Hi and welcome back to narrative control. This week Justin and I are talking about board games, specifically what we’ve taken from them to improve our role-playing games.
Hosts: Sean Nittner and Justin Evans
Length: 20:40
Show Notes:
[00:29] Introduction: Using principals from board games in your RPGs. [00:57] RPGPodcasts.com Promo [01:03] Hey Sean, do you like Math? [01:32] Character sheets are full numbers… one big story problem? [02:33] Board games have a very focused play. We all know what the game is about. [03:33] Using physical representations of math (poker chips, tokens, glass beads, etc) [05:22] This helps a GM gauge the status of the player characters. [07:07] Using a “board” i.e. a battle map and miniatures [08:35] A counter system to measure the external threat (e.g. doom counters). [09:27] Mapping out extended skill challenges [11:41] Game Mastery’s “Item Cards” [12:32] Physical Representation of a Mechanic. Mini games inside the game. [13:29] Using timers to create tension and enforce urgency [13:50] Dread’s mechanic. The Jenga Tower [14:19] An example of bringing this all together. Zombie Attack! [17:34] Preventing player analysis paralysis. [19:10] Closing. Let us know how board game elements have improved or detracted from your games.
Howdy, just got back...and am recovering from some kind of bug.
These game boards are just like the gridded game boards/maps/tiles you might use for D&D. There were four sets of boards created specifically for the Cadwallon rpg but they use a standard 1 inch square grid so you can use them with most minis. I was going to post a link to the Rackham site (the company that published Cadwallon) but I don't see the boards or Cadwallon itself for sale in their online store anymore....not terribly surprising really, the game didn't do too well. I guess the boards may be harder to find now. Too bad, they are beautiful.
Hi guys, I really enjoyed this episode and I really like what they could do for mixing things up in the D&D game I'll be running (not to mention the Cthulhutech game I've been running.) Anyway, I was wondering if there are any online/computer games you know of that would work well with the concepts you suggested i.e creating/adding tension to certain scenes. The reason I ask is that I live in South Korea and also game at one of my player's houses so it would be kind of a pain to bring all this stuff to his house anytime I wanted to do something. That and just simply it would be fun and convenient because, in the room we play in, we have a laptop hooked up to a big plasma TV. I'm wondering if you have found that having the actual physical elements and mini-games are what makes them all the more fun or do you think doing this via computer would be just as useful and/or have the same effect.
I haven't found any good, short video games that I could inject into a table top game...but I think its a great idea depending on the theme of your game (Cthulhutech as you pointed out). I have created fake websites with clues for my players to check out and that's been a big hit.
I am currently working on creating a mini-game for a Castle Faulkenstein gaming I'm running at the next con that will be losely based on the 'hacking' mechanic in the video game Bioshock. I wanted to make is physical though so I'm using cards from the Waterworks game.
That's interesting~ do you think this idea would incorporate well into games that requires checks (rolls) for certain skills. Like, say, thievery in D&D to pick a lock. Would you have them doing a physical minigame whilst also making checks? Or would checks be incorporated in that they only get a certain number of moves in the game or something? Or do you just have the game take the place of the check or does the check give them access to the game? Anyway, really cool stuff. Thanks, this is a really cool idea that I enjoyed a lot.
Generally when I add a 'mini-game' to a scene I like to incorporate it into a larger conflict resolution. You've already heard on the podcast about how I used a boardgame called Phoenix (due to be reprinted BTW) in a inflitration scene. I've also used the game Kerplunk to help give a mechanic around building up tension in a stand off that could lead to a blow out gun fight...the point being that a couple players might be involved in the mini-game but there's also stuff going on for the rest of the players. Everybody's busy. It adds a 'set piece' to a spotlight scene.
I'm not sure I would pull out a minigame for more common tasks like picking a lock simply because the novelty of the minigame wears thin pretty fast. But I would absolutely do it if one character needed to pick a lock as a the rest of the party hold off the advancing orc horde...it makes that lock picking check just as exciting as the combat...hopefully.
To answer your question though, I didn't replace the existing related skill check (pick locks). I still had them roll that skill and then gave the player an advantage or disadvantage to the minigame based on the results.
Very cool, thanks for the feedback. I'll have to check around for some computer games that might lend themselves to the idea but I do like the idea of a physical boardgame or something. Maybe I'll pick some up before I head back to Korea after the holidays. Thanks for the information and the quick replies.