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| The Band (pictured here getting back together) - IDW Sonic the Hedgehog #9, Tracey Yardley & Matt Herms |
Howdy, Farmhands.
For all my big talk in the Previous Post in this series, I actually do have quite a lot of work to do. How do I take the high-risk, high reward, low numbers problem solving of an OSR game like Cairn and fulfill the aesthetic promise of the colorful, cartoony butt-rock action of Sonic the Hedgehog?
Here's my first few swings.
Part 1: Death Fail-safes (maybe)
I spent the better part of a 2-hour Minecraft Livestream talking about Violence in TTRPGS and how Gary Gygax was an Insurance Actuary. Sonic came up at some point. That's the only segue I got. Here's my plan A to soften things in Cairn:
"Unless specifically stated to be With Intent To Kill, any attack that lowers an NPC combatant to 0 HP triggers a Morale Roll instead of a Death Save. A Failed save removes the Combatant from the fight, be it through fleeing, surrender, or petrification from fear. A Successful Save means they're willing to fight to the death, any further damage affects STR and Death Saves as normal.
Alternatively, a PC attacking an NPC with Zero HP should be able to simply knock them out with the butt of their sword if they really don't want blood on their hands." - Me, on Twitter, sometime last week
Ok. Good. We can work with this. The problem isn't solved, this is just a start. But what am I actually DOING with this? There's a layer there to act as a buffer, to let the players really think about if this is the result they want to pursue. And if they decide that yes, Murder IS the play here, what has this rule change done to positively affect the experience? I've basically just halted the flow of combat for one final "Are you SUUUUUURE?" dialogue prompt.
I can do better than this.
Part 2: I Do Better Than That
A more drastic change would be to go by Pokemon Rules, so we can have our violence and still be safe for kids('s parents). Instead of Death, the fail states of Combat are "Down", followed by "Out."
Reaching Zero HP puts you Down, you're wheezing and looking rough. For NPCs, this is when the Morale roll happens to decide if they Flee or stay to take a stand. For PCs, they may choose to Move OR take an Action each round but not both. Any further Damage affects their STR score and they must make Death Saves as normal, or be Out. And "Out" is just. Fainted. They're not dead, but they're an unconscious or otherwise indisposed lump on the floor. They may not rejoin Combat. In Cairn terms, they're present but Deprived. Retreating when Downed is basically choosing to be Out, knowing you'll be able to recover HP as usual after the dust settles. But, because I love Mario & Luigi RPG, Downed PCs can stay in the fight by being Carried.
A PC may Carry a Downed PC if they have (let's just pick a number for right now.) 5 Inventory Slots free. A Carried PC regains 1 HP per Round they are Carried, up to their Max. However, the PC doing the Carrying rolls attack rolls as if Impaired.
Although, thinking about it, if Carrying a Downed PC costs 5 Inventory Slots, a PC COULD theoretically carry 2 of their allies, but only after 1. Dropping all their Stuff and 2. Accepting that it's going to push them to 0 HP until both of them get the fuck off their shoulders. If the Carrying PC takes fatigue that encroaches into that 5 slot allowance, they're unable to Carry the Downed PC any longer and they are forced to rejoin the combat with whatever HP they have. Course, then they're no longer Down so it's probably fine.
"Doesn't this mean it's much harder for the players to ever seriously experience danger?" yes, but it creates a few more layers of player choice before you reach the "you don't get to roll any more" stage with those blorbos. It also introduces the possibility of PCs focusing on assisting and healing their party, without needing a specific class or set of combat abilities to do so.
Part 3: Advancement
Sonic the Hedgehog is a Videoed Game. So I think... I think I want to purposefully include some Videoed Gamery into this. It'll be fun, I promise.
Recently, I read Gno Mann's premiere blog post, a response to a currently 5 year old blog post by Luke Gearing on the topic of Experience Points and Incentives in Game design. I think both are worth a read. Gearing's post has been bandied about as something of a divine text, and Gno's belated response pokes a ton of holes in it. I'm not about to throw my hat into the ring between them, but reading both blogs gave me a great number of thoughts about traditional leveling up systems and how they can be used in ways to manipulate the player (non-derogatory) and manipulate the player (derogatory.)
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| Cairn's Scar table. It's very good. |
Cairn's only systematic method of advancement is in its Scars table; when a PC is knocked down to exactly 0 hit points, their body is marred by the experience, giving them a boost to their HP, and leaving them with a visual reminder of the time they got said HP boost. This is actually REALLY great, but doesn't fit the vibe I want with this Sanic game. All other advancement in Cairn is diegetic; finding new weapons and armor, kitting yourself out with Relics you've collected on your adventures, and simply surviving with the gold needed to sleep at an inn are all the game as written is concerned about.
My first swing at an alternative is a system I'm calling "SCORE." Similar to the Arcade Classics of the 80's, Score is a running tally of all the cool shit you've done, with the goal being to reach the end of the level with as much of it as possible. Unlike vintage videoed games, (and yes, they're considered VINTAGE now. Late 90's LEGO are Vintage. Hell, Mid-2000's LEGO are Vintage. I hate it.), Score is not a measure of skill, but a reward for completing a Task listed on a long list of possible Achievements. Deciding which Achievement to accept at the end of any given session or adventure would work great as a cool-down activity, I think. Everyone pulls up the list, compares it to the adventure they JUST played, and decide which on to mark off. Simple Achievements, such as "Start a Fight and Win," would be worth a small amount of Score, but be able to be taken multiple times. Eventually, the small fry 'Chieves will dry up, requiring Players to seriously consider some longer term goals to gain more of the resource.
And what would this resource do, you ask? Again, similar to the Achievements, small bonuses would cost smaller amounts of Score to purchase, packages of 100 Rings, for example, could be bought multiple times for a small amount of it. Bonuses to a Stat, a new Title or Feat, high-end game loot like vehicles and buildings, I don't know exactly what would be on there. The key would be making the Achievements be accessible without making them the main focus of the game. Diegetic growth is STILL the focus here- if a PC has already consumed enough Achievements that none of the simple ones are available anymore, they shouldn't feel as though their character did nothing worthwhile or didn't grow while they worked towards a bigger goal.
Until Next Time,
-Farmer Gadda
