The Caffeinated Penguin

Posted By matt on December 6, 2007

I think I've said this before, but I'm really liking PDFs of games. Download PDF, save places, print a copy, and annotate as I like. Then I don't feel bad about writing in the book. I can also make compilations of tables and charts, stick pages in a nice binder, etc.

I grabbed a copy of The World of Darkness core rules, as well as a Don't Rest Your Head and Spirit of the Century from DriveThruRPG. The latter two are strongly into “indie” territory, which brings me into another point – I'm really liking the oddball indie games. They are interesting, odd, cheap, and fun.

For example, a couple of weeks ago, I grabbed a copy of Cat, which is a game about cats, and how they keep humans safe from Boggins (like the monster under the bed, the thing in the closet, etc.). In a similar vein, Spirit of the Century (which, I should note, also has a free scenario PDF download from DriveThruRPG called Spirit of the Season, where you play some number of Nick Saint and his Reindeer Men in an attempt to stop the evil Doctor Scrooge and Jacques Frost).

This is not to disparage any other game systems or publishers, but more to comment upon the existence of these small independent game companies makes me.

A new concept, to which I've been introduced via such podcasts as Fear The Boot, The Dragon's Landing Inn, and House of the Harping Monkey, is story based roleplaying. It's hard to explain, and I don't even know if I'm expressing it correctly, but the basic idea is that players have more of a participatory role in the story rather than just the “choose your own adventure”, and the game has a mechanic which supports this. For example, in Spirit of the Century, you get fate chips. You can spend fate chips to (among other things), try to make something happen (GM has veto power, of course, but it is assumed that we're all here to have fun and it would just be used to rein in something too fantastic). So, let's say, for a minute that you are trying to spy on a secret meeting in a warehouse, but you need to get past the guards. In a “standard” RPG, you would try to sneak by, knock them out, or whatnot, but you can't really alter the world except through direct action. In a story-based RPG, you would use the game mechanic (the fate chip, etc.) to make something happen external to your character. While the GM would veto something like the guard dropping dead of a heart attack, or being struck by lightning, it would not be out of the question to have him have to go take a leak, step into a corner to light a cigarette out of the wind, or get distracted by noise made by a cat chasing a mouse. This would give your character the opportunity to slip by unnoticed (or, if not an automatic success, at least give you a bonus to such a roll. So, you can't sneak buy if driving a tank, but you can if you are just walking).

Another idea that I'm coming around to is what I'm loosely calling “indeterminacy”. This is kind of what the developers were getting at with “wealth” in D20 Modern (which was done poorly, in my opinion), but the basic idea is that you have taken something, but you don't know what it is. To cite an example from popular fiction, take Batman. He has his utility belt, and he always seems to have just the right gadget at the right time. Rather than have players have to list out every possible thing, you just say “I have a utility belt”, and when you think of something you need, you have it. Sure, it's not very hard and fast, but it is fun. Obviously, there are some limitations, but that is where negotiating with the GM comes in. (No, you can't carry a jet in your utility belt.).

I can't really say for sure what this all means, or even if it means anything. On the one hand, it feels more mature and adult (in as much as playing games with dice and one's imagination can be termed “adult”) because we are focused on having fun and not being rulesmongering weenies trying to kill monsters and get treasure. On the other hand, it kind of just feels lazy – because I don't care about the stupid rules and just want to play games with my friends, drink beer and have a good time. In the end, it probably doesn't mean a damned thing, and I'm just overanalyzing things.

In another vein, I like the Open Gaming License games in that it is nice to be able to create derived works. For example, Spirit of the Century uses the FATE system, which is released as a core set of rules in the Spirit of the Century SRD, which is being used by Mick Bradley to create Vegas After Midnight. Now, at first I had the idea of just playing whatever from the SRD, which you can do – but it's kind of a waste of time. From my point of view, spending the $15-$20 on the PDF, or $25-$40 on the book is worth it. You get flavor. However, it is nice that the engine is OGL. First, if I like fate in SoTC, then the fact that VAM uses it is a plus – I'm familiar with it, and so the rest is kind of just setting, without falling into the “Generic” problem which some other systems have (you need to be the core rules, then this supplement for setting, and this other for equipment, etc.). Finally, if I were to ever want to create my own RPG, I could take the SRD and do so, without fear of being sued (provided, of course, that I based my work off the SRD and didn't take any other stuff which is not licensed under the OGL. It just strikes me as a nicer way to share game engine concepts, and it makes me realize that a lot of the gaming community is just that – a community. There isn't a lot of serious, hardcore competition except in some really narrow channels. With the advent of the internet and PDF sales, there isn't that competition over bookstore shelves (and the indies couldn't compete there anyway), so it's okay to say “I like Spirit of the Century from Evil Hat, Vegas After Midnight from Mick, Truth and Justice from Atomic Sock Monkey”, and they don't really compete.

Hell, it's not like every gamer doesn't have a whole library of core rule books (and likely some supplements too). Want to play original Deadlands? Shadowrun? Okay, which edition? Or, here is a pile if indie games… start reading.

Anyway, I'm going to curl up with the SoTC rules now.

Night all.

Category: LJ Import
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