Superhero Funnel Design Update 2

This is my second post outlining my idea for the Funnel Jam. First post here. I have fallen way behind on this, but fortunately, the deadline has been extended.

I'll put the full text (of what I currently have) below, but tl;dr compared to the first version, I now have a completely different resolution mechanic based on dice pools and how to spend a limited number of successes across tasks, and I've also stripped-down the superheroes themselves pretty significantly.

Premise

The Superhero Funnel is inspired by the My Hero Academia Entrance Exam. The players each control some number of prospective superheroes who must go through a series of trials (Issues) to be accepted into the superhero school. Players will variously play their superheroes altogether as teams, play each superhero individually, or split their superheroes across teams with the other players. The goal is for superheroes to “survive” Issue by Issue and earn a sufficient number of Hero Points.

Ability Scores

Abilities are more about an approach or style than physicality or other specific abilities. Sure, there are certain things one superhero may be able to do that another simply cannot, given the differences in their powers, but it is generally assumed that, even as students, all of these prospective superheroes are capable of completing challenges, and they are being challenged not just on their raw power, but on their individual aptitudes and character.

Roll 1d6 for each Ability

SHOWmanship: Power displays, catchphrases, signature taunts, or moves.

TEAMwork: Inspiration, self-sacrifice, prosocial behaviors, public safety.

WILLpower: Endurance, resistances, overcoming limitations, facing fears.

TECHnique: Infiltration, ingenuity, trained skills.

EXAMination: Investigation, surveillance, planning.

Hero Points

The starting Hero Points (HP) are 10 for all superheroes. HP are awarded throughout the tournament such as for completing Issues. If a superhero falls to 0 or negative HP, they are eliminated from the Entrance Exam even if they are not defeated or outright fail an Issue.

Issues

The Entrance Exam consists of a series of trials such as obstacle course races, hostage rescue, facing supervillains, and investigations. One could think of each trial as an Issue of a comic book. Some Issues are team-oriented, while others are solo or free-for-all. Superheroes are awarded HP for completing Issues and may gain bonus HP by completing certain sub-tasks or be penalized HP for failing to meet certain conditions.

Action Strip

Issues and other superhero challenges consist of Action Strips, where single actions are Panels on the Strip. For a given Action Strip, roll as many d6’s as the decided Ability Score and an additional 2d6. Rolling 4 or higher on a die counts as a success. Each Panel costs a certain number of successes in order to be completed.

At the start of an Action Strip, the GM will lay out the Panels on the Page; explaining what each Panel entails and the base cost in successes for each Panel. Additionally, players may be able to suggest Panels of their own and the GM will determine the cost. These costs may fluctuate Page by Page, and additionally, the GM may spring Surprise Panels on superheroes as a result of their actions.

A Page consists of the Panels for all superheroes on a given side of a conflict (if there are multiple sides), and all Panels resolve in parallel. Meanwhile, available Panels, Surprise Panels, and costs are re-evaluated on the next Page.

By spending half the cost (rounding up), a superhero can create a Danger Panel. They roll 2d6, and on a full success (both dice >= 4) it is as if they paid full price, but on a partial success (only one die >= 4), they may suffer consequences such as increased costs of Panels on the next Page, fewer available Panels, fail the Panel but without increasing costs or losing Panels or succeed but evoke a Surprise Panel. On a full failure (both dice <= 4), consequences are even graver, such as failing the task and increasing costs, losing Panels, or evoking a Surprise Panel.

Example

For this Issue, a group of bank robbers have taken hostages, planted a bomb, and are preparing to make their escape with the money. This Issue is a Three-Panel Action Strip where each Panel on the first Page costs 1 success, and the Issue is worth up to 5 HP. Bloodhound has 5 TECH but knows that she’s being tested specifically for her ability to keep the hostages safe and inspire confidence and that she will receive +3 HP if she can complete the Issue using TEAM, so she chooses to use her 3 TEAM instead.

She rolls 5d6 (3 TEAM + 2 default) and gets 4, 6, 1, 2, and 5, meaning she gets 3 successes. While this is technically enough to succeed on all Panels, she suspects that if she rescues the hostages or defuses the bomb, Meanwhile the robbers will have more time to make their escape, increasing the cost of that Panel on the next Page. She also suspects the reverse to be true- if she goes after the Robbers, Meanwhile the bomb will keep ticking and hostages will have less time to escape, increasing the cost of those Panels on the next Page. When the player asks, the GM confirms this is so, but would have kept it a secret if the player hadn’t asked, because they prefer the style of play that encourages player ingenuity, as was discussed in their session 0. She also suspects that if she does not rescue the hostages on the first page, then she will not receive the bonus HP (this is also confirmed by the GM).

Given these circumstances, she chooses the hostage rescue as her Panel for the first Page. She spends 1 success and, using her proportional strength and speed of a bloodhound, is able to pull the hostages out of harm's way, beat back her foes, and do it all with an inspiring smile.

Meanwhile, the bomb keeps ticking, and the robbers begin to make their escape. She’s close enough to the bomb that the cost for this Panel has not changed, so she chooses this as her Panel on the second page. However, instead of defusing it, she wants to detach it and toss it in the path of the robbers, blocking their escape. While normally these would be two Panels with a total cost of 3 successes (the cost of stopping the robbers had increased after the previous Panel), the GM allows this maneuver because it’s clever. However, Surprise Panel! A “supervillain” (actually one of the teachers, of course), intercedes the bomb, and without any more successes to spend, the robbers are able to make their escape.

Having succeeded at 2 of the 3 Panels, the administrators decide to award Bloodhound 3 of 5 HP. However, since she used TEAM and prioritized rescuing the hostages, she received the bonus HP for a total of 6. Having lost 3 HP after landing on a trap in the obstacle course of the previous Issue, this brings her up to 13 HP, still at the lower end of the superheroes who passed the first two Issues, but not so far behind that she can’t catch up.

Superheroes

1. Bloodhound: Has the proportional strength, speed, and senses of a bloodhound.
2. Gray Goo: Nanomachines convert non-living matter into other things (must understand the properties of the creation), and create virtual reality spaces.
3. Vector: Unstoppable while moving in a straight line, vulnerable while pivoting.
4. Pinball: Superspeed and proportional superstrength, but must account for inertia and other laws of velocity and acceleration.
5. Snake: Floating orbs spontaneously appear around them. As they eat the orbs, they grow longer. Their sharp scales are dangerous even to themself.
6. 2D: Two-dimensional. Can flatten against surfaces, slip through crevices, and fold like origami.
7. Scanner Darkly: Superspy skills and gadgets, appearance and voice scrambling mask, separated brain hemispheres for multitasking, and deep-cover identity dissociation.
8. Mushroom: Eating mushrooms makes them grow giant-sized or shrink to the size of a mouse.
9. Flash Fry: Project hot grease and resistance to grease fires.
10. Cinnamon: Emanate novas of burning-hot capsaicin.
11. Mint: Emanate novas of ice-cold menthol.
12. Alkahest: Project a universal solvent fluid.
13. Kintsugi: Injuries make them stronger with scars of gold.
14. Librarian: Paper Elementalist.
15. Technomancer: Override software in devices and control them as an extension of themselves.
16. Herbalist: While holding a plant, gain superpowers relating to its properties.
17. Landfill: Telekinetic control of trash and waste.
18. Schrodinger: While unseen, can be anywhere and nowhere in the vicinity.
19. Laservision: Sees a laser-grid overlay for perfect accuracy and precision.
20. Aye-Aye Aye: Has a long bony finger, like an aye-aye, with advanced supersenses.
21. Memetos: A living idea that can infect the collective unconsciousness over time, or more rapidly the consciousnesses of individuals in the vicinity.
22. Constructor: Rapidly construct cartoonish but functional devices and structures from minimal resources that break down shortly after use.
23. Cleric: Summon rays of cleansing, healing, but also searing light.
24. Parkour: Superhuman agility, dexterity, flexibility, reflexes, etc.
25. Icarus: Waxy wings that melt away, dripping with the heat of Greek Fire.
26. POP: Compel any non-living object to spontaneously combust. The force of the explosion and predictability of the detonation time is proportional to the size of an object.
27. Chopper: Human attack helicopter cyborg.
28. Flurry: Throw rapid and near-infinite consecutive strikes.
29. Wavecrash: “Teleportation” via the internet and strike from the other side with the force of a vehicle speeding down the information superhighway.
30. Babylon: Scramble or silence sounds, including language, and can emit sonic force beams.
31. Triplets: Able to coordinate in perfect harmony; far greater than the sum of their parts.
32. Warhead: Fortified with an organic metal shell. They can explode without harming themself, but lose their metal shell for the remainder of the Issue.
33. Kafka: Proportional strengths and abilities of various arthropods, although their greatest power (and weakness) is their utterly horrifying appearance.
34. Combo Ace: Store three pre-programmed athletic or combat feats like video game controller macros, infinite use unless replaced (30min programming time).

My Hero Academia-Inspired Superhero Funnel Proof of Concept

As I'm wrapping up Maximum Recursion Depth, I've been considering what I want to do next, or if I want to take a break before working on my next big project. I've got a lot of thoughts on follow-up issues of MRD, but then I learned about this Funnel Jam on itch.io, and I'd been sitting on this Superhero Funnel idea for a while, so I thought I'd try this as a palate cleanser. I don't know if I'll actually finish it on time, or if it will receive any kind of layout or just be a google doc of a glorified blog post, but I'm excited about the idea nonetheless. One of the MRD followups I've considered is superhero-related, and that's all I'll say on that for the moment, but this might inspire or replace that to some degree or another, we'll see.

The Funnel is inspired by My Hero Academia, a brilliant superhero shonen anime where the characters are students at a superhero school. The opening arc involves a competition where only the top X participants, or participants who exceed a certain score, I forget off-hand, but only a limited number of applicants get into the school, so in effect, it's a Funnel. So that's what I'm going for here; less so deadly DCC Dungeon, more so My Hero Academia competition.

Below is the basic outline for what I'm thinking, and I would absolutely appreciate feedback, but I might change things pretty significantly by the time I actually put it together. I have never designed, run, or even played in a Funnel, so I imagine there are a lot of concerns I'm not fully anticipating.

It will be a while before it's ready, but I would also like to playtest it if anyone is interested!

Funnel Jam

Basic premise and mechanics

The game is designed specifically for the module/funnel in mind, although I think it could work for a longer form MHA-style campaign with the addition of advancement mechanics.

Because it's a funnel, it would be hard for players to create and roleplay multiple interesting characters with interesting personalities, without any guarantee of who will make it and who won't, so I wanted a set of pre-made characters ready to go, but with some randomization both to increase the number of possibilities via combinatorics and also to give the players some sense of ownership over the characters.

There will be a list of pre-made superheroes with superhero names, costumes, and powers, but with high randomization so that no two games have an identical batch of superheroes. For instance, the superheroes table is separate from the alter ego table (imagine if Bakugo and Midoriya were flipped!). Also, each superhero will itself have some degree of randomization as well, like different signature moves or variants on their powers. My hope is that way you could even have two heroes with nearly the same powers in the same game and it would still be interesting; you'd just need to give them a different name and costume but otherwise, they could have "the same" powers.

• Inspired by My Hero Academia UA Entrance Exam.
• Very rules-light, FKR-ish.
• Hero Point system on top of "survival".
• Ability scores aren't physical but based on the scoring categories of the competition.
• Diegetic.
• Challenges or trials can be solved in many ways, but bonus Hero Points in some cases for solving in one way over another creates interesting circumstances.
• Random Tables:
• Superheroes (name, costume, power).
• Weaknesses/shortcomings.
• Signature moves.
• Variants.
• Alter egos (using my character formula).
• Multiple trials with different conditions.

I have not decided on a resolution mechanic yet, but it'll probably be ability score generation with 3d6 and roll-under ability with d20. Could also be roll-under with 3d6.

Ability Scores

The ability scores are abstracted, as are the Hero Points (as opposed to Hit Points), which all tie into the ideals of superheroes but also sportsmanship and celebrity, the kinds of themes that MHA explores. In this way, the various conditions of the trials of the tournament and how the superheroes engage with them are diegetic and create interesting tactical or strategic choices. Like, maybe you could solve a trial with either SHOW or TEAM, but for this particular trial, bonus Hero Points will be rewarded if you use TEAM, so you may be incentivized to use TEAM even if you have much higher SHOW.

It also allows for characters with very different powers to all interact in a relatively "balanced" way. There's definitely an FKR component where I think sometimes you just have to say, there is no feasible way this character could / could not succeed at this specific action given their powers or those of the opposition, and I think that's ok, but this framing of abilities should hopefully lend itself to interesting encounters regardless of team composition.

• SHOWmanship: Power displays, catchphrases, signature taunts.
• TEAMwork: Help others, self-sacrifice, wholesomeness, public safety.
• WILLpower: Resistances e.g. elements, suppression, manipulation, and overcoming limitations.
• TECHnique: Using items or abilities in complex or atypical ways, technology (excluding tech relating to powers / personal gadgets), infiltration.
• EXAMination: Notice subtleties, investigation, deduction and prediction, intel gathering.
• Hero Points: Hit Points, stress, tournament score.

Trials

The meat of the module will be in the trials themselves. The trial structure lends itself well to one-shots and funnels where you maybe want things a bit more game-y and focused. Ideally, I want these to have some degree of randomization, but I also think there's an opportunity to pre-design them in very interesting ways, so I'll need to find the balance.

Trials can involve things like obstacle courses, defeating enemies, sports or games like king of the hill or capture the flag, rescue trials, morale trials, and so on.

Where things get complicated is in managing the Funnel. How many teams should there be? How many PCs should each player have per team? How do you manage free-for-all vs. team reorganization? I had originally thought that PCs should be punished for leaving their team or switching teams, which I still think is true to some extent, but logistically, to manage all the characters, there needs to be a way for players to move their characters around for the sake of game flow, so I added some conditions under which PCs can swap teams freely. But I think this is the part I'm most worried about.

• Free-for-all: Reach the goal, bypass opposition. After all other PCs have passed or failed, the last PC gets a single action to finish, or else they auto-fail.
• If they pass, they get bonus points.
• Teams: The PCs are broken into teams to pass a team-oriented trial. Ideally, each player should only have one superhero per team, with team sizes of 3-4 (or whatever works best). GMPCs or players with multiple superheroes per team can be used if necessary.
• Subsequent trials don't require superheroes to stay with their team, but they lose points for leaving their team and even more points for betraying a teammate.
• Superheroes should be able to amicably switch teams without losing points, or under certain conditions like between trials. I like the idea of the team/solo tradeoff and "punishing" superheroes for being selfish, but if players have superheroes who get disqualified asymmetrically, I want there to be ways for teams to regroup to help with game flow, without punishing them.
• Solo superheroes or partial teams can make new teams so long as the max team size is not exceeded.
• Trials are more difficult for solo or partial teams, but more points, so being strategically selfish is sometimes viable, creating tension and drama.
• Various challenges
• Defeat villain
• Reach a goal
• Rescue civilians
• De-escalation
• Morale
• Medical assistance
• Protect object or environment / minimize collateral damage
• Sports / Game-y like capture the flag or king of the hill

Despite this outline, I think some more thought will need to go into the overall design of the module and how the trials fit into that before I can delve deeper into particulars.

Heroes

Here are a few Heroes as proof of concept, although I may change this up significantly for the actual game. I want them to have distinct appearances and personalities, even if the players aren't doing much roleplaying per se (it seems like it would be difficult to get into character with a Funnel), they'll at least have some idea of how the character would behave.

Also, I want the powers to be interesting. I've created plenty of superpowers already, but I think these will be a little simpler and more focused.

For weaknesses, variants, and signature moves, roll 1d4 for one each. The "Signature Move" doesn't have to be taken too literally, they're more so just to inform how to think about and potentially use their powers. So potentially a hero could do something similar to one of the other Signature Moves, but more limited in scope or a less impactful effect.

Likewise, some of the powers may have weaknesses implicitly or explicitly, but the randomly rolled weakness is either especially vulnerable or to emphasize the point.

Superhero

Bloodhound

Costume: Form-fitting black and tan or amber suit, mask with floppy ears that pick up scents and assist in scent analysis.

Powers: Low-level superstrength, durability, speed, agility, and super-smell. They can reconstruct entire scenes from smell, including precise spatial and temporal resolution, pheromones, and minute chemical particles.

Weaknesses: 

1. Poor vision.
2. Ears sensitive to touch and also loud or high-frequency noises.
3. Singularly focused when following a scent.
4. Sensitive stomach.

Variants:

1. Powers are entirely technological, with the ears doing all of the scent analysis.
2. Anthropomorphic bloodhound.
3. Foxhound; smaller but faster and more agile.
4. Uplifted bloodhound.

Signature Moves:

1. Blood-bound: If they draw blood, they can perfectly track their target until the wound no longer bleeds.
2. Scent Analysis: By touching their ears to the ground or a surface, they can reconstruct a scene, including the order of events, and to some extent thoughts or sentiments (from pheromones), from the scent alone.
3. Bloodlust: They become significantly more powerful, but enter a near-uncontrollable rage, after drawing blood from one of their targets.
4. Power Pack: Their super senses and animal instincts make them excellent team players and benefitting their whole team on tracking-related tasks.

Scanner Darkly

Costume: Suit and tie, mask that obscures their face and shifts facial features, and modulates their voice, so that they are entirely unrecognizable.

Powers: They can infiltrate a group without anyone realizing it. They take on the features and personality of whoever they need to be to best fit into the group they infiltrate. Like dream logic; obvious after the fact that they don't belong, but makes sense at the moment. They also have a secret benefactor such as a corporation or government, who gave them various combat and espionage training and superspy gadgets.

Weaknesses:

1. The longer they stay in deep cover, the more likely they are to lose sight of their original purpose.
2. Brain hemispheres operate independently, leading to infrequent hallucinations or delusions.
3. Substance abuse problems relating to controlling their powers.
4. Burned by their organization; they have limited resources and many enemies.

Variants:

1. Powers are entirely drug-based.
2. They are actually a distributed intelligence funneled* into a human shell; underneath the mask is an empty void. Even their "true" self is an illusion.
3. Powers are entirely technological.
4. No secret benefactor, this is itself a delusion; training and gadgets come from acquired through mysterious means.

*pun intended

Signature Moves:

1. D: Even if spotted, if there is a crowd, they can seamlessly blend into the crowd under (D)eep cover.
2. Multi-Task Maneuver: Their split brain hemispheres allow for superhuman multitasking, and they are uniquely trained for fighting while outnumbered and using their opposition's numbers against themselves.
3. Panopticon: Carries holographic scanners, an array of micromachines tossed like dust that can coordinate within a space to reflect light signals between each other, functioning as a comprehensive surveillance system across a large space.
4. Blue Flower: Attached to the suit lapel, causes mild hallucinations and delusions to those in the vicinity when pressed, and the effects compound over the number of exposures in a short time and proximity to the flower.

Gray Goo

Costume: Iridescent silvery-gray particles that lick against their body like flames.

Powers: Convert matter within a 6x6 space around them into nanomachines, which can be converted into anything so long as they understand its composition, or integrated within a nanomachine virtual reality which they must consciously maintain. Living things may be converted only into the virtual reality, only as themselves, and are ejected as themselves if the virtual reality is shut down such as due to lack of concentration.

Personally, I find this power to be really interesting and I've explored this idea on my blog before, but I worry that most people won't understand the intrinsic relationship between nanomachines and virtual reality or how the distinction between real and virtual becomes somewhat arbitrary when nanomachines are involved, and it would probably be too bulky to try to explain it. Yay or nay on this?

Weaknesses:

1. The nanomachine virtual reality has subtly incorrect details like objects being differently colored, or lower resolution like being static to wind or light.
2. Converting too many objects in a short time span makes them lightheaded.
3. One experiences a distinct myoclonic jerk like falling asleep when scanned into the nanomachine virtual reality.
4. There is a 1 in 6 chance that a converted object is dysfunctional, and this will not be apparent until it is used.

Variants:

1. They are actually gray goo and their human form is that of or inspired by a human loved one.
2. The gray goo is an artificial intelligence with its own personality, loyal to the superhero but with cat-like independence.
3. The gray goo is an alien or extradimensional organism that has developed a symbiotic relationship with the superhero.
4. They are a gray goo blob and for some reason cannot change their own form except inside the virtual reality.

Signature Moves:

1. Labyrinth: The nanomachine virtual reality is a maze full of paradoxically twisting planes that disorient those inside who may not be aware that they're in a virtual space.
2. Entropy Bath: The nanomachines vibrate into a 6x6 sphere of plasma.
3. Protocol 42: The nanomachines operate as a super-advanced quantum computer, able to perform computational tasks that would otherwise be impractical or impossible.
4. Golem: The nanomachines are programmed into larger forms that protect them and attacks opposition within their influence.

Alter Ego

These first four are adapted from a previous blog post where I discuss my Character Formula. It's a common trope for superheroes to have alliterative names but I'm undecided if I want that to be the case for all of them or just a large number of them. I altered these to better fit the MHA/student theme, but in retrospect, this doesn't have to be a high school module, the assumption could be that they're college students or adults of any age really.

1. Riley Reiner: Rambunctious athlete and stamp collector who loves the limelight.
2. Simone Simpson: Nihilistic engineering geek and soup kitchen volunteer who isn't sure what she believes anymore.
3. Neal Nguyen: Charismatic class president and vlogger who enjoys the simple life (when he can have it).
4. Jivan Jarodia: Perky homebody and aspiring graphic designer who sublimates his violent temper through acts of kindness.

Example Superhero 1

Superhero: Scanner Darkly

Alter Ego: Riley Reiner

Rambunctious athlete and stamp collector who loves the limelight.

Hero Points: 6 (Tentative default)

Ability Scores (Tentatively assuming 3d6, down the line for simplicity)

SHOW: 14
TEAM: 7
WILL: 13
TECH: 14
EXAM: 10

Weakness: Burned by their organization; they have limited resources and many enemies.

Variant: Powers are entirely drug-based.

Signature Move: 

Panopticon: Carries holographic scanners, an array of micromachines tossed like dust that can coordinate within a space to reflect light signals between each other, functioning as a comprehensive surveillance system across a large space.

This version of Scanner Darkly is a bit of a contradiction; being high in showmanship despite their powers being very much the opposite. However, this goes well with their Alter Ego Riley Reiner, who loves the limelight. Perhaps they got burned by their organization specifically for trying to be too SHOW-y, and so they feel they have a lot to prove. I imagine they like to taunt their opposition, using the surveillance data from their panopticon to punk them in various ways. High TECH goes well with their Signature Move even though they didn't get the technology-based variant. The "medication" they've been taking for their powers and how it's affected their adolescent development (a metaphor if I've ever seen one...), along with their training, might explain their above-average WILL.

Example Superhero 2

To demonstrate the randomization, I'll stick with the Superhero Scanner Darkly, but reroll the rest.

Superhero: Scanner Darkly

Alter Ego: Neal Nguyen

Charismatic class president and vlogger who enjoys the simple life (when he can have it).

Hero Points: 6 (Tentative default)

Ability Scores (Tentatively assuming 3d6, down the line for simplicity)

SHOW: 9
TEAM: 13
WILL: 10
TECH: 10
EXAM: 12

Weakness: Brain hemispheres operate independently, leading to infrequent hallucinations or delusions.

Variant: Powers are entirely technological.

Signature Move: Blue Flower: Attached to the suit lapel, causes mild hallucinations and delusions to those in the vicinity when pressed, and the effects compound over the number of exposures in a short time and proximity to the flower.

Although they have a just average TECH score, the TECH ability is actually TECHnique rather than just technology, and even then it's more about external or novel technology, rather than the use of one's own gadgets, so I don't think it's a contradiction here. The fact that they have an above-average TEAM score and slightly below-average SHOW is a nice contrast to the previous version of Scanner Darkly that I rolled up. As class president and as a vlogger, they have good leadership skills and presentation skills, but more so dry, perhaps soothing, but less so sensationalist, which is also a nice contrast to the previous version. Their supertech was created by their benefactor in order to compensate for the neurological disorder they developed due to exposure to an experimental hallucinogenic blue flower. Their benefactor has since created a version of the blue flower that is safe for long-term exposure and may have beneficial pharmaceutical applications in the future, but for now, our Scanner Darkly uses it as a weapon. While I think the other version of Scanner Darkly gelled a little bit more cohesively on-face than this one, I can see the potential for this character if they pass the trials; this backstory lends itself to quite a few questions. What is the blue flower? Why were they exposed to it? Who is the benefactor? What are the supposed pharmaceutical applications? Is it actually safe?

Despite having the same superhero name, costume description, and base power, I think we have two fairly distinct characters who are both interesting in their own right, so I'm pretty happy with this prototype.

Minigame: Critical Roll Casino Dice Game

This is a casino-style dice game inspired by Blackjack. It could be a fun game in its own right totally independent of an in-universe tabletop RPG mini-game, but by using dice and playing into the idea of a critical roll, it has a fun tabletop feel to it.

The Rules

• The goal is to roll the closest value to 20. 
• Unlike blackjack, there is no busting, but on a tie in different direction (e.g. 18 vs 22), the lower value takes priority.
• Players can play against each other or against the dealer.
• Place bets and after all bets are placed, everyone rolls a d20.
• Critical Success: On a roll of 20, the player automatically wins and receives 1.5x their bet.
• If the dealer also rolls a critical success, it's considered a push and the player neither wins nor loses.

• Critical Failure: On a roll of 1, the player automatically loses.
• After the d20 roll, place the d20 facing the rolled value below the bet. Each player takes their turn from left to right (house goes last). Each player takes all of their actions before moving on to the next player.
• Hit: If the player did not roll a critical success, they can choose to roll a d12 and add the value to their total, placing the d12 facing the rolled value under their d20 in a dice chain. Players can continue to hit, decreasing the dice size until >= 20, or the player has rolled a d4. 
• d12 -> d10 -> d8 -> d6 -> d4
• Critical Hits: Rolling the maximum value on a die is a critical success. Roll a d20. If the player rolls a 20, replace the current total with the 20. This is not the same as a critical success. A roll of 1 on this die does not count as a critical fail.
• Miss: After rolling a 1 on a die, add the 1 to the total, but the player cannot make another hit even if they have smaller dice (e.g. if the player rolls a 1 on a d8, they cannot hit to roll a d6). This is not the same as a critical failure.
• Split: If the value of a rolled die is the same as the directly preceding die in the chain (e.g. 5 on a d20 followed by 5 on a d12), the dice chain can be split.
• Separate the dice and place a bet equal to the original next to the second die.
• Start from the first die and decide whether or not to roll another hit (e.g. go back to the 5 on a d20 and decide whether to hit with another d12). Follow this chain, then move to the next (e.g. after finishing the d20 chain, go to the 5 on the d12 and choose whether to hit with a d10).
• A dice chain can be split as many times as there are valid opportunities and the player can afford the bet.
• Double Down: Rather than taking a hit after the d20 roll, the player can choose to double their bet, and roll one single die of any size besides d20, but they cannot take any other actions after the double down.
• Dealer Rules: 
• If the dealer and player roll the same value, dealer always wins (except critical successes, which push).
• A roll of 1 on a d20 does not count as a critical failure.
• Cannot split or double down.
• Must hit until they have a value >= 20. 
• No critical hits or misses.

Minigame: Tama-Dama Collectible Egg Battle Game!

I have several other posts brewing but I've been fairly busy lately, so I figure now's the time to break the glass on some of my backup posts. This is something I wrote up forever ago.


This is a minigame that exists in my Phantasmos campaign setting, but could be applied to other science fantasy, or even other science fiction or regular fantasy settings, with a bit of tweaking. The game was designed around Numenera / Cypher System and would need to be heavily re-worked for other systems, but I still think it's a cool idea.

I ran it in my old Numenera campaign set in Phantasmos which was forever ago, I can't believe I never posted this on my blog!

It only showed up a few times, mainly giving the players some alternative ways to problem solve (the shopkeep won't sell the mcguffin... unless you can beat him in a tama-dama battle!), and I thought it was fun. You could theoretically build a whole campaign around this!

Rules for Tama-Dama battling

• By default, lvl 3 difficulty
• For every lvl difference between tama-damas changes difficulty by 1
• Element advantage/disadvantage changes difficulty by 1
• Anti-Information>Absolute Solid>Liquid Starfire>Impossible Light>Anti-Information
• Learn more about the Elements of Phantasmos
• Training/specializing in Tama-Dama battling changes difficulty by 1 or 2
• Intelligence/Might/Speed type determines which pool to use for effort

List of Tama-Dama

Cordicoyot: A cyan-furred puppy coyote-like creature with a psilosymbiote infection 

• Element: Anti-information
• Type: Might

Starmander: A translucent yellow, gel-skinned salamander-like creature which breathes liquid starfire

• Element: Liquid starfire
• Type: Speed

Angefel: A pink-skinned, cherubic, semi-humanoid, golemite vulture-like creature

• Element: Absolute solid
• Type: Intelligence

Elephanshine: An impossible-colored baby elephant-like creature which sprays impossible light rainbows from its trunk

• Element: Impossible light
• Type: Intelligence

BB-Beetle: An emerald shelled beetle with pinkish skin, which shoots spitballs of absolute solid

• Element: Absolute solid
• Type: Speed

Phreaky Frelin: A frelin-like phreaker who casts spells of anti-information magic

• Element: Anti-information
• Type: Intelligence

Cosmom: A ball of gelatinous starfire with arms and big, red lips, which smothers its enemies with love… to death

• Element: Liquid starfire
• Type: Might

Impossipanda: A panda-like creature with patches of impossible colored fur, and mesmerizing eyes which produce impossible light. Surprisingly fast for such a fat creature

• Element: Impossible light
• Type: Speed

A sample Tama-Dama Tournament

Players will compete against 4 NPCs or each other in a tournament:

Georgina: A mutant girl with the mouth of a lion. 

• Battles with a lvl 1d2 BB-Beetle.
• A bratty girl who acts mean to cover her insecurities. Underneath her bluster, she's actually timid and caring.
• Will get angry and flustered if she loses the first round.
• Will cry if she loses.
• If you convince her that you respect her, even if she loses, she will cheer up.

Ruk: A middle-aged tartarian with a hunched back. 

• Battles with a lvl 1d2 Phreaky Frelin. 
• Is trained in tama-dama battling.
• Neckbeard.
• Will accuse you of cheating if he loses.

Loys: A mutant boy with spirals in place of eyes. 

• Battles with a lvl 1d2 Cosmom.
• Nice, but very weird.
• Has an overbearing / domineering mom.
• His mom will yell at you if you win the first round.
• She will begin crying and console the (unperturbed) Loys.
• He will ask if he can be your friend, regardless of whether you win or lose.

Vincent: A pale, skinny mutant with greasy grayish-blue hair. He is almost attractive, except for his slightly droopy, beady eyes, and large nose. 

• Battles with a lvl 2 Impossipanda. 
• Is specialized in tama-dama battling.
• Arrogant. Too cool to talk to you. Mildly sociopathic. 
• 1337 h4x0r.
• If Vincent makes it to the final round and loses a single round, his Impossipanda will turn into NaNo, the secret glitch tama-dama. 
• NaNo has type superiority regardless of player's tama-dama type.
• Will be an over-dramatic edge-lord if he loses. 

Minigame: Dueling!

I read this article on Chocolate Hammer about the TTRPG En Garde! and found it fascinating. It seems really crunchy and not a game I'd want to play directly, but I think a more streamlined version of it could be a cool game in its own right, or maybe ideas from it could be embedded as sub-systems into other RPGs. I have not read the game, so this isn't that (maybe I'll do that eventually), but it did get me thinking about a dueling sub-system. I also recently played Sorcery! on steam, based on Advanced Fighting Fantasy, and the combat system also inspired this.

In particular, I want dueling to be something unique, not just regular combat, and I like the idea of simultaneous resolution, and the idea of rock-paper-scissors, semi-deterministic outcome over dice-roll probabilistic outcome.

There needs to be a balance, where it's more sophisticated than literally just rock-paper-scissors, but not so complicated as to be mired in minutia.

These rules are meant to be an abstraction that can be applied to sword duels, western stand-offs, samurai showdowns, etc., and not in any way a "realistic" version of any specific kind of dueling. My intention is for duels to be short and sweet, but playtesting would be needed to see how long they go on. It wouldn't be the end of the world if they were a bit longer, as long as they're fun...

Finally, before getting into the mechanics, I'm designing this minigame with TNT in mind, but my intention is for it to be something that could be relatively straightforwardly be ported to other systems.

• For each round of combat, pick a number between 1 and 6 without revealing it
• Both participants write down their numbers and reveal them simultaneously
• Start with 10 stamina as the default maximum
• Actions 2-6 cost that much in stamina
• Defend (action 1) recovers as much stamina as the opponent's action (up to maximum).
• Unless otherwise noted, damage is the number of damage dice of the dueling weapon multiplied by the difference between the two sides' chosen values (for the winning side). 
• In another system such as OSR, it may simply be the product of the average damage for the dueling weapon by the multiplier.
• For STR, DEX, SPD, and LK, add +1 max stamina for each attribute >= 20, +2 for >= 30, etc.
• Certain action sequences can trigger special abilities (suggested list below).
• Each character only has one special ability by default.
• For each level of talent in dueling, gain +3 max stamina or a special ability.

Example: If each character wields a 2d6 dueling sword, and Player One makes a Heavy attack (5) and Player Two makes a Lunge attack (3), then Player One deals 2 (damage dice) * 3 (Heavy (5) - Lunge (3)) = 6 damage to Player Two.

Dueling Attack Actions

1. Defend: Take only half the number of opponent's damage dice, rounded up to a minimum of 1.
2. Jab: A low-cost attack.
3. Lunge: Reach into opponent's space.
4. Forward: Attempt to take ground from opponent.
5. Heavy: Go in for a strong hit.
6. Assault: All in power-attack!

Special Abilities List (Suggestions)

Special abilities can only be used once per duel unless otherwise noted.

For any special ability requiring an SR, unless otherwise noted, the SR level is the difference between the two actions, except for defense, which is always 1. Whether to take high-low or low-high will depend on if the trigger is for losing a round vs. winning a round.

• Lucky Dodge: If you would be defeated in the round, you can make a LK SR to dodge. On a success, you avoid all damage.


• Parry: If you take damage in a round and the opponent made a Lunge (3) or lower, you can make a DEX SR. On a success, you take only half damage rounded down (if you defended, you take 0 damage).


• Riposte: If you take damage in a round and the opponent made a Forward (4) or greater, you can make a SPEED SR. On a success, your next action counts as +1 in power without triggering higher-number abilities (e.g. a defend is still a defend, but against another defend it would deal 1 damage to the opponent).


• Blitz: If you made a Forward (4) or higher-level action and succeeded, add 1 to your damage multiplier. If the opponent defended, instead deal 2x damage dice in damage.


• Suicide-Run: Before the actions for the round are revealed but after they are chosen, you can declare a suicide-run. Make a CON SR (take whichever difference would be positive for the SR level). Both duelists deal number of damage dice times multiplier damage to each other. If either player defended, the suicide-run is voided (and the special ability cannot be reused).


• Feint: Before the actions for the round are revealed but after they are chosen, you can declare a feint. Make a CHA SR (in whichever direction would be a positive level). On a success, if you would have taken damage or both duelists defended, your action counts as one level higher than your opponent's and they take damage instead. If you would have won anyway, your action is one level higher. This may trigger special abilities.


• Tactical: You've simulated events in your head and don't like the results. Make an IQ SR to re-do the round. You and your opponent both may choose new numbers. If you would have won the round, the SR is 1 and your new action counts as +1 without triggering higher-number abilities (e.g. a defend is still a defend, but against another defend it would deal 1 damage to the opponent). If your opponent had declared a special ability before you activated tactical, they recover the use of that special ability.


• Force of Will: If you would be defeated in the round, make a WIZ SR. On a success, you can last one more round, possibly taking your opponent down with you. Your next action counts as +SR level in power without triggering higher-number abilities (e.g. a defend is still a defend, but against another defend it would deal SR level damage to the opponent).