Role Playing in the 3rd Dimension

The third dimension of role playing is what I built the Power of 12 Role-Playing System for:  The why, the panache, the gusto, the style, and the “boo-ya!”

I apologize if there is an official term “3rd Dimension of RPG” or something like that that I may be walking on.  Part of designing your own games, in my mind anyway, is making up your own rules – not just rules of the game, but rules ABOUT the game.

To me, RPG is not a field of study.  It is a field of exploration.  Unlike the Earth, there will always be places to go.  New ideas to try.  Or new ways to shake out an old idea.

The 3rd Dimension of Role Playing, to me, is that part that you talk about after your game is well over. Even years later: that red dragon you finally slayed, the amazing amount of treasure you found in the lair of the Dark Elf Kingdom, or the magic sword you finally found after years (in game years that is) of searching.  Even the Inn you and your fellows built and named after the mule you bought that died five minutes later to a random encounter.

Very few gamers that I meet brag about the deal they got on spikes and pitons out of the players’ book, or the hour and a half they spent searching books to find the obscure rule that lets you wield two one handed weapons even if the off hand one is larger than the primary hand one.

No one tell’s stories like that.  They brag of their accomplishments, of their triumphs, of the 3rd dimension.  What are the other two dimensions?

1. Other players.

2. A game world you can see your character adventuring in (spying in, fighting in, hacking computers in, selling your services to the highest bidder in – depends on the genre)

I wanted to have all three dimensions, but skip that 4th dimension that many mainstream games seem to add: shopping!

Most character creations in mainstream games are shopping: some folks call it min-maxing, but to me it’s shopping.  Scanning the grocery store isles (game books) for the best price on the ingredients needed to make the best seven course meal (your character) while spending the least amount of money (build points, or character choices) so you can buy EXTRA stuff from the electronic store (supplement books).

In the Power of 12 Role-Playing System, I purposefully skipped the 4th dimension.  Great science fiction concept, not what I want.  Many people seem to want it, and I don’t knock it.  It’s just not what I want.

Shadowrun is my favorite example.  I have every 3rd Ed. book they put out.  LOVE the game world.  So did many of my friends.  Total shopping experience.  I got into Riggers.  Big time.  In the end, I just wanted to be a cyber-dude who controlled robots for fun and profit in the corporate maze that was Seattle in 2064 (or other dates, they changed them).  But the amount of work necessary to do so was… work!

So, in Power of 12, no shopping.  You want a nice two-handed sword?  You got it.  You want a sniper rifle with a high power scope?  It’s all yours.  What the Power of 12 system does do is ask you to role-play that you have what you say you have, to work with it, to run your character that way.  The guy with the sword is just as effective as the guy with the sniper rifle.  The rules don’t differentiate.  What was 4th Dimension (shopping) is now 3rd Dimension (something you brag and tell stories about when the day is done).

The game does not force you to have a large flail because it does the most damage in the system (assuming you have the right perks and flaws, skills and feats… there is a library research project.  For those of you who took Library Science at a college or university, you will understand why it is a 1 credit course no one wants to take).

The Power of 12 Role-Playing System lets you wield two daggers OR a flail, OR a two-handed sword, OR a spear and shield with equal game effect.  It is up to you to role play why you are so good with two daggers that you can take a guy with a massive flail.  That’s all I ever wanted.  So I designed a game that lets me concentrate on the 3rd Dimension: my character’s identity and heroics, his legends and history.

Thanks for reading.

Deniable Asset: The Chase Scene

Something has been missing.  Ever since I put out “Hiding in the Mosque”  I have been looking over my shoulder… a lot.  Something or someone was following me.  No matter how fast I spun around I only caught a shadow in an alley way, the rustling of a few pigeons in an abandoned industrial complex,  or the stirring of sheets hanging out to dry on the roofs of a crowded European town.  Even during play sessions, something just seemed out of reach.  Then one night, I furrowed my brow and spoke to Brent, “The Chase Scene.  It’s missing.  We need it.”

Of course, Brent says, “I thought of that while I was in the womb, but I waited hoping you would figure that out yourself.”

Brent is always like that: prophetic in his premonitions, always ahead by two steps.  You get used to it.

The Chase Scene.  It is like any other Scene in the Power of 12 Roleplaying System.  Almost.  The difference:  All or nothing.  Winner takes all.  When you decide to chase someone, you better mean it.  That is the gauntlet.  Throw it down if you must.  But if you do, be prepared to finish it.  One way or the other.

More on this as the “thing” comes out of the shadows.  More on this as the sheets part to reveal that which has been missing.

12 Men on the Field: quick overview

 Fizziii on the Random Encounters Forums asked for a quick overview, so I thought I’d share it with everyone here as well:

I designed the game to simulate the experience of the football fan. Of the two versions in the book, that is what the Zeppelin Edition is for. Other than using your Grid Iron Points (you get 3 each half) the game mostly runs itself.

Each play, including kickoffs, runs, passes, field goals, two point conversions, etc… are all conducted by the offense and defense rolling dice and comparing the results. The dice will determine how many yards are gained or lost, if there is a penalty (or offsetting penalties), broken tackles, sacks for a loss, incomplete passes, plays that go all the way to the endzone, etc… All the things I love about football is packed into those rolls!

The number of plays per quarter are determined by a standard deck of cards. Each side, offense and defense, draws a card for most plays. When you run out of cards, the quarter is over. Certain face cards can affect the play.

The Standard Offense table is used to determine what play is called, based on down and distance.

Grid Iron points are used when you don’t like your coache’s play call, or to add dice to your play roll. You get three each half.

The Sideline Edition follows the same rules, but you become the coach! Each coach gets half the deck of cards from which to call plays, running and passing (by color of suit, as well as audibles…).

There is an advantage for calling a run against a pass defense, or a run defense agianst a run offense if your card is higher.

Strategy for the coachs, but your team must still execute. The same dice are rolled: touchdown runs, penalties, the works.

That’s the basics!

The Delux Edition also includes rules for league play, including simulating stats and wins and losses for those teams not represented by actual players. It also outlines the teams and some of the history of the International Football League (IFL). This is a fictional football league played in the US and Canada I created for the game.

Let me know what you think!

IMPORTANT! The Deluxe Edition requires the Official Field of Play, available at www.cafepress.com/rem12

This is where the penalties are. And it makes a very attractive center piece for family gatherings on Sundays.

I would also recommend felt on the bottom of any tokens that you use for markers on the Official Field of Play. It is glossy poster quality and can be scratch by coins or glass game tokens.

The Philosophy behind ‘Player Death is Optional’

Those of you who have enjoyed “Of Gods and Relics: Vendai” or “Deniable Asset: Hiding in the Mosque” will have become acquainted with the concept. Simply put, if you don’t want your character to leave the story, that is your choice. There are consequences (Macula, flaws) that you must suffer as a result. But in the end, the decision is the player’s: simple in explanation. The reasons behind it are far more in depth.

1. Story
2. Shared Story Building
3. Role-Playing

It’s all about the Story

This is a story building system. Characters are built around what motivates them. Actions are performed based on what motivates the character to perform that action, be it “why” or “how”. Adventures and missions are conducted based on what characters want to, need to, or must do. This is set up by the GM. This is supported and altered by the players. “Sorry, we don’t have a thief, we can’t open this lock. Therefore, we will never get that clue and we’ll never know what to do next.” How do gamers even get caught in that kind of thinking? Because the history of RPGs is embedded in the table top miniature gaming industry. RPGs began as a spin off, an extra dimension of miniature battle games. I love those games. Do not bother to count the number of figures in cases that I have painted and lined up on the field of battle: you’ll need a team. However, a good table top miniature battle game does not an RPG make. There, rules trump story. There, rules stop you. There, rules limit you. There, rules say “no”. In the Power of 12, rules are there to inspire, “yes.” What about this “player death is optional” thing?” We are getting there.

Shared Story Building

Players contribute as much as the GM to the story. Even a story built by some 3rd party off in the corporate distance somewhere. If not then you aren’t in a role-playing game. If you are just asking where to put your figure and what you need to roll to hit, then you aren’t, in my opinion, in a role-playing game. I understand this is not an original thought. I wanted the Power of 12 Roleplaying System games to be about role-playing. And since the players usually comprise 66% or more of the group around the table, for goodness sake, they should have some input! To that end, among many other things, “death is optional” was put in place. Simply put, the player decides when his character is defeated for the final time, when he leaves the story for good. The player decides when to set that sheet aside and conjure up a new character, a new persona through which to experience the make believe: player choice, shared story building.

Role-Playing

Haven’t beaten this one to death yet? You can never say enough about role-playing. My games are built around it, they insist on it, they require it. Role-playing often requires props. But props are just that: props. What drives Power of 12 characters are personal motivations (Foci) or classic, signature methods of accomplishing what you need to do (Modus Operandi). Nothing trumps role-playing. I only need one example. At the bridge of Khazad dum, why did the demon of the ancient world roar, snap his whip and “wait” for Gandolf to utter the words, “You! Shall not! Pass! “ It was Gandolf’s turn to Role-play. And he did a fine job.

I leave you with a pleasant and somewhat related quote from Walden Pond, by Henry David Thoreau:

“One inconvenience I sometimes experienced in so small a house, the difficulty of getting to a sufficient distance from my guest when we began to utter the big thoughts in big words. You want room for your thoughts to get into sailing trim and run a course or two before they make their port. The bullet of your thought must have overcome its lateral and ricochet motion and fallen into its last and steady course before it reaches the ear of the hearer, else it may plow out again through the side of his head. Also, our sentences wanted room to unfold and form their columns in the interval. Individuals, like nations, must have suitable broad and natural boundaries, even a considerable neutral ground, between them. I have found it a singular luxury to talk across the pond to a companion on the opposite side. In my house we were so near that we could not begin to hear — we could not speak low enough to be heard; as when you throw two stones into calm water so near that they break each other’s undulations. If we are merely loquacious and loud talkers, then we can afford to stand very near together, cheek by jowl, and feel each other’s breath; but if we speak reservedly and thoughtfully, we want to be farther apart, that all animal heat and moisture may have a chance to evaporate.”

So, gather around the table, get some dice, and raise your role-playing sails. But like Hank suggests, just make sure that it’s big enough… the table that is.

I recently ran the first few scenes of the mission for my test group

It just goes to show you never know what players will do! Here’s what happened.

The players chose as characters: Edward, Hans, Conrad, Dimitri, and Imelda.

I ran each character through scene one in the hotel room. Everyone but Conrad got dressed and headed downstairs to the Restaurant. No one did so without suspicion. Conrad went to the 5th floor (on the fly I decided the top floor was floor 5) and checked the emergency exits. He went downstairs after that. Scene two is where the fun started.

The characters all sat down and waited for breakfast. The Cell Coordinator, Lusya, came in as described and sat down. Before anything much could be said, Imelda took matters into her own hands and, using a knife off of the table, got behind Lusya and held her “hostage”, knife to the throat, demanding what was going on. Edward smashed the waiter with his chair. Hans made no move whatsoever, not trusting anyone, and not wanting to end his tenure in the “Bureau” in less than a day. Conrad, on the other hand, headed for the kitchen. The maitre d’ tried to stop him, but was pushed aside. Dimitri did not commit to aggression.

The struggle between Lusya and Imelda was part psychological and part physical.

Five men with pistols entered the restaurant on the second turn. Lusya was unable to loose herself from Imelda’s grip and, at Imelda’s insistence, motioned the guards to lower their weapons. Dimitri urged caution and patience, surmising that his only real source of useful information was Lusya. Dimitri had yet to discover his own name!

Lusya was able to explain that the characters now work for the Bureau, they did so of their own volition, and that memory loss is part of the “program” along with their new skills.

Lusya explains that the characters first mission starts at an apartment on the outskirts of Tashkent. They were all driven to the metro where they would catch a train to their destination.

What about Conrad? He discovered the cook was armed with a pistol. He pushed his way through some kitchen clutter and disarmed the cook. In the process, the cook escapes out an exit door. Conrad follows him through the streets of Tashkent, picking up some more appropriate clothing along the way. Conrad starts to realize he has skills not only with a gun, but for tailing as well as slight of hand. He begins to realize, like it or not, he is a trained agent. Even if he still doesn’t know his own name.

 
Conrad follows the “cook” (do you still think he is just a cook?) to a tobacco shop (the player running Imelda thought that one up). He spies the cook in side and enters. The man behind the counter has his hand on “something”, but does not reveal it at the cook’s nod. Conrad asks for a cigarette and a light. He discovers that he is most definitely not a smoker. Following the cook to the back he has a more pleasant discussion and learns his name and the nature of what he is “in for”. The cook takes him in a yugo (everyone is underpaid, it’s not just us!) to the metro station where he meets up with the rest of the team.

wrap up: Scene 1 and 2 could have easily taken 15 minutes. I like what the players did. They role-played not knowing who they were and not trusting anyone. There would be nothing wrong with just going along with what was being presented. Either way is fine. I wanted the players to enjoy being agents in that situation and doing what they felt was “right” for them. It is all about the fun. The cook? after he left the kitchen, totally made up on the fly. Fun times.

Next week or so we’ll pick up on Scene 3. Then we’ll see who remains calm.

Deniable Asset Response Has Been Outstanding!

The response for “Deniable Asset: Hiding in the Mosque” has been great!  For those of you who have downloaded, please post your play sessions on either www.story-games.com, www.RPG.net or The Forge (www.indie-rpgs.com/forge).

Work is underway on the full product, “Deniable Asset.” It should be similar in size to our first release, “Of Gods and Relics Vendai”, that is, 8.25″ x 8.25″ and a bit shy of 200 pages. When? As soon as we can. When I have a closer idea of a time frame I’ll post that.

I’d like to thank Megan Roberts and RPG Resource  (http://www.rpg-resource.org.uk/) for their timely review of Hiding in the Mosque.

I am hoping to get some feedback and play sessions either on the sites above or our own official forums (http://www.randomencounters.net/Forum_Page.html).

If you post about “Deniable Asset: Hiding in the Mosque”, please feel free to comment on my blog or the official forums and let me know where!

Deniable Asset Micro RPG available

Free to download, “Deniable Asset: Hiding in the Mosque” is up on our download store! The core concepts of the Power of 12 and Deniable Asset condensed into 15 pages for your fun and review. A work in progress, I am hoping to get some feedback and hear what your RPG group does with it. I’ll be updating it as feedback comes in. Eventually, I’ll release Deniable Asset in full. There are feedback threads on RPG.net, Story-Games.com, and the Forge (www.indie-rpgs.com/forge). Feel free to post your feedback and where your group took the mission. Enjoy!

Deniable Asset: Hiding in the Mosque

Adding Espionage to the R’epertoire

I have had an espionage version of the Power of 12 in the works for some time. In fact it was through work on espionage that led to the system breakthrough that moved Power of 12 into the true role-playing experience that I was looking for.

My purpose here is to keep that momentum going and keep my creative efforts fresh. I am very close to putting out the first free-to-download mission with abbreviated rules for the Random Encounters forthcoming game of intrigue and espionage, “Deniable Asset.”

I am still on schedule for the free to download Of Gods and Relics adventure. I just had to get this espionage thing underway!

Look for it in a week or so.

A Few Insights into the Power of 12 Roleplaying System

The Power of 12 Roleplaying System has been designed from the ground up to encourage and facilitate role-play. To that end, many of the common paradigms from other RPGs are blatantly not present. New paradigms have replaced them.

Choice of dice:

The Power of 12 Roleplaying System utilizes the 12-sided die. I chose the 12-sider because, truly, it hardly ever gets used. It didn’t take long before the gaming store I frequented and the friends I had there associated me with the 12-sided die. Eventually it became a rallying cry for my endeavor to design a Role-playing game that actually helped me role-play, rather than forced me to role-play “against” the mechanics of the game. I do not claim that the D12 has some magic within it that facilitates role-play. But, it felt that way as I built the system.

Opposed Dice Rolls:

The Power of 12 Roleplaying System is an opposed dice rolling system. This is not new. With a few exceptions (initiative being one of them), if you are rolling dice, someone is rolling dice against you. That became a core concept: If you are going to roll dice then you are taking a risk. Where this works exceptionally well is in combination with Foci.

What are Foci:

Attributes and Skills, common in many games, are replaced with Foci. What this really means is that the miniature-game stat block that virtually all RPGs use as the basis for a character is replaced with a much smaller set of “stats” that reflect how the character is to be role-played. For example: In the Power of 12 (Po12) There is no “Dexterity” or “Intelligence” score. There is no “Two-Handed Weapon” fighting skill. There is no “Stealth” skill. Your character gets a much smaller list of Foci (the plural of Focus) that represent his or her motivation for acting. A Focus might be “Courage”, “Honor”, or “Deception”. There is a score associated with each Focus, chosen by the player, that determine that Focus’s relative strength compared to the character’s other Foci.

Classes:

Classes aren’t new either. How we do classes is. A class in Po12 is defined by one basic ability that differs from the other classes. Not a huge array of statistical modifiers and adjustments. Just one ability, one concept that, for example, makes the “Warrior” class different from the “Skald” class. By this we avoid the, “We can’t play this week, Bill isn’t here with his Rogue. How are we going to detect traps?” That kind of rock-paper-scissors character class design is a direct descendant of table top miniature games. And when I play table top miniature games, I love it. But not in my RPG. You should feel special as your “class”, not hamstrung because you brought the Phillips screw driver but forgot the flat-head.

Role-Playing:

Everything up to this point encourages and facilitates role-play. I am a Vendai Warrior. My Foci are Joy, Dogma, Courage, and Honor (Try finding “Joy” as a stat in most any RPG). When my Vendai Warrior swings his weapon, the dice he rolls, how powerful his swing is, how much damage he can do is based on his motivation for swinging that sword in the first place. Is he showing great Courage? Is he defending his Honor or that of his companions? Is he standing up for what he believes in (Dogma)? Or is he mired in some violent circumstance that threatens his happy-go-lucky state of being?

And you don’t simply say, “I swing my sword with, (yawn), courage, at my foe.” Well, you can. That’s up to you. Limit yourself if you chose. Or you can role-play… “He tasks me and I shall have him. He has made a grave mistake, questioning my courage. Feel the wrath of the Vendai Warrior!”

It’s hard to role-play when you are trying to add up your strength bonus, your magic long sword bonus, the higher ground bonus, the favored enemy bonus, and the friends in combat bonus.

What about my equipment?:

Equipment, per se, is not in the system. You can use a two-handed claymore, a tiny dagger, or razor sharp wit. You can wear mighty plate armor, or a simple leather jerkin. Imagine your character how he should be, not chock full of unrelated “stuff” that happens to have the best bonuses. In ANY heroic novel or movie, the stuff NEVER matters. Only the hero. The stuff is flavor. Use it the way it was intended.

Now, there are Relics. Mighty heirlooms of the Gods. Excalibur was a Relic. Odin’s spear, Gungnir was a Relic. Those will have meaning. Those will have Foci of their own. Those we proudly put on the character sheet. Your coin purse? Really?

Wait, did I say razor sharp wit after the dagger and two handed sword? Yes I did.

Yes.
I.
Did.

Man, there is so much more. But, that’s what the book, “Of Gods and Relics Vendai” is for.

I’d like to thank “d.” for asking me to post something of the Po12 Roleplaying System.

p.s. I am still working on free to download adventure. I got a bit sidetracked adding more background and history to continents outside the present game world. Outside it for now. How the world came to be, how the races developed, what motivates the Gods to create Relics and to ask those worthy to risk their lives is so important to the game. This is, after all a game about “Why.”

Free Adventure/Story Coming Soon

I am working on a Story that will be available as a free download in our E-Store. It will introduce gamers to the new age of legends in Of Gods and Relics and illustrate the opportunities for choice and role-play in the game. I’ll keep you updated!