Game Play Add-ons
Some optional rules that change Turn Order or Game Flow.
Open Scene Framing
Submitted by Ralph Mazza
In the Core rules there is only 1 active scene at a
time. Other scenes may remain unresolved and waiting for completion, but
before players can return to them, the current scene must be formally
declared ended by the Framing Player and a new scene started which
returns to that previous one. In between, players Bid for Scene to
determine who has the privilege of Framing that new scene. Mini
scenes allow for small, short, scenes to be inserted into the main
scene. This add-on allows several full scenes to be going on
simultaneously.
The Bidding for scene procedure was written to keep
the flow of the game very structured and progressing in a clearly
delineated way. This is especially valuable for introducing new
players to the concepts of total player control. The Open Scene Framing
Add-on is an advanced technique that does away with all of the above
mentioned structure.
When using this Add-on there is no Bidding for Scene
Framing. Two new options are added to the player’s turn. "Frame
New Scene" and "Switch Between Scenes" either of which
costs 1 Coin.
To Frame a New Scene a player on his own turn pays
the 1 Coin and then proceeds to frame the scene exactly as described in
Chapter Five. After he Establishes a Location, Sets the Time, and
Introduces Components, he continues with his turn normally.
At any time a player can on his turn pay 1 Coin to
switch from the current scene to another of the currently active scenes
to continue the action there where it was left off. He, or some other
player who Interrupts him, can then pay a Coin to switch back again. The
Framing Player for a given scene can at any time on his turn close the
scene by paying the 1 Coin to Fade to Black. Once closed the scene can
no longer be switched to.
This technique is fairly advanced and demands good
organization to keep all of the separate scenes straight. It is not
recommended that more than 2 or 3 Scenes be active at any one time.
It is also possible (and in some cases encouraged) to
use this Add-on like a Rules Gimmick. In other words use the Core rules
for Bidding for Scene as the standard in the game. Then, only on the
occasion where rapid fire switching between scenes becomes desirable,
propose this rule be adopted. When that sequence of scenes is over,
revert back to the standard rules.
Judgment,
Challenge Variant
Submitted by Kirt
Dankmyer
This Add-on replaces the
normal Challenge Variant. It offers the opportunity to bring a
more GM like influence to the game.
If players disagree about
the legality of a move or the interpretation or application of a Gimmick
or Fact, then the player who spent Coins before the current player's
turn is to is to be the Judge and decide the question. Disagreement for
the purposes of this rule may be created by the insistence of any
player. This process is called invoking Judgment.
When Judgment has been invoked, no one may Interrupt or pass the turn
without the consent of a majority of the other players.
The Judge's Judgment may be overruled only by a unanimous vote of the
other players taken before the next Coin is spent. If a Judge's Judgment
is overruled, then a player chosen at random from those remaining (i.e.
not the one of the previous Judges or the player on whom Judgment had
been called) becomes the new Judge for the question, and so on. If all
Judges are overruled, well, then, the player on whom Judgment was called
can continue without further Judgments regarding that action.
New Judges are not bound by the decisions of old Judges. New Judges may,
however, settle only those questions on which the players currently
disagree and that effect the completion of the turn in which Judgment
was invoked. All decisions by Judges shall be in accordance with all the
Facts and Gimmicks then in effect; but when Tenets and Facts are silent,
inconsistent, or unclear on the point at issue, then the Judge shall
consider game-custom and the spirit of the story before applying other
standards.
Alternate
Reality Variant
Submitted by Kirt
Dankmyer
This variant requires
very careful record keeping with regards to scenes. Scenes should
be arranged on a chronological number line.
At the end of any scene,
you can split off a "mirror scene". This puts a fork in
the number line immediately prior to the just finished scene and adds
the mirror scene. This mirror scene starts the same way (time,
location, and introduced Components) with no additional framing
cost. At that point the group plays the same scene again, likely
with different events and outcomes.
There are now two
alternate realities. The first where the events proceeded
according to the original scene, and the second where the events
proceeded according to the mirror scene. There can be many
branches formed in this way. The same scene can be mirrored
multiple times and each branch may then branch out itself. Only
the very first scene of the game, the starting point, cannot be forked.
The cost for creating a
mirror scene in this way is 1 Coin per fork (including the newly created
one) between the mirror scene and the original first scene of the game.
Each Branch needs to be
labeled and each Component must be identified with the branch it belongs
to. A component is part of each successive branch after it is
Created, but if it is altered subsequently, it is only altered for that
current branch (and subsequent ones) and so a duplicate Component must
be made specific to that branch. Whoever splits off a new branch,
should be appointed record keeper for that branch.
Friendly Control
Submitted by Kirt
Dankmyer
Whoever Controls a component can cede
Control at any time to another player, at no cost to anyone
Variant: Anyone can take Control of
any Component on their turn for no cost. The current owner can
Challenge this with the weight of Fact behind him to prevent it.
Free Dialog
Submitted by
Bob
McNamee
Whoever Controls a component can cede
Control at any time
to another player, at no cost to anyone
Variant: Anyone can take Control of
any Component on their turn for no cost. The current owner can
Challenge this with the weight of Fact behind him to prevent it.
Losing Challenge Bids
Submitted by
Mike
Holmes
In the Core rules all
Coins bid in a Challenge are considered spent and returned to the Bank
regardless of who wins. This rule is in play to counter the
“puffing” strategy common in auction games where a player who
doesn’t really want to win the bidding bids up the price for another
player who does.
However, some groups have found that since you stand to lose both the
Challenge and a sizeable number of Coins you may be less likely to back
down. This can lead to unnecessary bidding wars once both parties
have too much invested to afford to lose. With this Gimmick you
allow one party to concede and recover their bid making them more likely
to back out rather than fight to the bitter end.
Using Challenge Bids
Submitted by
Ralph Mazza
If the acting player
loses a Challenge, this Gimmick allows him to use any Coins that he bid
on the Challenge (that would normally be lost to the Bank) to pay
for whatever changes the Challenger required. Any surplus Coins
are lost to the Bank as normal.
Using Cards as Coins
Submitted by
Jonathan Nichol
[Presented with some modification]
Instead of coins, each
player gets a deck of cards from which the face cards have been removed
to use as the Bank. Shuffle the deck and whenever the rules call
for the player to gain Coins, draw a number of cards from the deck
instead. Keep these cards in a face down pile to be your Wealth.
Instead of spending
Coins, spend the top card from your Wealth by discarding it next to the
Bank. When the Bank is empty reshuffle the discards and start a
new Bank.
In a Complication, when
Coins are spent to add dice to a pool take the cards from the Wealth
pile but leave them face down. When Traits are called on to add
dice, take the cards from the Bank and add them to the pool face
down. To resolve the Complication each player takes the face down
cards that have been added to their pools and counts Aces (one) through
5 as a Success treating the face value exactly as a number rolled on a
d10. If Coins earned in the Complication are to be added to a
player's Wealth, discard the cards from the pool and draw new face down
cards from the Bank accordingly.
Variant. Don't
remove the face cards but instead create a Gimmick for what they
represent when spent. For instance a revealed Jack could mean the
person to the right spends the Coin, a Queen, the person to the left,
and a King the person across. In a Complication each Jack in the
Pool could cancel a Success while each King could count as an extra
Success (for purposes of determining the winner but not effecting any
Coins earned). A Queen could give you a free Coin but not count as
a Success.
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