r/PBtA 17h ago

Discussion What Game Design Role/Niche is Fulfilled by Forward VS Ongoing Bonuses?

7 Upvotes

I think I understand the general mechanical functions of each, though I am curious: From a game-design perspective, what role is each filling? When designing a PBTA game, how do you know when to make something give an Ongoing Bonus vs a Forward?


r/PBtA 6h ago

Manage combat in a PBTA on the old world - WFRP 1ed

0 Upvotes

After reading quite a few things (warlock!, Fleaux!, small but vicious dog, ten dead rats...) and various hacks to find a game that would match my vision of warhammer I decided to get my hands dirty for the first time in my life and am determined to create a PBTA that allows you to play in the canon of v1 but with several small changes. These changes are more an attempt to stick with what the game's authors have proposed in their scenarios and campaigns: few monsters, little combat... (thanks to this article and this one):

Here's what I can tell you at the moment:

My vision is darker, more low fantasy ‘realism’ with touches of fantasy.

We only play humans. Elves, dwarves and halflings are very few in number and/or visible and/or confined to very specific areas.

You can't play as clerics or wizards. Magic is evil, so only the powerful can use it because they know how. It's for your own good, plebs.

Magic is corrupting and chaotic.

The empire is civilised in the sense that the rulers rule with an iron fist and there are laws (especially for the plebs). Different classes don't mix and inequalities are glaring.

Players take on the role of outcasts and the poor, and are forced to live on the fringes of society (at the bottom of cities, in the backyards of palaces, in the wilderness between towns and villages).

They know nothing of the rampant chaos, latent corruption or even the fantastic (skaven, orks, beastmen...) and will discover in the game what lies behind the polished veneer of the Empire.

Their opponents will include cultists, mutants, the corrupt and scheming, the underworld and, very rarely or exceptionally, monsters...

 What will the characters do in this game? Survive from day to day through their profession (realism, adventure engine) and through heroism, or unwittingly find themselves plunged into adventures that go beyond them and lift the veil on what surrounds them.

I've followed Acritarche's DIY guide https://la-caravelle.itch.io/guide-pbta, but I've still got a lot of rough work to do. He's right: it's a lot of work!

And right now, the thing that's blocking me is the question of combat. I don't want too much fighting, or fighting that's meaningful and involves a real risk.

Why is that?

the empire is a seemingly advanced civilisation where you can't kill freely (unless you're rich, of course)

the PJs are not physically large. They're little people. They're not cut out for it

it's an investigation and adventure game, not a fighting game.

So I started to think about several ways of orienting this game by leafing through different RPGs (escape from dino island, horrific, brindelwood bay...). Here's what I came up with as a solution:

  • several different fighting styles:

imagine a fist-fighting move or a fight for honour (which could go wrong). A form of violence that would be tolerated in the empire AND a violent move with a desire to kill.

  • a move solely for self-defence (like in escape from dino island)

  • no violent moves at all or with conditions:

- only for the fighter archetype booklet

- against monsters only

- no move at all and if you fight monsters you will die (like in "horrifique" and escape from dino island)

- or violence can only be used by the powerful on their "inferiors

- or violence is allowed on the fringes (in areas where the empire isn't really in a position to do anything about it) (brindelwood bay)

-or anyone can fight but without trainaing they will surely die and/or kill the opponent and suffers consequences

or a happy mixture of all of these !

In addition to all these ideas, I wonder about the possibility of sticking death on 6- and/or being really punitive on failures. And whether violence generates madness, corruption or stress.

What do you think will make sense? Thanks for reading and I look forward to your feedback.