[[Stand Battles Game for 3Forged Contest]] ------------------------------------------ Everything is based on retroactive action and stunning turnarounds of fortune. The theory is that the PCs act, things escalate until it looks like they’ll lose, THEN new actions are pieced out backwards to resolve the end of the fight by revealing new defenses, offenses and stakes. PSYCHIC BATTLES! BODY HORROR! PUZZLES OF ADVANTAGE! I am thinking writing elements of an exchange on an index card. The scene plays forward, index card goes on the table, then a playing card on that, face down. When the retroactive part of the action comes up, the card is revealed to inform the result. Good Card Elements Stakes; Written like ‘I have to X or else Y!’ What Happened; ‘I shoot at them with mind bullets!’ Tags on Stands and important things in Brackets; ‘I shoot at them with [mind bullets]!’ Multiple index cards should go down in one fight, each one encompassing an active exchange between fighters. The first index card is closest to the player and the last one the furthest. [[Going Forward, Looking Backward]] -------------------------------------------- Brawn and physical skills influence success when acting ‘forward’ as normal. Smarts and combat experience influence success when looking ‘backward’ to see what else your character has attempted in the scene. REWARD players for getting themselves into deeper shit! This may well be more cards or dice or luck currency. Really concrete rewards that have a tangible element and feel good to have. Forward Mechanic; Automatic stat based resolution? I’m not sure I want randomization going on both ways. Backward Mechanic; Card reveal, player spends from a hand to trump revealed card -After a retroactive pass has been made, either the fight is over or the context of the fight has to be declared again on the terms of the exchanges resolved -Easy villain power rating = a small number that is added to revealed cards! So if the reveal is a 6 and the player plays a 7, but the Villain rating is two, that's a fail! [[Your Stand, and You]] ---------------------------------------------- You are an amazing psychic badass! Because of this you can project a power known as a Stand - this Stand looks like another person (usually, and a far-out impossible person to boot) and can only be seen by other so-called Stand Users. A Stand can interact with real objects and humans according to its strength and abilities. There are some basic rules for Stands which in all but the rarest cases cannot be broken; -One Stand, One User -What hurts the Stand also hurts the User -The closer a Stand is to the User, the more powerful and accurate it is -Stand Users are fated to cross paths Choose a Range Short Range; 1-2 meters. A Short Range stand is very destructive but cannot stray far from the User, relies on the User’s vision and behaves with the most precision. Short Range stands are the least restricted in how they use their abilities. Medium Range; 1-25 meters. A Medium Range stand is flexible and extends the user’s perception. These stands have meaningful situational limits to their abilities. Long Range; 1-50 meters. A Long Range stand is burdened by situational restrictions on its ability. It is not particularly destructive outside of those situations where it can attack. Automatic; Probably unlimited. An automatic stand acts strictly according to fixed rules of behavior and not to User control. Not recommended for player-characters. Come up with a Power Think about the last time you dreamed of doing something impossible. Some natural force or odd object that fascinated you. Base something on that. Go ahead and get weird. -Time powers are right out. Don’t ask us about time powers. -The GM gets a chance to narrow the scope of a power that’s too strong. In general restrictions are better balancers and balance is less important than playability. Decide on Restrictions and Situations Restrictions can be common sense, like needing to be near water to move it telekinetically, and they can be very strange. Examples Your stand can put zippers anywhere, and open them to an odd other space or use them to get through barriers (restriction; cannot directly harm people with a zipper ie removing organs) [[Building Your Character]] --------------------------------------------- Characters have six stats divided into Mental and Physical. Mental; Intelligence - Knowing what someone’s Action means. Confidence - Taking the initiative, staying motivated. Experience - Guessing what someone will do next. Physical; Brawn - Sheer muscular power. Speed - Fast movement. Endurance - Performing extended activity. [[Taking Damage]] ----------------------------------------------- PCs take two types of damage, cosmetic and vital. Cosmetic damage looks horrific and heralds threats to life but won’t kill you in battle. Vital damage is dramatic, clearly disadvantageous (limb off, etc) and can kill you in battle. I’m thinking 4 hits available in each, like two MH Harm pies. When Cosmetic is full, damage gets vital. As soon as a battle is over, clear all Cosmetic damage and one Vital damage. [[GM Moves]] ----------------------------------------------- When a player fails an exchange or makes an obvious poor life choice, they get a hard move. If nothing is happening and people look a little bored, make a hard move. ~Separate them ~Put them together ~Deal damage as established ~Put someone in a spot ~Reveal a Villain’s retroactive advantage ~Call their bluff ~Predict someone’s plan ~Activate a disadvantage ~Announce future problems ~Turn their action back on them ~Activate their powers’ downsides ~Show them how little they know [[Intended Play Example]] ------------------------------------------------ let's say there's one fight, and 3 exchanges in the fight. We'll call these stages 'Crossing the Street Menacingly', 'Punches' and 'RELEASE THE BEES' you did something proactively on each exchange, and then can do something retroactively and you can be like 'As I [crossed the street menacingly], I noticed [there were totally bees]' 'So while [punching], I wrecked a fire hydrant, now it's [spraying everywhere]' 'As long as I stay in the [spray], I'm safe from [OMG BEES]' so while the first series of exchanges in this fight were about being menacing and punching, the next exchanges will probably be about using the terrain [ie water, bees]