"Calling Colgar6 (and everyone else too actually)..." Topic

So, I've written my own zombie post-apoc game, very TWD in my mind and my mates love it too. I have a couple of questions that I want to 'put out there';

1) Colgar6 – you have done a blinder on making ATZ event cards, I had done a similar thing for my game. As I am a bit if a waffler I prefer more text on to fully explain how to apply, or not apply, the event within the fame.the question to you is whet so you do in game when the card 'doesn't or can't be applied? I'm thinking of one I saw that had a one of your models fire at the nearest building, but what if there are no buildings or nobody is able to shoot ( due to no weapons, no ammo etc) I am wanting to understand your approach to this sort of situation asit cones up a bit in our games it I di usually have it covered. If the card above is drawn but can't be strictly applied would you still (for instance) A. Shoot the nearest piece of terrain if no buildings? B) if nobody can shoot do doge other roll against the model's courage, nerve or whatever stat with a failed roll resulting in them suffering fear C) ignore that card and move on etc. I hope you get the idea. Anyone else have anything to say about this?

Secondly I have a rough system for working out interactions between my characters and any new characters they meet. It goes kinda like this;

1 – If new characters appear their leader and my group's leader roll against their Fel (Fel = Fellowship; very RPG but I couldn't think of another name at the time) stat with low being a pass and high being a fail (so roll under or equal to their Fel on a D6) if both sides pass their test they are amicable with each other and you can use the new group as your own models. Double results of a 1 (ie; both sides pass with the best possible score) then they become form allies immediately.

2 – If one side passes but one doesn't roll the tests again (bear in mind my models have between 2-4 actions per turn depending upon the model's initiative stat so this rolling doesn't necessarily chew up several turns, each test counts as an action in each turn, also I feel this represents when in films characters spend X amount of time talking and sussing out new people) models keep rolling until either both sides pass or fail. Rolls of a 1 result in that model adding +1 to their Fel stat; they are starting to trust the other side but not quite there yet. Rolls of a 6 mean the opposite and the model is starting to distrust the other side. Further 1s and 6s negate/add to previous scores. Keep going until both sides pass or fail. Note that some models have characteristics that might affect the score too. So a model with 'Distrustful' will auto fail if they roll a 6 instead of just have a -1 applied, Daryl Dixon would be fractious and cause a -1 to your side's Fel as he lacks finesse when it comes to discussions etc.

3 – if both sides fail then they distrust each other and do not form an alliance or amicable meeting. They will stand off and go their separate ways. If either side rolled a 6 when they both fail then that side is openly hostile and will attack the other side.

The rules become much simpler when both sides either pass (use as your own models) or both fail (definitely enemies) but it is harder to work out when things are maybe.

Othe factors that influence the rolls are things like;
- Does either side have any kids
- How close are any zombies
- Characteristics as mentioned above (such as Charm – the Governor in TWD would have this)
- Distance between the groups (forgot to mention they need to spot each other prior to making Fel tests in the first place)
- overall group morale (ie how desperate they are)

Bear in mind this is all in context of the more general relationships between groups. I asked a similar question a while back and got the answer of 'why not make 2 tests, one initially when they meet and one later on that really decides how the groups will interact from here on. So what I'm getting at is that your characters in the game will meet other groups, these groups will either be; (using TWD as a reference)

- like family (like Maggie and Glen)
- trusted allies (like Sasha and Tyreese to Rick's group)
- allies (like the rest of the prison inhabitants generally)
- uneasy allies (like the prisoners in 3rd series were before they ecame trusted)
- enemies (could be openly hostile or just not very friendly/trusting)

Certain events trigger group loyalty tests; such as when a model gets killed and they were within 4" of a member of another group (could the others have done more to help the deceased?) and so on. I'm trying to model the tension amd friction that occurs within a stressful setting. Tricksy indeed my precious! (incidentally I can't wait fir The Decenation of Smaug…)

The system is still a WIP but I hope you get the idea. I'm trying to get the balance between cinematic feel, RPG, ease of game play, detail, reasonable outcome among others. Some of these factors are conflicting so your thoughts are welcome.

Cheers for reading all my waffle!

Arken

Ark3nubis,

I don't think that my answer is going to help you very much, but roughly speaking I make it up as I go along! Let me explain:

In any miniatures game there will typically be a great many degrees of freedom, such as movement distances, placement of models, varieties of scenery, objectives and so on. Inevitably, this already leads to situations where spot judgements need to be made ("is that figure in partial or complete cover?", "is my weapon in range?" …)

Once a large set of random events is introduced, some of which re-use existing rules but many of which add brand new rules, the number of possible interactions is enormous! I don't think that it's remotely possible to legislate for every conceivable situation.

So what do we do about this? Personally, I try to go with the narrative of the story. You're right in remembering a recent game where the "character opens fire at shadows" event occurred colgar6.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/atz-b-team-1-going-out-for-bite.html, but no-one had a gun. Since the team were already spooked and fleeing, I changed that on the spur of the moment to "character *shouts* at shadows", as this seemed appropriate. Had the event card indicated that they'd crashed a car then I would have ignored it completely, since they didn't have a car.

I'm able to make these snap decisions mainly because I'm umpiring games rather than participating as a player (and so my word is law!) However I have seen other people posting solo battle reports where similar adjustments have been made (there was one I remember where a gas leak from a building was changed to a fuel leak from an overturned vehicle).

Hope this is useful,

Hugh [colgar6]

Hugh, totally, that's exactly the approach we take when playing, whatever is apt for the story. I'd see the random event as indicating that something 'along those lines' has occurred, and that we are just applying the most reasonable likely situation to the situation. Great, that's actually the answer I hoped for, and expected to some degree.

I would normally try to add on to my cards what if the card doesn't apply/work with what's going on for a bit of direction for the player at the time, but then that's my personal preference. Great stuff, and thanks for the link too amigo,

Cheers!