ASGARD rules meta system coming soon

Vincent Yanda and myself have been working on the VictoryPoints website again. After aborting our first attempt with Joomla I've decided to build it from the ground up using ASP.NET (I wrote one of the first web applications using that in the mid-90s and I've been meaning to bone up on it again with ASP 3.5 having some maturity.)

That effort is going well. We are focusing on developing the content at the same time that I am building the infrastructure for the website. The site is based upon the idea of showcasing complete projects. ASGARD is a free meta gaming system you can use to remove the Game Master from most war games and the Dungeon Master from most RPGs. It is not a weak system but one that allows for complex results. It is based upon the Markov Chain and is in fact a paper based computer. It maintains most of the state of the evolving plot line and is incredibly easy to use with very little overhead. It allows for complex solo play. I was inspired by Victory Game's Ambush! series which I have played numerous times over the years. What I didn't like was they didn't give you any information on creating your own modules and that the modules were on a fixed, known map. I wanted a system that you could create your own modules and have it work on an arbitrary map. I've spent months developing it with earnest work starting in October of 2008 and a workable system being ready in May of 2009. We are currently working up the documentation for the system along with several initial scenarios. We want the VictoryPoints site to be the home for it and for people to produce their own ASGARD projects and post them there.

That said we would love to negotiate with free lance artists to do some artwork. We unfortunately are not able to pay anything for this work but once the website is up we can offer to build up your online presence. For a starting (and starving!) artist like Vince and I this might be a good combination.

More details to follow. I finished the first sample scenario last night in which the players must find a key to open the gate in the wall imprisoning the village. It is a one page scenario that shows how the system can easily maintain complex state.

Ninja Revenge

I've been working for the past two weeks fleshing out my Ninja Revenge game idea. It came about at Nashcon. I didn't have much money so there wasn't much I could buy until I was looking through the Dixson stuff Wargames had for sale. 10 Ninja or related 28mm figures for $10. Well heck, I've got $10! So I picked them up. I finished painting and basing them last night.

From Ninja Revenge

The game idea is one where I will bring out my Samurai miniatures that haven't seen the light of day in years and have an excuse to put them on the table again. I've been working on this simulation system that allows all of the players to be on the same team with the enemies run by the system. I borrowed ideas from Victory Games' Ambush! game. There are major differences in my system but the basic core idea is the same - various encounter point on a 3D terrain produce some effect or encounter.

From Ninja Revenge

Generally what happens is the players have an overall mission. Accomplishing that mission comes about by seeking out the encounter points and prosecuting them whatever they turn out to be. The mission starts in Condition 0 whose basic parameters are defined by the mission. You may be on patrol and so at equal odds with the enemy. You may be surrounded and/or cornered with the enemy coming in on you, or you may have a very specific mission to find and defeat some specific target. There are many types of mission I've been able to devise for this system. I am doing my best to get it written up and playtested. So far it has been fun.

From Ninja Revenge

In this particular scenario, 10 very powerful shinobi are on the trail of the local Samurai garrison in hopes of assassinating the leader. This is in revenge for the burning of a village associated with the shinobi. It is not historically based on any one incident and the history of the Ninja is mainly unverified. They did exist. Some of their tactics are known. Their philosophy is known. They didn't start wearing black commando outfits until long after Japan had been unified - but that won't stop us from having fun with them. In many ways the mission is standard SpecOps 101 - infiltrate, prosecute with extreme prejudice, exfiltrate. You could replace the Ninja and Samurai for Rangers and Nazis or SEALS and Sandinistas.

From Ninja Revenge

As the conditions progress they have a chance to branch depending on what has happened. Condition 0 doesn't need to lead to Condition 1 for example. Condition 1 might represent the Ninja getting ambushed while Condition 2 might be the Ninja finding a vital clue that gets them closer to the target. Condition 3 might be the target is on the offensive and Condition 4 might be the target is on the defensive. So depending on how lucky or unlucky the players are might determine how hard that condition is. As always, good tactics will mean the players are able to hunker down and survive onslaughts while pushing to complete the mission.

The combat rules are taken straight from a role playing game I very much enjoy called the Hero System. It is the most mechanically consistent game around and actually bills itself as a game toolkit. It will give me a lot of ability to keep things balanced and to handle complex game play. The rules are complex enough to build a connection between the player and the game piece for a more immersive game experience.

Hopefully next week I'll have everything ready for the game to kick off. I've been reading a lot of Ninja mythology just so I can get this ready to go. Check out the full album of photos I took of the finished Ninja pictures here.

From Ninja Revenge