A look at bonds with flash fiction, with a simple
propluristemic tool for relationships in gaming.
First the weekly flash fiction challenges, a joint entry for both
Jennie's
Expansion Joints and
Succinctly Yours over at
Grandma's Goulash.
The first should have 15 words, one of them
tie, and the second needs 140 characters, has to be based on
this image of a detective-like figure and may use the word
fabricate. Tough task.
Will they match up?
Undeniable connection.
A tie indiscernible, apparently fragile. Nevertheless, immensely strong.
Impossible to fabricate - proof.
Elementary.
It's inspired by Jennie's intro for
this week. So how about that gaming tool then?
Well met
This is a simple system for setting up random relationships between characters. It's aimed at
sandbox roleplaying, but could work in
wargaming too; more on that later. It builds on the idea of
minus level characters and finds another use for the
basic scarcity system I've been developing for the ever-growing
Hogintu supplement.
The basic mechanism is a die roll. I'll assume a D6, but you can use any.
When a character or party meets another person, roll the die. The result is the
distance from the current location that this person is from,
geographically and/or socially; the higher the number, the further away the character has his or her associations.
The GM or players can interpret this. A 1 may be a character from this exact neck of the woods, a 5 from the edge of the region. An instant foundation for the encounter, and perhaps even immediately obvious to the characters from equipment or accent.
If you roll a maximum, the person is from a degree further afield.
Roll again and add the second result to the first. Keep rolling and adding for each extra maximum.
All well and good, but here's the important bit.
When creating a new character, each player should go through the same process, and record the total.
This number represents their origins. You can fudge to suit character concept of course, and a well-travelled character could have multiple rolls, use a larger die or be given a range.
Every time the player character or party as a whole changes location, you could add or subtract a degree, here 6, from the player character numbers to represent distance travelled. If you want more you could even set up a
matrix for extra dimensions.
And the point?
If when two characters meet, the numbers match, they know each other, or at least know of each other. You could roll a one-off die for how well, with a 1 being close family and a 6 a friend of a friend or distant acquaintance. This has clear potential. Strong bonds, shared secrets, memories unlocked, even new loyalties.
And for wargaming? To take just one well-known historical example,
when Poland was partitioned, Poles could find themselves facing each other in the armed forces of one of the three occupying empires, either the Prussian, Austrian or Russian. For a
Romantic patriot and keeper of the flame, that must have been painful.
Why not
roll for units when related factions meet on the battlefield? They may do their nominal duty, but could instead choose to hold back, refuse to fight, even find common cause. A plan or force might collapse as supposed opponents join together and rise up.
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