeal of being a raving maniac who drinks blood in his basement.  Now befriending someone, inviting him over for dinner, and then making him the main course --- and then serving him, suitably disguised, to unsuspecting annoying pseudo-intellectuals --- sounds like far too much fun.

Maybe I should quit the diet, huh?

One of the more interesting ways to run this game, I think, is in creating the "gentlemen's club" of cannibals, so you're onto something.  I also giggle at the idea of someone who's part of that club but has a high appetite, so he has this kind of constant anxiousness to him -- he's trying to fit into this civilized way of doing things, but a part of him keeps telling him to bash the club members over their heads and eat their brains.  Even if they are friends.

[iago]

I think you're on to something when you inspire character generation in this forum, as in Wolfen's case. All the mention of descriptors reminds me of a bit from a Vestibules sketch in the form of a radio ad for "McGee's Sporting Goods," whose proprietor might make a good character:

Hello, my name is Zalgon 26 McGee, owner of McGee's Sporting Goods. Like you, I am a human being. I share your biology, and your morals. For instance, I find the idea of eating another human being...unappealing.

Zalgon 26 McGee is a long-time friend of mine.  Locally we've taken to referring to McDonald's as McZalgon's, or just Zalgon's, which I suppose may reveal another root of the sense of humor that lead me to start work on this game. :)

[iago]

Been thinking about the die mechanic.

I think I'm going to ditch the 'evens' part of it.  Same basic function will otherwise apply.  If you're rolling palatable or above, you're rolling "high dice", and whatever the highest die is, is your result.  If you're rolling palatable or below, you're rolling "low dice", and whatever the lowest die is, is your result.  This can be compared to a difficulty target to determine if you succeeded at the task; a one indicates failure.

This gets the same end goal (diminishing returns for successive bonuses or penalties), while simplifying the explanation and syntax.

Figured I'd note this now and here, as it'll be carried forward in any later chapter postings I make.

[deidzoeb]

Looks excellent so far. I was a little confused by the wording of the first example.

Example:
Bob knows what he is.  He’s a cannibal.  He also likes the idea of playing his character as a commentary on the government.

The first sentences make it sound like "Bob" is the character, but then it talks about what kind of character Bob wants to play, which makes him the player. This could be clarified by either giving the player a different name from the character ("Bob creates a character named Hambone") or otherwise refering to the player as distinctly different from the character -- "Bob knows what he is. He's a cannibal. This player likes the idea of playing Bob as a commentary on the government..." etc.

[iago]

Looks excellent so far. I was a little confused by the wording of the first example.

Example:
Bob knows what he is.  He’s a cannibal.  He also likes the idea of playing his character as a commentary on the government.

The first sentences make it sound like "Bob" is the character, but then it talks about what kind of character Bob wants to play, which makes him the player. This could be clarified by either giving the player a different name from the character ("Bob creates a character named Hambone") or otherwise refering to the player as distinctly different from the character -- "Bob knows what he is. He's a cannibal. This player likes the idea of playing Bob as a commentary on the government..." etc.

How much of a problem is this, exactly?  On some level I wanted to encourage a kind of blurring of the line between player and character, which is further reflected in the "treat and meat" notions in the second chapter.  So I have to admit I chose the language in that example deliberately...