This was from a randomly-generated prompt:
Atmosphere RPG: Rock paper scissors resolution for a game about Farm focused on Discovery
Haven Swirl
The world was broken long ago, and life has been hard since. Wandering, you came upon Haven, a handful of people eking out a living on what was once a farm. Everyone has a story similar to yours, but nobody remembers who founded it.
In this game, you alternate between playing a member of Haven, and the world.
It uses two kinds of Rock-Paper-Scissors resolution:
Group Resolution:
Choose a reference player (the rules will tell you how). Everybody makes a fist, then simultaneously throws Rock, Paper, or Scissors. Compare your results against the object thrown by the reference player. Depending on if your result is Win, Lose, or Tie, the rules will tell you what to do. The reference player always ties with themselves.
Single Resolution:
You play one round of Rock Paper Scissors against another player.
Win – you get what you want
Tie – you partly get what you want, or it costs you
Lose – you don’t get what you want, and it costs you
Create your character:
Pick a specialty (duplicates between characters are okay):
– Crops
– Animals
– Technology
– Buildings
– Fiber arts
– Food
Pick what you’re looking for now:
– Protection
– Redemption
– Respect
– Belonging
– Knowledge
– Love
Decide why your character was wandering.
Decide what order your characters arrived at Haven. The character who arrived the earliest is called the First.
Choose one other character. You had an encounter with them that made you decide to stay. It could be someone who arrived after you.
Create the Map
Haven has one main house where everyone lives, and a few other buildings for the various specialties.
In the center of some large paper, draw the common room of the house.
Each player, draw the room of the house you live in. Draw a new building, plot of land, or room where you practice your specialty. If one exists, you can extend it.
Draw a rough multi-armed spiral extending from Haven, with one arm for each player. Each player claims a sector of the spiral; they have first say over what happens and what can be found in that sector.
Now decide on starting resources. Use Group Resolution with the First as the reference player:
- Win – there’s a surplus of a resource relating to your specialty. Draw it in or close to Haven, in your sector.
- Tie – you have just enough to practice your specialty most of the time. Draw the resource most limiting you in or close to Haven, in your sector.
- Lose – there’s a lack of a resource relating to your specialty. Draw something in your sector or in Haven representing or explaining the lack.
Play
You will play out 12 months at Haven, each focusing on a different character in turn starting with the First.
Each month, do these three things in any order:
- Have a scene with another character
- Explore
- Practice your specialty
Have a Scene:
Decide whether this is a flavor scene (just roleplay to develop character) or a goal scene (you want something from them).
If it’s a goal scene, roleplay until the outcome is in doubt, then use Single Resolution.
Explore:
Decide what you’re looking for, which direction you’re going from the 8 compass points, and how far. The player whose sector that falls in will frame a scene where you encounter something related to what you’re looking for. Roleplay until you feel the outcome is in doubt, then use Single Resolution.
Practice your specialty:
Describe your goal for the month and how you practice your specialty to achieve it. E.g. Have enough food for the winter by canning all the fruit that was just harvested.
Use Group Resolution with you as the reference player
- Win – the player’s character or sector benefited from the activity
- Tie – the player’s character or sector benefited, but the other (sector or character) lost something or was damaged
- Lose – the player’s character or sector lost something or was damaged as a result
Special: the active player’s result counts as a Win
Draw something on the map representing the overall result.
Retrospective
At the end of the 12th month, reflect on how the year has gone. Take turns reminiscing about something that happened.
Then Use Group Resolution with the First as the reference player to determine your outlook, either for this year or the next:
- Win: Rosy
- Tie: Cautious
- Lose: Pessimistic
Each narrate an epilogue about the coming year based on the result.
Influences:
- Avery Alder’s The Quiet Year
- Ben Robbins’ Follow
- Becky Chambers’ A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet
- Hitoshi Ashinano’s Yokohama Shopping Trip