TESTING: 60 Seconds RPG
IDEA BY CHUPABOB:
I am thinking about creating a game thread in this group. The concept is for a roleplaying game experience that can be played in about sixty seconds. I tried this idea about a year ago on three websites, and it failed miserably each time. I am thinking about trying it again here because I am just that stubborn.
Movie Trailer
The GM would begin by describing a broad scenario or a setting. A player would then describe his character in a single sentence. The player would also declare a single action. Based on the tone of the setting and the difficulty of the action, the GM would set her target number ranging from 1 to 10. The player rolls a D10 with the hopes of matching or beating the target number. Based upon that roll, the player narrates what happens to the character. Each player gets one character and one action. The actions declared need not be sequential, just a dramatic line of dialog or a single action stunt. The player only gets one chance to declare and action which defines the character, and then win or lose, everyone moves onto a new scenario.
Here is an example...
GM: The Mongol-Aztec War "In a world where history has spun off course, Ghengis Khan leads his horde of soldiers to North America in search of the Seven Cities of Gold. His invasion seems unstoppable until his army crashes into another continent-wide empire, the Aztecs. Martial arts action meet blood sacrifice sorcery, and only one culture will survive on the Obsidian Continent." Default difficulty is a 5.
Player #1: "Song Kung is a grim veteran soldier, raised in the Shoalin Temples of China and labored in service to the Khan for over ten years. In a raid of an Aztec fort, Song will leap with his spear off of his horse's back and up thirty feet over the fort wall."
GM: Your difficulty is 5. If you fail, Song Kung will be severely injured.
Player #1: I rolled a 6. "Song Kung leads the charge over the wall with superhuman-like grace and power, landing on the top of the wall and burying his spear into the chest of an Aztec warrior."
Player #2: "Po-pe is a young Navajo brave who is quick with a short bow and has been hired by the Mongols as a scout with the hope that he can save his home village by siding with the winning faction. On a dark night, Po-pe will sneak into an enemy city and assassinate the Aztec military leader.
GM: Your difficulty is 6, Player 2. If you fail, Po-pe will be killed.
Player #2: I rolled a 3, groan. "Po-pe sneaks into the enemy camp and takes aim with his arrow, but the Aztec Jaguar Warrior he is targeting mystically transforms into a real jaguar at the last instant, and the arrow sail's over the cat's head. The jaguar catches the assassin's scent, chases, and mauls Po-pe."
To me, this concept seems simple enough. When I tried it, it just wouldn't work. On the first site, nobody would try it, and multiple gamers openly criticized the concept as something which seemed no fun at all to them. On the second site, one gamer agreed to give it a shot. She stuck around long enough to declare one action, but she quit before rolling her die. On the third site, I picked up a couple of players, but they just wouldn't declare any actions worthy of rolls. The actions they were declaring were "I check my inventory to see what I'm carrying" and "I look over the fence". I was quite fed up by this time, and I got snarky. They quit.
This is one of the games that I am thinking of starting here for the Timewasters. Based on my experience with it, however, I am not going to even start it here without first getting a thumbs up from the gamers who have been here longer than me.
This message was last updated by the GM at 18:48, Wed 15 July 2015.
