After last night's playtest some rules have subsequently been tweaked or changed. Character generation was overall a success but some alterations had to be made: one skill was removed as it overlapped too much with another and the amount of points a player has overall to allocate to their skills has been reduced. Rules for the resolution of combat including character reaction speed, sequencing of actions and weapon length have been revised.

All critical hits are in place and after some changes seemed to work well. Rules for wounds going gangrenous and dipping arrowheads in animal faeces are done, as well as rules for being impaled with spears, lead shot and arrows. The procedures for how to handle these objects being removed have also been tested (and in the case of arrows, the possibility of them breaking and leaving their arrowheads inside the body.)

Combat was tried from a few different perspectives, from one on one to multiple combatants. It was decided to keep the overall mechanic of the combat simple, as the initial idea for continuos and interruptable actions proved complex and time consuming (This mechanic had a character performing an attack not on a single initiative number but over a series of initiative numbers, with any combatant whose initiative occured during that time, being able to initiate a counteraction.) It was decided that the detail was best to be kept in the effects of combat and not in the resolution of it. In this way, play was fast and fluid but you could still get impaled, bleed, be stunned and mortally wounded without slowing down the game.

Playtesting is going on again tonight and every night for the next week, so expect a couple more updates soon.

I've been being asked to post something in the actual play section for a while now but it seems like the playtesting section might be the best place for this thread. I'll leave it up to Ron to decide if he wants to move it.

Hi,

How about telling us what the game is about?  It sounds like there's combat, and apparently medieval sorts of combat going on.

- What is the setting of the game?  Is it predefined or "fill it in" for the group?
- Does the game follow the usual format of GM + Players, with players each controlling one character?
- Do the Player characters have a specific role or status?  ("Knights of Lord so and so") - is this expected or set in the game itself, or scenario-by-scenario by the group?
- What kind of choices/decisions are players expected to make when they play the game?
- What kinds of behaviors are rewarded/disencouraged when you play?
- How long is a game supposed to last?  Multiple sessions yes?  Years?
- How long have you been playtesting?  What things have seen the biggest changes from playtesting?  Which things seem... off, or still not quite there yet?
- Have you done any blind playtests without yourself present? How have those gone by reports?

Chris

Chris_Chinn wrote:
Hi,

How about telling us what the game is about?  It sounds like there's combat, and apparently medieval sorts of combat going on.

- What is the setting of the game?  Is it predefined or "fill it in" for the group?
The setting of the game is an island split into 3 nations which are fighting for supremacy of the land. It has a dark low fantasy theme.

- Does the game follow the usual format of GM + Players, with players each controlling one character?
Yes it is a game that follows the standard format: GM (Scribe) and players.

- Do the Player characters have a specific role or status?  ("Knights of Lord so and so") - is this expected or set in the game itself, or scenario-by-scenario by the group?
The players can have their characters fulfill any roles the Scribe will let them. They can be knights and priests or black magicians or assassins. The rules cater for everything. Most people will want to play good guys though! ;)

- What kind of choices/decisions are players expected to make when they play the game?
Again, whatever choices they want and the Scribe can cater for. My game gives information on sandbox and railroaded campaigns.

- What kinds of behaviors are rewarded/disencouraged when you play?
This depends on the perspective of the campaign and whatever over-arching storyline the Scribe has put in place. You can play simplistic games of monsters and treasure but the game is biased more towards storytelling and roleplaying. The games is limited in magic items and there are no ground zero spells.

- How long is a game supposed to last?  Multiple sessions yes?  Years?
My game has no experience points. In the standard rules after every 4 sessions of play, the players can split 8 ranks worth of skill points among their skills. Using this method, it will take a character who maxed out a skill at character creation to get it to reach its ultimate potential after about 8 months of play. The great thing with this system is it has variant options: the Scribe could give these points out every 2 weeks for example, or even every 6. This allows the players to have their character's advancement time taylored to what suits themselves and the Scribe depending on how long they intend to play for.

- How long have you been playtesting?  What things have seen the biggest changes from playtesting?  Which things seem... off, or still not quite there yet?
Playtesting has been sporadic in the past but now the rules are virtually finalised, playtesting is going on almost every day.

- Have you done any blind playtests without yourself present? How have those gone by reports?
No blind playtests yet but at the end of this month on www.fantasychapters.com, there will be a group of people starting a PBP game using my rules with myself only being an observer.

One other thing i would like to say, the finalised character sheet will be available to download from the site in about an hour's time. Got to:-

www.stregoneriarpg.com

Chris

Finalised character sheet available for download now.

Hi,

Let me rephrase some of those questions, since I'm not sure I'm communicating them correctly.

Re: Roles

In a typical game of Stregoneria, what kinds of characters would you expect -most- games to revolve around?  Given your mention of combat and combat related roles (assassin, etc.) it sounds like characters will probably be combat oriented?  Do your rules make that clear or provide steps for the group to get on the same page?

Re: Choices
So, your rules have some kind of resolution for stuff like combat, and presumably, things like lifting heavy objects, or perhaps making rousing speeches, etc.

What choices can a player make to improve their odds of success or the outcomes? 

For example, many games with rules about combat may support choices like flanking, getting high ground, taking certain stances, etc.  Games like Burning Wheel make players choose between things like taking a longer time for extra dice, or getting allies to assist.  Other games  may require players to purposefully lose conflicts to build Plot Points to later improve their odds of conflicts.  Many traditional games have the simple rule that a player has to describe an action the GM decides is worthy of a bonus modifier.

So, reiterated: what things can players -choose- to do to improve their odds of success and/or outcomes of their success?

Re: Playtesting

You've mentioned a few times that the rules are finalized, but there hasn't been any blind playtesting yet, and you've mentioned you're setting up for printing in the near future.  Are you worried at all that you might be giving yourself too short of a window between playtesting and possible changes to your rules and re-playtesting those before going to print?

Also you mentioned in your other thread that you're including a lot more material from a previously planned expansion- is that also getting playtested as well?

Chris

In a typical game of Stregoneria, what kinds of characters would you expect -most- games to revolve around?  Given your mention of combat and combat related roles (assassin, etc.) it sounds like characters will probably be combat oriented?  Do your rules make that clear or provide steps for the group to get on the same page?
There are no classes in the game and there are no limits to what skills or spells anybody can learn. The only constraints are those of spreading your skill ranks too thinly over too many skills and choosing contradictory character builds: i.e. wanting to be a heavily armed warrior casting spells, where the heavy armour makes casting spells very dificult etc. Having limitless options allows virtually any character concept to be realised. What actual name you give to your particular combination of statistics and skills is up to you

Re: Choices
So, your rules have some kind of resolution for stuff like combat, and presumably, things like lifting heavy objects, or perhaps making rousing speeches, etc.

What choices can a player make to improve their odds of success or the outcomes?
My game isn't a strategy heavy game like say D&D 4E with hundreds of powers and using a battlegrid. My game is 'old skool' in that player's characters have basic skills, spells and weapons. They can make choices such as varying the potency of their spells to conserve their reserve of spell power, or using certain types of weapon against certain types of armour that have a weaknss to those particular weapons. 

For example, many games with rules about combat may support choices like flanking, getting high ground, taking certain stances, etc.   Games like Burning Wheel make players choose between things like taking a longer time for extra dice, or getting allies to assist.  Other games  may require players to purposefully lose conflicts to build Plot Points to later improve their odds of conflicts.  Many traditional games have the simple rule that a player has to describe an action the GM decides is worthy of a bonus modifier.

So, reiterated: what things can players -choose- to do to improve their odds of success and/or outcomes of their success?
Players can aim, they can attack from horseback, they can brace polearms against charges, they can gang up on one opponent, archers can fire from behind pavises to grant them cover while they're reloading. My game has poisons that players can create: curares, paralytics and cardiac poisons. Lots and lots of other stuff too.

Re: Playtesting

You've mentioned a few times that the rules are finalized, but there hasn't been any blind playtesting yet, and you've mentioned you're setting up for printing in the near future.  Are you worried at all that you might be giving yourself too short of a window between playtesting and possible changes to your rules and re-playtesting those before going to print?

Also you mentioned in your other thread that you're including a lot more material from a previously planned expansion- is that also getting playtested as well?

Printing the book is going to be delayed for a few weeks so that the group on www.fantasychapters.com can give it some further playtesting. They can fit in one or two more if anyone from this site wants to try it. It's probably a good idea to let a group of people play the game on a website with only a small amount of members. It will be easy for me to oversee the game and if it's a total disaster then not too many people will know about it and I can fix what needs to be fixied in relative anonymity. Hopefully the game will turn out to be fine though. The main two guys over at the website the game is being played on have been really helpful.

One other thing, the character sheet I uploaded earlier had a few mistakes and ommissions. I've uploaded the corrected one now and also have a new cover for the book which can be seen on the game's site homepage.

www.stregoneriarpg.com

My rulebook has over 400 pages, that's a lot of material to balance out.

My own personal playtesting of the game that I've been conducting with role-playing friends of mine will conclude this friday. It has been an intensive 2 weeks of playing almost every single night. A lot of changes have been made to the system and lots of material added. I'm at the point where my game needs playtesting by people that don't know me and are not players being GM'd by me using my own rules. I decided to stall the release of the game after reading about the best strategies and approaches to launching rpgs and they all say the same thing: playtest, playtest, playtest.

It's eye-opening to find out that no matter how hard you try, playtesting will always uncover things that you've forgotten to include, or alert you to the neccessity of including rules for certain things that wil enhacnce your game. I thought I was going to hate playtesting my game but on the contrary, it has been a thrilling experience. I now see playtesting as just another part of the extended proofreading process. It isn't that you're not a good game creator because your game has mistakes in it that need correcting, its just an inevitability.

This will be my last post about my game's playtesting and if anyone is curious about the game's progress, then go to:-

www.fantasychapters.com

This is a PBP forum that has been really supportive of me and my game and who's members will be conducting the public playtest.

My playtesting of the Stregoneria RPG concluded last Monday. The game's mechanics seem to be solid but the prognosis of a  campaign are still uncertain as playtesting was done from set-pieces; i.e. staged fights etc.

The conclusion I've drawn from observing and conducting the playtest and questioning the other players is that the game has a lot of potential. Playing the rules as presented means there is a certain amount of crunch involved: weapon reach, active parrying, parrying modifiers depending on what weapons are involved as well as certain armours having certain weaknesses to certain weapons.

Combat is dangerous. The last combat I ran only 1 out of the 3 playtesters survived. One slipped and fell and got killed by an opportunistic attacker by a falcion blow to the head and another on horseback took a mortal wound to he groin from a crossbow bolt (that was the only hit he took, the look on his face was priceless!) "But, but..." "Crossbows are dangerous in my game" I told him ;D

All in all, the game is at the point where it needs to be played without me in a proper group format. Therefeore on Monday 11th October, the playtesters at www.fantasychapters.com will have access to the Stregoneria .pdf and live internet playtesting will begin from their.

You're all welcome to stop by and take a look. Bear in mind that this is the beta playtest document so there will almost certainly be bugs that need ironing out. I've decided to put off publishing until I see what some players other than myself think about it and play it continuously for a few weeks.