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Kensen
2010-01-11, 03:05 AM
I already posted a recruitment thread for a game using these rules, but I though I might also post the rules here for your scrutiny. I hope you, fellow Playgrounders can help me catch obvious flaws and balance issues in the rules, and perhaps also suggest things to add and improve to make the game better. Be as critical as is necessary. :smallbiggrin:

Also, feel free just to ask questions if there's something you want to know more about or don't understand.

The following is a copy-paste from the Finding Players forum:


_/_/_/

A tribe of goblins that was previously ruled by an evil warlord finds itself homeless and masterless after the warlord is slain by the so called good peoples. The humans want the goblins out of their lands and so the exodus begins. The goblins set out to find their ancient homeland, but the journey is long and wrought with danger. Only the strongest will survive.

Keywords: Survival, politics, resource management, competition, cooperation

Gameplay: You control a family of goblins. You gather resources, craft tools, trade with other goblin families and fight - sometimes against other goblin families, sometimes against external threats. Each week, the tribe wanders into another region, and in each region, different challenges and rewards are awaiting.

Objective: Survive and reclaim the ancient homeland. Become the goblin king!

Setting: Imagine the average fantasy setting with kings, knights, mages and dragons. Most things that are possible in Lord of the Rings, D&D, World of Warcraft or the Warhammer universe can happen here. Goblins are small, ugly, cowardly and primitive by human standards, but not all goblins are evil, and by no means are they stupid.

Unfortunately for the goblins, it's winter, and it's very cold. Food will be scarce for the most part of the journey and the goblins need large fires to stay warm. And because it's fun to burn things.

Game style: The game plays much like a board game where you gather resources and build stuff, but in Goblins: the Exodus you can also roleplay your goblins.

CREATING A GOBLIN FAMILY
Name: Choose a family name. Two-part names in plural are recommended, for example: Bloodclaws, Wolfskins or Shimmerfangs.
Perk: Choose one of the following perks: Hunter, Woodcutter, Crafter or Fighter.
Description: Describe the appearance, outlook, behavior and history of the goblin family in at least two paragraphs.
Leader: Name and description of the leader of your goblin family.

PERKS

A perk grants a +1 bonus on any relevant rolls. This bonus stacks with a tool bonus. There are four kinds of perks.

HUNTER

Goblins with this perk are keen-eyed, lithe, agile and swift-footed. The goblin family gains a +1 perk bonus on Hunting rolls.

WOODCUTTER

Woodcutter goblins have a penchant for chopping down things and setting them on fire. The goblin family gains a +1 perk bonus on Woodcutting rolls.

CRAFTER

Goblins with this perk are innovative and have nimble fingers. The goblin family gains a +1 perk bonus on Crafting rolls.

FIGHTER

Fighter goblins are larger and meaner than most of their kin. The goblin family gains a +1 perk bonus on Fighting rolls.


RESOURCES

There are three types of resources: food, wood and crafting reserve. The maximum number of resource units a goblin family can carry is 10.

FOOD

Each goblin family consumes an unit of food at the end of each week. A goblin family that does not have food is disbanded.

Goblin families taking the Hunting resource action can obtain food units.

WOOD

Each goblin family must have a bonfire to stay at or be disbanded. Building a small bonfire takes two units of wood, and up to two families may camp around it. A large bonfire takes four units of wood to build, and up to five families may gather around it.

Goblin families taking the Woodcutting resource action can produce wood units.

CRAFTING RESERVE

Crafting reserve can be used to make tools and other objects. You can create objects anytime during the week if you have the requisite amount of points in your crafting reserve. Below is a list of objects the goblins can make with their crafting reserve. The number in parentheses indicates how many crafting reserve units it takes to create the object.

* Axe (3)
* Bow (4)
* Spear (4)
* Hammer (5)
* Sled (5)
* Axe, awesome (6)
* Bow, awesome (7)
* Spear, awesome (7)
* Hammer, awesome (8)

A goblin family can produce crafting reserve units by taking the Crafting resource action.


TOOLS AND OBJECTS

There are four types of objects: Axes, Bows, Spears and Hammers. There are other types of objects too that help the goblins.

A regular tool grants a +1 bonus on any relevant rolls. An awesome tool grants a +2 bonus on any relevant rolls. If you have several tools of the same type, only the highest bonus applies.

Goblin families may carry as many tools as they want to, but a family may not own more than one sled.

AXE

An axe grants a bonus on Woodcutting rolls.

BOW

A bow grants a bonus on Hunting rolls.

SPEAR

A spear grants a bonus on Fighting rolls.

HAMMER

A hammer grants a bonus on Crafting rolls.

SLED

A sled increases the carrying capacity of a goblin family to 20.


WEEKS (ROUNDS) AND ACTIONS

Each week (i.e. round) you may take the following actions.
* Resource action
* Trading
* Fighting

After these actions, any optional quests, weekly challenges and fights are resolved.

Finally, there's the upkeep phase during which the families consume a food unit each and spend as many wood units as is necessary.

RESOURCE ACTION

You may take one resource action per round. There are three types of resource actions:
* Hunting
* Woodcutting
* Crafting

When you take a resource action, you roll 1d6 and add your Perk and Tool bonuses to the result, if applicable. You gain that

many units of the relevant resource.

TRADING

The goblin families may trade resources and objects. In fact, it's very hard to survive if you don't trade or cooperate with other families.

FIGHTING

You can challenge another goblin family once per week, and you may accept any number of challenges. If you do so, the result of the fight is resolved at the end of the round before upkeep. If another family challenges you, you may choose to surrender. The goblin family you surrendered to may take your resources and tools, but it may not choose to kill you.

Sometimes the goblins have to fight other monsters. These fights are resolved before any goblin vs goblin fights.

In a fight, each party rolls 1d6 and adds any applicable perk or tool bonuses. The higher roll wins. If it is a tie, reroll.

Any number of goblin families may assist a fighting goblin family. Each assisting family adds its perk and spear bonuses to the roll. The assisting families suffer no ill effect if their side loses.

The winner may loot any resources and objects the loser has. The winner may also decide to kill the loser, in which case the losing family is disbanded. Also, if the loser rolled a 1, the family is automatically disbanded.

EXPERIENCE

Each time you use an action (Hunting, Woodcutting, Crafting, Fighting) you gain a point of experience in that skill. If you have gained five experience points in a skill, you gain the relevant perk. If you already have the relevant perk, you gain no benefit from experience.

If you challenge another goblin family to fight against you and they surrender without a fight, neither family receives experience.

DracoDei
2010-01-11, 09:03 AM
MAYBE a "sparing" action which two families can do (you already spar within your own family to the point there is little left to learn)... both gain 1 fighting XP.

Kensen
2010-01-14, 04:50 AM
Thanks DracoDei! I won't be adding a new action for sparring, but it is possible for the goblins to start a "fight club", even a betting ring if they wish and at the same time get some fighting experience. However, there's always the one in six chance of getting killed in a goblin vs goblin fight. If you're not fighting for real, you won't get any xp.

Anyway, would you be interested in joining the game? The recruitment is still open for another day or two and there are a few spots left.