It’s late. @phf ran some OD&D for @frotz, @cactus and me. – OD&D Dungeon Survival Special
I’m one again thinking about Knives. I wanted to write a little something about adapting the game to a different setting. Some far future thing, perhaps. Something like Warhammer 40’000, Dune, different enough from Traveller… How would you even start?
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The simplest changes, mechanically, would be to change the list of talents. Pick a theme, decide upon careers, imagine the rolls you want to make. Don’t focus on the activities: only the activities where you want randomized outcomes are important.
For a science fiction game like Dune… People like Sardaukar and Fremen need Fighting talents: Swords, Knives, Bolters, Unarmed. Is the use of Shields or Battledress something to roll for? Are there characters that don’t know how to use shields? Perhaps it’s better to just assume that without Shields you’re a soft target and bolters deal 5d6 damage.
Would it make sense to bring mentats on adventure? Is that like bringing librarians to the dungeon? Can you outcompute your opponents? Perhaps if the game also involves management of estates and intrigue at court. So skills like Calculation, Logistics, Management, Production. Production would cover both agriculture and industry. It’s all about producing things, managing the employees, bringing the products to markets, profit margins – interfering with it, rising in the ranks because you’ve won a battle of logistics. Is this interesting? Maybe if there is a connection to mercenary companies doing assaults. Again, Logistics could determine the quality of the outfit, or the quantity of gear available at the drop zone. Management would determine how far enemies can penetrate into your hold before security realises what’s going on.
Supernatural talents are fascinating because they remind us that we’re free to indulge our fantasy. The presence of supernatural talents makes sure that the rest of the game isn’t mundane. So Manipulation to control others, Discipline to stand terrible suffering, Etiquette to behave appropriately. Is Warp a talent that characters have or is faster-than-light travel something that just happens, under the control of huge intelligent ships? Maybe there can be simpler applications of this: The breaking of a human mind, similar to Manipulation but always corrupting where as Manipulation is not. It depends on how you view the Bene Gesserit…
Find names for these careers: Lancer for martial activity, Bureaucrat for economic activity, Disciple for the supernatural?
Is prospecting something characters do? Do people find things? Do poor people scrounge for stuff? Perhaps an interesting dynamic: The talent is called Scrounge for city dwellers, Forage for loners, and Resources for the upper class. You could have all three, or just one. You’d have to make sure that the three don’t appear on the same table to make them less likely to show up together.
Don’t think too hard about adding more mechanics for armour or special rules for weapons. Optimising such numbers is a separate entertainment. Similarly, as soon as there’s an equipment lists players wonder about buying and selling things. There are plenty of games that do this. Just think of Traveller or D&D. It’s better to keep the mechanics different.
#RPG #Knives #Dune