Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Bigfoot Players Reference SRD

This is the Players Reference SRD for the Bigfoot (and anything else that you can imagine) RPG. Bigfoot is a traditional RPG meant to be played by one Game Master and from 2-6 Players.

This Players Reference SRD contains rules for character creation, basic action resolution, and character advancement. All text is subject to the Creative Commons Attribution License CC-BY-4.0 by Jeff Moore. All art is copyright 2023 by Kaylee Moore, all rights reserved.


Social Sasquatch © 2023 by Kaylee Moore


Character Creation

All players (except the GM) will need to create a character. Character creation is performed in five steps:

[1] Character Concept 

Write a two part character concept composed of a descriptor and a noun.

Examples:

  • Descriptor: Dwarf
  • Noun: Axe Thrasher
  • Descriptor: Social
  • Noun: Sasquatch

[2] Define Strengths 

For each of the two parts of your concept define two Strengths. Strengths are beneficial qualities that help your character to get things done.

Examples:

  • Dwarf: Incredible Eyesight In Darkness And Light
  • Dwarf: Tough Hide
  • Axe Thrasher: My Lute Is My Axe!
     (I'm good at playing the lute.)
  • Axe Thrasher: My Battleaxe Is My Axe!
     (I'm good at fighting with a battleaxe.)
  • Social: Lovable Fuzzball
  • Social: Dancing Machine
  • Sasquatch: Strong as a Bear
  • Sasquatch: Massive Stride

[3] Define a Struggle 

Define one "Struggle" -- like a Strength, but more difficult for your character to do than normal.

Examples:

  • Dwarf Axe Thrasher: Grace is a Struggle. (They tend to be both physically clumsy as well as socially blunt.) 
  • Social Sasquatch: Skepticism is a Struggle. (They tend to be gullible.) 

[4] Record Values

  • Give each of your four Strengths a value of 5.
  • Give your Struggle a value of 1.

[5] Define a Trick

Define one Trick. A trick is something special that you can use once per scene to give yourself an advantage. It can be a piece of equipment, a resource or contact, or an actual supernatural ability or super power. Each Trick is tied to a specific Strength and each Strength can only have one Trick assigned to it.

Examples:

  • Weapon: Battleaxe (Tricks Up: My Battleaxe Is My Axe)
  • Supernatural Ability: Inhumanly Strong (Tricks Up: Strong as a Bear)


Dwarf Axe Thrasher © 2023 by Kaylee Moore


Action Resolution

Decide which Strength (or Struggle) applies to the action. If none apply then the Strength is Undefined. Undefined Strengths have a value of 3.

Roll two (six-sided) dice and check for special rolls.

Special Rolls

  • Doubles (both dice are the same) -- Good Outcome
  • Single Six (one die is a six, the other is not) -- Fair Outcome

Standard Rolls

If no Special Roll, multiply the dice and compare that Result to your Strength (or Struggle) value. 

  • Result is Equal To or Lesser Than your Strength -- Great Outcome 
  • Result is Greater Than your Strength -- Troubled Outcome 

Outcomes

  • Troubled Outcome - you may or may not have achieved what you wanted. This result carries with it some kind of negative consequence or setback. 
  • Fair Outcome - you achieved what you wanted with minimal results. 
  • Good Outcome - a solid success. 
  • Great Outcome - best possible outcome under normal circumstances.

Stress

If the GM decides that the consequences of a Troubled Outcome is that your character suffers "stress" - you must choose one of your Strengths (not your Struggle) and mark it as Stressed. A Stressed Strength has a value of 1 (Like your Struggle.) 

If all your Strengths are Stressed, then your character is Stressed Out and must drop out of the scene. 

(Following a scene where a character is stressed out, it is suggested that the next scene be a healing scene. A healing scene is a scene that allows the players the opportunity to remove all stress from their characters.) 

Adjusting Strength Values

The GM might adjust Strength values to reflect extremes in difficulty or a dramatic or environmental influence on an action. Strengths range in value from 1 to 15 and are always odd numbers. 

 1 = Your Struggle or a Stressed Strength
 3 = All Undefined Strengths
 5 = Initial Strengths
 7 = An Improved Strength
 9 = A Greatly Improved Strength
11 = A Master Strength
13 = A Grand Master Strength
15 = Your Maximum Strength

Strengths can be adjusted up or down in increments of 2. The GM should adjust Strengths sparingly. (+2 to make something easier. -2 to make something harder.) No Strength can be adjusted to a value higher than 15 or lower than 1.

Example:

Bigfoot has an Enormous Stride with a value of 5. They want to jump across a chasm to the other side, a distance of 100 feet. The GM and the player agree that even for Bigfoot, a 100 foot jump is really far. The GM applies a -2 adjustment to Bigfoot's Enormous Stride, changing its value from 5 to 3 for this action. 

Tricks

Tricks can be used once in a scene after the dice are rolled to improve the outcome by one step.

  • Troubled becomes Fair
  • Fair becomes Good
  • Good becomes Great
  • Great becomes Super

A Super Outcome is one that exceeds the normal limits of human ability and pushes into the realm of the super human. 

Example:

Bigfoot uses Strength Of A Bear [5] to break down a door and surprise some bad guys on the other side. They roll a [1] and a [4] on the dice. The special roll of Doubles and Single Six don't apply. So, they multiply the dice to get a result of 4. 4 is equal to or lesser than their Strength Of A Bear value of 5. This means that they got a Great Success! The GM declares that not only has Bigfoot busted in the door, but the bad guys on the other side are so surprised that everyone gets a free turn to do something before the bad guys can respond. 

If Bigfoot uses their Inhumanly Strong Trick on this action, the outcome would improve from Great to Super. The player asks the GM what a Super Outcome might look like. The GM says that the door would splinter into a million pieces and the bad guys would be so afraid that they would immediately surrender without a fight. This sounds awesome to Bigfoot who uses their Inhumanly Strong Trick to change this action's Outcome from Great to Super.

Pushing

Pushing allows a player to "Trick Up" an Outcome without the use of a Trick. To do so, the Strength being used for the action cannot be Stressed. After the Outcome of the action is resolved using the Trick Up benefit, the Strength used to resolve the action becomes Stressed. 

Example:

Bigfoot's player rolls the dice in an attempt to jump across the 100 foot chasm. They roll a [2] and a [5]. That's not Doubles and neither of the dice is a [6]. So, they multiply the dice to arrive at a result of 10. That's greater than Bigfoot's adjusted Enormous Stride of 3. The Outcome is Troubled. 

Bigfoot has missed the jump and is about to fall into the chasm. Bigfoot's Inhumanly Strong Trick doesn't apply because it Tricks Up: Strength of a Bear, and this action is using Enormous Stride. Bigfoot's player declares that they are "Pushing" Enormous Stride. This Tricks Up the Outcome from Troubled to Fair. 

Bigfoot gets a minimal success, grabbing onto the ledge on the far side of the chasm. They are dangling precariously, but they made it! Bigfoot's player Stresses Bigfoot's Enormous Stride changing it's effective value to 1. (The Stressed status will last until the player participates in a healing scene, restoring Enormous Stride to its original value of 5.)

Treasures

The GM may award special types of Tricks as treasures. Most commonly these are one shot items that are discarded permanently as soon as they are used. 

Some special treasures might be kept as permanent tricks to be used every scene just like any other trick. (The GM should award these kinds of permanent treasures very rarely.) 

Treasures are associated with an action or type of action, not tied to a specific character's Strength. As such, Treasures are not subject to the "One Trick Per Strength" rule. 

Leveling Up

After each game session players will have a chance to improve Strengths or even to add new ones. At the end of each game session, answer these questions to find out if your character has Leveled Up!

Answer each of the following in order:

Did one of your Strengths become Stressed during the session?

  •  Yes. (Continue to the next question.)
  •  No. (Stop here. You don’t Level Up.)

Did you use a Trick during the session?

  •  Yes. (Continue to the next question.)
  •  No. (Stop here. You don’t Level Up.)

Did you roll for an Outcome using your Struggle during the session?

  •  Yes. (Congrats! You Level Up!!)
  •  No. (Stop here. You don’t Level Up.)

Each time your character levels up, you get to make one change on your character sheet.

When Leveling Up, make one of these changes:

  • Add +2 to the value of any Strength*
  • Trade out your Struggle for a different Struggle**
  • Gain a new Strength with a value of 5***
  • Gain a new Trick****

* You cannot increase any Strength to a value greater than 15, and you can only ever have one Strength with a value of 15.

** This applies to a Struggle that is overcome as you play out the story of your character. If you ever have a Strength, Struggle or Trick that’s just not working out or isn’t fun, talk to the GM about changing it. That sort of thing doesn’t count as Leveling Up.

*** New Strengths added after character creation do not need to tie directly to your character concept. Try to match the growth of your character to the events experienced during the game.

**** A Trick must enhance an existing Strength. Each Strength can only have one Trick assigned to it.

Character Sheet

Get a form-fillable version of the character sheet here. Note: you will need to save the character sheet locally before you can edit it.

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Wednesday, December 13, 2023

Game Design Part 10 - Zodiac Signs as Dramatic Archetypes

My next step is to match the zodiac signs to dramatic character archetypes. This will become the equivalent of a character class. Defining these ideas now will make it easier to create character powers/options/abilities later.


Zodiac Signs as Dramatic Archetypes


Aries: The Hero

Description: The protagonist who rises to meet a challenge.
Keywords: Brave, Bold, Passionate

Taurus: The Everyman

Description: A relatable character, recognizable from daily life.
Keywords: Dependable, Honest, Vigilant

Gemini: The Jester

Description: Comedian or trickster who speaks important truth.
Keywords: Adaptable, Cheerful, Enthusiastic

Cancer: The Caregiver

Description: They support and make sacrifices for others.
Keywords: Loyal, Caring, Protective

Leo: The Ruler

Description: They have legal or emotional power over others.
Keywords: Confident, Determined, Leader

Virgo: The Sage

Description: A wise figure with knowledge to share; a mentor.
Keywords: Attentive, Helpful, Patient

Libra: The Lover

Description: A romantic who’s guided by their heart.
Keywords: Fair, Idealistic, Social

Scorpio: The Magician

Description: Awesome figure harnessing inexplicable powers.
Keywords: Driven, Intense, Focused

Sagittarius: The Explorer

Description: A character driven to push past boundaries.
Keywords: Independent, Optimistic, Adventurous

Capricorn: The Creator

Description: A motivated visionary who creates or structures.
Keywords: Practical, Ambitious, Planner

Aquarius: The Outlaw

Description: The rebel who won’t abide by society’s demands.
Keywords: Innovative, Intelligent, Original

Pisces: The Innocent

Description: A morally pure character, of only good intent.
Keywords: Creative, Intuitive, Generous

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Tuesday, December 12, 2023

Game Design Part 9 - Stressing Out

I will have a post soon about character types and associated powers and abilities and everything like that, taking the first steps into firming things up into an actual playable game. For the moment, however, I want to share my thoughts about how characters will take damage in the game and get this written down while it’s fresh in my mind.



Characters will have two option blocks on their character sheets with which to activate various powers, abilities and actions. These will look something like this:


Guiding Options

2

4

6

7

8

10

12








5

3

1

0

1

3

5




2







4







6





Opposing Options

3

5

7

9

11






4

2

0

2

4



1





3





5




Everyplace you see a number on the table, that’s an option the player can take. When a player takes damage they mark any one of these boxes (the one with the numbers) as “stressed.” A stressed option can’t be used.


If a player is ever “stuck” taking a stressed option because all their dice choices leave them with no other choice (or maybe they choose to do it for some reason) then they become stressed out.


The player still selects and executes the option, but they must include in their role-play an explanation of how using this option has stressed them out and knocked them out of the scene.


As players advance during play, they will unlock powers and gain numbers in new boxes. When this happens the character will not only become more diverse, but also have more ability to survive being stressed out.


The urgency of the scene can be used to the players advantage when assigning stress. For example: if the scene die is in the red zone, a player could safely stress the green, yellow, and orange options (under the number 7) in their option blocks because those options are being superseded by the “red” level options due to the urgency of the scene.


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Monday, December 11, 2023

Game Design Part 8 - Guiding And Opposing Stars

My previous (and rather involved) post began with an assumption. I assumed that zodiac associations would wrap around in a big 12 section circle like a clock. The truth is that instead of one big circle, zodiac associations form two smaller circles containing 6 signs each.


How do I combine these two distinct and opposing zodiac association wheels into a singular entity? How about a multi-class character design?

Step One: Choose the Zodiac Sign that most exemplifies the sort of character that you would like to role-play from any of the twelve. This sign is known as your: Guiding Sign. Record your Guiding Sign in position 7 on your Guiding Options Bar.

Guiding Options Bar

2

4

6

7

8

10

12




Cancer





Step Two: The wheel containing your Guiding Sign is your Guiding Wheel. Using your Guiding Wheel fill in the positions on each side of your Guiding Sign and add them to your Guiding Options Bar. (The signs in positions 2 and 12 on the Guiding Options Bar will be the same.)

Guiding Options Bar

2

4

6

7

8

10

12

Capricorn

Scorpio

Virgo

Cancer

Taurus

Pisces

Capricorn


Step Three: Choose one of the Zodiac Signs from the association wheel that does not contain your Guiding Sign. This is your Opposing Wheel. (I chose Libra.) Record this sign in position 7 on the Opposing Options Bar.

Opposing Options Bar

3

5

7

9

11



Libra




Step Four: Using the Opposing Wheel fill in the positions on each side of your Opposing Sign. (Note: one sign will not get used.)

Opposing Options Bar

3

5

7

9

11

Aquarius

Leo

Libra

Sagittarius

Gemini


Now we are getting somewhere! Two option bars where option 7 overlaps granting both guiding and opposing options.

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Game Design Part 7 - Focusing In On Ideas

In playing with the mechanism of rolling 4 dice and then subtracting larger dice from smaller ones (in the various combinations of sets that I was able to make) I discovered that the results were far too limiting. Numbers were frequently repeated leaving very little actual choice. This wasn’t going to work.

Meanwhile, I was researching the common character archetypes found in dramatic fiction. Most of the articles that I read shared from twelve to fourteen archetypes. If I tied each archetype to a subset of game play options, this would give players a much larger pool to choose from than I had initially planned (or thought myself capable of constructing.) I could go back to Can’t Stop’s original game mechanic of adding the dice. 

My new concept was this: a player selects a character archetype based on the sort of character that they would like to portray. This archetype would be assigned to the number 7. On each side of the 7 (at positions numbered 6 and 8) the player would assign the archetype that is most closely related to the archetype that they selected. This would then also be done for the archetype at the 6 and 8 positions and so on. For every archetype I would need to find two similar archetypes.

I was speaking with Julie about my ideas, and she noted that the way I was defining complimentary archetypes (and the fact that I was working with a set of 12) reminded her of the astrological signs of the zodiac. This set my mind spinning. The zodiac was perfect for this application. Dramatic archetypes and zodiac signs have a lot in common and the zodiac was already organized and grouped in the sorts of sets that I am thinking of using. My wife is a genius.


We also discussed what all of this might actually look like in play. She pointed out that it would be important to give players some kind of incentive to role-play against type or players would always choose the 5, 7, and 8 options when pairing the dice. I had already thought about this, but it was nice to be reminded. My game was starting to take shape. It even got itself a working title: Star Signs: A Game of Improvisational Story Telling. (Sounds good, right!)

I now have a loose idea of character design and a thematic direction to move in. To bring this all into sharper focus, I look at the challenge of making the aberrant choices at the far ends of the bell curve as appealing as the more probable options in its center. My solution is to define option levels. The idea is to create a numerical value for how much an option effects a scene. This design must embrace the idea that when a character behaves contrary to what is considered normal for them, it creates more drama and draws more attention than when the character acts as expected.

Here’s the idea: options have levels of influence in the scene. These levels are based on two things: the value of the scene die, and how far off center the option appears. The scene die adjusts influence based on the urgency in the scene from green to red (see: Game Design Part 6.) Green doesn’t affect influence at all, assigning an influence modifier of +0. Yellow assigns an influence modifier of +2. Orange assigns an influence modifier of +4, and red assigns an influence modifier of +6. This is added to the influence modifier based on how far off center your option is from 1 to 5 steps.

Characters have access to the green options of all archetypes (except one) but only have access to the yellow, orange, and red options associated with their core archetype. Players will have the ability to choose options of a lesser urgency during a scene. So, if the scene die indicates that the urgency of the scene is orange, a player can choose a green, yellow or orange option, but can not yet choose a red one.

This table shows how option choice and scene urgency work together to create influence. Across the top is the value of the dice for the chosen option. Under this is the amount of influence applied based on that choice based on the urgency of the scene.

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

5

4

3

2

1

0

1

2

3

4

5

-

-

-

-

-

2

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

4

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

6

-

-

-

-

-


This shows that in a situation where there is little or no sense of urgency, if a character behaves in the manner expected of them, they will exert no influence on the scene. This changes if the character behaves in an unexpected way and as urgency increases.

This table represent the options available to a brand new character. As the character advances and evolves through many game sessions, the options currently unavailable to them (those represented by a dash) will open up and become available.

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