Subject:
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Re: Elements of a brick oriented RPG
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.gaming
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Date:
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Fri, 17 May 2002 22:13:35 GMT
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Viewed:
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3908 times
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Mike Rayhawk wrote:
>
> In lugnet.fun.gaming, Bruce Schlickbernd writes:
> > I just don't see what it adds to the gaming experience.
>
> This is probably the single most important consideration...
I'm coming to the conclusion "LEGOizing" a game system won't be
worthwhile.
> Trying to make Lego character sheets (just as a random example) seems to me
> to be a step in the wrong direction, since it makes things unnecessarily
> complicated and doesn't particularly add anything. You could use stacks of
> 1x1's to keep track of values that change a lot, like hit points or mana
> points. You'd have to design the system so that those attributes topped out
> at no more than a dozen 1x1's or so, because at a certain point it's a pain
> to deal with really tall stacks of 1x1's and it would be easier just to have
> stuck with paper in the first place.
I'm not thinking of stacks, but two dimensional arrays laid out on a
plate. I have been trending to using arrays of mark off boxes on
character sheets with the sheet in a plastic protector so you can mark
off with a grease pencil or non-permanent marker. If you keep the number
of points to 30 or less, this won't be too bad.
> First of all, it's really cool to build all the environments out of Lego.
> There are two basic problems. First, there will always be a couple of
> mission-specific locations you'll have to build in great detail. No matter
> how disciplined yuo are as a GM, if your players don't want to go to the
> specific locations you have built, you will bend yourself into a pretzel in
> order to force them to go there, because you don't want your excellent work
> to go to waste.
Well, the key is to make the detailed locations key to the adventure. It
is also key to adventure design I think that thinks logically lead to
the key locations because a game could be boring if the players were
always heading off in an unexpected direction. PLayers do tend to be
pretty good about realizing that while their first character reaction
may be to bypass the adventure, that isn't the purpose of the game.
Don't count too heavily on this though as it will make for shallow
characters as the players ignore their character design more and more
(on the other hand, one thing I have struggled is how to communicate to
players that they must design characters who are suitable for the
campaign, if the game is going to be all about crawling around in
dungeons, don't build a character who can't operate underground - I also
steer players away from strong pacifists, and people totally unmotivated
by treasure since sometimes you just need a simple hack and slay and
grab treasure adventure to keep the pace moving [and to satisfy players
who want some of that]).
> Second, there will often be a lot of 'generic' locations (houses, forest,
> deserts, etc.) These are good for something like a wargame but for a
> full-fledged RPG they get really lame really fast, especially if you have to
> reuse them more than once or twice.
I make a lot of re-use of preprinted play maps and never really felt
they made things lame. Several various outdoor pieces would take care of
needs for things like campsites, and with LEGO these can easily be
modified (the trees needn't be in the same place all the time for
example). I don't think generic buildings would really be that bad
either. If you build your houses on modular bases, they can be arranged
to a variety of layouts for towns and villages.
> Maybe not too helpful, but those are my two bits for today.
In the end, I'm thinking I may drop the idea. As I was unpacking and
organizing my gaming materials, I was just reminded of all the printed
play maps I have, and how nice they are, and realizing they won't really
be compatible with LEGO (since LEGO bricks don't match inch large
squares on hexes very well).
There's also the problem of the building effort to be ready for play.
Frank
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Elements of a brick oriented RPG
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| (...) Rather than trying to "lego-ize" a game system, I would say just pick whatever game you and your friends want to play and use lego to augment it. My friends and I have been doing this for years. The first time was a 2nd edition AD&D campaign (...) (23 years ago, 18-May-02, to lugnet.gaming)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Elements of a brick oriented RPG
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| (...) This is probably the single most important consideration, since there have been plenty of Lego-RPGs that have come and gone over the last couple of years that failed because they were just standard RPGs with Lego elements tacked on in a shoddy (...) (23 years ago, 17-May-02, to lugnet.gaming)
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