The 7-Day RPG Contest [Voting is over!]

[JamesonCourage]

I wrote mine (Single Page Game System) over the course of maybe an hour, but I've played it a couple times with my friends, and it was fun enough (I even tweaked stuff, so it was technically playtested!). Good game if you only have access to d6s and you want a fast game where you slowly learn about your character / whatever world you choose to be in; players / the GM even get to make up facts as they go along, as per the mechanics. You get to learn things by winning / losing, and get more powerful for losing!

I was astonished by the turnout. I honestly expected a tiny handful of entries - and got about 40!

Yeah, I was thinking you'd have a low turnout, too, and that's why I joined up. It was my only chance of winning...

So, when the inevitable happens and I get zero votes, I'll make it look like it's my fault by saying the following: nobody vote for me. Thank you

 

[Rune]

Token System is a resource management game that reminds me a little of the 2004(?) Marvel game. You have tokens that you bid and trade back and forth. It's well written, and has some neat templates for various genres. Would I play it? Maybe if it was house-ruled so the bidding was secret.

Interesting concept. That would change the dynamic. That said, the tension of the Token System comes from the strategic interplay between the GM and the players.

I liken it to roleplaying a game of Chess or Go. The uncertainty doesn't come from secrecy, but from assessing your own position and second-guessing your opponent's approach.




All that said, your system does look fun (and the secrecy house-rule for The Token System might be, too!).

 

[JoshDemers]

I've read many of the entries and there are some great games here!

I would offer another plug for Heights of Etherian, but I would rather just say: "It was a great fun putting together an rpg in a few days. I love the setting of class (as in Have's and Have Not's) based strife, warring temples, and the - what would you call it, 'Ghost-Punk?' - feel of the ghostships and other technology. I think the system creates a fast-paced, stylistic way for the players to tell a lot of the story without interfering too much with the tale the GM is telling."

... I guess I had a plug to offer after all. Happy Voting and Good Luck to my fellow contributors!

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

A vote for Daughters of Lear is a vote for freedom and two-parent families!

A vote for Hand of Fate puts me one step closer to paying off the sewer ejector pump I had to replace today.

 

[Mothshade]

Girls, Gore, and Gold is a little project I had lying about for a while. It is intended to be a game where you can create a character in a few minutes and get into the action.
I wish life had not conspired against me last week so I could've had more time to devote to finishing the design. As it is, G3 is missing a lot of elements I have jotted down as notes.
There is a lot of humor and good-natured competition waiting to be added, and I intend to get the rest written up and playtested.
No, I definitely do not expect to win. The material was rushed, at best - and does not do justice to the notes hastily jotted by hand.
I really enjoyed the experience, and have learned a lot in the attempt. Thank you for hosting this competition. Good luck to all the entrants!

David A. Hill

 

[Murph Murphy]

Hey guys. Murph here. I am glad you are enjoying MEN OF POWER. But I have heard crying out, like dog in wilderness. So as a stretch goal, I submit WOMEN OF GLORY.If I win the contest, I will write a supplement called








CATS OF BOSSITUDE

 

[sheadunne]

Did I mention that PIN is a d12 system. And by d12 I mean LOTS of d12s lol. Dust those bad boys off!

 

[Rune]

The Token System -- Play Report

Tonight, I got together with some friends and family for a couple of hours to play a quick game (by which I mean, probably an hour of actual play-time).

If anyone's interested, here's how it went:

[sblock]The Genre was Mythic Bronze Age. The characters were:

Andrea (Beauty 5, Charm 3, Enmity of Hera 2, Evasion 2, Heart-breaker 3), the very, very beautiful.

Hippostottleclese (Endurance 5, Evasion 3, Fighter 3, Hubris 1, Sharpshooter 3), the world's greatest warrior (or so he believes).

Tridenticese (Divine-Blooded 5, Fighter 4, Sailor 3, Superstitious 1, Weather-Wise 2), the Son of Poseidon.

Web (Charming 3, Evasion 3, Ill-Fated 5, Oracle 1, Sorcery 3), the weaver, sorceress (and part-time oracle). Also, fated to one day turn into a spider.

Play begins (and this is, believe or not, the players' choice!) in a drinking hall. A drunken blind man mutters woefully into his wine and the players cajole a story from him (truthfully, it takes little cajoling). He once was king of his own city-state, but earned the disfavor of the gods when he cast out a blind vagrant from his court, thinking him a fool and beggar. "Hubris...it'll get you every time. Anyway, long story short, I hooked up with my mother and gauged out my own eyes. Well, I've gotta go piss."

But, on the way out the door, a tremendous bolt of lightning strikes. Tridenticese knows that this must be a bolt sent from Zeus, himself, and prostrates himself to learn how they [that is, the mortals present] might please Poseidon and could he please calm his irate brother-deity. In response, Poseidon speaks directly into his brain: If want to please me, find my Trident.

It is determined that they should go to the Oracle at Tridelphi, so they head to Tridenticese's fishing boat, but it's too small for four! No problem--Web just floats above it with her unnatural powers of sorcery. Also, it's raining, and Andrea doesn't want to get her hair wet, but that's not a problem either--she's so beautiful that the raindrops do their best to avoid messing up her hair.

Fortunately, Poseidon favors their journey, and a path of calm weather stretches before them. Unfortunately, Tridenticese's superstitions (about fish oil and eyes, and their application to nautical implements) lead Web to charm some fish into the boat. Andrea, of course, tries to avoid them as they flop about, and it takes all of Tridenticese's skill to keep the boat from capsizing.

In his pride, Hippostottleclese attempts to spear the largest fish in the ocean and manages one as large as he, eventually dragging it aboard. But the boat cannot support the additional weight, nor the desperation of the struggling fish. Andrea calms the fish with her soothing touch, and it is little trouble to then net the fish and throw it overboard.

Which, is great until the shark attack, of course. After ramming the boat, and ripping the netting apart to snag the tasty treat, the shark swims away, but now the boat is taking on water! It takes some time to repair it, but the leak is a slow one, so they have the time.

Next morning (red sunrise!), they catch sight of a giant eye looking at them from the depths. A giant eye attached to a mass of tentacles. A titanic battle seems imminent, but, Andrea's unearthly beauty pacifies the massive sea-creature.

On the horizon, the temple of Tridelphi stands atop a mountain. Once the party gets ashore, they discover that the winding path leading up is guarded by a great skeletal hound, eye-sockets flickering with unnatural flame. Hippostottleclese attempts to sneak by it, but is quickly rooted out.

The guardian charges toward him. In response, Hippostottleclese roots himself to the ground and readies himself for the hit. When the blow comes, it has the force of a mountain behind it, but the warrior endures. Bones clatter across the rocky path as the hound bounces off of the immovable man.

Tridenticese takes the opportunity to sever the spinal column with a swipe of his broad-headed spear. Bones shower the heroes with victory and the way to the Oracle is clear...[/sblock]

...And that was it for the night. First time playing the game for all but one of the players (there's not a lot of play-test time in a 7-day competition!). As might be imagined with such a different game-philosophy, it took a little while for them to wrap their heads around how different it was from games they're used to (no dice, no turns, almost every action player-initiated), but once they did, the game flowed smoothly. Fun was had by all.

 

[Sir Robilar]

Hi, Sir Robilar here. I created the last in the line, "Follow the Leader". It's a game for 4-hour one-shots and even has a title page! I had great fun writing this in the last 5 days or so. If anyone's interested, this is the gist of my game:


"Players portray lowly mercenaries with money troubles, burdened by shortcomings and desperate to survive the day. In order to solve their troubles, they have signed a contract with a so-called 'Heroic Leader' (portrayed by the GM), a greedy and powerful adventurer who exploits the henchmen’s skills and uses them for the dirty work.

Following their Heroic Leader, the henchmen explore the dungeon, evade traps, collect treasures and defeat foes. During the adventure, they will have to overcome their inabilities (Weakness, Clumsiness, Confusion, Stupidity, Cowardice, Desperation). The more deaths they encounter along the way, the more desperate the poor henchmen become. When a henchman witnesses the death of an ally or something else that is really shocking, he might be overwhelmed by desperation. In this case, the GM hands the player a temptation card with a proposed course of action, for example:

„Why not pull the lever behind the demon statue?“,
„Why not keep the emerald for yourself?“, or
„Why not spill some blood on the black altar?“

A temptation card represents the henchman’s inner struggle in the face of death and horror. To clear his mind (and to win the game), the henchman has to get rid of all temptation cards. The only way to do this is by taking the proposed action. Unfortunately giving in to temptations causes all sorts of problems: Traps may be triggered, allies harmed and intra-party conflicts might escalate. It could even lead to the deaths of henchmen, which will add to the witnesses’ desperation and might force the GM to hand out further temptation cards. Since the results of giving in to temptations depends on the players and their play style, one and the same scenario can result in wildly different games."

 

[Mike Eagling]

Hello! Here's my pitch for "Doctors & Nurses, the role-playing game of television medical dramas".


When this competition was announced I deliberately set out to write a game that hasn't been done hundreds of times before. I looked around for a genre that had all the hallmarks of an RPG setting, yet lacked a slew of games already. It had to be a defined setting that presented specific challenges. It had to cope with a variable number of players. It had to provide opportunities for co-operative and competitive play. And, most importantly, it had to be dramatic.


A non-gamer friend of mine is a big fan of "Grey's Anatomy". It struck me that no-one seems to have written an RPG set in the genre of TV medical dramas, despite it fulfilling the criteria listed above. There are probably many reasons for this. Arguably the crossover between fans of such programmes and RPGs is very small.

Also, Doctors & Nurses is almost "anti-D&D": instead of an adventuring party hell-bent on killing everything in sight and stealing their swag, D&N involves characters trying to cure those afflicted with injuries and diseases.


The system is... er, simplistic. Embarrasingly so. My original idea was to simulate human physiology in a much more realistic way. Diagnosis and treatment would be far more nuanced. However, modelling the entirety of modern medicine simply wasn't possible in the time available. Like other entries it was devised and written during the 7 days of the competition.


Thanks go to anyone taking the time to take a look at the game. Votes are obviously welcome, as is feedback.


Thanks also to [MENTION=1]Morrus[/MENTION] for the competition. If nothing else, it's been an interesting exercise.


Good luck to the other entrants. There are some interesting ideas here. I'm now going to work my way through them and submit my votes.


Cheers,
Mike