Game Hacks: Cool Points

Cool Points are the first story game hack to make it into every game I run. They've changed a lot over the years, but you'll probably spot similarities to Primetime Adventures, Fate, Serenity and Agon at the very least.

Here's how I currently use them in my Werewolf: the Apocalypse game.

Budget

The GM starts with cool points equal to 5x the number of players. My games usually have 4 players so that's 20 cool points. If the players start a fight with an NPC or each other, that's on them, but if the GM throws some hardship at them, it's paid for with cool points.

1 cool point allows me to 'buy' a threat, obstacle, or opposition that's roughly equal to the PCs themselves [3 12th level ninjas vs the three Level 12 PCs]. Each additional cool point buys additional baddies or increases their potency.

Once the threat or encounter is overcome, the cool points used to create are distributed to the players evenly. Any remainder sits in the center of the table!

Additionally, each player starts with a number of cool points himself. This allows them to grease the cool point wheels before they hit the first conflict. In my Werewolf game, they start with 1 cool point per Rank. This is roughly equivalent to Level/4 in a d20 game.

Reward

Whenever someone does something 'cool' at the table, another player can throw them a cool point as recognition, from the 'remainder pot' on the table or their own stash. In my games, they're handed out for everything from badass dialog to hilarious jokes and even tasty snack contributions. Players are encouraged to reward cool points for anything and everything that makes the entire rpg experience more fun for them.

Note that players are equally encouraged to reward the GM with cool points in the exact same way. Likewise, the GM can reward players with cool points directly.

Bonus

At their most basic, cool points can be spent on any roll for a small bonus. In my Werewolf game, this means they can roll 1 extra die. Cool points can even be spent after a roll has already failed, in hopes to turn a failure into a success. Cool points awarded to the GM can be spent the exact same way. The GM can boost an NPC's roll by spending a cool point.

Cool points spent to modify a roll are always given to the player that was targeted by the roll. If you use a bonus against him, he gets the cool point after you spend it. Points used against NPCs or the environment are naturally handed back to the GM. Points used by the GM against players are handed directly to them after the roll.

Plot Points

Outside of rolling dice, cool points can also be spent to make major or minor plot alterations. The GM can obviously do this for free, but players need to spend cool points to alter things normally outside their character's control. Call it 'dramatic editing' or whatever you wish, but it simply allows characters to find a handy garbage chute when they really want one.

Making more significant changes requires more cool points (players can all contribute), but here are some basic guidelines.

• 1 = Minor/Insignificant Change - The necromancer should be a chick! That'd be cooler.
• 4 = Meaningful/Significant Change - I think the prince should have a crush on me!
• 7 = Major/Serious Change - The necromancer is in love with the prince!
• 11 = Grand/Enormous Change - The necromancer IS the prince!

Soft Compels

Cool points can also be used as a 'soft compel'. It's soft because the GM forces nothing on the player, nothing they must buy their way out of. It's just a way for the GM to add incentive to a particular course of action or inaction. [Seriously guys, we can't have him as a recurring villain if you don't let him get away this time. How 'bout 3 cool points and he walks?]

Players can also bring this on themselves. Anytime they willingly disadvantage their character, they take a cool point for their trouble. [My ankle never healed right after that last fight. Looks like the assassin gets away. Darn, I guess we'll be seeing him again then!]

Leftovers

Any cool points left in a player's hands at the end of a session become bonus XP. This is partly to reward players that earned so many cool points and partly to limit their flow around the table. If all cool points got spent on dice rolls, game 'balance' might suffer. If they all get spent on plot changes, the fiction could get too tangled. A reason to horde them seems to be almost as valuable as a reason to spend them!

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That about does it for cool points, maybe I'll encourage my players to chime in with their opinions of how all this works at the table!

Rethinking RPG Combat

A dude over on RPGnet asked for a great system for handling martial arts. Someone recommended a poorly edited and long forgotten rpg called Fireborn. Holy shit!

I skimmed through the book when it first came out, but the idea of heroes as reincarnated dragon spirits never really sat with me. Not when I already had Exalted for the whole reborn heroes and wuxia action anyway. I should've looked harder. The Dynamic D6 system is fast and fluid and chaining 'moves' together for each action roll is just fucking brilliant!

I've had a design project on the back burner for a while, but it really needed its own system. Something built from the ground up. Something fast and flashy. Something a little different than the back and forth tennis tempo of most RPG fights. Fireborn got me excited about combat rules again. It made me see that Equilibrium and Hard Boiled can work as RPGs. It got to sit down and start working out a shiny new rule set.

Who knew modern-day dragons have been quietly holding badass wire-fu battles, under our very noses, for the last five fucking years?! Shame on you Fantasy Flight, you should've said something.

Locations as Characters

During Shark Bone 022, we talked about the Locations as Characters concept from Invite Only.

Invite Only says give your important scene (setting, location, whatever) a concept, a few notes, and a virtue/vice combination. Think about it like a character and bring it to life. It all seems a bit ambiguous though.

I had a few thoughts on the show and a few more once we stopped recording. The discussion is over on RPGnet and only time will tell how productive that turns out to be. Until then, though, here's the gist...

Locations as Characters

Details - Each location should need only a few brief elements to really shine.

Name: The name. (Hills Cemetery)
Concept: The few word concept of the place. (Spooky Graveyard)
Theme: The feel of the place, what it stands for or against, etc. (Creepy)
Showcase: An item or person that exemplifies the concept and theme. (The unmarked grave no one goes near.)

That's the basic part, here's where it gets fun.

What if each location also got a Rank? What if that's how many dice it got to further its theme? Of course, a spooky graveyard doesn't actively try to scare people away, but damn if trespassing PCs don't have to resist 3 dice worth of fear just for being there.

At the same time, these dice would aid or hinder any action taken by a PC that supported or resisted the location's theme. Want to get answers out of that mook? Threaten him at the spooky graveyard! Want to seduce that cute girl from the office? The spooky graveyard's probably not the best place to do it. (Though scientifically, it actually would be!)

Even better, what if each location actually got an action. Every once in a while during narrative scenes or at the end of every initiative round. You dive into an open grave for cover, they fire wildly in your direction, then spooky graveyard rolls 3 dice to intimidate you as you realize 'open' does not mean 'empty'.

Location actions could be taken by the location itself, like chill winds and eerie howls, or taken by the inhabitants of the location, like child ghosts or the crazy grounds keeper. The location is never, well rarely ever, an actual participant in the conflict, just an active backdrop.

Picking a fight with the president of a biker gang will probably make every biker in the bar an active participant, but that doesn't stop the bar's owner or some of the strippers from taking action for the bar itself.

What do you think? Are we on to something?

Pacing Mechanic

Preparing for Shark Bone 022, I watched Deep Blue Sea and had a revelation regarding pacing. I talked about it a bit on the show, but I'd like type it up and save it here.

In the movie, sharks attack people.

Sometimes the people do inherently dangerous things like run from secure location to secure location, try to rescue a friend in danger, etc. These moments are inherently tense and dangerous, these are the times when failure brings death, lost health levels, and pain. This is where all of the normal rules and mechanics from whatever rpg you're playing come in.

Between these moments of inherent danger and risk though... the people do other stuff. Boring stuff. Safe stuff. Sometimes they deliver flat exposition, sometimes they mend wounds, sometimes they fortify their position, sometimes they get to know each other, etc.

The trick is, that each 'safe action', each passing minute without a death or dismemberment, only increases the feeling that another mother fucking shark is about to get a tasty human snack. Substitute sharks for zombies and you have the rhythm of every zombie movie ever made. The longer the heroes avoid doing anything dangerous, the higher the chance the danger will come to them.

The well-versed among you are thinking this sounds a lot like the pacing mechanic in Shotgun Diaries. Well, you're right. And wrong. Shotgun Diaries increases the zombie clock after every 10 minutes of real time. In my opinion, it fails.

I propose increasing opposition after every 'safe action', that is after every action that brings no inherent danger. The PCs want to chat for 30min of quality roleplay? Awesome! Don't interrupt that shit for anything. Don't bring in the zombies when the PCs are at each other's throats and bringing their own danger. Just sit back and enjoy the mayhem! On the other hand, when the PCs fortify their location, investigate the outbreak, heal their wounds, and otherwise avoid the danger outside. A few more zombies gather on the outskirts.

If you want to raise tension in a zombie or slasher style horror game, use this...

Every time a player calls for a dice roll that doesn't bring or risk something dangerous, increase the opposition. In WoD terms, add an extra die to the next enemy attack. In D20 terms, add a +2 bonus to the next baddie.

If your zombies roll 2 dice to attack (or has a +4 bonus to hit), three safe actions between attacks will mean the next zombie rolls 5 dice (or has a +10 bonus). Hell, three safe actions could just as easily allow you to introduce a brand new threat (like a gas leak) at 3 dice!

That's it! Easy enough right?

WoD: Mirrors

Finished WoD: Mirrors today. Holy shit.

Fate and Savage Worlds are great go-to-games for homebrew attempts to make your own game using their generic systems. They've always lacked something for me though. (Maybe it's dice pools?) With Mirrors and the WoD Rulebook, I can literally trick out the Storyteller system for anything I want to play! Hell, even Fate's beloved Aspects get applied (and remixed) as "Player-Described Merits".

Good, good stuff!

A few of the things I'm really thinking of dropping into my Werewolf game:

• Sway (Social Combat Rules)
• Anticipation
• Setup
• Rapport (much like Trust from the very cool Mountain Witch rpg)
• The Cup (of mysterious goodies)

A few things I will be dropping into the game:

• Player Described Merits
• Mob Rules (lumping 30 zombies together as a single character)
• Decompression/Compression (more something to consider while I GM than a rule to implement)

Grab the pdf for super cheap on DrivethruRPG!

Swashbuckling and Skullduggery!

At last, we come full circle. I sat some friends down the other day to playstorm some of the concepts I've been batting around for a pirate game using Liar's Dice. You may recall me mentioning this a while back.

As it turns out, the idea held up remarkably well. A few confirmations and several notes later, I'm sitting on the makings for a pretty fun little game! After talking to my favorite artist, I've got some great ideas of how to present and package this little gem.

I've been excited about most of the projects I've worked on. I've learned a lot, even if I don't plan to push any of them toward publication. This is the first time, however, that I've suspected real potential.

Coming soon...

Rules of War: HELLAS (and D20) Edition!

A buddy of mine, one of the writers of HELLAS, asked about the rules I created for rpg mass combat. He wanted to give them a look, since some of my players were raving about them. After glancing at them, he said "This looks good. Is there a way you can convert it and make it more applicable for HELLAS?"

I naturally said "Sure!" and then immediately thought "Wait... How fuck do I do this?" It took a little crunching, but I managed to convert the die pool system I had originally used to a simple version of the Omni System that uses only a D20. I managed to keep all the flavor of the original rules and even incorporated a little of the panache that makes HELLAS so fun.

As a bonus, there's absolutely no reason the HELLAS version of The Rules of War won't drop smoothly into any other D20 based game out there! Enjoy...

The Rules of War - HELLAS Edition

Warfare Mechanics Inspired by Sun Tzu

When 550 soldiers attack 1000 farmers, most game systems break down. These rules handle large battles quickly, with just enough strategy and drama to maximize the fun, while the PCs get a chance to influence the battle around them!

Size

The larger army always starts at Size 10. Divide the number of troops in the larger force by 10 to determine the worth of each point of Size and then give the smaller force a proportionate Size (round up). This represents quantity alone, quality is factored later. Size, for both armies, may be doubled for longer (i.e. more dramatic) battles.

Example: If 1000 farmers are Size 10, then 550 soldiers are Size 6.

Strength

There are six fundamental factors to determining the outcome of a battle. Superiority in all six of these factors all but guarantees victory. Therefore, advantage in any factor grants an army 1 Strength. Determine which army possesses the advantage in a coming battle by answering the following questions:

1. Psyche – Which army possesses the highest morale?
2. Heaven – Which army benefits most from the weather, time of day, etc?
3. Earth – Which army gains more advantage from the terrain?
4. Leadership – Which of the two generals is the better leader?
5. Discipline – Which army is more skilled, trained, and supported?
6. Spear – Which army uses the best weapons and technology?

No significant edge, grants no bonus for that category. Clear advantage grants 1 Strength.

Example: The soldiers have high morale, good leadership, great discipline, and good weapons, giving them 4 Strength. The farmers gain advantage only from their home terrain, leaving them with only 1 Strength. The sky, cloudless and clear, grants no advantage and no bonus to either side.

Battle

To do battle, each side will implement a simple strategy to apply its Strength most effectively against the enemy’s Size. Each round of battle consists of the following phases:

1. Strategy – Armies choose how much Strength to apply to defense and how much to offense

2. Chaos – A D20 is rolled for each army, with the Degree of Difficulty determined by the following:

a. Strength applied to offense adds a +2 bonus to the rolling army’s DOD

b. Strength applied to defense adds a -2 penalty to the opposing army’s DOD

3. Reckoning – Compare the final roll, after modifiers, to the Omni Table as usual:

0 or Less Critical Failure Lower the rolling army’s Size by 1

1–5 Failure No damage is inflicted to the opposing army

6–10 Partial Success Lower the opposing army’s Size by 1

11–19 Success Lower the opposing army’s Size by 2

20 or More Critical Success Lower the opposing army’s Size by 3

Example: The soldiers apply all their Strength to defense ( -8 to the farmers’ DOD) and the farmers apply theirs to offense (+2 to their own DOD). A D20 is rolled for each army, the soldiers have a 15 and the farmers have a 16. After factoring in Strength, the soldiers remain at 15, but the farmers are dropped to 10 (16 rolled, +2, -8). The soldiers lose only 1 Size while the farmers lose 2. The farmers fought surprisingly well that round (rolling a 16), but still lost many men.

Spotlight Missions

After each round of battle, PCs can volunteer for spotlight missions in an attempt to affect the factors contributing to the opponent’s Strength or their own. Many PCs can volunteer for the same mission, thus fighting together and increasing the chance of success, or separate to take on several missions. Missions can be anything the PCs dream up, scouting, assassination, demolition, etc. It’s up to the GM to determine the difficulty and opposition for each mission, but they are under no obligation to make a tough assassination attempt easier should only a single PC undertake it.

Note: Only PCs not directly contributing to Strength can undertake spotlight missions. A PC acting as the general of his army, thus contributing Strength through Leadership, cannot step down for a secret scouting mission without forfeiting his contribution to Leadership as well.

Missions are resolved using the normal rules for HELLAS. A spotlight mission can be detailed and drawn out to add drama or shortened and summarized to speed the action. Ultimately, each spotlight mission should produce an opposed action to gain, or maintain, the advantage. After the roll, the Strength point for that factor goes to the winner.

Example: Two farmers attempt to break the soldiers’ morale by undertaking a spotlight mission. They decide to defeat a group of 10 soldiers in a spectacularly bloody fashion, loudly proclaim themselves to be “The Chosen Warriors of the Right Hand of Areson”, thus sowing fear and uncertainty among the opposing ranks. Should they succeed in defeating those 10 soldiers, they’ll need a Deception roll vs. the soldiers’ or their general’s Deduce Motive as he attempts to rein in his men. The Degree of Difficulty for that Deception roll can, and should, be modified if they defeat more or less than 10 soldiers.

Players should be encouraged to get very creative with ideas for spotlight missions, but GMs should step in with any ideas or alterations of their own. If a PC wants to call forth Hephaeston to melt enemy swords, the GM should help out by declaring the number of swords necessary to make a difference.

Additionally, PCs may opt to protect the Strength of their own army rather than weaken their opposition. An army that already possesses superior Leadership has no need to undermine their enemies. Instead the PCs could simply guard their own leaders to make sure no terrible fate comes to them. This is, of course, an opportunity for the GM to send assassins their way. Treat it just like a spotlight mission being undertaken by the opposing forces!

Casualties

An army is defeated when its Size is reduced to zero. Whether this defeat is due to destruction, rout, or retreat simply depends on the narration up to that point. After the battle, each army attempts to recover its losses by healing the wounded or tracking the fleeing. This is done by rolling a D20 for each army, applying a Degree of Difficulty of -5 (loser) or a +5 (winner), and checking the result against the Omni Table:

0 or Less Critical Failure Army loses an additional Size from disease, injuries, etc

1–5 Failure Army recovers none of the Size lost

6–10 Partial Success Army recovers only 1 point of Size lost

11–19 Success Army recovers half (rounded down) of all Size lost

20 or More Critical Success Army recovers all Size lost

The GM is encouraged to modify the DOD on the casualty roll during unusual battles. The Atlantean habit of devouring dead opponents would make recovery for difficult for the opposing armies. Alternatively, Priestesses of Hestia will have an unusual knack for recovering their own fallen warriors.

The Rules of War

The Rules of War

Warfare Mechanics Inspired by Sun Tzu

Written by Jarvis Mishler

When 600 soldiers attack 1000 farmers, most rpgs break down. These rules handle large battles quickly, with just enough flavor and drama to maximize the fun, while the PCs get a chance to influence the battle around them!

Size

Give the larger army 10 tokens. Divide the number of troops in the army by 10 to determine the worth of each token. Give the smaller force a proportionate number of tokens (round up). This represents quantity alone, quality is factored in next. Size, for both armies, may be doubled, tripled, etc. for more ‘dramatic’ battles.

Example: if 1000 farmers have 10 tokens, then 600 soldiers have 6.

Strength

There are six fundamental factors to determining the outcome of a battle. Superiority in all six of these factors all but guarantees victory. Therefore, advantage in any factor grants an army 1 Strength. Determine which army possesses the advantage in a coming battle by answering the following questions:

1. The Way – Which army possesses the highest morale?
2. Heaven – Which army benefits most from the weather, time of day, etc?
3. Earth – Which army gains more advantage from the terrain?
4. Leadership – Which of the two generals is the better leader?
5. Discipline – Which army is more skilled, trained, and supported?
6. Steel – Which army uses the best weapons and technology?

No significant edge, grants no bonus for that category. Clear advantage grants 1 Strength.

Example: Soldiers have high morale, good leadership, great discipline, and good weapons, giving them 4 Strength. Farmers gain advantage only from their home terrain, leaving them with 1 Strength. The sky, cloudless and clear, grants no advantage and no bonus to either side.

Battle

To do battle, each side will implement a simple strategy to apply its Strength most effectively against the enemy’s Size. Each round of battle consists of the following phases:

1. Strategy – Armies choose how much Strength to apply to defense and how much to offense
2. Chaos – Armies roll 6 dice and count successes
3. Strength applied to offense adds automatic successes
4. Strength applied to defense subtracts successes from the opponent
5. Reckoning – Each remaining success lowers the opponent’s Size by 1 token

Example: Soldiers apply all their Strength to defense and farmers apply theirs to offense. Both armies roll 6 dice, soldiers roll 2 successes and farmers roll 4. After factoring in Strength, soldiers end with 2 successes and farmers end with 1 (4 rolled, plus 1 automatic, minus 4). Soldiers lose only 1 Size while farmers lose 2. The soldiers’ victory proved costly.

Spotlight Missions

After each round of battle, PCs can volunteer for spotlight missions in an attempt to affect the factors contributing to the opponent’s Strength or their own. Many PCs can volunteer for the same mission, thus fighting together and increasing the chance of success, or separate to take on several missions. Missions can be anything the PCs dream up, scouting, assassination, demolition, etc. It’s up to the GM to determine the difficulty and opposition for each mission, but they are under no obligation to make a tough assassination attempt easier should only a single PC undertake it.

Note: Only PCs not directly contributing to Strength can undertake spotlight missions. A PC acting as the general of his army, thus contributing Strength through Leadership, cannot step down for a secret scouting mission without forfeiting his contribution to Leadership as well.

Missions are resolved using the normal rules for the rpg you’re playing. A spotlight mission can be detailed and drawn out to add drama or shortened and summarized to speed the action. Ultimately, each spotlight mission should produce an opposed die roll to gain, or maintain, the advantage. After the roll, the Strength point for that factor goes to the winner.

Example: Two farmers attempt to break the soldiers’ morale by taking a mission. They decide to defeat a group of 10 soldiers in a spectacularly flamboyant fashion, loudly proclaim themselves to be “Dragon’s Chosen Warriors of His Holy Wrath”, and so fear and uncertainty among the soldiers. Should they succeed in defeating those 10 soldiers, they’ll probably need a bluff roll vs. the soldiers’ will or their general’s leadership as he attempts to rein in his men. Their bluff roll may be easier or harder should they defeat more or less soldiers.

Players should be encouraged to get very creative with ideas for spotlight missions, but GMs should step in with any ideas or alterations of their own. If a PC wizard wants to use a “Heat Metal” spell to melt enemy swords, the GM should help out by declaring the number of swords necessary to make a difference.

Casualties

An army is defeated when all of its Size tokens are lost. Whether this defeat is due to destruction, rout, or retreat simply depends on the narration up to that point. After the battle, each army attempts to recover its losses by rolling 1 (loser) or 2 (winner) dice for each Size token lost. One Size token is recovered for each success on this roll as warriors are healed, pulled to safety, etc.

Dice Pools

Missions always use the normal rules employed by the rpg you’re playing, but a simple dice pool is used during the ‘chaos’ phase of combat and recovering casualties. If the rpg you’re playing doesn’t already use dice pools and successes, just grab some six-sided dice. Any die that rolls 4+ is considered a success. A high target number (5+) places more value on Strength (automatic successes) where a low target number (3+) introduces more randomness during the battle. These rules were written with a 30% chance of success in mind (8-10 on a D10), but you are encouraged to adjust this as you wish!

Character Creation

Traits

There are four traits in Dead Running.

Intelligence - Reasoning, problem solving, hacking, and other mental feats.

Strength - Running, lifting, punching, and all other physical challenges.

Charisma - Lying, persuading, conning, and other social tests.

Insight - Skimming, pursuing, diving, and all other psychic abilities.

Traits begin at a certain die type, but players receive a number of raises to increase them. Each raise increases the die rolled for that trait.

Psychics

Psychics (everyone but the Null) begin with each trait at a d6. Psychics receive 4 raises that may be spent to increase their traits, limit 2 raises per trait.

Psychics also choose a talent, the way their Insight can be used:

Skimmers - Eaves Drop on multiple minds, bodyguards and security.

Pursuers - Trace a web of connected thoughts, interrogators and psychologists.

Divers - Plunge for a single buried thought, spies and assassins.

Scavengers - Devour dead minds to gain knowledge, detectives and mercs.

Nulls

At least one player must play a Null. If there are no volunteers, this can be decided randomly. Null characters, lacking Insight, have only 3 traits that begin as follows:

Intelligence d4, Strength d8, Charisma d6

*The mind never fully recovers from brain death though the body becomes unusually resistant to pain. Higher level creativity and ingenuity is lost, but a dulled body can be pushed beyond its former limits.*

Nulls receive only 3 raises to increase their traits, limit 2 raises per trait.

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At this time, I'm not planning to include any sort of bonus dice from equipment or the like. It'll be a pretty simple system though there will be an allowance for a 'trust point' style bonus as soon as I work it out.