Hello.

I'm sorry if this is in the wrong place, but the forum seems to be giving me the run around. For several months now I have been working on the game "<a href="http://www.rpglaboratory.com/dead_and_back">Dead... and Back for several months now, and I'm looking for new sources of feedback, and if possible, play testers. However, your "play testing forum" is for feed-back, not asking for testers, the "connections forum" tells me to go to "indie game design", and "indie game design" claims to be closed. (and there's a hole in the bucket dear Liza...)

Anyway, D&B by itself is just some fairly generic rules for horror games posted on 1km1kt.net. (<a href="http://www.1km1kt.net/rpg/Dead_and_Back.php">Right Here to be exact) The setting I'm trying to create for it is slightly different in two ways (I hope).

First of all, I'm doing my best to avoid giving a "Travelogue" of sorts for the setting. - instead, everything is to be told in prose, which may be of questionable accuracy. A second document is known as the "cold hard truth" gives actual stats and information. In short, the "real answers" are optional, and nothing is supposed to be precisely stated.

Secondly, the setting is a bit different. Rather than about being trapped, its supposed to be about freedom. Aliens have invaded, and a bio-weapon released has started turning people into "Reanimates". SO now its 2065, man-kind has fallen from the cusp of a technological singularity (nano-tech, mars colonies, arcologies) into squabbling city-states, alien territory, and vast tracks of anarchy zones. Each city is oppressive/depressing in its own way - so in the end, the ideal is to make your own order dodging the undead in the wastes.

So I guess the pointed questions are:<ul>

• What stories should I tell?
• How specific should they get?
• Did I miss anything, or are there glaring errors?
• How well does the system work? I had the idea for the combat system for an excuse to use it - and worked backwards from that.
• At the moment there are two patterns for initiative in combat - but I'm not sure of which one to use.

Admittedly, at least part of what I need is an editor, and some link to a publisher, but I want some testing done first so I can go from pdf to book as soon as possible once the details are worked out. I've spent so much time staring at the text that my judgment is becoming a little impaired. (Familiarity breed contempt?)

Thank you for your time.

Hiya,

Thanks for pointing out the problems with the forum instructions. Connections was built back when Indie Design was still the main in-progress forum. I've edited that post to update it, sending people here. So you're in the right place, and thanks again for identifying the problem.

Folks should be checking out your game and giving you some feedback. Have patience 'cause everyone's looking at everyone else's stuff. For instance, I'd like to take a peek over the course of the next few days, and then will post back.

Best, Ron

Hey Jason, good to see you here!  I'd like to find out more about your goals for the game.  Right now when I read it, I'm not sure what the characters are supposed to be doing - I know that's one of the questions you asked, but only you can answer that.  There are a boatload of "questioning methodologies" that can help you define your game - Nathan writes up a couple of them here.  Answering some of these questions for yourself might be really useful, and your answers will help other people provide focused feedback.  You mentioned starting with a combat system, so that points toward a fighty game, which is cool.  A straight-ahead zombie-smashing game would be a lot of fun, but I need to hear more about your goals to be sure that's exactly what you are after. 

One thing I found intriguing about Dead and Back was the idea of Altruism Points - having a resource that is beneficial to others, but that you have a competing, selfish need for.  That's very zombie movie right there!  Personally I'd build that into every choice a player makes, by tempting them to be self-centered with powerful rewards but making cooperation and sacrifice essential to success. 

The game started as one of those classic bolts of inspiration out of the blue - the combat system. So, I needed something to showcase it, and though that a zombie invasion would be a good chance to use it. (At one point, it might have been a war game. Now I'm thinking of using the system in such a function - for my as yet unfinished battle of the Atlantic sim.) From there I decided that the needs of a game based around the dead rising would be

1. Help the injured or leave them behind (hence speed = hit points)
2. Short fuses and waning sanity (Deadening and Lucidity)

The rules themselves are rather generic to any horror game, which may be why you're unsure what to so. I keep the mechanics generic, then add setting behind them, rather than throw about vocabulary words and places the reader would be unfamiliar with when just starting. Furthermore, I tend to make rules first, settings second.

Its nice to see the AP idea appreciated, though I'm not inclined to take it farther. Firstly, I don't want inter-party conflict to become inter-player conflict, so as you note, the rules for suspicion etc suggest randomly determining the target rather than picking on someone. Secondly, I really don't care for games that remove control from the player. I avoid war games that have a morale component. Its a bit insulting for little plastic men to tell you they are going to ignore you this turn, and I think war games should be about actions, assaults, emulating war movies, and being the polar opposite of what conflict really is.

I am fairly happy with the rules as set up - but I don't know if they are as well worded as they could be.

More of my questions relate to the "Anarchy Zones" setting that I've been writing. I don't so much have a storyline as a sandbox, and I'm unsure of how much direction to give. There are 5 major cites, each of which has its own internal conflicts, as well as the problems posed by the dead and the aliens. For example, "Central Gulf" has squabbling over supplies, aliens to the North, and a running conflict with another city-state over who has control of an old naval facility.

Ideally, the AZ setting is supposed to be different from a standard horror plot, in that its about freedom. Each city has its own problems, and in the end, one is inclined to believe that setting out on your own is the ideal way to manage your life.

This isn't the first time I've made a rather epic setting, and then stepped back and said "Ok, two dozen things are happening at once - where do the players fit in?"