Driving the conflict [The Island]

I was out mowing the yard. It was dry enough, finally, to allow me to get to the back corner of the lot.

Mowing is one of those activities I am able to do and ponder other topics. Today's topic was conflict. In The Island I want a conflict resolution that pits the characters against one another in two-sided situations where the island itself applies leverage to one or the other side. I don't really want GM versus player conflicts but I want the players to feel as though the GM is unbalancing things one way or the other.

These are the points I was mulling over.

1. A scene is defined by the GM. The players can suggest things but the GM has final say in framing the situation.
2. A conflict is a two-sided end to a scene. The players pick sides roll against one another.
3. The GM has a pool of dice to push the conflict one way or the other.
4. The longer a conflict goes on the more out of control it needs to feel for the players.
   

At least those are my initial thoughts. I'm sure they will develop in time.

Thematic similarities [The Island]

As I think about my game idea The Island I keep coming across similarities in other media. First the game idea was spawned from the show Lost but I keep coming across instances of other stories following the same themes.

First After thinking of Lost was a short leap to Gilligan's Island and then it was on to The Island of Dr. Moreau. Those were simple jumps. In each case some travelers end up on an island that is host to some strange mystery, more in some and less in others. ... Why, exactly, could the castaways never leave the island. After all, it was only a three hour tour and a tiny, little bout of bad weather.

The next just hit me the other day. I was listening to The Dead Robots' Society and in a recent episode Justin announces his pick for the next book they will read and discuss. At first Under the Dome by Stephen King didn't click but once I downloaded a copy and started reading it dawned on me. The characters are stranded under a dome that won't let them out for whatever reason. The are trapped there with all their foibles and cruel secrets.

Then, today I was catching up on episodes of Pulp Gamer and one of the episode is on Frank Baum's OZ stories. There it is again. A character gets swept away to a place that has it's only mysteries and to get away she has to travel through strange lands with odd people in order to get home. There have been so many adaptations of Baum's tales but each one has had some mystery the characters have had to deal with.

There you go. The theme I am going for in The Island is something that shows up again and again.

Games du jour

Here are the semi-thought out game ideas I've had recently that have held up to the 24 hour test. I figure if an idea sticks with me for more than a day it might have something of use in it.

White Collar Robots - The game of robots standing in for their white collar, office counterparts.

Planet Crash - A Game Chef attempt using the keywords city, edge and desert. After crashing in a deserted city floating at the edge of known space the character experience what happened to the original citizens.

The Island - (Yeah, I know. It's not an original title once you read the theme.) The characters get stranded on an island. They can't get off until they solve the mystery of the island in spite of the secrets they keep from another. The idea was inspired by Lost but after thinking about mechanics I think it could be played zany like Gilligan's Island.

Those are the biggest three game ideas I've had that seem to keep haunting me.

A tiny spark of lighning

New... revamped (somewhat)... and back for another go round.

With a new look and a bit of inspiration this blog's going to start moving again. The goal is to do a post a day.

Maybe shorter posts with a targeted theme would work. I think maybe I'll focus on specific game design ideas and not hop around from topic to topic all the time.

We'll see what happens.

What are robots made of?

Over the last couple days I have been pondering on what robots are made of for the game idea I mentioned in the previous post White Collar Robots. What shaped the aspects of a robot are the mechanics ideas that I think can push the flavor of the game to the players. I'll do a post on those as I iron them out, however, this is that a robot is.

Robot Name - This is what other robots call your robot.

Model Number - This is what humans call your robot.

Superstructure - This is your robot's frame, containing power and four modules.

Power Grid - This is the power cable that runs from your robot to the wall.

Internal Battery - This is the power your robot uses when not plugged into the wall.

Modules (0001 through 0100) - These are the four modules for your robot's parts from the following list.

Emergency Control - Allows a robot to react to emergency situations.
Environmental Regulator - Allows a robot to operate in extreme environments.
Human Interface - Allows a robot to directly communicate with humans.
Manipulator - Allows a robot to manipulate objects and its environment.
Mobility Unit - Allows a robot to move around in its environment.
Programmable Memory - Allows a robot to handle large volumes of complex data.
Supply Feeder - Allows a robot to bring in supplies for manipulation.

Quirks (0001 through 0101) - These are alterations to your robot due to repairs during play.

Job History - Your robot has both a past job (what it was built to do) and a current job (what it was not built to do).

Insight - This is your robot's understanding of humans.

Confusion Effect - This is what happens when your robot gets confused by human behavior.