Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Steambikes


That's correct. Steambikes.
As in: Steam powered motorcycles!

I decided to start an RPG because of all this role playing talk. I figure if you’re actually reading my entries you should have enough information on role playing by now that you can enjoy what a game looks and feels like. The first thing I did to get started was let my players decide basically the whole thing for me, which is something I don't normally do. I'm a little picky that way, as my players could attest to, but I think it’s working out great so far. For instance: When I asked Marby (one of my players, and from here on out I will refer to people I know by either character/user names or just made up ones if they aren’t nerdy enough)… When I asked Marby what he wanted to play a game about, he didn’t miss a beat.
“Motorcycles,” he says. “and the Desert, man!”http://matadortrips.com/the-worlds-most-spectacular-roads
“Alright,” I said. “but they gotta be Steam Powered, and I’m gonna throw in some Zombies just for the thrill of it all."
He didn’t seem to mind these additions and we started making a game. Marias, another player, helped me come up with the Base System. The kind of stuff you want to know ahead of time to save yourself and your players the mental strain of figuring it out mid-game.


BUT before I go into what the Game system looks like, I would simply like to say that the date on these blog entries serve as proof that we knew about this System before anyone else (in case someone likes it so much they want to try to steal it AND SELL IT without permission). Also, we have handwritten notes, to prove that we wasted many days of our lives on these simple charts, AND I know Ninjutsu. So feel free to run this game for free, but I swear upon my bushy black-ringed tail, that if you try to make money off of it without my permission, I will eat your face off through your eye holes and then spend a night inside your chest cavity, Luke Skywalker Style!



Alright, alright, you won’t steal my idea’s for money… we get it. So here you are:

Bikes
Sport, Cruiser, Standard, Touring, Quad, Moped, Bike, and Scooter
Sport= fastest bike at 160 mph, 8 gal tank, 280 mpt, 16 min start-up time, best handling, low protection
Cruiser= 140 mph, 10 gal tank, 450 mpt, 20 min start
Standard= 120 mph, 12 gal tank, 660 mpt, 24 min start
Touring= 100 mph, 15 gal tank, 975 mpt, longest start-up time at 30 min, best protection, hardest to repair, most storage, most rare
Quad= 80 mph, 10 gal tank, 400 mpt, 20 min start, most comfortable, best stability, heaviest
Moped= 60 mph, 5 gal tank, 450 mpt, 10 min start, no protection, fairly common
Bike= 40 mph, 2 gal tank, 400 mpt, 4 min start, no protection, easy to repair, very common
Scooter= 20 mph, 1 gal tank, 100 mpt, 2 min start, worst: handling, comfort, stability, no protection, no repair necessary, very common

Alright, well that's really all I could do without throwing my tea cup at my computer screen. So I expect there will be more to come when I next return, and I apologize for the suspense building threat, without the solid delivery. But in my defense I just spent 2 hours trying to get you even more information and slowly lost my sanity only to discover that it required good old type it up yourself, no nicely organized columns and rows possible. However I am also working on the weapons chart for the time being (something slightly harder than I thought I was signing up for, but no problem.) So when I sign in next there will be a fully functioning role playing game for me to present to you!

The whole game takes place on the Arizona Highway Map (the players have a very simple and boring map, while the GM has a highly detailed map that even includes common tourist attractions!) The players start by filling out a basic character sheet. They fill in things like:Character Name, sex, age, body build, and pick from a long list of pre-decided skills for which ones they like the most. Also in all of my games I allow players to start their inventory off with 3 basic items. No weapons usually (this game included), and clothes are usually a given (as in this game) so they don’t need to pick those. Most players pick things that have one purpose but could also be used to defend themselves in a tight spot. Like a wrench, or a torch, or a walking staff. I let them do this, because it shows that they are creative thinkers and I want to reward this. Other items often chosen are: sleeping mat, tent, lantern, food, water pouch or bottle, blankets, satchels or backpacks (this can even increase their inventory a little more), and specialized clothing like boots or sunglasses.

After filling out the character sheet the players are dropped into my game world. And little do they know (if you’re a player you best stop reading before you ruin the surprise, there isn’t anything left for you to read anyway…)
Little do they know that I will be dropping them in the middle of the Zombie infested territory first! It’s a fun way to start the game because I can kill off characters and not feel bad. This makes the danger seem real for everyone and the excitement rains down with icy tension mixed in. By the time everyone else makes it out alive the players who lost a character can have a new one made up in time to join what is now a group of savage, bloody, chewed on, spit out bikers as they ride the hot desert highways of Post Apocalyptic Arizona.