[Dread] Jenga beat up my dice! My results from the indie horror RPG.

Hey, thanks for the feeback, Epidiah!

I'll go check out your website forthwith. Either way, I've already been highly impressed by this idea, and I've heard nothing but rave, rave reviews of the game session mentioned above over on ENWorld's sister site, Circvs Maximvs, where many of the people in the game (and in the room next to it) were able to see Dread in action.
 

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Epidiah Ravachol

First Post
Tiew said:
Sounds extremely cool. Do you think it would be a good system for introducing new role-players to the idea of a role-playing game? I have literary type friends who'd probably get bored a few minutes into me describing the rules of D&D, but who might get into the interactive story thing.
I'm biased, but I've seen many, many folk dragged to conventions by their spouses break their role-playing fast on Dread. I think your literary types will particularly enjoy the character creation method. It is essentially stolen from the writing exercises I had to do in college oh so many years ago.
 

Epidiah Ravachol

First Post
Hobo said:
Hey, thanks for the feeback, Epidiah!

I'll go check out your website forthwith. Either way, I've already been highly impressed by this idea, and I've heard nothing but rave, rave reviews of the game session mentioned above over on ENWorld's sister site, Circvs Maximvs, where many of the people in the game (and in the room next to it) were able to see Dread in action.
No problem. If you have any questions after viewing the material, I'll be happy to answer them.

Dread can be a bit of a spectator sport at conventions. And at home, that same quality really helps to focus the players' attention on what is happening whenever anyone goes to the tower. I suspect it is also why, even after their characters are removed from the game, players usually stick around to watch the fates of their companions unfold.
 

Lockridge

First Post
Thanks Epidiah,
I plan to check out the stuff you linked to. The idea seems great. In d20 its so difficult to make players actually nervous. "A demon? I attack with my sword and collect my gold"
Cool.
 

GreatLemur

Explorer
Piratecat said:
Err... build little castles out of the blocks? :D

This wouldn't work well for a high-combat game, I think. Too deadly.
I dunno. Lord Tirian's idea about using it for an action point mechanic might be workable.

In that kind of use, though, I almost have to wonder if each player should get their own tower, but that'd obviously just be a pain in the ass. If everyone's pulling from the same tower, though, you'd need some mechanic to keep players from trying to hog all the early, easy pulls. I really like the idea of the later, riskier pulls being worth more. Also, maybe pulls from lower on the tower could be better? I imagine they'd be harder. I bet there are multi-colored Jenga set out there you could use to build color-coded towers...

And when somebody inevitably topples it, do they die (or go mad, get imprisoned, join the Dark Side, etc.) as in Dread, or should it be a lighter penalty, like a severe botch of what ever the character was attempting, probably incurring attacks of opportunity (even automatic hits?) if in combat. And do you rebuild the tower immediately afterwards, or is the whole party denied their "action pulls" after one guy screws up? Maybe the tower's rebuilt, but the player who knocked it over doesn't get to pull anymore?

This sounds like a hell of a lot of fun, really. It'd make for a lot of action point use, though. And it certainly wouldn't be as high-tension as Dread (unless you do go with the topple-and-die option), but it would definitely add an interesting new element. Worth trying out, I think.
 

Schwebs

First Post
The block tower to build suspense is genius. Perfect for the genre.

I think that incorporating some type of character defining q'naire (the 13 questions) is something that could be added to any RPG immediately. What a great way to help people new to role playing to get into character. I suspect it would help any role player actually.
 

Zaruthustran

The tingling means it’s working!
Piratecat said:
It does; knock down the tower, and you set it up with an immediate three pulls per remaining player. It'll start out rickety.

It's a good sign that I just ran it, and I really want to run it again.

Perfect solution. Man, that sounds so rad. I'm going to add the Jenga mechanic to my Savage Tide campaign. Maybe for ship maneuvers? Or for chase scenes?

What do I need to do in order to convince you to run a game at PAX? :)

-z
 

Epidiah Ravachol

First Post
I'm reluctant to correct Piratecat because of all the wonderful things he's saying about the game, but the number of pulls you make after rebuilding the tower is based on the number of players you've lost so far in the game, and not the number remaining.

It is, however, a very loose rule, and either way will achieve the objective, which is to jump start the tension again. A few folks have also suggested doubling the number of pulls required for actions after the tower is rebuild. I think this sort of happens naturally, because more dangerous situations tend to generate more pulls, and flat out doubling them might be overkill. But if you're using the mechanic in another game to represent something else, that might also be a solution.
 

Piratecat

Sesquipedalian
Epidiah Ravachol said:
I'm reluctant to correct Piratecat because of all the wonderful things he's saying about the game, but the number of pulls you make after rebuilding the tower is based on the number of players you've lost so far in the game, and not the number remaining.
Err... oops? Makes sense, of course; I must have misread it!
 

Thornir Alekeg

Albatross!
This sounds really cool.

When mentioning the struggle over the gun, two players were making opposed pulls. Does the GM make pulls for NPCs to counter the player's action, or is it soley based upon the player at that point? I would think GM pulls could heighten the tension, but it also might discourage the players from trying things, because they don't want to end up in a Jenga duel.

Piratecat, how much will it take to get you to scrap your plans and show up at KahunaCon to run this? I'll open with $10 and the dessert of your choice, and I could probably get others to chip in ;)
 

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