Addiction and duality

I’m thinking of going to the duality route when it comes to the game’s mechanics, scene narration and overall progression of the game’s pacing. You see, when a player is using their junk dice to perform a reality bending act, the mundane world disappears from their view and is replaced with the “flipside” aka the tripping / warped version of reality. So what they are encountering in this counter world is not visible nor understood in the mundane. They are still in the mundane and quite visible but something is not quite right according to outside observers. Is the character “on something” ? Why are they throwing punches or waving at nothing? The long term goal of the game is to stay away from the OD side of the life meter and to stay off of the junk dice which in turn closes off the warped version of reality.

Where are we at with those short stories?

As of this writing this is what I have. I’ve included how much (percentage-wise) how much is done with each.

1. “Don’t Howl Much Do Ya?” : What if Uncle Bruce wasn’t kidding about the eternal battle between werewolves and vampires? [100% complete]

2. “Not My Day.” : Guy can’t seem to get to work with the rain, strange patrons on the bus and fainting during the commute. [85% complete]

3. “The Beauty of Static.” : This story is 10 years in the making! Three post-college friends come back to their sleepy static town and meet a strange girl that changes their lives (and the universe) over the course of one day. [50% complete]

4. “Untitled” : I have this idea but no title yet. It involves two unlikely people who become the temporary owners to a dying god’s estates (powers) while he wishes to be reborn as a mortal. Problem is, the god’s adversaries also want his estates. [0% complete]

Power of 19. Or…questions that help flesh this all out

Ok so I decided to revisit this idea of self-publishing an RPG. Take a look at these 19 questions and answers. Am i on the right track or should i stick to finishing those short stories of mine? Here we go :

1) What is your game about?
Trip is about people who struggle to break their addiction(s) but at the same time they can tap into reality bending abilities while under the influence.

2) What do the characters do?
The characters are trying to go sober while avoiding overdosing on their powers / addiction. Antagonists wish to imprison them and use their abilities for self-gratification.

3) What do the players do?
Players create a character that is obviously flawed but plays out such flaws to eventually “kick” their addiction.

4) How does your setting reinforce what the game is about?
The setting takes place in modern day with a slight conspiracy twist lurking in the shadows.

5) How does character creation reinforce what the game is about?
Character creation involves an addiction which makes them labeled as a “low life” but one with near cosmic reality crashing abilities. When a character tries to “smash a wall” with their mind or “levitate up in the air” it does not appear this way in reality exactly but the effect can happen depending on the dice roll.. Kind of like Tyler Durden in Fight Club (Ed Norton can see Brad Pitt but to everyone else it is the same person).

6) What types of behavior does you game reward or punish?
When a player uses their “junk dice pool” it helps win conflicts but plays out with them succumbing to their addiction even more. Too much use of these extra dice for conflict resolution could make the character overdose. Overcoming conflicts with their “sober dice pool” keeps them from ODing but the effect is not as potent.

7) How is behavior rewarded or punished?
Using the “sober dice pool” and succeeding with the dice rolls result in more of these dice. Using too many of the “junk dice pool” results in potential spectacular reality-bending effects but will move closer to the ODing side of the life meter.

8) How are responsibilities of narration and credibility divided in your game?
There is a storyteller who narrates and manages the NPCs. But if a player succeeds with his/her junk dice they can also narrate the outcome of a scene as if the high factor of the addiction is projected around everyone for the duration of the scene.

9) What does your game do to command player’s attention?
The addiction almost acts like a sidebar, convincing the player that “they’re coming to get you” when they are really safe. Or are they????

10) What are the resolution mechanics of your game like?
Borrowing dice to pull off spectacular effects (junk dice) or mundane sober actions (sober dice) . Gain and lose dice depending on outcomes but most of all, avoiding botches.Moving up and down the life meter is a constant reminder as to how “fragile” existence really is.

11) How do the resolution mechanics reinforce what your game is about?
Managing the good and bad (but powerful) dice while winning conflicts allows the players to be careful of tapping into their reality bending powers.

12) How do characters in your game advance?
By gaining experience for staying off of junk in a game session allows less dependency on the junk dice and use permanent sober dice. Eventually the character can ascend the need of junk when using their powers.

13) How does the character advancement reinforce what your game is about?
The point of playing my game is to explore addiction in a mature fashion whether it is a substance like drugs, or thrill seeking or even an addiction to a person. To be able to settle for reality and move away from their reality bending abilities which are just temporary fixes to the matters at hand.

14) What kind of effect do you want the game to produce in players?
I want the players to explore the flaw factor of addiction and how the game allows you to tap into it for fantastic powers but at a price.

15) What areas of your game recieve extra attention and color?
The flaws / addiction and how it drives the story. Most of the game should involve the character’s personal space and how this affects them and the other characters in the game.

16) Which part of your game are you most excited or interested about?
Coming up with different addictions that players can play off of and be able to use in the game’s many conflicts. Addiction does not have to just be a substance. In a recent conversation with a non roleplayer,she mentioned if she could play a character who was addicted (obsessed) with someone and how that would change their reality / perception.

17) Where does your game take players that other games can’t/won’t?
I want to push the flawed character concept to the point that flaws make for great gaming. They provide material for storytellers to get started with material.

18) What are your publishing goals for this game?
I want to publish this as a POD and PDF. Make it affordable to bring in new players to gaming.

19) Who is your target audience?
People who are seasoned role players and even those that want to try gaming for the first time. I want this to cross genres and gaming experiences.

What is Trip?

I have this idea of writing my own indie RPG that would cost as much as a movie ticket and give players / storytellers hours of fun. What would the premise of the game be? I am working on the mechanics first and the background story second. Here is a list of abstract ideas in no particular order :

- Players portray characters that are addicted to something (substances, situations, feelings, etc…)
- The goal of the game is to overcome one’s addictions.
- Addictions provide temporary “reality crashing / reality bending” abilities.
- The antagonists in the game are “cosmic” AFT agents and the addiction itself.

I know that the gaming “universe” needs to be well thought out so i am switching tasks from the game mechanics to the story background. As for outside influences, music, film and television inspiration includes the following :

Movies-
12 Monkeys
Donnie Darko
Time Bandits

Music-
Radiohead
Seaweed
The Orb
The Verve
Throwing Muses

Others-
William Burroughs books (Cities of the Red Night Trilogy)
Mark Danielewski books (House of Leaves and Only Revolutions)

My goal is to build a “world” or a flavor for the kinds of games people may find themselves running with the system.

Almost ready…

Good evening. This is the first post of (hopefully) many in a blog which is to keep me working on a book of short stories. I plan on publishing the book through http://www.lulu.com/ as soon as I’ve achieved 100 pages of material.

So what exactly am I working on? A series of short stories of various genres. So far I have 3 with a fourth on the way. More on each story shortly as I attempt to finish each one.