Armed

Here's a subsystem you can add to non-combat larps with 10 or fewer players. Although it seems like it just adds combat to the game, what it really does is play with the idea of consent and bullying by adding the threat of player elimination to the atmosphere of the game. In other words, it changes the mood of the game and the negotiations between players by adding a subtext of potential violence.

You need:

A larp that doesn't already involve combat or player elimination10 or fewer players, preferably 3-6.Toy weapons, enough for half of the players. I prefer toy guns that make noise when fired.1 coin

Setup:

Starting here, read these rules aloud to the other players. Read all of this section and the following section, How to Play. Before playing, players take turns flipping the coin. Start with the oldest or tallest player. On a heads, you get one of the weapons. When you run out of weapons to hand out or when everyone has flipped the coin once, move on to playing the game.

How to Play:

Play the game as normal. However, at anytime after the first ten minutes of play, any character with a weapon may attack another character. To attack, aim your weapon at the other player and announce that you are attacking. Other players around you should pause and watch what you are doing. You now flip the coin. On heads, you hit. On tails, you miss. If you hit, flip the coin again. On tails, you injure the character. This has no mechanical affect, but the player of the injured character will probably assign some affect to his character in the story. On heads, you kill the character. That character is no longer part of the larp. That player should sit out the rest of the game. (This may break some games. Feel free to adjust the rules on the fly.)Play of the game then resumes as normal. After you have used your weapon, you must wait at least 10 minutes before you use it again. If you ever miss twice against the same person, give that player your weapon. Their character has disarmed your character. If a character is ever injured twice, that character is dead.

Last Week to Kickstart Singularity

We've got one week to go and just over $1,000 left to raise in order to reach our goal for Singularity. If you haven't heard yet, this is a live action game for 4-6 people. It's a scifi version of a dating show like the Bachelor. Interested? Then back it today!
I just got word that Caitlynn Belle will finish her final design changes on the game in the next two weeks and that Thomas Novosel has started working on a style guide for the layout. That means that we are on track for a tight turn around. If we reach our funding goal of $3,000, we should have pdfs for people by June. (Maybe earlier. Cross your fingers.) Depending on how smoothly things go at the printer, backers should have physical copies in their hands by August.
Keep an eye out for another announcement today or tomorrow that contains images of one of the character sheets for the game. It should give you a good idea of Thomas' plans for the layout of the book.
If we meet our goal, it will be Ginger Goat's fourth physically printed book, after Heroine, Girls Elsewhere, and Dangers Untold. As with all our games, Singularity is feminist, pro-diversity, and narratively driven. If you liked our other work, I'm sure you will like this one, too.

#Transhumanselfie

Do you have a futuristic or robot costume? Not from a licensed show? Are you willing to post your #transhumanselfie for me?
​Ginger Goat wants them for a Kickstarter video for our transhuman dating show.
All body types, genders, etc. are wanted. No nudity for this one, please. Your bods are beautiful but I want to make a kid-friendly video.
If we use your selfie in the Kickstarter video AND the project funds, I will send you a pdf copy of the game (or an extra pdf copy, if you also back the game.)
To enter, all you have to do is post your #transhumanselfie on Twitter or G+ where I can see it, then make sure I have a way to contact you. If you're not sure I know how to get in touch with you, you can always email us at gingergoatpress@gmail.com.
What kind of costumes are we looking for? Aliens, robots, cyborgs, futuristic humans, anything you can imagine! Don't worry about what's in the background of the photo.

Animal Professionals of Place Place Number: A Solo Writing Game

I had a game idea for Ole Peder Giæver​'s #3nano16 game design challenge as I was falling asleep last night. 

Animal Professionals of Place Place Number

APoPPN is a one player writing game that takes the form of writing a formal playtest feedback letter about a game that doesn't exist.
1. Write a letter to a GM or game designer. Choose someone whose work inspires you and who knows you at least by name.
2. Thank them for the chance to playtest their latest game. Give it a name in the form of [Animal] [Professionals ] of [Place] [Place] [Number], eg "Squirrel Jugglers of Star Moon 5."
3. Tell them about something that you liked about the game. Compare it to a game or movie that you love. If possible, describe an interaction between characters in your playthrough of the game. Name the characters after people you work with or go to school with. Last names only! Name the players after gamers you know.
4. Tell them what confused you about the game. Quote a rule from their game that doesn't seem to fit. (Use a sentence from page 42 of the book closest to you as this rule quote. You can quote it exactly or use this real book as inspiration for your rules quote.)
5 Thank them again for the chance to playtest their game. Give them a genuine compliment about their (real) previous game designs or GMing.
6. Sign your letter with the name they know you by
7. Mail, email, or post your letter online where the intended recipient will see it.
8. (Optional) Include a link to the text of this game, so they don't think you're completely bonkers.
This game is copyright Josh Jordan and is released under Creative Commons Attribution. You may repost these rules wherever you like.

Five Monsters

Need a few mood-setting monsters for your game or your story? Feel free to use these. Each is a common monster tweaked into something a bit more ominous.

The Skeleton

The animated bones of a cowardly soldier, usually wearing the armor or uniform of his former station. The Skeleton only attacks when it has the element of surprise. It moves slowly but quietly and it likes to attack from behind. When faced with well-prepared fighters, the Skeleton flees to the nearest woods and waits until the next night to attack again.

The Gelatin

A waxy, off-white puddle that drags itself across the ground, digesting any human or animal matter it touches. The Gelatin shows a rudimentary intelligence and is a careful hunter. It lures prey by giving off the smell of cooked meat and by mimicking the sound of wounded baby animals. It most often sounds like a crying human child.

The Well of Sin

This well is cursed. There is some debate whether it is itself intelligent or not. However, rumor of its curse has traveled far; many fools make pilgrimages to drink from its depths. Anyone who drinks from the Well of Sin is said to receive the thing they desire most by the end of the day. However, this wish-come-true comes at a terrible price, for upon sunrise of the next day, the drinker becomes possessed by a demon for the next three days. These possessor demons vary, but they tend to wild murder sprees, theft, and near-constant libelous speech.

The Wellington

This Venom-like possessor entity covers the body of its host with a black rubbery film over the course of a few hours. Any body part covered by the black film is under control of the Wellington's alien intelligence. Its motives are unclear, but all who survive its possession describe the experience as a series of nightmares about owls, fences, and dried river beds. After a few hours of total coverage, the Wellington abandons its now unconscious host and returns to its dormant state, a pair of rain boots.

The Velveteen

This beast appears in the form of a well-worn stuffed animal. It appears to feed off the suffering of families with young children. It abhors violence, however. The Velveteen's only method of attack is to cause despair in adult men and to directly or indirectly encourage them to abandon the family.

Photo by Starmanseries

OSR Game: Motley

I had an idea for an OSR game last night, but I suspect some people would really hate it. It might hit that terrible sweet spot of too mechanical for indie fans and too non-violent for old school fans. For now, I'm calling the game Motley.

Imagine a fairly typical dungeon crawl system where hit points represent not just how alive something is, but how able to fight it is. So a specially trained character could reduce hit points with a joke or a distracting magic trick.

Now imagine that in the Equipment section, next to the weapons table and armor table, there are tables for comedy, friendship, and distraction. A character with the right proficiency can use exotic friendship techniques to convince monsters not to fight.

Depending on your setting, you may scrap traditional weapons completely, or you may use them alongside these non-violent techniques. Perhaps your elf dual wields fart jokes and a rapier. Perhaps your dwarf uses long-stemmed roses as a ranged friendship attack and an axe as melee combat attack. Perhaps your orc is a firespinner, who can awe someone right before kicking them in the shins.

I imagine that this system would deserve its own classes, like jester, performer, and bon vivant. Each would grant certain proficiencies and special abilities. I might have to retroactively write fighter, wizard, thief, and cleric classes just to clarify what abilities they have.

Would monsters use combat or would they try to use these abilities, too? Is the dragon trying to kill you or befriend you? What happen if it succeeds? What happens if it befriends half the party? All of these issues would have to be worked out. My default would be to have most monsters trying to harm the PCs, at least until the GM figures out how to run comedy monsters, etc.

What do you think? Do you hate this idea? I'm particularly interested in hearing from OSR fans on this one. What do I need to add for the game to work?

Image by Quinn Dombrowski,Creative Commons

Anti-Villain: A Call for Short Story Pitches

Hey authors! Anyone interested in writing a short story for a paid anthology about anti-villains?

I'm a little tired of anti-heroes. The other day, I asked myself "What would an anti-villain be? Does he do the right thing for the wrong reason? Is an anti-villain the opposite of a villain? Or the opposite of an anti-hero?"
I don't know the answer, but I'd like to find out. So I've decided to assemble an anthology of short stories from a diverse group of authors, each trying to answer these questions. I plan to Kickstart this anthology and sell electronic copies. Depending on the Kickstarter, I will probably sell physical copies as well.
Right now, I want to hear story pitches from as many authors as possible. Define the term "anti-villain" however you like for your story. Maybe an anti-villain is the bad guy you don't want to see captured. Or the antagonist that you like better than the hero. You decide. (And just to be clear, the term itself doesn't have to appear in your story.)
If you are interested, please email me a short (<8 page) sample of your work and a one paragraph pitch of your story for the anthology. Also, please feel free to introduce yourself. Even if we end up not working together on this project, I look forward to meeting any authors interested in this sort of story.

Job Details

• Stories can be any type of modern or future genre fiction, including but not limited to SF, horror, superhero, supernatural, weird, supernatural religious, paranormal romance, etc.
• Pitch emails should include a short sample of your fiction, a pitch for your story in this anthology, and an introduction of yourself as a human person.
• I pay a minimum of $.05/word. I plan to pay $.10/word for shorter stories. (I'm willing to negotiate paying you royalties instead, if I'm already familiar with your work and you prefer that method of payment.)
• Since I want to Kickstart this fiction anthology, I plan to  pay two or three authors for stories to show during the Kickstarter. Other authors would start writing their stories after we fund. No one should start writing their story until they have a contract and I've given them the go ahead. I don't want anyone to write for me until I already have money for them in hand. 
• Each story should be 800 to 2500 words. There may be one or two stories that are longer than this.
• There will be at least seven stories. Depending on how well the Kickstarter does, there may be as many as fifteen.
• I will accept pitches until August 31st. Pre-Kickstarter authors will probably begin writing in October. Post-Kickstarter authors will begin writing in January 2016 at the earliest.

A few things I can tell you about Ginger Goat

• We publish rpgs, larps, and fiction, both electronically and in print.
• We're a small press.
• We love diversity. I (Josh) love stories written about someone who doesn't look like me by someone who doesn't look like me that still share something about humanity.
• We like to buy first publication rights, not exclusive rights. We pay on completion, not publication. We like both new and experienced writers.
• Josh T. Jordan, the owner of Ginger Goat, is a game designer, editor, story addict, sometime-preacher, and high school English teacher. He's been told that he's nice to work with.

Please submit a story idea, even if your imposter syndrome is telling you not to. Some of my favorite work is by first-time writers. Just email me at gingergoatpress@gmail.com. It can't hurt to try!

Also, feel free to share this call for pitches with any group of writers you want, especially writers who come from an underrepresented race, gender, faith, or other group.

Sincerely,
Josh T. Jordan
Ginger Goat

Photo by Keoni Cabral. Used by permission.