Random Table: Street Performers

As you walk the streets of the city, through the markets and thorough-fares, you never know who is going to be blocking your way: trying to show you something entertaining, asking you for money, for help or just being a damn nuisance. But what do they really want? And what might they be hiding?

Roll three d10s for Performers (to see what they're doing), the Number (to see what to roll to see how many there are in the particular troupe) and Want (to see what their aim, as performers is - or possibly what they pretend to want). If the sum of the three d10s is even, then the group also have a Secret; roll another d10 for what else is going on with them.

	Performers	Number	Want	Secret
1	Jugglers	1+d2	Money	Know the location of something valuable
2	Mimes	1+d3	Food	One of them is on the run for a crime
3	Musicians	1+d4	Change	Runaways
4	Buskers	2+d4	Help	Part of a streetgang
5	Clowns	1+d6	Magic	Spies for a rival city/country
6	Actors	3+d3	Fame	The puppets of a wizard
7	Living Statues	2d4	Violence	Slavers trying to find people to kidnap
8	Poets	2+d3	Crime	Religious zealots looking to convert
9	Comedians	2d6	Nothing	Pickpockets who have settled on the players
10	Orators	3d4	Revolution	Undead/Monstrous

The Seven Hungers of Callista (Living Statues + 2d6 + Food + Part of a streetgang)
A group of seven women who stand suggestive in their stillness. Regular visitors to the market know to leave small parcels of food in the baskets at their feet, which stirs them into motion. They are the eyes and ears of the Black Ruins, a gang of muggers. They spot likely targets for their colleagues to rob.

Grimmers (Orators + 2+d3 + Help + Slavers trying to find people to kidnap)
Grimmers tell anyone and everyone that the world is going to hell in a hand basket. Taxes are too high, there is war and famine and evil magic and monsters. But you can help! Help them! Please...? If you do go with them and you seem like you might be of practical value, then you'll get coshed over the head and wake up in a wagon headed south...

Buddy and the Bass Lutes (Buskers + 1+d2 + Revolution)
Buddy and his two friends sing songs to inspire! They engage people with their marching pieces, Buddy on short fiddle, Gall on bass lute and Jero on bass lute. Their songs are based on centuries-old protest chants, and have no relevance in the current age. No one listens to them, no one likes them, and no one is going to join them.

Chuckles (Clowns + 3d4 + Violence + Know the location of something valuable)
In ragged threadbare outfits, half a dozen men stalk the streets daring you to laugh. They wear big red smiles, curly rainbow wigs and floppy shoes. Go ahead, laugh. They hear so much as a giggle and they'll go for your throat. They're lean, fast and strong and looking for any excuse to hurt someone. They love their freedom: if subdued, beaten down or if more than half are knocked out/killed then they will change tack and offer their store of treasures.

Treats from The Great Bakerie

More from Merion's bakerie... Tell him I sent you!

Terminal Loaf (Elvish + Plait + Death + Intense + Instant)
Previously unknown outside of a few small Elvish communities, this is the small loafcake that immortals eat when they grow tired of life. Merion makes it out of a morbid sense of duty to the universe of baking, but only sells it to those who are absolutely sure that they want to die.
(if eaten by an Elf they will die within minutes, no save; if eaten by a non-Elf, player gets to save against Death. If the save is made they must then roll under their CON. If successful they are only knocked unconscious for three days instead of a week)

Mischief Cake (Spiced + Cupcake + Evolution + Strong + Half an hour)
A prank cake, sold usually to young children to play tricks on their elders. Whoever eats it will begin to change in appearance in some way, and will remain that way for a full day. The change takes thirty minutes. A minor counter-curse or disspell should remove the change... Unless the person eating, eats A LOT of the cakes at once, in which case changes stack and become more difficult to remove, either through time or through magic.
(d10 roll for appearance change:
1. Eyes change colour.
2. Ears grow pointed. Elves' ears shrink.
3. An offensive word forms in freckles across the forehead.
4. Little fingers bifurcate and form baby talons.
5. Prehensile eighteen inch nose.
6. Skin morphs into amber scales over whole body.
7. Loss of all body hair. After a day hair starts to grow back at three times normal rate until restored.
8. Tongue shrinks to a small lump.
9. A fox tail sprouts.
10. Two fox tails sprout.
DM gets to rule on any modifiers/in-game bonuses/penalties.)

Socratic Slice (Cream + Doughnut + Wisdom + Effective + A turn)
A huge piece of sweet hollow dough, filled with sickly whipped cream. Anyone who eats a whole one, and it takes some effort, is given something to think about...
(after ingestion, has +1 for WIS related rolls and saves for one week; anyone who tries to eat more than one in a week will automatically lose d2 points of CON. Too much of a good thing and all that)

Mementoria (Lavender + Ring + Transference + Sharp + d3 minutes)
Merion doesn't advertise these small scented ring cakes, and only sells them to people who have official paperwork for the city. He won't even tell you where he picked up the recipe, let alone how to make them. It's rumoured that he learned how to make them from the creator and then killed him. Anyhow: the cake is broken in to two uneven pieces. The smaller piece is eaten (willingly or forced) by someone who has information; the larger piece by someone who wants information. Within a few minutes the person with the information feels their mind become completely open to the other. This is a one way stream that is more like a flood (for 12 hours). It's almost certain that both participants will be rendered unconscious by the process (save-versus-magic every hour for 12 hours, or be unconscious for 3d8 hours - applies to both). The information being sought will crystallise in the mind of the person who ate the larger piece (whether conscious or not, and within d6 hours).

Random Table: The Great Bakerie

Being the first in an irregular series of random provocation tables for games of various types. In my mind when I started writing this one I just thought, "Hmmm, what kind of cakes would a magic baker sell?" It seemed silly at first, and is possibly over-written, but it's just designed to give some ideas. You fill in the blanks, and of course YMMV.

Merion is the son of a Sorceress and a Gourmet. Trained by both, he set off to find his own path in the world; after years of travel and practice he set up The Great Bakerie, a shop where he makes and sells confections that defy the natural order. There is usually a selection of cakes and pastries that have magical effects. Sometimes he has far rarer and more bizarre delights...

Thursday Tales

Making a few connections with the help of the Tales From Zero Point Oracle...
Jack of Spades: The recycled Death Scream of a world. The cult that worships it.
Three of Diamonds: A renegade librarian guards a vast archive in the station's lower reaches with dangerous traps.
Jack of Clubs: The Engineers Guild prepares an initiation and a geneered woman flees persecution.
Two of Spades: A chitinous, black mercenary arachnid alien, terrifying yet honourable guard for the elite.

The geneered woman has an artificial adaptation that is anathema to the Screamers Cult; she runs, heading for a labyrinth of learning, aided by an alien mercenary. She cannot pay him, but he recognises something kindred in her, something "right". The archive is well-protected, and if they can get past the initiation ceremonies of the Mechanikers they will have to persuade the insane old Archiver to allow them sanctuary...

Notes

• The Screamers are living mosaics and mash-ups: their appearance and speech is taken from images and sounds captured from the Dying World. They wear and speak to honour the world.
• The Mechanikers' initiations are legendary, both for the wave of innovation that follows a novice's acceptance and for the collateral damage usually inflicted.
• The Archiver does not like people returning items late. He hates it so much that people now have to prove themselves worthy of being in the archive. Few do.

Thursday Tales

The Tales From Zero Point Oracle delivers something a little different...
Queen of Spades: A trio of crippled friends, none human, all without fear and destined for adventure.
Six of Clubs: A starscraper lies empty, save for the man who tries to maintain it.
Nine of Diamonds: A slum lord depressurizes a section of the station because his tenants can't pay the rent.
Seven of Spades: An epochs-old damaged war mech, one functioning weapons pod and cracked lenses, guarding the last repository of original art.

The Caretaker lives in a starscraper that is owned by the Slum Lord. He's the last person living there after the Slum Lord depressurised it because of "non-payment of tithes". The Slum Lord sees himself as a feudal baron, and because he has access codes to local environmental controls (among other things) he will see his will be done. He has some retainers, police thugs, and most of the tenants were evicted beforehand. He is waiting for them to disperse before he can repressurise it and claim their belongings, then advertise the starscraper as new living/business space. Living in the far future, his thinking is trapped in a hybrid 12th/20th century model. He holds secure a treasure trove of art, acting as banker and broker for minor art houses (some legit, some not).

The Trio lived in the outer floors of the starscraper, on the 110th floor out to space, in a relatively low gravity environment away from the core of Zero Point. They were soldiers, variously an uplifted dolphin, an uplifted wolf and a neanderthal. Wounded in battle, they retired to live out their remaining years in peace and quiet. Until now. They have left the starscraper in some basic mobility suits, but need both power, shelter and revenge on the Slum Lord... A plan is formed.

The PCs
The Dolphin: is totally reliant on the suit that she wears. A muscle paralyser dart has reduced her motor functions, and besides she can't get around on land easily without it. In the water she can get about. Her best interests are to locate the art and to have revenge on the Slum Lord.
The Wolf: has two cybernetic hind legs, and has cognitive brain functions boosted by implants. Consequently he is tactically brilliant, even if his mobility is not what it once was. His best interest is to rip the throat out of the Slum Lord.
The Neanderthal: lost his arms and eyes in combat. He has excellent vision now, his eyes boost light in multiple wavelengths and "see" what the station sees (where service allows), but his arms are very basic models, and do not fit with his body type at all. His best interest is to take the Slum Lord's place and attempt to lead well (not as a tyrant).

The NPCs
The Slum Lord: an evil greedy bastard, basically. Not too smart, but not stupid either. If there's an angle, he wants to play it. The artworks are a nest egg; he gets a cut of their appreciating value, and a cut when transactions are made. Usually, everything stays in the vault, which is guarded by the Mech: a great big ancient City Pacifier, capable of controlling a city district of 10^6 sentients single-handedly. Luckily it doesn't have the firepower it once had... Right? The Slum Lord's best interest is to do whatever it takes to get the Caretaker out of the starscraper, to establish total control, kill anyone he has to and make a lot of money.
The Caretaker: a middle-aged man, trying to find a way to usurp the starscraper controls away from the Slum Lord, hopefully permanently. If he can do that then hopefully the former tenants can move back in, and form a proper defence against the Slum Lord's future ambitions. He has a few floors pressurised, and otherwise gets around in an atmosphere rig. His best interest is to get control of the starscraper and re-pressurise it. If possible he may want to try and lock out the Slum Lord's access permanently. (could work as a PC)
Various Thugs: a motley crew of ne'er-do-wells and mercs, they do what the Slum Lord says. He pays them. Their best interest is to get the job done and drink themselves stupid afterwards. Nuff said.
Former Starscraper Tenants: have set up a shanty town nearby to the starscraper. Thugs keep harassing them, but so far it is mostly for fun. The Slum Lord will want them to be moved soon though, so that he can sell up the facilities. Their leader has lived in the starscraper for her whole life, and is uncomfortable at the fringes of the Zero Point habitat. The Tenants' best interest is to hold out and reclaim their homes.

The trio jump out to me as protagonists, but maybe that is because the Paralympics start today. I also like the idea of the themes about justice and revenge. If the Slum Lord is taken out then there may be some social justice, but possibly through the lens of revenge... Why does the Neanderthal want to lead in the place of the Slum Lord? What is the motivation?

What do you see in the Oracle?

A Village

(back from work trips and holiday! Normal rate of posting should resume in the next week)

Bexam is a small village on a major trade route to the west of civilisation. A wide stream trickles past not ten feet from the stone walls around it, and the road runs through the middle, with unguarded gates to the north-east and south-west. Many of the town's 80-or-so inhabitants are expert hunters. The forest nearby, Xam, is overflowing with small animals, which a good portion of the village's families are expert at hunting and skinning.

Bexam is a strange place, so small, and yet rich in so many ways: Argun, the village's headman oversees a prosperous little domain, the furs keep a good standard of living - although one that is earned through hard work. Bexam is also home to a master baker (Crumb) who, as well as selling to the village's inhabitants, is sought after by many larger towns nearby. He refuses to move though, and spends most nights baking and in conversation with hallucinations of his dead wife.

Aric and Cira are twin brothers, now estranged, who serve opposing minor deities in shrines within the village's borders. They each try to sway the villagers to their respective godlings, with little success. Most villagers instead seek advice from Dorse, a hermit who lives alone and sees visions of the town's ancestors.

Dorse and Crumb are both dependent on "Bexam Blue", an addictive moss that grows in secluded parts of the forest. Bexam Blue is a strange organism: it keeps the person who consumes it in excellent health, and has remarkable restorative properties for people suffering from all kinds of diseases and afflictions. A side-effect is that regular users, like the hermit and the baker of Bexam, see (true) visions of the dead at night. If consumed regularly (at least once a day) for five days, someone will have to fight to remain unaddicted to it.

A few villagers secretly harvest the moss and sell it to traders and magicians. Argun disagrees with this, but turns a blind eye so that the village continues to be prosperous.

(rolled from noisms' Random Village Generator)

Wicked Wednesday

Diplomacy - early in life you learned that you sometimes have to compromise to get what you want. You can persuade people through your ability to empathise with them and see things from their perspective.
The strength can't be used in combat.
PCs use for yourself; NPCs use maneuvering.

Aggression-fuelled Psionics - your rage creates psionic turbulence that you can use in combat (or to move things if you are sufficiently angry).
You have to be angry to use your ability, you have to feel rage and the deeper your rage the more terrible your power is.
PCs use with violence; NPCs use action.

Seduce - you have a knack for being able to flirt and persuade members of the opposite (or same) sex; they become compelled to follow your words.
This is a slow ability; you have to take time to do it, be subtle and careful sometimes. You can use it against people who have a negative opinion of you, but you have to know what to say.
PCs use covertly; NPCs use maneuvering.

Third Eye - your training with the Blind Nuns of the Eastern Foothills has developed into the ability to see things that are hidden: you can see the web of connections between people and also objects connected with them that are not in plain sight.
You have to be able to concentrate in order to see things; active combat or other distractions will limit the usefulness of your Third Eye.
PCs use directly; NPCs use maneuvering.

Cognitive Blindspot - you can create a pocket of un-ness to almost make yourself invisible; pockets of negatively charged observance in the people around you limit their ability to be aware of you. You are a ghost, and soon even memory of you will start to fade.
Concentration is key. You must project outwards from yourself. This is an indiscriminate strength, it affects everyone around you when you try to use it.
PCs use covertly; NPCs use self-protection.

Bone Blade - a retractable spike of bone rests in your left arm as a result of a birth abnormality; thirteen inches in length, and razor sharp down one edge, it can be used very effectively in a fight.
This strength can always be used (although you may wish to hide it from others).
PCs use directly; NPCs use action.

Simulating a dX

I've been thinking for a few months about how to best simulate rolling a dX, which is the same as indexing X entries randomly. It takes time to sort ideas and thoughts out; this is a starting point for collecting things together.

There are six standard polyhedral dice: d4, d6, d8, d10, d12 and d20. When using these we assume that the dice are fair - each side is equally likely to come up. If we were to create or simulate a die with X sides it would be best if it were fair. We cannot simulate a d11 using 2d6 directly - we get a range of 11 possible values, but there are different probabilities for each value. The simulated die would not be fair.

We can simulate a few dice with the six standard polyhedral dice through either re-rolling on the high value, or by "halving the die". It is not too difficult to introduce simple notation to account for both of these actions.

d6/2 gives a d3. We let d6r stand for the situation where we reroll the 6. We only want values 1-5 so d6r results in a fair d5. However, d10/2 also gives d5, and without the reroll. From the standard polyhedral dice we can simulate the following dice easily:

d2 = d4/2, d6/3, etc. d3 = d6/2, d12/4. d5 = d10/2, d20/4. d7 = d8r.

d9 = d10r. d11 = d12r. d19 = d20r.

We could also simulate a fair d9 by rolling two d3s; these act as indexing nine entries in a table. We could denote this with d3 x d3 or (d3)^2.

d3 x d3	1	2	3
1	1	2	3
2	4	5	6
3	7	8	9

These various actions - re-rolling, halving and dividing across tables - allow us to build up a greater number of simulated fair dice. I'll go into more detail in future posts, and see if I can start to make sense about how we might simulate a dX for any positive integer X.

New Worlds, New Ideas

Yesterday afternoon I sat down with Patrick and noisms to start world-building and character generation for a game of Diaspora that we will be playing over the coming months. noisms is going to be DMing, and he has the Diaspora pdf so lead us through the generation part. It took us about three hours to get up to the point of having characters, and it was a really interesting process. noisms has already posted about it over on Monsters and Manuals, and one thing that I'm 100% totally behind is his assertions about creativity through constraints. Creativity is not straight-jacketed by constraints, it thrives in them, in the sense that being completely open to all possibilities leaves us swamped and unable to see the wood for the trees.

...I was describing one of the worlds, in one of the systems we were creating, as being a water world, populated by Melnibonean-esque decadent epicureans. One of the players cut in, "Do they live on the surface in big floating cities, or under the water, or what?" And I was forced to think, "Well, where do they live?" And in answering the question more detail was added to the setting: creation by question in action.

There is a lot of power in this, and it applies not just during shared setting-creation type games like Diaspora: it applies in any kind of game...

It's something that I see a lot through work as well: you ask a totally open question and people look really stumped, and inevitably give vague and general answers. Follow up with more focused questions and they say a lot more; having to think about things which are deep beneath the surface can be really valuable. In games - especially story games (I think) and with world-building it can go a long way.

I'll write tomorrow about the character that I ultimately generated (and the process, which has given me a lot to think about), but I'll finish by saying a few words about some of the cluster of systems that were generated. First, I really thought that the random generation (using a Fudge dice system) was great; it's amazing how generating three numbers (relating to Technology, Environment and Resources in a system) can then go such a long way to detailing what the system is like.

Second, I liked how the layering on of details really started the ball rolling - and like lots of creative endeavours, started connections forming. Humans look for patterns. We have no choice, we try to make sense of the world. For example, one of my systems, Feynman, has neighbours which have either better technology or nicer worlds, so as I start to think about the political and social structure there it makes sense to think that they would be jealous of their neighbours. My other system, Temperance, has extremely high tech but environments that are slightly hazardous - which lead me to think that the citizens might be dispersed in artificial habitats throughout the system, rather than mostly residing on a particular world.

Now we have to make the time to meet up and play!

Wicked Wednesday

More from my growing collection of Strengths for In A Wicked Age. I'm always looking for more ideas and suggestions, so please add some in the comments if you think of any!

Acrobat - as a child your parents had you practice every day; now you're an expert at tumbling, falling – and most importantly dodging...
In order to maintain this strength you have to make sure you take time regularly to practice.
PCs use for myself; NPCs use action.


Dominate Will - someone with this strength can exert dominance over another, taking control over their actions.
It requires close physical proximity: suggestions are transmitted mind-to-mind. The affected person can still think and feel, but can only act as instructed by the dominator. Strong pain for either party can break the hold.
PCs use covertly; NPCs use maneuvering.

Iron Skin - were you blessed by the gods, or are you a freak of nature? Either way, your skin protects you from harm.
Your skin is always much tougher, there is no on or off switch. It certainly comes in handy in a tight spot.
PCs use for yourself; NPCs use self-protection.

Torture - you are skilled in extracting truth through pain and intimidation.
In order to use this strength well you just need the tools of your 'trade' (whatever they are) and the time to use them.
PCs use violence; NPCs use maneuvering.

Wings - for the longest time you have hidden your true self under a cloak. Your family loved you, and kept you safe. They never told you where your wings came from, or why you were special...
Take flight every few days to keep the muscles limber. And unsheathe them when you fly so they don't get tangled in your cloak.
PCs use directly; NPCs use action.

Read Minds - when you need to, you can hear the thoughts of others as clear as if they were speaking.
This requires no special equipment, rest or practice. You just have to will it. You can only hear, you cannot send.
PCs use covertly; NPCs use maneuvering.

Game Idea: Mystery Novel

This is a sketch of an idea: if anyone knows of an already existing game like this then please let me know, I want to play it!

A Microscope/Cluedo hybrid game. Together the players work to simultaneously create and uncover an Agatha Christie style murder. I'm really thinking of the way that information is presented, uncovered and connections made, a little like a Poirot story.

Perhaps the following elements could be used in some way:

• Every turn a player draws a card and Oracle-style this gives a provocation as to a clue or to the investigation. Or random tables could help populate a setting with 1920s/1930s upper class characters with murder in mind, and also introduce other plot elements, objects or artifacts.
• Microscope-style event placing leads to finding out what happened - or what people think they saw happening - with the timeline being populated by only scenes (no events or periods).
• There could be a rough positioning of scenes in to three periods perhaps, "Before the Murder", "During the Murder", "The Investigation."
• One feature of Poirot novels is the fact that he is the only detective (save for Chief Inspector Japp, who invariably has the wrong end of the stick). Perhaps the GM could be the detective - in that sense determining the focus at times to allow the other players reign to be characters, bring to light evidence or lay red herrings.
• Each player could have their own little playbook of random tables that is distinct from the others.
• Rotating GMship could occur between games to allow players to take turns being "the Detective" and being "the Suspects."

I think there is some scope here; my "little grey cells" are working away trying to draw some attention to possibilities, and to make connections between others.

Wicked Wednesday

I'm really looking forward to the next time that I GM or play In A Wicked Age. I love how easy it is to set up, but also want to add some spice in terms of strengths for NPCs, and that takes a fair bit of thought at the start of a session, at a time when you just want to get things going.

I'm working on a random table of 36 strengths. Some are skills, some are really special powers. I'll put a few of them up week-by-week. If you have any more suggestions please let me know in the comments!

Bare Knuckle - the warrior monks trained you in the arts of weaponless combat.
There's a lot of flexibility in terms of style here, but you can't be wielding a weapon of any kind.
PCs use with violence; NPCs use action.

Bind Dead - you can command wandering souls, and even reanimated bodies to be bound to a location, an object - even another person.
You have a collection of talismans and must speak words of power while having a clear perception of who/what you are binding.
PCs use for others; NPCs use action.

Burn - basic pyromagic, controlling already extant fire (growing, subduing, shaping).
To command the destructive element a pyro-mage uses hand gestures and concentration.
PCs use directly; NPCs use action.

Charm - tactile hypnosis grants a subtle power of suggestion over a subject.
Skin-to-skin contact and a clear thought to sway the subject (you have to try and make them feel like it is their idea).
PCs use covertly; NPCs use maneuvering.

Heal - your hands can stir up the force of life and healing in an injured person. You are, quite simply, a lifesaver.
You need time, space and no interruptions. Positive results restore an injured or exhausted person. (the person you are attempting to save will roll covertly and for themselves AGAINST you; you might be trying to save them, but it is an intrusion into their body and sense of self to do so)
PCs act for others; NPCs use maneuvering.

Phase - your body is bound together by your mind, and you can shift the density to pass through or allow objects to pass through you.
A rare focusing crystal embedded in your chest gives you all that you need. It would be awful if it were to break...
PCs act for themselves. NPCs use maneuvering.

Dice and Tables

I have been thinking again about the problem of indexing up to 400 elements in some kind of random table. In a previous post I mentioned that this was all possible using various computer methods. The main motivation here is thinking about how to do this at the table with just a bag of dice, and for the method to be unbiased, so that every entry has the same chance of being selected by the dice as any other.

Ideally, we want to:

1. use the standard polyhedral dice: d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20;
2. minimise re-rolling dice as much as possible;
3. not have any more dice involved than necessary.

All of this, mathematically, leads to thoughts of "best" algorithms, and "best" processes. In any mathematical investigation, we very rarely are able to jump from ideals and assumptions to the final answer. This time is no different, but there is hope I think that something can be done which is both easy to use and simple to understand (mathematically).

The first insight which was really helped is the idea that indexing X elements in tables is the same as rolling a dX, where X is any positive integer. Imagine that you take X square pieces of paper, write the numbers from 1 up to X on them, and paste them to a board. Throw a dart blindly at the board and you randomly select a number - which, for all intents and purposes is the same as rolling a dX.

Take the numbers down off a board now and try to arrange them into a table, or into a series of tables. Here comes the IF:

If we can arrange the X squares into a series of good* tables, then we can index X elements easily.

A consequence of all of this is that those good tables could just as easily contain the numbers from 1 to X written on them. So rolling a dX and rolling to get one of those X elements add up to the same thing, more or less (in maths terms, I think we could safely say that the two things were homomorphic).

And this was my big thought on the topic so far (well, one of them at least): it makes as much sense to see how we can simulate a dX using the standard polyhedral dice as it does to think about organising X elements into tables.

In future posts, simulating dX with the standard polyhedral dice! And how this ties in to random tables.

*in the sense of the three criteria from earlier in the post

TNG Season 8/In A Wicked Age Mashup

I've been thinking about Oracles since I had so much fun with In A Wicked Age last week. I cannot be the first person to think about them as a great way, not only of setting up one-shot games, but of developing campaigns, quests and the like in much longer games.

I've also really been loving the Twitter account, @TNG_S8, which are the always humourous, always plausible synopses of the continuing Season 8 adventures of the Enterprise-D. It hit me this morning when P and D from my game group retweeted a few that @TNG_S8 - or something very much like it - would make for a great game, and something which could be set up and played very, very speedily using the mechanics of In A Wicked Age.

There are six dice pools in In A Wicked Age, and I think that only a few of them would have to be renamed, if, for example, the player characters were restricted slightly to play Starfleet personnel. The mechanics would work exactly the same, rolling when in conflict, each character carrying a different strength. Data and Picard might be a bit too powerful for player characters (special strengths, Android and Captain respectively). Riker, Troi, Crusher and Geordi should all be fine, Worf too.

I'm not sure if this would be the most serious game in the world - but it would make for some interesting plots I think. And it could be interesting as well to play a game that was formatted a little like a genre TV show. noisms has told me about a game before which was a little like this - it was maybe called Primetime Adventures? I might have to check it out.

All in all, perhaps something worth tinkering with! I have other ideas running in the background about Oracle based games. There are so many settings which it could work well with; and I'm convinced that in terms of providing background events for a long running game it could be really, really useful. More thoughts on that another time perhaps.

Getting Dice All Random

In my first post I mentioned that I had started to get interested in the maths of RPGs from the probabilities in Apocalypse World. There was something else that started me thinking, which is when one of the regulars in the gaming group I play with asked a question on his tabletop role-playing game blog, False Machine.

P was looking at randomly generating an island from a series of entries in a table. He had come up with a means to do that, but only on a computer, which meant while the island was randomly generated the setting would be determined ahead of his session. To him, the problem was, as he put it at the end of the post:

I need a dice method that can randomise 343 hexes

I've always had a strange little fascination with powers of numbers, so this jumped out at me as soon as I saw it. 343 is 7*7*7, which means that you could have seven tables, with seven rows and seven columns; you could then get any entry out of the 343 in your master list by rolling three d8s and re-rolling any 8s.

Problem solved! Until P realised later that there were actually 330 entries in the table for Isle of the Unknown. But this wasn't a problem either, if we imagined the entries arranged in ten tables, each with three columns and 11 rows. Roll a d10 for the table, a d3 (or d6/2 if you must be formal) and a d12 with re-rolls on the 12s. Again, problem solved!

Which got me thinking...

GMs who like to make things up through random tables could possibly have a large number of random encounters or random elements that they would like in tables. 330 or even 343 entries could be quite small. Is there, in general, a sensible schema that we can use for producing sets of random tables for game data, that we can index with dice? Let's assume d4, d6, d8, d10, d12 and d20s are available.

To put some bounds on this, let's assume, for now (although it may be easily extendable, who knows) that we want to consider for sets of random tables with up to 400 elements in total. I'm going to have a think about this and let you know what I think over the next week or so, as well as share a small random table of my own for In A Wicked Age.