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[silverspawn]

So, I have this idea for a setup which I want to mod next. Basically, it works like this: every player has a certain amount of stuff (could be coins, magic, whatever, the point is that it's a universal currency, let's call it X) which is used to perform (Night-)Actions in the game (conventional roles do not exist). For instance, A pays 23 X to doctor B.

here is where it gets bastard: the players don't know how many X they have at any point in the game, and there is no limit to what they can buy with it - meaning they can ask for absolutely anything, from basic night actions to alignment changes to enforce posting restrictions on other players - all is possible, as long as they have enough X. If players try to do something which costs more X than they have, they get punished in some way. asking for their number of X is possible (naturally, since everything is possible), but it costs X

here is why I don't want it to be bastard: I think it would be a lot more fun if players tried to win, and spend actual thought in what kind of action would be most effective in every situation, instead of just doing it in a stream of consciousness style.

I'm not sure how the policy on RMM games is though; can I host something which is a) completely crazy and b) inevitably depends on decisions from the mod as an RMM? Or can I do it as a bastard but tell everyone to try to win? or is it more fun to just make it bastard and let everyone do whatever he wants? ... or is it maybe not fun period? would you be interested in playing it in some form?

[A Drowned Kernel]

I don't think I'd play in a game with that mechanic but I'm not much of a fan of Bastard/RMM type games in general.

[liopoil]

Bastard if you keep the alignment chances and posting restrictions. If you take them out then it can be RMM for sure. I really like the idea. I suggest giving the players as much information as possible about everything in the game... except for X. Make it virtually the only unknown.

[silverspawn]

Bastard if you keep the alignment chances and posting restrictions. If you take them out then it can be RMM for sure. I really like the idea. I suggest giving the players as much information as possible about everything in the game... except for X. Make it virtually the only unknown.

that would be quite different from what I had planed - it would also require some kind of table for all possible night actions. might be worth doing though.

[Twistedarcher]

Sounds like it's in the same vein as Robz' bank game (minus the posting restrictions and alignment changes). I agree with Liopoil's idea. I think the unknown currency is by the far the most interesting part here -- if it was an RMM game centered around this mechanic, I think it could be interesting if done well.

[Twistedarcher]

I also don't think any punishment is necessary for missed bids -- you're already being punished for not taking a night action during that point. But there could be some small penalties as well, but I think if you make them too strong, you risk making players afraid of bidding for night actions, which means you're not having players interact with the most interesting part of the game.

[silverspawn]

I also don't think any punishment is necessary for missed bids -- you're already being punished for not taking a night action during that point. But there could be some small penalties as well, but I think if you make them too strong, you risk making players afraid of bidding for night actions, which means you're not having players interact with the most interesting part of the game.

the initial idea was that players can request actions as often as they want at any time in the game they want in any place they want, so a punishment would be necessary to stop them from spamming orders until it succeeds.

[Twistedarcher]

Oh ok, I assumed it was one request per night. If it's unlimited, a punishment system does make more sense.

[silverspawn]

well, in case of the more serious RMM route, it would probably be limited to one per night.

[Hydrad]

/in

[silverspawn]

/in

for bastard or for RMM?

[Hydrad]

/in

for bastard or for RMM?

either!

RMM would be more impressive if its done correctly i think. But also much much harder to balance

[liopoil]

well, in case of the more serious RMM route, it would probably be limited to one per night.

Why? More madness is good! It's just the bastard, unexpected huge twists that should be avoided in RMM.

[silverspawn]

well, in case of the more serious RMM route, it would probably be limited to one per night.

Why? More madness is good! It's just the bastard, unexpected huge twists that should be avoided in RMM.

but would you try to set a fixed price for all possible night actions?

if not, it's inevitably going to include mod decisions, which is sort of bastardish.

[Archetype]

This sounds like a fun mechanic! You could have a big table of different powers and their respective costs in the OP. Each player then has some hidden amount of money and can buy as many powers as they want in a given night, but if they ever spend more money then they have, all of their actions fail.

Each player could also their own personal bonus. Like, a discount on a certain power or some power only they could use. Sort of a cross between Guilds and Banker's Beware.

[Twistedarcher]

Yeah, I think a fixed price is necessary, having everything predetermined and posted in the mod QT is good for transparency in stuff.

This is just a personal opinion, but if I were to put a lot of effort into a game mechanic and wanted it to be taken seriously, I'd want to run it as RMM and not as bastard. Bastard games aren't really taken seriously (and probably shouldn't be), so I think running a cool mechanic as bastard would be a waste, and I'd be much more interested in seeing it play out in a game where the players are more invested and take it seriously.

[Jimmmmm]

I think with a list of possible actions (or a way to find out what actions are available) would work for RMM. "You can ask for anything" feel Bastard to me.

[faust]

Well, I definitely agree with what most people said. Cool mechanic, and it's probably wasted in a bastard game. The cool thing for most actions is when you don't actually know if you performed an action or not. I'd look at the Dice Mafias (which had a payment mechanic) and Guilds Mafia for inspiration. Bankers was before my time. There's lots of design space for roles that interact with the currency (deal it out, steal it, get to know how much other players have etc.). These could be the base roles, and "standard" mafia stuff is what the people buy.

[Teproc]

The way you describe it would certainly be bastard, but there would be ways to make it RMM if you wanted to, even without a clear list of powers, just don't include stuff like alignment-changing, posting restrictions etc.

And yeah, it's pretty reminiscent of Bankers Beware, you might want to take a look at that game.

[Jimmmmm]

I guess in order to qualify to be non-Bastard it has to be well-defined, ie you have to at least have the list of possible actions for your own reference, and the result of each in different circumstances.