RolePlay onLine RPoL Logo

, welcome to Game Proposals, Input, and Advice

15:15, 29th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Visual Novel World (Playtest)

Posted by steelsmiter
steelsmiter
member, 1878 posts
BESM, Fate, Indies, PBTA
NO FREEFORM! NO d20!
Tue 24 Apr 2018
at 16:22
  • msg #1

Visual Novel World (Playtest)

I wrote a PBTA hack where players play characters in visual novels that I need to playtest. It can function as either a slice of life game, or as an adventure game. It will be adult due to potential for violent and/or sexual situations (but not sexual violence). I've got a couple ideas:

Battle Roadster Elite Angels Strike Team
An all girl Biker Sentai of the above name is a little bit self aware about the acronym of their name, and the fact that they are fighting Dudes In Crime for Kicks. There will be separate Mission and Base threads, with the mission threads serving as Adventure, and the Base threads Slice of Life

Birth of Kagemusha
You can blame Saturday Night Live (Mike Myers and Chris Farley) for the fact that I use the fictional name "Kagemusha" for my Generic Japanese Starter Town™. Usually it's a city. In this game it'll be a feudal era fishing village with a hunting board in the town square. Players engage the threats to the village mostly at their own leisure, but it can also function as SoL.

Miscellaneous ideas that don't have names yet
  • A group of people who work at a Bakery or Noodle shop have pure SoL experiences. Might call it Half Baked Schemes, or Noodling Around.
  • Modern Kagemusha got attacked by Kaiju, and the local Zaibatsu unveiled Mecha, and conveniently selected the players to help deal with the problem.


It also bears mentioning that sexual activity can fade to black at any time.
This message was last edited by the user at 17:55, Tue 24 Apr 2018.
Unknown Blitz
member, 117 posts
Mon 30 Apr 2018
at 04:57
  • msg #2

Visual Novel World (Playtest)

Hello,

For the Battle Roadster Elite Angels Strike Team, were you thinking more ‘modern’ type bikes or future tech/Robotech Cyclone types? And in terms of game world, more future Tokyo mega-city, or Mad Max?

Also, if you ever decided to do a game like the modern Kagemusha with Mecha that would be of definite interest.

A mix of day-to-day ‘slice of life’ and the adventures sounds like a great approach.

I am a big fan of the PbtA system, and always looking for new iterations or developments of the system. There are a few good anime/manga based versions but not many, most are Shonen based I’ve found. Regardless, definitely sounds like a system I’d be interested in trying whichever setting you decide on, even one I didn’t specifically mention above.
steelsmiter
member, 1881 posts
BESM, Fate, Indies, PBTA
NO FREEFORM! NO d20!
Mon 30 Apr 2018
at 05:47
  • msg #3

Re: Visual Novel World (Playtest)

Unknown Blitz:
Hello,

For the Battle Roadster Elite Angels Strike Team, were you thinking more ‘modern’ type bikes or future tech/Robotech Cyclone types? And in terms of game world, more future Tokyo mega-city, or Mad Max?

I'd say modern type bikes because I don't know what you mean by "Robotech Cyclone types". But a Roadster is a specific type of bike commonly (but not always) produced by Harley Davidson. Basically not a crotch rocket, not a dirt bike. I'd google the term and show you the result page, but rpol doesn't like links with over 120 consecutive characters.

quote:
Also, if you ever decided to do a game like the modern Kagemusha with Mecha that would be of definite interest.

Yeah, I'd mainly be doing it because I know it's popular, not so much because I like Mecha. My mecha are spiritual successors to BESM 3's mecha.

quote:
A mix of day-to-day ‘slice of life’ and the adventures sounds like a great approach.

It can be. I've about given up on doing it in a college setting though (won't do it in a setting where younger characters are relevant).

quote:
I am a big fan of the PbtA system, and always looking for new iterations or developments of the system. There are a few good anime/manga based versions but not many, most are Shonen based I’ve found.

I hadn't found any to be honest. I started the game because I ran a great game using Highschool Harem Comedy and was inspired to put in some H. Ended up making a whole new game out of it.

quote:
Regardless, definitely sounds like a system I’d be interested in trying whichever setting you decide on, even one I didn’t specifically mention above.

Awesome :D

PS: I forgot when I first replied to this, but I also have an Expanded document that I could run a very basic Supers game as well.
This message was last edited by the user at 05:51, Mon 30 Apr 2018.
Unknown Blitz
member, 118 posts
Mon 30 Apr 2018
at 20:28
  • msg #4

Re: Visual Novel World (Playtest)

In reply to steelsmiter (msg # 3):

quote:
I'd say modern type bikes because I don't know what you mean by "Robotech Cyclone types". But a Roadster is a specific type of bike commonly (but not always) produced by Harley Davidson. Basically not a crotch rocket, not a dirt bike. I'd google the term and show you the result page, but rpol doesn't like links with over 120 consecutive characters.


Yeah, I didn’t know how much the ‘roadster’ was accurate and how much it was used to work in your acronym. : )

Cyclones are the motorcycle version of veritech fighters. High tech, runs on protoculture, transforms around the driver to a suit of light power armor.

quote:
It can be. I've about given up on doing it in a college setting though


If you don’t mind me asking, what is it about a college setting that hasn’t worked for you?

quote:
PS: I forgot when I first replied to this, but I also have an Expanded document that I could run a very basic Supers game as well.


And on a linked note, an X-Men like ‘ability level’ (with characters like First Class) setting at an academy could be cool. Or other another type of supers too for that matter, that’s one of my favorite genres.
steelsmiter
member, 1882 posts
BESM, Fate, Indies, PBTA
NO FREEFORM! NO d20!
Mon 30 Apr 2018
at 20:38
  • msg #5

Re: Visual Novel World (Playtest)

Unknown Blitz:
If you don’t mind me asking, what is it about a college setting that hasn’t worked for you?

The fact that you're either going to abide by a class schedule, or you're going to be immediately discarding it and there isn't much of a middle ground mostly.

quote:
And on a linked note, an X-Men like ‘ability level’ (with characters like First Class) setting at an academy could be cool. Or other another type of supers too for that matter, that’s one of my favorite genres.


It's hard to judge power level in PBtA. Even Dungeon World made character power level fuzzy, and Level mostly just gave you more abilities moves. The original game was written with the damage scale some approximation of about a third to a quarter of DW, but Mecha, and some supers can interact with structures built with an approximation of Inverse World's stress so... yeah...
This message had punctuation tweaked by the user at 22:28, Mon 30 Apr 2018.
Unknown Blitz
member, 119 posts
Mon 30 Apr 2018
at 21:36
  • msg #6

Re: Visual Novel World (Playtest)

I do know what you mean, about the rigidity of classes being an impediment to a good game.

IMO, some structure is good, but in games with classes it almost needs to be off-screen and everything else are the interesting parts. Unless a major revelation, fight, or point of drama come up during a lecture or classroom discussion but at that point the class is the backdrop for the game not the game itself.

It’s like most good high school/college movies or TV shows, almost all the interesting scenes are outside of class or unrelated to the class itself.

Power level is tricky in PbtA from a conventional RPG standpoint. It really comes down to narrative trust and knowledge of the source material.

I ran a solo (PbtA) Worlds in Peril where the PC played Superman. Powers in that system come down to what is basically easy, moderate, hard, and ‘impossible’ for the character to accomplish. It definitely felt like an old school Silver Age style comic, but both of us had comic knowledge. It’s not easy to get the tone or ‘feel’ down without that understanding.
steelsmiter
member, 1883 posts
BESM, Fate, Indies, PBTA
NO FREEFORM! NO d20!
Wed 2 May 2018
at 01:45
  • msg #7

Re: Visual Novel World (Playtest)

Unknown Blitz:
I do know what you mean, about the rigidity of classes being an impediment to a good game.

IMO, some structure is good, but in games with classes it almost needs to be off-screen and everything else are the interesting parts. Unless a major revelation, fight, or point of drama come up during a lecture or classroom discussion but at that point the class is the backdrop for the game not the game itself.

It’s like most good high school/college movies or TV shows, almost all the interesting scenes are outside of class or unrelated to the class itself.

Right, but interestingly the games have a variety of stances on classes. For example Persona 4 made a point of Pop Quizzes, and is the inspiration of one of the moves in VNW. I also had an Exam move, which affected GPA (which in turn is used for Bond calculations). Other games, yeah, the action usually happens between classes. Since GPA does so little with Bonds after the initial ones are established, I'm thinking about either getting rid of it or (more likely) specifying how wealth (through either scholarship or parental willingness to provide) relates to it.

quote:
Power level is tricky in PbtA from a conventional RPG standpoint. It really comes down to narrative trust and knowledge of the source material.

I ran a solo (PbtA) Worlds in Peril where the PC played Superman. Powers in that system come down to what is basically easy, moderate, hard, and ‘impossible’ for the character to accomplish. It definitely felt like an old school Silver Age style comic, but both of us had comic knowledge. It’s not easy to get the tone or ‘feel’ down without that understanding.

Well, with VNW I did the Class Warfare thing where players pick 3 subtypes to cobble their playbook together from... a couple dozen or so? And I added a handful of subtypes that have superpowers.
Unknown Blitz
member, 120 posts
Wed 2 May 2018
at 02:35
  • msg #8

Re: Visual Novel World (Playtest)

quote:
Right, but interestingly the games have a variety of stances on classes. For example Persona 4 made a point of Pop Quizzes, and is the inspiration of one of the moves in VNW. I also had an Exam move, which affected GPA (which in turn is used for Bond calculations). Other games, yeah, the action usually happens between classes. Since GPA does so little with Bonds after the initial ones are established, I'm thinking about either getting rid of it or (more likely) specifying how wealth (through either scholarship or parental willingness to provide) relates to it.


Tests as an important part of the story could work, I was more thinking of the mundane day to day class grind. Field trips, group projects away from class- those can be interesting school/academy adventures in my experience.

Though is the GPA a result of anything else stat wise? I’m primarily wondering if GPA segments the players into social groups, i.e. the nerds, the jocks, the theatre majors by how well they do, or if it allows for strong bonds between different types of students.

quote:
Well, with VNW I did the Class Warfare thing where players pick 3 subtypes to cobble their playbook together from... a couple dozen or so? And I added a handful of subtypes that have superpowers.


That sounds really terrific, it could be built upon more for supers by superhero tropes- the Brick, the Blaster, the Mentalist, the Speedster, etc. if a prospective GM wanted.

It sounds like you could make use of it for a lot of anime/manga types not just VNs.
steelsmiter
member, 1884 posts
BESM, Fate, Indies, PBTA
NO FREEFORM! NO d20!
Wed 2 May 2018
at 02:48
  • msg #9

Re: Visual Novel World (Playtest)

Unknown Blitz:
Though is the GPA a result of anything else stat wise? I’m primarily wondering if GPA segments the players into social groups, i.e. the nerds, the jocks, the theatre majors by how well they do, or if it allows for strong bonds between different types of students.


So the way bonds worked in DW is that you had to have at least 1. Class Warfare limited bonds to a small number maximum. GPA determines bonds. It starts based on attributes dependent on the scenario the game is ran on. The default assumption that the setting is a school lets GPA equal either Smartsx2 or Sports+1. Players can have basically up to 4 starting bonds by default (with the Honor Student getting 5 for having Advanced Placement or Honors classes). If there is a social group dynamic, that's a great thing for players to explore (e.g. the Sukeban is most likely to be semi-outcast, and may respect Jocks Sports Stars for their athleticism. They in turn know that the scrappers aren't ones to be trifled with and the leader of them, doubly so.)

quote:
quote:
Well, with VNW I did the Class Warfare thing where players pick 3 subtypes to cobble their playbook together from... a couple dozen or so? And I added a handful of subtypes that have superpowers.


That sounds really terrific, it could be built upon more for supers by superhero tropes- the Brick, the Blaster, the Mentalist, the Speedster, etc. if a prospective GM wanted.

Yeah, I did that. Except I called the Mentalist a TKer because somehow a mentalist slipped my mind. May do a separate Mentalist that charms/possesses things.

quote:
It sounds like you could make use of it for a lot of anime/manga types not just VNs.

Yeah, I make a point of writing generic games. It could do some of those... adequately, but I wanted to keep the power level manageable.
Unknown Blitz
member, 121 posts
Wed 2 May 2018
at 03:11
  • msg #10

Re: Visual Novel World (Playtest)

quote:
...Sports+1...Sports Stars for their athleticism


Can I just say that sounds well thought out, but the idea of being able to do Sports Manga is the best part from that snippet? : )

quote:
Yeah, I make a point of writing generic games. It could do some of those... adequately, but I wanted to keep the power level manageable.


Absolutely, Shonen as I said above I’ve been able to find but not a good thematically sound general manga, slice of life, or other genres. Which VNW sounds like it’s shaping up to be- or at least could be used for.
steelsmiter
member, 1885 posts
BESM, Fate, Indies, PBTA
NO FREEFORM! NO d20!
Wed 2 May 2018
at 03:44
  • msg #11

Re: Visual Novel World (Playtest)

Well, at present, the only one I know is interested, is you.
Unknown Blitz
member, 122 posts
Wed 2 May 2018
at 04:20
  • msg #12

Re: Visual Novel World (Playtest)

Looks that way, if you need or want a player (any genre really) let me know. I’ll check in here regularly, I’m on rpol fairly often.
steelsmiter
member, 1886 posts
BESM, Fate, Indies, PBTA
NO FREEFORM! NO d20!
Wed 2 May 2018
at 04:28
  • msg #13

Re: Visual Novel World (Playtest)

Ok. Well, as long as we are talking about gaming in general, it's sort of off topic. I'd get you information where we can chat about this stuff in a more convenient way, but your rMail appears to be disabled.
Unknown Blitz
member, 123 posts
Wed 2 May 2018
at 04:39
  • msg #14

Re: Visual Novel World (Playtest)

In reply to steelsmiter (msg # 13):

Oops, I’ll set to to enabled. Forgot I had turned it off.
Sign In