Dungeons and Math (the long bit)
Feb. 15th, 2006 09:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gementSee previous post - this is the skeleton of a D&D multiplication game.
MULTIPERIL / DUNGEON FACTOR / DUNGEON OF DOOM / MULTIDRAGONS...
© 2006 Marilee Glenn
This game is about fighting monsters and taking their stuff. If you triumph, your character gets treasure and experience, becoming richer and more powerful.
CHARACTER SHEET:
Your character sheet lets you track experience and possessions.
Level: This is your experience level with the game. Level x 2 = Die A.
Experience: You collect experience as you vanquish monsters. Collect enough and your level increases.
Weapons: These are for fighting monsters. (Duh.) The weapon you use determines the value of Die B. Remember that a more powerful weapon can also be trickier to handle.
Other Possessions: You may acquire treasure or other handy items from monsters.
COMBAT SYSTEM:
When you encounter a monster, you first decide if your character is strong enough to fight it yet. You can always choose to run away and fight something else. If you fight it, you roll the dice to get factors. Then you multiply them together to get your combat score.
If your combat score is greater than or equal to the monster's, you win the fight and collect the rewards. If your combat score is less than the monster's, the monster dodges and you can try to hit it again. You can attack the same monster until you win, or you can run away.
You must calculate your combat score within five seconds! If you hesitate too long, the monster will attack and you will lose one point of experience. If this happens three times with one monster, you run away automatically. If you can answer immediately, your combat score goes up by five points.
EXAMPLE:
Your character is Level 2, so Die A is a four-sider (D4). Your weapon is a Katana, which makes Die B a six-sider (D6). You are fighting a Gelatinous Cube, which has a combat score of 15.
You roll your D4 and D6: The factors are 4 and 3. You know this one, and instantly say, “Twelve!” Adding five for answering immediately, your combat score is 12 + 5 = 17. The monster's combat score is 15. Since 17 > 15, you win, the monster is goo on the floor, and you get an experience point!
UNDER DEVELOPMENT:
I need a pack of monster cards; I should be able to just draw them randomly and throw them at the player. Color code by hit points? (That way I can toughen up the mix later...) Suggested stats on card: Combat score, XP, Cash. Automatic Item on a few of them.
Rewards are experience points, weapons, items and cash (silver, gold, gems). Cash is meaningless; it looks shiny and I can occasionally allow the “purchase” of items and weapons. (Consider price sheet, use cash as second form of XP to control weapons?)
I think experience points should be based on the combat score of the monster, possibly one XP per 10 combat points? (Need a price list for how many XP graduates to the next die size.)
I need a weapons table. This should allow at least two weapons per die size and have the possibility of upgrades such as +1 poison darts.
I should also have the occasional item to produce as a reward. These should be on cards or a chart. Most items should be one-time “grenade” types that increase combat score by 10 or something.
MULTIPERIL / DUNGEON FACTOR / DUNGEON OF DOOM / MULTIDRAGONS...
© 2006 Marilee Glenn
This game is about fighting monsters and taking their stuff. If you triumph, your character gets treasure and experience, becoming richer and more powerful.
CHARACTER SHEET:
Your character sheet lets you track experience and possessions.
Level: This is your experience level with the game. Level x 2 = Die A.
Experience: You collect experience as you vanquish monsters. Collect enough and your level increases.
Weapons: These are for fighting monsters. (Duh.) The weapon you use determines the value of Die B. Remember that a more powerful weapon can also be trickier to handle.
Other Possessions: You may acquire treasure or other handy items from monsters.
COMBAT SYSTEM:
When you encounter a monster, you first decide if your character is strong enough to fight it yet. You can always choose to run away and fight something else. If you fight it, you roll the dice to get factors. Then you multiply them together to get your combat score.
If your combat score is greater than or equal to the monster's, you win the fight and collect the rewards. If your combat score is less than the monster's, the monster dodges and you can try to hit it again. You can attack the same monster until you win, or you can run away.
You must calculate your combat score within five seconds! If you hesitate too long, the monster will attack and you will lose one point of experience. If this happens three times with one monster, you run away automatically. If you can answer immediately, your combat score goes up by five points.
EXAMPLE:
Your character is Level 2, so Die A is a four-sider (D4). Your weapon is a Katana, which makes Die B a six-sider (D6). You are fighting a Gelatinous Cube, which has a combat score of 15.
You roll your D4 and D6: The factors are 4 and 3. You know this one, and instantly say, “Twelve!” Adding five for answering immediately, your combat score is 12 + 5 = 17. The monster's combat score is 15. Since 17 > 15, you win, the monster is goo on the floor, and you get an experience point!
UNDER DEVELOPMENT:
I need a pack of monster cards; I should be able to just draw them randomly and throw them at the player. Color code by hit points? (That way I can toughen up the mix later...) Suggested stats on card: Combat score, XP, Cash. Automatic Item on a few of them.
Rewards are experience points, weapons, items and cash (silver, gold, gems). Cash is meaningless; it looks shiny and I can occasionally allow the “purchase” of items and weapons. (Consider price sheet, use cash as second form of XP to control weapons?)
I think experience points should be based on the combat score of the monster, possibly one XP per 10 combat points? (Need a price list for how many XP graduates to the next die size.)
I need a weapons table. This should allow at least two weapons per die size and have the possibility of upgrades such as +1 poison darts.
I should also have the occasional item to produce as a reward. These should be on cards or a chart. Most items should be one-time “grenade” types that increase combat score by 10 or something.
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no subject
Date: 2006-02-16 06:05 am (UTC)Well...
Date: 2006-02-16 06:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-16 08:09 am (UTC)My second shortest piece of advice is consider providing some extra visual clue about the number sense involved in figuring out the products.
Level 1 Factors: 0's 1's 2's 5's and 10's (things he's been counting by for a while)
Level 2 Factors: 3's, 4's, 6's, 9's, and 11's (things that can be figured out or have tricks/rules)
Level 3 Factors: 7's, 8's, and 12's
Mom's Lame-but-effective mnemonics: "Think of a squirrel picking up sticks, 7 times 8 is 56" "Think of a squirrel climbing a tree, 7 times 9 is 63"
You might encourage him to write his own rhyming rhythms for the facts he gets stuck on. This could be fostered by the creature/weapon names.
Re: Well...
Date: 2006-02-16 04:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-16 04:52 pm (UTC)Character development is a whole nother can of worms, since I'm completely cheesing out on the idea of exploration or social interaction. Draw a monster, kill a monster, draw a monster, kill a monster is the basis of gameplay. As I have time, I'd like to throw in some more varied encounters (have to pick this lock/defuse this trap/talk your way past this thing) that use the same mechanics, but it's still really... mechanized.
This shouldn't impede his enjoyment, as most of his prior experience is with video game "RPGs". (He could actually play solo, which is a strength of this game.)
I definitely want to give him the opportunity to make up an exciting half-Elven half-Orcish assassin rogue bard halfling with purple eyes and a hawk, though. I'm thinking keeping track of stats on one sheet and then encouraging a lot of attachments; drawings, background stories, etc. If I read this one right, he'll be happy to write extensively on his own time.
no subject
Date: 2006-02-16 05:01 pm (UTC)This week I encouraged him to practice "counting-by," starting with just nailing the threes, but he's been digging in his heels because it involves multiplication. I haven't pushed him on it, so hopefully he's not entrenched yet; he can memorize TMBG lyrics until the cows come home, so I think getting into the litany of it might really help. For one thing, if he knows a nearby fact, he can jump up or down to the one he needs.
But mostly, he just needs a good reason to *want* to, which is why I need to make this game as unlame as possible.
Re: Well...
Date: 2006-02-16 11:42 pm (UTC)