Tagged The Sanic Hack

kludge: something, especially computer hardware or software, that has been put together from whatever is available, especially when it does not work very well 

rustbucket: An old, neglected vehicle, usually a car, a freighter, or a truck. 

Ergo; They're called Kludgebuckets.

    "Kludgebucket" is the colloquial term for any non-standard watercraft cobbled together by an enterprising Islander. While capable of functioning as transportation, they act as more of a home-base for their crew, and are iterated upon over multiple voyages. It isn't surprising to see a Kludgebucket with multiple pieces of completely unrelated vehicles; land, air, or sea, stapled in varying configurations, with radio transmitters, gatling guns, and even multiple vending machines installed.

    Kludgebuckets are managed via a Grid System, similar to Mausritter Item Card Inventory Management. (For the purposes of this blog post, we are going to assume a specific size for these grids, but know that I'm writing this with no balance testing whatsoever. Let's say they're 4 by 4 to start and we'll revisit the specifics later.) To facilitate this, I will be introducing a new card type- Normally, cards come in 1 Slot or 2 Slot sizes, with the latter being for Bulky objects. For Kludgebucket Core Parts, new 2 by 2 cards are to be added, taking up the same space as 4 single slot cards. These cards are intended for overly large items; Chassis, Wings, A tree house uprooted WITH the tree, etc. While a character COULD carry one of these in their regular inventory,  they're intended to be Kludged onto their bucket. However, if a player wants to spend 4 whole inventory slots to equip the cab of a bus as a battering ram, I'm not going to stop them.

     Core Parts are labeled with Stars, ranging from 1 to 3. These Stars are an approximation of size and buoyancy, but are mostly there to estimate the number of crew it can safely keep afloat. 1 Star can hold 2 to 3 people before capsizing, doubling to 6-ish at 2 Stars and 12-or-so at 3 Stars. A Ski-doo, for example, would be a 1 Star Core Part, while a School Bus would be 3 Stars. Anything larger would arguably no longer be a Kludgebucket, but rather a regular sailing ship with some weird stuff tacked on. For every Star added by a Core Part, there must be Propulsion and Power of an equivalent Star. That Ski-doo's Whirly-gig Copter Blades (Propulsion, 1 Star) could be powered by a single set of Foot Paddles (Power,1 Star) for example, but you'd need at 3 times as many of both to move that 3 Star School Bus. Conversely, multiple parts of lower Star value could be used to power a single Propulsion part, as long as their values align. 

    Auxiliary parts, like radio transceivers, sonar or fuzzy dice, are regular sized item cards with the 1 x 2 Bulky cards used for valuable machinery. These are installed around the core parts, where the Kludgebucket's grid will allow. Any free space can hold any item, instead of having a dedicated hold.

    Core and Auxillary Parts are meant to be found as rewards for Quests or by scavenging wrecked Buckets found as you travel. Similar to Fits, a DM should only need to invent a handful of Thematic options based on the Island they've prepared, the players will pursue what interests them.

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Howdy, Farmhands.

    I like to think that my posts in this series up to this point have been somewhat novel. TTRPG blogs tend to cover a lot of the same ground, which is not a critique or complaint- there's a limited number of tried and true topics that everyone ought to take a whack at. Meanwhile, I've been over here talking about Sanics and Soda and whatever other nonsense passes through my twisted little mind. Today, I'm giving you a list of Weapon stats and expecting you to ooh and aah in all the right places. I promise we'll get through this. Stay strong.

PART 1: I ESTABLISH A BASELINE OF WHAT TO EXPECT WITH THE AFORE-MENTIONED LIST OF WEAPON STATS

    Weapons in this hack are made up of 3 things, Category, Damage Die, and Damage Type. Damage Die is the simplest; ranging from d4 to d12, and rerolled with every Attack. Attacks in Odd-likes Auto-hit, meaning that most of your math will be done calculating how the damage die is modified by the environment you're using it in.

 Damage Type is a bit more interesting. Maybe a bit too interesting. Consider yourself lucky; I have had to physically restrain myself from creating a full-on Pokemon Type Chart for this. I think what I've landed on is still good. Instead of having pre-determined interactions between an exhaustive list of types, I intend to make use of the existing Enhance/Impair mechanic found in Cairn and a good dollop of Common sense. 

If fighting from a position of weakness (such as through cover or with bound hands), the attack is impaired and the attacker must roll 1d4 damage regardless of the attacks damage die.

If fighting from a position of advantage (such as against a helpless foe or through a daring maneuver), the attack is enhanced, allowing the attacker to roll 1d12 damage instead of their normal die. - Cairn, as usual

    Damage Types, then, are an opportunity to have visible triggers for Impairment or Enhancement of attacks. Fighting against a Wood Creature with a Fire type Weapon? Of course that's Enhanced. Trying to slice your Sword through something covered in Metal? Probably gonna be Impaired, bud. While every table is different, and some players may not be willing to take the lead on determining whether their character does LESS damage, I like the idea of the GM and Players working together to establish these interactions through play. Player A was Impaired the last time they tried to use Arrows against a Water Creature, so Player B innately assumes the same without the GM needing to add that tidbit to every Water Creature Statblock in their notes. 

    The core Damage Types I'm currently considering are-

• Slashing - Generic Sword Damage
  
• Piercing - Stabbing, mostly
  
• Clobbering - Any sort of blunt or heavy impact
  
• Explosion - When things go BOOM

    And of course, we need Elements, but these I'm not considering to be quite as exhaustive as the core types. These can be paired with or used in absence of the core Damage types.

• Fire
• Water
• Electric
• Rock
• Psionic
• Laser
• etc

    The final component of a Weapon is it's Category, a classification that works as shorthand for additional mechanics and range. Generally these will be grouped by shape and function. A Katana and Fencing Rapier would both be "Sword" Category; with their differentiation in use conveyed via their Damage Types. Maybe some enemy statblocks could specify a weakness to an entire weapon category instead, but I'm not going to hardcode that into place. Some example categories include-

    Putting these three Components together creates a ton of interesting Weapon options! The tried and true options are available, but what about a Sword that does Clobbering Damage? Daggers that do Explosion damage when thrown? What would those even look like? And more important to the game I'm writing- what choice will the players make when they have the option to choose a bizarre weapon, but don't have the space to keep their more standard tools?

PART 2: THE AFORE-MENTIONED WEAPON LIST

    Remember, your lines are "ooh" and "ah." Don't ruin this for me. 

Name	Category	Damage Size	Damage Type
Bronze Dagger	Dagger	d6/d4	Piercing
Shuriken Star	Dagger	d4/d6	Slashing/Piercing, Explosion
Bomb	Bomb	d6	Explosion
Napalm Bomb	Bomb	d12	Explosion, Fire
Nocturne Blade	Sword	d8	Slashing
Bashōsen	Sword	d6	Slashing, Wind
Katana	Sword	d8/d4	Slashing/Piercing
Piko Piko Hammer	Polearm	d8	Clobbering
Rusty Spear	Polearm	d6	Piercing
Popgun	Gun	d6	Clobbering
Pudding's Guitar	Sword/Buster	d4/d6	Clobbering/Electric
Energy Ball	Buster	d6	Electric

PART 2: MASTERIES AND OTHER COOL SHIT YOU CAN DO WITH A STICK

    I've been playing a lot of Legend of Dragoon (PS1, 2000) lately. It's a turn based rpg with a quick-time mechanic- successfully pulling off combos increases an xp track per named combo per character. I'm not... going to make everyone engage with the same level of detail lmao. But this will be here as an Option.

    As an OPTIONAL Mechanic, Players can choose to pursue a Weapon Mastery. This is a title and list of Techniques granted to a player character that has invested time and study of a specific Damage Type or Weapon Category. A PC can only be pursuing one Mastery at a time, though they may choose to change which Mastery is 'active' during Downtime.

    A PC actively pursuing a Mastery that rolls Max Damage when using a Weapon that matches that Mastery's focus can choose to instead mark a Track and re-roll, taking the second value. For every (X amount? Set amount? Increasing amount?) of Marks, the PC may learn a Technique from the Mastery List. This Technique is permanently added to their kit, though it requires a Weapon of the Mastery's focus to perform.

    In my mind's eye, each Mastery list will have at minimum 5 techniques to choose from, and the order in which they're taken is up to the player. Depending on the context of the technique, it's entirely possible a player will "dip" into a single mastery for 1 technique, then switch to another for the remainder of their play. Note that as Mastery is gained via a track that logs Max Damage, Mastery is easier to accrue using weapons with smaller damage die. In theory, that means faster advancement at "lower" levels, but riskier combat. Enemies hit like trucks in odd-likes; sticking with a weaker weapon to MAYBE get a new technique is in itself a massive risk.

Example Sword Mastery 

    -Until Next Time,
        Farmer Gadda

Something I always struggle with when writing anything is remembering what i have and have not actually put into words. My brain is a disorganized cacophony of images and sounds on a good day, and lining them up into a string of comprehensible words is a challenge. My work on the SANIC hack, even when collated into an overview post, probably still doesn't look like anything close to a complete picture for an outside observer. This post is me filling in some gaps; something I'll be doing for the next couple of posts as well- writing up semi-complete pages for character options for the SANIC hack that doesn't really need a full deep dive to explain them. The goal is just to have the edges of my imagined product be less blurry, as opposed to me thinking I've done anything clever and deserve praise. Also it allows me to introduce readers to some of the setting lore I've been holding back for fear of Telling You About My World Lore, an activity that everyone loves unconditionally and should happen as frequently as possible. (/s)

Until Next Time,

• Farmer Gadda

FURKIND

NAMES 

(I.e. Rush The Cat, Claws The Hunter, Carrot The Lop-Ear, Lavender Of The Tulip Clan)

WANDERING 

What made you leave your den to WANDER?

BLESSING

Furkind are naturally in tune with the planet, and many find themselves blessed with supernatural abilities from birth. Often, these will manifest in enhanced natural abilities, like speed and strength. Rarer, a specific element will imprint on their being, giving them some control over it in a manner not unlike spell-casting. Neither are considered odd to Furkind, though other Kinds might be surprised to learn what they can do!

 What BLESSING has the planet gifted you?

Howdy, Farmhands!

    I don't expect many people to read this post. Or maybe it'll be the post everyone reads to avoid reading the previous posts, idk. I've made 5 full blogposts detailing my design choices for this ttrpg heartbreaker, (though the first was really just an overview/declaration of intent) so TODAY I think I ought to compile the changes made into a more concise post. Consider this the elevator pitch, but like, we've already stopped at every single floor and I've followed you into the hallway even though I was originally headed elsewhere.

PART 1: INTRODUCTION

The fact of the matter is that I wish to put a Sanic in Cairn, and none of you have any authority nor power to stop me. But before I do, a couple of points must be made. Firstly, what do I think a Cairn is? And secondly, what the fuck is a Sanic?

    As of writing this post, it's actually been exactly one month since part 1 went live! Neat! This being my first Serious attempt at Poasting in this longer format (I'd posted before, but that was expected to only reach my existing Vtubing audience, not a greater fandom/design space) it's oddly verbose with a ton of links to images nobody really commented on. As a declaration of intent, it also didn't involve any interesting or actionable content. As a landing page, I think it's okay? Certainly helps weed out the people who aren't interested in This Sort of Thing without asking them to get invested before they leave. I only want to waste my OWN time, tyvm.

    TL;DR-

• Baseline system is Cairn (Later clarified as general Into The Odd-likes)
  
  
• d20 roll under stat (STR, DEX, WIS)
  
  
• HP refills quickly, but damage beyond HP lowers STAT
  
  
• Slot-based Inventory System
  
  
• Classless, with Gear being the primary method of customization
  
  
• Nobody commented on the image I linked so I'm linking it again here
   

PART 2: PROBLEM SOLVING

"Doesn't this mean it's much harder for the players to ever seriously experience danger?"

yes, but it creates a few more layers of player choice before you reach the "you don't get to roll any more" stage with those blorbos.

    In hindsight, this was probably not the most interesting first, actionable post I could have made for this project, but it was the one I'd recently talked about on twitter, so my hands were tied. I spent the first section essentially trying to walk the reader through my thought process and first draft ideas for this topic, before jettisoning that work in favor of the final product in section 2.

    This was a mistake. Don't expect your audience to get invested in something if you're only going to betray that investment in the very next paragraph. Heed my words lest ye befall the same fate.

• DOWN: A character at ZERO HP. Must roll a STR Save if damaged further.  
  
  
• OUT: An unconscious character that has failed their STR save after taking damage beyond ZERO HP. Effectively removed from the combat/scene.
  
  
• CARRY: An action that can be performed by PCs to shield DOWNED Allies from further harm. All Rolls are IMPAIRED for the duration. Requires 5 free Inventory Slots per Ally carried. CARRIED allies regain 1 HP per round. 
  
  
• SCORE: Mostly theoretical at this point. A checklist of behaviors and goals with an amount of Metacurrency attached to them. This Metacurrency is awarded at the end of a Session, and can be used to 'Purchase' features or items to be used during normal play.

PART 3: BLESSED BE THE HOG

In an effort to differentiate Fantastic Furries from their less magical counterparts, I'm putting together a short list of options to be taken during Character Creation. I considered having separate combinations be available depending on what KIND of furry you're using, but frankly, that's boring.

     Tweaking how 'death' works in an Odd-like was important for giving this heartbreaker more of a Super-Heroic feel without completely rejecting the elements of the Adventure Game design philosophy that led me to choose Cairn as my starting point. Part 3, then, was intended to push a little further and see if anything broke. 

    The only thing that broke was my formatting. This was the first post I made that got pushed not because I thought it was 'complete' but because I was so fucking tired of editing it, and it shows. I SHOULD clean it up now that I'm thinking about it but fuck if I want to do that.

    One thing I should note here is that the list of Blessings available to PCs at Character Creation will be limited/curated by specific Lineage. I've established that I want to hold off on talking about My World Lore as long as possible, but the Fantastic Furries and the Ridiculous Rubber-people will both have overlapping but unique Blessings to choose from, while Humans are barred from picking a Blessing to start.

    TL;DR -

• BLESSINGS: A thematic set of minor additions to or alterations of standard game mechanics. Intended to be found rarely during gameplay by most PCs, though Furry Characters* choose one at character creation.

PART 4: SODA POTIONS

    Unlike PART 2: where I failed to properly guide the reader through my thought process and instead invalidated their investment two paragraphs in, this post does a very good job of describing both the starting point of the design from Cairn, the specific areas I've already made changes to, and the slice of design I intend to affect with the NEW design the audience is about to be introduced to. I did it Ma, I'm a blogger!!!!

    I'm now legally required to repeat that I'm not going to explain Bar'd to you. Maybe I'll discuss Smackjeeves/The City RPs at a later date, from which you can triangulate what Bar'd is about, but that's somewhere down the line.

TL;DR -

• POTIONS: I'm just going to copy paste from the main post.

Potions are a consumable liquid that produce an effect in the drinker.
    
    They come in 3 Tiers, JUICE, SODA, and ENERGY, each with an associated Die Value (d4, d6, etc). A Potion that restores a resource (HP, Dice Pools) instantly grants that resource equal to the Die value of it's Tier. A Potion that grants an effect (Extra Damage, Invisibility, Extra Armor) temporarily grants that effect for a number of Rounds equal to the Die Value of it's Tier.

    In Inventory, Potions of the same Tier and Flavor may be stacked up to the maximum determined by their Tier.

    In Combat, 1 Potion may be Chugged each turn, before and separate from that PC's Action. In order to Chug a Potion, the PC must have at least 1 hand free to hold the container, and 1 forehead free to crush the container against once emptied.

•     JUICE: 1d4, No Associated Save.  Stacks up to 16. Usually served in Juice Boxes.
  
  Arguably Healthy, considering the amount of sugar.
  
  
  
•     SODA: 1d8, Save against WIL or BURP*. Stacks up to 12. Served in Cans.
  
  Carbonated, which makes the Magic Better or something.
  
  
  
•     ENERGY: 1d12, Save against WIL or BURP*. Stacks up to 8. Also served in Cans.
  
  Contains the maximum recommended daily dose of various questionable chemicals. Drinking more than 1 per 24 hours risks a CRASH**

*BURP: Failing a WIL save after Chugging a Potion of SODA or ENERGY Tier results in a BURP, replacing your Action for the Round with a loud belch.

**CRASH: A Floating value Equal the number of ENERGY Tier potions consumed within 24 hours after the first. At any point after accruing any value of Crash, should the PC BURP, Fatigue equal to the Crash Value is instantly applied.

• HOMEMADE/CUSTOM BREWS: Crafted Potions do 1 die-size less than their store-bought counterparts. Mixed drinks do 1 die-size less of an effect per effect mixed. 

PART 5: RELICS, SPELLS, SCROLLS, AND OTHER SOME-SUCH

Magical nonsense happens frequently, even if it isn't recognized as such... There's no chanting or latin, or even an agreed upon method of categorizing specific phenomenon. There is only chaos, and those who can temporarily control it. 

     You'll notice the weeks-long gap in posting between 3 and 4, and the literal 19 hours between 4 and 5. This is because Part 5 was ORIGINALLY intended to follow up after Blessed Be The Hog, and was a bitch to edit. Also, I had to do construction on my house after my wife fell through the floor. Don't worry about it. I'm happy with the final result, but the Soda Potions post was finished quicker, so it became part 4. 

    This is an Important Post for this project, even if it's mostly reflavoring existing Cairn/ItO mechanics to match the fantasy. With these terms and their uses described, however, I can now refer back to them as needed going forwards. It's all downhill (/pos) from here, lads.

    TL;DR -

• TECHNIQUES: A special maneuver performed by a PC who has memorized it. Always requires a Save, with Failure imparting FATIGUE. Techniques do not exist within the Inventory, though may require an Object to trigger. (Comparable to Spells)
  
  
• UPGRADES: An object containing a limited number of uses of a specific Technique.  Takes up an Inventory slot, and comes with specific Recharge requirements. Use does not risk Fatigue. (Comparable to Relics)
  
  
• POWER-UPS: A stackable object containing a single, limited use of a specific Technique. Usable by anyone with the object in their possession. The object is fully consumed upon use. Use does not risk Fatigue. (Comparable to Scrolls)
  

FINAL PART: CHECKPOINT 1

    What I CAN do is give a brief overview of what I plan to do next. The blogpost following this one SHOULD be about Weapons, how they'll be categorized, and how specializing in one fighting style can earn PCs Weapon-specific Techniques. After that, the project should be 'Complete' mechanically, with the bones ready to be filled with meat. A few d66 tables later, and I'll be ready to begin Telling You About My World Lore, and probably giving this project it's own unique name. We'll see how much of the above I actually accomplish by Checkpoint 2.

    Until Next Time,

        -Farmer Gadda

Howdy, Farmhands.

    Odd-likes (I've made the executive decision to stop name-dropping Cairn as the sole originator of this project, people are making understandable assumptions) tie their magic systems in with their inventory system via the Fatigue mechanic. In many cases, powerful or supernatural abilities are either explicitly One-Time use, or cost a temporary burden filling in an Inventory slot. But also, there are objects that can contain multiple uses of an ability that cost no fatigue, but instead have specific requirements to regain those uses once spent. Do you use up your empty Inventory Slots to cast a spell multiple times? Do you fill your Inventory with single use spells you might never need? Do you bring a spent Relic on your journey in the hopes you can recharge it? And all of this is with the logical concern that you'll come across something important and shiny and need to decide what you take home with you; the stuff you have or the stuff you've just found. 

    It's honestly an excellent balancer in a game that's all about diegetic advancement.

    (For the remainder of this blog, assume any stated Durations, Damage Die, and Charges are placeholders. I'm just throwing numbers out here as examples for now)

    Part 1: Relics 

    "Relics are items imbued with a magical spell or power. They do not cause Fatigue. Relics usually have a limited use, as well as a recharge condition." - Cairn 

•     Light Speed Shoes, 3 Charges.
  
  A pair of golden sneakers that magnetically pulls the user towards nearby Rings. Recharge: Place a Ring worth at least 100 into each shoe and leave overnight.
•     Bounce Bracelet, 1 Charge.
  
  A gray metal bracelet with a green power meter on the side, capable of casting Bounce on the wearer. Recharge: Access to a Power Source for 1 Short Rest
•     Type-3 Laser Blaster, 3 Charges.
  
  A ranged weapon capable of launching explosive missiles (d12, Blast). Recharge: 3 new Rockets and a full tank of fresh Coolant.
  

 Part 2: Spells

     "Anyone can cast a spell by holding a Spellbook in both hands and reading the contents aloud. They must then add a Fatigue to inventory, occupying one slot... If the PC is deprived or in danger, the Warden may require a PC to make a WIL save to avoid any ill-effects from casting the spell." - Cairn, again

    Magic exists in the world I'm envisioning for this project, but not necessarily in the Dungeons & Dragons way, Vancian or otherwise. This dips a bit into talking about my totally cool fantasy setting I've imagined, which I'm sure you're all thrilled to hear about, so bear with me. Magical nonsense happens frequently, even if it isn't recognized as such. Rules of reality are casually broken, super strength, flight, and psionic abilities are just born innately in the populace. The energy that causes these events can be read and measured, with geographical locations having more or less of it, relative to how weird the place is. There's no chanting or latin, or even an agreed upon method of categorizing specific phenomenon. There is only chaos, and those who can temporarily control it.

The abilities performed by tapping into that power, then, would be less 'Casting a spell' and more 'Manipulating the Force;' with specific triggers being memorized as Techniques. 

• Drop Dash - Fall a vertical distance up to your Movement speed, without harm. Upon landing, jettison an equal distance to your fall in any direction, dealing 1d4 damage to any Creature in your path.
• Homing Attack -  Pick a target within range of your Movement speed. You are launched towards that target as part of your Attack Action, without using up your Movement for that round.
• Insta-Shield - A burst of air blocks a single melee attack at the point of contact. If targeted by multiple opponents, take the second highest damage roll instead of the highest. 
  

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    Look. I refuse to explain Bar'd to you. Just know that in a very specific subset of Sonic fans who were Teenagers on the Internet that found a Webcomic Hosting Service called Smackjeeves in the Mid 2000's, a series of modern mixed drinks providing supernatural enhancements was not just the norm, it was the One True Way. Most of them were less than subtle attempts to experiment with kink in a safe space, but, again, I refuse to explain Bar'd to you. Anyway...

    Goblinpunch recently put out a blogpost about Healing, Potions, and Shrines, laying out both the pros and cons of traditional Healing options in ttrpgs, as well as spitballing ideas for how to tweak that experience to be more in line with your specific fantasy. I don't vibe with every suggestion, but I can see why specific tables would gravitate to them. This got me thinking about what -My- preferred method of offering Healing at my table would be, if I got to choose.

    Wait, of course I get to choose, i'm a game designer forever cursed to toil on my heartbreaker. Neat.

PART 1 : HOW HEALING CURRENTLY WORKS

    Reminder that I'm working off an ItO/Cairn framework for this project. Health is already kinda funky compared to Most Expected mechanics for HP and Damage and whatnot. HP stands for "Hit Protection", a gauge of how close a character is to actually taking the hit that will send them down. Damage that exceeds their available HP is taken from their STR score, with a save against that Score required to keep them conscious every time they take another hit. Once combat is complete and the Danger averted, however, HP is relatively easy to regain!

Resting for a few moments and having a drink of water restores lost HP but leaves the party exposed. Ability loss can usually be restored with a week’s rest facilitated by a healer or

other appropriate source of expertise. Some of these services are free, while magical or more expedient means of recovery may come at a cost. - Cairn

    This gameplay loop- having a refreshable pool of protection, but lasting effects of combat that carries through an adventure- is one I want to preserve. Therefore, any Healing I add to this ruleset should probably focus on quick refreshes of that HP pool, as opposed to undoing Ability loss. 

    Well, wait, I already did that. Sorta. Here's what I added:

Reaching Zero HP puts you Down, you're wheezing and looking rough. For NPCs, this is when the Morale roll happens to decide if they Flee or stay to take a stand. For PCs, they may choose to Move OR take an Action each round but not both. Any further Damage affects their STR score and they must make Death Saves as normal, or be Out. And "Out" is just. Fainted. They're not dead, but they're an unconscious or otherwise indisposed lump on the floor. They may not rejoin Combat. In Cairn terms, they're present but Deprived. Retreating when Downed is basically choosing to be Out, knowing you'll be able to recover HP as usual after the dust settles. But, because I love Mario & Luigi RPG, Downed PCs can stay in the fight by being Carried.  

 A PC may Carry a Downed PC if they have 5 Inventory Slots free. A Carried PC regains 1 HP per Round they are Carried, up to their Max. However, the PC doing the Carrying rolls attack rolls as if Impaired. - Me, "The SANIC Hack: Part 2 - Problem Solving"

    Allowing another PC the option to temporarily handicap themselves to slowly refuel a Downed ally is still something I think is cool. It's not a negation of consequence on part of the Downed PC; their actions now directly hamper their friend's ability to perform in a dangerous scenario, but there's a chance the pair of them can make a comeback if both can be careful for just a few rounds. There's also the possibility that being Carried is just not an option for their situation, so it isn't a one size fits all. It ALSO only triggers once HP is gone completely AND an Ally chooses to sacrifice their Damage output and Inventory slots to perform it.  

    With these points in mind, this means the area we'll need to focus on is the space BEFORE a PC loses all their HP and is Downed.

PART 2 : THE FLAVOR I CRAVE-OR

1. It harkens back to Fantasy Potions
   
   
   Mystical Brews, Glass Flasks, Stoppers in the shape of Skulls; you know what I'm talking about. The short-hand of "Drink X and Y Happens" is pretty well understood in TTRPG spaces. Work smarter, not harder, I say.
   
   
2. It requires Capitalism to Produce
   
   
   This is a bit too close to "I Tell You About My World Lore" for my liking, but humor me. Anyone can squeeze an Apple, but Apple Juice (tm) as found on Grocery Store Shelves is not the same thing. There needs to be an infrastructure producing that specific product, and a distribution system to get it to it's intended market. Cola from your Sodastream isn't the same as a bottle of Pepsi.
   
   In this scenario- you can absolutely Make Your Own, but it will never be quite the same as storebought; and isn't it convenient that for the low low price of [VALUE] [CURRENCY] you can get it in travel size containers?
   
   
3. It's Memorable and Meme-erable
   
   
   Did you know that there is a Soda Brand in the Mario universe called "BaNaNa Boy?" You do now. Think abou that. Sit with it. Grieve who you were before I told you this. You can never go back. Anyway, I want to give my Drinks funny names too; think of the marketing opportunities if they're good.
   
   
4. It reminds me of my Childhood.
   
   
   Ok, you got me. A Large part of why I like this design has to do with Nostalgia for my VERY niche experience as a SANIC fan, and this is a way to carry that feeling into my work. I still won't explain Bar'd to you. Sue me.

PART 3: POTIONS, A FIRST DRAFT

    Potions are a consumable liquid that produce an effect in the drinker.
    
    They come in 3 Tiers, JUICE, SODA, and ENERGY, each with an associated Die Value (d4, d6, etc). A Potion that restores a resource (HP, Dice Pools) instantly grants that resource equal to the Die value of it's Tier. A Potion that grants an effect (Extra Damage, Invisibility, Extra Armor) temporarily grants that effect for a number of Rounds equal to the Die Value of it's Tier.

    In Inventory, Potions of the same Tier and Flavor may be stacked up to the maximum determined by their Tier.

    In Combat, 1 Potion may be Chugged each turn, before and separate from that PC's Action. In order to Chug a Potion, the PC must have at least 1 hand free to hold the container, and 1 forehead free to crush the container against once emptied.

•     JUICE: 1d4, No Associated Save.  Stacks up to 16. Usually served in Juice Boxes.
  
  Arguably Healthy, considering the amount of sugar.
  
  
  
•     SODA: 1d8, Save against WIL or BURP*. Stacks up to 12. Served in Cans.
  
  Carbonated, which makes the Magic Better or something.
  
  
  
•     ENERGY: 1d12, Save against WIL or BURP*. Stacks up to 8. Also served in Cans.
  
  Contains the maximum recommended daily dose of various questionable chemicals. Drinking more than 1 per 24 hours risks a CRASH**

*BURP: Failing a WIL save after Chugging a Potion of SODA or ENERGY Tier results in a BURP, replacing your Action for the Round with a loud belch.

**CRASH: A Floating value Equal the number of ENERGY Tier potions consumed within 24 hours after the first. At any point after accruing any value of Crash, should the PC BURP, Fatigue equal to the Crash Value is instantly applied.

FINAL PART FOR NOW: ADDITIONAL MUSINGS 

    Each Flavor (Lemon, Apple, Mint, Vanilla) should have an effect attached to it; meaning Lemon Juice and Lemon Soda will recognizably perform the same function.

    Homemade Potions, because there will always be that 1 person who wants to fulfill the Witches Brew fantasy, should do 1 dice size lower than the standard, Grocery Store version of that Tier. JUICE(Homemade) does 1d2, SODA(Homemade) does 1d6, etc.

    Mixed Drinks that combine Flavors, and thus, effects, should ALSO be worth 1 dice size lower, per Flavor. Lemon-Lime, as an example, could Restore HP (Lemon) and Grant +1 Armor (Lime.) A Lemon-Lime SODA, then would restore 1d6 HP and Grant Armor for 1d6 Turns. A Lemon-Lime SODA(Homemade), would restore 1d4 HP and Grant Armor for 1d4 Turns.

 Dregan, Author of Bar'd, if you're reading this, know that our time together is remembered fondly. Also, I'm Genderfluid now, which may be partly Your Fault. No hard feelings.

Until Next Time,

    Farmer Gadda

Howdy, Farmhands.    

     For all my big talk in the Previous Post in this series, I actually do have quite a lot of work to do. How do I take the high-risk, high reward, low numbers problem solving of an OSR game like Cairn and fulfill the aesthetic promise of the colorful, cartoony butt-rock action of Sonic the Hedgehog? 

    Here's my first few swings.

Part 1: Death Fail-safes (maybe)

    I spent the better part of a 2-hour Minecraft Livestream talking about Violence in TTRPGS and how Gary Gygax was an Insurance Actuary. Sonic came up at some point. That's the only segue I got. Here's my plan A to soften things in Cairn:

    "Unless specifically stated to be With Intent To Kill, any attack that lowers an NPC combatant to 0 HP triggers a Morale Roll instead of a Death Save. A Failed save removes the Combatant from the fight, be it through fleeing, surrender, or petrification from fear. A Successful Save means they're willing to fight to the death, any further damage affects STR and Death Saves as normal. 

    Alternatively, a PC attacking an NPC with Zero HP should be able to simply knock them out with the butt of their sword if they really don't want blood on their hands."  - Me, on Twitter, sometime last week

    Ok. Good. We can work with this. The problem isn't solved, this is just a start. But what am I actually DOING with this? There's a layer there to act as a buffer, to let the players really think about if this is the result they want to pursue. And if they decide that yes, Murder IS the play here, what has this rule change done to positively affect the experience? I've basically just halted the flow of combat for one final "Are you SUUUUUURE?" dialogue prompt. 

    I can do better than this.

Part 2: I Do Better Than That

    A more drastic change would be to go by Pokemon Rules, so we can have our violence and still be safe for kids('s parents). Instead of Death, the fail states of Combat are "Down", followed by "Out."   

    Reaching Zero HP puts you Down, you're wheezing and looking rough. For NPCs, this is when the Morale roll happens to decide if they Flee or stay to take a stand. For PCs, they may choose to Move OR take an Action each round but not both. Any further Damage affects their STR score and they must make Death Saves as normal, or be Out. And "Out" is just. Fainted. They're not dead, but they're an unconscious or otherwise indisposed lump on the floor. They may not rejoin Combat. In Cairn terms, they're present but Deprived. Retreating when Downed is basically choosing to be Out, knowing you'll be able to recover HP as usual after the dust settles. But, because I love Mario & Luigi RPG, Downed PCs can stay in the fight by being Carried.  

    A PC may Carry a Downed PC if they have (let's just pick a number for right now.) 5 Inventory Slots free. A Carried PC regains 1 HP per Round they are Carried, up to their Max. However, the PC doing the Carrying rolls attack rolls as if Impaired.  

    Although, thinking about it, if Carrying a Downed PC costs 5 Inventory Slots, a PC COULD theoretically carry 2 of their allies, but only after 1. Dropping all their Stuff and 2. Accepting that it's going to push them to 0 HP until both of them get the fuck off their shoulders. If the Carrying PC takes fatigue that encroaches into that 5 slot allowance, they're unable to Carry the Downed PC any longer and they are forced to rejoin the combat with whatever HP they have. Course, then they're no longer Down so it's probably fine.  

    "Doesn't this mean it's much harder for the players to ever seriously experience danger?"

yes, but it creates a few more layers of player choice before you reach the "you don't get to roll any more" stage with those blorbos. It also introduces the possibility of PCs focusing on assisting and healing their party, without needing a specific class or set of combat abilities to do so. 

Part 3: Advancement

    Sonic the Hedgehog is a Videoed Game. So I think... I think I want to purposefully include some Videoed Gamery into this. It'll be fun, I promise.

    Recently, I read Gno Mann's premiere blog post, a response to a currently 5 year old blog post by Luke Gearing on the topic of Experience Points and Incentives in Game design. I think both are worth a read. Gearing's post has been bandied about as something of a divine text, and Gno's belated response pokes a ton of holes in it. I'm not about to throw my hat into the ring between them, but reading both blogs gave me a great number of thoughts about traditional leveling up systems and how they can be used in ways to manipulate the player (non-derogatory) and manipulate the player (derogatory.)

    My first swing at an alternative is a system I'm calling "SCORE." Similar to the Arcade Classics of the 80's, Score is a running tally of all the cool shit you've done, with the goal being to reach the end of the level with as much of it as possible. Unlike vintage videoed games, (and yes, they're considered VINTAGE now. Late 90's LEGO are Vintage. Hell, Mid-2000's LEGO are Vintage. I hate it.), Score is not a measure of skill, but a reward for completing a Task listed on a long list of possible Achievements. Deciding which Achievement to accept at the end of any given session or adventure would work great as a cool-down activity, I think. Everyone pulls up the list, compares it to the adventure they JUST played, and decide which on to mark off. Simple Achievements, such as "Start a Fight and Win," would be worth a small amount of Score, but be able to be taken multiple times. Eventually, the small fry 'Chieves will dry up, requiring Players to seriously consider some longer term goals to gain more of the resource.

     And what would this resource do, you ask? Again, similar to the Achievements, small bonuses would cost smaller amounts of Score to purchase, packages of 100 Rings, for example, could be bought multiple times for a small amount of it. Bonuses to a Stat, a new Title or Feat, high-end game loot like vehicles and buildings, I don't know exactly what would be on there. The key would be making the Achievements be accessible without making them the main focus of the game. Diegetic growth is STILL the focus here- if a PC has already consumed enough Achievements that none of the simple ones are available anymore, they shouldn't feel as though their character did nothing worthwhile or didn't grow while they worked towards a bigger goal. 

Until Next Time,

    -Farmer Gadda 

Prev Post / Next Post

Howdy, Farmhands.

    As I am wont to do, I have decided to start Another TTRPG project. It's really just the 20th restart of my eternally unfinished heartbreaker, which started out as a Lasers & Feelings Hack with Opinions and hasn't ended up as anything after, like, 3 years. Surely this will be the time I make it stick haha. You're free to completely ignore these posts if you like, I won't blame you.

    Anyway.

    The fact of the matter is that I wish to put a Sanic in Cairn, and none of you have any authority nor power to stop me. But before I do, a couple of points must be made. Firstly, what do I think a Cairn is? And secondly, what the fuck is a Sanic?

    Part 1: Cairn?

    If you've already read Cairn you can skip this.  

    Cairn is a TTRPG, written by Yochai Gal. It's an "Adventure Game," with a narrow focus on producing Old-School fantasy experiences with snappy combat, a limited inventory, and little else. It's basically a freshly shaved Into the Odd. Maybe. I haven't actually read Into the Odd. From an evolutionary standpoint, I'm led to understand Cairn is like Mausritter, scaled back even further, but with the flavor and genre expectations of someone playing Knave. I would need to actually read more than one of the aforementioned titles to say for sure, though.

    (It's probably more than a little bit of a misnomer to state I'm hacking Cairn specifically; it's just my first dip into this school of design. Maybe "Putting a Sanic in an Odd-like" would be a more accurate blog title? Eh.)

    Per Cairn's own words, the design focus is on collecting and maintaining Equipment over Class abilities, a Neutral GM that hands out information like candy so Players can make informed choices, the consequences of which could very easily lead to death, but never in a way that feels unfair. The mechanical choices that most enamor this game to me is how it handles rolling dice, HP, and Inventory management.

    Similar to Into the Odd, and other games it's inspired, all dice are rolled in REACTION to something in the fiction. Players can declare their characters do anything, really, and so long as that action has no obvious Risk to it's going awry, the game isn't interested in withholding permission from them. All rolls are effectively Saves from a known, possible negative outcome, instead of a game of Mother, May I with the dice. 

    HP, not content to let Stats be the only thing blowing my mind, is also subverted from what I expected. Instead of a general measure of how much more meat a character can lose before they kick the bucket, HP or "Hit Protection", is instead more of a timer. Attacks auto-hit in Cairn, with Damage subtracting from a character's Hit Protection as they get closer and closer to the hit that sends them down. Once an attack lowers HP to Zero, any remaining damage is absorbed by the Character's Strength Stat, triggering an immediate Save using the new Stat number. A failed save means they're down. This, coupled with the fact that HP can be restored with a short rest, but changes to the Strength Stat requires longer recuperation, creates an interesting scenario where Characters are quickly able to continue on, but still suffer lasting effects of losing a fight, should they survive it in the first place.

    Lastly, I'll talk about the Inventory system, which is just. Neat. Who came up with this first, ItO or Mausritter? PCs have 10 slots, with most items fitting in a single Slot unless labeled as "Bulky," which takes up 2. Already, the concern of balancing keeping weapons and armor on your person while still having space for cool stuff you find in dungeons is apparent, but Fatigue, a debuff that can be acquired from lack of food and sleep, backlash from magic, or just as punishment for bad decisions during the adventure, takes up a slot of your inventory. This effectively removes an entire inventory slot from play until the fatigue can be cleared. Get fatigue while all your slots are full? You have to drop something. Carrying more objects than you have slots? Your HP is automatically considered to be an 0, with any harm done to you going directly into Strength. 

    To summarize a bit, Cairn is a very tight, OSR inspired ruleset that cuts away a lot of the fat of other games in it's genre, while subverting some key expectations in service of it's snappy gameplay. Now, we must ask-

    Part 2: What is a SANIC? 

     Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game mascot produced by SEGA in the early 90's. Due to being designed to sell products, his scruples and identifying traits have shifted drastically from era to era, with fans having wildly different interpretations of the character even within the same close-knit group of friends. The broad strokes, at least the ones relevant to this blog post, is that he is an acrobatic cartoon character that travels to colorful and magical locations, getting into scuffles with antagonistic individuals not out of a sense of public service, but because he's in the right place at the right time to do so. Freedom, Movement, and Speed are key to what Sonic is as a character.

    A SANIC, by comparison, is a character that must exist in the same time and place as Sonic himself. As a video game mascot, Sonic exists in a world tailor made to take his defining traits and display them in an appealing fashion. The loops, tunnels, floating platforms and other nonsense geography only really works when you travel through them AS Sonic. His move set is ideal for zipping through the locations he travels to, not because those locations make sense, but because his video game must be fun to play. This causes some logistic issues when taking any character who wouldn't normally be able to do the things Sonic can and placing them into those scenarios. Even if we don't see any houses, someone must have considered a vacation home in Green Hills, after all. Sega has famously solved this issue for their own purposes by creating an increasing number of supernatural or exaggerated abilities and giving them to the characters Sonic interacts with-Flight, Super Strength, Wall-Climbing and so on. At this point, a Sanic is any magical Furry character with noodly enough arms and large enough feet; and I say that as a Positive. By introducing unique constraints from more Traditional Furry OC design mentalities, SANICS gain a unique flavor all their own, even in scenarios where Sonic himself isn't involved in the character's story.

    By this metric, I'd probably also consider Mario OCs a Sanic, but I'll fire that gun into a loaded theater some other blog.

    Part 3: Why Tho? 

    Again, The fact of the matter is that I wish to put a Sanic in Cairn. You don't need to understand me and my choices, nor do you need to respect them. This is the path I've chosen to follow; taking my most recent shiny toy and holding it next to my longest hyperfixation that they may kiss.

    Something that's enamored me to the description of Adventure Games that Ben posited in the blog post wherein it was Coined is line two - "It implies strangeness, travel, the unexpected, and the confusing." Not that other game styles can't have that, rather, that this desire to go places and see things in a world that's full of weird shit, coupled with the purposefully snappy dice resolution, refilling HP, and inventory management, immediately makes me think this would be the ideal place to start on a SANIC game. Freedom, Movement, and Speed. No asking permission to Do, just chances to fail if you push the risk too far. This is the comparison that has sparked this project. God help me.

    Here is where I'm going to have to do some work. First, because the rules I'm starting from are so tight and bare-boned (/pos), any change I make will have massive rippling effects throughout. I can't just increase Armor without drastically changing how combat feels, for example. Tweaks must be made, though, as the threat of character death is something I want to slightly tone down. Not only that, but in a game with no existing advancement mechanics (except the Scars table, which doesn't feel quite right for the vibe I'm trying to emulate), how do I get a player from page 1 to a fully realized magic furry OC before the session starts?

    The short of it is, I don't fucking know. Thats why I'm blogging about it.

Until next time,

    Farmer Gadda