Spes Magna Games

Musical Interlude

The Boogie Knights of the Round Table (BKotRT) does not include tables of equipment, weapons, vehicles, et cetera. There is no system for tracking money, monetary rewards, and other things related to expense reports. That sort of bean counting is fine for other games, but BKotRT isn’t about resource management as part of the struggle to survive grueling, violence-laden adventures. BKotRT is about the eternal spirit of rebellion against the collectivist forces of the Man.

So, one may ask, how do I know what equipment my hero has? The simple answer: Your hero owns the equipment your hero would reasonably own according to his qualities.

Beau Mandy, for example, would own a banjo. He certainly still has his costumes and other accessories from his days as a rodeo clown. He’s probably got a thick folder of legal documents pertaining to his status as an ex-con. We’ve already noted he owns a vehicle. Being full of homespun wisdom, he might own collections of writings by people like Will Rogers and Mark Twain. Does he own an M-16? Probably not. How about a high-quality combat knife? Again, probably not. Could he walk into a brawl swinging a tire iron? Of course he could. We’ve already seen him change a tire.

What about Uriah Gandalfini? Well, he’s a progressive rock wizard, so he probably has a few tomes related to the arcane arts as well as musical instrument of some sort. Probably a cello. As a high-brow lyricist, he’s got pens and journals, probably a collection of books about mythology, and a public library card. Since he’s an adult, it’s reasonable to assume he also owns a vehicle. He’s got clothes, a place to live, and so forth. Does Uriah have an all-seeing crystal sphere? Doubtful.

If, during the course of an adventure, a hero finds himself without his stuff, he might find his qualities reduced in utility or completely useless, depending on the situation. If Beau loses his banjo, he’s still an ex-con who can play the banjo, but he’s going to have to pass on that picking-and-grinning jam session unless someone loans him an instrument. Equipment can be lost, replaced, and acquired during the course of an adventure as the story unfolds. Can the heroes steal a Ferrari? Sure, and then they can use it in a high-speed chase.

But, there’s a catch. Between the time one adventure ends and the next begins, stuff not appropriate to a hero’s qualities goes away. This is part of the story. Last adventure, Uriah stole a Ferrari. At the start of the new adventure, he’s back to driving his hatchback. What happened to the Ferrari? Well, that depends on what makes sense and what makes the story entertaining. Likewise, Beau may get his hands on a machine gun during the course of an adventure, but he’s not going to get to keep it as a permanent part of his gear.

Permanent changes in stuff occur almost always as a specific reward from the GM or from the addition of a new quality. Otherwise, just like in a TV show, the heroes start each new episode pretty much the way they start every new episode. Heck, in some shows, the heroes’ clothes don’t even change all that much. Watch a few episodes of Magnum, P.I. to see what I mean.

Tags: A to Z 2015, Boogie Knights

Musical Interlude

None of the character creation rules posted earlier this month apply to non-player characters (NPCs). The players’ characters are the heroes, and they get special treatment at creation time. In contrast, NPCs are challenges, enemies, or resources, and they are typically defined by one or two qualities and a certain number of hit points.

Most NPCs are people, animals, or something similar. The GM just assigns whatever qualities seem appropriate. One or two qualities is usually enough. These qualities are assigned a couple of dice chosen to reflect the NPC’s average level of difficulty. Then add a certain number of hit points, usually no more than 3 hit points per hero. Consider, for example, a Glass-Jawed Brawler. He’s a rough and tumble sort of fellow. He packs a hefty punch, but he usually gets by on intimidation, which is good since he can’t take a punch. Make him a Glass-Jawed Brawler 2d8. Give him 1 hit point per hero for physical damage, but 3 hit points per hero for social damage.

In The Boogie Knights of the Round Table (BKotRT), a situation can also be an NPC. That mysterious package could be a Devilishly Clever Bomb 2d6. Those dice don’t necessarily tell how much damage the bomb does. Instead, the dice are pitted against a hero’s attempts to disable it. This could be played as a simple action or an extended action, but in this latter case, the bomb needs hit points.

Finally, an NPC could be several foes who individually aren’t significant but together represent a threat or obstacle. Perhaps a villainous dee-jay develops a mind-control turntable. He could attack the heroes with a Mind-Controlled Mob 1d6+1d8. The mob has a shared hit point total. Every time the mob is injured, narration describes a few casualties, drop outs, retreaters, et cetera.

The emphasis in BKotRT is speed and fun, not intricately detailed game prep. These guidelines for NPCs are designed to facilitate these goals.

Tags: A to Z 2015, Boogie Knights

Musical Interlude

For the past twelve letters, the world of The Boogie Knights of the Round Table (BKotRT) has been in many ways comparable to the real world of the seventh and eighth decades of the twentieth century. Here’s where things get a little bit weird. Magic, psionics, alien, and super-powers exist in BKotRT. In order to see how these fantastical abilities work within the context of the rules, we need a new sample character. Fortunately, Christopher wants to play one of these amazing heroes. He gets an index card, a pencil, and spends his points. Here’re the results:

Uriah Gandalfini
Kung-Fu d4, Brains d10, Cool d6
Progressive Rock Wizard d10, High-Brow Lyricist d6

With his Progressive Rock Wizard quality, Uriah is capable of a wide variety of magical feats that revolve around mythological references, strange key changes, and piercing shrieks. Let’s put Uriah in some situations to see how his sorcerous rock powers work.

A trio of goons chase Uriah across the rooftop of a hotel. Uriah sees the edge of the roof coming up fast. Darkness yawns on the other side of roof’s edge. Without slowing down, Uriah leaps, calling upon the wings of Icarus to assist him. Christopher rolls Kung-Fu plus Progressive Rock Wizard, or d4+d10. The GM sets the difficulty number (DN) at 10. It’s a long way down and across to the roof of the nearest building. Christopher just makes the roll, and Uriah flies on shimmering wings trailing rainbow sparks to land safely on the roof of the Chinese restaraunt across the alley. The goons skid to a halt at the roof’s edge above, none too happy about losing Uriah.

A few moments later, Uriah is on the street, head down and alert. He sees the swirling red and blue lights of a cop car reflected off the buildings ahead. Knowing that the corrupt cops he’s been investigating have been alerted, Uriah pauses. There’s nowhere to hide. He leans against a brick wall and hums the chorus from his song about Pluto’s cap of invisibility. The police in the car match their die roll against Uriah’s Cool plus Progressive Rock Wizard. Uriah wins, and the police pass by without spotting him.

The process for extended actions would work in a similar manner. Uriah could call upon the cacophony of chaos can attack a foe’s sense of decency. Rolls would be made, totals compared, and the appropriate damage inflicted. Mental and alien powers work in much the same as described above. A Grizzled Mentalist d8 or an Alien Intelligence Possessing a Go-Go Dancer d6 could use their respective qualities for various feats that fit those themes.

I’m considering making hero points part of the requirement for such versatile feats, but I’m also not convinced that’s necessary. Other qualities can be versatile as well, and it’s possible the instinct to impose an additional burden on supernatural/superhuman qualities should be ignored.

Tags: A to Z 2015, Boogie Knights

Musical Interlude

Sooner or later, any group of heroes adventuring in the world The Boogie Knights of the Round Table (BKotRT) will find themselves embroiled in some sort of artistic battle: a dance off, a free flow rap slap down, dueling banjos, et cetera. When the conflict starts, it might be tempting to pit the heroes against the opposing team, and then start rolling dice, comparing numbers, figuring out who takes how much of what type of damage. Ah, good times.

But, this isn’t what happens in, say, a dance off. Yes, the heroes and their opponents are competing against each other, but they are competing against each other the approval of the audience. The team that wins is the team what wins over the spectators. Before the contest starts, the GM decides how many approval points are needed to win. He also gives the audience a quality, such Jaded Hip Hop Mob 2d8. Keep an eye on the average the audience can roll. Jaded Hip Hop Mob’s average roll would be 9, which gives the GM a gauge for how tough the crowd is. For approval points, I recommend 1 to 3 per hero. Then, the battle begins.

Deal out cards just like an initiative situation. It’s okay if the action doesn’t really flow this way. BKotRT doesn’t mind nonlinearity. Maybe the heroes take the stage, play their set, and then the next act takes the stage in the actual sequence of events. That doesn’t mean, however, that the action at the table needs to go that way. Go all Brian De Palma split screen, and mess with time as well. The crowd isn’t going to make its decision until it’s seen every act, so you might as well imagine the conflict as a montage where the action is more important than the actual sequence of events.

Run the conflict as a normal extended action. Each player takes a turn describing his hero’s contribution to his team’s act. When adjudicating, keep in mind the appropriateness of qualities. Beau Mandy’s Ex-Con Banjo Player quality serves him well at a bluegrass hoedown, but not quite as well staring down the angry faces surrounding a speed metal mosh pit. The GM rolls the audience’s quality. If the hero wins, he doesn’t do damage, but instead earns approval points, which are calculated the same way damage is. The first team to earn the necessary number of approval points wins the audience’s favor and the contest.

Tags: A to Z 2015, Boogie Knights

Musical Interlude

In most games that include hit points, character death occurs at something approximating 0 hit points. At 1 hit point, your character is live and kicking. At 0 hit points, your character is pushing up daisies. The Boogie Knights of the Round Table (BKotRT) doesn’t work that way, even if it can work that way at least some of the time.

With simple and extended actions, the winner of the compared dice totals gets to narrate the loser’s fate. In most cases, this fate won’t result in death. In other words, there are story limits on the narration. It’s not likely that winning a foot race will cause the loser to die, or that bribing a bouncer makes him your devoted henchmen.

This is especially in important in extended actions where hit points are at stake. One cannot win one round of an extended action, inflict only a portion of a foe’s hit points, and then narrate that the foe was sent flying by a spinning back kick off the top of the Hoover Dam to dash himself to bits on the way down. That sort of dramatic finish is reserved for when the foe’s hit points have been depleted.

Of course, there’s no reason in BKotRT for zero hit points to equal death. The loser may just be unconscious (and perhaps wake up hog-tied in the back of a semi heading for the border). He may be curled up in a corner, whimpering for mercy. This is especially important when it’s one of the heroes who has lost his last hit point. Even as simple as character generation is in BKotRT, it’s still not often fun when one of the heroes bites the dust.

When the heroes win, they should also consider mercy. BKotRT takes place in a recognizably modern setting, where the authorities (even those not in cahoots with the Man) usually take a dim view to killing, maiming, arson, et cetera. Other games encourage heroic murderhoboes. BKotRT doesn’t go in for that sort of thing. Sure, a game session may include lots of mayhem and violence, but it’s more akin to the A-Team than the Peaky Blinders.

Tags: A to Z 2015, Boogie Knights