Redpill Diary #4: Down the Rabbit Hole

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Seems I've decided to juggle several balls at once this week. No longer content to balance the delicate conclusion of Shadoworld while working on building a playtest job for Killshot, I've suddenly felt the need to get some work done on Redpill as well. Might have something to do with the numbers my Matrix posts get in comparison to everything else (about a 1000% difference).

As I've said in my original declaration of this project, I'm aiming to make Redpill a truly epic free RPG unlike all the other Matrix wannabes out there but there needs to be a coherent start for curious readers to latch onto. I could spend pages and pages going on about all the history of the Matrix setting and the intention of my game design, but then you're just reading the same kind of text as every other game out there. I want something captivating right from the get-go.

Let the Playtesting Begin

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Behold the awesomeness of the Optional System. Optional: Playtest (v1.0) has been uploaded and can be downloaded from the Optional Library to the left or you can go to the brand spanking new Optional: Playtest page for downloads and more. Anyone new to the blog should definitely check this page out for details on what the hell I'm talking about.

Once again, anyone looking to try this game out is welcome to download the PDF, read through, and contact me with question, concerns, or ideas for your own OSRPG game. Looking to run a particular genre and want some creeds, options, and power? No problem. Ask and ye shall receive.

A Character Sheet In Two Pages

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In preparation for playtesting, the first volume of Optional: Playtest, and the constant whining of a certain pair who shall remain anonymous to the public, a new draft of the Optional Character Sheet is available. It includes a second page for various notes, equipment, writing down creed benefits, and three special boxes I'd like to explain.

Throughout fights and challenges in OSRPG, there are 3 events all players need to make note of: series, critical hits, and the Edge. All characters have their own abilities when any of these events occur in a game, so to help keep players organized, we've set up these three event boxes for you to write down as they apply.

No More Decimals, Version 1 Is Ready

What?! I haven't posted since Tuesday? Holy crap!!

(ahem, cough, cough) I am the Warden!!

For the past 3 weeks, I've been knee-deep in rewrites for the Optional System. Completely, from scratch, start to finish. It has been a refreshing experience and has boosted my confidence in this game. There's still a lot of work to be done (there's a reason why it's not recommended to design a huge game on your own), but I'm feeling really confident about the latest updates.

On my screen, Optional: Playtest Version 1.0 sits smiling. 108 pages and 50,000 words of awesomeness. It's so good, it requires a made-up word: cramtapulous. Creator's pride, perhaps, but I'm feeling positive tonight.

Still, I'm going to wait until the next playtest on Friday the 21st before posting anything for it, particularly with some of the new terminology to ensure clarity. In the meantime, my mind wonders how to make vehicles work in the Optional System.

Preparation

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As you can see, I've been hard at work and unintentionally forgot to post anything since Monday. Playtest night is tonight and I wanted to have an actual hard copy at the table. Enough changes have been made since the last Friday playtest that everyone has to re-build their characters, so the idea of having real paper to flip through seemed best.

Pop this pic on Photoshop and zoom in on the title page. I'll have all these uploaded here on Monday. Next step, the red pen of doom!!

(Kudos to a certain sneaky bugger who snapped this shot. Why do I still look like a skinny dweeb when I'm almost 200 pounds?!)

EDIT: Based on the latest playtesting session, there are a couple more changes I'm going to make before posting the latest draft. There will not be any uploads on Monday.

Coming Up Next

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One peaceful night's sleep and it's time to start pumping out OS goodness again. Yesterday was an incredibly productive day on five fronts. A proud moment, to be sure, but keeping that kind of momentum running for two days in a row has always been a challenge. I'm feeling confident about it this time, having spent training points on bumping up my Concentration and Typing skills to give me 3 uses of +2d6 trained dice.

(Oooh, I've been waiting for the day when I could finally making an Optional reference.)

Yesterday's upload of Optional: Playtest weighs in at 79 pages, only 9 pages less than what's on the actual Word file. It won't be long now before everything still in working phases will be ready enough to make it to the next step: PDF. That brings me to today's topic, an overview of everything listed as "In Progress" for Optional: Playtest.

The Sweat From My Brow: Version 0.5 Playtest Is Ready

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Finally, the last of numerous changes have been made and the Optional: Playtest PDF (Version 0.5) has been uploaded and added to the Optional Library on your left. It stands at 79 pages, so there's a good chance I'm going to keep these particular updates down to once a month. I may not have a life, but I have to expect the rest of you do before plopping another 80+ pages every month to start over from.

'Cause we ain't done yet...

A Thing of Beauty (AKA The Tracker)

A quick screen cap of the Thing, or the Tracker.

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Phew. It has been some time since this much work has been poured into... well, any project. There will be a significant update to Optional: Playtest on Monday and I'll be spending the weekend getting the Version 0.5 PDF ready along with prepping a post for Speak Out With Your Geek Out on Monday.

But today is a special post. The unveiling of the very first Thing, or the Tracker. Behold its glory to the right and click here to download your own copy (including a full-colour and greyscale version) when you're ready to try out your own Optional System game. Each grid is large enough to handle your common poker chips and we are working on making our own chips for the Tracker.

While the Tracker hasn't been officially playtested, we have been working off a crude version  for a few weeks now using poker chips to keep track of each Team's options. Combining this with the edge (in red) and marking which Team declares a readied or defensive option (in blue), I'm hoping this tool will allow for some dynamic fight scenes in future playtesting.

Revolutions: Drastic Changes to the OS Team Mechanic

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It's been close to a month since any updated Optional: Playtest has been posted here and that's weighed on me. Perhaps it may be unrealistic on all of us to have an updated version of the rules posted every week (I might not have a life right now, but you guys surely must), but I wanted to have something ready for this Labour Day Monday to demonstrate some of the massive changes to the core mechanics of the Optional System.

And there's still more to come, rest assured. Work continues today on revisions to Chapter 2: Base Die and Chapter 3: Master Dice as stats are reversed to work with master dice with a more applicable method instead of its original, abstract version. I've left out the creeds from Appendix IV at this point as their options still need some work (particularly the Spell option and numerous other specialty options).

Optional: Playtest Version 0.4 is now available under the Optional Library to your left (or click here if you're lazy and/or on a mobile device). Today, I'm going to discuss one of the most dramatic changes to the game thus far. A change so dramatic, it needs visuals to explain it properly... and who doesn't like visuals?

Optional: Playtest (Version 0.3)

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I'm committing myself to providing updates to the Optional: Playtest document every Monday right here on this blog thingy for as long as necessary until there's no longer an Optional: Playtest document. And wouldn't ya know it, it's Monday.

Version 0.3 now sits at 64 pages of experimental goodness with a few updates, primarily the monk creed (based on D&D's monk - I'm working on something a little more "modern" that's not D&D to show some versatility in this system), updates on Appendix I: Options (only those options available to all characters, not dependent on a creed, will be listed here), rules for gaining and losing the edge, rules for stunts, and a couple more tweaks here and there in Chapter 1: Mechanics.

More importantly, a first draft of Chapter 4: Circumstance Dice is provided to explain how d10s play a role in the game. It talks briefly (as all playtest docs should) about modifiers and gear.

To keep things simple, I've added bookmarks to the PDF with each updated section highlighted in red.

Creed

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Remember the latest draft of Optional: Playtest? Yeah, scratch that. Got another one for ya. Version 0.2 now features Chapter 3: Master Dice and, more importantly, Appendix IV: Creeds. Which brings me to today's topic: creeds.

The initial design of the Optional System was intended as a classless system based entirely on spending training points and while that option remains, it was obvious a class-based system did have its advantages, particularly when it comes to drawing in new players. For this, concessions were made but the important absolutes remained. First of all, there are no "class levels" in the Optional System. For that, creeds have become templates for character creation.

In Absentia

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Last night, I posted a link to the current draft of Optional: Playtest. If you're looking at a proper website (not the mobile version), you'll notice the link under The Optional Library to the left. What's posted here is only a fraction of the actual Word file (that's jumped up to 63 pages as of last night and I haven't even added the monitor creed from the Matrix work), but Optional: Playtest contains the basic elements to understand what the OSRPG is all about.

Or is it? Where's the combat chapter? There is none. There is none?! How can I design a fluid RPG designed to emulate martial arts films without a combat chapter. That sounds like a blog entry to me.

Optional: Playtest (Version 0.1)

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Patience is not exactly a virtue of mine when it comes to keeping secrets. Or holding onto a project for even a few hours. Especially when I'm holding onto a project for even a few hours. Take now, for instance.

This is the current draft for Optional: Playtest, the rules-in-progress for the Optional System. Currently sitting at only 28 pages, it holds just the Introduction, Chapter 1: Mechanics, Chapter 2: Base Die and (more importantly) Appendix I: Options - including all 5 base options. I'm working on setting a permanent link to this PDF but in the meantime, have at 'er.