Space Madness or Ressurection
David Berg:
Anansi, is your formulation above meant to imply that madness results from a failure to face facts, make tough decisions, and accept sacrifices?
So many indie RPGs put emphases on "which will you choose, what decision will you make?", whereas I think avoidance is under-addressed. A game that produces interesting consequences for refusing to make tough decisions is something I'd find interesting.
As per your subtext notes about how a popular trope is secretly bullshit:
I quite like the idea of priming the characters to accept the idea that madness is a huge risk, then handing the players the ability the ability to pretty much avoid madness at will, and seeing how "roleplaying my character" addresses that gap.
DevP:
If you need a break from seriousness, there's the Ren & Stimpy episode "Space Madness". It's still on-topic.
This is a rich premise. Any mechanics/implementation thoughts yet?
anansi:
Sweet. Thanks for the feedback on the darkness of the setting and game and the ideas I've had so far. Encouragement and support are probably the BEST motivators for me. That and questions are great cause they help me work shit out.
On the topic of what David has said:
Quote from: David Berg on April 11, 2012, 02:53:12 AM
Anansi, is your formulation above meant to imply that madness results from a failure to face facts, make tough decisions, and accept sacrifices?
So many indie RPGs put emphases on "which will you choose, what decision will you make?", whereas I think avoidance is under-addressed. A game that produces interesting consequences for refusing to make tough decisions is something I'd find interesting.
As per your subtext notes about how a popular trope is secretly bullshit:
I quite like the idea of priming the characters to accept the idea that madness is a huge risk, then handing the players the ability the ability to pretty much avoid madness at will, and seeing how "roleplaying my character" addresses that gap.
I think that madness might come from denial. Like... you want to accept the status quo, or what the situation is feeding you, give in to your Weakness. The clever part about the choice that I'd like to present is that there isn't a correct one. Madness is equally as valid a choice as Sanity is (if that's the dichotomy I'm going to work with, although it's forsure treading on Cthulhu ground if I do.) I get what you're saying about "what decision will you make, choose your destiny" being an indie game essential. Maybe the no good choice thing I'm thinking about makes it more interesting, like you're suggesting?
I'm not sure how this dynamic will work with your subtext idea though, because the gap is TOTALLY what I'm aiming for, the Madness/Sanity thing is just a veil or vehicle for that discussion to occur. I think this is something that will come about once I begin needling into to design a bit more. Which leads me to...
Quote from: DevP on April 11, 2012, 07:40:52 PM
This is a rich premise. Any mechanics/implementation thoughts yet?
Gah, no. I've been pondering how to do this. This is my weak point in my attempts at game design so far. I get this really neat idea, set up a really cool conflict, make it pretty accessible and something I would want to play, engage the themes and imagine how play would happen... but then I get trapped in "shit, should I use 2D6 and not even worry about the mechanics, or should I make it this really clever combination of wordplay choices, should there be careers, what would the character sheets look like" and I get totally overwhelmed and hesitate. I realize that the simple solution to this might be the same one that I use in my artwork... make something, anything, and creative magic will start to happen. I feel like maybe it's my newness at trying to make game systems that chokes me up though. I have a BFA in artmaking, with all the history, mistakes, practice, and formal training that goes along with it. I have a hobbyistic obsession with gaming, and none of the support my art knowledge affords me.
Any suggestions on how to get past this roadblock would be super welcome. In the meantime, I'll just keep writing and see what I come up with.
DevP:
You already know what to do: "make something, anything", and you probably need less game than you think. Just enough that the game can be basically understood by someone who will, in all likelihood, have an understanding of how RPGs tend to work.
And this here: "set up a really cool conflict, make it accessible, engage the themes": that's basically your procedures of play. Definitely don't get stuck on the following: clever wordplay, dice types, math, layout. Pick a mechanic that's plausible and roll along. Most GC drafts - and certainly many great ones - don't come out 100% playable at first, but communicate the idea.
Some people find it useful to focus on a single concrete aspect, describe that, and then extrapolate from there. Either an imagined sequence of a how a scene will go, or the details on a character's sheet, or something like that. As I said before: you have the seeds of a procedure for play.
anansi:
THANKS FOR THE PEP TALK DEV!!!
Here's what I wrote so far. I'm liking where this is going. It's a little different from some of my initial thoughts, but I think something is beginning to take form.
Getting down to the Mechanics
Weakness < ------ > Madness
or
Madness < ------- > Difficult Decisions
or
Madness ---- discovering who you really are and what you really care about ---- Weakness
Ok, enough theorizing. Game play.
4 players sit down. The scenario is explained to them, and the burden of the world put upon their shoulders. Next, they create the Setting for their scenario.
What ended the world?
What are you travelling into space to find?
Why is it humanity’s last hope?
Once these questions are answered you have the main thrust for your tale. The why’s and the where’s. Now, it’s time to answer the who’s. Character creation.
First, players choose a Strength. What is their standout character trait? These must be a personality trait, an adjective that is the definitive way the character behaves. A behavioral definition. Here’s a list of examples:
Honest
Detail Oriented
Caregiving
Romantic
Creative
Intelligent
Patient
Communicative
Resilient
Analytical
Courageous
Now, take that word to the extreme negative end of the spectrum. Imagine that behavior if it was pushed to its extreme. What would that be? This is your Weakness. Using the examples above:
Honest = Rigid
Detail Oriented = Indecisive
Caregiving = Codependant
Romantic = Obsessive
Creative = Unrealistic
Intelligent = Cold
Patient = Distant
Communicative = Manipulative
Resilient = Unfeeling
Analytical = Narrowminded
Courageous = Risky
This is a bit interpretive. Imagine what you think is the extreme of that behavior. The idea is to have words that represent a Strength and Weakness for your character.
Now your Connection. The world is ending, right? Name someone you’ve recently lost who was important to you. Someone who has died, and how they died. Some examples of Connections:
Gianna - my sister, she died in a fire along with our entire caravan
Thom - my coworker, committed suicide rather than die in the tsunami
Hamid - my husband, he disappeared one night from our research lab
Carli - my daughter, I told her to run and never look back
William - my grandfather, froze to death last winter
Yifan - my best friend, he died defending us from the invaders
Sharon - my girlfriend, fell as we were climbing across an old bridge
The memory of this person is a traumatic loss your character endured. It’s always there, just beneath the surface.
And finally, Who You Wanted to Be
This is the most nebulous of all your character’s descriptors. It could be a career goal you wanted to achieve, or a trait you wish you exemplified, or a skill you wanted to master, or a legacy you wanted to leave behind. The most important thing is... you want this more than anything else, and even when it doesn’t seem achievable, you’re still going to try and get it. The sad part is, you can never be this, because the world is ending. That’s beside the point. The point is, you still want to be that, in your heart of hearts. Examples:
The best pilot in the fleet
The most loving husband
The cleverest mathmatician
The most observant psychologist
The boss
The perfect daughter
The most self-less
The most competent
The martyr
A few more things on your character sheet I have yet to detail. Your Madness scope. Your gender. Your physical description. How others see you. Also, some kind of way to tie these things to fun dice roles.
The Dark of Space, or, the GM’s role in the game.
How madness is a game of imperfect information (how it accumulates is dependent upon the players, it’s recorded on the madness map which is a shared document in the center of the table, a la dread and ganakagok). The sweet spot of helping characters play their character as hard and fast as possible. Setting time limits. Creating the opposition. The madness map as a tool for uping the stakes. Ask lots of questions. Drive the plot forward.
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