There's this design contest going right now, for games based on Grant Howitt's Honey Heist and Crash Pandas. The goal? Design a game, digital, tabletop, or text, where animals commit crimes. I think that's absolutely terrific, and in the next two weeks I'm going to explore three game ideas and see if any of them are worth submitting.
Here's my initial framing for each idea:
Bootloggers - Beavers diverting goods and floating contraband down the river to distribute for cheap.
Footgoose - Dancing is illegal! But these Canadian waterfowl DON’T CARE.
Squeak Easy - Prohibition is tough, but these enterprising mice provide a safe spot to enjoy some moonshine and rough company.
Here's my initial framing for each idea:
Bootloggers - Beavers diverting goods and floating contraband down the river to distribute for cheap.
Footgoose - Dancing is illegal! But these Canadian waterfowl DON’T CARE.
Squeak Easy - Prohibition is tough, but these enterprising mice provide a safe spot to enjoy some moonshine and rough company.
Today, I'm going to focus on Grant's favourite of these ideas: FOOTGOOSE. Here's his recommendation:
Just replace Kevin Bacon with a flock of squawking geese and whack a dice pool mechanic on there, that’s what I’d do— Grant Howitt (@gshowitt) February 1, 2019
So let's run with exactly that.
I'll try and fill out the following: An intro and summary, a character(s) creation section, and a play mechanic.
Intro:
Dancing is illegal! But these Canadian waterfowl don't care. In FOOTGOOSE, you're the new kid in a repressed, religious small town (Columbus, Indiana). You don't fit in - not only because you're from the big city (Letterkenny, Ontario) but because you're also a gaggle of squawking geese. The other kids may have bent to The Man, but not you - you're here to organize forbidden dances, remind your friends what fun is, and teach everyone a valuable lesson along the way.
Campaign Setup:
The Town - Here are the starting features of the Town. Fill out the rest to make each version of it unique!
1) The Town is small. Population: _________. Number of burger joints: __________.
2) The Town is the birthplace of: 1) Mike Pence 2) ___________ 3) ____________.
3) The name of the high school football team is: ____________.
4) The tragic incident that got dancing banned is: ____________.
5) The most respected adult and Leader of the community is: ___________.
The Kids - These are the poor teens living under the authoritarian non-dancing regime.
1) Your Best Friend! Name: _____________. Significant Parent: _______________. Unique Skill: _______________. Secret Wish: _____________. Likes You: 1 2 3 4 5 6
2) Your Love Interest! Name: _____________. Significant Parent: _______________. Unique Skill: _______________. Secret Wish: _____________. Likes You: 1 2 3 4 5 6
3) Your Rival! Name: _____________. Significant Parent: _______________. Unique Skill: _______________. Secret Wish: _____________. Likes You: 1 2 3 4 5 6
You - Each player is one of the Gooses in the gaggle. Collectively, the Geese are one entity named Kevin, but each Goose needs the following:
Name: ______________. Favourite type of bread: ______________. FLAP: Strong Weak SQUAWK: Strong Weak
Gameplay:
A session is comprised of three Dances, each centered on one of the Kids (Best Friend, then Love Interest, then Rival), and culminating in a confrontation with the Leader of the community. During a Dance, players rotate between who is the active Goose, and who plays the Kids. In interactions with a Kid, the active Goose will roll dice from the pool of dice corresponding with their Strong trait. Each other Goose who shares that Strong trait also rolls a die. To try and improve your relationship with a Kid, you must get results based on the amount they like you: # of results up to the Likes You Level, x the Likes You Level. So the only way to improve someone who likes you at a 1 is to roll a 1, but for someone who like you at a 2, you must roll two dice that are a 1 or a 2. After an Interaction, the active player's dice go to the Used Pool. Each Dance, you interact with the Dance-specific Kid and one other Kid. After a Dance, you replenish ONE pool - Squawk or Flap.
Alright, that's a rough... couple of ideas. The dice pool mechanic needs a lot more work - what I want to achieve is the sense that the better you coordinate your various geese, the better you get - and I like that you can exert more Flap dice or more Squawk dice to power your dancing, and that you only refresh one pool at a time... I just need to figure out this stronger/weaker thing. Break up the stats some. Mess around with advantage/disadvantage? Exploding dice as a consequence? Weak requires exact, Strong has margin of error / Weak uses more dice than Strong ? What am I looking for here?
I'll type this up proper and keep thinking about a clearer dice mechanic. Til next time!
I'll try and fill out the following: An intro and summary, a character(s) creation section, and a play mechanic.
Intro:
Dancing is illegal! But these Canadian waterfowl don't care. In FOOTGOOSE, you're the new kid in a repressed, religious small town (Columbus, Indiana). You don't fit in - not only because you're from the big city (Letterkenny, Ontario) but because you're also a gaggle of squawking geese. The other kids may have bent to The Man, but not you - you're here to organize forbidden dances, remind your friends what fun is, and teach everyone a valuable lesson along the way.
Campaign Setup:
The Town - Here are the starting features of the Town. Fill out the rest to make each version of it unique!
1) The Town is small. Population: _________. Number of burger joints: __________.
2) The Town is the birthplace of: 1) Mike Pence 2) ___________ 3) ____________.
3) The name of the high school football team is: ____________.
4) The tragic incident that got dancing banned is: ____________.
5) The most respected adult and Leader of the community is: ___________.
The Kids - These are the poor teens living under the authoritarian non-dancing regime.
1) Your Best Friend! Name: _____________. Significant Parent: _______________. Unique Skill: _______________. Secret Wish: _____________. Likes You: 1 2 3 4 5 6
2) Your Love Interest! Name: _____________. Significant Parent: _______________. Unique Skill: _______________. Secret Wish: _____________. Likes You: 1 2 3 4 5 6
3) Your Rival! Name: _____________. Significant Parent: _______________. Unique Skill: _______________. Secret Wish: _____________. Likes You: 1 2 3 4 5 6
You - Each player is one of the Gooses in the gaggle. Collectively, the Geese are one entity named Kevin, but each Goose needs the following:
Name: ______________. Favourite type of bread: ______________. FLAP: Strong Weak SQUAWK: Strong Weak
Gameplay:
A session is comprised of three Dances, each centered on one of the Kids (Best Friend, then Love Interest, then Rival), and culminating in a confrontation with the Leader of the community. During a Dance, players rotate between who is the active Goose, and who plays the Kids. In interactions with a Kid, the active Goose will roll dice from the pool of dice corresponding with their Strong trait. Each other Goose who shares that Strong trait also rolls a die. To try and improve your relationship with a Kid, you must get results based on the amount they like you: # of results up to the Likes You Level, x the Likes You Level. So the only way to improve someone who likes you at a 1 is to roll a 1, but for someone who like you at a 2, you must roll two dice that are a 1 or a 2. After an Interaction, the active player's dice go to the Used Pool. Each Dance, you interact with the Dance-specific Kid and one other Kid. After a Dance, you replenish ONE pool - Squawk or Flap.
Alright, that's a rough... couple of ideas. The dice pool mechanic needs a lot more work - what I want to achieve is the sense that the better you coordinate your various geese, the better you get - and I like that you can exert more Flap dice or more Squawk dice to power your dancing, and that you only refresh one pool at a time... I just need to figure out this stronger/weaker thing. Break up the stats some. Mess around with advantage/disadvantage? Exploding dice as a consequence? Weak requires exact, Strong has margin of error / Weak uses more dice than Strong ? What am I looking for here?
I'll type this up proper and keep thinking about a clearer dice mechanic. Til next time!
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