5 Minute Game Design

My wife got back into town last night, and she was kind enough to let me sleep in this morning (she got up and took care of the beagles). Unfortunately, the early morning, pre-waking hours are usually my only time to write, so my continuation of my DragonLance posts will have to wait. Sorry.

SO, to make sure I still write something (I'm really trying, folks), here's a little game I designed with my 7 year old last night, while waiting for the pizza to arrive at our table. In truth, I did most of the design, but Diego provided me the materials I had to work with: a miniature spiral notebook (2"x4"), a couple pencils, a stick from Pick-Up-Sticks, a handful of (small) random plastic minis, and a bagful of assorted dice. Oh, yeah...and he wanted me to try to duplicate our "robot game" that we used to play down in Paraguay.

Here's what I came up with on the fly:

Each robot is represented by a single model, and three randomly-determined abilities: armor, firepower, and speed.  Abilities are determined as follows:

Armor: Roll D10+10
Firepower: Roll 2D6+6
Speed: Roll D4...add the result to the difference of 20-Armor (more armored mechs are slower)

Speed determines the number of actions your mech has:  1-4 one action, 5-8 two actions, 9+ three actions. An action may be a "move" or an "attack." One move is one-half the Pick-Up-Stick (there is no action spent to change facing).

An attack is made against any opponent within range, providing line-of-sight isn't blocked by items on the table (pints of beer, bottles of cheese or chili peppers, etc.). Range for all robots is one Pick-Up-Stick. To make an attack roll D20 under your 'bot's Firepower. Success inflicts D6 damage, subtracted directly from Armor (while it never came up in our battles, I would have awarded a "critical hit" on any roll of "1," inflicting double damage).

When a robot's Armor is reduced to zero, it is destroyed.

All 'bots must begin at a range greater than one Pick-Up-Stick. All players roll D6 ("initiative") to determine turn order. Turn order does not change during the battle. You are not required to utilize your full number of actions on your turn, but unused actions are lost.

[sorry...I don't have any photos to post]

Anyway, it was a fun little game to play while we were waiting for our pizza. Sofia (my four year old) won our first battle (I had the smallest, fastest 'bot; Diego had the heaviest, slowest) through a combo of luck and courage (okay, mostly luck). Feel free to use it as a jumping off point for your own Pizza Night games. Diego and I are already thinking of ways to expand the rules.
; )

Mecha War III

That's the new title for my updated version of the game formerly known as War of the Mecha. It's my third pass at the concept, that's why it has the number. Get it?

Anyway, play testing was substantial today and I seem to have gotten all the bugs out. For those who enjoyed the previous version, this is (in my not so humble opinion) very much improved. You can download it here:

Mecha War III

For ease of use with my four year old, I mocked up some data profiles of mecha using the configuration rules; the designs are inspired by "classic" battle mechs (as will be apparent to longtime BattleTech players). You can download my "sample sheet" here. Just cut 'em apart and you're ready to play (assuming you have some dice and Legos). Whether I'll bother to redo the Clan Invasion and War Campaign rules...well, I don't know (you folks can probably figure those out yourself).

Today's final battle: a four-on-four between myself and Diego that lasted four turns. The sides:

D: Zeus, "Dino-Rex," Phoenix Hawk, and Wasp (about 235 tons)

JB: Atlas, Rifleman, Shadow Hawk, and Commando (about 240 tons)

Things started out fairly even as the mecha closed to striking distance. The Rifleman was able to draw the Dino off to the flank into a set of ruins, while the Wasp and Phoenix Hawk took the direct approach through the large lake that dominated the center of the battlefield and the Zeus took the circuitous route around the side. The Zeus and Atlas traded shots with the Atlas losing an arm in the bargain.

Hard to hit.

Feeling a bit desperate, JB deployed a jump-jetting Shadow-Hawk from the swamp on the opposite flank, hoping to draw the attention of the Zeus. The plan worked better than he could have hoped as the Zeus's concentrated fire failed do more than scratch the 'Hawk (despite dropping any kind of shooting penalty for "cover" from the rules), and the assault mecha was caught in a wicked cross-fire, being brought down by several missile salvos from the Atlas. Coming to a mutual decision to end the game after the fourth turn, the Rifleman and Dino-Rex opened fire at close range with every weapon in their arsenal, but neither was dealt a killing blow and both survived their massive heat build-up thanks to good dice rolls. The Wasp and Commando show-down was likewise inconclusive (both remained standing and functional) though the Wasp was relieved of all weapon systems thanks to a massive critical hit, leaving nothing but strong language to throw at his foe.

Diego said afterward, "I think I won this one."

I love BattleTech; have loved it ever since my buddy introduced it to me circa 1985. The concept is really no sillier than Car Wars and offers the same type of nutty fun without the fuss and muss of phase tracking and maneuver/turn cards. This new "micro-version" is a real joy to play, even with a four-year old (who sometimes gets distracted by the plastic sea life we use in our terrain features), and I'm glad I took the time to put it together. I really wish I could get some cheap plastic miniatures or models in the 100mm range...I'd love to do some painting, and I think D would, too. He really had a good time coloring the mecha portraits that we cut out and taped to our Lego stacks for figures.

*sigh* Any gaming is better than no gaming.

A Tasty Little Evening

The bartender was absent from the local joint last night, so I was able to instruct and supervise Melisa in the proper construction of a delicious dry gin martini. "Ooo...it's so blanco!" she said. By which she meant "clear" (instead of yellow or pink or brownish which has been their last few attempts). Very, very nice...I'm going to have to get her to make me a couple-four more of those over the next week so that she can solidify the instructions in her brain (Melisa's our regular waitress at the place).

By the time we got home, I was pleasantly (i.e. mildly) shnockered, and it was time to get my game on. Turns out, teaching a four-year old to play streamlined BattleTech (which is what War of the Mecha is) isn't all that tough, and the kid loved it. He would have played all night, but my loose sense of parental responsibility required me to get him to bed by eleven. Besides he had gotten to play a good long time in the afternoon prior to his siesta ("I'm too excited to sleep, papi!").

An archer is caught in the kill zone between two mountains while seeking to avoid a "swamp" of baby toys.

This was actually my child's first toe-dip into wargaming...we don't have hex maps here, so we were using actual measuring sticks, turning squares, and "terrain." It worked well, and I was pleased with the restructuring of the rules for D6-only play. Some folks might be a little confused as to why I would bother...isn't BattleTech already a D6-based game? Yes it is, but one that requires entirely too many random tables and chart consultation (I have a little more patience than a four-year old, but not much...for a war-game, I want my rules constrained to a single page). Anyway, it worked well and Diego was surprisingly good at managing his heat accumulation while coordinating two mechs simultaneously.

My Warhammer lost an arm to a critical hit. D's favorite mech was the Yu Huang, but he decided to rename it "Dino-Nex."

[Diego had wanted to play with a four-mech squad, but I put my foot down...plus we were running out of Legos since he insisted on building the mechs so big. To be fair, he was using an assault-class mech, so it was supposed to be big. I guess my old age makes me inclined to be pragmatic (save some blocks for the other robots!) about such things. *sigh*]

I will try to get the Crowns of Blood thing posted before I leave town, but it's going to be tough. Diego really prefers playing with papa (today it's Star Wars), which leaves me little time for writing, what with the other stuff I've got to do to prepare. Later, gators.
: )

Holy Week

Yesterday was the 29th of the month which, as everyone knows, is Gnocchi Day here in Paraguay. I'm certain I've mentioned the Paraguayans love of holidays and fireworks (and any excuse for either). The 29th of every month is Gnocchi Day, and since the dish is so ubiquitous in Paraguayan restaurants (a pasta made from a root vegetable? That is smack-dab in the center of their wheelhouse, baby!) most places offer a special gnocchi dish to celebrate.

Of course, I wasn't celebrating Gnocchi Day...I was kind of "gnocchi'd out" round about our 2nd month of living here (interesting factoid on Yours Truly: the ability to cook Gnocchi used to be one of my culinary "claims to fame" in a repertoire of not-very-many dishes I know how to make; never thought I'd end up in the land of gnocchi). Instead I was celebrating Palm Sunday, the first day of Holy Week (i.e. the week leading up to Easter Sunday).

Another interesting note: when you're living in a Catholic country (albeit one of lapsed, non-practicing, and generally non-devout Catholics) that has an abundant surplus of palm trees and a large group of impoverished people who work in folk art, you end up with an exceptionally elaborate version of Palm Sunday. Up in Seattle, you get handed a single palm leaf as you walk into your church...here, you get an elaborate handicraft-woven rod-o-palms, or shield-and-cross, or...well take your pick. 'Course, you're paying 5000 guaranii (the local money) a pop, but still it's very cool.

If (like me) you're into such things.

ANYway...school's out this week, and most people are taking vacations, including my family (though later this week). My time for writing will be fairly constrained, seeing as how I will be planning and packing when I'm not entertaining the kids. SO...I hope to still finish the chargen posts for Crowns of Blood (only one left, though I want to write another one about starting and running a campaign), but that may not get done till tomorrow or Wednesday. At the moment, I'm in the process of retooling my old micro-adventure War of the Mecha to work with D6s and the metric system so that Diego and I can play it with the Duplos (can you tell I'm jonesin' for a tabletop game?).

Okay...time to eat some breakfast and do some coloring (BattleTech mecha pix). Later.

Podcasts and Such...

Oh, yeah...forgot to mention that I'm being interviewed by the folks over at Save or Die this weekend...they wanted to talk to me about the B/X Companion and (if I understand this correctly) I will be "podcast live."

I think. I'm not really sure how this all works. All I know is I'm going to be doing an interview via Skype with the same folks who interviewed Frank Mentzer last August.

Um...are they sure they've got the right guy? I mean, did Raggi turn 'em down or something?

Wow, just by the way...listening to the Mentzer interview makes me feel like a total heel for some of the BS I've said about his BECMI books. Some of us (like moi, for example), sometimes forget the guy used to have a goddamn job to do for TSR and sometimes working for "the man" (any man) means sacrificing your own creative impulses or control over your writing...for the sake of getting paid, man.

Let me just say, I would be writing swill splatbooks for White Wolf or revamped supplements for 4E if it meant I could get PAID for writing. Probably, anyway.

"What, JB? You'd sell out?" Well, I can't say for 100% certainty that this is the case, but it would really depend on the money being offered, I suppose. I DO have a mortgage and a baby and all, and it would be nice to do something different from my mind-numbing day job...something creative...

Or maybe not. Probably my biggest (or weirdest) fear is somehow being thought of as "the Ace of Base of the OSR" (not sure if that means anything to you, but as far as I'm concerned, there's a special corner in hell reserved for AoB...). Yes, I realize it may already be too late for me, but I can always hope some future project of mine will somehow redeem me...that I will somehow find a way to publish a Vornheim or a Death Frost Doom or a Stonehell Dungeon...something.

ANYhoo. I haven't sold out yet, and will do my best to say something nice about Mr. Mentzer in Saturday's podcast. Just thought I'd let you all know.

; )

By The Way, Stuart from Strange Magic is courting me to do something with my War of the Mecha game on the same scale as his Weird Magic RPG. I'm tempted, if only because he's offered to do the artwork, and I dig Stu's style (highly reminiscent of Peter Bergting, one of my personal favorite RPG artists). Anyway, if some sort of pocket mod gets done, I'll be sure to let folks here know all about it.

...boy, I'm really tired right now...

War of the Mecha (Revised Edition)

You can download it here.

Why the revision? What's different?

Well, I started tinkering around with the original rules trying to recreate my favorite mecha (i.e. the standard mechs from the 1st edition of BattleTech game, aka "The Unseen") and found myself unable to do so. Ridiculous. And yet it only took a few slight adjustments to get it the way I wanted.

Now you should be able to recreate everything from the Locust and Stinger to the Commando and Valkyrie to the Wolverine and Griffin and Phoenix Hawk and Shadow Hawk to the Crusader and Thunderbolt. Some of the larger assault mecha are trickier, but they're definitely doable...with the exception of heavy and assault mechs that are jump capable.

But those were kind of silly anyway, right?

I could post a bunch of conversions (from BT to WotM) but what fun would that be for you all?

Okay, now that THAT's out of the way...

Folks, I am extremely busy of late. My own health has greatly improved (except that I only got three hours of sleep last night), but I've switched offices and am in a real state of transition at my regular work. Until next week, please expect posting will be light around these here parts, as the little free time I have will (I hope) be spent finishing up my various writing projects, all of which have been "back burnered" of late.

For those who are curious, here's what I'm working on:

- supplementary rule book for B/X (kind of an "Unearthed Arcana" / goody collection)

- introductory module for the B/X Companion

- still have that "Shadowrunny" type game to clean up...damn, it's only half a dozen pages shy of completion, I might as well knock it out.

- developing an idea for a 2nd high level B/X module

Finally, all this mecha talk has got my brain percolating about something else. NO, not a remake of BattleTech! But definitely mecha related. I'm still not sure the idea would be good enough to develop as a full-blown RPG...but if it's not than it's a project I don't want to start on. I'm not interested in creating any board/war games right now.

Now, if y'all don't mind, I'm going to do some dishes and hit the hay. Adios!

: )

Vulture Droids

No not the things in the Star Wars prequels. I'm talking about one of my many guilty pleasures.

It's been a looong day folks. Not that they aren't all long days these days, but most of today I felt less than stellar (I'm fighting some sort of hay fever or something). And the only thing going through my head this afternoon was the Vulture mecha, aka the Clan omni-mech Mad Dog.

Now, I should probably note that I haven't played an actual game of BattleTech in years...like so many years ago it was before there was even such a thing as Clans.

"Back in MY day," says the Old Geezer, "we used cardboard cut-out figures and maps with little hexagons; none of these new-fangled miniatures and terrain model."

I never bothered keeping up with BT over the years. I've picked up the BT Compendium (used) and I've read up on the "on-going timeline" via the internet, but I wouldn't know a damn thing about the clan mechs themselves if it wasn't for video games.

Yes, I do play video games...or I have. Haven't played any for many months now (the amount of free time remaining to me is near zero), and that's just fine. Like television, you rarely miss it when it's gone.

['course I'd probably spring for a new 360 if they came out with a Rock Band disk containing the music of Queensryche's The Warning...I've had that one stuck in my head for awhile now]

Video games can definitely be fun, especially for games like BattleTech; that is, war games with a ton of minutia (critical hits and hit locations and weapon variation and special options, etc.). But for the table-top I want something simpler (like my War of the Mecha game). It demands a faster pace...even when I played BT in the past it was sloooow...at least if you were using more than a couple mechs on each side of the engagement.

But sometimes I miss that minutia...endo steel structures and ferro-fibrous armor and the distinction between pulse lasers and beam lasers. Mech construction is one of those little "games within games" that is so much fun. I've used snatches of this and that off the web to deconstruct Clan mechs using the BT Compendium even withOUT the actual Clan stats.

Yes, I am a big nerd. You don't have to tell me.

Unfortunately, having deconstructed 'em...like the ultra-cool Vulture/Mad Dog...I simply have no desire to do anything with 'em. I mean, I'd like to drive one and blast shit, but actually playing BattleTech sounds so tedious. And frustrating. Trying to play the way the game is written (as opposed to using my micro-version) would consist of me spending a lot of time teaching someone...or me getting totally pwned by someone who's an even bigger nerd than me.

[I have a similar issue with other table-top war games...Warhammer 40K, for example]

Anyway, that's just what I'm thinking about...and I really wanted to post a good pic of the Vulture. Tomorrow, I've got some orcish scenarios to finish statting out.

G'night, folks.

: )

Campaign and Conquest

Unlike the last post, this one IS game related.

Sorry for the delay with this...I would have had it up yesterday, but was having trouble with my Mediafire access. All fixed now.

The Glenn at the Seeking Wing's recent enthusiasm for my one page microgame, War of the Mecha inspired me to whip up yet another supplement for the mecha mayhem, this one entitled War of the Mecha III: Campaign and Conquest. It provides rules for running an on-going campaign (planetary assault in this case) with specific mission objectives, victory scenarios, and rules for promotion in rank (as well as being busted down for failure). Fully compatible with War of the Mecha and WotM II: Clan Invasion! this game provides only additional rules, not revisions or changes. If you don't like the original, you'll have to make your own house rules! You can download it here:

Campaign and Conquest

Glenn: You are responsible for coming up with your own "combined arms" rules for armored vehicles, infantry, and air support. I think I'm creatively "tapped out" for now!

; )

...and Speaking of Endless War...

Wow...check this out!

Glenn Jupp of The Seeking Wing is a role-player and war gamer who has a not-too-uncommon BattleTech fetish and started developing an old school BattleTech game using a combo of Mekton and MicroMechWarrior. That is, until he somehow stumbled across my War of the Mecha one-page RPG. Now he's not only playing WotM (with miniatures!) he's posting pix on his blog AND developing his own minutia and random tables for the game.

That's pretty damn cool, for a number of reasons.

First off, it's great that someone's actually using the rules. I liked them a lot myself, developing them because of my own BattleTech fetish.

Second, they actually work! And manage to capture the feel of BT without all the extra rolling...my whole design objective! Fantastic!

Third, in addition to providing someone with enjoyment (my numero uno priority), they're inspiring someone to add their own creativity to the mix (with salvage rules, extra crit tables, and the possible development of random missions and war campaigns). That is super-hip. Creativity breeding creativity can only lead to a more fun (and interesting) world.

Finally, Glenn's own sharing has inspired me. I don't have all the cool minis and such he has but I have a whole box of cardboard terrain and mecha cut-outs (i.e. the BattleTech boxed set) that I may just take down to the Baranof on Thursday. I mean, I plan on running D&D, too, but maybe a little mecha-inspired mayhem as a prelude would be cool. Hell, we can at least use the counters to represent goblins and such in our B/X game.

Super cool. I love this blogger stuff.

: )

P.S. Here's the link for the War of the Mecha supplement, Clan Invasion!

My First Published Supplement!

No, not the B/X Companion (May, remember? And anyway, still waiting to hear back from my guy doing the cover...uh-oh!).

Nope, I've just made available my first micro-supplement for my micro-game War of the Mecha. The supplement (also one page) is called War of the Mecha II: Clan Invasion! and it is to be used in conjunction with WotM. You can download it from mediafire right here.

It's easy to see how game products (and supplements) can so easily spiral out of control. Once you get a halfway decent idea (including streamlining or re-inventing someone else's game!) you can find yourself wanting to add "just one more paragraph" (or page!) as new ideas pop into your head. The trick is to hold yourself to the minimum (a one-page micro or 64-page RPG) and then allow players to make it their own.

Because, face it: no matter how big and bulky you design a game, people are generally going to tinker with it (and in fact, the bigger and bulkier you make it, the MORE people will tinker with it to make it manageable). Look at this recent post over at the Black Gate (and the comments on the same): here are folks willing to play 4th edition D&D (something I am NOT) but they're just changing the damn thing to fit their own "fun." What's the point of Hasbro publishing an extra 20-30 pages of rules and instructions when people just throw 'em out anyway? People who want additional complexity will ADD IT THEMSELVES (I know we always did as kids!). What...are people too stupid to write their own random charts?

Anyway, the Clan Invasion! supplement is NOT needed to play War of the Mecha, but it can add an extra dimension to your WotM campaigns (players can create Clan characters or GMs can use the Clans as uber-adversaries). There's also a little addendum with (hopefully) useful info for WotM, but nothing that is necessary to play the original micro-game.

Enjoy!

; )

B/X BattleTech

No, no...I am just kidding around.

That's not to say I wasn't thinking about it earlier this week! However, considering the original BattleTech rules were shorter than B/X why would I try to out stream-line an already stream-lined game...of course, I could do a B/X version of MechWarrior.

No, no! Seriously, I'm just joking!

Instead, though, I figure it's about time I threw my gentle readers a bone in the form of yet another one-page micro-game, this one totally inspired by the original FASA BattleTech. It is called WAR OF THE MECHA and you can download the .pdf from MediaFire right here.

See, don't say I never give you people anything!

[by the way:War of the Mecha is a table-top war game, which means it will require some props...i.e. tokens or miniatures or counters...to play out the game. It does not have a fancy watermark like Clockwork or the Chronicles of Mutation because, frankly, I could not find a non-copyrighted mecha illustration on the web that didn't suck. If anyone wants to gift me with one, I will update the document for everyone's benefit and enjoyment]

And you thought BattleTech required three huge volumes to play!

; )