Markets & Mages is the current working title of my pbta hack about adventurers coming home and paying rent.
Here's some things I think are cool about this game:
1. There aren't stats. Instead, there's Assets, Bonds, and Credit. Assets is literal stuff you posses. Bonds are with other people, and represent a reserve you can call from them. Credit is in communities, and represents how you stand in these.
2. Each player not only details their character, but also an NPC. This creates a nice web, and your character ends up knowing all the player characters, and maybe one NPC for each of them.
3. Each player also details a community. This also creates a nice web of communities -- the wizard's academy, the cleric's church -- and each character can be connected to these. Everyone, together, details a town.
4. There's a single adventure move. It is really simple, and intentionally so. You need the adventures, but the game isn't about those. Its about coming back to town and dealing with the fallout.
5. You can read it, and give feedback, right here:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1veP6xfxQ-QJIkYuUjQjpPncPjXlNRZ0KjJO2C4DkgJA/edit#slide=id.g115385ccf3_0_328
All comments, thoughts, and ideas are welcome! What makes sense? What doesn't make sense? What makes you scratch your head?
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Mundane Magic :)
ReplyDeletetell me more, John Hattan . Why does that name seem perfect to you?
ReplyDeleteSeems like you won't need the "throw a fireball at the dragon" spell for a while, but that old "open the stuck jar-lid" spell is certainly gonna come in handy now.
ReplyDeleteAnd maybe the "three plus four equals nine just this one time" spell is finally gonna get some use. Not much use when exploring a cave, but it's really handy when you're calculating your share of the treasure.
Here's an unmentioned thing. I've got three violence moves, one of which is versus people to make them submit -- its like Go Aggro from apocalypse world. You either spend a bond or mark jaded to get it done. I call it Enforce Compliance.
ReplyDeleteWhich, as I think about it, I really really like. I've had bosses who Enforce Compliance through spending a bond, "Hey William, work on this man. Get it out to us.", and bosse's who Enforce Compliance through marking jaded, "I will destroy you".
I really like it when thinking about a game gives me more -- potentially false -- insights into my own life.
John Hattan Maybe so!
ReplyDeleteAdventuring is a single move, rolled by whoever leads it. You then tell the story and gain bonds, so even adventure is more about relationships than dungeon crawling.
The economy is set so that Bonds are just as important as Assets -- you don't have any incentive to punch a friend over a coin. Maybe a few coins, but not one.
I'm expecting more actual play over the next few weeks, with some revisions.
Oh man, I liked P&L a lot!
ReplyDeleteCharacter plus npc is great. I've done that before and it makes a great web.
Is the adventuring move like an opening move, like the Hardholder gets?
For the record, the last time I played an RPG was in 1989, so ignore my advice with impunity :)
ReplyDeleteRobert Bohl Pay the rent is the start of session move. Adventures are optional, but the primary way to gain wealth and xp..
ReplyDeleteAnd everyone also creates and details a community plus home, so you wind up with a nice web there, too.
You might not be the target demographic, John Hattan . But then, I'm not sure who is: story gamers who want to think about how the rent gets paid. That's probably a pretty small group, right?
ReplyDelete