A quick card game for use in RPGs

[AeroDm]

We created a mini-game for use during D&D sessions. We wanted something that didn't break the fantasy and games like Three Dragon Ante never caught on for us. The game has organically evolved into something pretty fun. I'm looking for some folks to give it a try and give me feedback to break out of my little echo chamber.

It takes about 10 minutes to learn or 5 minutes to teach and a game can be set up and resolved in as little as 5 minutes. The link goes to a PDF that introduces the game, gives some background, a sample of play, and then plenty of printer-friendly cards if you are willing to give it a try.

The really neat thing about it is that there is a mechanism to account for Intelligence in RPGs without gimmicks like giving a +2 to a die roll which, over the long term, isn't an 'advantage' as much as a guarantee that you'll win. More intelligent characters can just hold more cards in their hand at any time, which gives more options, simulating strategy and foresight. It's a neat little solution to give an advantage while preserving competition.

Thanks in advance!
Scratch quick start 2mb PDF
More cards for when you're ready
A blog covering design and the business side of game development

 

[Jools]

That's a very well put together pdf. If you're looking for feedback I'd reccomend posting it to Boardgame Geek. You should get a good audience there. Looks like an interesting game.

(Btw, the title of the thread makes it sound like you've made a game for D&D minis - that may put some people off).

 

[OnlineDM]

Looks like fun! I only have two suggestions. First, since you mentioned the possibility of an upside-down 6 being mistaken for a 9 and vice-versa, maybe you can make them more visually distinct (underlining, fonts where flipping 6 doesn't give you 9, etc.).

Second, in your Super Tip for using Scratch in an RPG, you talk about letting a player hold an extra card for every point of Intelligence; I think you meant to refer to the intelligence modifier there rather than the score (though the context made it clear).

Thanks for sharing!

 

[AeroDm]

In a different forum someone pointed out that the card rarities and factions are not as clearly explained as they'd like. I thought I'd update just in case anyone enjoys the deck building aspect of card games and wanted to give that side of the game a look.

There are three rarities:

• Common cards are the weakest. You can play duplicates of commons in the same game.
• Rare cards are middling powerful and often have powers. Only one instance of any given rare (for example, 'Griffin') can be in play at any time. If I play Griffin and you have one in your hand, you can't play it. Similarly, if I have an extra one in my hand I also cannot play it.
• Unique cards are the most powerful and often have powers. Only one unique from each faction can be in play at any time. If I play King, a unique from the Kingdom faction, then no one else can play any other unique from the Kingdom faction (including King).

There are four factions: Monster, Wild, Kingdom, and Undead.
In this demo, only Monster and Kingdom are presented. Factions play two important roles. First is the 'only one unique per faction in play at a time' rule just discussed. Second is that certain powers (namely "Champion!") provide benefits based on the faction of nearby cards. The final thing factions do is have a tendency or one side of the card that tends to have the big numbers. For example, Monster has a tendency on the top of the card and Kingdom has a tendency on the bottom. This is sort of important in deck building because if you mix factions in your deck you can have higher numbers in all directions. Alternatively, if you focus on just one faction, you'll be very threatening in a single direction. If you can anchor the game so that everyone is fighting in the direction you are strong, you'll be more powerful.

Here is also an image of the most recent card layout. There is a different layout on the last page of the PDF that is a bit more flashy (but, in all honesty, not that flashy). Feedback on either is appreciated.

 

[AeroDm]

Hey guys,

I finally posted a PDF of all four factions, so you can play test the entire game. I also set up a little website to begin discussing strategy and design theory if anyone is interested.

Website. scratch the line
Quick start guide. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/64797465/scratchDTL.pdf
Full faction PDF. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/64797465/scratch_full_faction.pdf

 

[AeroDm]

This entry and game design dealt with the use of trademarks for independent game designers. I think it would be helpful for a lot of amateur RPG publishers but since the industry forum is shut down it doesn't really have a home and I'm not sure it warrants its own thread. Hence, we'll just tack it here.

 

[AeroDm]

More entries!
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