[The Coyote Lode] My 2012 Game Chef Entry

[Troy_Costisick]

Heya,

Finally got some inspiration last night, and I'm ready to go.  I'll be using Coyote, Doctor, Lantern, and Mimic as my ingredients.  My plan is to do a one-shot dungeon crawl set in the old West.  Think of it as a mashup between OD&D and Deadlands.  More information as I come up with it :)

Peace,

-Troy

[Troy_Costisick]

Okay.  Some initial thoughts.

I want tot go in an old school renaissance direction with this.  Nothing fancy.  Just something I'd want to play with some guys down at the new game store that opened up in town.  So that means:

1- random stats.  I think I will have three simple stats: body-mind-spirit.  That should cover everything.  How about you roll 3d6 and massing one per Stat?  I think would work.

2- simple resolution system.  Here is where I'll start: roll 3d6.  Add your relevant Stat.  Beat a target value plus enemy Stat if applicable.

3- dungeon crawling one shot scenario.  The object will be to explore the coyote lode and mine gold before it floods.  The GM will color in rooms as they flood.  That makes the map in the book usable only once.

4- monsters. Some kind of mining accident will lead to undead miners roaming the load.   So it will be kind of a zombie game.  Maybe opium was involved?  Mining chemicals they used back then?

Okay.  That's a start!  Let's see where I can take it from here.


Peace.

Troy

[Sp4m]

I'd like to see some more "one time use" traits in the game too. Maybe events and treasures in the mine permanently change the players as they are encountered? Maybe the character sheets are marked in permanent ink rather than pencil?

There's a lot of fun to be had in a Dungeon crawl, but what can you do capitalize on the idea that this might only be played once?

[Troy_Costisick]

I'd like to see some more "one time use" traits in the game too. Maybe events and treasures in the mine permanently change the players as they are encountered? Maybe the character sheets are marked in permanent ink rather than pencil?

There's a lot of fun to be had in a Dungeon crawl, but what can you do capitalize on the idea that this might only be played once?

That's a good question.  I think I'll set it up to where every ten or fifteen minutes, a room in the mine floods.  The GM will be instructed to use a marker or pen to shade in the room that has filled with water and is no longer accessible to the PCs.  I also think that since the dungeon is preset with monsters and whatnot, replayability will be very limited.  The best part of a dungeon crawl is not knowing what's around the next corner.  Once you know where everything is, it's kind of anti-climactic to play IMO.  I like the idea of marking character sheets in pen.  I might see if I can find a way to use that :)

Peace,

-Troy

[PeterBB]

Real world minutes or in-game minutes? Either is cool, but I actually really like the idea of having a real life countdown going on.

[Troy_Costisick]

Real world minutes or in-game minutes? Either is cool, but I actually really like the idea of having a real life countdown going on.

Great question!  I think I'm going to make it real world minutes.  Every ten, a room floods.  The GM will need a timer of some kind.  I think that will raise the tension.  I envision a game taking about five hours tolay, so that's around thirty rooms.  A fair size for a dungeon. 

Now, I just have to figure out how to work in a reward system of some sort.

Peace,

Troy

[Troy_Costisick]

New things added:

5- player roles.  There will be a mapper, caller, and treasurer.

6- troupe play.  I anticipate a high mortality rate, so each player will start by making three characters.

7- classes.  There  will be three classes: gunslinger, doctor, and gambler.

8- more monsters.   There will be monsters other than umdead.  Wendigos perhaps.

9- feats.  I'll make a short list of feats for the characters.  It will be mostly stock western tropes like fanning the hammer and trick shots.


More as it comes to me!

Peace,

Troy

[Troy_Costisick]

I am quickly finding that 3000 words isnt very many.   I'm going to habe to scale back some of my ambition here.

[Troy_Costisick]

Finished my first sketch of the mine today along with a preliminary bestiary for the GM.  Will post a link to the map when I can.  Mimic is being used as a monster that rembles a streak of gold or silver in the mine. 

One question I have though is whether or not to have levels for the characters?  I intemd this as a kind od OSR game, so evem tho this is a one shot, should it habe levels for advancement?

Peace,

Troy

[PeterBB]

Real world minutes or in-game minutes? Either is cool, but I actually really like the idea of having a real life countdown going on.

Great question!  I think I'm going to make it real world minutes.  Every ten, a room floods.  The GM will need a timer of some kind.  I think that will raise the tension.  I envision a game taking about five hours tolay, so that's around thirty rooms.  A fair size for a dungeon. 

Now, I just have to figure out how to work in a reward system of some sort.

Peace,

Troy

Awesome! I am really looking forward to this.

[Troy_Costisick]

Here's the link to the map: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9KW0-YiNVWqaEFyZEdtcWpwenM/edit

Let me know if it works! :)

Peace,

-Troy

[Troy_Costisick]

Rough draft is basically done.  On to revising and testing!

[Troy_Costisick]

Okay, I think I have everything finished now.  I'm probably going to max out Jonathan's and Mike's tolerance on word count, and that's after I cut out a bunch of things I wish I could have kept! 

It will be 33 pages long, but almost all of it is character sheet and map-related junk.  The actual text took up less than 8 pages in my Word document.  Anyway, I'll probably post it in the morning.  Wish me luck!

Peace,

Troy

[Troy_Costisick]

Heya,

The game is done and ready for sharing!  Here's the link to the PDF: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B9KW0-YiNVWqMnVrcnpxZzRVc00

Hope anyone who reads this gets a kick out of it.  Don't be surprised if I talk about this game some more in the Game Development forum.  Thanks everyone :)

Peace,

-Troy

PS: Let me know if the link doesn't work.

[Mathalus]

The link works great for me.

I’ve only skimmed your document, but I have plenty of dumb questions. :)

Do you start playing all three characters, or do you play one character and then when that character dies, you bring in the reinforcements?

Is there and mechanical difference between the gunslinger and the gambler?

Why not save us some time and write the equipment that is automatic on the character sheet. If it gets used up, cross it off.

To save even more time, why don’t you just make three character sheets. One for Gunslingers, One for Gamblers, and one for Doctors. Give them a list of appropriate feats and have them circle a few. That would speed up the onerous character creation process.

Rather than letting zombies be controlled by the GM, why don’t you let players go nuts and attack their own party. That’s sort of a fun release. Then, when their zombie dies, they can come back as a character. That way, they can choose their preference (run away as a zombie and screw around for a bit or attack the party quickly and really ham it up, so they can come back sooner).