Author Archive: Jason Pitre

Circle of Power – Google + Breakout 2017 Feedback

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Breakout Playtest Feedback

I ran two excellent playtest sessions of Circles of Power over at Breakout 2017. While the hour is late, I wanted to capture the most salient points and share them with the community.

Session 1 consisted of a group of the Wise who struggled against the ever-hungry Giants. The Burdened Community was forced, by the laws of the Dominant Society, to live outside of the great city walls. This meant they were the first to suffer from a Giant’s attack, and they were caught up with a misfired fireball. +Michelle Lyons-McFarland tried to conjure a water elemental to douse the flames, but a botched spell called forth a rage-filled fire elemental instead. She created a new spell to bind the fire elemental and send it to fight off the giants. Now, the errant fireball also severely burned the group’s illusionist, so +Alex Trépanier the necromancer created a new spell that transferred grievous injuries. This invariably led for the wound to be transferred to the necromancer’s brother, slaying him in the process. By the end of the session, they had convinced the dominant society to allow for the construction of a secondary wall around the burdened encampment, offering some measure of additional security for both parties.

Session 2 was far more grisly. The Doom consisted of flesh-burrowing abominations which puppeteer their victims. The Diviner tried to fight against the Doom by helping refugees from her Foreign community escape the carnage, and accidentally invited in seven infected hosts. The blind Evoker created a Force Scalpel spell for surgery to remove parasites, while the Transmuter invented vicissitude. There was a tense discussion on whether to use one marginalized group (The Native) to hunt down the infected hosts (from the Foreign), to prevent the hatching abominations from attracting the wrath of the dominant society. They discovered, by the end of the session, that the Doom was actually a marginalized group that was fleeing an even nastier threat. Granted, the people of the city were less pleased being the food, shelter, and clothing for these refugees.

Next post, I will discuss the feedback received from those games and lessons learned.

Breakout Lessons

As mentioned, I have gotten some excellent feedback with regards to Circles of Power at Breakout Con. I thought I would dig into it, both to solicit insight and to share my thoughts.

1) The spell lists need to be described more clearly. Circles of Power, and the spell system on a whole, revolves around the distinction of Drawbacks (negative consequences to avoid) and Enhancements (extra benefits to gain). The real challenge is that this distinction is not explored in other PBTA games. I need to do a better job of communicating this distinction, so that others can more easily understand how spell evolution works. The current version is usable and people figure it out after I run a session, but the text is clearly doing a poor job on this point.

2) The game currently produces exactly the desired emotional experience, which is a mix of schadenfreude, existential horror, and righteous anger. It seems that multiple people at Breakout listed Circles of Power as one of their most engaging games for that reason, and this mix works well. Specifically, the process of collaboratively customizing your horrific and oppressive society does a good job of reminding players who they are standing against.

3) The 7-9 result on researching a spell (at the interlude phase) falls flat. The intent was to replicate the frustration of poverty in a capitalist society, requiring the Wise to spend valuable favour with the dominant society if they want do to some research. It didn’t quite work out as well as I would hope, so I plan on reworking that.

4) There is a subtle and complex issue with the hierarchy of communities. The intent of this mechanic during setting creation, was to establish that marginalized communities often harm each other due to the hierarchical pressure of the dominant society. From the lens of the dominant society, the mechanic was perfect. The problem was that it also led to “oppression olympics”, which is problematic for several players. I would welcome feedback from others on this front, as I am still mulling over the issue.

One of the fine players +Megan Baxter from Breakout wrote up one of the sessions. Take a look at the fine account, if you want to find out more about the game.

http://smorgasbook.blogspot.ca/2017/03/the-week-in-stories-breakout-con-part-ii.html


After the War – Playtest Invitation

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After the War is science-fiction horror roleplaying game, set on the frontier world of Polvo in the aftermath of a galactic conflict. This is a game about people who lost their homes and their families in the war and have come together to rebuild their lives on this rough, frontier world. It’s about diverse communities of Terrans, Martians, Belters, and Aliens, who come together to build a new home for themselves. When the seductive Song or brutal Tormenta threaten your settlements, it’s your job to protect your new world.
Your story is centered on the settlement that you now call home. You work to build, strengthen, and grow their fledgling home. You deal with internal disagreements and external threats, because this is the only place you have left.

Coming to Kickstarter in Fall of 2018

Playtesters Wanted

We are looking for playtesters for After the War, and we hope you are interested. If you would like to try out the game and give us valuable feedback, please click on the image below and fill in the quick google form to provide us with key information. Once that’s done, you can download the quickstart for free and get access to our private playtest community.

Thank you for your time, and welcome to Polvo!

Quickstart Available

Just want the quickstart without signing up for the playtest?  Check it out at http://eepurl.com/dBcJA5

 

The Four Structures

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Every failure has made me a better designer. Seeing the fail states if games, either in playtesting or after publication, has shown me a dozen different areas where I can hone my craft. Recently I decided to step back and look at the broader patterns which highlighted four different core design structures that need to be carefully tended in order to produce a compelling outcomes.

Every game can be viewed as a combination of four distinct structures, and the balance of effort among these areas will vary greatly depending on the nature of the project. How you combine these elements is an important decision for any designer and it’s worth your attention. Two of these structures (System and Setting) are well trod territory, but I rarely see mention other two (Situation and Subtext) and wanted to share my framework more broadly.

System consists of the rules and procedures of play. This is all about how you play the game, and how the person at the table will interact with the fiction you create. Rules mechanics and resolution systems all fall into this structure. A weak system tends to result in a game experience that depends on the personal competences of the participants in order to create a compelling play experience. The expression of a game “so good that we never touched the dice” dice stems from weak systems.

Setting consists of the fictional context for play. A setting can be as broad as a galaxy, or as small as a tiny pub where everyone knows your name.  Setting often represents and existing genre of fiction, but there is plenty of room for innovation in this realm. A weak setting feels bland and generic. There is no flavour to play, and the narrative is shallow.  Indistinct character personalities and lack of immersion into your roles are symptoms of weak settings.

Situation consist of the inciting incidents and the purpose of play. This is all about why you are playing the game, why your characters matter in the setting, and why the system will help them shape the narrative. A weak situation feels aimless and undirected. The participants have no strong direction or guidance in how they should be acting or what they should be doing. If the players are purely reactive to the GM’s plot or the fiction feels “on the rails” it’s a sign that the situation isn’t giving motivation.

Subtext consists of the deeper meaning and symbols associated with the game. Every game is a reflection of the real world in some way, and the subtext is all about intentionally crafting the messages and politics encoded in play. A weak subtext feels unintentional or unimportant. The participants are driven to achieve their practical goals, but those goals don’t align with the player’s personalities or passions. If a game that feels uncomfortable to play, or seems to accidentally perpetuate harmful philosophies, it might be a sign that the subtext is unintentional in nature.

An example in action. My first game was titled the Spark Roleplaying Game and it was a mixed bag. The system was fairly robust and moderately well implemented in hindsight. It didn’t have a single cohesive setting, but did give some amazing tools for creating your own settings at the table as a group. The lack of a singular setting led to very weak situations and only allowed for the simplest of subtext. The game had all of the basic functionality necessary to play, but that game itself wasn’t compelling  enough to stand out from the crowd.

The 8 Structural Questions.

Consider answering these questions to explore how these different structures fit into your own game projects.

1.       What does your system encourage players to do at the table?

2.       What is the most important mechanic, rule or procedure in the system, and why is it key?

3.       What about your setting is mundane, relatable and human?

4.       What about your setting is wondrous, fantastic, and exciting?

5.       What is the situation that encourages the players to interact with each other in play?

6.       What is the situation that encourages the players to interact with the setting in interesting ways?

7.       What kinds of player behaviours are encouraged by the combination of system, setting and situation?

8.       What is are implications, morally or politically, of those behaviours?

Fate of the Galaxy – Call for Contributors

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Fate of the Galaxy - Call for Contributors

 

We just released our first major public announcement for Fate of the Galaxy, and we are blown away by the enthusiasm fresh out the gate. One of the key aspects of the game is that we are trying very intentionally to design the game with a focus on inclusion, and we need your help.

This project is going to need more contributors who can bring their lived experience to the table. We are looking for women and for non-binary contributors. We are looking for contributors of colour, and for more contributors with disabilities. We want to your voices and your art to make it into the game and show us a more interesting vision of galactic politics.

We will need artists to illustrate the diversity of this open galaxy, the powerful leaders of the fringe worlds, and the fragile beauty of the worlds they protect. Our current artistic direction is to present grey-scale or minimally-coloured images, and we would love to see anything that you have in your portfolio. Our general guidelines, including our standard rates of pay, are available here. We welcome experienced and new talent alike!

Interested Artists: Apply Here

If you are a freelance writer from a marginalised community, please fill in this form to let us know your interest. We will be selecting a number of folks to write new Core Systems for the game as part of the kickstarter process, each which will present a different vision of the space opera genre. Any writers chosen would work with us and our brilliant editor, Amanda Valentine, to develop this setting.

Interested Writers: Apply Here

We know that the design team on this project consists of three cis-white dudes (Jason Pitre, Mark Richardson & Brian Engard), which is why we need your contributions. If you are a creative from a marginalised community, we need your help to make Fate of the Galaxy a success for everyone. Please don’t self-reject or let imposter syndrome hold you back.

The call for contributors is open from now until May 31st, 2018.

The Fate of the Galaxy rests in your hands.

The Emerging Voices Challenge

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A photograph of dawn, with the sun rising over a lake in the winter.

February is a cold and dark time, with our eyes eagerly searching out the sun. It’s time to look to the future. Inspiration and art, from fresh faces and bold voices, will drive us forward into the New Year. For the month of February, we want to spread these stories.

We want you to publicly promote or review an analogue game produced an emerging voice. This could be from a new creative, who are just crafting their first game. It could be from a more established pioneer from an underrepresented community. Lend your support and your passion for these new games and their creators.

Games are a broad category. Roleplaying games, from tiny nano-games to elaborate books are all eligible. All kinds of commercial and non-commercial larps, board games, and card games are likewise eligible for his promotion.  All we ask is that you devote at least 250 words in your promotion or review.

When that’s done, just fill out this form. We will collect all of these projects and promotions, so we can help spread the word.  We will also mail you a physical copy of our award-winning science-fiction game, Posthuman Pathways (MSRP $10).

Now let’s make February a brighter place for all of us, and amplify these emerging voices.

Jason Pitre, Genesis of Legend Publishing