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I'm going to post up writing of a different sort today. I have reworked the rules of the board game I have been making. I reworked them so hard that I removed the 'board' aspect of the game entirely, and now the whole game is played with cards. The old version was, to put is succinctly, dull. Dull isn't something you want a game to be, and so, the reworking of the rules. Below is part of the new rule document. I'm going to leave out the combat phase of play for now, since I still haven't play tested the new style and they will likely change at least a bit. Anyway, here you go.
Adventure Caddie - V. 0.95 Description You and your cohort are professional Adventure Caddies. You won’t be doing any actual fighting, but it is your job to carry, organize, and repair your Heroes supplies. You are also responsible for some high level Adventure coaching. When to step back, when to rush forward, that sort of thing. Now, no one wants to stay a Caddie forever. You all have dreams of getting into the Pro Adventurers Guild. The fame, the glory, the treasure, the parties. Free danishes in the break room. All the perks. The first hurdle is the cost. You are going to have to pay the guild membership and it isn’t cheap. The second is recommendations. Nobody was ever accepted into the guild without at least one recommendation. The more recommendations you can get, the better your chances of snagging one of those rare Hero positions. Objectives Get the entire party of Heroes through the adventure alive. If any of the Heroes is down at the end of an adventure, the guild demands that the entire group give up half of its treasure (rounding up) to pay resurrection costs, and run another adventure of the same level or higher to redeem yourselves. No spots in the guild lineup will be granted to Caddies that fail to protect their Heroes. Earn enough Treasure to buy a Guild membership. The Heroes cut of any Treasure you pick up is accounted for and deposited into the guild run ethereal bank before you even stuff it in your bag. So what you are holding on to, is yours. At the end of an adventure, you can pay for a guild membership, choose to carry what you have into the next adventure, or pay the long term storage trolls to hold onto it for you. Sure would be nice to have access to the guild bank, but unfortunately that’s only for Heroes. Earn recommendations. Heroes are a strange lot, and sometimes they have objectives that they want to accomplish that are seperate from the main Adventure. Is it hubris? Is it insecurity? Is it malice? Who knows. What you do know is, helping a Hero accomplish their tasks will earn you recommendations with the guild, and they just might be more valuable than gold and jewels. If more than one Caddie can pay for the guild membership at the end of an Adventure, you just know they will take the one with the most recommendations. In the case of a tie (enough treasure to pay for membership and the same number of recommendations) Both Caddies can become Pro Heroes. There is no harm in helping your fellow Caddies get into the guild if you can buy your way in as well. The game ends when one or more of your group is admitted into the guild. Everyone else will just have to try again next season. Setup All Caddies start with a carrying capacity of 9. That means that the total bulk of the the items you can carry can only add up to less than or equal to 9. Shuffle all decks and place them on the table. Each Caddie draws one Hero from the Hero deck. Order doesn’t matter, but you must decide amongst your group who will Caddie which Hero. Each Hero has different base stats. Draw the top card from the level one adventure deck and place it face up. A good Caddie always does some preliminary scouting, and has some idea what their Heroes might be getting into. Refer to this card when you want an idea of what enemies are on their way. Each Caddie draws 2 items from the level one loot deck and places them on the ground. If you draw a treasure piece, Place it on the bottom of the deck and draw again. Once all the items are on the ground the group must decide how to divy them up.These will be your starting items. Now suit up and get adventuring. Turn order All turns are taken at the same time, as a group. If Hero actions can combine into Combos, you will have to work out between you which Hero should take their action first. Start Round Heroes use any potions, repair packs, or consumables they are holding. All of them. If you handed it to them they will drink it or use it. Remove the empties from the Heroes and throw them on the ground. Caddies can use this time to repair one point of damage on any Items they are holding. Caddies can throw one item to a Hero, and/or Request one item from a Hero. Discard any items on the ground. The Heroes have moved on and you have to move on with them. Wave goodbye to those items and sweep them into the discard pile. As this story approaches the end of 'episode 1' I have been going back over the writing, and like you might guess, I hate most of it. I'm told this is normal. This is to be expected. The good news is when you are writing you have the ability to change what words go where and what characters say and when. I still have characters that don't 'talk to me' but I'm very definitely finding ones that do. I don't really pick what they say, I just listen and write it down when they say it. That is sort of cool. Hopefully that will make the second draft easier to lay down than the first. Hopefully that will make the second draft better than the first. I doubt it though. Probably won't be properly 'okay' until the 3rd or 4rth draft.
I wrote a short sketch that I put up over here, but I will also post it below. Hopefully the html doesn't get too screwy on your browser.
Title: Battle Wagon
Author: Owen McManus
Draft date: 04/01/2019
INT. SMOKEY ROOM. A ROUND TABLE SITS UNDER THE SINGLE POOL OF LIGHT IN THE ROOM. A PILE OF MAPS AND BLUEPRINTS LAY STREWN IN THE CENTER. THERE IS A GROUP OF GRIM LOOKING MEN AND WOMEN POSITIONED AROUND THE TABLE ON WOOD AND METAL STACKING CHAIRS.
SARGE You know why I called you here. Ya'll are the meanest bunch of miscreants that I have ever had the misfortune to come across, and it pains me to say that this, but your country needs you.
BILLSON Again.
Billson chomps a half finished cigar and tips the chair back .
SARGE Yes Billson. Again. Now I'm not going to beat around the bush. This mission is dangerous. Some of you might not be coming home. There won't be any state funerals for those who don't, and there won't be any medals for those that do.
CARLILE We already ghosts, ain't we. Don't bother me none.
Nodding and grunts of acknowledgement from around the table.
SARGE Okay, okay. Before we get to the briefing, I do have one issue I would like addressed.
BILLSON Sarge, you're really going to question me and my team. After Tokyo, after Berlin, after Montreal?
SARGE Now I know that your team has a solid track record with these kinds of Ops. I know that you will do what needs doing to get the job done. That's not the problem. I just have one question.
ZHANG (clearly annoyed) Spit it out.
SARGE Where is the battle wagon.
Team shoot confused looks at each other.
Billson raises a hand to settle the team down.
BILLSON The what?
SARGE The battle wagon.
Team continues to look confused. They have no idea what the sergeant is talking about.
SARGE In Zaragosa. The van you welded armor panels and machineguns to and used to break into the arms dealers fortress.
ZHANG Oh, the Steel Zephyr. He's talking about the Steel Zephyr. Yeah. Had to ditch it in the Ebro.
SARGE Okay, so why is it in the river?
CARLILE Had tae douse it to deactivate the Super C-4 strapped to the bottom, didn't we.
TIMMINS (points a mocking thumb at Sarge) Sounds like he never had to drown some Super C-4. I suppose that's why you hire the experts.
SARGE Alright. Fair enough. Bottom of the Ebro. So where's the one you built out of a train engine in Dhaka.
ZHANG The Light Rail Ravager! Oh, I miss her. Really packed a punch and extra roof space for the missile racks.
SARGE And where is it? In the river?
BILLSON Lake.
Sarge shakes his head for a moment.
SARGE Do you folks see my problem.
BILLSON Not really Sarge. Speak plain and we'll see what we can do for you.
SARGE How many missions did you run for us last year?
BILLSON Timmins?
TIMMINS 17 Boss. If you count the Federico twins as 2.
SARGE Sure. 17. And how many battle wagons did you build?
Timmins considers for a moment.
TIMMINS Including the Steel Zephyr?
SARGE Yes. All the battle wagons.
ZHANG Can we stop calling them battle wagons. They got names.
SARGE Fine. How many.
TIMMINS
18
SARGE You didn't even run that many missions.
ZHANG Built two in Daegu. Carlile had his own.
CARLILE Only 'cause Timmins said I had the Kimchi farts and I didnea.
SARGE You built a battle-
Zhang pulls a sour look.
SARGE Okay, okay. I don't care why. Do any of you know what one of those monstrosities costs?
CARLILE Well we don't buy 'em. We build 'em, don't we.
SARGE I buy them. I pay for them. Every time I hire you for a mission I pay the expenses. Armor plating, cannon shells, caltrops, arc welders. I have to bury all your battle wagons in secret budgets and military slush funds. By the way, why do you need a new arc welder every time? Why don't you use the old one?
BILLSON I think we are all missing the bigger picture here. We ran 18 Ops-
TIMMINS
17.
BILLSON 17 Ops. Every single one of them a resounding success.
SARGE In Tampa you drove a Russian fighter jet through a mall.
TIMMINS You sent us that jet.
SARGE Yes. Because I thought you were going to fly it. You turned it into a tank!
BILLSON We saved the world from Moloch and his global terrorists.
SARGE Where is it now?
TIMMINS The mall?
SARGE The battle wagon! Where is it now.
ZHANG The Suffering Butterfly.
SARGE What?
ZHANG That's her name. The Suffering Butterfly.
SARGE I don't care! Where is it?
ZHANG In the bay. I couldn't let Moloch get her.
SARGE Could you have used the battle wagon from Tokyo to stop Moloch?
The team is confused again.
CARLILE She's in the bay, isn't she.
SARGE If she wasn't in the bay. Imagine just once that you reused a battle wagon. Again. On the next mission. Could you have used that battle wagon to stop Moloch.
BILLSON (bewildered by the idea of it) I mean, it's possible, but how would we even have gotten it out of the water?
SARGE It was a hovercraft! I don't even know how you sank it.
CARLILE Weren't easy. We're very good at our jobs.
SARGE Alright, alright. The current mission is time critical. We only have 24 hours to get you in and get those hostages out. We can talk about this more when you get back. (Sarge shuffles through some maps and pulls one to the top) We have possible entry and extraction points here and here. Known tangos are here, here, and here.
BILLSON (leaning back in the chair again) No need Sarge. Me and the team already worked out the plan on the way over here. All we need from you is an attack helicopter and the biggest set of tractor tires you can find.
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Owen McManus