Debt Punk Research
I’ve started watching Salvage Marines on Crackle and also Yakitori: Soldiers of Misfortune(Netflix). Both have folks doing rough gigs to get out of crushing debt or trouble premise. Salvage Marines is based on the Necrospace novel series by Sean-Michael Argo. Folks live such oppressive, poor lives that they enlist as deep space combat forces hoping for a path to a better life. In the Yakitori anime, better futures are also made by enlisting as expendable foot soldiers —the Yakitori, AKA Chicken on a stick, served. Both shows are research for my next run at a large West Marches game —sci-fi and debt-punk-themed. Cortex Prime is what I’d like to use. It’s easy to get folks into. Right now, the prime set traits look like Distinctions, Specialties, gear, and signature assets. Non-recoverable resource dice for salvaged goods, no effect dice. I know those trait sets might make folks nervous about having enough dice to roll for tests…that’s by design! I’m stuck on modeling the debt experience as a stat and how to reduce it in-game.
Five Parsecs From Home has minis!
I ran across CyberForge Minis, and they are some nice-looking pieces! I’ve been playing off-and-on using my Warhammer 40K Kill Team minis and setting, and it’s been fun for lonely fun wargaming. And it looks like Modiphius is bought the whole five parsec and leagues farm recently!
Playing Traveller on Twitch!
My friend Judd will run some Classic Traveller (I remember when it was just Traveller). We’ll do character generation on stream starting Sunday, July 9th. It’ll be fun getting the Twitch gang back together. Traveller was the first RPG I played after Holmes D&D 100 years ago. It is also my kid’s first RPG experience, and we played in a mash-up of Halo and the 40K universe he described! I wish I had been podcasting back then and captured that session! Classic Traveller Facsimile Edition is also free on Drivetrhu!
Polo and the Orcs of Thunder Mountain
Played the penultimate session of Burning Wheel RPG this weekend. Polo, the exiled dwarf; She who Rides, Orc rider, and the great wolf Ripper begin the session recovering from a wyvern attack. Ripper is hurt pretty bad. She Who Rides attends to his wounds while Polo recovers his gear from his hurt mule, hoping not to run into the other Orc party looking for him. I’ll do an actual play post after our last session. My intent with this four-session run was to distill it all into a one-shot for future RPG convention play. For me, it is easier to improv off an experience than from nothing. Some convention tables cook with napalm, and some I gotta bring the fire to. When I can, I like to play through a short run of a game, then condense it down into a sandbox for one-shot convention play. I take notes of the highlights of those one-shot sessions and add them to the mix for future runs of this scenario to improv from when I need to. That, folks, is the secret of my🔥one-shot RPG sessions.
Hey Jay, regarding the below:
"I’m stuck on modeling the debt experience as a stat and how to reduce it in-game."
Have you taken a look at Obligation from Edge of the Empire? That's the only mechanic coming to my mind for debt-as-stat in RPGs. I haven't read it, but I'd assume Red Markets has something similar to this as well. Are there other mechanics from other systems you're referencing as you noodle over your design?