A pet project game. Pen and paper themed twist on snakes and ladders, kind of.
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Not a whole lot is implemented. But my idea revolves around running into challenges on a linear map, and having the outcome based on a small set of stats and feats/spells/abilities. Critical fail and success will be involved, on a larger scale.
Here's the output I have so far.
What's your job? - Knight - Wizard - Rogue - Mercenary - Priest - Ranger ranger Got it. You say you are a Ranger. Ok, ok. Let me see here... This is your job description. Make sure it matches, ok? Ranger You might think the tracks ended, but a better hunter can follow them still. That's why you have ears, nose, and padded feat. Think like an animal you will, because the hunt is always on. Stat: Dexterity: You are lightning quick. You can dodge more, escape traps more, find or not find stuff more. Feat: Missile: Through some means, magical or not, you can propel an object through the air. Maybe you can hit that target up there. Helps when 'Come down here' wouldn't. Are you sure this is it? Yes or no? yes Good. You know what you do. That's a start. Now you're tasked with going out to yonder and getting the thing and bringing it back here. Here's a portal scroll. You use that and you'll end up right back here at my desk, quest over, whether you got that thingy or not. Got it. Ok. ... And with that, your party heads out... You look around. You don't notice much. You happen upon a beggar. He's begging for money. Maybe you can convince the beggar to move. Press any key to continue . . .So far I have a framework for classes, and a perception check that gives an alternate challenge.
Ideas:
Main character has a stat and a cooldown feat.
Party members have a stat.
If you have a stat and it matches the challenge stat required, it will give you a 1 pt bonus to the roll.
Party members have a chance to add a bonus to the roll if they have a matching stat.Rolls are 1D6, with 1 being critical fail and 6 being critical success.
easy, medium, and hard challenges will exist.Each scene will have several cells. Each cell has a different set of challenges.
Examples
A fight will take up a single cell, so not every playthrough will encounter that fight.
A boss fight will take up an entire scene, with several cells. So you'll have to challenge it multiple times.Every challenge will have a stat, and may or may not have a list of possible feats that can auto-success. Critical success results in drawing a one-time-feat. Critical failure results in drawing a penalty. Failure results in backwards movement, success in forwards movement, based on how far above the challenge level you roll.
Then I will have a cash shop where you can buy feat powerups for real money... J/K LOLOL
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@xaade Sounds pretty fun.
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@xaade Is the player involvement in the game going to boil down to pressing Enter, or do you plan to have some choices to be made? Because from a storytelling and underlying mechanics perspective it sounds fine enough, but in the end it seems like you roll a die and stuff happens, and that's all there is.
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@maciejasjmj said in A pet project game. Pen and paper themed twist on snakes and ladders, kind of.:
in the end it seems like you roll a die and stuff happens, and that's all there is.
Agreed, it sounds a bit like game of the goose with D&D-like trappings.
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@maciejasjmj said in A pet project game. Pen and paper themed twist on snakes and ladders, kind of.:
you roll a die and stuff happens, and that's all there is.
This also happens to be all I understand of craps.
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What do you mean by
padded feat?Also, gameplay-wise: 1/6 chance of auto-critfail will make players hate you unless you're planning to GM it paranoia-style. Better make it a regular auto-fail, and/or require a "confirmation" roll to make it critical.
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@maciejasjmj said in A pet project game. Pen and paper themed twist on snakes and ladders, kind of.:
@xaade Is the player involvement in the game going to boil down to pressing Enter, or do you plan to have some choices to be made? Because from a storytelling and underlying mechanics perspective it sounds fine enough, but in the end it seems like you roll a die and stuff happens, and that's all there is.
Yeah, just like snakes and ladders.
I'll work something out.
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@medinoc said in A pet project game. Pen and paper themed twist on snakes and ladders, kind of.:
GM it paranoia-style
Frack, you led me to TV-tropes. I'll never figure out what this is and I'm already 24 links in.
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@pleegwat said in A pet project game. Pen and paper themed twist on snakes and ladders, kind of.:
@xaade Maybe borrow a thing or two from @kaelas's chase game?
Yeah. The perception is supposed to provide second options, but maybe perception should add a third.
I have one scenario, in which you can convince a beggar to move, or if you pass a perception check, can attempt to steal his money.
You'll also have your cooldown feat and much of the time have access to one-off feats, which you can choose to use or not.
So there are choices.
Maybe I can even throw in feats that can increase the challenge level, if you run into a challenge that you know you'll win anyway.
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@xaade said in A pet project game. Pen and paper themed twist on snakes and ladders, kind of.:
@medinoc said in A pet project game. Pen and paper themed twist on snakes and ladders, kind of.:
GM it paranoia-style
Frack, you led me to TV-tropes. I'll never figure out what this is and I'm already 24 links in.
I was talking about the RPG Paranoia, which is mainly for getting your characters to die in hilarious ways (which is why everybody starts with six "lives").
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Can we start at the very basics? Is this a video game? A board game? A text-based video game?
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@blakeyrat said in A pet project game. Pen and paper themed twist on snakes and ladders, kind of.:
Can we start at the very basics? Is this a video game? A board game? A text-based video game?
Yes. So far.
The rules I have so far, it can work as either text-based-video-game or board game.
But, so can any board game.
I'm programming it, mostly to see if it works as a concept.
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I got the basic concept of a challenge up and running.
What's your job? - Knight - Wizard - Rogue - Mercenary - Priest - Ranger knight Got it. You say you are a Knight. Ok, ok. Let me see here... This is your job description. Make sure it matches, ok? Knight Highly trained, higly decorated soldiers of whoever's army, thou are built like a tank. Wait, whateverist a tank? None thee bother. Shrugest off wounds. Movest mountains. There is nothing that can stop thee from thou noble goal. Stat: Strength: You big strong. You can punch more, push more, endure more. Feat: Heal: Through some means, magical or not, you can heal or endure wounds and help others do the same. Maybe this helps you get through that tough fight. Maybe you help a stranger. Deity knows! Are you sure this is it? - Yes - No yes Good. You know what you do. That's a start. Now you're tasked with going out to yonder and getting the thing and bringing it back here. Here's a portal scroll. You use that and you'll end up right back here at my desk, quest over, whether you got that thingy or not. Got it. Ok. ... And with that, your party heads out... You look around. You perceive more of your environment. You happen upon a beggar. He's begging for money. Maybe you can convince the beggar to move. With keen perception, you notice more. You might be able to distract him enough to steal from him. Which do you decide to do? - Persuade - Steal steal Which approach do you use? - Dexterity dexterity He's still just standing there. Press any key to continue . . .So that shows that perception success gives you two options, and I chose the option without the bonus and failed the roll.
Obviously I need more output to indicate all of this, but there's the basic concept in output.Next, I picked a better class for the challenge. A rogue gets the stealth cooldown feat. I made that feat available to the steal challenge. We luck out and pass the perception check, and Steal becomes an option. I use the feat and instant pass the challenge. The feat goes on cooldown.
What's your job? - Knight - Wizard - Rogue - Mercenary - Priest - Ranger rogue Got it. You say you are a Rogue. Ok, ok. Let me see here... This is your job description. Make sure it matches, ok? Rogue What lays beyond that door, you say? Nothing of course. 'What used to lay beyond that door?' is the real question. No lock or trap can stop me. Nothing can stand in my way, for none know my way. Stat: Dexterity: You are lightning quick. You can dodge more, escape traps more, find or not find stuff more. Feat: Stealth: Through some means, magical or not, you can get around without being noticed. Maybe you avoid a guard, a pesky beggar, or even that annoying NPC that gives out the crappy fetch quests. Are you sure this is it? - Yes - No yes Good. You know what you do. That's a start. Now you're tasked with going out to yonder and getting the thing and bringing it back here. Here's a portal scroll. You use that and you'll end up right back here at my desk, quest over, whether you got that thingy or not. Got it. Ok. ... And with that, your party heads out... You look around. You perceive more of your environment. You happen upon a beggar. He's begging for money. Maybe you can convince the beggar to move. With keen perception, you notice more. You might be able to distract him enough to steal from him. Which do you decide to do? - Persuade - Steal steal Which approach do you use? - Dexterity - Stealth stealth He notices his pockets are empty and leaves. Press any key to continue . . .
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@xaade said in A pet project game. Pen and paper themed twist on snakes and ladders, kind of.:
just like snakes and ladders.
So a "game" with 0 decisions or choices to be made, just a randomly generated W or L?
Sounds...... fun.
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@yamikuronue said in A pet project game. Pen and paper themed twist on snakes and ladders, kind of.:
So a "game" with 0 decisions or choices to be made, just a randomly generated W or L?
Sounds...... fun.The card game War is easier to set up.
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@blakeyrat said in A pet project game. Pen and paper themed twist on snakes and ladders, kind of.:
@yamikuronue said in A pet project game. Pen and paper themed twist on snakes and ladders, kind of.:
So a "game" with 0 decisions or choices to be made, just a randomly generated W or L?
Sounds...... fun.The card game War is easier to set up.
False. Double-clicking a shortcut is far easier than shuffling a deck of cards and dividing it evenly.
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@yamikuronue said in A pet project game. Pen and paper themed twist on snakes and ladders, kind of.:
@xaade said in A pet project game. Pen and paper themed twist on snakes and ladders, kind of.:
just like snakes and ladders.
So a "game" with 0 decisions or choices to be made, just a randomly generated W or L?
Sounds...... fun.
Not 0 decisions. I'm trying to incorporate as many decisions as I can, and it still hold together.
If it's a bust, then so be it.
So far, there is a chance to make 0, 1, or 2 decisions in a turn. I'm thinking I'll have to have 3 scenarios per turn, with the 3rd unlocking, that way I guarantee a decision.
Then there will be the dynamic of single-use actions, that I hope to make diverse.
Just like Munchkin, Monopoly, or any other game, there won't be many decisions at the start, but more as you advance.
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First off: having to type words is going to get annoying. Perhaps use a numbered list and just have the player pick 1, 2, etc?
Second: show more of what happens to the player. Where do you roll the dice, what are the values to beat, which bonuses factor in? Unless they're secret rolls, it makes it much easier for the player to figure out how their stats influence the game. Eg.
Which do you decide to do? - Persuade (Charisma 4) - Steal (Dexterity 4) steal Rolling 1d6 + 1 = 2 + 1 = 3, 4 to beat He's still just standing there.(this is a bit ugly, but the general gist of it is that the player will want to know which path they can tackle and which one they can't - if you're playing a rogue, for example, you instantly know it's more likely you'll succeed at stealing than at persuading).
Third: the way you use "stat" as something you do or don't have is a little confusing. Most RPGs will have the character have all the stats, with different values in them - and a way to pick up bonuses to those stats along the way (either by leveling up, or succeeding in challenges). So maybe instead of just giving your knight
Strength, make it:Strength: +1 Dexterity: 0 Charisma: 0 Intelligence: -1Now you can pick up a different stat, or get an additional bonus to strength, somewhere along the way.
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@maciejasjmj said in A pet project game. Pen and paper themed twist on snakes and ladders, kind of.:
First off: having to type words is going to get annoying. Perhaps use a numbered list and just have the player pick 1, 2, etc?
This is mainly about the form of the game, and how easy it is to play. If you want to go pen and paper, I suspect you'll want to switch to actual decks of cards pretty soon. If you go for a computer game (or mobile/console/etc) players will eventually expect graphics. Even if you end up sticking with text mode, it will be a lot more accessible if you assign specific areas of the screen to specific things.
For example, on a dice roll, show ascii-art of actual dice with the rolled values in an area of the screen.
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Hmm... a list of stats makes sense for the party.
I'm trying to make it somewhat simplified.
If I imagined cards, the card would only list the stat that the team member contributed.
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@pleegwat said in A pet project game. Pen and paper themed twist on snakes and ladders, kind of.:
@maciejasjmj said in A pet project game. Pen and paper themed twist on snakes and ladders, kind of.:
First off: having to type words is going to get annoying. Perhaps use a numbered list and just have the player pick 1, 2, etc?
This is mainly about the form of the game, and how easy it is to play. If you want to go pen and paper, I suspect you'll want to switch to actual decks of cards pretty soon. If you go for a computer game (or mobile/console/etc) players will eventually expect graphics. Even if you end up sticking with text mode, it will be a lot more accessible if you assign specific areas of the screen to specific things.
For example, on a dice roll, show ascii-art of actual dice with the rolled values in an area of the screen.Of course.
I'm just experimenting right now.
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@xaade said in A pet project game. Pen and paper themed twist on snakes and ladders, kind of.:
Hmm... a list of stats makes sense for the party.
I'm trying to make it somewhat simplified.
If I imagined cards, the card would only list the stat that the team member contributed.
I could even imagine simplifying it further and getting rid of numeric bonuses, especially for an accessible pen and paper version. If you have a dexterity trait, special item, or other bonus, you can take the dexterity roll as a normal 1d6. Without the stat, you can't do the roll at all. If you want to give value to having multiple sources for the same bonus, you could for example take two rolls and use the best result.
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@pleegwat said in A pet project game. Pen and paper themed twist on snakes and ladders, kind of.:
@xaade said in A pet project game. Pen and paper themed twist on snakes and ladders, kind of.:
Hmm... a list of stats makes sense for the party.
I'm trying to make it somewhat simplified.
If I imagined cards, the card would only list the stat that the team member contributed.
I could even imagine simplifying it further and getting rid of numeric bonuses, especially for an accessible pen and paper version. If you have a dexterity trait, special item, or other bonus, you can take the dexterity roll as a normal 1d6. Without the stat, you can't do the roll at all. If you want to give value to having multiple sources for the same bonus, you could for example take two rolls and use the best result.
That would make it hard to progress.
My idea was to have a bonus from the main character and then have "teammates" that provide additional bonus.
I like the idea of multiple rolls. I felt a 1pt bonus per teammate was high, so I implemented a chance to obtain bonus, but an additional roll per teammate with matching stat works even better.
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@xaade Doing the math, it is actually more effective on the first bonuses, but it flats out.
When trying to roll 5 or higher, with 1 die your chance to fail is 2/3 (66%).
With 1d6+1, it is 3/6 (50%). With 1d6+2, it is 2/6 (33%). 1d6+3, 1/6 (16%). 1d6+4 or higher, you never fail.
With 2 dies, it is 4/9 (44%). With 3 dies, 8/27 (29%). With 4 dies, 16/81 (19%). 5 dies, 32/243 (13%).
For more numbers, you'd have to set up an excel sheet. But with that information I think my idea doesn't really work out if bonuses are going to be a thing you grant frequently.
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@pleegwat I was thinking to combine the two ideas.
Roll with 1 bonus if stat matches, roll without bonus if stat doesn't match.
For each additional teammate with stat, roll without bonus.This gives you the option to excel at one thing, or diversify and get an additional roll for the other two stats.
So, you can get 1d6+1 on your main stat, and 2 dies at 1d6 on your other two stats, resulting in 50% chance for your main stat, and 55% for the other two stats.
You didn't treat it as higher of two rolls, but combined them
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@xaade Hm, combining the two makes things even more complex. And having better odds with your secondary stat than with your main seems counter-intuitive.
