Spes Magna Games

Musical Interlude

The Boogie Knights of the Round Table (BKotRT) doesn’t currently have a system for healing. Heroes have three sets of hit points, and those hit points recover at a rate more or less determined by the GM and what makes sense in the story. Such healing is generally assumed to occur in between scenes.

But what if a hero has a quality related to healing, such as Operatic Paramedic or Attentive Bartender? Shouldn’t this sort of hero be able to make some sort of roll and restore hit points to his target? Seems reasonable to me. And what about hero points for emergency recovery? That’s a fairly standard application for things like hero points. That also seems reasonable.

Here’s what I’m thinking:

A hero with an appropriate quality can roll against a difficulty number (DN) set by the GM. If he equals or exceeds the DN, his target recovers hit points equal to one-half his maximum total. Uriah has 4 Kung-Fu hit points. If he’s down to one, and a hero applies first aid successfully, Uriah regains 2 hit points. Just to keep things simple, hero points can work the same way, but without the dice rolling. I’m inclined to limit healing to once per scene.

Tags: A to Z 2015, Boogie Knights

Musical Interlude

In The Boogie Knights of the Round Table (BKotRT), the player who succeeds at an action gets to narrate the results of the action. If the action is unopposed and the player fails to meet or beat the difficulty number (DN), this means the GM gets to narrate the results of the failure.

But what if the heroes are involved in a mystery? It’s easy enough to assign a clue or a crime scene a DN and then have the players narrate how their heroes approach the mystery. Then dice are rolled, and totals are compared to the DN. Simple, right?

Well, sort of. Let’s imagine Christopher’s hero Uriah Gandalfini studying a crime scene in an alley. Uriah knows that a violent crime was committed in the alley, but he needs more information than that. Fortunately, he has an acoustic guitar with him, so he strums out the beginning chords of his new song, Revealments of Ragnorak. The GM assigns a DN, and Christopher rolls the appropriate dice.

If he meets or beats the DN, Christopher narrates the results, not the GM. This means that Christopher gets to decide what information he uncovers in the alley about the crime. That’s sort of the opposite of the way detective work tends to work in RPGs. On the other hand, if Christopher doesn’t meet or beat the DN, the GM gets to narrate the results, which seems easy enough unless the information in the alley is essential to further progress in the adventure. If that’s the case, it’d be bad form to narrate Christopher’s failure as a complete failure on the part of Uriah.

These two different situations highlight the free-form, improvisational nature of BKotRT. The GM probably shouldn’t get too attached to a particular set of events or conclusions. The more the players succeed with their dice rolls, the more the players get to decide the details of the story. Also, failure doesn’t mean failure. It could mean success but with complications or unwanted consequences.

Tags: A to Z 2015, Boogie Knights

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

I got nothing game related to post today. Nothing at all. It’s been a busy week, and it’s Friday night, and I don’t feel like doing much other than drinking a beer and eating dinner. Nevertheless, I’ve made a commitment to the alphabet, and today is O, and so tonight I’m kickin’ it old-school style.

Tonight’s the Night

I Just Want To Be Your Everything

Best of My Love

Evergreen

Angel in Your Arms

I Like Dreamin’

Don’t Leave Me This Way

(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher

Undercover Angel

Torn Between Two Lovers

Boogie the night away, you groovy people.

Tags: A to Z 2015

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