I’ve started a discussion on the Livejournal Roleplayers community on the subject of Traits within the Verses RPG, and their implementation as an answer to the “Perks and Flaws” of other systems. Head on over and check it out.

If you’re interested in the new QUAD roleplaying game rules system, please head on over to the QUAD section of our forums. I’ve started some discussions on the rules and their development, and more input is always welcome. If you want to join in with your own comments, register for a free forum account and drop us your thoughts.

(Update 6/17/2007: This post actually refers to a rpg system now called “Verses”.)

- Nathanael Phillip Cole

Head over to their forums and check it out.

“There will be many situations, however, in which the involved parties just can’t agree on an outcome. For these situations, I’ve designed the Bid Battle conflict resolution mechanic. I wanted to keep the core focus of inter-character negotiation as prominent as possible, and as such Bid Battles are still quite similar to the “gentleman’s agreement” described above. The difference is that in a Battle, the system is designed to favor the character(s) with the strongest reason to succeed.”

Read the rest…

I started a new thread on the forums with two examples of the conflict resolution system. Check it out and tell me what you think!

I’ve started a new forum thread on the subject of the current working conflict resolution system in the new BMF Core LARP rules. Check it out on our forums. Sign up and leave me your comments and ideas, as I would like to hear what you think!

- Nathanael

Here’s another excerpt from the BMF core rules, on the subject of using Items as “MacGuffins”:

This is where I think Items shine the brightest. In popular culture, any “thing” in a story or such that is important to the narrative but otherwise useless and/or undefined is usually called a MacGuffin. The briefcase in the movie Pulp Fiction, for example, and the Maltese Falcon in the movie of the same name are both MacGuffins. The plots in some way revolve around these items, and yet the audience never actually learns what they are, and what - if anything - they actually do. And yet despite their apparent lack of use, their very presence drives the stories forward.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve started the ball rolling with an open discussion of the 2nd Edition rules, currently in the works. Check it out! Also, if you haven’t checked out the Story Games website, you should do so. Lots of good discussions there.

Here’s an excerpt, musing on the subject of killing in the game:

One of the tenets of the original Streetwise LARP system was that you could kill anyone, but they’d be back in 30 minutes or after being revived by the Militant Baptist Church - after all, you cap one punk on the streets, another just takes his place. We wanted paying players to be able to enjoy the game as long as they liked, and not have their fun ruined because some trigger-happy player killed them off. It led to a lot of crazy-fun scenes, most definitely.

In this new system, the nature of death and such are ultimately left to the game. For example, in two of the urban streets-focused LARPs we’re planning to run, we plan on combat being a bigger feature of the game, so for those we’re using the Combat system extension I’m designing. This system adds an expendable number of Lives to each character (starts at 9), and a way for weapon to quickly eliminate those lives if used as part of a Bid Battle. Of course, we’ve also made it possible for medic-types to restore Lives, and for players to buy more at the main desk.

For other games with less of a focus on players killing each other, I can see the combat extension working okay, but it might be more exciting and dramatic for a death to only happen when dramatically appropriate. In such cases, I would guess that the Arbiters of the game would make a special call on death being off-limits unless the other player agreed.

Check out that thread and join in. I’m looking for as much input as possible.

UPDATE #1: Looks like you will have to register for the site to see that thread. No worries, though, as the site is awesome. Do it. Do it.

UPDATE #2: I’ve decided to use this post to keep track of other discussions I’ve started on this subject. Click ahread for the links:

I am currently working on laying out the new BMF Core rules, which will serve as the mechanical basis for all of my LARPs. I’m writing a section on what exactly players in the game do while playing, and I figured I’d share an excerpt. Let me know what you think.

Gameplay in the BMF system consists of a lot of real-time socializing. The mechanics and flow encourage heavy amounts of role-playing, as characters make deals with each other, pursue individual character goals, and work together to create an environment of intense fun. Every player adopts the persona of a character in the story, and only by socially interacting with those characters do you actually play the game. I think the best way for me to illustrate this is by giving an example.

Let’s pretend you have just joined a small LARP group in your hometown. The game will tell the story of the small and dismal town of Gorgon’s Gate, which exists in a low-magic low-tech fantasy setting. You are to play the part of Archause Teurgwene, the town miller. Archause is a man with a beautiful teenage daughter named Grettennae, a successful business, a rude disposition, and a dark and terrible secret involving murder and betrayal. You have a major rival on the town council, in the form of local metalsmith Horace Bretch. Your daughter is currently being courted by Maerdon Dor’Bray, son of the local governor Lord Jorian Dor’Bray, who lightly disapproves but fortunately has his attention occupied by matters of local security. That’s a good start.

In this game, you would act out your character on a shared stage with the other players. As the miller Archause, you would probably work towards facilitating a marriage between your daughter and the governor’s son, to bring your family wealth and status. You would do your best to protect your dark secret, and if you take the aggressive stance you would try to find out the secrets of the others, and hope they dwarf your own. Keep in mind that the whole time you’re doing this, the other characters are being portrayed by the other players, and they will often have conflicting agendas. Perhaps Sarah decides that her character (Grettenae) is going to resist the charms of the young nobleman, and focus on those of the metalsmith’s son, or maybe even the metalsmith’s daughter. Perhaps Michael, playing Horace Bretch, decides to immediately go for the gold and expose your secret. Perhaps the lord governor has you executed as a spy.

Of course, that’s just how I would play it after a quick read over the scenario. Perhaps your own ideas for the character are much more interesting!

I suddenly find myself wanting to play in this game…