[Great Ork Gods] playtest

[gregkcubed]

I don't want any more 'exception' rules than I can help. Great Ork Gods is a very 'pure' game - it takes a central concept and develops that and only that - and I want to keep it that way. I do have an idea though; what if facing your own God always resulted in a hard check?

this came up in our discussion and we couldn't really think of a reason why it wouldn't work. I think it might change some of the balance of "i'm using my own god because its easy" and "hahah i'm going to spite you for 5 dice"..

our compromise was to make it medium. Although if there is a 2 minimum on hate then we might just try it again on easy. Or maybe other players should all get spite if you appeal to your own god. that might be funny.

although to re-re-clarify, we were definitely not playing with the failed war god roll = roll against death. That would have increased the body counts quite a bit.

maybe loki already said this, but one other thing we noted, which we'll get to in our next session of GOG, is that the scenario we played as it played out didn't require much thinking or sneaking. A slightly different scenario might utilize completely different gods.

also we weren't comptely clear on how hard it was for orks to think. Looking back on it, i know now that we had some really smart orcs we were running. they were... about a smart as a man.

[Valamir]

Or maybe other players should all get spite if you appeal to your own god. that might be funny.

That's an idea worth keeping in the back of mind...

How about something like...If a player calls on his own god, he can set difficulty at any level he wants.

If he sets it to hard he gains a Spite for himself.
If he sets it to medium the player who last called upon that god (other than him) gets a Spite.
If he sets it to easy, the player who last called upon that god (other than him) gets 2 Spite, and every other player gets 1.

So giving yourself an easy time generates spite for others.  Plus, being the player who called upon the god previously gets more spite...this should encourage players to get creative and call on a variety of gods so that they're that last player being awarded with bonus spite...

Thoughts?

[gregkcubed]

i think in keeping with the simpicity of the game and the fact that it can be played while drunk.. it might be easier to have two options for using your own god.. hard or easy.. if it's hard, then its like it is now.. if its easy then everyone else gets spite.

actually, that would be weird b/c then everyone could spite you and stay even in spite of spiting you.

hmm.. yeah its weird.. not sure it even has to change.

thing about this game is its self regulating... :)

[montag]

IMHO the numerous little changes and tweaks to the game almost everybody seems to make or considers making actually might be a hidden feature, not a bug ;).
I  think the system is perfect the way it is, mostly because it convey's the main ideas (do weird stuff, be mean to each other in a fun way) very clearly. I think it's because of this, that everyone can come up with modifications, because the systems transparency enables people to tweak it (*). So for further development, I'd humbly suggest looking for things to drop (maybe the goblin rules) and have all those other tweaks in a section of its own and saying: "Look this is the basics, which are there to do X. Here are some suggestions if you want to emphasize this or that aspect, use this mod. If you come up with a new mod, send it in, write why you did it and what effect it had on play."


(*) could this be "the next stage"? Empowering players to change the game system? Why not?

[Valamir]

I think it's because of this, that everyone can come up with modifications, because the systems transparency enables people to tweak it (*).

(*) could this be "the next stage"? Empowering players to change the game system? Why not?

I hope so, because then in 10 years I can point to Rules Gimmicks in Universalis and pass myself off as a visionary pioneer at cocktail parties.  Preferably as the cranky curmudgeony variety
;-)

[montag]

I hope so, because then in 10 years I can point to Rules Gimmicks in Universalis and pass myself off as a visionary pioneer at cocktail parties. Preferably as the cranky curmudgeony variety
;-)

Gee, and I was thinking you'd already achieved and surpassed that stage ;)
note to moderator gods: I know this was Off-topic, I promise not to do it every again.

[Loki]

While I agree with montag that there's something kinda cool about how easy it is to modify GoG, I think it might dilute the game to go in that direction at this time. I really think that with some more playtesting, GoG has the potential to be a really tight little gem of a game--in fact I think it's 95% of the way there.

Re: Valamir's suggested mod of the War God--I think that could create a situation where either 1) a ton of Spite was generated, which might devalue some of the fun of husbanding your Spite (ie scarcity) or 2) the War God would become the least attractive god. Of course, only playtesting can really answer that question reliably.

The only mod to the War God that sounds workable to me so far is making his player's Ork's difficulty medium. I think that would still make War a desirable god because of all the Spite he generates, with a trade-off in that your Ork will just have a harder time stabbing things. A trade-off that can be compensated for by having a really low Hate.

Incidently Jack, what do you think about having a random method of generating stats? With point buy, you are basically looking at very similar Orks if the players are at all inclined to min/max for Oog. 2 Hate in War, Death, Strength and the rest split up between the other gods. Since Orks are so disposable, why not make them really disposable and randomly generate the Hate stats. Players can still pick which stat goes where to give them something to do besides choose a name and which rusty farm implement is their favorite, but it seems in line with the cruel and capricious nature of the gods.

What do you think the implications would be?

p.s. should we move this to a design thread?

[Jack Aidley]

p.s. should we move this to a design thread?

Yes, I think so: you can find my responses back in [Great Ork Gods] Playtest Release... or will be able to in a few minutes.