RPG Review: Scum and Villainy- Evil Hat Productions/Off Guard Games

 

It's no secret that I like to play narrative focused and cinematic games.  I have a preference for rules-lite.  Those are some of my biases that I want you to know about going into this RPG review.  Why would I tell you this?  Well, if you look at the cover you can see it is a Forged in the Dark role-playing game.  It is no accident that I am going to be interested in this game.  

Of course, I cut my teeth on the old West End Games Star Wars 2nd Edition.  I grew-up playing that as my sci-fi game of choice.  I should probably do a review on it some day even though it is not new.  I have also played Starfinder for straight Sci-fi games.  For a stretch, I have also played Palladium's Robotech system as well.  Finally, I have also played Green Ronin's The Expanse role-playing game.  I guess I am telling you all this to show my Bonafide's when it comes to sci-fi role-playing games.  I am not a rookie when it comes to this style of game. 

As an added bonus this a game that is about heists.  That makes sense, considering the source of this system is Blades in the Dark, which is a heist game.  I also have experience with heist games.  This is  mainly via Shadowrun.  However, I also have some experience with Noir games such as Hard City.  Therefore, I am familiar with this "less than savory characters" style games too.  In many ways, this one reminds me of the TV show Firefly.    

Therefore, you now know some of my bias going into this games.  You also know some of my history with RPGs of this type.  So, let's dig into this one shall we?  Time to fuel up, load the cargo, and get ready to blast through the blockade.  Does this game have what it takes to keep on flying?      

Things I Like

This game uses a Playbook system.  I tend to like those as it fills core "niche" with appropriate stuff.  However, they are typically choice one of these options which allows for a quick start.  The niche is often "fictionally appropriate" for the style of game being played.  This is a Star Wars/Firefly genre Space Opera.  Therefore, the core "playbooks" are: Mechanics, Muscles, Mystics, Pilots, Scoundrels, Speakers, and Stitches.  I think you can imagine which of your favorite characters fit in where.  

In addition to playbooks, there are a few "crew types" that help create an archetype for the stories you will be telling in a campaign.  These archetype ships set the tone of the table and adventures to come.  It is different being smugglers than bounty hunters than freedom fighters.  You might dabble in all of these, but ultimately the main draw is the archetype of the ship and crew.  

Dice mechanics are simple.  There is a small list of attributes from 0-4 dice.  These represent a dice pool that you roll for tests.  A highest dice as a 6 is a full success, 4-5 is a partial success, and 1-3 is a bad outcome.  No dice, then roll two and pick the lowest with no chance to crit.  Simple.  I like simple dice mechanics. 

The game discusses scene types with "On The Job", "Downtime", and "Free Play".  It gets into more details about types of Jobs and the Engagement roll to help speed up planning.  Therefore, players and GMs have an idea of what to expect from each part of the game.  

You can get extra dice for a roll, but there are always a complication.  They call it a Devil's Bargain!  These can be used to shake things up and raise the stakes.  I can see a certain type of player never taking these, and another always taking them when offered. 

Things I Do Not Like

I rarely talk about lay-out of games, but I am not a fan of how this game is laid-out in the book.  It is not easy to use.  When I was making my character, I had a hard time finding key details.  I was surprised since this is a Playbook driven game yet simple things like "attributes" are buried in the character section without a clear heading name.  Just, not great editing and design.  I know, a bit petty but it made making a character a bit of a frustration. 

There was 12 Attributes, which I think is probably 4 too many.  Again, a bit nit-picky but there you go.  Often times your Playbook will give you a bonus in an Attribute.  There are only 7 Playbooks, so that is probably how many Attributes the game should have as well.  The intention is to give you an idea about how the PCs will approach a given scene, where sneaking across a hangar is played out mechanically different from sprinting across the same hangar.  However, I think a layer of abstraction would work fine here to cover both situations.      

Then there are three resistance rolls that are used in different situations.  Again, I think it is one too many.  Resistance rolls always succeed, but you take stress.  Stress is bad. Instead of damage, you take Stress when called upon to resist.  If your Stress reaches max, you start taking Trauma conditions.  These are more like Role-play notes with names like Paranoid and Cold.  Trauma conditions are permanent, but when you have 4 Trauma you are out of the game.  It looks like you start with 12 trauma, and can choose to take 2 to Push Your Luck.  I think this is too much Stress to start and not enough impact from Trauma.  Instead, if you play Trauma well you get XP bonus.  Play it bad and..... nothing really.     

Meh and Other Uncertainties

Clocks. It wouldn't be a Forged in the Dark system without clocks.  Clocks are a pretty handy and cool idea.  The GM determines how many times you can essentially pass or fail before consequences start to spiral.  Bad Outcomes and Partial successes can cause opposing clocks to move, and success and Crits can have good clocks move.  Pretty neat way to raise the tension, especially since you will want to make these clocks public.  So, why do I put them here?  Ultimately, I think you will have too many clocks going at a time, even in fairly mundane circumstance.  

I.e. a simple smash and grab would have a clock for the PCs to "Get into the Hide-out" and then "Get the loot", and "Escape Clean".  Various actions would help them or hinder, but on the other side you might have the opponents with "Detect Intruders", "Clean-out the Loot", and "Turn-the-Tables"  However, at the same time each PC may also have their own clocks running for various personal reason.  They can stack up fast and a tool to help make tracking and abstraction easier suddenly is not easy.  Doing a clock is easy and cool, but running 12 clocks can be tricky.    

In addition to the dice any individual has, you can boost dice by taking stress, taking a Devil's Bargain, Assists from others, and there are also shared Crew resources.  There are a lot of ways to boost your dice pool, with varying forms of consequences.  It means you can easily manage risk, with only a few options to make interesting complications.      

Ultimately, I think the game just uses too much jargon for things that do not need it.  The lay-out is all ready strained, so the amount of game specific Jargon just takes me out of the rules.  I am sure a great GM can make this all disappear; but a great GM can make any game great!  What about a mediocre or average GM?  I am not sure it can be done here, and I think the jargon and terms will get in the way of the narrative your table is telling.  

Final Thoughts

I really wanted to love these rules.  I had heard a lot of great things about them.  However, I am not sure they are for everyone.  I actually like them less than a standard Powered by the Apocalypse game.  They are slightly more complicated with nothing new to show for it.  The big idea is the Clocks compared to PbtA and I am not sure they deliver an enhanced experience that can not be captured with less book-keeping.   

Plus, I think the lay-out and jargon make this game easier to play than to read.  As a new player to a campaign, I did not find it easy or intuitive to grasp.  I also had a hard time finding what I was looking for in the book.  It was too abstract and too detailed at the same time for my tastes and in the wrong areas.    

That said, I am glad I have read it and played it.  There are really good ideas here, I just am not satisfied with how it all goes together.  I can see others who would absolutely adore this game, and I won't turn down future games.  However, it is also not my favorite either.      

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RPG Design: Super, Sexy Swingin' Spies

 

If you recall my goals for 2026, you will have seen that I had been working on a game called Super, Sexy Swingin' Spies.  This is an RPG that came about after a lazy day watching Matt Helm movies on TUBI.  Who and what is Matt Helm?  Well, he is a photographer/super-spy played by Dean Martin in a series of not very serious Bond knock-offs.  I watched The Silencers, The Ambushers, The Wrecking Crew, and Murder's Row over the course of a few days.  About half-way through the third one I thought, "Self, this could make some fun and light-hearted rules-lite RPG action!"   

As an added bonus, most of these movies are now old enough to be in the Public Domain!  That meant movie posters, screen caps, and similar media would be accessible to populate my game rules!  Photos and images are always a problem, so this made it much easier and helped this game jump the queue to actually get worked on and done!  

So, before I get ahead of myself let's start by laying out the design goals, and then we can take a closer look at how I went about making the game.  The Design Goals were: 

1. Simple opposed dice rolling mechanic built into the design

2. Ease of Character Creation that intuitively creates role-play opportunities

3. Make Gadgets relevant but avoid equipment lists

4. Lean harder into the narrative than the crunch

5. Create space for various levels of "Groovy", play it straight or as wacky as you want with space to tell 1960-esque spy stories

Those were my design goals going into this project.  You can find these rules on my Drive-Thru RPG page.  Also, a special shout-out to my Patrons who got early access to these rules!  Let's take a closer look at how I did it! 

Simple, Opposed Dice Rolling Mechanic

Typically, when I create a rules-lite RPG I do not like the GM rolling any dice.  I prefer the players to do all the dice-rolling and the GM simply interpreting the results.  The GM all ready has enough on his plate with everything else going on, so no need to burden him with dice rolls too.  

For this game, I slightly diverge from my normal method.  However, I still want any dice-rolling to be simple with the Players doing most of the heavy-lifting mechanically.  In this game, the Players use their Attributes and other aspects of their characters to create a pool of dice called Agency Dice when they are asked to resolve a challenge.  

The Handler (or GM) determines how hard the Challenge is and that difficulty is between a 1 and 7.  This number is the number of dice in their pool called a Danger Dice.  Both groups roll their Agency Dice and Danger Dice at the same time.  Any Danger Dice and Agency Dice that match are removed.  If any Agency Dice remain with a 4+ the Challenge is passed, if more than one  Agency Dice with a 4+ remains it is Critical Success.  All other options are a Failure.  If all Agency Dice are removed and a Danger Dice remains with a 4+ it is a Critical Failure.

Therefore, the higher the Difficulty the more Agency Dice you will want to make that roll.  The Handler (GM) tells players the Difficulty before rolling.  That way, the Player can choose a different course of action if they wish.  

This mechanic is harder to put in writing than to actually use.  Therefore, it is a very simple opposed dice pool mechanic.  This mechanic is very simple and intuitive during game play.   

Easy Character Creation

All of my games focus on easy Character Creation.  The reason is so that players can get into the action quickly and start playing.  In addition, if your character is knocked out of the game it is easy to get a new one worked up and back in!

This one is not an exception, with character creation taking about 10 minutes.  There is a minimal amount of record keeping and very little math.  However, it still encourages players to round-out what makes a character a character beyond the basic profile.  It includes guidelines for new role-players about personality traits, quirks, and other things that make it easier to bring a character to life in game.  A character fits completely on 1 page with no long lists of equipment, gear, or other mundanity.  

Make Gadgets Relevant

This is a rules-lite game.  Therefore, I did not want a detailed list of 1960's specific surveillance gear, technology, weaponry, and other details.  That is too cumbersome and ties the Players down.  Super Spies always seem to have the right gadget for the job when they need it.  Therefore, in this game the Characters will always have the right gadget for the job too!  

A Character can trigger the use of a Gadget at anytime!  However, there is a cost to do so.  Doing so reduces your overall ability to manipulate scenes by expending a resource called Plot Armor.  Plot Armor can be used to use a Gadget, add Agency Dice, re-roll Agency Dice, or Reduce Danger Dice.  Instead of managing a long list of complicated and variable 1960's gear, you only need to manage your Plot Armor.   

However, Plot Armor is also your "health" meter.  Once it is expended, your Agent is out of the Scene.  Get knocked out of too many Scenes, and you fail the Mission.  

Therefore, you can use a Gadget to get a Character past a sticky situation BUT to do so reduces your ability to interact with scenes later.  It is up to players to decided when a Gadget will benefit them versus hinder their overall mission.  

If you need access to a cool car for a car chase?  No problem, spend a Plot Armor and it is there.  Do you need a grappling watch?  You got it.  A parachute with the Union Jack on it?  It is yours...... if you have the Plot Armor that is.  

Yes, THAT Tina Lousie was in it!

Lean Harder into Narrative Than Crunch

As a Rules-Lite game, the focus of the game is helping the Handler set-up a scene so Players can take actions during those scenes.  The core of the game is about how to create the Core Gameplay Loop of Inciting Incident--> Player Action ---> New Situation.  In addition, the rules discuss the most common types of scenes in the game and what Challenge Checks fit into these scene types.  Therefore, the players and Handler have a great structure for what a game of Super, Sexy Swingin' Spies looks like.  

To help all players understand, the game also comes with an introductory Mission called; The Jet-Set.  There is also one pre-made character, a blank character sheet, quick reference sheets for both players and Handlers, and an Index to give you everything you need to have a great game.  

Creating 1960's Spy Stories

Spy stories in the 1960's ran a wide range of themes and tones.  They ranged from the very serious espionage thrillers like Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy to the adventure and action oriented From Russia With Love to the tongue-firmly in cheek stories of Get Smart.  Therefore, no two Spy-Fi films or shows were the same.  Each had their own mix of serious spying, action adventure, and comedy.  The rules written in Super, Sexy Swingin' Spies is designed to give you what you need to go from James Bond to Maxwell Smart and everything in between.  If you want to center a story around a defector from East Berlin no problem, if you want a madman with a Bikini Bomb, you got it.  You are encouraged to decide how much "Groovy" you want in any given Mission or Season.  

Final Thoughts

If you have liked my other Rules-Lite RPGs than you will enjoy what I am presenting here as well.  The focus is on working as a table to tell the story and find out what happens.  The rules are enough to help you build and overcome compelling challenges.  These rules are great for experienced RPGers looking for something quick and light for a short campaign, people new to RPGs who know the Spy-fi film/TV genre, or folks who want to have a low-intensity story-telling experience. 

You can find these rules on my Drive-Thru RPG page.  Also, a special shout-out to my Patrons who got early access to these rules!    

I look forward to hearing about how you saved the world in the 1960's!  

Until next time! 

 

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RPG Review: Adventures in Rokugan- Asmodee/Edge Studios

 

I have always enjoyed Legend of the 5 Rings.  The 3rd and 5th edition books for the core rules are in my collection, well they were until my pigs got loose and ate them.  The 5th edition I quickly replaced but I have not been able to track down a good price on 3rd edition yet.  However, there is something about playing a game with a strict set of social rules, established culture, and where the characters are supposed to represent and uphold that order.  It is a very different experience than playing in a rough frontier setting.         

A few years ago, I ran a game and wrote out the module that I used to introduce my players; One Year in Rokugan.  It went well, and my players enjoyed it, but not enough to revisit the setting.  One of the primary reasons was that the game required a decent amount of system and lore mastery that they did not want to take the time to learn.  They were used to Dungeons and Dragons 5E and its tropes and had a hard time adjusting.  Plus, they felt that third edition was getting a bit creaky with age and the mechanics felt a bit... dated.  

I still want to go back to Rokugan, and when it is time to pitch the next campaign, I wanted to be ready with a Legend of the 5 Rings pitch.  If the move away from D&D 5E was a challenge, this seemed like a good way to bridge the gap.  I knew the Legend of the 5 Rings - 5th Edition rules would be a bridge too far for some of the members of my group.  This seemed like a good compromise that would make my pitch more likely to be accepted.  

With that said, strap on your Daisho, tune up your shamisen, and prepare to face the forces of the Shadowlands!

Things That I Liked

This book does a good job introducing you to the very complex world of Rokugan in a few short sections. I had a better understanding of the different Faiths in Rokugan than I had after reading both the 3rd edition and 5th edition books.  I had a better feel for the geography too.  Rokugan history and cosmology also clarified things very nicely for me.       

Backgrounds in this game are much more relevant in this book compared to traditional D&D 5E thematically and mechanically.  They are tailored to the world in and around Rokugan.  This includes guidelines to help create some "quick-builds" of classic archetypes in Rokugan.  This includes custom feats, ability score preferences, and details on which class and level benefits to take when.  I think some example or pre-gen characters would have been helpful here as well.   

There is an excellent section on motivations in this book.  Each character is expected to have two.  This will help with the role-play aspect of the game as they focus on duty, fear, ideals, desire, bond and regret.  In the GM section, they also have some ideas about how to tailor your campaign to fit with the desires your characters choose.  This is a good way to help the group make interesting characters to will fit with what the GM is looking to explore.  

There are a ton of unique techniques, invocations, and background specific feats.  These were clearly designed with a tactical battle map in mind.  This is a strong contrast to Legend of the 5 Rings - 5th Edition which leans into a narrative approach.  Martial characters like Bushi and Duelists earn Focus points to pull off Techniques, while Invocations (spells) use Favor to attract spirits.  Magic in Rokugan is not as powerful as in core 5E.  

There is also a unique take on magical gear.  It is a low-magic setting.  However, everything has a spirit and your weapon and armor spirit maybe awakened by triggering events to act like magical weapons.  This is a change from the GM handing out a ton of magical gear, a common trait of D&D.  

Things I Did Not Like

The Bushido Code is really downplayed in this game.  This code and the society around it is very unique and compelling.  It is the "secret sauce" that makes the L5R experience unique to other settings.  However, I think that flavor is lost in this book let.  I know Bushido is kind of verboten and linked to Japanese Nationalism and Fascism, but what they offer around here is the "Code of Akodo" just feels really watered down and uncompelling for the proper role-play in this setting.  They also play down the role of ritual suicide to maintain honor, and ask players and GMs to avoid using it as the topic is fraught with cultural and psychological land mines.  The game also went out of its way to make it accessible to players who did not want to be part of the Samurai class more than I have seen in other versions of the game.  

They allow you to play non-human and non-Rokugani types.  This is a pretty big departure from the Rokugan, and human-centric L5R.  There is a lot of information in the backgrounds about playing folks from the other nearby kingdoms and non-humans.  The book also goes out of its way to tap down on the xenophobia of Rokugan.  

The book also goes out-of-it’s-way to be inclusive.  In old versions, players could choose disabilities like missing an arm, blind, etc.  This book, has a side bar about how such disabilities would have no effect mechanically in the game.  In addition, if you have a language you know how to speak it, write it, and sign it.  Listen, I know American English pretty well but that does not mean I know ASL (American Sign Language). 

Many of the ways to best represent the Great Clans in Rokugan require a good deal of multi-classing.  I know not all of my group are into that.  However, most of the Rokugani character types make extensive use of this to get the right "feel" and abilities for the backgrounds.  Not a fan of this approach, and it makes an all ready rules heavy game extra clunky as you are layering on special rules with more special rules.  Ugh.  We really need a Powered By The Apocalypse version of this game with a ton of simple playbooks.       

There does not seem to be any mention of the corrupting influence of the Shadowlands.  This is a big departure, probably to allow a more hack and slash approach to dealing with the Shadowlands.  Plus, the name has since become problematic; the Taint.  The sample adventure takes place primarily in the Shadowlands further reinforcing that they want to make the Shadowlands simply a place to go "A-venturing" as opposed to the corrupting and insidious realm of chaos it is in other versions of the game. 

The Dueling rules are a bit scattered and do not make a lot of sense to me.  Also, it looks like they expect all duels to be to 0 HP, which makes even less sense.  Like the Duelist is going to square up against a monster and fight it, while everyone else does something else?  Duel rules have always been a bit of a challenge but they do fit a big part of the setting.  Here, they are still struggling to make them work in the D&D-5E rules structures.  I mean, these rules are just not as lethal or attritional as this system usually is.     

  

Meh and Other Uncertainties

I was happy that I had seen every movie that they recommended watching to get a feel for what this game was trying to capture.  I must be the target audience for this game! 

This game glosses over the Yasuki moving from the Crane to the Crab.  The Mantis are also not a Great Clan at this point either.  This aligns closer with 1st edition and 5th edition L5R lore, so they ditch some of the everchanging and living L5R lore.  Probably a good idea to help people transition from D&D into L5R.  The background used to be tied to the results of big tournaments for the Living Card game so it could get pretty complicated.  

As always, they bring awesome artwork for this book.  It is really evocative of the setting and makes it jump off the page.  Again, its background as an RPG, Wargame, and CCG help greatly in this regard.  I am sure some of this stuff comes from these other sources, but much of it was new to me.  

The book has an adventure for 3rd level players and above set in the Shadowlands.  This game was an adaption of a previous L5R adventure (at least I think it is from some of the blurbs in the book) but it feels very D&D in its lay-out and goals.  I am honestly not sure I like it as an introduction to the setting at all as it is very hack and slash focused, go slay the obviously evil dudes, and takes you away from Rokugan civilization and into the Shadowlands.  It seems to lean away from what makes Rokugan great in the first place in an attempt to be just another semi-generic D&D "solve all your problems with violence" type module.        

Final Thoughts      

Wow, this was not what I was expecting at all.  It is basically a new game that just uses the d20 D&D core mechanics as a base.  About all it keeps the same is the very basics.  The backgrounds, fighting styles, and classes are all new and different.  It still keeps the combat-oriented RPG approach that D&D has, and downplays some of the societal restrictions and social aspects of traditional L5R.  However, it is a mistake to think this is just a re-skin as it goes much, much deeper than that.  In a sense, this is L5R 4.5 Edition! 

If my players felt the rules and lore mastery for L5R was too much before, I am not sure this book makes that transition any easier.  Sure, the basic dice mechanics are the same, but the way the classes, techniques, and backgrounds interact make a completely different experience.  It is not like a Bushi is just a re-skin of the fighter class.  Shugenja are not just a re-skin of clerics.  They are all new and unique classes, abilities, and special rules, with the same learning curve about how to use them in the game.  I think Renegade Studios G.I. Joe: The Role-Playing Game might be a closer re-skin to D&D 5E than Adventures in Rokugan and that game uses the Essence 20 system! 

I am glad I picked this up because I love Rokugan and the setting around it.  However, I am not sure this product is the bridge between D&D 5E and Legend of the 5 Rings that it wants to be.  The transition will still be a difficult one.  Rokugan is not for newbie GMs and players, and this book touches on exactly why.  There is a lot of nuance, lore, and detail to this setting which is partially why I really love it.  It delivers an RPG experience unlike many others.      

Until next time.            

 

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RPG Design: The Essential Question of all RPGs

 

Most of you reading this post have probably been Role-Playing Gamers for a long, long time.  As a veteran gamer, it can be hard to put yourself back in time to that first time you picked up the dice and gave them a roll.  To think back to those first RPG experiences that led you down the path to playing these games for years to come.  I know I can barely recall those days, well at least with any accuracy.  They are all filled with the sepia toned tint of nostalgia.  I can't really remember what I was thinking or what if felt like the first time I met a Medusa in their lair, the first time I faced off against a Super-villain, or the first time I infiltrated a Corp lab.  

Thankfully, I don't have to remember.  Thanks to the True Grit Gaming Guild I encounter new players all the time.  These are folks new to the hobby or adventure gaming, whether it is miniature wargames or role-playing games.  I know the first thing that they think about when they play these games, and it is NOT the same thing that veteran players are thinking.  They always have one question, and it is up to a good set of RPG rules to be ready to answer it.  

The Essential Question?

Many veteran gamers will tell you that the most important question and the most interesting question is:

Why is my character doing this? 

This is essentially, the actor asking the director; what is my motivation?  This is an excellent question and one that experienced role-players will generate answers for.  Skilled GameMasters will tie into these motivations with their hooks and story lines.  However, the truth of the matters is that this question should not be answered by the rules of an RPG.  The answer to this question is intrinsic to the table, the players, and the GameMasters.  They are the ones who drive the answer to this question.  

It is a great question.  However, it is not the essential question for designers to consider.  For a designer, that is a different question.  

The Essential Question!  (For Designers) 

Okay, smarty pants if the Why is not the essential question that RPG Designers need to think about what is it?  I am glad you asked.  

Again, you have to go back to those first halcyon days of being a player.  The days when the broad world of RPGs was fresh and new, and you are taking your first steps into the world of cooperative story-telling and role-playing.  

The first question I hear come out of player's mouths is usually this one:  

Can I do X?

Initial role-players know why they themselves, as players are going to do something.  They are not interested in the why.  Often, they are not ready to Role-Play beyond the broadest archetypes such as fighter tough, rogue is sneaky, cleric heals, and wizard casts spells.  They are busy trying to absorb the fantastical adventure they have found themselves in.  

Instead, the focus of new players is often What?  The standard RPG response is, you do whatever you want as you control your character.  This is an unhelpful answer.  The paradox of choice overwhelms them, and instead they focus the question to the Essential Question of All RPGS.  Even experienced players trying a new game will face this same question.            

This is a question that designers CAN answer!  The answer is not intrinsic to the players of the game, but to the rules of the game.  They are what sets what CAN be done in the gaming space.    

Answering the Essential Question of ALL RPGs

Therefore, as a designer of RPGs you need to be able to answer "Can I do X?" in your rules.  Of course, those of us who have played a lot of RPGs know that the list of what X is can be very, very, very long.  It would be impossible to try and think of every single thing a player could come up with to try and do.  No matter how many things you write down and cover, players will come up with a new one.  It is impossible to out X players.  

If it is impossible to list and anticipate all the potential Xs a player can come up with, how can rules answer the Essential Question of All RPGs?  

There are three things to consider when contemplating this question: 

1. The Core of All RPGs 

This refers to the endless play loop of Situation + Player Action = New Situation

2. The Types of Scenes in RPGs

The idea that all scenes in an RPG have focus to them which suggests the action within them

3. Unified Rules Mechanics

The concept here is that all games should run on one basic mechanic that all other mechanics derive.  

These three concept work together to outline how an RPG Designer can help any player answer "Can I Do X?"  

Here is how these three concepts interact together during the nuts-and-bolts of playing a Role-Playing Game to answer the Essential Question.  Every scene is a Situation that your rules need to be able to "process" from point A (inciting incident) to point B (end of scene).  The Player asking the essential question is the supplier who begins the process of playing out the Situation.  Their input is any information on their character sheet that could apply to the situation such as attributes, skills, equipment, etc. or even information about their character from going beyond the numbers.  The heart of the GMs job will be to process those inputs into the outputs, which is the world's reaction.  If your game has a universal mechanic, than this process will often be a ruling or dice check that aligns with those Universal Mechanics.  The output will be how the scene reacts.  This is all for the benefit of the initial Player who asked the Essential Question.    

Therefore, as an RPG Designer your rules need to be able to reflect and set guard rails for this game play loop.

The Essential Question in Play

Here is a quick example of how this would work using Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition as an example.  The Dungeon Master explains that some Orcs have been sighted ahead on a distant ridgeline, carrying the stolen halflings with them.  The characters being run by new players are in pursuit.  The DM says that the Orcs are about 600 feet away, or two football fields and uphill above where the players are.  

The new player looks at the sheet for their Elven fighter and sees he has a Long Bow and says, "Can I Shoot them?"  They want to know if they "Can Do X?"  

The DM knows that the scene will react to what the players do no matter what.  They also know that this scene is intended to be a Chase scene where the main objective is to get closer to their target by overcoming some obstacles using either skills like Athletics or Attribute Checks to close the distance.  They also know that the Long Bow in D&D 5th edition has a maximum range of 600 feet with disadvantage, because that is what the Character Sheets tells them. Therefore, the answer to the Essential Question in this case is Yes, you can shoot them BUT you will have disadvantage (Mechanic), notify the Orcs you are in pursuit (Reaction), a Critical Failure could hit one of the Halflings instead of an Orc (Mechanic), and you may need to make additional skill checks to close the distance (Scene).  

The DM, with the help of the Designer and an understanding of the Core Gameplay Loop; has been able to answer the Essential Question. 

Tips to Make Sure Your GMs Can Answer the Essential Question

Here are some tips when designing your rules to make sure you are helping GMs answer "Can I Do X?"  

1. Be Clear about your Gameplay Loop

Be very upfront with the GM about how to structure a scene and the intended gameplay loop of your game.  The Players need to explicitly know how the mechanics translate to action resolution.  Do not be subtle about this process, be crystal clear.  That does not mean that you need to make a chart of resolution for all key actions, but you do need to be clear about what success, partial success, critical success and their opposites mean in your game.  

2. Be clear about the type of scenes your game is supposed to play out

Is your game focused on combat and chases?  Is it primarily sneaking about and subterfuge?  Is it about crafting for the big art show and running a local gallery?  Be clear what types of situations and scenes you expect your players to experience as they play your RPG.  Will the challenges be Social, Political, Spiritual, Physical, Combat, Crafting, etc.  Of course, it maybe some of all, but be clear about the mechanics involved in all these scene types and which ones are the focus of the gameplay loop. 

3. Avoid Mini-games, keep to unified mechanics! 

If your rules always roll a dice pool of attribute + Skill looking for a number of 4+ success threshold to determine success; always use that same process to determine a success.  Do not make tracking a coin flip, stealth a game of paper, rock, scissors, and combat a d20 looking for a TN = to the Armor rating of the target.  Always use the same method of resolving a test so no matter what happens the Players can fall back on that for any tests not specifically called out in your rules.  Make the resolution mechanic universal! 

4. Give guidance in your game

Where possible, explicitly give guidance on how to resolve the most common scene types.  If the game is focused on tracking and avoid detection from big, bad, scary things than make sure as a designer you are very clear about how this is resolved.  

5. Make Inputs That Matter

Players are looking to their Character Sheets to understand what they can and can not do.  Make sure they can get a feel for what is possible from the sheet itself.  Make the details on the sheet relevant to the gameplay loop you are creating.  In our D&D example, the range of a Long Bow was needed to answer the Essential Question.           

Final Thoughts

People playing your game will be looking to the rules you design to understand the Essential Question.  Players need to know "Can I Do X?"  Do not make them guess, where possible tell them explicitly in your rules. 

Of course, you can not tell them the answer to every "Can I Do X?" question, because someone will always come out of left field.  However, your rules can give the information and structure to help the Players decide for themselves if they "Can Do X?"  These tools do not accidentally end up in a rulebook, they have to be built into it by you, the designer.  

If your rulebook does not guide players on how to answer the Essential Question of RPGs, than you need to go back and revamp it from the ground up.  

Until next time! 

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Blood and Spectacles Patreon! 

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RPG Play-Through: Flashlight: Tales of Terror - Blood and Spectacles

 

I am trying something new on the blog today.  I have never done this before, so I would love your feedback on this post.  Comment down below if you want to see more Play-Throughs like this one.  

Today's blog post is a play-through and discussion of a game of Flashlight: Tales of Terror using a scenario I wrote called; Sleepers in the City.  I was the GM of the session and I had three players from my weekly RPG group.  We normally play Dungeons and Dragons 5E.  Therefore, this was a departure from the norm, but not the first time that they have played a horror game that I have GMed.  The three players were experienced RPG players.  

As the GM, I wrote the scenario BUT based it on the 1998 movie Dark City. I am sure people here will see the spirals when they read through it. However, adapting a single POV movie into a multi-player game has some of its own challenges even if the plot is mostly being lifted from elsewhere. Since this is a Horror, one-shot based on a movie, I decided on a Trad/Neo-Trad cinematic framing for the design. Railroad ahoy!

First off, the Flashlight system does not set the players up for success and is a bit of a death spiral itself. The players have played before, and the system has a high lethality. Before we started play, I reviewed some of the common ideas in horror and reviewed how the system worked, noting that it is a high lethality system. Thankfully character building only takes about 10-15 minutes and allows for some surprisingly well-rounded characters for role-play.

Make Good Characters

The setting for the game is a post-WWII Noir city. Therefore, everything is in Black and White, there is darkness and long shadows everywhere, and all the Characters had to have a reason to be “on the Outs” of society.

Our Cast of Characters were:

1. A war veteran who suffered from a traumatic-Brain Injury and a limp- so had a hard time recalling things. However, they loved to collect rocks and were the most physically imposing of the characters.

2. A street Preacher for the homeless who had a fall from grace in their past. They ran a soup kitchen and small chapel for the needy, building up a small community of outreach. They were rather social in nature.

3. A female nurse who was also a serial killer/stalker. The other players were unaware of their lethal tendencies. They were the most brains oriented of the group, with a dash of sneakiness thrown in.

The group all knew each other as the Vet was a member of the Preacher’s community, and the Nurse often went there to minister to the poor.

The Game

The players awoke sitting in chairs around a table in a Flop House. They were all sitting around a table with a dead street walker on it, with strange spiral markings carved into her body. They immediately began to try to figure out what was going on!

In the search they found a few clues:

1. The woman had been strangled to death
2. In the woman’s possession was a postcard for a place called Sandy Beach and written to her by someone named Emma Murdoch
3. A newspaper that detailed a recent string of street walker murders that matched the one they were looking at. They immediately noticed no dates on the paper.
4. A receipt for an Automat called “Just Like Ma’s”
5. A small, ornate and broken syringe flung against the wall with an unknown substance in it.

As the Preacher searched the upstairs of the flop house for anyone else, an old-fashion phone rang. The Vet answered it, and a voice urged them to get out as “They are after you!”. At this point, the Preacher heard glass break upstairs and when he checked he found a group of men in dark coats, bowler hats, and round sunglasses, and unnaturally long spindly fingers.

Passing an insanity check he ran downstairs and urged everyone to flee. That combined with the phone call and the situation, and no one argued, they hoofed it fast. They were easily able to escape in a crowd of factory workers just getting off-shift.

They took a moment to decide what to do next. They all shared their last memories from the previous night, which led to some solid RP as none of this was scripted. They talked about what those trench-coated men were, and too their credit none of them jumped straight to Vampires! Because they weren’t, but Nazis did come up; I mean this is post-war.

From there, they found a few clues pointing them to a place called the Silver Dollar Club. They decided to go there. On the way to the club, the clock struck midnight, and suddenly all the people in the city around them slowly fell asleep! Then, it got really weird as buildings began to shift and change shape, and new ones sprung up and old ones fell away and vanished. They tried to play along and managed to pass more insanity checks. Unnerved and unsure what happened they continued to the club when everyone else awoke, seeming to not notice what had happened.

At the club, they met Emma Murdoch. After some investigation and social activities, Emma greeted the Vet and told him they were engaged to be married, met at Sandy Beach, and had been working with a man named Dr. Franz. The Vet just played along, because they weren’t sure if any of it was true or not. However, Emma seemed to believe it! The Preacher had met Emma before but she seemed to not recall them at all.

After a bit of RP, they decided to go find Dr. Franz. On the way, they experienced another situation where the clock struck midnight and everyone fell asleep. They were very confused. They played along, and this time they observed some of the black coated men flying around and carrying people to various re-formed buildings. They were creeped out but managed to not lose their minds.

At this point, they started to try to recall the date, year, and other details but they could not. They tried to think about things in their backgrounds but they couldn’t! They weren’t even sure what city they were in or what year it was. The players did a great job playing on this via RP.

Concerned they rushed to meet D. Franz. There they met the man who had called them at the flop house. He began to explain how he had been having bad dreams and restless sleep, and a combination of drugs allowed him to stay awake and see “the Others” that the players had seen. The players had been part of Dr. Franz’s clients and had reported the same dreams and sleep problems. He gave them the same drugs, and now they also seemed immune to the Midnight Sleep. Emma thought they were all crazy, so the Nurse knocked her out with chloroform and then dosed her with the same drugs Dr. Franz had used on them.

At this point, a police detective and some cops showed up at Dr. Franz’s door. The players elected to talk their way out of it, and eventually the cops harassed them but went about their business. They wanted to talk to Dr. Franz about the psychology of the street walker killer.

After getting rid of the cops, Dr. Franz told them that he had seen the strange men use a hidden doorway in the industrial district. The Players armed themselves with flashlights and some makeshift weapons from a hardware store and had Dr. Franz lead them to the doorway. After moving through spiralling and maze-like corridors that kept getting smaller, and tighter, they eventually got to a big, sealed bulkhead.

They opened the door and went in, making sure to try and wedge it open after them. Some D&D experience showing through! Inside, they found a huge mural/billboard that looked identical to the Sandy Beach postcard they had found before. They investigated and pulled it away, which revealed a massive window that looked out into the void of space! This was too much for some of them, and they failed some sanity checks.

Just then, they heard a raspy voice and turned around to find several of the strange creatures behind them, brandishing a bronze syringe. They said, “Do not worry, soon this will all be a forgotten memory.” A fight broke out, and it was clear that the Others were not human and could manipulate the world around them in unnatural ways. However, the Flashlights could temporarily blind them.

The Preacher was taken down by a knife wielding Other, but the Nurse got him back up. The Vet managed to knock the syringe away from the lead bad guy, but in a cinematic moment it kept being kicked around the room. Eventually, the Nurse got it but, in the struggle the bad guy managed to wrestle it from her and give her an injection.

Eventually, the Vet managed to use a hammer to smash the glass out to space, and the Others and Dr. Franz were sucked out into the Void. The Preacher barely manages to hold onto Emma! The group managed to get to the bulkhead and seal the room off, however the strain had been too much for the Vet and he started to babble about being turned into a void dragon and flying across space and time. The Preacher succumbed to his wounds shortly after, but Emma was saved.

The end and roll credits.

The Strangers from Dark City

Conclusion

Body Count: Vet went insane, Preacher died, and the Nurse lost her memories and was re-programmed into a different person. Dr. Franz was also sucked into space!  The Others kept running their experiments and everyone in The City was still stuck in their endless experimental loops. 

Notes as the GM

This session lasted about 3 hours including character creation and was completed in one sitting.  Character Generation was about 15 minutes using the system Flashlight: Tales of Terror rules.  This was an in-person gaming experience. 

Initially, there was not going to be a final fight, BUT we had the time so we played it out. I am glad we did as it led to some memorable moments and the players getting some small wins. Ultimately, they “lost” and could never actually escape from their fate BUT at least they felt like they had accomplished something.

The players did an amazing job Role-playing the characters and it really made the whole scenario breathe. Sure, it was an investigative railroad, but they knew it was a one-shot and followed the path. They made decisions about what to investigate, dealing with the cops, and how to handle the Others when they appeared. No one tried to solve all their issues with violence, and they seemed genuinely invested in the outcome and interested in where it all led.

The idea of being trapped on a spaceship or station did not seem to impact them as much as the idea that their memories were constantly being reprogrammed and re-written over and over for some unknown reason by an unknown other. Some of them made some comments about how it was a meta-commentary on RPGs in general, which amused me to no end.

The players were very gracious and gave kudos all around to the game. They “hated” the system because it was hard to succeed at any test, but when you did succeed you felt amazing! However, dice rolls were not a common occurrence and often having a score above a certain level or the right occupation/interest in an Attribute granted progress.

Otherwise, they enjoyed the departure from our usual game and it felt suitably different from what we had been doing. One of the players even talked about trying to run a Horror themed mini-campaign after our D&D session ends. Therefore, I guess they like the genre a bit.

There you go.  I did not detail every dice roll or game mechanic and just did an overview of the game session.  I can get more detailed on mechanics or process if you want but to me the focus of RPGs is not the "can you do this" to "why are you doing it".  

Until next time.

Become a Patron and get access to all the cool stuff, a peak behind the curtain of Blood and Spectacles, and early-access to playtest games!  

Blood and Spectacles Patreon! 

You can follow Blood and Spectacles Facebook page or Instagram for more fun! 

Check out the latest publications and contact me at our Blood and Spectacles website

Or purchase all out games at the Blood and Spectacles Publishing Wargames Vault Page!