{"id":1055,"date":"2019-03-22T17:49:09","date_gmt":"2019-03-22T17:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/?p=1055"},"modified":"2021-11-16T00:39:05","modified_gmt":"2021-11-16T05:39:05","slug":"five-or-so-questions-on-vs-kickstarter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/2019\/03\/five-or-so-questions-on-vs-kickstarter\/","title":{"rendered":"Five or So Questions on vs. KICKSTARTER"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today I have five-or-so questions with Thomas Deeny on the vs. KICKSTARTER, a collection of three games that’s currently on Kickstarter<\/a>! Check out what Thomas had to say below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

—<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tell me a little about vs. KICKSTARTER. What excites you about it?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

vs.\nKICKSTARTER began as three small roleplaying games based on Phil Reed’s vs.\nMonsters<\/em>. More accurately, they are inspired by his vs. Outlaws<\/em>, a\npared-down Wild West-themed version of his original game. That game was\nproduced on both sides of a multi-panel screen that folds down to a 5-1\/2″\nsquare. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A\nbit over a decade ago, Phil opened the vsM Engine up for others to use. At that\ntime, I had worked a bit on three games based on vsM, but I wound up focusing\non completing a BFA and plans for development were pushed back. A few months\nago, there was a discussion on twitter about one of the settings I had\ndeveloped as a vsM-powered game. I looked back at the old files and while that\nparticular game needed a lot of work, I saw that vs. MARS was nearly done. So\nmuch so, that a bit of trimming and it would fit on that folded screen\ntemplate. From there, the other two initial games featured in the campaign\nfollowed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

vs.\nMARS is a game about an alien invasion in a small town. I’ve always been a fan\nof survival fiction — things like zombie movies where the focus and threat is about\nthe other survivors but there is some external threat pressuring the survivors.\nvs. MARS really slots into that role. The unlocked expansion opens the game up\nto leading a resistance on occupied Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

vs.\nMIRRORSHADES is a fast-playing cyberpunk game. I love the cyberpunk genre and\nmy hope is this game falls a bit more into the social change\/punk part of\ncyberpunk rather than the chrome fetishization side. An unlocked two-panel\nexpansion to this adds fantasy races and magic to the MegaCity — it’s the\nmost-requested addition to any cyberpunk game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

vs.\nPIRATES is a game in the golden age of piracy from our childhood memories. The\nalready-unlocked expansion came first: I’ve always wanted to play a game that\nwas a mashup of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer<\/em> and The Pirates of the\nCaribbean<\/em>. Without the expansion, you’re playing more of a Treasure\nIsland<\/em> or Black Sails<\/em> game. With the expansion, you’ve got undead\npirates, the kraken, and cursed treasure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ve\nrecently unlocked vs. EMPIRE, a game that isn’t so much “Star Wars<\/em>\nwith the serial numbers filed off” as it is “Star Wars<\/em> with\nthe serial numbers filled in Play-Doh”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initially, I thought the campaign would need $400 to fund and would probably top out at $600 or about 40 or 45 backers. I am excited about the response to the campaign so far! As I write this, the campaign is 500% funded and we are nearing 100 backers — that’s twice the number of backers and nearly twice the amount pledged past a point in my initial spreadsheet where I wrote “we’re probably dreaming at this point”. That these small games are inspiring people I don’t even know to come on board and help make them a reality is just something that surprised me — it really impressed me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Great!\nWhat about this particular mechanical system appealed to you to use in such a\nvariety of settings, and what have you changed to suit them?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When\nI started designing my initial vs. game, I was interested in survival fiction.\nRather than being the proactive monster hunters of vs. Monsters <\/em>where\nyour characters decide to hunt down monsters, having a setting where you are\nforced to take on that role appealed to me. You’re a regular person and then\nsomething happens: how do you react to that? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nhad two different main games I was developing which had the same underlying\nelements: normality is interrupted by an invasion; you are simultaneously being\nhunted and take on the role of the hunters. One game was somewhat campy, the\nother somewhat serious. They combined and the theme of vs. MARS wound up\nengulfing the other. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since\nmy initial designs, my preferred game style has changed from one where we’re\njust players reacting to the twists and turns of the GM’s story to more of a\nstyle where there is player collaboration in they way the story is shaped. In\nvs. MARS, there are rules for scene framing where a player answers two\nquestions: “What is this scene about?” and “Where does it take\nplace?” Adding an element like this helps to emulate the type of fiction\nvs. MARS emulates — in a setting like an alien invasion, one major element is\nisolation or separation. By adding scene framing, our protagonists don’t have\nto be in a small clump of adventuring heroes all the time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When\nthere is damage involved, conflict resolution now incorporates the suits of\ncards drawn to speed up determining damage taken. The cyberpunk game, vs.\nMIRRORSHADES, has a Metal stat that is used whenever cyberware augmentations\nare used. To reflect the setting’s concept that cyberware is an improvement,\nusing Metal makes the highest card revealed a suit that trumps all others. It\neffectively guarantees that you’re going to have some effect on the scene if\nyou use these augments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You know I love small towns, so I\u2019m curious, what do you do to make the town small and still feel worth being in for vs. MARS?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During\ncharacter creation, one of the things you would choose for your survivor is\ntheir concept: something about what they did before the invasion and what they\nwant. This desire is something that should tie them into the town. The current\nexample character is Tabitha Masters, a French major at ETU who wants to get\nhome to make sure her family is safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stock\nlocations are listed for a few things found in and around the town that convey\nthe theme of isolation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What have you done to make fantasy character types exciting and respectful for cyberpunk, mechanically or setting-wise?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To\nget to that, I have to work through the constraints of the project. Whenever I\nsee a new game come out the first question I always see asked is: “Can I\nplay Star Wars<\/em> with it?” (Which is where vs. EMPIRE comes from.)\nThe second question is: “Can I play Shadowrun <\/em>with it?” When\ndeveloping the cyberpunk vs. game, it seemed that a straight cyberpunk game\nwith an option to add on the fantasy elements would fit the limited space I had\navailable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With\nvs. MAGICSHADES, a player chooses their character’s heritage, which adds a\nsimple one-use bonus to the character. Some implied setting material, such as\nthe elf nation of Tir nAill claiming all elves as citizens, start to bring in\nsome classic tropes of pseudo-Shadowrun<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How are your pirates and their world different from and the same as those we most commonly see in media?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ntagline for vs. PIRATES says the setting is based on the way we remember tales\nof pirates from our childhood. I feel it is more cartoonish than serious. Even\nthough you could play something straight like the Black Sails<\/em> television\nshow, I anticipate the default play style would be more like The Pirates of\nthe Caribbean<\/em> if one stripped out all the supernatural aspects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nway vs. PIRATES works is we establish the approach one will take to a\nsituation. Our stats in the game are Swashbuckling and Parley. Basically if\nyou’re fighting, your approach uses Swashbuckling. If you’re not, it’s Parley.\nAn antagonist also has approaches, but they are based on their role. So a\npirate antagonist would be drawing more cards if they were doing something\npiratey and fewer if they were doing something outside their role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Going\nback to that default play style, adding in the vs. DAVY JONES expansion bumps\nthe game towards that Buffy<\/em> + Pirates of the Caribbean<\/em> game, so\nwe can add some more supernatural elements to the antagonists and their goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What more do you have in store both for those already-achieved stretch goals and anything else to come?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nreally don’t want to overextend myself on this, which is the first Kickstarter\ncampaign I’ve handling myself. While I have been collaborating and working on\nover a dozen others, I’ve seen a few easy ways how a successful campaign can be\ntwisted into become a financial nightmare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve\nspoken to a few other campaign creators when it looked like we were close to\nunlocking the vs. EMPIRE stretch goal. Nearly every one told me to not add\nanything else that I don’t feel comfortable with. At this point, the project is\nfunded and will be delivered — with the planning I’ve done for the campaign,\nit’s all good. I don’t want to take on additional costs that could disrupt\nfulfillment of the project. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So\nright now, the last stretch goal was “I’ll add a second topping to a\ncelebratory pizza when this is all over.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, I have plans for further developing some of those earlier vsM games into this format, including one game designed to be a 1-on-1 one-shot. I’ll see how fulfillment goes for this campaign first!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

—<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks so much to Thomas for the interview! I hope you enjoyed it and that you check out the vs. KICKSTARTER on Kickstarter today<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today I have five-or-so questions with Thomas Deeny on the vs. KICKSTARTER, a collection of three games that’s currently on Kickstarter! Check out what Thomas had to say below. — Tell me a little about vs. KICKSTARTER. What excites you about it? vs. KICKSTARTER began as three small roleplaying games based on Phil Reed’s vs. … Continue reading “Five or So Questions on vs. KICKSTARTER”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[390],"tags":[20,10,4,17,25,8,15,12,135,23,18,56],"class_list":["post-1055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive","tag-five-or-so","tag-game-design","tag-games","tag-gaming","tag-interviews","tag-roleplaying-games","tag-rpg","tag-rpgs","tag-shadowrun","tag-tabletop-games","tag-tabletop-rpgs","tag-worldbuilding"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paHOcG-h1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":80,"url":"https:\/\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/2018\/06\/five-or-so-questions-on-champions-now\/","url_meta":{"origin":1055,"position":0},"title":"Five or So Questions on Champions Now","author":"Beau J\u00e1gr Sheldon","date":"June 2, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi all!I did an interview with Ron Edwards on his Kickstarter project, Champions Now! 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