Mike's Game Thread (Title Pending)

[devlin1]

I don't really have anything to post here right now, but I said I'd start a thread, so... here it is.

I guess I can post some thoughts on a few different ideas, and maybe people can weigh in on which one deserves further effort.

IDEA #1: Gangland
Warriors-esque game about a group of '70s-style gang members trying to navigate their way through the bad part of town. Part The Warriors, part... The Warriors. Or Escape From New York. Play would consist of a set number of conflict scenes, but other than that this one's all premise and no structure.
City: In there!
Edge: Advantageous character trait.
Skin: Social connections within the gang community -- as in "Give me some skin."

IDEA #2: Action City!
Over-the-top action movie emulator trading heavily in cliches and well-worn tropes. Players have different roles: One's the Protagonist, one's the Antagonist, and the others are Friends of the Protagonist. Every character has a Sub-Plot defined at the start of the game, possibly at random, with a Sub-Plot Track to measure progress. Every scene that deals with the Sub-Plot means another box checked; these checked boxes have some sort of mechanical utility during the climactic confrontation, so dealing with your Sub-Plot actually makes you more capable of dealing with the A-plot.
City: Everything takes place in urban environments.
Edge: Same as above -- but flavorful stuff like "Crazy Like A Fox" or "I Know Kung Fu."
Skin: Uh... maybe... exterior, or, uh, surface... motivation? I have no idea what to do with this one.

IDEA #3: Horse People
Sorta Proto-Indo-European/Amerindianish hunter-gatherer primitive nomad-types. Play centers around battling the environment and jockeying for political control within the tribe. Each player could possibly play both a tribal leader and the members of the "sub-tribe" that follow him/her. Sessions are structured in year-long arcs, divided into four seasons. Each season is its own sequence of scenes with a concrete goal set forth by one or more players -- not sure how that would happen.
Edge: As above. I know this is a cop-out, but it lends itself to mechanical terminology so easily that it's hard to pass up.
Skin: Each sub-tribe is distinguished from the others by the animal skin its members wear. These sub-tribes have some personal trait in common in accordance with their totem animal. F'rinstance, the Bear People are strong and the Wolf People work exceptionally well together.
Desert: I have no idea. All I know is I can't use City for this one.

[devlin1]

All right. Action City! it is.

The link to my blog there has the details so far, if anyone wants to check it out.

[devlin1]

For anyone who wants to see the as-finished-as-I-could-get-it-at-4am product: Action City!

I'm sure I left out something important. I just don't know what it is yet.

[devlin1]

I've uploaded a revised version of Action City!, for those who want to check it out.

[devlin1]

Oops -- screwed up the URL. It's fixed below.

I've uploaded a revised version of Action City!, for those who want to check it out.

[devlin1]

Current version of Action City! is here.

A short PDF of errata, clarifications, and useful stuff is here.