Penny Ante, the RPG
The other day on RPG.net, someone started a thread about "Metagame Currency." The thread was about drama points and stuff like that, but I was amused by the idea of taking the idea more literally. The following is a more organized and slightly expanded version of the brainstorming notes I jotted down this morning at work. Some of the terminology is dodgy, and I say virtually nothing about how I'd envision the mechanical system synergizing with the narrative.
PENNY ANTE
This is a mechanical system for a role-playing game, using poker-style betting and Yahtzee scoring to determine the outcome of in-game conflicts.
ACTORS
One person is the House, who fills the traditional GM slot. The rest are Players, who control a single character apiece. The story is shaped by their interactions.
The Players normally control a single character apiece. A player is responsible for narrating both her character's actions, and some of their consequences. The player has certain ways of influencing the game world around her character, beyond simply having that character act -- systems allow her to assign importance to friendly House-controlled characters and facets of the environment.
//Players and House both only narrate results of challenges that they LOSE? Could make things more interesting, and possibly defuse resentment on loser's part.
The House represents all parts of the game world that directly influence, or are influenced by, the Players' characters. This includes their friends, enemies, and the environment itself. Mechanically, the House' role is strictly antagonistic; while he is expected to provide dialogue and such for characters friendly to the Players', he never rolls dice or makes wagers for them. Allies and favorable circumstances are represented by mechanisms which the Players control. //i.e., circumstance dice and purchased characteristics
CURRENCY
Each actor, including the House, keeps a pile of pennies; these coins are used as currency to affect the game's narrative direction. Players can also use pennies to purchase powerups for their characters, much like experience points in other RPGs. When a character is created, he or she has access to a certain number of pennies which are used to buy up stats. Later, the number of pennies a character has will fluctuate based on winning or losing challenges against other actors in the game (most often the House). The number of pennies the House has is set before each new story begins, and can be thought of as representing a rough "challenge level" for the adventure.
GAMEPLAY
When an actor wishes something to happen that is important to the game's narrative, he issues a challenge. The outcome of the challenge is determined through a combination of rolling dice and wagering pennies.
Each opponent in a challenge has Characteristics which define things which his Player thinks are important about him. For every Characteristic that can be made relevant to the conflict at hand, the actor rolls one die, up to a maximum of six. These dice only count for him, but it is possible for the opponents to introduce up to four Circumstance dice (two apiece) which can be used by either. The dice are rolled twice, with betting taking place after each roll. If neither opponent folds during betting, the outcome is decided by who can form the highest Yahtzee score from their best five dice.
A challenge plays out in the following steps:
1. Announce challenge and set ante; declare initial Circumstances.
The ante for the challenge is set by the challenger, and is the smallest increment by which bets can be raised. //The size of the ante is determined by the seriousness of the challenge??
Once the ante has been declared, each opponent may name a Circumstance. This can be any aspect of the scene at hand which could be relevant to the challenge. It could be a person, an object, or even a particular situation or event taking place during the conflict, but it should be simple and easily described. If the opponent doesn't understand how a declared Circumstance might be relevant, the person who declared it must briefly explain.
For each Circumstance declared, one die is rolled and placed in the middle of the table, where it will remain until the challenge is resolved.
2. Characteristic roll.
Each opponent starts with an initial bet of the minimum ante, taken from their penny pile. Then, they each declare up to five Characteristics they will be using for the challenge, with the challenger going first. Each player starts with one die; each Characteristic used adds an additional one, up to a maximum of six dice total. Both players roll their dice, without letting the other player see (e.g., using a dice cup).
After examining the results of their rolls in private, the players decide which dice they want to reroll. Those dice go back in the cup, and the others are revealed.
3. First round of betting.
After the players have chosen which dice to reveal, wagering commences. This process proceeds as in the game of poker, with the players taking turns either standing at their current wager, raising the bet, matching the opponent's raise, or folding. If either player folds, the challenge ends and he narrates his character's defeat. The victor takes his pennies back, and places the pennies his opponent wagered into his winnings pile.
4. Declare new Circumstances; reroll.
If betting ends with neither player folding, the players each introduce a new Circumstance, just as in step 1. After the new Circumstance dice have been rolled, they reroll the dice still in their cup, but do not reveal them.
5. Second round of betting.
Betting proceeds as in step 3. If it ends without a fold, both players reveal their dice. The one who can form the best Yahtzee score from his dice and the Circumstances is the victor, and his opponent must narrate defeat. The victor takes his pennies back, and puts the ones his opponent wagered into his winnings pile.
Complications
Going All In
If her opponent makes a wager that she cannot match, either by raising or by setting an ante that is greater than her total number of pennies, a player can go all in, betting all of her pennies. This counts as matching the challenger's wager. The challenge is resolved immediately, either by the challenger folding, or by evaluating the dice. If a player goes all in during the first round of betting, the dice are revealed and evaluated after step 4 (new circumstances + reroll).
Doubling Down
During step 4, when declaring new circumstances, a player may bar her opponent from using the circumstance die she introduces. Doing this requires her to double her current wager. This does not count as a raise, and the opponent need not match it for the challenge to continue.
Lending
During each phase of betting, each Player not involved in the challenge can offer one loan, of any amount he can afford, to one of the opponents, who can decide whether or not to accept it. He must pay back the loan prior to the beginning of the next adventure, either through a loan of his own, or during downtime. //If he can't pay back the loan, something undesirable happens.
Resolution
When a challenge is resolved, the loser describes what the loss entailed for his character. If he lost all his pennies, he can either go into debt, or be bought out.
Going Into Debt
If a player goes into debt, his opponent gives him back the pennies he lost. However, he does not get to narrate his defeat; his opponent does.
Being Bought Out
If other players wish, they can offer to buy out the defeated player. Everyone who wishes to make a buyout offer takes pennies from their piles and offers them to the player, who must either accept the highest bid or else go into debt. He takes those pennies for his own, but he must permanently give up one of the Characteristic dice he used during the challenge (if he didn't use any Characteristics, he chooses from his complete list).
If the House has more than one penny in her pile, she must always offer a one-penny buyout to any bankrupted player.
CHARACTERS
Characters have two attributes: a penny pile, and a list of characteristics.
Penny Pile
A character's penny pile is used for betting during challenges, buying out defeated players, and purchasing characteristics. The number of pennies each character begins the game with is decided by consensus among all the players, but it shouldn't be less than 25 cents.
Characteristics List
Each character has a list of characteristics, which are things her player thinks are important about her. They could be quantitative attributes (Strong as Ten Men, Whip Smart, Heart-Stoppingly Beautiful), beliefs (Love Conquers All, Might Makes Right, We'll Pull Through Somehow), relationships (Protect My Little Brother, My Parents are Dead, Trusty Horse), goals (Searching For My Equal, Uncovering the Truth, Never Let Them Take Me Alive), or even just treasured possessions (My Home Is My Castle, Lucky Necklace, Huge Book Collection). They should be things that mean enough to the character that they can materially assist him, or give him motivation to succeed, in a variety of situations.
Every character always starts with one characteristic for free. Buying a new characteristic costs 5 cents. This can only be done before the game starts, or between adventures.
//At first, I was going to give characters a more traditional, D&D-style spread of attributes, each of which was ranked 1-6 (representing how many dice you'd roll in a challenge based on that attribute). Something like Guts/Poise/Smarts/Soul. I went with the more abstract characteristics idea because I thought it'd force challenges to be more tightly integrated with story-stuff, and also because it follows the same format as the circumstance dice. I'm still not entirely happy with this as it's set out here. One idea I had was to have different "ranks" of characteristics, and have opponents able to take non-defining ones as "trophies" if they bankrupt you.
THE HOUSE
The House starts each adventure with a large stock of pennies, usually equal to the sum of all players' penny piles at the end of the previous adventure (or prior to character generation, if the game is just starting). She may start with more or fewer pennies, if it's agreed on by all players. The House can pay out pennies to create antagonists and other challenges for the Players, and to respond to their challenges.
The House can divide her penny pile up however she wishes between various antagonists and obstacles. The players should discuss prior to the adventure whether or not there should be a limit to how many pennies the House can devote to a single antagonist.
TYPES OF CHALLENGES
The most basic type of challenge represents a direct struggle between two parties. It could be a fight, but it can also be any type of nonviolent competition whose results are important. One of the parties involved could even be a part of the environment -- in such a case, the obstacle is created by the House as though it were a sentient character.
The House can also issue anonymous challenges. These are typically indirect challenges to the players: for instance, an antagonist could send ninjas to attack a Player's character. Since the ninjas are only agents of the real antagonist, they count as one of her characteristics (Commands a Bunch of Ninjas), which she is using in the challenge. In this type of challenge, the House doesn't have to reveal (or even concretely determine) all of the antagonist's characteristics, or the full size of her penny pile. Any pennies or characteristics he does use in the challenge, though, are set in stone. In an indirect challenge, the House cannot go all in to match a Player's raise; he has to fold if the wager exceeds the number of pennies the antagonist is devoting to the challenge (though he can still decide to add to the antagonist's penny pile later on, if she makes another indirect challenge or faces the Players directly).
//Kind of want there to be a type of diffuse "advance the plot" challenge players can issue to the House. Not sure how that would work.
Sometimes players will wish to help each other with challenges. Alliances must be declared as soon as the challenge is announced, and all players involved must buy in with the ante. For the remainder of the challenge, they pool their pennies for wagers, and decide as a team which circumstances they'll announce and which characteristics they'll use. If they win the challenge, they split the pot evenly, no matter how many pennies they individually contributed. If they lose, they go into debt or are bought out as a group.
//????? No idea if this is even needed. Might be covered by loans, plus possible addition of rules for side bets..?
PENNY ANTE
This is a mechanical system for a role-playing game, using poker-style betting and Yahtzee scoring to determine the outcome of in-game conflicts.
ACTORS
One person is the House, who fills the traditional GM slot. The rest are Players, who control a single character apiece. The story is shaped by their interactions.
The Players normally control a single character apiece. A player is responsible for narrating both her character's actions, and some of their consequences. The player has certain ways of influencing the game world around her character, beyond simply having that character act -- systems allow her to assign importance to friendly House-controlled characters and facets of the environment.
//Players and House both only narrate results of challenges that they LOSE? Could make things more interesting, and possibly defuse resentment on loser's part.
The House represents all parts of the game world that directly influence, or are influenced by, the Players' characters. This includes their friends, enemies, and the environment itself. Mechanically, the House' role is strictly antagonistic; while he is expected to provide dialogue and such for characters friendly to the Players', he never rolls dice or makes wagers for them. Allies and favorable circumstances are represented by mechanisms which the Players control. //i.e., circumstance dice and purchased characteristics
CURRENCY
Each actor, including the House, keeps a pile of pennies; these coins are used as currency to affect the game's narrative direction. Players can also use pennies to purchase powerups for their characters, much like experience points in other RPGs. When a character is created, he or she has access to a certain number of pennies which are used to buy up stats. Later, the number of pennies a character has will fluctuate based on winning or losing challenges against other actors in the game (most often the House). The number of pennies the House has is set before each new story begins, and can be thought of as representing a rough "challenge level" for the adventure.
GAMEPLAY
When an actor wishes something to happen that is important to the game's narrative, he issues a challenge. The outcome of the challenge is determined through a combination of rolling dice and wagering pennies.
Each opponent in a challenge has Characteristics which define things which his Player thinks are important about him. For every Characteristic that can be made relevant to the conflict at hand, the actor rolls one die, up to a maximum of six. These dice only count for him, but it is possible for the opponents to introduce up to four Circumstance dice (two apiece) which can be used by either. The dice are rolled twice, with betting taking place after each roll. If neither opponent folds during betting, the outcome is decided by who can form the highest Yahtzee score from their best five dice.
A challenge plays out in the following steps:
1. Announce challenge and set ante; declare initial Circumstances.
The ante for the challenge is set by the challenger, and is the smallest increment by which bets can be raised. //The size of the ante is determined by the seriousness of the challenge??
Once the ante has been declared, each opponent may name a Circumstance. This can be any aspect of the scene at hand which could be relevant to the challenge. It could be a person, an object, or even a particular situation or event taking place during the conflict, but it should be simple and easily described. If the opponent doesn't understand how a declared Circumstance might be relevant, the person who declared it must briefly explain.
For each Circumstance declared, one die is rolled and placed in the middle of the table, where it will remain until the challenge is resolved.
2. Characteristic roll.
Each opponent starts with an initial bet of the minimum ante, taken from their penny pile. Then, they each declare up to five Characteristics they will be using for the challenge, with the challenger going first. Each player starts with one die; each Characteristic used adds an additional one, up to a maximum of six dice total. Both players roll their dice, without letting the other player see (e.g., using a dice cup).
After examining the results of their rolls in private, the players decide which dice they want to reroll. Those dice go back in the cup, and the others are revealed.
3. First round of betting.
After the players have chosen which dice to reveal, wagering commences. This process proceeds as in the game of poker, with the players taking turns either standing at their current wager, raising the bet, matching the opponent's raise, or folding. If either player folds, the challenge ends and he narrates his character's defeat. The victor takes his pennies back, and places the pennies his opponent wagered into his winnings pile.
4. Declare new Circumstances; reroll.
If betting ends with neither player folding, the players each introduce a new Circumstance, just as in step 1. After the new Circumstance dice have been rolled, they reroll the dice still in their cup, but do not reveal them.
5. Second round of betting.
Betting proceeds as in step 3. If it ends without a fold, both players reveal their dice. The one who can form the best Yahtzee score from his dice and the Circumstances is the victor, and his opponent must narrate defeat. The victor takes his pennies back, and puts the ones his opponent wagered into his winnings pile.
Complications
Going All In
If her opponent makes a wager that she cannot match, either by raising or by setting an ante that is greater than her total number of pennies, a player can go all in, betting all of her pennies. This counts as matching the challenger's wager. The challenge is resolved immediately, either by the challenger folding, or by evaluating the dice. If a player goes all in during the first round of betting, the dice are revealed and evaluated after step 4 (new circumstances + reroll).
Doubling Down
During step 4, when declaring new circumstances, a player may bar her opponent from using the circumstance die she introduces. Doing this requires her to double her current wager. This does not count as a raise, and the opponent need not match it for the challenge to continue.
Lending
During each phase of betting, each Player not involved in the challenge can offer one loan, of any amount he can afford, to one of the opponents, who can decide whether or not to accept it. He must pay back the loan prior to the beginning of the next adventure, either through a loan of his own, or during downtime. //If he can't pay back the loan, something undesirable happens.
Resolution
When a challenge is resolved, the loser describes what the loss entailed for his character. If he lost all his pennies, he can either go into debt, or be bought out.
Going Into Debt
If a player goes into debt, his opponent gives him back the pennies he lost. However, he does not get to narrate his defeat; his opponent does.
Being Bought Out
If other players wish, they can offer to buy out the defeated player. Everyone who wishes to make a buyout offer takes pennies from their piles and offers them to the player, who must either accept the highest bid or else go into debt. He takes those pennies for his own, but he must permanently give up one of the Characteristic dice he used during the challenge (if he didn't use any Characteristics, he chooses from his complete list).
If the House has more than one penny in her pile, she must always offer a one-penny buyout to any bankrupted player.
CHARACTERS
Characters have two attributes: a penny pile, and a list of characteristics.
Penny Pile
A character's penny pile is used for betting during challenges, buying out defeated players, and purchasing characteristics. The number of pennies each character begins the game with is decided by consensus among all the players, but it shouldn't be less than 25 cents.
Characteristics List
Each character has a list of characteristics, which are things her player thinks are important about her. They could be quantitative attributes (Strong as Ten Men, Whip Smart, Heart-Stoppingly Beautiful), beliefs (Love Conquers All, Might Makes Right, We'll Pull Through Somehow), relationships (Protect My Little Brother, My Parents are Dead, Trusty Horse), goals (Searching For My Equal, Uncovering the Truth, Never Let Them Take Me Alive), or even just treasured possessions (My Home Is My Castle, Lucky Necklace, Huge Book Collection). They should be things that mean enough to the character that they can materially assist him, or give him motivation to succeed, in a variety of situations.
Every character always starts with one characteristic for free. Buying a new characteristic costs 5 cents. This can only be done before the game starts, or between adventures.
//At first, I was going to give characters a more traditional, D&D-style spread of attributes, each of which was ranked 1-6 (representing how many dice you'd roll in a challenge based on that attribute). Something like Guts/Poise/Smarts/Soul. I went with the more abstract characteristics idea because I thought it'd force challenges to be more tightly integrated with story-stuff, and also because it follows the same format as the circumstance dice. I'm still not entirely happy with this as it's set out here. One idea I had was to have different "ranks" of characteristics, and have opponents able to take non-defining ones as "trophies" if they bankrupt you.
THE HOUSE
The House starts each adventure with a large stock of pennies, usually equal to the sum of all players' penny piles at the end of the previous adventure (or prior to character generation, if the game is just starting). She may start with more or fewer pennies, if it's agreed on by all players. The House can pay out pennies to create antagonists and other challenges for the Players, and to respond to their challenges.
The House can divide her penny pile up however she wishes between various antagonists and obstacles. The players should discuss prior to the adventure whether or not there should be a limit to how many pennies the House can devote to a single antagonist.
TYPES OF CHALLENGES
The most basic type of challenge represents a direct struggle between two parties. It could be a fight, but it can also be any type of nonviolent competition whose results are important. One of the parties involved could even be a part of the environment -- in such a case, the obstacle is created by the House as though it were a sentient character.
The House can also issue anonymous challenges. These are typically indirect challenges to the players: for instance, an antagonist could send ninjas to attack a Player's character. Since the ninjas are only agents of the real antagonist, they count as one of her characteristics (Commands a Bunch of Ninjas), which she is using in the challenge. In this type of challenge, the House doesn't have to reveal (or even concretely determine) all of the antagonist's characteristics, or the full size of her penny pile. Any pennies or characteristics he does use in the challenge, though, are set in stone. In an indirect challenge, the House cannot go all in to match a Player's raise; he has to fold if the wager exceeds the number of pennies the antagonist is devoting to the challenge (though he can still decide to add to the antagonist's penny pile later on, if she makes another indirect challenge or faces the Players directly).
//Kind of want there to be a type of diffuse "advance the plot" challenge players can issue to the House. Not sure how that would work.
Sometimes players will wish to help each other with challenges. Alliances must be declared as soon as the challenge is announced, and all players involved must buy in with the ante. For the remainder of the challenge, they pool their pennies for wagers, and decide as a team which circumstances they'll announce and which characteristics they'll use. If they win the challenge, they split the pot evenly, no matter how many pennies they individually contributed. If they lose, they go into debt or are bought out as a group.
//????? No idea if this is even needed. Might be covered by loans, plus possible addition of rules for side bets..?