Hey Man, well this is Babylon

In Cannibal Contagion, the CiC uses the Threat Pool to create NPCs, directly purchasing their Threat scores with points from the pool. As it currently stands, the mechanics for creating NPCs and generating Threat are.. well… a tad sloppy.

Today I had a new idea that I’m considering using instead. This would make the Threat Pool system a lot more modular, less haphazard, and give the CiC a lot more control over the NPCs and Dangers without overburdening him with oodles of tokens. Here’s the idea:

The CiC would use tokens from the Threat Pool to purchase an NPC, with the token cost being based upon the NPC’s Role. Fodder NPCs would cost 1 token, Hindrances 2, Minions 4, Big Bads 6, and Bigger-Badder-Big-Bads 10. Once brought into the game, the CiC then draws cards to determine their actual Threat scores. If you’re using the little NPC cards, it’s really easy to then just set the drawn cards beside or underneath the associated NPC card for quick reference in play. For Fodder, draw two and keep the lowest. For Hindrances, draw 1. For Minions, draw 2 and keep the highest, for Big Bads draw three and add together the highest two, and for BBBBs draw four and add together the highest three.

In this system, the actual composition of the NPC is still irrelevant: a Threat 5 Hindrance could just as easily be a group of five zombies as it could be one really tough zombie.

Threat Pool could still also be used as Awesome tokens as per normal rules. The amount of Threat pool available would decrease significantly, though. I’m thinking, at the beginning of each scene the CiC gains 1 for each scene that has passed and one for each player at the table.

Whaddaya think?

There will most likely be a new update to the Cannibal Contagion playtest rules in the next day or so. I’ve been adding spacers for art, ads, character profiles, and an index. Additionally, I’m working on a somewhat thick section on evoking game themes, such as survival, macabre humor, and paranoia, among others. I’ve also added a few additional rules and clarifications, including a section on mechanical limitations on a character’s Gear (thank you, Resident Evil!).

As usual, when the update is ready, look for it on this blog.

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I’m currently gathering requests for back-of-the-book ads for the Cannibal Contagion book. The final print format will be 5.5 x 8.5, and I’m looking at filling four pages with ads for other gaming things. Maybe two pages of full-page ads, and then two pages with two half-page ads each.

Advertising will likely just be free. Lemme know if you have a good gaming-related product or something to advertise, and we’ll talk! Products should of course be things available at or after the intended December 2008 publication date.

Update: One page filled already by Orcusville! Three left.

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I seriously need to get some firearm training…

I meant to do this Friday, but only just now found the time to get around to it. The playtest rules have been updated considerably:

• Added placeholders for four pre-generated example characters
• Removed the Agsomafa mechanics
• Updated the Showdown outcomes: now the total play pile = Hurtin’, and faces and aces can be exchanged for Facts and Awesome tokens
• Added two new Joker-specific power maneuvers to replace the Agsomafa. One mechanic involves an all-or-nothing desperate move, the other allows you a boosted result should you win with a joker.
• Updated glossary
• Updated character sheets and accessory cards
• Removed the Awesome-for-Hurtin’ weapon modifier

The updated rules and sheets can be found here, as usual.

I’ve decided to start the process of adding example text to the book. Currently, I believe the only play examples I have in the text are for Character Creation and for the basic Quick-Draw and Showdown mechanics. To those of you who have read the rules, or played the game, what areas do you think could most benefit from example text blocks?

This morning, a new train of thought regarding the Agsomafa started moving in my brain. This idea involves eliminating it entirely, and replacing it with a more versatile “desperation” mechanic. Instead of a one-shot super-attack, this new idea would introduce two Joker-based mechanics, one geared around the theme of “double or nothing” and the other around “balls to the wall” aggression.

Change #1: Double or Nothing, or “Hail Mary”

The Hail Mary mechanic would allow the player to try for a drastic last-ditch all-or-nothing effort at a crucial time. This would be evoked after a Showdown has been declared, but before any cards have been dealt. The player would blow their entire reserve of Awesome tokens, and start drawing cards from the deck. They keep drawing until either they have drawn an amount = the # of tokens they dumped, or they draw a Joker, or the deck runs out of cards, whichever happens first. If the player happens to draw a joker, then she wins the Showdown with an outcome = the # of cards drawn, including the Joker. If the player does not draw a joker, then the opponent wins with the same outcome (and the player is out all that awesome). Using this mechanic, of course, requires suitable intense narration.

Change #2: Balls to the Wall

This mechanic involves playing a Joker during a Showdown. When played, unless countered by an opponent playing another Joker (canceling both out), the player can immediately burn Awesome tokens to add additional Hurtin’ to the result. The maximum amount of Awesome that the player can spend in this fashion is equal to the number of cards currently in the play pile, Joker included. Like the Hail Mary, this requires suitable narration.

Change #3: Tweaking the Outcome

Now, this all brings me to something else that’s been bugging me, and this time it doesn’t have anything to do with the Agsomafa. I feel the outcome mechanic (Effects, Facts, and Hurtin’) needs to be tweaked just a teeny tiny bit. Here’s what I think I’m gonna change it to, in short form. When you win a Showdown, the number of cards in the final spread (the cards played by all involved contestants) determines the amount of Hurtin’ you can deal. Each Ace or Face can be exchanged for either an additional Fact added to the moment, or a bonus Awesome token. Cards used for Facts or Tokens do not count towards the Hurtin’ total, however.

What are your thoughts?

After a lot of mulling around the design board, inspired by playing a handful of survival horror games and watching some more zombie flicks, I think I need to give the Agsomafa finishing blow mechanic a bit of a revitalization. As it stands now, it’s a once-per-session Instant Win that each player has in their possession as an Ace in the Hole. But the implementation of it is kinda clunky, and I think it needs some work. One of the major weaknesses of the mechanic is that it is pretty easy for players to hold onto these trump cards until the final scene and then just chain them on the Big Bad, making the last encounter a joke. I’ve seen this happen four times already, which means it is definitely a problem.

I’ve been developing a handful of proto-ideas for changing up the Agsomafa to something more manageable yet without impacting its value. Here are some bits of these ideas, collected for musing and discussion.

One idea I had was to have an inherent mechanical threshold that must be reached before a player can use their Agsomafa, based on their Threat (their steadily increased measure of how long they’ve been alive) and their Awesome tokens. Say, a player couldn’t call upon the Agsomafa until their Threat multiplied by their Current Awesome reserve was 20 or more. At that point, they would become eligible for using it, but it would blow their entire Awesome reserve, and drop their Threat by half. This would also open up the possibility of the player being able to potentially call upon it a second time in the game. Currently, this is the idea that is getting the most ponder-time.

Another idea I have is to have it based on a card spread, maybe one card drawn per point of Awesome blown. Spread the cards, and then base the outcome by a combination of pairs, matches, flushes, etc. That idea hasn’t really been touched upon at all.

Another idea is to have it based on an Awesome token “flush” so to speak. The player dumps their entire awesome reserve for just as many cards, and that’s the amount of Hurtin’ they do. Should there be a joker, perhaps the Hurtin’ is doubled.

The main thing to consider is that I want the Agsomafa to remain in the game. I like having that power attack, last-ditch effect, the FF7 “Limit Break” that gives the character an extra edge. But if it is going to remain, it needs to be refined.

Ideas, anyone?

A “moderate” update to the Cannibal Contagion rules. I’ve changed the way Awesome Tokens are acquired during Showdowns. Instead of basing them on pairs of cards, I’ve made them part of the card-exchange outcome mechanic. Now, when you win a Showdown, you not only exchange effect cards for Facts and Hurtin’, you can also cash them in for Awesome tokens.

The updated rules and sheets can be found here, as usual.

In this post I talk about changes to Cannibal Contagion, I rave about the awesome game session from last night’s group gathering, and I review Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy.

On Cannibal Contagion

I thought about it pretty heavily over the weekend, and today I finalized my decision to remove the “Samurai Slaughterfest” bit from the name of Cannibal Contagion. This has kinda been nagging me for a while now, but didn’t jump into my mind full-focus until I found my original design document for the game over the weekend. There are a lot of initial ideas from that document that never made it into the current vision of the game, or that I’m holding onto for a lot more testing and possible release in an expansion - meaning, a whole lot of extraneous add-on kinda stuff. Read more