I'm in the final stages of a second draft of my TV action game 'Rough & Tumble'. It's a GMful game where players use resources on their character sheets to build scenes and pose their own threats to overcome. The tone is intended to reflect TV shows which have lots of fight scenes & stunt set pieces but also features extensive character development.
I'm currently trying to put together a list of sample character traits to show potential players the sorts of things they can put on their character sheets. There are two types of trait in particular which I think are difficult to explain properly, so I need lots of examples (and possibly better defintions than mine if anyone wants to have a go)
Conditions are physical circumstances that affect the character's perormance of skills, so some samples are:
- Ambushed
- Outnumbered
- In a burning building
- With a gun to my head
- Unarmed
- On a rooftop
Aims are goals or motivations specific to the character's current action or scene, so some samples are:
- Its my job
- I swore an oath
- I have to protect my secrets
- I want revenge
- They're blackmailing me
- I have to keep them distracted
Can anyone think of any more?
Shut it!
Submitted by Malcolm Craig on Thu, 24/07/2008 - 10:41.
Conditions:
Drunk
Recently been beaten up
Driving fast
Desperately needs a piss
Not has their dinner
Bound and gagged
Yeah, OK, so I'm thinking of The Sweeney with that little list.
Aims
I promised the Guv'nor
The wife will kill me if I don't!
It's for the kids
This is my manor!
An -ism of some kind
Get them to shut it!
Surprisingly, also quite a Sweeney list.
Oh, at the start you say 'GMful'. By this, I assume you mean 'no single GM/rotating GM/GMless'? I find it a slightly non-useful term, because unless you know the very specific meaning (which some people reading this might not), it could be confusing.
Cheers
Malc
Contested Ground Studios
Surely "suspended from the
Submitted by Andrew Kenrick on Thu, 24/07/2008 - 11:08.
Surely "suspended from the force" should be a condition!
Thanks for those
Submitted by James Mullen on Thu, 24/07/2008 - 11:28.
Thanks for those suggestions; I hadn't even thought of using The Sweeney as an example, but its a good idea. It makes me realise I need more examples of the type of TV programme the game reflects!
I was torn between describing the game as GMful or GMless, a decision approaching the scale of political correctness in some sectors now, but that's another discussion. It does certainly feature rotating GM duties as players take it in turn to frame a scene around their character, but using the various traits on their character sheet to build the dice pools they will both use & oppose.