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Post by OFTHEHILLPEOPLE on Jun 8, 2017 10:12:02 GMT -8
I was asked to run fantasy for next month's Savage Saturday and asked to theme it like the Gauntlet video game. A G+'er did some character creation for the characters but I'm having trouble laying out the setting and tone for the game itself. Being that it's base on an arcade game I'm not sure if I should keep those tones (complete with the healing turkeys, spawn locations, and the grim ghost of Death) or if the game would be better served as a semi-serious representation of that setting, tapping the tropes of Conan.
If you were making a setting around the world of Gauntlet where would you start and what would you carry over from the game?
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tomes
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Post by tomes on Jun 8, 2017 10:29:16 GMT -8
If you were making a setting around the world of Gauntlet where would you start and what would you carry over from the game? Oh awesome! First get your large tub of Lego, and then... I would keep the elements, such as turkeys. However, it'd be great if there was a reason why they are ubiquitous in the dungeon, which sounds pseudo-realistic. I like games that capture the pulp and silliness of the setting, but are played in a more serious and gritty way. My Star Frontiers game sounded like it'd be silly, but I went with back-stabbing mysterious space horror as the undercurrent. Definitely stick with thematic elements like the colors for the character sheets / tokens / minis or whatever. I'd grab a copy of the music as well, if possible... it's suitably mellow enough to play in the background without sounding distracting, from memory!
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tomes
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Post by tomes on Jun 8, 2017 10:32:52 GMT -8
Oh ya, and I think you should try to emulate the number of opponents in some way... like having hoards upon hoards of mooks running out of their portals or whatever, and narrating the wanton destruction of those hordes with your unstoppable stream of arrows or firebolts. Only occasionally do rolls need to be made for getting hit by them, maybe?
Or maybe have Health be some seriously large number (like 1000), and every little mook that you take down that is not a real threat just takes away a health (since in the game time was such an issue... you could kill an infinite amount of enemies, but every second you did so your health was oozing from your body).
[thinking out loud, but now I realize you said "Savage Sundays", so I'm assuming you sort of go with that system.]
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Post by EricaOdd on Jun 8, 2017 10:41:41 GMT -8
Just make sure the elf doesn't shoot the food! Because the wizard needs food badly!
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tomes
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Post by tomes on Jun 8, 2017 10:48:09 GMT -8
Just make sure the elf doesn't shoot the food! Because the wizard needs food badly!
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Post by EricaOdd on Jun 8, 2017 11:59:02 GMT -8
Or maybe have Health be some seriously large number (like 1000), and every little mook that you take down that is not a real threat just takes away a health (since in the game time was such an issue... you could kill an infinite amount of enemies, but every second you did so your health was oozing from your body). This concept won't really work with Savage Worlds, as it doesn't use a hit point system. It's more of a damage-resistance system. Damage rolled is compared to your Toughness, and every 4 points over your Toughness is 1 Wound. You could still have the healing turkeys, but just have each turkey remove 1 wound. Other treasure they could find could be Bennies. The Toughness of the Extras should be quite low, since if you really want to get across that Gauntlet feel there will need to be LOTS of them. This seems like it will be a hack-n-slash gorefest. It was a fun diversion as a video game, but I'm not sure how well it will translate into a tabletop experience. Seems like it would get... no offense... boring after a while. I roll Fighting or Shooting again, kill three or four more enemies, lather, rinse, repeat. Sadly I have no real advice on how to change that, or make it a more engaging tabletop game. Golden Axe could be fun, but that would only be a 3-player game.
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tomes
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Hello madness
Posts: 1,438
Currently Running: Dungeon World, hippie games, Fallout Shelter RPG hack
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Post by tomes on Jun 8, 2017 12:07:48 GMT -8
Damage rolled is compared to your Toughness, and every 4 points over your Toughness is 1 Wound. Agreed... didn't read into the Savage Worlds part of the message until later. That said, it would be excellent fun to have a time clock mechanic on the table, counting down some insanely large number of seconds, and when it hits zero they TAKE A WOUND (as a separate way to take damage). Let's see... one shot = ~4 hours. 4 * 3600 = 14,400 seconds. Maybe a count down of 5000 seconds or so to start, and then they will take a wound... HOWEVER you could provide QUARTERS as bennies... and they can use them to add another 1000 to the clock or whatever. Oh, that would make some great Gauntlet tension mechanics that I recall playing in the arcade. [Again, thinking out loud and not thinking through issues]
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Post by savagedaddy on Jun 8, 2017 12:22:13 GMT -8
I was asked to run fantasy for next month's Savage Saturday and asked to theme it like the Gauntlet video game... Being that it's base on an arcade game I'm not sure if I should keep those tones (complete with the healing turkeys, spawn locations, and the grim ghost of Death)... If you were making a setting around the world of Gauntlet where would you start and what would you carry over from the game? I say absolutely make it an arcade game dungeon crawl experience at the table using Savage Worlds. I would start by setting a number of levels in the dungeon equal to the Ranks in Savage Worlds and let the players Advance one Rank per completed level. This, in my opinion, represents the instant gratification of leveling-up in the arcade game. If they die during the Novice level of the dungeon, they spawn re-spawn but don't fall a rank behind in Advances. To keep game pace at that of the video game, I'd suggest a 5 round Dramatic Task where each player takes one turn using their ability (Spellcasting, Fighting, Shooting, Stealth, etc) to complete one section of the dungeon. Start with one Dramatic Task for the Novice dungeon level, then add another Dramatic Task with each Rank Advance. So the first level is one Dramatic Task and the last (Legendary Rank) dungeon consists of 5 separate Dramatic Tasks. I'd also award 1 Benny for each Success scored by the player on a Dramatic Task. For example, the Wizard draws a King of Diamonds for the first round of the Dramatic Task and rolls three successes... he personally gets three Bennies. If the group fails on a Complication or doesn't net 5 successes then the scene instantly goes to a combat with the ghosts, ghouls, orcs, or whatever is on that level. To mimic Death chasing them around the dungeon, draw one card per level of the dungeon and if a Club comes up then end the Dramatic Task with a three round foot chase between Death and the players. If Death catches any one of the players... well you know! I'd also look at the cards I drew each dungeon level. On Hearts, I'd add a number perks equal to the face value with Jacks, Queens, Kings, and Aces worth 10. This can just be tokens that add +2 to rolls. Or you could break it up into Treasure, Food, or what have you. If you draw a Diamond, that's good for a Relic. Just a few quick thoughts. Let me know how it works out.
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Post by OFTHEHILLPEOPLE on Jun 8, 2017 13:11:35 GMT -8
Great advice.
I'm considering having the hordes of minions on the lower tier might just act as a swarm with the swarm rules. Then the bigger badder monsters will pop since they'll take a little extra effort to take them down.
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Post by EricaOdd on Jun 8, 2017 13:16:08 GMT -8
Those are all great ideas. I'd have never thought to use swarms for the hordes of enemies. Kudos!
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