Orange Is the Color of Disorder, or Session 3

Rules of the Post-Human Game, Part 1 of Many

Title: “Wolf-Man”

Artist: Journeyman

(but you knew that, right?)

OK, if you didn’t know, now you do! Journeyman is my best friend, creative partner and collaborator. This is not a new piece, but it’s one that we never shared on Patreon, though you might have seen him work on it on Twitch. It’s going to be part of the Post Human Core Book, and at some point, I’m going to write something up for it, but for now, I just wanted to show it off, to remind you of Journey’s talent.

But for now, let’s get started with the rules. You can read the previous post that describes the Post Human World by following the link.

Hey, This Is All Pre-Writing

Just so you know, y’know? My writing process is recursive. It starts with discovery, which is what these initial posts have been. Then I organize, then I write, add details, get feedback, cut, add, reorganize, write some more, and around it goes.

At some point, we get to the rough draft, and then we add playtesting to the process.

And eventually, we’ll get to something publishable, and then that step will start.

I’m doing this in public because doing so keeps me writing, and I think seeing the game come together will be interesting.

Basic Game Concepts

1. No dice, no cards, no randomizers.

2. The players, as a group, decide on the campaign, types of characters, whether or how often those characters improve, the details of the setting, and important conflicts within the setting, and whether the player-characters are . Players may decide to let the game moderator (GM) come up with most or all of that, or they may decide to contribute more.

3. The game moderator (GM) runs the game—the setting, the non-player characters, events. The other players run individual characters.

4. Since the GM typically puts in the most work, the GM is first among equals, but all the players have a say in the setting, the conflicts, the way that rules are interpreted, and what content and conduct are welcome or not welcome at the game.

5. Just because everyone agrees on a setting and conflict, that does not mean that the game is predetermined. The setting and conflict are a starting point. I’ve played with groups that love to tackle the conflict the GM presents head on. I’ve played with groups that want to explore the setting and let the conflict simmer. And no plan I’ve ever made as a GM has survived contact with the other players, so, GMs, don’t get precious about your plans.

6. No character dies or changes without the approval of the player running that character.

Doing Things

To attempt a task, you describe what you are trying to do. This description can be a single sentence:

I try to sneak past the guards.

I try to bribe the guards to let me in.

I research the book for clues to the location of the McGuffin.

And so on.

But either you or the GM can elaborate on the description of your task. These descriptions can help set up modifiers (see Modifiers below). In addition, the more descriptive either of you are, the more that should be at stake.

Check in with each other when you do so. Ask questions such as

Is this important?

How dangerous is this?

How much do you want this?

Or just outright state that this task is important to your character or tell the player that their character is attempting something dangerous or even outright deadly.

Then compare your trait plus or minus modifiers to the difficulty of the task.

Traits

Traits are rated on a scale of 0 to 4, with 0 being low and 4 being high. Anything that is part of a character — skills, contacts, powers, wealth, and sheer talent — can be measured on this scale.

Difficulty

Just like traits, difficulty is measured on a 0 to 4 scale. When you are opposed by an intelligent being, the difficulty is equal to a relevant trait that being possesses (or 0, if they possess no relevant trait).

Difficulty Description

0 Easy

1 Normal

2 Moderate

3 Hard

4 Extreme

Most difficulties should be 1 or 2.

Sometimes the difficulty of a task is clear, sometimes you just have to try and hope for the best.

Modifiers

If you don’t like your odds, shift them in your favor. Take more time to complete a task, get some help from a friend, ambush an opponent, and, in general, be clever, and you can gain up to a +3 modifier to your trait for a particular task.

On the other hand, sometimes your opponents are wily, and they ambush you. Or the environment turns against you, and what was an easy wall to climb is now slickened with oil. In general, clever opposition or bad luck or poor planning on your part can give you up to a -3 modifier to your trait for a particular task.

Push

In addition to the situational modifiers above, you can Push a trait to help you succeed. When you Push a trait, you lose one point from that trait. If that trait is directly relevant to the task, such as Pushing your Dirty Fighter trait to knock out a huge bruiser, you automatically succeed.

If that trait is not directly relevant to the task, but by some stretch of the imagination it could help, such as using your Wicked Gossiper trait to unsettle the bruiser with some personal gossip, you still gain a +1 modifier, and your modifier can go as high as +4 rather than +3.

If two players attempt opposing, mutually exclusive tasks and they both Push relevant traits, then everyone should take a deep breath and discuss the situation, and the GM should allow one or both to change their minds since this will not end well.

OK, fine. If both are intent on Pushing relevant traits in opposition to each other, then resolve as if they had not Pushed their traits, except that they still each lose 1 from their relevant trait.

Resolving a Task

When you attempt something, compare the relevant trait + modifiers to the difficulty + modifiers. The winner gets to decide what happens, within reason. For instance, it is reasonable to hurt someone terribly in a fight, but doing so in a chess match would not be reasonable. Ties are unresolved until some situation changes.

You should be careful when you impose extreme penalties on a character, whether a PC or NPC. There are often consequences for doing so, and if that is your intent, you should signal it when you describe your actions.

Next Post — The Rules of the Post Human Game (Part 2) — Character Creation