Wordplay

The Wordplay Playtest 0.51 – ‘Pleasure is Nature’s test, her sign of approval’ is the fully proofread core rules of the game. Many thanks to Nick Bradbeer for doing such an excellent job.

This version has just been sent through for editing.

My Epic Fantasy Theme is 4000 words in and should be completed by Christmas, along with the others that are in development.

We remain on track for a Spring 2009 release.

The main rules are now in for proofreading and work commences on the themes. I am heartened to see that some of the theme writers are playtesting their work at Furnace in October. I hope to play in some of the games!

Work on the Epic Fantasy theme has started in earnest; I am about three thousand words in. Here’s an example ‘Place’ that I have just added:

The Isolated Village

Far away from the main trade routes and ancient roads of decaying empires, hidden between hill and forest lies the isolated village. Self sufficient, this forgotten community has either become slowly detached from the rest of the realm, is geographically challenged, or has specific reasons for hiding away from the rest of civilisation.

The village perhaps has a secret that has to be kept at all costs. A home to some evil or curse? Or perhaps this place is a sanctuary, an idyll, that provides the heroes with much needed rest and respite, a home away from the battles that they have faced? An isolated tower just beyond the village would be home to an old wise wizard with enigmatic answers to the heroes’ difficult questions. The tavern, small and well kept, is either warm and welcoming, or filled with suspicious locals who wish the player characters would move on.

The village’s isolation weaves an effect on the inhabitants. Here you will find unexpressed love, hidden royalty, hero wannabes, simple wisdom and suspicious knives in the dark.

There’s almost certainly an adventure or three in or around the isolated village.

Body: Lungs full of fresh air, Six fingers, Strong as the mountains

Mind: Beast lore, Farming, Forage, Hunting, Ignorant, Know everybody in the village, Know secret lore, Know the way to the hidden dungeon, Magic craft, Self sufficient

Soul: Direct, Dreamer, Four leagues is a world away, Heir to the throne, Naïve, Secrets and lies, Simple wisdom, Suspicious, Starry eyed, Uncomplicated, Wary of strangers, Wide eyed innocent, Yearning to find love

The August version of the text is now available for download. This version is the pre-proofreading and editing version of the text, so we are getting close.

On which subject, I am delighted that Nick Bradbeer will be proofreading and Mike Mason will be editing the text. These two strong additions to the team have really helped to make the prospect of the release much more achievable. I ma too close ot the text and impartial and skilled eyes will help shape things up.

Comments on this release are welcomed. Download, read and, if you can, play. Just click on the Donload tab and get yourself the PDF.

Below are the things that I am working on for the July release of Wordplay. Thanks to Tweaker and the Collective Endeavour for providing the suggestions.

• make the rule and trait examples consistently fantasy related and not mixed and matched.

What do you think of this one? It keeps a consistent theme in the rules and prevents ’swordbearer’ and ‘SQL administrator’ in the same trait lists. Expressions of adaptability will be found through the themes.

• A single or two-page extended example of play showing how the players and the GM negotiate the results of their roll, assembling their hand and counting their dice, and perhaps using a multiroll contest to play out a fight, a social event or both.
• Advice on getting on the same board and agreeing on the theme, tone, setting details, etc.
• Who is in charge? The role of the Guide and the Players.
• Advice on creating adventures, possibly using the traits and defects selected by the players as an springboard.
• Advice on creating new templates for Places, People and Professions, though this might not be necessary if the themes included provide enough examples.
• How do you deal with those characters whose equipment is an integral part of their concept or is a signature element of their personality?

So, a lot to go in the Guide chapter.

July and August will see the great editing hack. My aim is to condense the text and remove duplication as far as possible. I see this as freewheeling on the downward slope to the release. I suspect that I will find it rather painful!

Here is the current release plan for Wordplay.

The core game is going to be CC3.0 share attribute licence or OGL. Basically all you have to do is acknowledge how gorgeous I am somewhere prominently on your text and you can take Wordplay and off you go! Do with it as you will. Bend and warp and lift the text and invent your own work. You can even sell it if you want!

To that regard, I’m looking at something like this for Wordplay releases:

‘Beta Releases’ These will all have silly names…

June Release - Major revamp of the text, updated and reorganised with different chapter break points, more explanations and summaries. Available to the Wordplay gang - but can be shared informally.

July Release - First draft finish of the core game.  Available to the Wordplay gang - but can be shared informally.

August Release - Playtest twiddles to the core game. Fantasy Theme substantially complete. Available to the Wordplay gang - but can be shared informally.

September Release - Playtest twiddles to the core game. Fantasy Theme complete. Available to the Wordplay gang - but can be shared informally.

Additional Themes are likely to be at an advanced stage by now in anticipation of the Christmas 2008 deadline for submission

Open Wordplay
All the main text of the game plus the Fantasy theme in a non artwork basic PDF. Free and CC 3.0 licence. Available October ‘08 in time for Furnace from the Wordplay website (if I can get my act in gear!)

Final (1st Ed - Book and PDF)
Full final product with all themes, DTP, Art, available via POD and PDF via whichever channels make sense to me. Will cost to buy, the artwork would remain copyright, but the text would also be CC 3.0 and available for re-use. Available Spring 09.

Wordplay currently has an optional Fatigue and encumbrance system. It follows the standard rules with no changes, but adds another dimension and possible factor to challenges.

Question is do I actually need it? It’s not causing any harm by being in the game but is it adding sufficient value?

Food for thought…

I’m right in the midst of a big edit to Wordplay today. It should ensure that the next release of the text will be on track for early June. It’s going to be a big one. Core game is unchanged, but it will have a good reorganisation and lots of nice touches and improvements. Wordplay could well be finished in June. Although further refinement will continue throughout the year, we will have a solid base to be used for the open PDF and for next Spring’s book. Focus will switch to Themes and how we plan to release the game.

Hero Points have been included as an option in the ‘Advice for Guides’ chapter, with four suggestions on how they are awarded and managed in the game.

I’m just having my 40K word count party right now!

Here’s  something I’ve put in on Power Payback Challenges…

If Wordplay’s default payback challenge is too frequent or burdening to the game’s vision of the power being used, then only require a payback challenge if the number of successes kept is equal to or greater than the foundation trait used.

I’m moving onto Trait Morphing now and then looking at some ideas from Dom on how to factor in Scale that provides or receives support from lower scale Traits.

When players are clutching big handfuls of dice they feel invincible. Nothing can stop them wining the challenge and looking really cool. Watch the face drop as they behold a sea of 1,2,3 results smeared over the table! Meanwhile their challenge opponent looks down at a huge pile of sixes and starts the process of counting up all those challenge winning successes. Glee.

Here’s an optional rule:

Hero Points give player and Guide a chance to come back from the brink or stack the odds yet further in their favour. PCs get 2 HPs at start of play.Further HPs are granted for fun and imaginative play as rewards

Here are some ideas as to how they might work When you spend a HP you can:

• Gain 4d into your hand if it is spent before a challenge roll OR
• Reroll your dice if you don’t like the result (you can’t do this if you’ve taken the +4d)
• Improve a Victory Level by one
• Turn any sort of defeat into a tie

I’ll come up with more. How about you?!

I ran another playtest of Wordplay today which, on the whole went very well. It was another sword and sorcery set in the world of Conan. The game was well received and a lot of fun. Here’s a summary of the feedback taken form the feedback forms I handed out at the end.

• Mileage  in having a grey area where dice rolls are close (+/- 1d) instead of just for exact ties?
• Having helping dice from companions is a very good idea.
• “Touchy-feelyness” of the game is great - rather than it being overly rule bound.
• Extended campaign would be interesting.
• Is there any Trait atrophy effect in addition to Tait morphing and building.
• Like goals and the effect they can have. Perhaps too easy to invoke them - maybe something to qualify this?
• Challenges great but dice pools can be too easy to build up with harsh consequences.
• Quite easy to be knocked out of the game very quickly. Some kind of ‘life’ may be nice like fate points of something.
• Feels very like HeroQuest.
• Challenges feel fast and furious, although very brutal.
• Outcomes see very random at times. Seem,ed to swing easily from overwhelming victory to crushing defeat.
• Some traits might be difficult to find alternative uses for.
• Goals best in an extended campaign rather than a one off.
• Character sheet doesn’t need ‘D’ next to dice as redundant.
• I like the momentum rules.
• Bennies or Hero Points? Maybe as an optional rule for a cinematic game. Or maybe eacxh player just gets 6d from the pool each session to use as helping dice.

The bit that I need to give some thought to is the ‘brutality’ of the combat or the high variance in results especially when characters are facing off with 11+ dice. It only takes a high number of sixes in the roll and you could be racking up a Victory Level of six or more. We were a bit surprised by this and hence the request for some sort of Hero Point get out of jail card.

I don’t think anything is broken, but has given me some food for thought. The game was quite combat intensive and gave a good test of how that plays out.

Payback challenges for magic were also used. The sorcerer quickly realised how dangerous it was to use magic and found it difficult to win those challenges. I think they will need some fine tuning.

It has been commented that the Challenge chapter has become a bit of a beast. It is the engine room of the game, now has some examples in and is quite a lot of words! There follow a sizable amount of text that looks at the outcomes of challenges, including sections on Defeat, Fatigue and Experience. It all adds up and makes the thing a bit indigestible, even though it is all fairly straightforward.

Present planned solution is to create an Outcomes chapter. This will follow the Challenges chapter. The outcome table, defeat, damage Traits, and healing sections will all go in there.

Scale will stay in the Challenge chapter.

Experience will either stay in Outcomes or move into the Guide’s chapter.

I must rename the ‘Guide for Guides’ chapter as it sounds too much like ‘Scouting for Boys’…

This rationalisation will all be in the June release of the text.

Thoughts?