Haze RPG
From AdamWiki
Haze RPG is a storytelling game in which players create characters and a world as they go, tossing conflict at each other and seeing where things end up. The game, as created, does not include a specific setting or world.
Contents |
Setup
Get a bunch of your friends together to play.
Materials
You'll need a bunch of normal, six-sided dice, plus some kind of tokens or coins (all of the same kind). Count on about three dice for each player (though players can share) and 15 tokens for each player (not shared). Also have some paper and pencils for everyone.
Concept
The group should brainstorm a concept for the story. It can be anything but it should grab everyone's interest. The concept should address the Five W's: Who, What, When, Where, and How. (Yeah, I know that "How" doesn't start with a W, but it has one in it, right?)
- Who are the story's protagonists and antagonists?
- Where are they?
- When is the story set?
- What elements or themes are important to the story?
- How important are each of those elements and themes?
This should be an informal brainstorming process; write down enough so that everyone knows what they are agreeing to. Just throw out ideas and discuss them till the group comes to consensus.
The What should be formalized by agreeing on one or two themes that will appear as Bonds on everyone's sheet. The How should be formalized by agreeing how many Player Potential points each player must spend on those themes.
Consensus
Consensus is critical for continuing onwards and starting play. Everyone will cast "votes" to show how much they've bought in. Each player should take 5 of his tokens and stack them immediately in front of him. This is called his Reserve pile, representing the player's reservations about the game's readiness. As his confidence in the game concept as described grows, he should move coins from that stack to another stack closer to the middle of the table. This other stack is called the Buy-in pile. These represent his buy-in, or agreement, of the game concept that everyone has described.
At the start, everyone will have 5 Reserve tokens and 0 Buy-in tokens, meaning that no one is ready to play. When everyone has reached consensus, everyone will have 0 Reserve tokens and 5 Buy-in tokens.
As a player's confidence grows, his Buy-in pile will grow. As a player's confidence declines, his Buy-in pile will decline (and the tokens go back to his Reserve). A Buy-in pile with 4 tokens signifies that a player really likes everything he's heard so far, but he doesn't think the concept is "done." There's still more to do.
When everyone's Buy-in pile has 5 tokens in it, the brainstorming session ends. The setup phase ends and play begins. All the Buy-in are collected into a pile in the center called the Group Potential. Each player's remaining 10 tokens become his Player Potential.
Compromise
If the group cannot reach full consensus, play cannot begin without compromise. The best compromise is to talk to the players who do not buy in entirely. Find out what their reservations are and see if you can meet them half way.
If a true compromise cannot be met, the group can accept their Buy-in as-is. That is, if a player has a Buy-in stack of 3 tokens and cannot be made to buy in more, the group can offer to accept the player's 3 tokens (into the Group Potential) and let the player keep the 2 Reserve as additions to his Player Potential. The player then agrees to play the concept as described and gets a couple extra tokens for his "sacrifice." This only works (and only is permissible) if everyone in the group agrees to it.
Play
Game play follows this procedure:
Turn Order
On the first turn only, each player rolls 3 dice and totals them. The highest player takes the first turn. The order of play follows clockwise after that for the rest of the game. (If players are not arranged in a convenient circle, play can proceed in order from highest roll to lowest roll. Break all ties with a reroll.)
A Player Turn
During a player's turn, he has several options. He may do only one of them.
- Establish a Fact. This costs 1 Group Potential and establishes a Fact with a rating of 1.
- Increase a Fact's Potential by 1. This costs 1 Group Potential.
- Decrease a Fact's Potential by 1. This returns 1 to the Group Potential.
- Establish a Bond between a Fact he created and another Fact. This costs 1 Player Potential and creates a Bond with a rating of 1.
- Increase a Bond's Potential by 1. This costs 1 Player Potential.
- Decrease a Bond's Potential by 1. This returns 1 to the Player Potential.
After the player performs one of the above, he and the other players react to it through role-playing, if they want. They can discuss the setting as it has been created, act out parts in the world, and so on.
Facts
A Fact is a truth about the game's setting, as established by the players. Each new Fact must not contradict any other Fact. A Fact can be expressed in a single short sentence.
