Monthly Archives: November 2013

Quarterback Blitz now in Playtesting…

Humble beginnings: The Play-test Set… (Picture © Wendi Kavanaugh 2013)

While For Glory! is being readied for a spring Kickstarter, playtesting has started on Quarterback Blitz, the table top miniature game of Professional Football.This will not only be another exciting new future product from Jabberwocky, but is also a Thesis Project for my MFA, so it is going to be scrutinized with academic intensity as well as my own OCD like attention to design detail.

As you can see from the image above, the game focuses on the one on one tactical interactions of individual players on the field, each one of which has his own Stat Card, describing his stats, skills and special abilities, like so:

For each card, there is a corresponding miniature: currently, I’m using Tudor Electric Football models, clipped off of their stands and placed on 20mm round bases. They’re fairly small, and the models I plan to have made for the final game will be smaller still to fit in with the 1:72/25mm scale of the game, which everything is scaled to including the marks on the field. As such, jersey numbers will be kind of hard to see and, for the first time player, might not really define the position and where that player fits into the grand strategy of the Offense or the Defense. To provide for that, I’ve created specialized bases for each model:

Each Base has three vital pieces of information:

Player Position: Above we have a Quarterback, a Mike Linebacker and a Split End (a Wide Receiver on the weak end of the line). These are all represented by the actual letter codes used in most coaches’ playbooks so that when you look down at the field, you will see the play in physical form. A great tool for teaching basic formation structure.

Player Number: Another identifier that keys the player to the card, so if you have numerous non-specialized Linebackers or a gaggle of Rookie Tackles, you can tell them apart.

Mobility Ring: This ring, broken into three zones, determines turning radius as well as situational awareness when passing, receiving and avoiding blocks and tackles.

Other that that, the game has relatively few other pieces, the vast majority of which are specialized dice, including a set for Passing/Kicking, Ball-Handling, Blocking and Sprinting, as well as time, ball deviation, injury and penalty dice. Each set will have special icons instead of numbers (well, the deviation and time dice will have numbers) like those shown below:

The game in play is a slower, more deliberative game that concentrates on the strategy of Football. This means that it is not only a more mental game that all ages can enjoy, like chess (as opposed to just those with fast-twitch muscles on a video game console), it is also an excellent tool for teaching newbies the fundamentals of football, the ins and outs of plays, positions and how they function, and why they’d name a position something as silly as Willy (A: he’s the Weak side LInebacker).

In addition, it will be a hobby game, like Warhammer Fantasy Battle or Flames of War, in that you will be able to paint your models to fit your team colors (real or made-up) and build a custom stadium for home games. Alternately, if you can’t paint a lick, there will be pre-packaged and painted Expansion Teams (including real NFL teams), with a set of cards and models for 50+ players, a whole team in a box, including the history of the franchise and special stadium rules for their home field. Other planned expansions include:

Dirty Tricks & Exceptional Plays: This card deck expansion would contain special plays and events that occur in football but cannot be accurately reflected using miniatures rules, such as the events that lead to the Immaculate Reception: balls bouncing off shoulder pads, miracle catches made when surrounded by the opposition or attempting to goad other players to anger so they’ll start a fight and get thrown out of the game.

QBB Coaching Kit: This expansion adds a whole new level to the game as we introduce the Coaching Staff who affect the field game from the sidelines with coaching skills, the ability to call time-outs, challenge calls, and treat exhausted, demoralized and injured players.

The Coaching Kit also introduces the Playbook with associated Play Deck. With these you can plan out special plays that give your players an advantage on the field so long as they follow the play. A perfect way to learn the overall strategy behind the tactics seen on the field.

QBB Franchise Kit: Ever wanted to be Jerry Jones and build a Super Bowl winning franchise? This expansion shows the effects of the Stadium, fans, and money on a teams fortunes. Draft the best players to build your team, buy free agents to fill in the gaps and enhance the training facilities in your training camp to produce the absolute best gridiron warriors in the league. And don’t forget the endorsements, you need money to make all that happen…

FOR GLORY! Print & Play Demo is Available…

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The Kickstarter for For Glory! has been moved back to February (my Thesis is just taking up way too much time for anything else at this point), but in the meantime, we’re making a Print & Play Demo available for download for those who would like to give it a try and all for the low low price of absolutely nothing at all. You can find it here:

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/121861/FOR-GLORY-%28Print-%26-Play-Demo%29

Print it up, put it together and play a few games and then let us know what you think over in the forums. Those who are particularly helpful will find their names added to our credits Edda and, if they have a really cool idea, might even find a custom card with their name on it! That’s how the Lemurs of Lemuria card ended up in the set…

Void Hunters: The Commanding Officer…

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The Synthetic is a unique class that really didn’t have any analogies to DCC in specific or OSR games in general, but it is not alone in that regards. The Commanding Officer is another class that doesn’t really fit neatly into the OSR pigeonhole.

It’s like a Cleric, but the healing abilities are all psychological not physical. It’s like the Warlord, with excellent leadership abilities that enhance the party, but more educated and skilled than combat intensive.

It is the lynchpin of any team, and, like the Cleric and Warrior, its absence is sorely felt when no one takes up the role. Here is the current version of the class…

COMMANDING OFFICER

Level	Leadership	Combat Die	Bonus Attack	REF	FOR	WIL	Other Abilities
1	D3	D3	None	+1	+0	+1	Educated, Lead from the Front
2	D4	D3	None	+1	+0	+2
3	D6	D4	None	+1	+0	+3
4	D8	D4	None	+1	+1	+3
5	D10	D6	3D4	+1	+1	+4

HIT DICE

TECH BASE

General, Combat, Transport

EDUCATED

Officers are more highly educated, and have access to knowledge that is typically restricted to specialist crew-members. At level 1, they may choose any one additional Tech Base.

COMBAT DIE & COMBAT MANEUVERS

Officers have a Combat Die just as Soldiers do. Although it is smaller, it functions in the same way.

LEADERSHIP DIE

Each Round, an Officer may add their Leadership Die to one other character who is within communication range (verbal or visual) and actively following their lead. This die may be added to that recipient’s Action Roll for that Round only (they may not be saved from Round to Round).

Actively following the Officer’s means that the Officer Character has given the recipient some instruction at some point before their Action roll and they are actively carrying it out.

At level 3 and above, the Officer may ‘split’ their Leadership die into two or more smaller dice. The only restriction is that a D3 is the smallest die that can be split off in this manner and any remainders are lost (a D10 split 3 ways would become a D3, D3 and D3, for example). They may assign these extra dice as they see fit, but may only assign one to any single individual per Round.

LEAD FROM THE FRONT

Instead of using their Leadership Die for the round to give orders and encouragement, the Officer may lead by example, passing their Will save to do some extremely unnerving task like entering and alien infested hulk, leading a charge against a band of space pirates, or any other daring act the inspires their comrades. They may do this a number of times per Mission equal to their Level.

Any character (except Synthetics) following them and doing the same Action gains a x1 Enhancement on their roll for that Round only.

CONFESSOR

Officers may use their Leadership Die (or dice if they split it) once in the Psychosis phase to help a crew member (except Synthetics) to either avoid picking up a new permanent psychosis or to help remove an existing one.

Void Hunters: The Synthetic…

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I’ve been heavily at work on Quarterback Blitz and finishing the Demo Kit for For Glory!, so I’ve only had a few spare moments to work on the Void Hunters manuscript (or to update this blog). Those fleeting moments I have had to work on it (basically when I was too burned out to work on the other stuff), have seen the completion of the first draft of the 6 character classes.

The Synthetic was the hardest class to figure out. How does one go about making a class that is arguably ‘superior’ to the other classes while still making it playable (in the sense that everyone else is still having fun while you play it)? I think I came up with the right mix, making the Synthetic a kind of Soldier/Sci-Tech cross with a few unique abilities and strictures, kind of like the Elf in DCC.

Here is the current version of the class. A few of you may note that the REF, FOR saves are very high at first level, while WIL is non-existent, and none of them change as the character levels. This is intentional and reflects the static nature of the Synthetic’s artificial body. It does not grow in the normal sense, and is front loaded to be the best it can be at the beginning: very agile with a high situational awareness and a very tough body, but with no Will to speak of, due to its artificial nature.


LEVEL	COMBAT DIE	XTRA ATTACK	TECH DIE	REF	FOR	WIL	OTHER ABILITIES
1	D3	None	D3	+6	+3	+0	New Tech Base or Focus
2	D4	None	D4	+6	+3	+0	New Tech Base or Focus
3	D6	None	D6	+6	+3	+0	New Tech Base or Focus
4	D8	None	D8	+6	+3	+0	New Tech Base or Focus
5	D10	3D4	D10	+6	+3	+0	New Tech Base or Focus

HIT DICE

D10

TECH BASE

General

Synthetics start with a single Tech base based upon the starting Occupation for which they were initially decanted. They are fast learners, however, and pick up one new Tech Base per level, unless they decide to take a Focus.

FOCUS

Instead of picking up a new Tech Base, a Synthetic may add a Focus in one particular use of an existing base. This works exactly the same way as it does for the Sci-Tech.

COMBAT DIE & COMBAT MANEUVERS

Synthetics have a Combat Die just as Soldiers do and it works in the exact same way.

TECH DIE

Roll the Tech Die given for your level with every roll using their Tech Base (use a different colored die to differentiate it from the rest). Add the amount on the die to your roll. Tech Dice count as part of the roll for Criticals.

HUMAN 2.0

The Synthetic career may only be taken by a character who starts out as a Synthetic on the random occupation table.

A Synthetic is specially designed for the specific purpose, reflected in this Starting Occupation and this will give them bonuses to their Attribute rolls when the character is created. These modifiers may take the Synthetic above the human maximum of 18, but will never reduce an attribute below 1.

COLD LOGIC

The Synthetic, although created in man’s image, is not truly human and does not feel or think as a human does. While it’s complex neural net places it as far above the common robot as man is above the apes, and it may seem to have a personality and emotions, it’s nature as an artificial life-form has a number of unique ramifications for the character.

First of all, it derives no benefits or penalties from psychology of any sort. This means it doesn’t benefit from an Officer’s Lead from the Front or Confessor abilities but, equally, it does not suffer Fear or any other psychologically induced emotion.

Unfortunately, while external psychological pressures have no effect on the Synthetic mind, it can suffer logic errors when given conflicting orders (or when its Neural Inhibitor circuits are tampered with). If, for instance, a Commanding Officer tells it to do something that goes against its Prime Directives, the Synthetic may resolve the situation as it sees fit from a logical perspective, but internally, a form of computational schizophrenia may develop and this can lead to instabilities in the Synthetic’s neural net. This is the only way Synthetics can earn Psychosis and, when they do, they roll on their own specialized chart.

Finally, a Synthetic is totally immune to psionic powers which affect the mind. A Psion can never read a Synthetic’s mind, control it mentally or send it telepathic messages. Even though the synthetic brain is almost a prefect replica of a human brain, albeit one made of a pseudo-organic bio-plastic, there is something missing that separates the Synthetic from humanity on a mental level. This is why, when synthetics are being used as infiltrators or have gone rogue, Psions are the first line of defense.

NEURAL INHIBITORS

Synthetic behavior is restricted by a set of bio-plastic gene-circuits, which they obey on an instinctual level. This is meant to reign them in and prevents them from using their superior abilities to dominate mankind.

The Voidmaster has the final say on what, exactly these Inhibitors inhibit based upon their campaign setting, but on a basic level, a Synthetic’s starting occupation will determine its Prime Directives. Most Synthetics, for instance, are prohibited from harming human beings, but Combat Synthetics will not have this restriction encoded into their Inhibitors for obvious reasons. On the other hand, the Combat Drone will typically have a very specific chain of command and code words to deactivate it should it go rogue. something that is considered unnecessary in other Synthetics. Basic Inhibitions common to all Synthetics include:

1. Follow Team Members’ Orders (by rank)

2. Protect Team Members

3. Protect Self (unless this conflicts with 2)

Another character with the Synthetic Tech Base may attempt to alter the Neural Inhibitors of a Synthetic, but this is a DC 27 task and failure gives the Synthetic D3 automatic psychosis. On a success, they may rewrite D6 Inhibitions.