Three Nine Press

Making games I want to play.

[threeninepress]

Three Nine Digest #19

This week I have been mostly thinking about… my Mausritter adventure (Fast Show reference in case anyone is as ancient and British as I am).

Below is what I’ve collected from previous dispatches regarding my adventure hooks, npcs and the spell I’ve made. The bit that’s new is the spell token, which includes a spell tablet I drew (yep, continuing with my audacious plan to draw this entire adventure myself).

I’m putting all these in one spot because my next step will be harvesting them and putting them in my project on Affinity. At first I am going to stay pretty true to how the adventures are laid out in the excellent The Estate collection. I’ll probably fiddle with things once that’s done and make it more my own.

For now, though, here’s the state of play for Goodnight Maus.

Goodnight Maus

(Mausritter adventure site inspired by Goodnight Moon)

Adventure Hooks

Pick or Roll 1D6

The youngster Hamish Quickfoot has not been seen since he ventured off in search of fortune in the Great Green Room. His parents are offering a reward for anyone who can bring him home safely.

Toliver Thickwhisker, Burgher of Under-Step, has commissioned a party to raid the toy house in the Great Green Room. He wants silverware (six places) for an important dinner he is hosting for visiting dignitaries.

Legend has it that the ancient, and magical, arms of Lady Strongbite are located somewhere in the Great Green Room. Her saga states she fell to Rupert, the great orange menace who once called that room home.

The rats of the Wall Gang control the routes in and out of the Great Green Room. They have just raised the price of their tolls. Under-Step’s city council have commissioned a party to scout the room and find alternatives.

The engineer Tink Finetail has designs on an underground engine that could connect Under-Step to Drain’s Hollow. He’ll pay a premium for clockwork mechanisms, the kind known to exist in the Great Green Room.

During a rowdy night at the Weevil’s Head pub bets were taken on whether there was a mouse in Under-Step brave enough to bring home a whisker from Tabitha and Tomasina (the young, but cruel descendants of Rupert, who now stalk the Great Green Room).

NPCs

Hamish Quickfoot5hp, STR 9, DEX 12, WIL 10 Attacks: d8 bow

Wants: To return home with something valuable.

Jerald Longfur4hp, STR 7, DEX 7, WIL 9 Attacks: d6 walking stick

Wants: To be left in peace. Failing that, a good meal.

To read the rest of this post head to Three Nine Press on Substack (it's free!)

[threeninepress]

Three Nine Dispatch 17

In this post I share my progress on Steam Thieves, plus I meditate on on re-purposing the mechanics of one of my favourite board games for a TTRPG.

For week 17 I’ve continued my manicure on the Forged in the Dark system-reference-document. I’m excited for other steps involved in this process, but recognize how important it is to get this part done first. Not much progress on that this week, but that’s fine.

And I’ve also got a new idea. I’m forever inspired by board games. And I often wonder whether their mechanics can translate to TTRPGs. I think Ark Nova’s action economy could translate really well for a combat simulator.

My progress this week is as follows…

Steam Thieves

(Steampunk x Forged in the Dark, Ashcan here [link])

Action Roll

When Steam Thieves do something challenging, we make an action roll to see how it turns out. An action is challenging if there’s an obstacle to the Steam Thieves’ goals that are dangerous or troublesome in some way. We don’t make an action roll unless Steam Thieves are put to the test. If their action is something that we’d expect them to simply accomplish, then we don’t make an action roll.

Each game group will have their own ideas about what “challenging” means. This is good! It’s something that establishes the tone and style of your game.

To make an action roll, we go through six steps. In play, they flow together somewhat, but let’s break each one down here for clarity.

The player states their goal for the action.

The player chooses the action rating.

The Operator sets the position for the roll.

The Operator sets the effect level for the action.

Add bonus dice.

The player rolls the dice and we judge the result.

Untitled Ark Nova inspired game

For those unfamiliar, in Ark Nova (a zoo building game) you choose one of five actions each turn. The actions are represented on cards which lay in a spread in front of the player. The power of the card is determined by what order in the spread it occupies. For example, the Animals card is useless when it is in the number 1 spot. When it is in spots 2, 3 or 4 you can use it to place an animal into your zoo. When the card is in spot 5 you can play two animals into your zoo. After you play an action, you place its card in the number 1 spot and move all the other actions down a spot.

Ark Nova’s Action cards via BoardGame Geek

Strategy in this game is based around shuffling the order of your cards, levelling up the cards and using them in combination with each other and other elements in the game.

What about a game where combat is handled the same way?

Here are some notes I have on this idea:

Grid based combat.

Action Cards are Attack, Defend, Move, Magic, Investigate and Interact.

This is a deck builder. Every player has base cards that can be played when any of those actions are chosen. For example, everyone has the ‘melee strike’ card which they can play when they choose to Attack. Levelling up your character/actions means getting more/better cards.

Whatever spot your Move action is in determines how many spaces you can move when you select it. When you level up the Move card you can move spaces equal to 2 x the spot the card occupies (eg. when your Lvl 2. Move card is in the fifth spot you can move ten spaces).

Whatever spot your Magic action is in determines the spell level of the spell you can cast.

Classes have special cards that can be played with various actions, their own starting spread and quirks that relate to the way action cards are moved. For example, the Fighter’s opening spread has Move in the most powerful spot and then Attack in the next most powerful spot. The Fighter has cards for various offensive moves they can use when they take the Attack move (disarm, trip, sunder, etc.). The Fighter could also have a special ability where after you take the Attack action you can choose whether to place it back at the 1 spot or keep it in the current spot it is in.

Maybe this system could be used in exploration/socializing phases, too?

I really like this, but I must admit it might be too much of a distraction from the two main projects I have been blogging about for 17 weeks. Plus, when I’m ready to design a combat simulator from scratch I already have one further along then this (a 3xd6 dice pool game that will blow your mind!).

Anyways, peace.