Blackjack mechanics
In a storygame forum thread about tag spamming and its deleterious effects, someone posted an idea that might be useful with solo games where you're using a system where tag spamming is possible:
Basically, you swap the placement of the middling/neutral result with the best/top result. This way the highest rolls aren't always the best, and I assume it would curb any tendency one may have towards acquiring bonus after bonus.
http://www.story-games.com/forums/discussion/comment/464072/#Comment_464072
http://www.story-games.com/forums/discussion/comment/464072/#Comment_464072
What an interesting thread, thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI especially like the bit about player responsibility; that pretty much sums up my entire feeling on it -- if I write down "Strong, Buff, Athletic, Weight-lifter" so I can get a +4 to strength checks, that's the way I want to play. It's solo; if the rules say I can and that's the way I want to play, why not?
If the opponent is massively more powerful than I am, I can easily come up with reasons why -- but I won't bother formalizing those Tags, I'll just list them off (which is actually the way I'm going design-wise lately).
To my mind, in solo, Tags serve two functions -- one, to add modifiers and penalties, and two, to help the solo player keep track of the situation and the circumstances.
I wish I'd had this thread when designing Calypso, when I was "looking for ways to apply Tags to a 2d6 roll", haha. Definitely going to glean some ideas for the next update.
I'm not a huge fan of the blackjack mechanic at first glance, just because it's one more thing to keep track of and it kind of adds in more "meta" thought; I like the simplicity of "try to roll high (or low)" across the board. I'll have to think about it a bit more.
I think what's missing in the solution suggested in the thread is the fictional rationale for why the extra effort makes a roll fail. In Supervillain You, the extra effort can turn the action into overkill and collateral damage (i.e. the extra effort may destroy buildings, hurt bystanders, etc). I like the Blackjack mechanic as a way of adding some risk in games where it's very easy to (almost) always succeed.
ReplyDeleteThat's a very good point, though I'd argue that if it's very easy to almost always succeed in a solo game, you should be ramping up the situational difficulty and dialing back your efforts as a player to stack the deck. (That's the universal "you" not YOU, haha.)
ReplyDeleteThat's the beauty of solo -- my friend who lives and dies by CODzilla doesn't have to be accounted for! Ha.
I love the collateral damage idea; that's applicable not just to superhero games, but also to other genres. I mean, you could easily say that the "collateral damage" is unexpected consequences.
"I meant to threaten him with my sword, but I killed him instead."
"I mean to intimidate him into talking, but instead I scared him so much he clammed up."
One of the driving forces behind solo mechanics should be pushing the narrative forward, and this works very tidily for it. Definitely one to put in the design file.
I saw a thread on reddit the other day referring to a "blackjack" mechanic you might be interested in.
reddit.com - So I just played a Blackjack system with Flip Flops (EP2) for the first time and loved it. What resolution systems do *you* prefer? Why? • r/rpgreddit.com - So I just played a Blackjack system with Flip Flops (EP2) for the first time and loved it. What resolution systems do *you* prefer? Why? • r/rpgreddit.com - So I just played a Blackjack system with Flip Flops (EP2) for the first time and loved it. What resolution systems do *you* prefer? Why? • r/rpg