I’ve been working on a small game for a while, and decided it was time to put it out into the world. It’s technically a re-skin/hack of Mr. Harper’s excellent Lasers & Feelings, but brings in a few inspirations from FITD games as well – enough that I feel justified in posting it here.
A bit of knowledge about the time period will definitely help in running the game, though I’ve added a second page mostly devoted to the setting. The idea is still a quick, simple session or two over drinks.
I should add that the document has a small amount of strong language – don’t be surprised!
Let me know if you have thoughts or find it fun (that being the spirit in which I offer it).
Ha! I bet, if you get down to it, every single part of the British Isles (maybe excluding the City of London) has that reputation. The nights are cold and damp, and sheep… aren’t?
Thanks for sharing! This is one of my favorite periods so I’mma fired up to give it a whirl. Also, any excuse to drag out my Shakespearean English Insult Generator is a good one.
Thanks for checking it out! I hope you have some fun with it.
I’ve been testing and playing this more, and have recently made some changes. A bit of simplification and clarification, focusing in on some of the things I want to emphasize.
The Shifting Styles optional rule has generated a lot of fun in the games I’ve been running. Encouraging players to change how they’re playing their character for a scene or two, and giving them a mechanical reward for really digging into the change (which in turn allows them to shift to something new) has resulted in some pretty great moments. We’ve had characters’ styles become “bleeding,” “shit-faced” (after a drunken tumble into a pile of manure), “faint,” “love-addled,” and so on. If you try out the game, I really recommend using that variant.
(You mentioned your insult generator, and that made me think that the style change mechanic could highly benefit from using that! “Your style is now beslubbering.” Or tottering, beef-witted, or guts-griping… so many possibilities… Fun!)
It may not be the same in Pike & Shot, but in L&F rolling your number exactly counts as both a success AND an insight, and that clarification is written into the rules.
Not certain if it’s the same here, but if it is then making a note of it would help clarify.
Interesting – I’ve been using L&F version 1.2 for a while now, and it did not have that clarification. Not sure when 1.3 was posted, but I like that it was added in.
I did indeed intend that rolling your number does not count as a success in P&S. It’s a little grittier in the 1500s. Additionally, it pushes the use of groats to reroll failed dice, and encourages the “change your action based on your new perception and roll again with +1d” option.
I will add a straight, “rolling your number offers Insight, but does not count as a success” line.
Additionally, it pushes the use of groats to reroll failed dice, and encourages the “change your action based on your new perception and roll again with +1d” option.