[Game Chef 2011] The Trouble with Rose

Started by zircher, July 15, 2011, 09:02:54 PM

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zircher

First draft, you can find the PDF here:

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?1gvfeoig4y84bb3

Please let me know what I got right or wrong.  I plan to do some play testing this Saturday night.

As always, any feedback (good or bad) is welcome.
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TAZ

Hans Chung-Otterson

Hey Todd,

I like it! Seems like fun. A few questions/comments:

1. You say the base rules "allow for five" to play, and then give an option for six or seven. What about 3 or 4--is that covered by the base rules? Does "allow for five" mean "three to five" or "exactly five", or something else?

2. What are the criteria for allowing a player to keep their tile? As it stands, I read it as, basically, if the other players enjoy your narration in a kind of vague collective sense (not trying to provoke by using "vague" here, just trying to communicate clearly how it actually seems to me as I read the text), then you get to keep your tile. Is that your intention?

3. In the play example, it seems that the structure of the game is 1 tile played per scene, but that rule (if indeed it is a rule) is never made explicit.

4. I wish there was more assistance for scene framing than just "make a scene!"

Hm, I think that's it. Good luck in your playtest.

zircher

Quote from: Hans Chung-Otterson on July 20, 2011, 08:37:05 AM
I like it! Seems like fun. A few questions/comments:
Thanks!

Quote1. You say the base rules "allow for five" to play, and then give an option for six or seven. What about 3 or 4--is that covered by the base rules? Does "allow for five" mean "three to five" or "exactly five", or something else?
Good catch three to five is the intent, play test will hopefully reveal if as few as two is possible.

Quote2. What are the criteria for allowing a player to keep their tile? As it stands, I read it as, basically, if the other players enjoy your narration in a kind of vague collective sense (not trying to provoke by using "vague" here, just trying to communicate clearly how it actually seems to me as I read the text), then you get to keep your tile. Is that your intention?
Exactly,  I'll see what I can do about clearing that up.

Quote3. In the play example, it seems that the structure of the game is 1 tile played per scene, but that rule (if indeed it is a rule) is never made explicit.
Duly noted. Yes, it should say, 1 tile per scene.

Quote4. I wish there was more assistance for scene framing than just "make a scene!"
Yeah, I was worried about that, I still have a few hundred words left to expand on scene framing.

QuoteHm, I think that's it. Good luck in your playtest.
Thanks again for the prompt reply and feedback!
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TAZ

zircher

Updated version with the above changes and a some better graphical elements.

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?ebxy1w83ikhn8t7

Can't see much changing until more proofing and playtesting is done.

If someone is gung-ho to give this a try before the end of GC'11, I'd love to hear your experiences.
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TAZ

zircher

Cross posted from another forum...

"I don't get how the domino actually controls the nature of the game. I'm going to guess that the pips refer to the list of aspects that the player established earlier--but it's not made clear enough in the document."

That's exactly how it's done. But, I'll see about making that clearer.

"I also think more attention needs to be paid to how the players develop the nature of the exile. The rules just say "At the start of the game, the players decide the setting for their play. In this collaborative phase, they work together to determine the time, location, and events that lead up to Rose being exiled."

How much detail is expected at this point? Is the game based on the events after the exile? Or is it based on the events leading up to the exile?"


The 'technical' answer would be, "Add as much detail as needed." It can be as short as a few sentences or the players can act out the whole scene leading up to the exile/banishment/flight. As originally thought, the play begins after exile, but I don't see why the players could not begin at the brink and start the play off with a bang.

"I'm also a bit confused as to exactly how much information the other players can set up in a given scene that's not their own."

The blurb I added for scene framing in v1.1 might clear that up a bit. The players have a lot of power in scene creating. In traditional game terms, they're each a GM charged with telling a story.

On the other hand the audience (the players who are not center stage) have the option of adding more to the story. But, they are limited to embellishments (color text), consequences (repercussions), and perhaps some minor tweaking and twisting of the plot (for comedic value or perhaps to help set up the next scene.) It's very much a reactionary bit of stage craft.

While the audience is not given veto power for the narrative, they could withhold a tile for scoring purposes if the player goes off on a tangent.

"Actually, I just had a thought about that. If the player who's turn it is draws a domino with a 2/4 and uses the Aspects numbered 2/4 on his list to set up the main scene, why not have every other player be limited to the aspects numbered 2/4 on their lists to further that particular scene or add to it? That way there's some direction for the players as well as a bit of constraint to help promote creativity."

Each player has their own hand to play. For example, what if a player laid down a 5/6 or worse a double? You have a whole round were everyone was being tormented by or breaking their oaths. While a little drama and dilema is good, a truck load of it is too much.
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TAZ

zircher

Hopefully cleared some things up in this version based on the above feedback

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?4x0kqd18ns1dbd2

Hitting the hard limit of 3,000 words so I had to integrate/axe some of the designer notes.
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TAZ

zircher

Got a playtest for tonight with a bunch of GURPS players.  If they can grok this, I'm golden.  Final release version planned for tomorrow.
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TAZ

Hans Chung-Otterson

Quote from: zircher on July 23, 2011, 11:07:12 PM
Got a playtest for tonight with a bunch of GURPS players.  If they can grok this, I'm golden.  Final release version planned for tomorrow.
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TAZ

how'd it go?

zircher

Holy Cats!  We had a blast.  As expected with introducing traditional gamers to this style of game play, the first two scenes were a little rough but after that the guys took to it like a fish to water.*  The first session was a Wild West adventure and by the time they wrapped that up they were clamoring for a second one (zombie apocalypse.)  The second one was really funny because 4 out of 6 players had romance cards for the secret agenda but nobody got the girl.

Yeah, it's 4 AM and I'm hoarse from laughing and having a good time.  One hundred percent mission accomplished.
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TAZ

* Atarashi Games' Panty Explosion Perfect has a similar free form narrative structure and it took a different group 3-4 scenes before warming up.


zircher

It took about two hours per game and that was with 25 (5x5) and 24 (6x4) tiles respectively (1 scene per tile plus brain storming/character gen at the begining and an extra scene for the epilogue.)  Due to the audience participation, acting out dialog, and  general table talk, it felt like everyone was engaged even when it wasn't their turn.

If you were to run a 'con game' of TTwR and had pre-gens for the setting and characters you could easily knock a half hour off of that.  Of course, there was also a lot of challenge and buy-in with creating the story and characters on the fly.
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TAZ

zircher

Some of the reviews from my game are starting to show up.  Props to them for nailing down what I knew were weak points but I did not have the word count to expand on.  Looks like I'm 'compelled' to create a version 2.0 when all the feedback comes in.  :-)

One of the more challenging comments was a complaint about switching between cards and dominos.  To me, that would be about as baseless as switching between dice and cards in Monopoly.  But, it is a challenge worth considering.  Can secret agendas and random settings be created using only dominos?  Is the honor system acceptable since players would have to write down their results?  What kind of random chart can you make from dominos?  (min value is 1d7 and its max value is 1d28)  Things to ponder for the next version.
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TAZ

zircher

Version 2.0 is now available for download.  No significant rules changes, but better organization, more examples, and a game play check list.
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?a72jcxc4d8xg399

Thank you one and all for such a great contest and all the feedback!
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TAZ

zircher

The Trouble with Rose folder on Google Docs.

Includes the v2.0 rules and all current play sets.

New -> Added a Ghost/Echo inspired play set.
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TAZ

If you're really really curious about how the game plays, I'm running TTwR in slot 01 for MonkeyCon Zero.  Will probably run one or two of the play sets if time permits.  Of course, any and all are welcome to suggest new play sets for me to craft (and you're quite welcome to write your own and pitch it to the players.)

zircher

If you like the actual play thing, the Sunday Skypers just dropped a one shot of The Trouble with Rose using the Six Guns and Dust play set.  It's a good walk through of the rules.  Unfortunately, the Rev's mic was a little twitchy, but the show must go on!

http://sundayskypers.podbean.com/

Oh, and monkey boy here forgot to post a link to the Con Planner site for MonkeyCon Zero when happens next weekend via Skype.
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TAZ