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Non-Combat - Getting it Just Right One of my most important design goals for Let Thrones Beware is to ensure that the non-combat challenge portion of the game is as compelling and fun to play as the tactical combat component. I'm really looking to avoid designing yet another game where heroes roll some dice against a target difficulty and pass or fail depending on how high their number is. The First Try at Non-Combat Well, if combat was interesting and fun, my first thought was "why not use the same challenge mechanic?" I replaced the tactical grid with zones that the heroes had to move between, I whipped up a list of complication mechanics that could be attached to obstacles to make them dynamic and interesting, individual obstacles were given the ability to block heroes from accessing other obstacles until they were dealt with. In place of a way to deal damage to the heroes, obstacles had clocks - and they had to be defeated before the clock ran down, or the heroes would lose the challenge. A Prelude Going in, I knew that these intricate non-combat scenarios would need prep - there didn't seem to be any good alternative to great set-piece challenges, especially because I had concerns about how easy it would be to create a challenge out of whole cloth on the fly. Still, not a problem, I figured. Interesting non-combat challenges were the point, weren't they? I also wasn't quite sure how to present these challenges, but since I was playtesting anyway, that didn't seem like a big deal. It'd all sort itself out in the end. Rubber Meets the Road My playtest group and I sat down to run through an adventure. We'd primarily focused on combat before, with just a few quick demonstrations of how the non-combat system worked. They breezed through the first part of the adventure, quite happy with the improvements that had been made to character creation and combat. Having bested a brigand ambush of the caravan they were guarding, the heroes now had to escape with a small group of peddlers to the safety of a nearby village. I laid out the scenario, and we immediately crashed into problems. "How do I know which of these obstacles to prioritize?" "There's not really any way to "It just feels like we're throwing our powers at them and hoping that attrition works in our favour" "What if we wanted to do something else?" The list of questions and complaints continued. It was clear that something had to change. Arriving at a Solution Reworking the non-combat system was a must, but there were a number of mechanical elements that I wanted to retain. I was also very determined to retain the detail and complexity of non-combat challenges. Hashing things out with the playtest group and reflecting upon things later, my thinking coalesced around a few very obvious pain points. First, I needed to address obstacle difficulty. Obstacle health and individual round clocks went out the window. In its place was a standardized set of difficulties. This change makes it straightforward for both GMs and players to know what sort of challenge they're up against. Second, and more importantly, was challenge presentation. Before, I was laying out the entire scenario in detail, effectively railroading players into a specific sequence of events. The new approach, which I much prefer, works as follows: Planning Phase The GM lays out a goal for the party - this can be something as straightforward as "question the merchant about recent bandit attacks," or as complicated as "infiltrate the ruined town and steal the mcguffin." With this goal in mind, the heroes plan out in detail how they'll achieve the objective. Execution Phase Based on what the players have planned out, the GM builds a series of Obstacles representing the situations that the players must deal with as they carry out their plan. A single success overcomes each Obstacle, rather than the complicated rounds and timers of before, but these Obstacles have individual difficulty levels - they're also where the mechanics are hooked up. The table resolves all of the Obstacles presented, and will end with a tally of victories and failures - note that failing to overcome an Obstacle doesn't mean that the plan fails and ends immediately. The plan's success or failure hinges on the total number of failures and successes. Resolution Phase Once all Obstacles have been addressed, the GM narrates how the well the plan was executed. Success across the board means that the heroes accomplish their goal exactly as intended. A mix of successes and failures means that the plan hit snags along the way. How significant the complications are will depend on how many failures occurred. Wrapping Up - The New Non-Combat System Thus far, I'm quite happy with the new approach to non-combat. It's done a lot to encourage roleplay and gives players freedom to make their own choices, rather than shepherding them into pre-constructed scenarios. Excitingly, it also has a certain Oceans 11 quality to it, which I'm very excited to see unfold at the tables. Game Discord | System Website slap me and kiss me fucked around with this message at 17:09 on Nov 14, 2017 |
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Nov 14, 2017 17:07
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A new look and feel (feeling good). Game Discord | System Website
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Nov 28, 2017 06:19
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And a bunch more. This is finally coming together.      Game Discord | System Website slap me and kiss me fucked around with this message at 19:22 on Nov 28, 2017 |
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Nov 28, 2017 18:34
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Adventure writing is hard. Seven sections - about 14 pages - are all that remain before I have a playable intro adventure. Then, it's off to playtest land. The other major thing that's going on these days is I've stripped out weapon damage - damage is now entirely based on combat powers, which means that a hero can wield anything and still be effective in game. Hooray! Game Discord | System Website slap me and kiss me fucked around with this message at 00:43 on Dec 20, 2017 |
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Dec 19, 2017 22:45
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PLAYTEST 007: POWER MANAGEMENT – PUTTING POWERS TO WORK The Problem: Power Management As you know, power management in combat is a huge deal in Let Thrones Beware. Having access to the right power at the right moment can help turn the tide of battle, and coming up short can leave your character defenseless in the face of an adversary’s attack. Lately, the need to manage powers has been butting up against the collection of in-game abilities that say “if you exhaust an additional combat power, you do [extra effect].” These powers are fun opportunities for players to have a big impact, but the cannibalism of combat powers can slow down fights, and that’s a big problem given my emphasis on combat wrapping up in three to four rounds at most. The old Rogue class feature posted:A Rogue who has an Edge while engaging an opponent can use an Interrupt power in place of an attack power (this means that your Interrupt cannot be prevented). When wielding a light weapon, you may exhaust a second combat power of any type to inflict its damage in addition to that of the Interrupt. Upcoming Changes I got to thinking about the how to refine this mechanic. My first inclination was to use a chit system to provide characters with a resource they could expend. Rather than making them deplete precious combat powers, they’d have a secondary resource (a pile of tokens). That seemed okay at first, but then I got to thinking about tiered play. E.g. what happens when they leave the Adventurer tier and end up in Champion or Legend. In the Adventurer tier, heroes have a finite supply of chits that they can use – three total. In higher tier play, I want the players to have the ability to recharge their chits so they more functionality. Gradually over time (in Champion) or constantly (in Legend). It occurred to me that I already had a resource system: powers. Rather than requiring players find and use chits, I could use the non-combat powers they already have as markers. The new Rogue class feature posted:A Rogue who has an Edge while engaging an opponent can use an Interrupt power in place of an attack power (this means that your Interrupt cannot be prevented). When you have Edge, and are wielding a light weapon, you may exhaust a non-combat power to double the damage of the Interrupt. Advantages of the New System The new power management system provides flexibility for adventurers to exploit their powers while ensuring that they’d not left helpless; something that can be very boring if it happens to you more than once. Now, when heroes leave the Adventurer Tier, the rules say, “when you use a non-combat power to charge a combat ability, place it in your pile of exhausted powers. If, when you are refreshing powers, you draw a non-combat power, draw an additional power.” At the legend tier, they say, “when you use a non-combat power to charge a combat ability, place it in a separate exhausted pile. When you are refreshing powers, draw both a combat power and a non-combat power.” The increasingly potent regeneration of this resource will allow players to take advantage of the options provided to their heroes as they climb through the tiers of play – stunting and supercharged powers, for example. Game Discord | System Website
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Jan 9, 2018 23:07
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Thoughts on the GM Adventure Packet: * you're going to want to provide pregens, in case you didn't already think of that. * page 7: "Merchants and peddlers scuttle between settlements, accompanied braving the Woods to make a few coins." that sentence seems like it's missing a word? * Xvkr'll, the Burgomeister - you're might want to tell us how that's pronounced (I'll stop mentioning any other names from this point forward) * NPC descriptions - the attitudes are good, but you might want to include a physical ~something~ to serve as a touchstone. Dieda being scarred is a good example. * page 16 and onwards: I'm wincing at the use of Papyrus as a font * were there supposed to be statblocks for the enemies? Overall, I am extremely impressed with this work. While I expect that some may balk at how "railroaded" this might feel, this is EXACTLY the kind of thing that people should be releasing to make RPGs, and specifically GMing, more accessible. Even the Map section is top-notch as far as giving the GM an idea of what they should be sketching out.
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Jan 18, 2018 10:44
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gradenko_2000 posted:Thoughts on the GM Adventure Packet: Thanks, Gradenko! Accessibility is priority number one. I'm adding four pre-gen characters (one for each class), as well as all the enemies the heroes will face to appendices at the back, which ought to make the adventure easier to run. Ultimately, this adventure is intended to be one of four (I've posted about the first, Rogue in the Woods, before) that introduces new players to roleplaying games in general and Let Thrones Beware in particular. I've found myself in an interesting position - one that I didn't think I'd be in, given my track record of abandoning projects. While Let Thrones Beware still a long way from being done, the Adventurer Tier is essentially feature-complete, especially now that the intro adventure is finished. The next big project for me is going to be recruiting people to run blind playtests - that is, run through adventures using the system without me being there to explain to them how the game works. I've come up with the following elevator pitch, based on previous posts. I'm mostly happy with it, though I feel like I'm going to need to remix up several of the bullet points so that I don't call out comparisons to other games. quote:Let Thrones Beware is a roleplaying game about rediscovering hope in a traumatic fantasy world. Game Discord | Let Thrones Beware Website slap me and kiss me fucked around with this message at 20:08 on Jan 21, 2018 |
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Jan 20, 2018 23:24
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I am pretty excited to see this project reach this point, and would like to playtest -- but won't be able to until summer. So, uh, take your time.
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Jan 23, 2018 05:01
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homullus posted:I am pretty excited to see this project reach this point, and would like to playtest -- but won't be able to until summer. So, uh, take your time. Hey, thanks for the kind words! It's always super encouraging to hear people taking an interest in this. I've changed my approach for publishing the playtest - rather than self-hosting, where downloads all kinda disappear into the void and I have no way to track (or reach) who's downloaded the playtest, nor update them when new material comes out - I've decided to publish the beta on good `ol dtrpg. You can pick it up at the following link: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/232024/Let-Thrones-Beware-Open-Beta I'm making a few final tweaks to the adventure based on preliminary feedback, and then I'll be releasing the playable draft of that as well. Certainly interested to know what you (all) think! Game Discord | Let Thrones Beware Website | Download the Beta
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Jan 23, 2018 16:02
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Some sweet feedback from people reading the open beta.quote:Lolwhut? The opening fiction is from the viewpoint of a bug lady afraid for her bug son and a human smushing her as if humans are the big bad evil guys? Really? Yep, confirmed by what the game is about. Humans are the big bad guy invading a world of bugs. Wow, I can't take that seriously. What's with the title, then? Why would bugs have thrones? quote:you can't actually even look pretty because everything is a weird bug monster or horse person or something? That's an issue for me. I want to be pretty when I roleplay. quote:I can't imagine being a horse-headed person. That's...just too ridiculous. oh, yeah, you do have a picture of the horse people. That's worse than I imagined. Why are they so hunched? Why did you want to remove all possible touchstones for people, racewise? quote:Oh come on, I was thinking I was going to get my pretty goth people or whatever. Instead...actually, wait...your description of the Echtroi...is it just me or do they look like Marceline the Vampire Queen from Adventure Time? WTF? Game Discord | Let Thrones Beware Website | Download the Beta
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Jan 28, 2018 20:18
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slap me and kiss me posted:Some sweet feedback from people reading the open beta. I don't find anything interesting about insects and honestly wouldn't have been as excited for this project if I hadn't seen the Desperation level mechanic for adversaries -- I'd be among those reskinning it longer-term. The adversary design in general is clever and clear, with a lot of space for creative opposition! I skimmed the playtest document, and the only thing I want to suggest is that "PG-13" as a campaign descriptor might not be meaningful to all of your intended audience.
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Jan 28, 2018 23:07
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homullus posted:I don't find anything interesting about insects and honestly wouldn't have been as excited for this project if I hadn't seen the Desperation level mechanic for adversaries -- I'd be among those reskinning it longer-term. The adversary design in general is clever and clear, with a lot of space for creative opposition! I'm looking forward to hearing your impressions of how it actually plays. What do you mean by pg-13? I don't think I used that phrase anywhere in any of the published materials.
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Jan 29, 2018 00:39
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slap me and kiss me posted:What do you mean by pg-13? I don't think I used that phrase anywhere in any of the published materials. Page 122 of the 2018 January Playtest Packet.
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Jan 29, 2018 01:34
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As I'm getting further and further into Let Thrones Beware, my thoughts are turning to how best to afford the art and layout it'll need to look sharp. Kickstarter is the best bet, but to successfully Kickstart, you generally need a bit of recognition. Fortunately, I think I have a solution. I have a side project. Yes, it's true. Last year for the 200 word RPG contest, I created a game called Might Makes Right: Muscle Marines in Space. I've been tinkering with it when inspiration strikes ever since, and have developed Advanced Might Makes Right, a more robust (that's a fitness pun) second edition. I suspect that this could make for a fun and inexpensive kickstarter which would give me some practical experience and a project under my belt. Anyhow, some highlights from AMRM: Muscle Marines in Space posted:It is 2374. You are Muscle Marines, charged with keeping the universe awesome. The Fitness Federation employs you as explorers and defenders of the frontier. A vast interstellar empire - the Beancounter Alliance - threatens the Federation. The Alliance stands in firm opposition to the muscular ideals of the Federation. You must reconnoitre the Delt Quadrant for Precursor Artifacts that can bring and end to the conflict. Hack: Muscle Monsters posted:You are a plucky band of college freshmen, being pursued by a horrible muscle monster. Honestly, this is probably your fault for drinking at summer camp. Or was it breaking into that haunted house? Maybe it’s because you had a party in the cemetery. Well, no matter what you did to piss this muscle monster off, it’s trying to kill all of you before you can escape its lair and figure out how to defeat it for good. Other hacks in the works include:
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Feb 26, 2018 15:35
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 New blogpost is up for Let Thrones BewareToday's topic: What the darn heck is Traumatic Fantasy, and why it's not grimdark gore bullshit stuffed with sexual peril and racism Given that so much of Let Thrones Beware is already written, I'm transitioning my blog from focusing on new features to a more complete exploration of the game, it's themes, and what the mechanics are trying to achieve. This post represents a reboot of the blog - the end of result of which will be a front-to-back dissection of this 4e-inspired tactical game!
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Feb 26, 2018 18:24
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New blogpost is up for Let Thrones Beware Today's topic: Hope vs. Fear - how I wrote Let Thrones Beware to be an escape from everyday awfulness Here's the second post of my new approach to Let Thrones Beware blogging. Continuing last week's discussion on the themes of the game, this week's edition is all about how I approached writing to ensure that LTB is a game of hope rather than a game of fear. Game Discord | Let Thrones Beware Website | Download the Beta | @ThronesBeware
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Mar 5, 2018 17:31
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New blogpost is up for Let Thrones Beware Today's topic: Beating Back the Darkness and Restoring the World The last part of my examination of the theme of hope vs. fear, this week's blog post looks at the trauma suffered by the indigenous inhabitants of Argohex and how the heroes can overcome the horrors inflicted by the Kingdom of Man. Beating Back the Darkness and Restoring the World Game Discord | Let Thrones Beware Website | Download the Beta | @ThronesBeware slap me and kiss me fucked around with this message at 14:42 on Mar 26, 2018 |
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Mar 13, 2018 14:40
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New blogpost is up for Let Thrones Beware Today's topic: Linear Everyone - Defining Game Principles After three weeks of looking at the themes of Let Thrones Beware, it's time to switch gears and discuss something new. This week is the first of a two-part look at the fundamental principles of the game. Up for discussion first: everyone is equally capable of affecting the narrative no matter their choices, and mechanical choices must be meaningful. Linear Everyone - Defining Game Principles In other news, I've started mapping out the champion tier of play. Hero concepts include:
Champion classes will provide a signature power, several replacement powers, and several power mods that augment existing abilities. Game Discord | Let Thrones Beware Website | Download the Beta | @ThronesBeware
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Mar 21, 2018 15:09
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Mar 29, 2018 16:10
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New blogpost is up for Let Thrones Beware Today's topic: Appendix N for this Modern Age. Inspiration Old and New This week, a look at some of the historical, fictional, and practical inspirations behind the development of Let Thrones Beware. Learn how poets, barbarians, and sword-fighting all contributed to this unique game. Appendix N for this Modern Age. Inspiration Old and New Game Discord | Let Thrones Beware Website | Download the Beta | @ThronesBeware
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Apr 2, 2018 15:12
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A sneak peek Game Discord | Let Thrones Beware Website | Download the Beta | @ThronesBeware
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Apr 4, 2018 00:14
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That looks great!
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Apr 4, 2018 00:17
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Subjunctive posted:That looks great! Thanks! It took more work than I'd like to admit to get the ToC down to a single page. But if D&D can do it, so can I!
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Apr 4, 2018 00:18
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D&D does it, like with a few-pages index, by ignoring the needs of the reader.
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Apr 4, 2018 00:18
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really excited for 4 new splats, one for each class. when can you have those done by. (just kidding it looks really good.)
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Apr 4, 2018 04:54
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Impermanent posted:really excited for 4 new splats, one for each class. when can you have those done by. Ach, my wounded heart! In all seriousness, there are two more tiers of classes - here are some sneak sneak peeks. Some Champion Class Concepts posted:
Some Legend Tier Class Feature Concepts posted:
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Apr 4, 2018 05:19
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New blogpost is up for Let Thrones Beware Today's topic: Breaking News Alert - Let Thrones Beware Playtest 008 is Live This week, I'm interrupting our regularly scheduled blogcast to bring you this breaking news - a new version of the Let Thrones Beware beta has dropped! Playtest 007 has been put to bed, and DriveThruRPG is updated with Beta 008. Updates to Beta 008 include:
Breaking News Alert - Let Thrones Beware Playtest 008 is Live Game Discord | Let Thrones Beware Website | Download the Beta | @ThronesBeware slap me and kiss me fucked around with this message at 15:55 on Apr 9, 2018 |
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Apr 9, 2018 15:49
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Do you have any plans to have the system go CC ala Powered by the Apocalypse? I really enjoy reading through the design process.
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Apr 9, 2018 20:18
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Glad you're enjoying the read - it's actually been pretty fun writing down what (and why) I've been creating the way I have been. I suspect there'll be a lot of words spent on the actual mechanics when we get that far along. I confess that I haven't thought about CC at all. I'll have to give that a ponder at some point before I take this from beta to finished product. I can definitely see the appeal.
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Apr 9, 2018 20:57
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New blogpost is up for Let Thrones Beware Today's topic: Appendix N Again - This Time: Roleplaying Games That Made A Mark This week, we return to our discussion of Let Thrones Beware's Appendix N; a review of some of the inspirations that have helped make Let Thrones Beware the game it is today. This week, we're looking at two roleplaying games that helped to shape development. Appendix N Again - This Time: Roleplaying Games That Made A Mark Game Discord | Let Thrones Beware Website | Download the Beta | @ThronesBeware
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Apr 16, 2018 13:05
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A collection of feedback - unsolicited, but much appreciated:A tweet posted:https://twitter.com/MightyPwnage/status/986282951217262592 Brad Murray of Disapora fame posted:Have a look at Let Thrones Beware. It's about a world damaged by the incursion of humans and it's very sharply designed. There's a 4e aesthetic to the mechanism that works better here than 4e (my opinion obviously). A post on RPG.net posted:This is a hot thing, and I'm excited to be following it.
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Apr 17, 2018 18:09
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That’s awesome!
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Apr 17, 2018 18:18
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you know you've done 4e well when people who sufffered aneurysms from looking at the system are giving you praise.
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Apr 17, 2018 18:19
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Subjunctive posted:That’s awesome! Impermanent posted:you know you've done 4e well when people who sufffered aneurysms from looking at the system are giving you praise. I am friggen over the moon that internet people - and recognized, award winning designers - are saying nice things. It almost justifies three years of work!
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Apr 17, 2018 19:09
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New blogpost is up for Let Thrones Beware Today's topic: Core Mechanic - The Challenge This week I'm writing about the Challenge, which is the universal mechanic powering Let Thrones Beware; it's used in both non-combat and combat situations, although there are some slight differences to each application. I'm also mixing up the format of this post a bit today. Rather than just write about what I think is interesting, I've gone to the community and asked what sort of things people want to hear about. I'll start with just the basics, and then move on to the community content portion in the second half of the post. Core Mechanic - The Challenge  Game Discord | Let Thrones Beware Website | Download the Beta | @ThronesBeware
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Apr 23, 2018 14:34
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New blogpost is up for Let Thrones Beware Today's topic: Core Mechanic - The Challenge - Community Questions We continue our look at the core mechanic that powers the system - the challenge. This week, we'll run through community questions about the universal challenge mechanic (and Let Thrones Beware more generally). Core Mechanic - The Challenge - Community Questions
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Apr 30, 2018 14:34
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New blogpost is up for Let Thrones Beware Today's topic: Dice Modifiers – Edge, Advantage, and Desperation This week, we're taking a look at how the universal challenge mechanic is modified by a few different systems. One thing that I really wanted to be sure of in designing Let Thrones Beware was that there were as few fiddly modifiers as possible. Did I succeed? Hell ya! Dice Modifiers – Edge, Advantage, and Desperation Game Discord | Let Thrones Beware Website | Download the Beta | @ThronesBeware
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May 7, 2018 15:09
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Not dead, but progress has been pretty slow over the summer. In the meantime, here's a teaser of what the new character sheet looks like, with the old one on the right for contrast. 
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Jul 5, 2018 19:52
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welcome back! glad to see this is still going
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Jul 6, 2018 02:58
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Hey thanks! Progress over the summer months is going to be slow, but by the time September rolls around I should be back to form (fingers crossed).
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Jul 6, 2018 17:59
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