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Game Chef: The Card Stock GM and Trials of the Accused
As I talked about in my post about the board, the voyage and mutiny are times according to markers on the board. This is something that the GM usually takes care of in most RPGs, but since this is going to be a board/RPG hybrid that doesn’t have a GM I made some of their actions automatic or under the control of the players. My thinking along these lines also goes as far as to having a special deck of cards that set up what is going on in the background in each round.
What I am going to call the Event deck.
Cards in the event deck are drawn once at the start of a new round of play (before any players start calling for scenes) and affect all three scenes within that round and all action that takes place within them. None of them are absolutes that dictate actions, but should have the ability to affect what happens in the bigger picture of the story and on the board. Some ideas for things in this deck are as follows:
Open Seas: Nothing special happens (one of the only duplicated cards).
Dead Calm: Ship does not move and unrest increases by 1.
Fog Bank: Ship only moves once for whole round. -1 suspicion caused by voting outcomes this round.
Headwind: Ship moves an extra square this round.
Inspection: Captain called for a full inspection of the crew and quarters. +1 suspicion & +1 support caused by voting outcomes this round.
Traitor Exposed: An NPC is exposed as a traitor. Double suspicion earned. +1 unrest caused by voting outcomes this round.
Rationing: Supplies are being rationed (although not necessarily low) by the captain. +1 support & +1 unrest caused by voting outcomes this round.
Shore Leave: Ship doesn’t move this round. -3 unrest. +1 suspicion caused by voting outcomes this round.
Illness: Sickness found on board. +1 unrest & +1 suspicion removed caused by voting outcomes this round.
Bad Omen: Something is seen as a bad omen. Unrest increases by 1. +1 suspicion & +1 support caused by voting outcomes this round.
Pirates!: Pirates are seen and possibly attack. Double support earned and suspicion removed caused by voting outcomes this round.
Tribunal: Even if no character has enough suspicion, the highest one is called to trial this round.
Whichever of these are active in a given round should affect the scenes that are framed by the players. They don’t have to focus solely on these events, but they are happening during the scenes (even if in the background) so they have to be acknowledged at least. They also affect other aspect of scenes, especially the way voting outcomes can happen.
Then there is Suspicion
When suspicion reaches a certain level on a character (say 10, although that is likely to change once I start balancing the math) they are brought to trial at the end of the round (only the character with the highest level is brought forth in a round, even if more than one is above the needed level). They may plead innocence or admit to lesser crimes in hopes of getting off easy. They choose one player to be their advocate and one player to be the accuser, but they may not do either themselves. Both of these players place their own hands aside and draw seven vote cards.
The Accuser may play up to two Logic cards from their new hand as evidence, clearly stating their case as to what evidence they are bringing forth for each. This might possibly done one card at a time instead of both at once even… not sure yet.
The Advocate may then play up to three Logic cards as evidence against these, but the total support on these cards must match or exceed that on the suspicion on the opponent’s cards played. They must also clearly state how the evidence proves the accuser’s evidence false. Again, these may be done back and forth with the accuser cards if I go that way.
After all the evidence is shown and cases are made the vote happens. Both players place two vote cards down (face down) and draw 1 random card to join them, just like a normal vote except the accused gets no vote. If there are more Rule/Law cards the accused is let off as innocent. If there are more Underhanded cards, the accused is convicted. Logic cards are ignored in voting. If there is a tie, the winner of the evidence wins.
If the accused won, they get to reduce their suspicion by the total number of suspicion in the vote, plus on their evidence cards (not the accuser’s).
If they lost, the accused suffers according to a chart based on (their total suspicion/2) + all suspicion exposed in the vote + from any accuser’s evidence not countered. Chart will include things like humiliation up through death by keelhauling.
When a character dies, they are put out of the game, but the player gets to choose a new character from the unused crew to play. They start with 2 suspicion and (no support or half their other character’s support, not sure which yet).
There is more to follow soon in another post, which should be shorter and talking about the character themselves. I just figured I had enough in here for this one already.
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