PbtA Games: Sell One Well +

[ruemere]

...City of Mists? Someone who's actually read the whole book, or played it, tell me how wrong I am.

City of Mist: you're a human implanted with a myth. This can range from literal plot armor, to a huge tentacled friend, to a legacy of a knight of a round table.

This is not pure PbtA as the story is not created by character actions.

Mechanically, a character is composed of four cards, each with a different set of aspects, each with a single weakness. Whenever you make one of 7 core moves you stack applicable aspects, statuses (story effects) and roll 2d6.
Advanced Moves have special mechanics attached.

Each of four cards is either mythical or mundane. If at any time you're stuck with four of the same kind, you lose your character (mundane characters are unable to remember mythical things, avatars become the myth).
Fortunately, it takes a lot of fails.

Each of four cards can be powered up with new aspects.

The shiniest gem is a case construction ruleset. It's simple and allows to lead characters in circles.

Daredevil tribute:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cx8lQOpWIAAF-2L?format=jpg&name=4096x4096

Note: expect cyberpunk spin on City of Mist soon. Tokyo: Otherscape portrays a future with corporations that instrumentalized and weaponized myth. Major Kusanagi with Spirit Fox enhancements, Batou as an Ogre.

Kickstarter campaign: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sonofoak/tokyo-otherworld-a-mythic-cyberpunk-rpg

 

[Aldarc]

Try it out first. Similar Moves exist in other PbtA games, and I have found that these questions suffice and help provide some structure for player questions.

@Faolyn, I would also add that sometimes the list limitation exists in PbtA games because the list of questions are sometimes expanded by playbooks themselves, which reinforces the themes and play fantasy of each playbook.

 

[Faolyn]

Seems to me the limited # of questions is the key factor, and the questions themselves are best suggestions. Give it a try and see how it goes! But I'd still require the questions to be pretty focused.

Try it out first. Similar Moves exist in other PbtA games, and I have found that these questions suffice and help provide some structure for player questions.

It's less the number of questions as the type of questions.

Like, I dunno, if the mystery wasn't entirely about the monster and there were normal human concerns at work, maybe. BBEG was actually a kid who made or summoned the monster because they were angry about something, and fixing that something would be a possible way to get the kid to stop with the monster. It might work under "What is being concealed here," but it might not.

Or, I suppose, I could just give that info as a freebie for good RPing. I'll definitely see how everything works before I change anything.

 

[Aldarc]

It's less the number of questions as the type of questions.

Like, I dunno, if the mystery wasn't entirely about the monster and there were normal human concerns at work, maybe. BBEG was actually a kid who made or summoned the monster because they were angry about something, and fixing that something would be a possible way to get the kid to stop with the monster. It might work under "What is being concealed here," but it might not.

Or, I suppose, I could just give that info as a freebie for good RPing. I'll definitely see how everything works before I change anything.

I think that these questions are meant to point to the possible answers or clues without necessarily giving things away. So the Q&A should probably be less "What is being concealed here?" / "The kid summoned the monster" but more "What is being concealed here?" / "The kid seems to know more about the monster than they are letting on" or "the kid seems to have some relationship with the monster." The GM must answer truthfully but not fully, though I would add that they shouldn't necessarily be lies of omission that attempt to undermine player success either.

 

[MuhVerisimilitude]

I'm certain that Gaiman has had RPG fans and publishers coming to him for years, but it's remarkable that there's no official game that could handle American Gods, Neverwhere or the Graveyard Book.

Sorry for the necro bump, I found this thread by accident while looking for a particular game, but you got to check out Nobilis. It is basically Sandman + American Gods the RPG. It's much more rules minimalist than anything in PbtA, but chargen is a bit more complex.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Sorry for the necro bump, I found this thread by accident while looking for a particular game, but you got to check out Nobilis. It is basically Sandman + American Gods the RPG. It's much more rules minimalist than anything in PbtA, but chargen is a bit more complex.

Oh for sure. If it's not mentioned in the acknowledgements, I'm sure Jenna Moran has consumed all of Gaiman's work.

My thought was mostly about Gaiman, who has been moving through geek spheres since the 1980s, before he was a published comics writer, and is constantly crossing paths with gaming industry folks, never having greenlit an RPG of his own, despite I suspect dozens of opportunities to do so.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Oh for sure. If it's not mentioned in the acknowledgements, I'm sure Jenna Moran has consumed all of Gaiman's work.

My thought was mostly about Gaiman, who has been moving through geek spheres since the 1980s, before he was a published comics writer, and is constantly crossing paths with gaming industry folks, never having greenlit an RPG of his own, despite I suspect dozens of opportunities to do so.

Similarly, no Hitchhiker's Guide ttrpg either - and I was under the impression that Gaiman and Adams were friends (?). Nor anything that's directly by Alan Moore or Frank Miller (where's my 300 ttRPG!?!).

Neil's pretty accessible, if someone asked, he'd probably answer...

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Similarly, no Hitchhiker's Guide ttrpg either - and I was under the impression that Gaiman and Adams were friends (?). Nor anything that's directly by Alan Moore or Frank Miller (where's my 300 ttRPG!?!).

Neil's pretty accessible, if someone asked, he'd probably answer...

Gaiman was friends with Adams and Pratchett and peers with all of the British invasion comic book creators of the early 1990s. He had a hell of a Rolodex back in the day.

And yeah, if my timeline is anything to go by, Gaiman is 50% of all content on Bluesky, so he'd probably answer if someone asked about whether he's been approached about an RPG and why one never materialized. I can't imagine he thinks an RPG publisher could/should back up a dump truck of money to his house -- he's too well-versed in geek media to think there's that kind of money in it.

 

[jdrakeh]

You can read about my group's absolutely bonkers Monster of the Week game in this thread. If that doesn't convince you of MotW's utility/flexibility, I don't know what will.

 

[Deset Gled]

Similarly, no Hitchhiker's Guide ttrpg either - and I was under the impression that Gaiman and Adams were friends (?). Nor anything that's directly by Alan Moore or Frank Miller (where's my 300 ttRPG!?!).

Getting a little off topic here, but...

HHGttG never had a TTRPG, but it was well known as a text based game. Starship Titanic was another major game effort from Adams. But both of these were clear examples of games designed around the idea of the player living through the story told by the author. By current TTRPG standards, they're the railroad-iest railroad you could imagine. Adams loved the idea of a game that made a player an active part of his stories, but he never worked on anything designed to let the players tell their own. Neither the players, readers, or even the characters in anything by Adams really have anything that approaches what we would call agency. Everyone is just along for the ride (and we like it that way).

From that perspective, and to bring things back to the original topic, PbtA may be the worst system imaginable for a HHGttG game. IMNSHO, it's just not in line with the storytelling style. YMMV.