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Don't you hate it how to play any RPG nowadays you have to get so many books? You need a Player's Handbook, a Gamemaster's Book, at least three Monster Manuals, stacks and stacks of feats and tracking sheets and supplements... Who has the time anymore?  Makes me sick just looking at it So! This month's contest is to take things in the opposite direction about as far as they can go. How clean and basic can you make your game? Time to find out because this month's challenge is to design a complete readable RPG that fits, in its entirety, onto one side of one sheet of paper. And I mean all of it. Character creation rules, the character sheet, any GMing rules/advice/etc., and the setting (if any) all needs to fit on one side of one sheet of 8.5" x 11" paper.  Your canvas Now, you don't have to keep the paper in once flat piece; you can cut it into pieces, you can make it into a PocketMod, fold it into a paper fortune teller, whatever. As long as you don't stray off the one side of the paper, you're good.  For those of you who've never seen a PocketMod Now, I know you're wondering: what's in it for you? Well, I'm going to have two "winners": the coveted Best Game award, and the Most Creative Use of Paper award. The first is self-explanatory, the second will go to the person who comes up with the coolest way to work the one-sheet-of-paper thing into their game. Both winners will recieve DriveThru gift vouchers because I'm a nice guy, and one or two ~*~MYSTERY PRIZES~*~ depending on if I can get them before the contest is over and what's in my stack of Forbidden RPGs. QUESTIONS Is there a specific genre or theme we have to stuck to? Nope. Go nuts. Does there need to be a setting? There doesn't have to be, but if there is it needs to fit on the same piece of paper as everything else. Can I use notebook paper, graph paper, or some sort of specialty paper? If it's 8.5" by 11", sure. Can I use a hack of an existing system? Sure, if you can get it to fit. Does it have to be readable game? Yes. No 1-point fonts, you filthy cheater. Can I use dice or cards or whatever for the random elements? Yes; it's just the game itself that's limited. External tools should be stuff that's easy to come by, though; dice, beads, playing cards. I don't have Photoshop, how can I make a PocketMod? Get the PDFtoPocketMod program, which will turn any 8-page PDF into Pocketmod format. You can also use CutePDF to print a Word document (or whatever) to a PDF. That's pretty much it. Deadline for entries is April 30. Help save paper. Enter today! Evil Mastermind fucked around with this message at 03:13 on Apr 1, 2014 |
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Apr 1, 2014 03:03
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Sure, I'll enter. Why not? Just to make sure, we can use like, dice and pencils and stuff?
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Apr 1, 2014 03:08
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Asymmetrikon posted:Sure, I'll enter. Why not?
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Apr 1, 2014 03:11
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Alright, then. I hope you like tokens and tracks 
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Apr 1, 2014 03:15
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This looks fun, I'll see what I can throw together.
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Apr 1, 2014 04:21
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Okay. After an HOUR of HARD GRUELING LABOR, the working draft of my game is complete. This is NOT the final version. Unless you really really like it. Then it totally is! Otherwise I plan to gussy it up over the course of the next week, to make it look nice on paper. Big cred to to SA posters TheDemon and Killerqueen who helped curate this into something vaguely sensible! I present to you: I CHOOSE YOU CTHULHU! (Google Docs Link) Edit: LINK UPDATED FOR FINAL ENTRY Talkc fucked around with this message at 01:12 on Apr 3, 2014 |
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Apr 1, 2014 05:23
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I'd like to suggest the additional challenge of incorporating your randomizer into your single sheet of paper. I envision a character sheet that itself folds up into a six sided die, but spinners, cards or chits might also work.
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Apr 1, 2014 08:47
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Bucnasti posted:I'd like to suggest the additional challenge of incorporating your randomizer into your single sheet of paper. Of course it doesn't necessarily have to be just six sides.
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Apr 1, 2014 10:08
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This sounds pretty cool. Definitely going to give it a shot.
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Apr 1, 2014 10:19
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Oh man, these are my favorite kind of contest. So far the only one I've ever finished was the "Two-page RPG" contest a long while ago, so maybe I can finish this one too and break my streak of unfinished crap.
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Apr 1, 2014 22:05
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Okay, I'll try something.
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Apr 2, 2014 12:26
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Stayed up way to late to finish this! Sometimes that happens with little projects, can't sleep until it's done. I like it though, gave me a chance to play with Illustrator. Take a look at FLIC-GUM the Fun Little Interactive Character Game with Unique Merits!
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Apr 2, 2014 12:54
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Talkc posted:Okay. After an HOUR of HARD GRUELING LABOR, the working draft of my game is complete. Bucnasti posted:I'd like to suggest the additional challenge of incorporating your randomizer into your single sheet of paper. Mr. Prokosch posted:Stayed up way to late to finish this! Sometimes that happens with little projects, can't sleep until it's done. I like it though, gave me a chance to play with Illustrator.
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Apr 2, 2014 14:43
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Evil Mastermind posted:Maybe I'm missing something, but this seems more like a party game than an RPG? Not that there's anything wrong with that, but that's how it feels to me. I might be wrong though. Its a Party game with some RPG themes ( such as playing Cthulhu, or crazed cultists ). I guess i didn't emphasize it enough in the document but its encouraged for people to get into the roles of things. I might amend it for that. EDIT: I consulted some demonic forces for the change. Talkc fucked around with this message at 20:38 on Apr 2, 2014 |
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Apr 2, 2014 17:05
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Evil Mastermind posted:Maybe I'm missing something, but this seems more like a party game than an RPG? Not that there's anything wrong with that, but that's how it feels to me. I might be wrong though. I'm really sorry, when I reread our first draft I realized our CORE GAME MECHANIC and our SANITY SYSTEM hadn't been implemented! Of course it didn't read like an RPG if the CORE GAME MECHANIC, through which all the role playing must be done, is missing. Here is the second draft, where we have corrected this glaring oversight and added a SANITY SYSTEM for all the simulationists out there. https://docs.google.com/document/d/12KlYk26m1IwsjDpJS46PmORzxkbdM42n-kqrSD40cL4/edit?usp=sharing edit: added the initiative system TheDemon fucked around with this message at 20:42 on Apr 2, 2014 |
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Apr 2, 2014 20:36
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https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bwd0-7JeGvzBUF9mYW1iQ0hqTG8/edit?usp=sharing Easy to play sober, harder the more you drink, all you need are the rules, a garbage can, and some friends. Nissir fucked around with this message at 19:36 on Apr 3, 2014 |
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Apr 2, 2014 20:43
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Evil Mastermind posted:Neat! You turned Fate into a penny-flicking game! One question: what happens when the penny is on the paper but not mostly on the tracker? Is that a normal failure? Majority rules. "Add the bonus of the area the majority of the penny landed on to the skill." If it's mostly on the tracker, then you get the bonus. If it's mostly on the rest of the paper, then you get +0, which is what that +0 marker on the right is supposed to indicate. I think of it as a variant of FUDGE, not FATE, since it uses the FUDGE skill system and skill ladder but not the Fate Point and Aspects system that FATE invented. I like that there's not only a skill component, but a risk component. When you're taking a big risk to pull off something amazing, you're more likely to get the +0 or disaster than when you play it safe.
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Apr 2, 2014 21:00
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TheDemon posted:I'm really sorry, when I reread our first draft I realized our CORE GAME MECHANIC and our SANITY SYSTEM hadn't been implemented! Of course it didn't read like an RPG if the CORE GAME MECHANIC, through which all the role playing must be done, is missing. Here is the second draft, where we have corrected this glaring oversight and added a SANITY SYSTEM for all the simulationists out there.  Mr. Prokosch posted:I think of it as a variant of FUDGE, not FATE, since it uses the FUDGE skill system and skill ladder but not the Fate Point and Aspects system that FATE invented. quote:I like that there's not only a skill component, but a risk component. When you're taking a big risk to pull off something amazing, you're more likely to get the +0 or disaster than when you play it safe.
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Apr 2, 2014 21:22
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Considering how short the final product has to be, I think this might be the first contest I'm going to finish. That said, as a general question, what is a readable font size for a pocketmod?
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Apr 2, 2014 22:57
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Improvements made to I Choose You Cthulhu! The RPG: Reticulated Splines. Added additional pylons.. Rekerjiggered the Whatsit... Awakened the Dark Ones.... Added Superfluous Elipses..... And finally formatted it to a more Final* Look! I just changed the font and added zalgo text to make it look purty. *All things are final, as the end is upon you, ye who gaze upon the dark. Void where prohibited. See contest entry for details. Talkc fucked around with this message at 01:13 on Apr 3, 2014 |
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Apr 3, 2014 01:10
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Covok posted:That said, as a general question, what is a readable font size for a pocketmod?
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Apr 3, 2014 02:55
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Do we get both sides of the page?
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Apr 3, 2014 14:43
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Egregious Offences posted:Do we get both sides of the page? Evil Mastermind posted:How clean and basic can you make your game? Time to find out because this month's challenge is to design a complete readable RPG that fits, in its entirety, onto one side of one sheet of paper.
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Apr 3, 2014 16:12
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Nissir posted:Now write all this stuff down on another sheet of paper, and crumple these rules into a ball. Ahem. Evil Mastermind posted:this month's challenge is to design a complete readable RPG that fits, in its entirety, onto one side of one sheet of paper. Now, if you proved sections on the one page to write their skills down, then cut them off of the original page and crumple them up, that's fine. You know, something like one of those "tear off the phone number" fliers or something.
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Apr 3, 2014 16:35
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Thanks for pointing out the obvious rules I somehow missed  I am going to edit my post and try to link a .pdf.
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Apr 3, 2014 19:34
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If the Game Master needs to write things down in order to run the game am I required to provide blank space on the page for that?
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Apr 3, 2014 23:47
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DalaranJ posted:If the Game Master needs to write things down in order to run the game am I required to provide blank space on the page for that?
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Apr 4, 2014 02:04
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Is there a bonus if the game rules can be folded into your miniature?
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Apr 4, 2014 11:44
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That would count as best use of paper, obviously. But would be hard if you only have 1/4 of paper or less to fold.
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Apr 4, 2014 15:37
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TheSoundNinja posted:Is there a bonus if the game rules can be folded into your miniature?
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Apr 4, 2014 15:45
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Here is the first draft of my borderline rule breaking submission, MACHEWARRIOR https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4g6VGhoCzQEeW9TdExkaHRwcFE/edit?usp=sharing Technically the rules are all there, even if you would end up wasting a bunch of paper if you actually played it. I still need to polish it up a bunch. EDIT: updated the link with a revised version, its wordy as all hell but it fits on one page at least. The Skeep fucked around with this message at 10:34 on Apr 5, 2014 |
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Apr 4, 2014 18:17
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I recently wrote a fantasy roleplaying game as my character in a friends D&D game (which we then played in-game as our characters for maximum meta) and it happens to be very close to fitting the requirements, although it's made to be printed on both sides of the same sheet. I thought I'd link it here regardless. It's called BEASTS & BADLANDS and makes the assumption that readers have played fantasy roleplaying games before (as it's a joke in the first place). Front http://i.imgur.com/9O1iLGZ.png Back http://i.imgur.com/NsSwdV2.png Document https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MDPYWV0oTQx6Br2L4b-KXfL0Y5HBucBh6YrtW4p5JHM/edit?usp=sharing
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Apr 5, 2014 18:37
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The Skeep posted:MACHEWARRIOR
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Apr 5, 2014 19:03
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Here is my first draft for Save the Date. A little back story might be necessary. I couldn't think of an idea so I asked my dorm-mate to name a random genre. He said "romantic comedy" so I decided to roll with it and make this.
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Apr 5, 2014 19:26
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Well, I guess this means it's time for me to crank out a game-- hopefully enough to fit into a PocketMod.
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Apr 6, 2014 02:37
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I'm hoping to have a rough draft up in a few days. I've always wondered how thin something like Dungeon World can be made, so this should be fun. I hope a few people try to playtest everyone's games. Reading the responses is always so fun.
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Apr 7, 2014 00:27
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Just a note to everyone: Unless you have crazy good eyes and a really good printer, size 12 font is not what I would call readable once shrunk to pocketmod size. Going to edit some things and see if I can get size 14 to look alright. Edit: Ok, yeah, size 14 works great. Had to cut out most of my section on GM stuff for making NPCs and such, but I have a pretty good chunk of space at the end, so I'm probably going to revisit it. Still playing with layouts and such too. Anyhow, here's my space game that's a mashup of Fate and Cortex, with the added twist that players can control any player-character on their turn. PocketMod Version Pre-shrink Version for easier reading on the computer. lord_daeloth fucked around with this message at 15:33 on Apr 7, 2014 |
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Apr 7, 2014 03:32
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Is printing a QR code linked to more rules a legitimate way to increase the amount of space available on the on page limit?
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Apr 7, 2014 17:36
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ZorajitZorajit posted:Is printing a QR code linked to more rules a legitimate way to increase the amount of space available on the on page limit?
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Apr 7, 2014 17:41
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Print half normally and then the other half in braille over the top.
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Apr 7, 2014 17:47
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