"Red Markets: Black Death" - project updates and idea input thread

[theblazeuk]

Cool - I really like the 'split' of the infection 'test'.

[Freebird]

The playtest went really well. The idea of the reputation scores seems to be a real high point, and I'm looking at a tweak or two to get them more fully integrated into the Profit system.

I might rethink the character creation Original Estate packages a bit, maybe give them a little more flexibility.

I need to playtest the effect of armor in combat more. In the only major fight, Adam rolled like nuts and killed his opponent on a single hit.

You can ask the other Tech Differs, but I think the overall setting is super effective.

Oh, the new variation on what happens to Plague victims had a fun effect: a mass grave of buried Casualties suddenly writhing to life when a church bell sounded.

[Freebird]

That sounds like a fantastic effect. The bell tolls for thee! And then the graveyard empties.

Will an Black Death RM AP be in the future for Tech Diff? I'm listening to 10K Lakes and still have not finished Reformers yet.

The Black Death setting sounds like a fun listen to.

It could be, as soon as March for the recording of the first playtest! But that depends on the results of our monthly one-shot poll for our Patreon backers. You could help them make that decision...

[SoCal Sweetheart]

This sounds very cool!
I proposed a Dungeon Crawl variant on Red Markets to some of my players but we haven't tried it yet.

[Dadalos]

Dungeon Crawl seems to be a natural evolution for my group as well. but we havent tried it out ether. might be fun to do.

[Pixie]

We haven't released the episode yet, and the YouTube recordings are for Patrons to listen along to as we record. Please take down the post.

[Freebird]

Now we've released the first episode! For your listening enjoyment:

https://www.technicaldifficultiespod.com/episodes/2018/5/12/red-markets-black-death-playtest-1

We're planning to play again this Saturday, tell us what you think!

[Laughing Penguin]

Listening now, I like a lot of the rules you came up with to adapt to the setting. Driving home from work with it on, I did wonder why you didn't make retainers more like the animals/drones from the current rules. You could have a base upkeep (i'd think 2 instead of 1, since proper outfitting and training would require more resources than a child sitting at home) and then buy upgrades to allow for the varied functions a possible retainer might have. At base the retainer could take basic actions in the way that some of the animals would, have a base carrying capacity of one Haul, and possibly with one 'free' upgrade to define his role. Then you can specialize them with other upgrades to serve other purposes. Give them the standard 10 'charges'/wounds that can be refreshed with rations, and otherwise mechanically take cues from what's in the rules.

Some ideas for upgrades to reflect the training they would have:
Squire - allows the purchase of heavy armor (and other special items you had listed as needing a retainer for)
Hardy - Buys an extra Haul of carrying capacity (can be purchased multiple times)
Skilled/Learned - retainer has a skill/craft of 1 that they can roll for (like having a personal blacksmith or scholar as a retainer)
Industrious - allows the retainer to take a work action while the crew looks for contracts
Hunter - Retainer can gather d10 of rations every day from hunting local game
Combatant - allows the retainer to use more than base clubs as weapons to aid in combat/allows then to participate in combat at all when not desperately needed to survive
Scout - allows the retainer to operate ahead of the crew and make Awareness checks in the area at a +2
etc....

All that said, i hope you share more of the rules you came up with, I'd love to get a better look at them. Really interesting mod to the system!

[Freebird]

Listening now, I like a lot of the rules you came up with to adapt to the setting. Driving home from work with it on, I did wonder why you didn't make retainers more like the animals/drones from the current rules. You could have a base upkeep (i'd think 2 instead of 1, since proper outfitting and training would require more resources than a child sitting at home) and then buy upgrades to allow for the varied functions a possible retainer might have. At base the retainer could take basic actions in the way that some of the animals would, have a base carrying capacity of one Haul, and possibly with one 'free' upgrade to define his role. Then you can specialize them with other upgrades to serve other purposes. Give them the standard 10 'charges'/wounds that can be refreshed with rations, and otherwise mechanically take cues from what's in the rules.

Some ideas for upgrades to reflect the training they would have:
Squire - allows the purchase of heavy armor (and other special items you had listed as needing a retainer for)
Hardy - Buys an extra Haul of carrying capacity (can be purchased multiple times)
Skilled/Learned - retainer has a skill/craft of 1 that they can roll for (like having a personal blacksmith or scholar as a retainer)
Industrious - allows the retainer to take a work action while the crew looks for contracts
Hunter - Retainer can gather d10 of rations every day from hunting local game
Combatant - allows the retainer to use more than base clubs as weapons to aid in combat/allows then to participate in combat at all when not desperately needed to survive
Scout - allows the retainer to operate ahead of the crew and make Awareness checks in the area at a +2
etc....

All that said, i hope you share more of the rules you came up with, I'd love to get a better look at them. Really interesting mod to the system!

Those are some really good ideas, Laughing Penguin. I'll take a look in that direction in the next playtest (this Saturday!). That said, I do want there to be some mechanical distance between Retainers and gear, as the Medieval relationships between a retainer their boss was more complicated and interpersonal than what the gear mechanic typically encourages. They do have their own free will and agency, even more so than a dog (in most cases!).

[CodeBlue]

well done, loving this take on things, also kudos to Penguin for the upgrade ideas.

[Freebird]

Update: we ran a second playtest last week, with the same Taker crew as the first session, plus one new player (a stealthy archer!). It seemed to go very well! There was a greater emphasis on combat and Humanity damage this time around.

A few changes:

1. I've renamed the points system for Reputations, with Minor and Major points. Five Minor points earn you one Major point, wich is what you can roll for reputational interactions. I'm really liking how this system is working.

2. Archery is effective in combat, and definitely provides tactical options that melee combat doesn't. I'm thinking the particular weapon upgrades might still need a bit of balance, as fully upgraded swords and warhammers are still *crazy* good.

3. Armor seems to be worth buying and maintaining. Still needs some playtesting to dial in the exact amount of benefit and upkeep

4. We had some use of leeches, and split infection rolls. I really liked the tension and uncertainly that the split rolls added to the game, and the players said they loved the idea.

5. More of a general Red Markets note, but this game we found out what it looks like when the Market secretly rolls just a single round on Negotiations! Fortunately it worked out well enough for our poor Takers, thanks to good rolls and good tactical choices.

[Dadalos]

2. Archery is effective in combat, and definitely provides tactical options that melee combat doesn't. I'm thinking the particular weapon upgrades might still need a bit of balance, as fully upgraded swords and war-hammers are still *crazy* good.

3. Armor seems to be worth buying and maintaining. Still needs some play-testing to dial in the exact amount of benefit and upkeep

on point 2 the hammers and swords need to be 'crazy' to keep up with the ranged options. even in other systems where there's an option for range vs melee range is almost always the better option with the exception of situations where your forced into cramped quarters.

on point 3 id be interested to hear how well shields are playing into it (with or without other armor), Ive found them to be dubiously beneficial in RM, but would love to hear about their effect in a slightly altered setting.

[Freebird]

2. Archery is effective in combat, and definitely provides tactical options that melee combat doesn't. I'm thinking the particular weapon upgrades might still need a bit of balance, as fully upgraded swords and war-hammers are still *crazy* good.

3. Armor seems to be worth buying and maintaining. Still needs some play-testing to dial in the exact amount of benefit and upkeep

on point 2 the hammers and swords need to be 'crazy' to keep up with the ranged options. even in other systems where there's an option for range vs melee range is almost always the better option with the exception of situations where your forced into cramped quarters.

on point 3 id be interested to hear how well shields are playing into it (with or without other armor), Ive found them to be dubiously beneficial in RM, but would love to hear about their effect in a slightly altered setting.

Hmm, good question about shields. I haven't really considered them.

[CodeBlue]

hmmm, Shields.  what if it was in essence, held armor?  You hold a shield, and get hit, if the damage would be touching the left arm or main body, then it damages the shield,  you can upgrade to large shield, which protects the left leg also, or perhaps even tower shield that you can use as a twitch to use as cover?

[Freebird]

hmmm, Shields.  what if it was in essence, held armor?  You hold a shield, and get hit, if the damage would be touching the left arm or main body, then it damages the shield,  you can upgrade to large shield, which protects the left leg also, or perhaps even tower shield that you can use as a twitch to use as cover?

Yeah, maybe. But shields were also used much more actively in combat, particularly small bucklers. For example, see this demonstration: https://youtu.be/vLznO5MxISU?t=1m12s

Still working on how best to model that as a game mechanic.