Thursday, December 10, 2009

Narrowing the list for CN:Cribbage (Part I)

A reminder of rules of Game Fu #7: Pick 5 Ingredients, at least one of which must be from one of each of these three categories...

Ingredients


System Constraints

[Stuff]

Genre Blender

You must pick two of the following genres and combine the tropes listed to create your game. Picking additional ingredients from this category means adding an additional genre, and its tropes, to your setting (i.e. two ingredients from this category means three genres combined).

[Stuff]

Image Hunt

Instead of picking an image from a list presented here, you must go forth upon the interweb and hunt down images that best fit your game. Each ingredient from this category must include three images.

To Begin

… I will pare down the list in System Constraints. Most of this has been afloat in my head for the last several days, so not much creative work will likely be done in this post. But let's take a look at each one.

  • All characters are designed by committee.

Not really my cup of tea, though I would like to tackle this one later in my design career. Plus no good correlation to the game of Cribbage. Interaction between this mechanic and a game where the players compete with one another is also a little wonky (though something that could be very interesting...)

  • All statistics (Skills/Attributes/whatever) must be phrased as Haiku or other form of short poetic prose.

Awesome idea, and would lead itself to a great samurai (or other thematic genre). To a game of cribbage though? Plus most spy literature does not compare well to high literature...

  • Character creation does not allow characters to have access to all attributes. They must choose which ones not to have values in.

Possible but not terribly exciting to me. On the list for now.

  • Characters are composed of a core that is augmented by templates that can be swapped.

Certainly in keeping with some of the genre ideas below (Punk I'm looking at you). Save this one until genre

  • Characters belong to a shared pool rather than individual players.

This and the by-Committee approach both fight the basic premise of CN:Cribbage. This one also really fights one of my Mechanics on this list.

  • Characters' skills / abilities are generated / recorded using a Sudoku or Magic Square style grid.

Already have elements of one game prominently in CN:Cribbage. Don't want to mix my metaphors, so to speak.

  • Does not use numbers to represent skills or attributes in any way.

I really like this idea. Struggle a bit with how to implement, which is a good thing. On the list.

  • Game requires making sketches as a mechanic for task resolution, character creation, or whatever.

Another great spark for a game. Just not my first real design I think. Also I struggle with this and the haiku one, wondering how to keep players who suck at these activities from sucking at the game.

  • Mechanics must use different die types for specific action types. (e.g. d6 for social, d8 for combat, d10 for magic)

This reminds me of Dogs in the Vineyard. Given the mechanic from this list that really grabs me, this relationship to Dogs is a good thing. In.

  • Must include an emotional connection mechanic binding characters together.

And speak of the devil. How do you keep a game of players competing against each other from devolving? Tie them together in interesting ways that will drive play and insert interest into each scene (plus some other tricks up my sleeve.) This game will succeed if each scene is about crossing and double crossing, seduction and flirtation, getting even or getting ahead, etc... and the players meet in each scene over the objective, rather then the scenes being driven by the objective itself.

  • Must use non-traditional randomizers (no dice or poker/playing cards)

Brain fart on my end as to what this would be... One day I am sure I will tackle this idea, but this ain't that day. (Sure it's challenging, but what would it add to the game once you unlocked it...)

  • Players control character advancement

No immediate reason not to include (no thematic conflict), and challenging as all heck. Let's throw this one on the list.

  • Resolution system must involve a bidding mechanic with a risk of loss.

Another mechanic that brought to mind Dogs. Played with the idea of rolling set number of dice upfront, and then bidding for who goes first in the scene. Each player starts with 10 chips with which to bid. Whoever wins the "hand" gets the chips. After the game is over, each person gains XP equal tot he amount of chips.

Then decided I was once again mixing metaphors (cribbage and poker). Will have to keep this in the back of my head though for a Deadlands style game though...

  • Reverse dice pool resolution, where all dice in a pool have to succeed. Penalties add dice, bonuses remove dice.

Interesting twist, and will fill for later consideration. A little too specific for my tastes in a competition like this.

In Conclusion

The list as it stands:

  • Character creation does not allow characters to have access to all attributes. They must choose which ones not to have values in.
  • Characters are composed of a core that is augmented by templates that can be swapped.
  • Does not use numbers to represent skills or attributes in any way.
  • Mechanics must use different die types for specific action types. (e.g. d6 for social, d8 for combat, d10 for magic)
  • Must include an emotional connection mechanic binding characters together.
  • Players control character advancement

With emotional connection and players control advancement being the two big drivers right now.

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