Michael Chabon & Story RPGs

 From the The Martian Agent, A Planetary Romance, from McSweeney's mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales.

"Jefferson Drake was an inveterate reader of novels for boys. In these tales there were ever only three possible destinies available to those who found themselves in such a grave predicament. For Heroic Britons, there were the Fighting Martyrdom, guns blazing, and the Impossible Stand, holding out till help arrived. For a noble enemy - Russian, German, Pathan, the odd renegade Frenchman or Iroquois - there was only Defeat Without Surender, choosing to end one's own life rather than face the ignominy of inevitable capture. (For "savage" enemies such possiblities rarely arose, for these traveled almost exclusively in Swarms or Hordes, and so never found themselves Surrounded.) 

Sounds a lot like PbtA moves to me.

Re-creating Stormbringer RPG

It is no surprise that I love the Stormbringer RPG.

I read all of Moorcock's books I could find at an early age.

I collected the comics, Thomas & Russel's Elric, Mignola's Corum, and the varying others.

Stormbringer 3e in the green cover was my first non-D&D RPG. It was stolen out from under me. I had Elric! and that too disappeared.

(If you have an old copy of any edition and want to support me, drop me a DM. I'm willing to trade or pay a fair price).

Now, I am into story games and modern game design.

I think I will try my hand at re-creating Stormbringer using the insights I have gleaned from games like Swords of the Serpentime, Powered by the Apocalypse, and Alien. 

Where to Start?

My first instinct is to look at the skills list, but this is a misstep. Stormbringer isn't about skills, it is about the conflict between Law and Chaos, one that has reverberated through roleplaying since the beginning of the hobby. Each edition of Stormbringer had its own incomplete and poorly implemented take on allegience to these powers.

This is where I will start. If I can untangle the concepts and how they were implemented, maybe I can find the way in to this maze.

Wish me luck!

What Constitutes A Move?

So I read this post about hating story games because Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA) uses playbooks and moves HERE. I gotta say, although I don't know PbtA well, I think there is a lot to unpack in this post and the argument it makes.

Basically, the OP was appalled that a PbtA gamemaster defused a player's stated intent to 'Kick Ass' by making them choose between fighting a monster OR getting to their vehicle. The cited problematic exchange is as follows:


Alan, the Keeper: “The flayed one is racing you to the car,and it looks like it’s going to get to you before you can close the door. So Mark, what do you do now?”Mary, playing her hunter Mark: “I kick some ass*!”Alan: “What are you doing?”Mary: “I’m going to smash it out the way with my baseballbat so I can get in the car.”Alan: “That sounds like you’re not really getting into afight: what’s most important? Killing the flayed one or gettingto the car?”Mary: “Oh, yeah, killing it I guess. I’ll stop running andjust start smashing it on the head.”

To me, 'Kick Ass' just means attack, and I wouldn't have asked 'What are you doing?,' which prompts the player to split their intent between 'smashing' the monster and 'get into the car'. 

The OP states their problem with the exchange as follows:

"Why can't the PC try to bash the monster out of his way and get into the car? Is their some in-story reason for this? Doesn't sound like it - it just sounds like the game master is forcing the player into an action to keep to the structure of the rules. This is what I mean when I refer to structure getting in the way of story."

A few things here.

First, the very idea of 'moves' in RPGs is problematic. On the one hand, the use of conjunctions by the player (smash SO I can get to my car) and the OP (bash the monster AND get to their car) imply that TWO moves are happening here, so the GM's response by making the player choose has its own logic. On the other hand, as a person who did karate in Japan for years, there is no such thing as 'clean' one for one moves in combat. Fighting for your life is messy, and you can end up on the winning (or losing) side and have little recollection of the flurry of moments that got you there.


Second, I don't see much difference between PbtA's moves and D&D Feats. Both use pseudo-narrative set moves to simulate and create a vibe at the expense of player choice.  

The OP continues, "So, in the name of abiding by the simplification of player action down to a set of "moves" (as they're called in Powered by the Apocalypse games) the rules - through the above text, if nowhere else - advise the game master to force a player to change his character's action?"

I dunno, this sounds exactly like 3e on D&D Feats in the few 4e games I played, which were a limited selection of 'kewl powers' that did the same amount of damage as everyone else's powers, but stifled how I could use my character. This stood in big contrast to the D&D and CoC games I played in the 80's and 90's, where the sky was the limit for action choice, but you had to abide by how much you could reasonably do in a round, and also accept the chance of failure if your intended action was complex.

This difference implies that the way a game system structures combat shows different ways of managing a move, a difference reflected in the OP's suggested solution to the problem, which is as follows:

"In Call of Cthulhu for example, the Keeper could just tell the player: "You'll have to make an attack with the baseball bat - if it hits, it won't do any damage but the path to get into your car will be clear. If not, you'll be stopped and stuck fighting the creature." The decisions are all up to the player at this point - instead of forcing her into a situation where she had to revise her action to stick to the structure of the rules, the game (by way of the Keeper) has given her the options and let her decide on the course of action."

This solution simply exchanges the unfavored choice (fight OR get to car) their own favored choice (hit to escape OR failing that have to fight), but doesn't do away for the logical necessity for choice. The fact that the OP has switched to a system (CoC) that has neither moves like PbtA or Feats like D&D also implies that system is not the problem.

This brings us to the real issue here: the different way games are designed to handle action, and how this impacts on player and GM expectations for combat.
This difference in expectation (as inculcated by the system you're used to) was brought to my attention when I GMed Swords of the Serpentine, a Gumshoe fantasy RPG and story game last year. One player was an inveterate D&D DM, and had made a bog standard D&D thief in a game that doesn't reward that type of character (ie there is no money in the system, or link between XP and gold). The PC was hanging over the side of a boat sneaking up on pirates,when the player stated "I want to swing up, land on deck, throw a few shrikes, draw my sword and jump into battle."

"Ummm, no" I replied. Half the players were incensed I was blocking the player's (very D&D) kewl moves in a supposedly empowering story game, while the other (older) half were on my side that the chain of actions was preposterous considering the situation.

First, we have the 'Pathetic aesthetic' of old school games vs the rule of cool of newer games. When I played OD&D back in the 80's and 90's, it was one move a round, a very literary way to represent action, and understandable considering the literary inspiration (Tolkien, Moorcock, etc) most of us based our imaginings on.

Later D&D editions switched to cinematic mode of action, with multiple actions and feats, which I surmise reflected the growing popularity of and exposure to video games. My little 4e experience was like playing a CRPG on paper, and as frustrating for a grognard like me as it was fun for the twenty somethings sitting at the table with me.

So just as both story games like PbtA and traditional RPGs like D&D can have shorthand moves or feats that limit choice, both new and old games can either allow multiple cool actions or limit to one based on whether they are emulating modern sources such as video games, or older inspirations such as pulp fantasy novels.

Regardless of system, players and GMs need to agree on the mode of action (literary or cinematic) and either choose systems to match this or tweak their system to do what they feel is right.

Alien RPG

I'm reading the Alien RPG by Free League between teaching online classes and time spent with sonny while he's at home from school.

It is brilliantly done. The art alone makes it worth the price of admission - kind of like those old Ralph Mcquarrie concept art books for Star Wars that made you wish the films had looked that badass.

I had an idea of making my own Alien RPG on an OSR chassis, but alas it has been a busy first 2 years as prof. My concept was as follows:

1) An Alien RPG needs easy chargen and lethality
2) It needs story elements that subvert or short circuit the cruelty of the dice
3) It needs a great take on the setting, which I called 'Corporate Space'

Free League has accomplished it all, and much better than I could have.

Although I'm not near finished reading the tome (it is my cool down read between work and child rearing), here are some of my thoughts, good and bad:

STRESS MECHANIC

Whereas in other story games like GUMSHOE extra die pools empower PCs, as befitting the horror genre, this empowerment comes at an awful price in Alien. If things keep getting worse, this can lead to Panic, or loss of autonomy. Losing control is a hated fate in RPGs, and so leveraging this meta-fear for a horror game is very apt.

CANON TYRANNY VS BALANCE

If there is one complaint, it is that Free League have followed the canon too closely in some places, but missed useful tropes in others. Here are a few suggestions to spice the game up. Please note that I haven't finished reading the game as I mentioned, so they may have patched these up later.

Starbeast or Starbeasts?

The inclusion of Starbeast, a tell-all about the events of Alien 3 (ewww) that has become a banned book spreading stories across the frontier, is brilliant. However, I'd change it to Starbeasts, with stories of all kinds of aliens covered up by the corporate states, and have anyone caught reading it dismissed as a conspiracy nut, or else threatened with legal action or dismissal from contract. On the other hand, the book might allow a small bonus to Observation rolls about xenomorphs.

Androids don't use guns

I haven't gotten to the android rules yet, but if there is one rule they need to follow, it is their inability to use firearms. From Ash to David, to the chrome heads of Alien: Isolation, synthetics are scary enough without firearms. Add to this they are often overlooked as mere servants and, like David from Prometheus, and are in control of the ship, its life support systems, as well as able to beat down the average human, then androids are powerful enough, so should stick to this rule. Unless you need some badass synth killers for the Weyland-Yutani security teams.

Throw in a twist

As much as I love Alien and Aliens, in terms of horror and terror, the franchise is an example of diminishing returns. The producers of its sequels seem to think making the alien bigger and badder each time works to keep it 'fresh'.

It doesn't.

What works in horror is surprise, and the sudden powerlessness this instills in those who must face it.

For example, the sequels and prequels have hammered home that the xenomorph doesn't speak, but is just an animal, a perfect organism. However, in the original Alien script, after Ripley dies and the titular monster took over the controls of the lifeboat, it then speaks into the communication system at the end, calling out for other ships to rescue it.

Throwing in a twist like this means throwing out canon, but is the best way to keep players interested and on their toes.

Just imagine if a bunch of PCs is marooned on a mining asteroid with huge amoebas oozing from the walls and picking them off. Then a voice over the PA or commlink starts giving them directions where to go and how to get to safety. They follow the instructions and breathe a sigh of relief as they enter the airlock of a rescue ship only to see the talking alien behind the controls.

Fade to black.

Throw the players some surprises. Chuck in the Predator, the Thing, Silent Running, whatever, but make changes that are both unsettling and threatening.

A FREEBIE RANDOM TABLE

Alien and Aliens are known for their unforgettable characters, from Ripley and Ash to Hudson and Vasquez. What follows is a table that gives suggestions for unique characteristics for characters. Since the system uses only D6, that is all you need for this table.

What makes your character unique?

1 CLOTHES
1 Baseball hat 2 Sombrero 3 Hawaiian shirt 4 Cowboy boots 5 Dashiki 6 Kimono

2 ATTITUDE
1 Optimist 2 Pessimist 3 Realist 4 Dreamer 5 Schemer 6 Cocksure

3 FIXATION
1 Contracts 2 Getting home 3 Gear 4 Survival 5 Promotions 6 Solving mysteries

4 WORK ETHIC
1 Get it done 2 Avoid it 3 Do it right 4 Get someone to do it 5 Has to be done 6 We're in this together

5 APPEARANCE
1 Bald or bushy hair 2 Moustache or make up 3 Glasses 4 Tattoos or piercings 5 Scar or birthmark 6 Unique body type (1 fat 2 thin 3 tall 4 short 5 mixed race 6 albino)

6 NEVER GOES ANYWHERE WITHOUT
1 Pet 2 Picture 3 Weapon 4 Fiend 5 Tool 6 Toy

Storifying Stormbringer

My first love was the Stormbringer RPG. I had the green book 4th edition.

In my old age, the thought comes to me to remake it, to storify it.

I suppose the best thing would be to change it to some story game such as Gumshoe's Swords of the Serpentine. Kevin Kulp's play reports sound like something out of a Moorcock novel.

But...

I still love the bones of the old Chaosium system. So here is a stab at Storified Stormbringer.

First and foremost, how can we give narrative agency to players?

The underused Power attribute seems a good bet. Not only are high POW characters likely to be sorcerers with access to world changing magic, all players now can use POW points to influence the story and game world. This also means that these story game rule additions can be easily ported to other literary inspired Chaosium games (ie Call fo Cthulhu, Ringwolrd, or Elfquest) with little work.

STORY RULE 1 - USING POW

Players can choose to use their pool of POW points to invoke Minor or Major Boons. Minor Boons are small advantages to rolls, and POW points used in this way can be regained fairly easily. Major Boons can change something about the scene, the story, or the entire game world, and replenishing POW points used in this way becomes a major undertaking.

POW thus becomes also a pool of points that can be used for various story effects, giving agency to the player much like other story mechanics.

MINOR BOONS

Minor boons are simply bonuses to rolls. Players should declare they are invoking a Minor Boon, then narrate how the bonus is justified - do they have special knowledge, or are they motivated to make a greater effect? Don't just say "I want +1 to damage," instead, narrate the event, "I remember my slain friends' faces and slash hard into the Duke of Hell! Can I get +1 to damage?"

Per 1 POW point spent

+5% to a d100 roll
+1 to a damage roof
-1 to damage taken
-5% to an opponent's d100% roll

Remember, these bonuses are available if the player declares they are spending points BEFORE the roll. If the player wants to invoke a Minor Boon AFTER the roll has already been made, they must pay DOUBLE (ie 2 POW points per plus or minus 5% or 1 damage). This lets players strategically decide to take a risk at low cost declaring before, or pay a higher price to change fate after the die have been cast.

Note:

1) Players may only invoke Minor Boons for their own character - they may not use POW points to alter rolls for other PCs.
2) POW used for Minor Boons reduces the POW score for magic purposes, so any summoning should wait until POW points are replenished as outlined below.
3) Each character can invoke one Minor Boon per session.

MAJOR BOONS

Major Boons don't give mechanical bonuses or penalties, rather they change the narrative flow of events in myriad tangible and intangible ways. Only one Major Boon per session is allowed, and the GM should keep scrupulous track of its repercussions.

Change the scene = 1 POW point
Change the story (scenario or adventure) = 2 POW points
Change the game world = 3 POW points

Major Boons should be narrated eloquently, matching the tone of the game and the theme of the story. They shouldn't be game breaking non-sequitur Get Out of Jail Cards. The GM is free to deny any Boons, minor or major, that make no sense in the world or story.

Major Boons can be deployed before or after events, within reason.

Examples

Scene Change - If players are fighting on a ship's deck, a player character can ask that a rogue wave comes and either reduces the number of foes or gives the PCs time to escape.
Story Change - Players can turn an NPC jailer into an ally because they were childhood friends or fall in love at first sight, or find a clue to the MacGuffin from an old beggar man, or stumble onto a magic weapon while running from ghouls in a forgotten tomb.
World Change - A PC can suddenly remember that Melniboneans are scared of cats, or that Isle of Purple Town ships all carry rum that can be turned into fiery cocktails to repel pirates.

Note:

1) Players may invoke Major Boons for any character - they may use POW points to alter circumstances for other PCs, if it is well thought out and entertainingly narrated.
2) POW used for Major Boons does not reduce the POW score for magic purposes, but does reduce it in terms of Boons, Minor as well as Major, that can be used in future. Basically, this models a character's luck running out as they call in favours from fate. You should start keeping track of POW for magic and POW for Boons separately. A minor inconvenience, but worth the effort.
3) Only one character can invoke a Major Boon per session, period. Major Boons are to be used sparingly and only in times of great need.

REGAINING POW

POW points used in Minor Boons are all replenished after a short scenario or part of a longer adventure. Basically, if the PC has some downtime, POW is regained at a rate of 1 per day not adventuring.

For POW lost in Major Boons, the PC must do something that furthers the story, at the guidance of the GM. This could either be something in the PCs backstory (ie return to their ancestral village and face down the enemy tribe that harangue them), or the larger story of the adventure (ie sneak into the harem of the Pan Tang emperor to free the winged folk princess kept there).

STORY RULE 2 - CRITICAL HITS

When I ran Stormbringer back in the day, the biggest complaint from my D&D players was the high chance of critical attacks and, more alarmingly, the high change of a devastating roll on the Wounding & Maiming tables. Here is a way to give agency back to players and increase tension when criticals are rolled.

When a critical (1/10th of weapon skill) is rolled and not parried or dodged, there are three options:

1 Roll double damage. If this does over half HP damage, roll on the Critical Damage chart.
2 Roll normal damage, ignore armour. If this does over half HP damage, roll on the Critical Damage chart.
3 Roll no damage, instead roll on the Critical Damage chart.

(Note: A critical attack can only be completely avoided by a critical defence. If a critical attack is met with a successful parry, damage is halved, and major wounds are only temporary, healing are 1d6+1 days of rest)

When fighting NPCs, the player gets to choose which effect whenever they hit or are hit with a critical attack. This gives them some advantage both to end fights quickly and survive an unlucky roll.

When PCs are fighting each other, both the attacker and defender secretly write their preferred number on a slip of paper, then at the GM's sign, show their choice. If both have written the same number, that effect is applied and play continues. If attacker and defender have written different numbers, they then play Scissors Paper Rock, with the winner's preferred number effect being applied.

Seems like a bit of a laugh, can't wait to test it!

OTHER BIBS AND BOBS

You could also steal my Call of Cthulhu encumbrance and reaction rules HERE.

Gumshoeing up Call of Cthulhu

The Need for Reread

So I am rereading the Swords of the Serpentine playlets materials and seeing all the mistakes I and players made. Although I have always added story flesh onto the bones of the rules, when I run older games, incorporating the rules encouraging story in Gumshoe games take some getting used to.

To help me conceptualize all this, I'm going to give a stab at making some simple story rules for Call of Cthulhu, probably my most played and run game, based on the Gumshoe concept of Investigative Abilities.

Investigative Abilities for Call of Cthulhu

First, the Occupation of each player character serves to define their Investigative Ability (IA).  An IA lets you get free clues and leads if reasonable for your character to do so, and by using attribute ratings as a pool of points, you can buy special, story effects. Note that using a pool point does NOT reduce the attribute, just how many pool points can be used. Points replenish when the adventure ends, or a major menace is defeated.

Players must give reasonable or interesting rationales for their pool spends. The strength of effects depends on how many points are spent. Here is a rule of thumb (something which I thought SotS sorely needed):

1 point spend: affects the scene
2 points spend: affects the character
3 points spend: affects the setting or NPCs
4 points spend: affects the game world

For instance, two characters, Paul the Policeman and Anne the Antiquarian, are on an adventure together trying to infiltrate a cult of Dagon worshippers.

Paul will automatically know that a homeless person found dead in the street was killed by cultists when he sees the corpse.

Additionally, he can spend 1 point of Intelligence, Education, Power, Appearance or to know common criminal lingo to be allowed in the door when he wants to bluff his way into their hideout.
He may spend 2 points of Power of Appearance to have an incredible resemblance to the cult leader (which the Keeper may use against him later in a reveal of family connection).
During the climatic battle when they are outnumbered, he can spend 3 points of Power or Appearance to establish a rival group of monster-hunters exist to help them fight.
Finally, he can spend 4 points of Power or Appearance to make all fishermen automatically have knowledge of the cult and ways to defeat their magics.

Similarly, Anne will automatically what tome a certain spell is from, and what language a book is written in, even if she cannot read it herself.

She can spend a point of Intelligence to remember the tunnelled over entrance into the back of a building they wish to enter secretly.
She can spend 2 points of Power to know a spell summoning a magical mist that lets them sneak away when in a pinch.
She can spend 3 points of Appearance to know a bookseller who lets them access his collection for important research.
Finally, with 4 points in Power she can insist that Poseidon exists and is an Elder God who opposes Dagon and helps those who do so when in peril.


Finally, players can also use their character descriptions to get bonuses to rolls. For every point spent, characters can get +1d6 to damage, 1d6 armour to soak damage, or +20% to a skill roll, or an automatic success for a roll.

Note that these IA may seem overpowered at first glance. However, when you recall that the Keeper has endless resources to throw at PCs, incorporating Investigative Abilities and their story effects constitute a type of false hope that fits well with Lovecraftean cosmic horror, while allowing the sometimes stead mechanics of CoC to better replicate the weirdness and coincidence of the fiction that inspired it.

Swords of the Serpentine, rules bloat, and storyfying D&D

I just finished my Swords of the Serpentine (SotS) playtest! The designer, Kevin Kulp, tweeted out the blurb I sent to Pelgrane. Good stuff!

I loved SotS's focus on simple mechanics that allow player choices to shape the story. A lot of the advice on getting players to provide setting details are practices that I have already used for years, such as having players create atmosphere by having them recount travails of long journeys. It is just nice to see these techniques as an official part of a game. These narrative practices are backed up by mechanics, such as attributes that represent both a value, as well as a pool that can be spent to affect rolls or buy story effects.

In SotS, you use a handful of Investigative and General abilities to shape the world, and thus the story. This allows the game to retain a lot of the simple magic of fantasy roleplaying, which I found dwindling away when I played 3E and 4E briefly. The feel of freedom created by exchanging long lists of KEWL POWURZ for simple narrative mechanics replicates well what Dr Bargle called the Pathetic Aesthetic of the (original, pre 5E) OSR.

I think SotS will be a great antidote to the rules bloat seen in the progression of D&D over editions. With the inclusion of Proficiencies, then Feats & Abilities, D&D killed lots of the magic of play for me by trying to mechanically codify all actions with new rule subsystems. 4e went too far with rules for my taste, while 5e seems a step back to the rulings over rules mode of the original, pre 5E OSR movement.

That said, old D&D and other FRPGS were far from perfect. The OSR added lots of much needed shot of improvisational freedom to gaming, a thing which was lacking when I started playing back in the 80s, when a cult of TSR 'sanctioned' rules defined how many played and ran the game. So instead of going into SotS here, I'd like to think about ways retroclones can be storified in SotS style to promote improvisational DMing and emergent play.

BETTER PRIME REQUISITES

First, the Prime Requisite (PR) of each class serves as 1) an indication of free actions, for which no roll is needed 2) a value for difficult skill tests, and 3) a pool of points to be spent for story effects.

For fighters, Strength is the PR, thus any minor action involving Strength does not require a roll but succeeds naturally. For instance, climbing a rope, lifting a barrel, or doing anything a strong person could requires no roll to succeed for a Fighter, whereas other classes would have to make a simple roll. Also, any Strength based action requiring a difficult test for other classes would only require a simple one for Fighters. For example, breaking down an iron door, holding onto a dragon's back, etc. Note that I use d20 resolution for simple tests and d100 for difficult ones, but other DMs are free to use their own system.

Finally, a Fighter player can spend a point of Strength to earn a story effect. Note that this spending doesn't reduce the Strength value for tests, but instead is a limited pool of points that only regenerates after the adventure ends, even if it runs over several sessions, forcing players to spend points wisely. Players are encouraged to creatively narrate the effect, and DMs should refuse boring or unimaginative uses. For instance, a buy of 1 point  could allow an unarmed fighter to bend farming tool into a sword for one encounter, or intimidate 1 NPC / monster, or hold onto a ceiling and stay out of sight as a too powerful foe passes.

Other classes can do the same with their PRs. Dexterity for Thieves, Intelligence for Magic Users, and Wisdom for Clerics would offer similar benefits and opportunities to shape the story for players of these classes. Doing so uses the pre-existing attribute system without bloating the rules with ultimately limiting Feats or other subsystems, and instead offering players the chance to use their imagination to shape the story in ways that will surprise and entertain all at the gaming table.

PS: If anyone wants to hear how running SotS went, drop me a line!

Less Death More Story

Rereading The Hobbit, it strikes me that hardly anyone dies. The defeated heroes are instead captured by trolls, or spiders, or elves, or a friendly werebear. These throwaway characters end up having larger significance when you read Lord of the Rings where the elves of Lothlorien, the spider Shelob, and Tom Bombadil are used to expand on this story construct.

In other words, Tolkien often exchanges death for a story hook. Although Tolkien is cited as an inspiration for D&D, the lethality of early versions of the game and its rivals like Traveller point to a pulpier, more lethal origin. Player dissatisfaction with this high lethality in comparison to the fiction origins of the hobby have in turn led to a buffing up of character resilience in later editions and games.

However, at heart rpgs are about telling a story communally, and I think exchanging death for story hooks is a good way to accomplish this. Letting PCs cheat death in a way that complicates the story for good or ill is a practice that will reap unseen rewards in verisimilitude of and engagement in the game world. This realization has inspired me to create a table allowing characters to avoid death in favour of other story developments. This table can be used for any genre (except horror, where death has to be final), so I will give examples from Fantasy / Science Fiction / Adventure / and Supers gaming to help the GM flesh out the details in the context of their game.

Escaping Death!

When a character is felled in combat, roll 3d6 and consult the following table.

3 Taken! A powerful, intelligent foe takes the character from his or her vanquishers, necessitating a side quest to recapture them. The Demon / Alien Computer / Evil Warlord / World Destroyer may try to turn the PC against the party, or else use them as a hostage if cornered. Play a different character for the remainder of the session or until the reunited party returns to their base.
4-5 Taken! A powerful animal foe takes the character from his or her vanquishers. The roc / Alien Queen / dinosaur / Dimensional Hound may be saving the character to feed to their young or for impregnation. On the plus side, allies may track the character and attempt to save them from such a fate, and the GM may allow a character an appropriate roll to escape, but will be at half strength or life whether they escape or are rescued. Play a different character for the remainder of the session or until the reunited party returns to their base.
6-8 Being Delivered! The foes have you in chains but are delivering you to their god / leader / boss / mastermind. Your companions thus have a chance of tracking and rescuing you, but all your items will be shared out and used by your captors, complicating rescue. The character will be at half strength or life when  they are rescued. Play a different character for the remainder of the session or until the reunited party returns to their base.
9-12 Captured! The foes that vanquished you have you, but are keeping you alive for slave labour or trade. They are also willing to trade or sell you back to the party. The character will be at half strength or life whether they escape or are rescued.
13-15 Being Delivered! A group of allies helped you escape, but it will take time to return you to the party. Play a different character for the remainder of the session or until the reunited party returns to their base.

16-17 Saved! A powerful animal ally takes the character from his or her vanquishers. The unicorn / Star Baby / yeti / Dimensional Watcher may have saved the character unintentionally, or as a mysterious move in some game of larger forces.  On the plus side, allies may track the character and attempt to reclaim them, and the animal may even care for or protect the character if the GM allows a persuasion roll or a service is performed for them. Play a different character for the remainder of the session or until the reunited party returns to their base.
18 Saved! A powerful, intelligent ally rescues the character from his or her vanquishers and spirits them far away, necessitating a journey to return them. The Angel / Alien Computer / Freedom Fighter / Star God may try to turn the PC into their servant, or else expect the debt to be repaid in future. Players should use another character until theirs is reunited with the party.

Heroic Death

Yet even in Tolkien’s world, significant people die. Boromir. gives his life to warn his fellows and let Frodo and Sam escape. In a true story-centered rpg, death should be a choice that has major story repercussions.

If a player does not want to continue using the character that is defeated in combat, he or she can instead opt for a Heroic Death. A Heroic Death is one that has great significance, that benefits the party or the cause they work for. Players can only choose a Heroic Death when the party is in real peril, and can’t be used just when they succumb to unlucky rolls but others are safe. Choosing a Heroic Death trumps mechanics, it just allows a story effect negotiated by the player and GM.

Examples

You close the portcullis / airlock / tomb door / warp tube, allowing the others to escape the explosion.

You stop the monster / alien / cultists / assassin long enough for the others to get away.

You use your body to shield your fellows from the firebolt / laser blast / grenade / cosmic beams, allowing the others to achieve their objective.
You slay the last orc / robo-sentry / Nazi / cyborg and let the party move onto the McGuffin.

I'll definitely be trying this in the next session I run, especially if it involves old school lethality.

GURPS Ring Dream & Manga - Part One, Comic Life (UPDATED)

Here is another installment in my Dungeons & Manga series. However, this time I'll be going as far from D&D as you possibly can, both in terms of system and use of manga-style art.

Today I'll be looking at GURPS' Ring Dream: Women's Pro-Wrestling RPG.

Funnily enough, in my old bookstore scavenging, I have come across a fair amount of GURPS material. On the one hand are translations of books like GURPS Magic or Martial Arts, all with manga art boiled down into the pocket size versions that are still popular here. On the other are 'Japan-only' games created for the home audience. The same phenomenon happens for video games, where dating games or JRPGs might sell on the PS in Tokyo, but are never intended to go beyond Japan's borders, for both gaming niche and cultural unintelligbility reasons.

GURPS Ring Dream is one such Japan-only GURPS product. It would be interesting to see how the license was obtained...

Anyway, GURPS Ring Dream is described as a Women's Pro-Wrestling RPG, a genre represented in video games by Rumble Roses. Whereas English RPGs usually start with a blurb of fiction to set the scene, from the first page Ring Dream uses manga as the fictional underpinning to the game. The manga introduces us to Chika, the orange-haired girl who dreams of being a pro-wrestler. Allow me to translate:

Chika: (carrying two ice creams) Here I am older sister!
Sister: Look, it's starting! Hurry up! Did you get my coffee-flavored ice?
Chika: And my brown rice, green tea, and strawberry-avocado ice. It's delicious!
Sister: Chika, watch out!

(A lady pro-wrestler falls onto Chika) KER-SMASH!
Sister: Watch out! (guffaws at Chika smeared in ice cream)
Chika: (notices ice cream is all gone from her cone) Hunh?
Ring Announcer: Kumano has grabbed Ajihara's hair and thrown her to the center of the ring. Here comes the starting gong!

Downed wrestler: (groans)
Ring Announcer: Uh oh, Ajihara is completely pinned! Sonic is still outside the ring!
Chika: (spies the ice cream on top of Sonic's head) If I can just grab the scoop on top... it's do or die!
Ring Announcer: Ajihara is in a pinch!
Sonic: (jumps to her feet) Hiya!
Sister: Chika. what are you doing?
(sounds of battle as Sonic jumps in the ring and throws around her opponents)

Ring Announcer: With a Plasma Sonic Bomb and a Lobster Hold, Sonic and Ajihara win the match!
Chika: (outside of wrestler's dressing room) Thanks for your time!
Wrestler: No problem, sorry about what happened.
Sister: I was surprised that you went to Sonic's dressing room, Chika!
Chika: I've decided!
Sister: On what?
Chika: I'm going to become a pro-wrestler!
Ajihara: Sonia, who was that girl eating that load of ice cream?
Sonic: No idea...

I don't know about you, but this set up goes far beyond the pale of my GURPS experience. How would you GM this?? It sounds more like a storygame, or a Japanese storygame like Yuyake-Koyake than GURPS.

The manga fiction does not end there. After these 2 splash color pages, an entire manga chapter details life in the women's pro-wrestling dojo. Let's see what Chika goes through:

Chika: (carrying a bucket of water) I've brought back the water.
Girl 1: OK, let's clean this place up and go for breakfast!
Chika: Today's breakfast is dark seaweed broth with cucumber pickles and rice with a raw egg on top! (slobber slobber)

Chika: (notices the bucket she has spilled) Hunh?
Girl 1: Ack! We haven't gotten anything done!
Chika: I'm sorry!
Girl 1: Nothing! (smacks Chika in the ribs) Do you really wanna be a pro-wrestler or not? Unbelievable.
Girl 2: Hold it! Just because you like eating doesn't mean you don't have to hurry up and do things...

(sounds of girls scrubbing floor)
Chika: (gets slapped by both girls) Ouch!
Girl 1 & 2: Too late, we missed it! I don't want to get another convenience store meal...

Older Woman: (puts a tray laden with food down) Tah-dah!
Chika: Thank you ma'am!
Older Woman: I put aside enough for you three.
(girls hug her)
Older Woman: Cut it out you three.
Girls: I could marry you!

Girl 2: (grabbed from behind by Ms Yamaguchi) Ms Yamaguchi?
Yamaguchi: You're so slow! Eating is a part of your work, you three! OK, once you've finished let's go to the practice mat. Take your time but hurry up, chew slowly, and only have two refills or else you'll barf.
Girls: We understand!
Girl 1: (looking at Chika gobble down her food) I don't care either way, but you ever seen this girl puke?
Girl 2: She's already on her 3rd plate.

THUMP!
Yamaguchi: Hey! You there, do a proper breakfall! A breakfall!
Girls: (seeing Chika flop on the mat) Wow!

Girl 1: Chika did a true breakfall!
Girl 2: That's a first.
Yamaguchi: (grabs a girl from behind) Beginners shouldn't laugh at other beginners, or they'll learn a painful lesson! (throws the girl on the mat) You try a breakfall too! Who's next?

Yamaguchi: Next is neck muscle training!
Chika: (has girl pushing down on her head) Ack ack ack!
THUMP
(sounds of heavy breathing, running)

Yamaguchi: (breathing heavily) Ok, let's do some light stretches and end MORNING practice!
Girl 1: Chika seems to be keeping up with practice recently, even though she's still the slowest.

Girl 2: So what?
Girl 1: That girl, when she came here, she couldn't do nothing. She still can't do much even now. I thought of the ten who joined here she'd be first to quit. The only thing she is good at is running.
Girl 2: And Chika...
Girl 1: What?
Chika: (thought balloon) I feel sick but it'll be a waste if I puke...
Girl 2: She was a long distance runner in junior high.

Girl 1: Long distance runner? That is no help in pro-wrestling.
Girl: Yes, but it means she's tough.
Girl 3: It means she's had a more normal existence than us tough fighter-types.
Yamaguchi: Shall we put Chika under Eriko for training?
Manager:  Don't be stupid! It's only been a few years since Eriko debuted as a pro.

Manager. (speechless for a second) If you say that, it means you have something up your sleeve. Tell me what.
Yamaguchi: Just seems interesting.
Manager: We've decided to put Chika under you for training today.
Eriko: But...
Manager: It's decided!
Chika: (bowing) Looking forward to learning from you!

This manga is a snapshot of the Japanese apprentice system used to educate craftsmen and martial artists. Shit rolls down hill, but with a reason - to toughen you up. Unlike western RPG fiction, this manga concentrates on what would normally be downtime training to set the scene for play. Still, as nice as it is, it leaves me scratching my head on how to use this in a game.

The manga doesn't end there, but continues in set piece spreads throughout the book. I'll skip over these, however, to take a look at something far more interesting - the mangatized descriptions of pro-wrestling moves and GURPS character sheets.

But that is a tale for another time...

Next up - Ring Dream Part Two: Piledrivers and Money Shots!