tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1818073417709561773.post905513008919884512..comments2024-03-28T08:40:42.144-04:00Comments on Daniel Solis: Split DecisionDaniel Solishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07683491911441126187noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1818073417709561773.post-19716318744517941182011-05-08T09:17:24.913-04:002011-05-08T09:17:24.913-04:00Welcome to the Village, your new home. We're q...<i>Welcome to the Village, your new home. We're quite international here, and a model for the future. Soon, we expect, the whole world will be one giant Village. But first, there's just one little thing we'd like from you...</i><br><br>Perhaps it's the secret to your new speed-learning technique that could be used for indoctrination. Perhaps it's the reason why you resigned, or perhaps you learned something that you shouldn't have, but are too valuable to kill. Whatever the reason, you've been kidnapped and taken to the Village where, by hook or by crook, they'll get what they want from you.<br><br>Unlike some of their other guests, you're too valuable to damage outright, but that doesn't mean that won't risk your health and sanity in their quest to get from you the information that they need.<br><br>Every time you decide to do something of note, you have the choice of doing it in a way that spites the Village and its masters, or giving in to its pressure, however slightly. As with all cases using Split Decision, you roll two pairs of six sided dice. If you choose the two red dice, place two dots in the Pressure track (described below). If you choose, you may also remove a dot from your Village track. If you choose two blue dice, you may remove two dots from the Pressure track. Any stages marked on the track remain marked. If you choose mixed red and blue, place a dot in the track corresponding to the die with the larger number on its face. If the dice are tied, then choose which track.<br><br>The Pressure track represents the degree of pressure that the Village is willing to exhert on you and your friends in an effort to make you crack. Actively resisting the village will cause it to increase. Acquiescing will cause it to decrease... slightly. Along the Pressure are marks where things get ratchetted up a notch. When these points are reached, pressure will get raised up another degree, and the methods that the Village is willing to risk become a shade more dangerous. Peer pressure makes way to mind-control drugs, bribes to blackmail and threats to friends and loved ones. And as the pressure mounts, your sense of identity will be under constant assault.<br><br>The Village track represents how close you, personally, are to giving in to the Village, while there's still something left to give in. Compared to the Pressure track, the Village is short, with a definite end. Reaching the end of this track means that your will has broken, and you have decided to give in to the Village. This isn't immediately obvious to your fellow Prisoners, and they manage to deduce your treachery in time, they may have a chance to eliminate you as a risk before you have a chance to tell the Village what you know. Of course, the Village is more likely to look kindly apon their prodigal son if you do something to undermine the efforts of the other Prisoners first...mdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03375042954626453877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1818073417709561773.post-15053627071842786732011-05-08T09:17:23.758-04:002011-05-08T09:17:23.758-04:00I think that this is a very interesting idea. What...I think that this is a very interesting idea. What do you think about using this same sort of mechanic in a "dice pool game with threshold hits, compare to a target number or oponent's hits" instead of a "pick 2 and add, compare to a target number."<br><br>Say you have a dice pool game, typical rolled pool being about 6-8 d6s. Instead roll 4-6 of each color, keep half, and increment one stat for every red die kept and another for each blue die kept. 4-6 is a Hit, add up Hits, compare to opponent's Hits. The incremented stats could have consequences specific to the game, like a consequence pool to be rolled after a conflic, or a pacing mechanic for a survival horror type game with a threshold for specific fictional events or changes in the game mechanics. Not really sure of the math presented above, but you can at least get the idea.<br><br>I like the Rich Dice aspect of this, and really like the idea of touching on both game consequences and fictional pacing. Cool stuff.Precocious Apprenticehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02681974048758342146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1818073417709561773.post-53552290278332624492011-05-08T09:17:22.918-04:002011-05-08T09:17:22.918-04:00OK,So, I've been a fan of Michael Morcock'...OK,<br><br>So, I've been a fan of Michael Morcock's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_Champion" rel="nofollow">Eternal Champion</a>/<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiverse_(Moorcock)" rel="nofollow">Multiverse</a> books for a long time. Elric, von Bek, Jerry Cornelius, Jherek Carnelian, Law vs Chaos and the Cosmic Balance you catch my drift I'm sure... And so when I read Daniel's Split Decision rules, with the Red/Blue balance I instantly thought of the balance between Chaos and Law in the Eternal Champion saga; but will it work for me?<br><br>Things that I want to reflect the elements of the saga:<br><br>* There are the Gods of Chaos (GoC) and the Gods of Law (GoL) vying to control the world.<br>* There is an Eternal Champion (EC) who is ultimately fighting on behalf of the Cosmic Balance (though is often screwed over by the Gods beyond their control)<br>* The possibility to introduce trope characters: The Consort, The Companion, The Enemy (enthralled by Chaos or Law and instilled with a burning hatred of the EC)<br>* The possibility to introduce trope items: The Black Sword, The Runestaff, The Grail<br>* There are multiple worlds being played for, each with their own EC and struggle but all tying into the fate of the Multiverse<br><br><br>So, my rough ideas so far have led me to adapt Split Decision in the following way:<br><br>* The game has three players: the EC, the GoC and the GoL<br>* Choose an odd number of worlds you are going to be playing through.<br>* Starting with with the EC and going clockwise, each player takes a turn to select the type of scene they are narrating and their goal. Success in a scene is based upon how high you roll. I'm still pinning down scene types, but they include: Establishing the EC or playing with his allegiances; World Introduction/Travel/Exploration; Introducing/Manipulating/Removing a selected trope character; Starting/Continuing/Completing the EC on a quest for a selected trope item.<br>* Once a player has selected the Scene Type and stated their desired outcome then they then roll as per the Split Decision mechanics: <br>If you kept two red dice add two Chaos tokens to the Balance of the World<br>If you kept two blue dice add two Law tokens to the Balance of the World<br>If you kept one red and one blue then add a token based upon the higher die (or one of each if the score is tied)<br>The Balance of the World represents the hold the GoC and GoL have over it in their great game. <br>* The active player narrates the success/failure (working in how this benefits either Law or Chaos based on the tokens earned). <br>* However, narration of a failure can be taken "stolen" by other player. To do this the GoC spends a Red token from the Balance, the GoL spends a Blue token from the Balance, or the EC adds a token to the balance of the colour opposite to the active God.<br>* Once a player has failed three rolls the game ends. Tally up the number of tokens in the Balance of the World. If Chaos or Law dominates by two or more points then they have won it to their cause and narrate it's fate; otherwise the world maintains a state of balance and the EC narrates the world fate.<br>* Rinse and Repeat for the number of worlds agreed and then tally up the state of the Multiverse at the end.<br><br>Thoughts?Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16793003963092114151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1818073417709561773.post-63487661110004370412011-05-08T09:17:22.489-04:002011-05-08T09:17:22.489-04:00Alpha version ready to playtest: http://scr.bi/i0I...Alpha version ready to playtest: http://scr.bi/i0I604Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16793003963092114151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1818073417709561773.post-81354395708973647322010-11-28T20:11:17.964-05:002010-11-28T20:11:17.964-05:00Awesome! Mind if I post the link on the blog?Awesome! Mind if I post the link on the blog?Daniel Solishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07683491911441126187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1818073417709561773.post-3542574412112032052010-10-27T09:57:40.213-04:002010-10-27T09:57:40.213-04:00Yeah, don't fall in the trap of the overzealou...Yeah, don't fall in the trap of the overzealous money-spending game designer. :PDaniel Solishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07683491911441126187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1818073417709561773.post-61422878715064257182010-10-27T04:46:19.498-04:002010-10-27T04:46:19.498-04:00No problemo! Split Decision has really struck a ch...No problemo! Split Decision has really struck a chord in my mind. I'm actually contemplating buying a cheap pair of scales and sculpting over them to make "The Cosmic Balance", though perhaps have a few playtest sessions first ;)Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16793003963092114151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1818073417709561773.post-40793601939640301172010-10-25T11:09:09.018-04:002010-10-25T11:09:09.018-04:00Hey Keith, sorry I didn't catch your bigger co...Hey Keith, sorry I didn't catch your bigger comment earlier. It was in the spam filter. I just approved it though and left a comment on your SG thread. Thanks for the awesome ideas!Daniel Solishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07683491911441126187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1818073417709561773.post-35082107770460112682010-10-23T10:24:51.936-04:002010-10-23T10:24:51.936-04:00Too big to post here:
http://story-games.com/foru...Too big to post here:<br /><br />http://story-games.com/forums/comments.php?DiscussionID=13240Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16793003963092114151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1818073417709561773.post-76998781229939066082010-10-23T10:20:56.535-04:002010-10-23T10:20:56.535-04:00OK,
So, I've been a fan of Michael Morcock...OK,<br /><br />So, I've been a fan of Michael Morcock's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_Champion" rel="nofollow">Eternal Champion</a>/<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiverse_(Moorcock)" rel="nofollow">Multiverse</a> books for a long time. Elric, von Bek, Jerry Cornelius, Jherek Carnelian, Law vs Chaos and the Cosmic Balance you catch my drift I'm sure... And so when I read Daniel's Split Decision rules, with the Red/Blue balance I instantly thought of the balance between Chaos and Law in the Eternal Champion saga; but will it work for me?<br /><br />Things that I want to reflect the elements of the saga:<br /><br />* There are the Gods of Chaos (GoC) and the Gods of Law (GoL) vying to control the world.<br />* There is an Eternal Champion (EC) who is ultimately fighting on behalf of the Cosmic Balance (though is often screwed over by the Gods beyond their control)<br />* The possibility to introduce trope characters: The Consort, The Companion, The Enemy (enthralled by Chaos or Law and instilled with a burning hatred of the EC)<br />* The possibility to introduce trope items: The Black Sword, The Runestaff, The Grail<br />* There are multiple worlds being played for, each with their own EC and struggle but all tying into the fate of the Multiverse<br /><br /><br />So, my rough ideas so far have led me to adapt Split Decision in the following way:<br /><br />* The game has three players: the EC, the GoC and the GoL<br />* Choose an odd number of worlds you are going to be playing through.<br />* Starting with with the EC and going clockwise, each player takes a turn to select the type of scene they are narrating and their goal. Success in a scene is based upon how high you roll. I'm still pinning down scene types, but they include: Establishing the EC or playing with his allegiances; World Introduction/Travel/Exploration; Introducing/Manipulating/Removing a selected trope character; Starting/Continuing/Completing the EC on a quest for a selected trope item.<br />* Once a player has selected the Scene Type and stated their desired outcome then they then roll as per the Split Decision mechanics: <br />If you kept two red dice add two Chaos tokens to the Balance of the World<br />If you kept two blue dice add two Law tokens to the Balance of the World<br />If you kept one red and one blue then add a token based upon the higher die (or one of each if the score is tied)<br />The Balance of the World represents the hold the GoC and GoL have over it in their great game. <br />* The active player narrates the success/failure (working in how this benefits either Law or Chaos based on the tokens earned). <br />* However, narration of a failure can be taken "stolen" by other player. To do this the GoC spends a Red token from the Balance, the GoL spends a Blue token from the Balance, or the EC adds a token to the balance of the colour opposite to the active God.<br />* Once a player has failed three rolls the game ends. Tally up the number of tokens in the Balance of the World. If Chaos or Law dominates by two or more points then they have won it to their cause and narrate it's fate; otherwise the world maintains a state of balance and the EC narrates the world fate.<br />* Rinse and Repeat for the number of worlds agreed and then tally up the state of the Multiverse at the end.<br /><br />Thoughts?Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16793003963092114151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1818073417709561773.post-74205664565782737942010-10-21T15:52:42.873-04:002010-10-21T15:52:42.873-04:00There's definitely a lot of mileage you could ...There's definitely a lot of mileage you could get out of turning this into a combat mechanic. Reds being attack and Blues being defense is the most obvious option. If you're using a dice pool system with multiple dice, you could even choose the color composition of your pool with each attack, adjusting your aggressiveness as the battle progresses.Daniel Solishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07683491911441126187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1818073417709561773.post-32838717962084190432010-10-21T12:51:16.773-04:002010-10-21T12:51:16.773-04:00I think that this is a very interesting idea. What...I think that this is a very interesting idea. What do you think about using this same sort of mechanic in a "dice pool game with threshold hits, compare to a target number or oponent's hits" instead of a "pick 2 and add, compare to a target number."<br /><br />Say you have a dice pool game, typical rolled pool being about 6-8 d6s. Instead roll 4-6 of each color, keep half, and increment one stat for every red die kept and another for each blue die kept. 4-6 is a Hit, add up Hits, compare to opponent's Hits. The incremented stats could have consequences specific to the game, like a consequence pool to be rolled after a conflic, or a pacing mechanic for a survival horror type game with a threshold for specific fictional events or changes in the game mechanics. Not really sure of the math presented above, but you can at least get the idea.<br /><br />I like the Rich Dice aspect of this, and really like the idea of touching on both game consequences and fictional pacing. Cool stuff.Precocious Apprenticehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02681974048758342146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1818073417709561773.post-54180653713801188522010-10-20T16:33:12.806-04:002010-10-20T16:33:12.806-04:00I would love to see how you do that, actually.I would love to see how you do that, actually.Daniel Solishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07683491911441126187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1818073417709561773.post-43907227570754577822010-10-20T11:34:56.816-04:002010-10-20T11:34:56.816-04:00Hmm, how to put this into my Exalted game. Hmm...Hmm, how to put this into my Exalted game. Hmm...Paul Weimerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02444942522624902562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1818073417709561773.post-88260168378511213792010-10-20T10:23:10.058-04:002010-10-20T10:23:10.058-04:00Damn, dude. That's some delicious analysis. Th...Damn, dude. That's some delicious analysis. Thanks!Daniel Solishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07683491911441126187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1818073417709561773.post-15657202556674913322010-10-20T10:14:47.717-04:002010-10-20T10:14:47.717-04:00As promised: http://rdonoghue.blogspot.com/2010/10...As promised: http://rdonoghue.blogspot.com/2010/10/rich-dice-extravaganza.htmlAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14216103531396452644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1818073417709561773.post-39813487240399816672010-10-19T08:59:57.804-04:002010-10-19T08:59:57.804-04:00RE: Dilemmas: I'm speaking very generically he...RE: Dilemmas: I'm speaking very generically here, but I could see a simple system being something like this:<br /><br />To take a short rest, the GM rolls 4d6. The players choose which pair to keep.<br /><br />Recover 2-12 HP (or whatever is proportionately appropriate for the game you're playing.)<br /><br />RR: GM gains 2 action points.<br />RB: GM gains 1 action point.<br />Tie: GM gains 1 action point. Also, one player doesn't recover, because he has to stand guard.<br />BR: One player doesn't recover, because he has to stand guard.<br />BB: Two players don't recover, because they have to stand guard.<br /><br />So the dilemma is that either you encur a greater threat at your full capacity or a lesser threat at less-than optimum capacity.Daniel Solishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07683491911441126187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1818073417709561773.post-76652143618222378302010-10-18T15:32:36.763-04:002010-10-18T15:32:36.763-04:00Welcome to the Village, your new home. We're q...<i>Welcome to the Village, your new home. We're quite international here, and a model for the future. Soon, we expect, the whole world will be one giant Village. But first, there's just one little thing we'd like from you...</i><br /><br />Perhaps it's the secret to your new speed-learning technique that could be used for indoctrination. Perhaps it's the reason why you resigned, or perhaps you learned something that you shouldn't have, but are too valuable to kill. Whatever the reason, you've been kidnapped and taken to the Village where, by hook or by crook, they'll get what they want from you.<br /><br />Unlike some of their other guests, you're too valuable to damage outright, but that doesn't mean that won't risk your health and sanity in their quest to get from you the information that they need.<br /><br />Every time you decide to do something of note, you have the choice of doing it in a way that spites the Village and its masters, or giving in to its pressure, however slightly. As with all cases using Split Decision, you roll two pairs of six sided dice. If you choose the two red dice, place two dots in the Pressure track (described below). If you choose, you may also remove a dot from your Village track. If you choose two blue dice, you may remove two dots from the Pressure track. Any stages marked on the track remain marked. If you choose mixed red and blue, place a dot in the track corresponding to the die with the larger number on its face. If the dice are tied, then choose which track.<br /><br />The Pressure track represents the degree of pressure that the Village is willing to exhert on you and your friends in an effort to make you crack. Actively resisting the village will cause it to increase. Acquiescing will cause it to decrease... slightly. Along the Pressure are marks where things get ratchetted up a notch. When these points are reached, pressure will get raised up another degree, and the methods that the Village is willing to risk become a shade more dangerous. Peer pressure makes way to mind-control drugs, bribes to blackmail and threats to friends and loved ones. And as the pressure mounts, your sense of identity will be under constant assault.<br /><br />The Village track represents how close you, personally, are to giving in to the Village, while there's still something left to give in. Compared to the Pressure track, the Village is short, with a definite end. Reaching the end of this track means that your will has broken, and you have decided to give in to the Village. This isn't immediately obvious to your fellow Prisoners, and they manage to deduce your treachery in time, they may have a chance to eliminate you as a risk before you have a chance to tell the Village what you know. Of course, the Village is more likely to look kindly apon their prodigal son if you do something to undermine the efforts of the other Prisoners first...Mark Sherryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03375042954626453877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1818073417709561773.post-39980791308349104502010-10-18T12:22:53.956-04:002010-10-18T12:22:53.956-04:00I would like to see how this concept could interac...I would like to see how this concept could interact with Gamefiend's concept of Horizons: Overview (http://bit.ly/bWKX4D) or example (http://bit.ly/9vzIGp)<br />Dilemma Dice could provide promptings to advance the horizon, although that may cause very rapid progression. Perhaps choosing the other direction could also allow for a path of recovery, which I think is lacking in the horizon model (but also would take much of the sting out of the horizon). What do others think?Adam Minniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12200079674170744990noreply@blogger.com