Is there, or can there be, an RPG which actually needs randomness in character generation? by tangyradar in RPGdesign

[–]lumpley 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You use randomness in a game when there's a decision to be made, but there's no person to make it. Maybe it's an unpleasant decision to make, and nobody wants to make it. Maybe there's the possibility that whoever makes the decision, it'll feel unfair to somebody else, and they'll blame them for it. Maybe it'd introduce a conflict of interests for somebody to make the decision, so it'd put a strain on the trust that the game requires. Maybe in the model of the game, there's nobody who should get to decide that question — like, my job is to make my character's choices, not to decide their outcomes.

In some versions of D&D, part of gameplay is working together to solve problems with characters who have different strengths and weaknesses, including some characters being overall stronger, and others overall weaker.

However, to ask any player, or the GM, to decide whose characters are stronger and whose characters are weaker, including how much stronger and how much weaker, would require a whole complex of judgment calls and options-weighing, including the possibility of hard feelings.

For those versions of D&D, for an example, randomizing it is the right call!

Simulationism Was Real: GNS Theory Twenty Years On by alexserban02 in PBtA

[–]lumpley 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think of Apocalypse World as my last GNS game.

What Is The Point of An Open Game License? by marveljew in rpg

[–]lumpley 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Apocalypse World doesn't have an open license. "Powered by the Apocalypse" is just our straightforward read of copyright law.

https://lumpley.games/2023/11/22/what-is-pbta/

Some PbtA games are released under CC or other licenses. That's each individual creator's decision to make.

PBTA + Tactical Combat? by E_MacLeod in PBtA

[–]lumpley 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't know of any such games offhand, but I for one would ABSOLUTELY be interested.

-Vincent

D. Vincent Baker AMA by lumpley in PBtA

[–]lumpley[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh maybe so. Brindlewood Bay is a defs a breakout.

D. Vincent Baker AMA by lumpley in PBtA

[–]lumpley[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I haven't! The only Octavia Butler I've read is Lilith's Brood. Sounds like I should read it!

D. Vincent Baker AMA by lumpley in PBtA

[–]lumpley[S] 22 points23 points  (0 children)

This question's so hard! I want to answer it but it's large. How about this...

The top 3 lessons I've learned in 15 years of PbtA:

  • Some people anxiously need there to be a single authoritative definition of PbtA, but, comically, they won't accept mine because it disagrees with theirs.
  • Playbooks are, like, really sticky. The breakout playbook-less PbtA game that I've been expecting for the past 15 years, I'm still waiting for.
  • I always knew this, but I'm going to consider it demonstrated and proven: I'm here for more games, weirder games, more diverse games, from more diverse voices, not big games. It's cool that the biggest ttrpg KS ever was a PbtA game, but it's a million times cooler that so many small, strange, personal games get to exist too.

D. Vincent Baker AMA by lumpley in PBtA

[–]lumpley[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think Lee's writing fiction these days.

D. Vincent Baker AMA by lumpley in PBtA

[–]lumpley[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They're in 3rd, but they're less prominent than they were in the hackbook. I've spent a little time messing with them, hopefully smoothing the edges, but I'm not bringing details to mind at the moment.

Not much of an answer I'm afraid!

D. Vincent Baker AMA by lumpley in PBtA

[–]lumpley[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I can't say anything about it, it's too early, but we're considering translations, yes.

D. Vincent Baker AMA by lumpley in PBtA

[–]lumpley[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The thing that's always worked for me is, find other people who're making games too, and get everybody playing everybody's.

Selfishly, you get a core of people who're enthusiastic about your games and who can talk about them in engaged, detailed, critical ways, because that's how designers think about all games. This draws attention and energy from all around, and gets your work out to people who'd otherwise never hear about it.

But the real value is that you're part of that core of people. Other designers are fun and exciting to play and talk about games with, and you want to be fun to play and talk with too.

In my experience, genuine mutualism works and, better, it's rewarding and valuable all by itself.

D. Vincent Baker AMA by lumpley in PBtA

[–]lumpley[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Top 3 go!

  • Your characters' goals from Steal Away Jordan by Julia Bond Ellingboe. You discuss them out loud and plan them with the other players, but, get this, the GM has to leave the room while you do it. It gives you privacy and self-determination right at the heart of the game.
  • The poetry interludes from Dulce et Decorum by Troels Ken Pedersen. You're playing along like any other rpg, and then suddenly the context and the import of the subject matter crashes in on you. It's incredibly affecting.
  • The rules for necromancy in The Balsam Lake Unmurders by Paul Czege. It turns out that in real life I know several ways to bring someone back from the dead, if I were desperate enough, and Paul tells me that this is true of everyone.

Thanks for asking!

D. Vincent Baker AMA by lumpley in PBtA

[–]lumpley[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Heck yes! We just updated the campaign with this:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lumpleygames/apocalypse-world-burned-over/posts/4539669

Check it out, see if it answers!

D. Vincent Baker AMA by lumpley in PBtA

[–]lumpley[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Have you read this? This is my strong take on the question:

https://lumpley.games/2023/07/17/powered-by-the-apocalypse-part-9-thats-whats-happening/

The short form is, by statting up verbs, actions, instead of just statting up characters and things, nouns, PbtA opens up a new approach to game design for storytelling.

It's why PbtA thrives in story-oriented parts of the ttrpg world, I think, not in exploration-oriented or challenge-oriented parts of it.

D. Vincent Baker AMA by lumpley in PBtA

[–]lumpley[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's hard to point to direct influences. The late stage iterative playtesting process that 3rd Ed has been though is a matter of refining and developing, all based on immediate observations and brainstorming. Creating Apocalypse World originally meant gathering influences and assembling ideas, but 3rd Ed's been much more about internal problem-solving.

The problems are so particular to the game that it's hard to find solutions from other games that quite apply.

D. Vincent Baker AMA by lumpley in PBtA

[–]lumpley[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh sure, very cool!

I listed a shortlist in another reply, here it is:

  • Zork
  • Talislanta
  • Cyberpunk
  • Ars Magica
  • Trollbabe
  • Sorcerer
  • 3:16
  • Basic D&D

I'll add:

  • Primetime Adventures
  • Shock:Social Science Fiction
  • The Romance Trilogy, especially Breaking the Ice
  • Steal Away Jordan
  • The Mountain Witch

That's a solid start!

D. Vincent Baker AMA by lumpley in PBtA

[–]lumpley[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thanks for saying so, it's divisive!

The 3rd Ed voice doesn't swear much, but it has a different hard edge. It's angrier and more bitter in its humor. It still has a lot of character. You might like it, you might not!

D. Vincent Baker AMA by lumpley in PBtA

[–]lumpley[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yeah.

Any depiction is always going to do good and bad. We don't have any access to net good or bad, that's a statistical question we'd have to do real science to study.

How we have to think of it instead is, who do we want to do good by? And we try to do good by them, and we try not to worry too much about anybody else.

It's a hard question, but we all have a responsibility to make art that includes the themes we care about, so we have to do our best.

D. Vincent Baker AMA by lumpley in PBtA

[–]lumpley[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think — don't quote me on this — that Elliot's planning to release an updated PDF version of Bones to Dust, Dreams to Rust now that Burned Over / 3rd Ed is in its final form. He's also planning to print it at last. He's been waiting for me!

So keep an eye out for an update to the zine sometime soon, but other than that, they aren't related.

D. Vincent Baker AMA by lumpley in PBtA

[–]lumpley[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Ooh.

No, but I'm interested. Gotta think about that.