Images for CN: Ascend

There is a second component to the 2010 Design Competition. One thus far neglected. But no more! I stumbled a hook, that has caught me line and sinker. The path yet to be traveled is unknown to me, but it is bubbling up!

Today's Challenge CN:Ascend Themes Part V

A couple disappointments. Adventure Seeds and Adversaries! My list has narrowed to 3, and only one was at the top to begin with.  One I never thought to touch with a ten foot pole.  

What I learned in 4 days of shifting through the ashes of 10 themes.

Today's Challenge CN:Ascend Themes Part IV

Teeing up the Themes Roaming, Tattoo, The Last Outpost, and Theme Park.  I am going to extend this challenge one more day to do a wrap-up of the ideas generated, and maybe refine them a bit as the connections have started to form.

Basic Mechanic for CN: Ascend, Redux II

I am really excited about this version.  I think I have nailed the style and tone, and simplified the approach enough to be there.  Just a few more whittles, and the first subsection is finis!

Design Goals for the CN: Ascend Dice Mechanics

A summary of 7 design goals I have for Ascend's Dice Mechanics.

Outline of Chapters 1 and 2 for CN: Ascend

1.Introduction
1.The Great Collapse
1.Tone prose
2.Premise
3.Setting
4.Style and Tone
5.Tone prose
2.What is what
1.What this book contains
2.What is needed to play
3.What is Role Playing
4.What does Play look like?
3.Riding the Ripples
1.What is The Last Outpost?
2.What is a Pond?
3.What is Riding a Ripple?
4.Who are the Heroes?
5.What are the Factions?
4.Basic Mechanic
1.Randomness
2.Dice Pool
3.Characteristics and Tools
4.Target
5.Skill
6.Difficulty
5.Getting Started
6.Glossary of Terms
2.Creating a Hero
1.Characteristics
1.Traits
2.Race
3.Background
4.Belief
2.Skills
3.Abilities
1.Stances
2.Techniques

Basic Mechanics Revised CN: Ascend

Further work on Ascend. I am working on the part that would occur during the Introduction to briefly describe the Mechanics. Not there yet. :)

Ascend: Base Mechanic

The stories of Heroes is colored by details. Snippets of conversations, the smell of a new day, the stirring of shadows. With nothing at stake, Players and Game Master reach accord and Narrate new additions to the story of the Heroes. They share a world and explore its depths.

But the stories of Heroes are also testaments to conflict and struggle. Passion and drive, belief and failings, duress and suspense demand Heroes who risk their lives, minds and souls. When the Hero is called upon, stories speak not of accord and compliance, but of mettle and resolve.

To Resolve a conflict, whether an impediment, argument or enemy, a Hero is Tested. A Test can be used to sway a lord or combat a horde. Tests can be to overcome an Obstacle Narrated by the Game Master, an Adversary seeking to destroy a civilization, between two Heroes who cannot reach agreement, or between two conflicting priorities within the Hero.

Tests comprise of three parts. A Hero's character sheet details Traits, Tools, and Skills that enable the Hero overcome and Succeed. The Game Master provides Difficulty. And Ascend, like many games, uses dice to add a random element.

Randomness provides suspense and drama, as the fate of Hero hangs in the balance. It enables a Hero to triumph in desperate situations. Crisis of faith, overwhelming success, sundering of bonds, lasting companionship are all results from the storytelling randomness enables. Most importantly, random results give Players the opportunity to define that which is most fundamental to their Heroes, and that which can sacrificed.

The dice used in Ascend are ten sided dice, also known as d10. These dice are commonly used in games, and usually have the numbers o, 1, 2 and so on up to 9. In many games the 0 is used to represent the number ten. In Ascend the 0 is used to represent the number zero, for a range of 0 to 9. Multiple d10's are rolled at the same time, and this collection of dice is a Dice Pool. The number of d10's in a Dice Pool is placed in front of “d10” to signify the size of a Dice Pool.

Example: Susan is rolling a Dice Pool of 5d10. Therefore she rolls 5 ten sided dice.

Dice Pools are rolled to determine not only the success or failure of an action, but how successful the action is. Rolling to determine success is called a Test. To roll a Test, the Player determines which Skill is being tested, sometimes with the aid of the Game Master. Skills are Rated from 0 (non-existent) to 5 (supreme ability). The Skill Rating determines the Target, the number each individual d10 of the Dice Pool must be equal to or be lower then to count as a Success.

Example: Jayme's Hero is making a Stealth Test, and has a Rating of 2. Once the Dice Pool size is determined, Jayme rolls that number of d10's and any dice that come up 0, 1, or 2 give Jayme's Hero a Success.

When the Hero's action is being opposed, the Game Master may provide a Difficulty. Difficulty represents a concerted effort to oppose or defeat the Hero. Difficulty has a minimum Rating of 1, and can be higher. The Hero's Player subtracts the Difficulty from the Skill Rating to determine the Target for the Test.

Example: Trent's Hero is attacking a Guard on alert. The Hero's Weaponry is 3, but the Guard is defending himself. The Game Master rules that the Difficulty of the Test is 1, so Trent's Target is 2, which is his Hero's Skill Rating of 3 minus 1 for the Difficulty.

A Player's Dice Pool for a hero's action is determined by both Traits and Tools. Traits are more or less constant values, used to represent a Hero's characteristics and relationships. Traits are Rated from 1 (mild) to 3 (strong). The Rating of a Trait determines how many d10's are used in the Test's Dice Pool.

When making a Test, the Player may briefly Narrate the action and describe which Trait they are using for the Test. If a Hero is particularly vested in the action, with much at stake for the Hero, the Player may Narrate a more detailed action. The goal of this Narration is not length, but quality, aiming for a fluid description that invokes more than one Trait. For contributing to the storytelling in this way, the Player may use two Traits in a Test.

In the most rare situations, when a Player's description is both simultaneously beautiful and appropriate, the group may award that Player. In this instant the Player may use up to three Traits to determine the Test's Dice Pool.

Today's Challenge CN:Ascend Themes Part III

Today's themes and the ideas generated by them.

Game Night

• First a definition. Game - Wild animals hunted for food. That was my second thought after the image of my semi regular Friday night WoD game popped into my head. So, night as defined by the hunted. A world in which the hunters rule by day, but as evening descends the table turns, and the hunted become the hunters.
• Mechanics: this requires a duality. Two characters are played, one for the daytime, and one for the evening. The two characters would seem to oppose each other, so maybe a third force is the real protagonist, and the game is a struggle of overcoming the natural order to oppose it.
• Perhaps the character is a spirit, with both a day hunter,s body, and a game night body. There are limited number of these spirits, and if one of their bodies dies, the spirit is sundered, and the remaining body becomes normal. The spirit doesn't know it is split, but this explains the ferocity of both factions, and why one group has supremacy in the day, and the other the night. The spirits are the difference makers.

I think I can

• First, a confession. I have done a great deal of thinking about Ascend's “colors” before the guidelines were released. By colors I mean a group of divisions, based in flavor, that have mechanical consequences. Like Magic: The Gathering,s color wheel. Each color has a flavor, the flavor gives definition to what the color can and cannot do. D&D 4E has a division of flavor, Arcane, Divine, Martial, and Primal, but these have almost no mechanical impact. Yes the Arcane power source tends toward the Control role, Divine, Leader, Martial, Striker. Which gives a little of the what this color can do part, but with the exception of Martial and Controller, there is no definition by what something cannot do. Which is more important to what makes Magic's colors work.
• Ascend's color wheel, as it stands now, is a six spoke affair, 2 groups of three, 3 groups of 2. The Thought cycle is governed by Thought before action, made up of the Theorists (single unifying theory), the Deists (enlightenment through diversity of belief) and the Ghosts (thought without action). By adding a comma to this theme, I Think, I Can, a theme for this last faction emerges.
• The Ghosts are antagonists, not Player characters. They have taken one of the fundamental dichotomies of Ascend to the extreme. Instead of Thought before Action, they have shed there bodies and become pure thought. They will things to happen.
• Mechanics: Ghosts as antagonists presents a special kind of challenge. Accumulated Successes from Resistance empower Ghosts, as the Resistance represents a fundamental belief in the reality being created by the Ghost. Only by not having a character's thoughts reinforce the reality created by the ghost's thoughts, can a character overcome the Ghost.
• Interesting, the theme for Ghost's dichotomy has formed from this as well. It is

since there is no thought, just action.

Pond

• Mechanics: Dice Pool. No really honestly. Pond = Pool. Simple and clean.
• Pond , as in the Big Fish in a small Pond. Pond = Community. But there can still be several distinct places in the Pond. A Pond on a Galactic scale can be a cluster of stars, those near enough to affect and influence each other. A Pond is everywhere that can be easily traveled to. I think of Points of Light, but more like cluster of Lights. In between the points in the cluster, travel is safe, outside the cluster it is difficult and dark.
• Pond – Surface – Ripples – Cast Stones: Stones thrown are the plot hooks, the bangs! Cast Stones into a community creates ripples, evidence of the stone after the stone has already dropped. Character actions creates ripples as they are cast stones as well. Characters ride the ripples from community to community within the pond. Cast stones = dice.
• Mechanics: Dice Pool = Pond. A single cast stone = a die. A single die roll creates a ripple. Ripple = change in the Dice Pool/Pond. Perhaps if there are no successes, a die can be rolled, and that subtracted from each die rolled, “rippling” through them. This represents a crisis of faith maybe, a last ditch attempt to succeed. What is the consequence of casting a stone....

CN: Ascend Basic Mechanics Part I

Ascend: Basic Mechanic

All conflicts in the game are resolved through a roll of the dice called a Trial. Ascend uses multiple ten sided dice when rolling. These dice are known as d10, and a collection of these dice is a Dice Pool. A d10 has a range of numbers, from 0 to 9. In Ascend, the 0 is a 0. Multiple d10's are known by the nomenclature of Xd10 in which X being the number of dice rolled.

Example: Susan is rolling a Dice Pool of 5d10. Therefore she rolls 5 ten sided dice.

A Trial occurs when a Hero's Skill or Belief is being Tested. A Skill is a trained ability or series of interrelated abilities. Martial Arts, Divination, Leadership, and Wayfinding are Skills. Belief is a Hero's fundamental faith and understanding of the Philosophy of their faction. It measures spirituality, determination and insight.

Skills and Belief are Ranked from 0 to 4. A Skill Ranked 0 denotes lack of any training or familiarity with the tasks of a Skill. Rank 4 denotes a supreme competency in the skill, representing a level of mastery achieve only by the eldest of Heroes. Belief ranked 0 shows no faith in the tenants of a Philosophy. Even most Infidels have at least 1 Rank in a Belief. Perhaps only the members of the Council and the rare wandering Hero have Faiths Ranked 4.

The goal when rolling a Trial is to roll the Rank or under of the Skill or Belief being tested. Each die of the Dice Pool is individually compared, if it is equal to or less the Rank, that die is a Success. Trials may have more then 1 Success. All Trials with 1 or more Successes are successful. A Trial with no Successes is a failure.

Example: Trent rolls his Dice Pool of 6d10 Testing his Hero's Martial Arts, Ranked 2. Trent rolls a 0, 2, 5, 5, 6, and 9. The dice showing 0 and 2 are both Successes as they are equal to or lower then the Hero's Martial Arts Rank of 2. The 5's, the 6 and the 9 are not Successes. Trent's Hero has succeeded with two Successes!

Today's Challenge CN:Ascend Themes Part II

This turned out to be a much larger (and I suspect more fruitful) endeavor then my initial 2 part idea led me to believe. So it will not be in 4 parts! This Part will cover the first 3 Themes, and the ideas generated by them.

Born Under a Bad Sign

• Mechanics: A “Omen” roll before an action, broad sense, determines whether that idea was “born” under a bad sign, and has a mechanical benefit.
• Sign = Portend = Fate. A world where characters acknowledge Fate, live with Fate, but, most importantly, do not accept Fate. Fate is something to be combated, contended with. Sometimes it wins, sometimes characters overcome Fate.
• I read this bit on Mouse Guard, specifically post #7

“No magic, not directly. There are some efforts afoot to hack it. IIRC Luke has referred to the weather system (!) as "magic" but I'm not totally clear what he means by that. Probably the fact the player proactively states what the weather will be, rolls, and if he's a good enough Weather Watcher, the player's intent is retconned into the game's ongoing fiction. That's just so ridiculously cool and easy and hackable. I think what you wouldn't get is a magic missiles/fireballs/chain lighting style of tactical magic. Again, probably hackable since the scripted conflict thing in MG is so nice.”

I haven't read Mouse Guard (yet!) but this sparked a huge AHA! Moment for me. A Mechanics like Tools that can be used to add to rolls. Good Role Playing can be rewarded as a Tool (blatant rip off of Mouse Guard.) An Omen or other form of Magic can also be used as a Tool. Skill: Divination roll, Successes can be stored for later use. Shared Prophesy making, with each Player vying for a piece of the Prophesy that plays into their skill set. A form of “Magic” for each faction with a different Skill. Stuff like that...

Calligraphy

• Mechanics: This one has become interwoven with Collapse. The idea is that action “collapses” into a single roll, multiple actions in a turn, but one roll. Just as Kanji start with a basic symbol for a single and simple idea, but layer on more brush strokes to create more complex ideas with one symbol, this aspect of Calligraphy would have the players perform multiple actions, but the more graceful and interconnected the ideas are, the more would be awarded as a “tool” for the action.
• Calligraphy/Choreography: A faction that places action before thought, the smoother and more fluid their actions, the better. Tying this to kata and performance as an idea for a Magic type for one of the factions.
• Calligraphy = Symbols = Signs. Calligraphy as a method of Divination.
• Calligraphy as a coordinated series of movements, a single action being the most basic, but later actions adding further meaning. A combination of actions forming a whole greater then the parts.

Collapse

• Mechanics: Already touched on this one. Intend to use a Dice Pool system with the ability to gain multiple successes. One idea to “collapse” the dice, possible to increase difficulty, perform multiple actions, etc. If the threshold for success is 3 or lower on a d10, then normally multiple 0, 1, 2 and 3's would yield a success. In a “collapse” the dice would be ordered in ascending (!) order, so maybe 0, 0, 3, 4, 8, 8. A collapse of 2 would group them as such [0,0], [3,4], [8,8]. Take the highest of the groupings, so 0, 4, 8. If the threshold was 3, then 1 success. A collapse 3 would yield [0,0,3] and [4,8,8]. Still a success. Collapse 4 would yield a single set [0,0,3,4] with a result of 4, failure.
• The Great Collapse. Dark Ages on steroids. A setting in which the society has failed and been plunged into a millennium of darkness, stagnation, a century to century struggle to regain footing. Progress has not yet begun again. The Age right before the Age of Enlightenment.
• Or Alternatively, just after the Great Collapse. The moment right as it becomes clear this is no ordinary pause in Progress, but a free fall into the abyss.
• Collapse under the weight. Collapse, an external force that drives play. Will the characters succumb, or will they persevere? What is the weight. What is the mechanism that represents Collapse. How do they characters contend with Collapse. Or maybe the Collapse isn't of the characters, but of the locations they visit, They must stem the tide and keep the communities from collapsing...

Today's Challenge CN: Ascend Themes Part I

Today's Challenge will mark the start of my Design work for Codename: Ascend, my entry into Simian Circle's 2010 d10 Competition (pdf link). It will be two parter, the first of which will be to whittle the list down to 10 themes out of 20, and the second it to brainstorm 3 ideas for each of the 10 themes.

Here are the 20 themes:

1. Automation

I read this one, and Mark Rosewater's article on the evolution of Planeswalkers springs to mind, specifically the part of the design process where they did things automatically, and the bad play experience it produced. Out.

2. Born Under a Bad Sign

There are several on this list that appeal to me not one bit, mostly because they are cliches. I see this as a challenge. In.

3. Calligraphy

From abstract magic painting/casting to the mystical meaning of symbols, it is hard not to include this one. In.

4. City in the Sky

So much awesome can be gleamed from single city settings, from Ptolus to Sigil to Sharn, constraining landscapes like this can be most enjoyable. Unfortunately, Ascend is not about constraint. Out.

5. Collapse

The first that captured my imagination. Didn't I say something about Constraint above? Yes, but this one gives a nice tension in my mind, as something to struggle against... In.

6. Fishing Fun

Sorry, silly immediately springs to mind with this one. Out.

7. Game Night

Silly sprang to my mind once again, or at least not anything I would build a game around. And then other meanings of the word Game popped in... intriguing. In.

8. I Think I Can

A rash of children's themes! There is a connection to Ascend though, a world of Neil Giamen's the dreaming makes it possible sense of possible. In.

9. Monolith

Thud. Out.

10. Pond

Just so simple and mysterious it must be In.

11. Private School

Hentai here we come! Or not. Out.

12. Roaming

If Ascend is not a game of Constraint, then certainly it must be a game of Roaming. In.

13. Sand Land

Silly rhyming and constraining theme. Out.

14. Seventh Son or Seventh Sun

On the edge on this one, as in it could be fun to reinvent the cliche, or just banal. I'll wait on the final tally for this one.

15. Small Town Life

Visions of Our Town swarms in my head. Not a fan of that play. Out.

16. Tattoo

Big fan of the Legends of the 5 Rings, with Monks running around with mystical tattoos. Just don't know if this one has the same depth to it as calligraphy, as calligraphy makes me think, ironically, of an action, while tattoo does not. In.

17. The Bog

Constraining and dull. Bog the game down. Bllck! Or least until I think of Magic the Gathering and the card, Fog. Interesting dichotomy that card has with its color, preventing all creature damage... Reaching. Out.

18. The Last Outpost

Dogs in the Vineyard jumps into my head, which is always a good thing. Constraining again, but maybe there is some interesting design space to be explored here. The important thing will be to find a good twist, like The Last Outpost of declining empire, surrounded by the beginnings of new societies. Interesting interaction with Collapse. In.

19. Theme Park

Same reaction to it as Fishing Fun, and then I Game Night'ed Theme... In.

20. Water World

Bad Kevin Costner, bad. Out.

So, by my counting, I am at 10, with Seventh S(u or o)n on the fence. Doesn't bode well for it. Out! Here are the final 10.

2. Born Under a Bad Sign

3. Calligraphy

5. Collapse

7. Game Night

8. I Think I Can

10. Pond

12. Roaming

16. Tattoo

18. The Last Outpost

19. Theme Park

Update time!

I got caught up in trying, and failing, to get Cribbage out on time. And of course the holidays, some unexpected health issues with my wife, and general life stuff...

Where I stand now. I got some serious meat produced for Cribbage, and I am pretty happy with it. I will continue to churn that out, hoping to "submit" it, or at least complete it as though I was going to submit it. I don't know if I'm going to compete in the Pathfinder contest yet or not. I don't own the book, and even $10 is hard to scrape up. I can still pretty easily submit the magic item, and will I think, but going much further will be difficult without more familiarity with the rules.

But focus has now shifted to two new contests, one form Simian Circle Games and the other this mysterious contest at Enworld.org. The Simian Circle contest I have codenamed Ascend. I have been thinking about and tinkering around with both it's Theme and Dice Mechanics for over a month. I am really excited about this one. The other contest I know nothing about, so I have no name as of yet.

My plans as of now. I am going to shoot for 3 entires a day, 6 days a week for an average. A Today's Challenge, where I challenge my creative self, a Codename:Ascend entry, and another, either Codename:Cribbage, Codename:Marionette, or something on this new contest. Ambitous, and we will revise my plans as needed....

:)