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View Full Version : Marbles Shootout (IC game)



sonofzeal
2008-04-15, 10:58 PM
This is a game I made up to be played IC by low-level D&D characters. The goal was to base it off your D&D stats and mechanics as much as possible, without being derivative of any pre-existant setup, and still allow for some depth of strategy.



IC Introduction - street urchins will likely be playing this in any major city. If the PCs want help from the urchins, such as for spying or other information, they may get challenged to a game (in addition to traditional payment of course). The game also provides a way for players to resolve conflict with NPCs nonviolently, and there may even be a tournament with prize money and +1 Reputation for the victor.

Setup - two parallel lines, about a foot apart and five feet long. Each player chooses one side, and one "shooter" marble to use.

Gameplay - both characters flick their marble down the centre at the same time. The marbles collide roughly in the middle, and the winner is the one whose marble stays within the lines. Scoring is best of five for practice games, and best of nine for tournament games.

Mechanics - Each player chooses a "finesse" amount between 0 and 5; this lowers the ability of your marble to deflect the opponent's marble outside of the lines, but raises your chance of staying inside if you succeed. They then make opposed Ranged Attack Rolls, subtracting their Finesse amount from the number, and comparing the result. The one with the lower total gets deflected outside; the one with the higher total has a +20% chance to stay inside for each point of Finesse they used (0 Finesse = 0%, 3 Finesse = 60%, 5 Finesse = 100%).

Strategy - if your score is higher, all you need to do is make sure they don't get a point, so low Finesse is better. On the other hand, if you know the other person is using 0-1 Finesse, it might be reasonable to choose 4-5 Finesse and hope for a lucky roll, because you lose little with each failed contest. Optimal strategy involves predicting their Finesse and appraising their Ranged Attack score relative to your own.



So, any thoughts? Any improvements that could be made? Anything that isn't clear?

Keld Denar
2008-04-15, 11:14 PM
ZOMG, FIGHTERS ARE OVERPOWERED BECAUSE THEY HAVE FULL BAB!!! CAPS LOCK MEANS I'M SERIOUS!

j/k....nah, looks like it could be fun for about 10-15 minutes of real time, maybe by having one of the PCs sub in for their favorite marbles hero when he gets ill or turns into an undead or dies from natural causes (daggers through the heart will naturally kill a fellow!). I wouldn't drag it out beyond maybe one practice round + one scored round, or it'll get really boring for the other players, even if they are all coaching to cooperate strategy.

Good work!

Coming soon: Marbles ~ The Collectable Card Game

Skjaldbakka
2008-04-15, 11:17 PM
It should be possible for the marbles to miss one another, and it should be possible for a bad shot to send the marble outside the line w/o impact.

sonofzeal
2008-04-15, 11:21 PM
j/k....nah, looks like it could be fun for about 10-15 minutes of real time, maybe by having one of the PCs sub in for their favorite marbles hero when he gets ill or turns into an undead or dies from natural causes (daggers through the heart will naturally kill a fellow!). I wouldn't drag it out beyond maybe one practice round + one scored round, or it'll get really boring for the other players, even if they are all coaching to cooperate strategy
Ooo, nice hook ideas there! You're right, the game itself isn't that entertaining for the others, but you could always get one of the other players to step in for the opponent, get a bit more involvement that way. It also gives the Rollplayers something new to have fun with that won't tick off the Roleplayers. But yes, this is fundamentally a diversion and a change of pace, rather than a major facet of the game world.

Keld Denar
2008-04-15, 11:26 PM
Yeah, one thing I saw long ago that I've been adamant never happens again was when a DM put a chess puzzle in the tower of a crazy wizard and when the players stepped into the room, the DM and one of the players who was really good at chess sat down and had a 1.5 hour long game of chess while the rest of the players wandered around looking for the Mt. Dew and the Cheetos. Was fun for the player and DM, and ended up being a close game of chess, but the rest of the players felt really.....left out.

Make sure that doesn't happen to your players. Encourage them to discuss strategy outright, even at the table while playing the game (maybe via Telepathic Bonds or something) just to keep them all engaged.

sonofzeal
2008-04-15, 11:26 PM
It should be possible for the marbles to miss one another, and it should be possible for a bad shot to send the marble outside the line w/o impact.
Yes... how to you recommend handling that? Maybe "nat 1 / < AC 5 = scratch, replay round"? So if your total's under 5, or you roll a nat 1, that round doesn't count. That encourages higher Finesse scores though, since you're more likely to scratch and have that roll not count. Maybe three scratches in a game = autoloss?

Prometheus
2008-04-16, 03:20 PM
Puzzles/Games can often be gradual successes or loses. For example, once I had a peg solitaire game (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peg_solitaire) that summoned a hostile monster for each peg left corresponding to where the peg was left. No matter how well or poorly they did, they were still struck with the feeling that they could have done better but they still overcame the obstacle. Perhaps your street urchin game could win different amount of money from an opponent depending on the final point score. So if they whip the street urchins they still feel humbled if they don't score perfect, and if they are whipped by the street-urchin master, they still did something to mitigate the extent of their defeat.

Also consider magical, masterwork, and other different varieties of marbles. Perhaps there is a heavy marble, with a finesse range only from 0-2, but provides a +4 bonus to the attack? Maybe there is a lucky one that lets you re-roll. Maybe there is one that splits into two marbles, each with a separate attack bonus and a separate chance of being knocked out. Another that has a softer outside material that only has a 75% chance of being knocked out on a loss, but also takes a -4 penalty. Another that spins both marbles around and replaces the rolls with a 80% chance of knocking itself out and a 60% percent chance of knocking the other out. You'd have to decide either a player has to use the same type of marble every round, or that they can only use each marble once per round, and the opponent doesn't know which will be which. It would make an interesting dynamic to the game, especially if marbles aren't bought but are won through matches or are awarded as for quests.

sonofzeal
2008-04-16, 05:46 PM
Puzzles/Games can often be gradual successes or loses. For example, once I had a peg solitaire game (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peg_solitaire) that summoned a hostile monster for each peg left corresponding to where the peg was left. No matter how well or poorly they did, they were still struck with the feeling that they could have done better but they still overcame the obstacle. Perhaps your street urchin game could win different amount of money from an opponent depending on the final point score. So if they whip the street urchins they still feel humbled if they don't score perfect, and if they are whipped by the street-urchin master, they still did something to mitigate the extent of their defeat.

Also consider magical, masterwork, and other different varieties of marbles. Perhaps there is a heavy marble, with a finesse range only from 0-2, but provides a +4 bonus to the attack? Maybe there is a lucky one that lets you re-roll. Maybe there is one that splits into two marbles, each with a separate attack bonus and a separate chance of being knocked out. Another that has a softer outside material that only has a 75% chance of being knocked out on a loss, but also takes a -4 penalty. Another that spins both marbles around and replaces the rolls with a 80% chance of knocking itself out and a 60% percent chance of knocking the other out. You'd have to decide either a player has to use the same type of marble every round, or that they can only use each marble once per round, and the opponent doesn't know which will be which. It would make an interesting dynamic to the game, especially if marbles aren't bought but are won through matches or are awarded as for quests.

Hmmm.... special marbles, eh? I'd thought about a system for special feat and class feature options. PBS provides the obvious +1, but Multishot could allow you to roll multiple times at the stated penalty and take the best. OotBI might let you add 1d8 to your roll, and Far Shot might reduce your Finesse penalty to attack rolls by 1. Anyone have any ideas on this front?