#experiment 4

I remembered when I was playtesting my Experiment 2 I had a player decide to play as Dr. House, and I kind of got the inspiration from that. I wanted players to try and roleplay as specific characters, and in order to add a bit of chaos, I decided that I wanted them to come up with characters for the other player to play as. I decided to make the game a duet, partially because I wanted to try and make a non-romance based duet after being a bit surprised to see how few there were. I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to do with the characters once they were created, but I decided to try and use a goal-based system again. I really liked that idea but was unhappy with how I implemented it in my second experiment. I also wanted a bit more structure to the character creation itself, so I detailed certain information players must provide about their characters. This was mostly so that if someone got a character they weren’t familiar with they could still figure out some key points of how that character acts. I also used a system from the duet I played for the prompts, where I had specific suits affect specific characters. I wanted to add a bit more randomness to the outcomes (because the game is much looser and comedic, I thought that it would work), so I added a success roll. 

Determine the character the OTHER person will be playing. Give them their name and what they are from. Also give them a goal to work towards - this should align with a goal of theirs from their original media. This should be a larger task that they need to work towards, not one they can complete right away. Give them 2-3 characters that they know from their story, and how they know each other. Give them two abilities (this can be a literal ability, or something more vague like “sarcasm”). Finally, ask the player if they would like to know any traits about the character (if they are less familiar with them), and if so give them a few traits to guide roleplay.

Example:

Character Name: Mario

From: Mario Series Video Games

Goal: Save Princess Peach from Bowser

Characters:

Princess Peach: Special to you, princess who gets captured that you save

Bowser: King of the Koopas who kidnaps Peach; he is your enemy

Luigi: Your brother who sometimes joins you on adventures

Abilities:

Can transform when eating mushrooms

Can kill things by jumping on them

(Optional) Traits:

Blank slate

Italian plumber

Once you have received your characters, prepare a deck of cards and a d20. Remove the spades and clubs from the deck - you will only be using the hearts and diamonds. Shuffle those cards and place them facedown. One player will be the hearts player, and the other will be the diamonds player. Each player will also need to keep track of how close or far they are from their goal - start at zero. 

Each turn, draw a card from the pile. Determine which player the prompt is for (hearts vs. diamonds). Read the corresponding prompt below - if it says roll for outcome, roll the d20. Use the following numbers to determine the success. 

If one goal is affected:

1-5: Fail miserably. If a character was involved in this prompt, lose the character (they don’t need to die, this can be loosely interpreted). Subtract two points from your goal count.

6-10: Fail at what you were trying to do. Subtract one point from your goal count. 

11-15: Succeed at what you were trying to do! Add one point to your goal count.

16-20: Succeed at what you were trying to do, and accidentally make more progress than you intended! Add one point to your goal count. 

If two goals are affected:

1-5: Both players fail. Subtract one point from each player's goal count. 

6-10: The player who didn’t roll succeeds at their goal, and the other fails. Add or subtract one from each player’s goal count.

11-15: The player who rolled succeeds at their goal, and the other fails. Add or subtract one from each player’s goal count. 

16-20: Both players succeed! Add one to each player’s goal count.

There are three ways that the game can end for a player.

A player’s goal count reaches 5. Narrate how they succeed at their goal. The other player continues until they reach an end condition.  

A player’s goal count reaches -5. Narrate how their goal is impossible. The other player continues until they reach an end condition.

An ace is drawn. The story ends here - follow the prompt according to the number of goal points.

Prompts:

2

Try to do something to get closer to your goal. Roll for outcome.

3

A character that you know tries to help you in your quest! Roll for outcome. 

4

You use an ability to attempt to further your goal. Roll for outcome.

5

A character you know tries to hinder your progress. Roll for outcome.

6

Help a character that you know using an ability. 

7

Hurt a character you know using an ability. 

8

Try to do something to get closer to your goal, and the other player assists you. Roll for outcome.

9

A character that the other character knows tries to help you in your quest! Roll for outcome. 

10

The other player uses their ability to attempt to further your goal. Roll for outcome.

J

A character that the other character knows tries to hinder your progress. Roll for outcome. 

Q

Help a character that the other player knows using an ability.

K

Hurt a character that the other player knows using an ability. 

A