Trophy RPG

[Picaroon Jack]

Says in the write up above it something about a ritual that made people pregnant with some monstrosity.

 

[Lessa]

Stumbled with this incursion, Devil, Aim for Me that looks good.

Anybody tried it or read it?

 

[Haiku Elvis]

Stumbled with this incursion, Devil, Aim for Me that looks good.

Anybody tried it or read it?

No but there is an episode of the Fear of a Black Dragon podcast where they discuss it in detail that may help.

 

[gruagach]

And I really like Trophy!

Quick question for those that've played it and/or run it: do incursions have to be some form of "mythic otherworld"?

Could a scenario work in the game, do you think, where the story setup was happening across a city that's also the characters' home base? As in, the story isn't "go into a primeval forest, get some gold, go back to town", but rather, "leave your boarding house, go around town accomplishing X task, go back to your boarding house"?

Thinking about the idea of running Trophy gold in a Warhammer FRPG-ish setting, where the adventures / incursions are things happening in the player character's home town.

Any thoughts/advice would be appreciated.

 

[Fenris-77]

So the Trophy in question here is Trophy Dark? Dark was written as a sort of deconstruction of OSR wilderness play witj an emphasis on horror. That said, it's not hard to reimagine the rings as standing in for just about anything else.

Trophy Gold can handle a WHFRP setting no problem. Gold is essentially Dark but aimed at a more whole experience OSR game, so experience etc. A little flavor on the equipment and perhaps some new professions and you're off to the races.

I wasn't quite sure what you meant by mythic otherworld so I answered for both systems. Trophy Loom is pretty in line qoth WHFRP sensibilities, for what that's worth.

 

[gruagach]

Thanks! I meant Trophy Gold, yes.

Mythic Underworld is essentially a place where the normal rules of reality no longer apply . The environment is actively hostile, like doors shutting on players but opening for monsters. It is a place where the rules of myths and legends apply more than mundane reality. Usually reached by crossing a threshold, either literally or metaphorically.

The idea is that the adventure location in a lot of old school play is set to be distinct from “civilization“ and “safety”.

Incursions as presented in Trophy Gold had that feeling, and I wanted a heads up if doing an urban adventure in and around the PC’s place of safety would break anything or stress anything within the Trophy Gold rules/procedure.

 

[Fenris-77]

The various incursions for TG run quite the range of feels. There's no need at all to feel constrained by the approaches you've seen. I hacked TG for space trucker horror, so its pretty flexible.

 

[Picaroon Jack]

I made a deep dive incursion based on dwarven ruins deep in a mountain (like Moria & Skyrim), and built in the option of a secure basecamp down in the ruins to allow them to rest/repair without having to backtrack and return to town. It worked great.

 

[Fenris-77]

I made a deep dive incursion based on dwarven ruins deep in a mountain (like Moria & Skyrim), and built in the option of a secure basecamp down in the ruins to allow them to rest/repair without having to backtrack and return to town. It worked great.

Did you use a trimmed down version of something like Hearthfire for that or did you gin up some mechanics on your own?

 

[Picaroon Jack]

Did you use a trimmed down version of something like Hearthfire for that or did you gin up some mechanics on your own?

Totally trimmed down Hearthfire to include basically just lowering ruin by one and repairing one piece of gear.

 

[Fenris-77]

Totally trimmed down Hearthfire to include basically just lowering ruin by one and repairing one piece of gear.

That's a slick answer. You can do a lot more with Trophy when there isn't the burning need to get back to town quite as often.

 

[Picaroon Jack]

I just wanted to extend their time so they could get down to the vaults and explore the lost city and secret forges before the spiders in the dark took them.

 

[Fenris-77]

Now I feel like ginning up some actual journey rules for TG, just to see what that would look like.

 

[Picaroon Jack]

Now I feel like ginning up some actually journey rules for TG, just to see what that would look like.

I know there is some Travel move in Silt Verses, but I've not checked it out yet.

It seems like with Trophy Gold, the travel is mostly "And it was really arduous, but now you are there." LOL

 

[Fenris-77]

I know there is some Travel move in Silt Verses, but I've not checked it out yet.

It seems like with Trophy Gold, the travel is mostly "And it was really arduous, but now you are there." LOL

I was thinking more of looking at burdens (as an idea) and working in some sort of equivalent resource mechanic for journeys. The trick is keeping the mechanics light when the usual approach is often quite book-keepy.

 

[Fenris-77]

So I'm inspired enough by this idea about journey rules to actually do some tinkering and I'll probably use this thread as a sounding board while I work through some possibilities. Here's what I have so far:

• the basic idea is essentially Hearthfire in reverse, sort of, or perhaps think of it as pre-paid burdens - this is tracked on a Journey Sheet (better name?)
• gold can be spent to equip the journey in various ways, but the basic thing is units of supply (UVG is a touchstone here) - supply dwindles over the course of the journey, and running out is bad - I didn't want to get as granular as food/water/firewood/fodder etc
• various beasts of burden and porter type hirelings raise the maximum supply that can be carried but can also be lost (Naturally)
• all the other mechanics internal to the journey run off of supply - gold and supply are interchangeable in terms of 'encumbrance' to the journey
• special goods or hirelings allow some aspects of hearthfire to be made portable - cleaning ruin, healing conditions - but the supply cost is high
• backpack and combat equipment can be replaced or repaired if the journey is properly equipped, but less random stuff is available, and repaired weapons' and armour is a high-cost endeavor (in supply, which also stands in for time spent)

• most of the above journey mechanics will have a table to roll on that can be positively influenced by cleverness and the results of which set the supply cost for the healing/repair/etc in supply, and possibly other results

Matters external to the journey sheet run off of the Hunt token mechanic. Actual journeys are given a difficulty that sets a number of hunt tokens needed to get there - weather and terrain add difficulty while maps and guides can reduce it. This builds random encounters right into the journey too, which is neat. The bad effects of hunt rolls on a journey will have a bespoke table with a range of possible effects, from hints and possibilities, to immediate dangers, to random mishaps that effect the journey in various ways. Nested tables can build on the base on as needed - this is your terrain specific monster table for example - and the nested tables can be plugged in and out as the journey changes.

Hunt tokens can also be spent to add supply back to the journey but again a table of some kind will add some risk and randomness to the process. This is the core decision point of the journey play loop - tokens get you closer to your destinations but are also you only way to resupply when things get short and come with a healthy soupcon of danger. The various tables and mechanics will be designed to pressure supply so the longer the journey goes without returning to settlement the more pressure it will be under (which was my initial general goal).

 

[gruagach]

Journey Sheet = manifest?

Any thought given to foraging for supplies? Or is that built into potential Hunt Token spends?

 

[Fenris-77]

Journey Sheet = manifest?

Any thought given to foraging for supplies? Or is that built into potential Hunt Token spends?

The journey sheet is essentially hearthfire plus supply tracking in terms of its place in the game. The idea of foraging for supplies was indeed going to be built into the hunt token economy. Hunt tokens can be exchanged for X supplies (I don't have the math done, or even started). Essentially a journey can be extended via foraging but I think the economy there will be somewhat scant and there is of course the danger of making a hunt roll in the first place. A journey will accrue hunt rolls as it moves toward it's planned destination and those can of course be spent to gain supply but at the cost of slowing down or extending the journey.

What I'm aiming for is a set of interesting and meaningful decision points that can rest securely on a minimum of additional mechanical widgets.

Edit: manifest is a decent term but possibly a touch modern sounding, IDK. I'll put it on the possible list.

 

[gruagach]

Would gold and supply be fungible?

As in, at the end of a journey could remaining supply be turned back into gold?

 

[gruagach]

Another journey sheet name suggestion: rutter

 

[Fenris-77]

Would gold and supply be fungible?

As in, at the end of a journey could remaining supply be turned back into gold?

Gold is gold, so completely fungible as the rest of the game sort of requires. Supply is a more interesting case. One option is to be able to hold supply for a subsequent journey. Converting supply into gold should certainly be possible and I was considering some kind of trade mechanic. This might provide a set exchange rate and perhaps the possibility of a risk roll to try and get a better deal.

 

[gruagach]

Quick aside: are there other Trophy Gold rules expansions in Codex issues besides Hearthfire that are worth getting?

 

[Fenris-77]

Quick aside: are there other Trophy Gold rules expansions in Codex issues besides Hearthfire that are worth getting?

Those are mostly contained in the new rule books, as is Hearthfire. I'd probably just get the new books, which are gorgeous.

 

[Picaroon Jack]

Quick aside: are there other Trophy Gold rules expansions in Codex issues besides Hearthfire that are worth getting?

The Academy Chrysalis incursion has some cool rules on turning information to Gold and then what that information can do to the world once it is released. There was talk of including it in Trophy Gold officially, but it didn't happen.



It was my first trip in to Trophy Gold and I had a blast playing a Librarian. Here it is on DriveThru.

 

[Fenris-77]

Some version of Knowledge-as-Treasure is how I'd like to handle exploration. I'm not super interested in writing hexcrawl rules for Trophy as that kind of detail and resource management isn't why most people play Trophy. I would like get some rules in place that resemble UVG in that they preference and reward exploration at least in part for the joy of finding new things rather than killing the inhabitants and stealing all their stuff (although that's always on the table, naturally). The rest of the Journey Rules will be more like UVG or perhaps TOR than anything like how, say, B/X handles long range travel and exploration.

There seems to be a natural fit here to talk about voyages on ships and flying ships as well. I already have rules for Spelljammers in Trophy called Galleons of Gossamer, so there's some synergy going on that may sustain my interest long enough to actually produce useable rules.

 

[Fenris-77]

Hmm, a small roadblock of sorts. One of the aspects of TG that keeps the pressure on the group to continue to head back out into the deep green is that the game forces them to either spend or horde gold, you can't just keep it around. So each new incursion is a new pressure to make rent from scratch. Obviously this won't work with journeys and caravans and shit, so I'm going to have to rejig the gold economy of the game to keep the pressure on in other ways.

 

[gruagach]

In the base game, Hoard can't be touched. What if Journey is way to risk Hoard?

Like, starting a Journey requires investment of X hoard. At the end of a UVG style journey with trade etc. baked in, it's possible to get the investment of Hoard back plus some extra, and also possible to get back less than the Hoard invested.

Turn it into a risk/reward system to potentially grow Hoard, basically.

 

[Fenris-77]

In the base game, Hoard can't be touched. What if Journey is way to risk Hoard?

Like, starting a Journey requires investment of X hoard. At the end of a UVG style journey with trade etc. baked in, it's possible to get the investment of Hoard back plus some extra, and also possible to get back less than the Hoard invested.

Turn it into a risk/reward system to potentially grow Hoard, basically.

Hmm. Yeah, investment is an idea that might have legs. I also want the rules set to be in play form the get go (when no one has horde), so taking out loans from dodgy patrons still plays a part. The general idea of servicing burdens needs to remain in play somehow to keep the right kind of pressure on the players.

The notion of investing horde in a trading venture or caravan is a cool idea though. That might very well for other half of this idea which is ship/spelljammer/caravan type journeys (i.e. longer and with trading as a key aspect, as in UVG).

 

[Fenris-77]

Journey Sheet = manifest?

Any thought given to foraging for supplies? Or is that built into potential Hunt Token spends?

I'm tinkering with using the combat mechanic to do foraging. So the GM sets the Difficulty (Endurance) and caps totals foraged supply possible both based on weather and terrain. The players roll a weak point as normal, and also as normal a black die per PC involved in the foraging. The best two black dice have to match or beat the difficulty in order to find useful forage. If any dark dice equals your weak point you take a condition due to mishap (not ruin like in combat). You then roll a number of dice equal to the difficulty and any 6s that come up result in one 'supply'.

Supply is my catchall abstraction for gear and food and whatnot for the journey system. In the journey phase Supply gets used up as the party travels, and is also used up via mishap, and also to heal and repair gear.

Would gold and supply be fungible?

As in, at the end of a journey could remaining supply be turned back into gold?

So while in the journey phase supply can, in addition to the above, also be used as trade goods. The number that the group can attempt to trade ranges by settlement size from 1 at a farm or hamlet to 'All' in a city. The seller makes a modified risk roll, taking a white for skill or background; another white for a devil's bargain; and possibly a black die if they are willing to lie and cheat as part of the process. On a 1 there's no trade and something bad happens, on a 2 no trade can be made; on a 3-4 1S=1Gold; and on a 5-6 1S=2 Gold. Help can be added to the roll, and matching any of the dark dice results in a condition rather than a ruin.

On arriving at the journey's destination, where we can assume better preparations have been made to unload goods, supply can either be held for a subsequent journey or exchanged freely at 1S=1G. I may add a rule that if too many are exchanged for gold at once the party will have to make a risk roll due to people being tempted into larceny by all the wealth bandied about.

 

[Fenris-77]

Ok, some further tinkering has clarified how this might work. The journey rules would work at two levels of zoom - the journey level and the event or encounter level.

At the journey level distance is measured in regions, each of which has a write up like the samples in the TG rule book, almost like sets, and in this case with some encounters and other hazards baked in. Each region is measured in tokens required to traverse, with tokens measuring both distance and difficulty of terrain. SO a series of journey roles, modelled on hunt roles provide tokens to measure progress and also encounters. Each token won for progress would use up one unit of supply. Roles can be made to traverse a region or to explore it, with the later potentially revealing interesting locations to explore.

At a greater zoom level, that of the encounter or set we have both the encounters and locations mentioned above above, run simply as single or linked sets, plus rules for making camp and foraging. Making camp and foraging are linked mechanics that happen at the same time, as detailed below.

The vicissitudes of travel may require the party to make camp and provide an opportunity to rest, heal, repair gear, and perhaps forage for food. Rather than making an additional journey roll, the game drops down to the camp mechanics. It seemed punitive to use an additional supply simply to make camp and getting this economy right is hard enough already.

The roll to make camp is modeled on the combat mechanics. The GM sets a difficulty based on weather and terrain that stands in for monster endurance and as the target that must be equaled or beaten on the highest two dice rolled. I decided to go with a variant here that has both depth and width, so every PC participating can either add a dark die to the general camp pool (attempting to match difficulty) or they can help by deploying a relevant skill, which instead of adding dice, changes the rewards for success. If the difficulty is met or beaten then the party then, as in combat, rolls a number of d6s equal to the difficulty with every six rolled as a success. Help in this case lowers the number needed for success, with one helper making success's 5+ and a second helper making them 4+. So there's a tactical choice between beating the the initial difficulty and ramping the benefits of that success. I think I might also add the ability for the players to chose to up the difficulty in order to roll more dice for success (position and effect).

Each success beyond the first can be spent to 'unlock' a variety of possible actions (without spending supply). Things like healing conditions, repairing gear and the like. If no additional successes were earned then supplies can be ticked to engage in the same activities. This is balanced by the fact that only one camp activity per PC is allowed, and foraging is one of those activities.

Foraging will work more or less as I detailed above, also based on the combat mechanic. I haven't figured out what the correct economy of carried versus spend should look like yet, but again, the idea is to add a meaningful decision point - a PC can either help forage for supplies or engage in another activity, but not both. Another option here is to simply use hunt moves (perhaps modified) to gather supply along with with the built in risk of encounter that comes with that mechanic. Either way, just the one activity. Helping would also count as that oen activity (I think).

Anyway, that's as far as I've gotten so far.