25 - Challenge
Day 25 of the 2025 challenge is Challenge! I see what you did there.
Challenge characters to duels, or to complete tasks or labours, tempt them with wagers.
(Ever had an entire game based around one like Around The World In Eighty Days?)
These can be the body of the game so there are RPGs based around sports and fighting contests, or major or minor sidelines like the extensive jousting and tournament sections in Pendragon.
And you can simulate games in other games. You could play chess for real, but what if your character is substantially better at it than you are? You could narrate it, rely on stats, or adjust the game to fit. See also the issue of player versus character skill in puzzles, which is why I hardly ever use puzzles.
This is how an official boardgame for the TV series about chess The Queen’s Gambit happened, which looks like an interesting deceit mechanic sort of connected to chess.
 |
| Also it's for up to four players, which is a bit different too. |
And the gangster RPG Mob Justice uses poker as a mechanic - but the number of cards you get is based on your stats, mixing player skill with a bit less of the randomness of the normal game.
(Small aside; Challenge was GDW’s house magazine for its SF games and others too. I started getting it with one of its more horror-tinged Halloween issues and the haunted spaceship MegaTraveller adventure Fated Voyage is an all-time classic that I’ve run for Doctor Who and off-brand Star Trek games.)
25a - 1, 6, 2
Who, Optimistic, Character
Is it really a good idea to bet all our money on a joust against the knight who never removes his helmet?
No comments:
Post a Comment