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Hey /tg/, dropping in again to run a few ideas by you, and hopefully get a little help on a new game variant I'm working on.
Break, in short, is a game where the players have the power to break the rules, but there are always consequences.
So far, I've been focusing on the fast paced games, where the Breaks flow freely and when things go wrong they often explode rather violently. I've successfully ran a playtest of this style, and I learned a lot of useful thing. Far from the least of these is that Break does actually work, and isn't as unplayable as you might expect.
However, now I'm going to the other end. Slow paced games, where Breaks are rare and subtle, and direct conflict is avoided.
Thus, my latest system variant- Break: Chessmaster. (The first thing I need help with is a new name, something better than just the trope).
If you don't know the trope, look at Code Geass or Death Note, as the easiest examples, although Sherlock Holmes can apply too. Genius and intellect pitting themselves against each other in games of wit and cunning. I'm going to be going very light on direct conflict (i.e. no mecha or combative superpowers).
I'm taking the basic mechanics from Houses of the Blooded- D6 dicepools versus DC, you can remove dice from your pool (i.e. decrease your chance of success) to increase the effects of your success, so a nice risk vs reward mechanic.
I'm also taking the Hope and Despair pools from Don't Rest Your Head, refluffed to represent the tides of luck and fortune which always beset schemers and plotters in such shows. The long and the short of it is two pools of points, one bad, one good. The bad pool fills up from events in the game, the GM spends them to cause bad things to happen, but each bad point spent puts a point in the good pool, giving the players a bit of a breather.
Break, in short, is a game where the players have the power to break the rules, but there are always consequences.
So far, I've been focusing on the fast paced games, where the Breaks flow freely and when things go wrong they often explode rather violently. I've successfully ran a playtest of this style, and I learned a lot of useful thing. Far from the least of these is that Break does actually work, and isn't as unplayable as you might expect.
However, now I'm going to the other end. Slow paced games, where Breaks are rare and subtle, and direct conflict is avoided.
Thus, my latest system variant- Break: Chessmaster. (The first thing I need help with is a new name, something better than just the trope).
If you don't know the trope, look at Code Geass or Death Note, as the easiest examples, although Sherlock Holmes can apply too. Genius and intellect pitting themselves against each other in games of wit and cunning. I'm going to be going very light on direct conflict (i.e. no mecha or combative superpowers).
I'm taking the basic mechanics from Houses of the Blooded- D6 dicepools versus DC, you can remove dice from your pool (i.e. decrease your chance of success) to increase the effects of your success, so a nice risk vs reward mechanic.
I'm also taking the Hope and Despair pools from Don't Rest Your Head, refluffed to represent the tides of luck and fortune which always beset schemers and plotters in such shows. The long and the short of it is two pools of points, one bad, one good. The bad pool fills up from events in the game, the GM spends them to cause bad things to happen, but each bad point spent puts a point in the good pool, giving the players a bit of a breather.
