So far, this has sent me delving into the SRDs of Apocalypse World, Dungeon World, and Monsterhearts. Early reflections give me cause to credit you, SwampThing, with doing a good job translating the engine into a solo rule set for running a game in Chyoa, and that it will require some effort to do significantly better. It would be easy to tweak your rules a bit to change the game focus, but more work to do something more ambitious. Apocalypse World has an interesting mechanic where two characters have mutual relationship/influence power over each other ("Hx", help/interfere), which can go up and down over game sessions. Each player also has a "Sex Move" power where when two characters have sex together, they can gain special insight, powers, or relationship influence over one another. If the relationship score hits +4, it goes back down to +1 and XP is scored. Some rule in that direction might make sense -- XP after concentrating interactions with a particular NPC, or maybe a special move after concentrating interactions. I might also want a mechanic favoring the protagonist pursuing something other than just scoring, giving them cause to aim at an arc of successes. ("You want X; in order to get X, you have to achieve W, Y, Z first"). Could be a little tedious for solo rules, but maybe there's some way to do it. Perhaps each character template has a desired achievement; when achieved, pick a special move and a new template and desire. Monsterhearts has an interesting mechanic related to each character's "dark side" -- what brings it out, what difficulties it causes when acting from your dark side, and what circumstance brings the character back. I was musing that maybe a fail where the dice indicate doubles could bring out your dark side, bringing the dark side rules into play. Dark side rules would force certain choices or give a bonus or penalty to others. Monsterhearts has rules related to gaining "strings" -- influence -- over PCs and NPCs, which can be spent to manipulate others or as an advantage during a contested roll. I might try adding Strings as part of the rule set. A partial success could involve giving a String to an NPC, which they could then use to manipulate you -- so NPCs should have some simple goals or motivations that you could be the instrument of -- embarrassing their rivals, for instance. The full game also describes "Conditions" as persistent disadvantages that you have to do something to overcome; those might be easier to track than Strings for a solo game. Dungeon World has an interesting mechanic related to character death. When your character is on the brink of death, roll an unmodified challenge. On 10+, you survive, though grievously wounded. On 7-9, Death offers a bargain that you may return to life as long as you follow a promise -- never seeing the sun again, perhaps. For an erotic RPG rule set, a similar mechanic might be useful related to picking up an interesting character disadvantage when you fail something critical -- perhaps you pick up a bad reputation, or an aversion that gives you a penalty in some circumstances. Based on personal taste, I would probably de-emphasize force related to sex (except for Monsterhearts "dark side" rules), allow male and female protagonists, and add rules for male NPCs and M/M activity. I'd probably want separate stories for a "Monsterhearts" style game and a "sex adventure" style game. So far, nothing concrete written out.
Zingiber, thanks for your comments. I didn't really expect anyone here on Chyoa to be familiar with Apocalypse World and it's variants. You raise some excellent points. De-emphasizing forced sex in the main rules would be easy. Remove the option to "make her like it" from the fuck her and cum on her moves, and we can assume that all the sex is consensual and mutually enjoyable. You could keep the force her move for those players (like myself), who enjoy writing about it, or remove it entirely. That would leave only one Hard move, but since it's a pretty important move, that's probably okay. I like your idea of allowing the move to Dark Side characters. I love your idea of the protagonist choosing a plot goal, to give them something to focus on beyond just scoring XP. This would also help give some actions costs or consequences (On a 7-9 you succeed, but you lose part of your progress towards your goal). There would have to be some mechanics to keep the goal from being too easy for the solo writer to achieve. I couldn't figure out how to include Hx, or a "relationship stat", and Sex Moves, but they both seem like they should fit really well in an erotic rpg. Your comments give me some new ideas. NPCs (girls in the current game), could have a "Desire" stat and a Sex Move. Some example Sex Moves might be: -When you have a sex scene with her, take +1 forward. -When you have a sex scene with her, take -1 forward. -When you have a sex scene with her, she tells you a secret (about herself, another girl, or the plot). -When you have a sex scene with her, time passes. -When you have a sex scene with her, she gains +1 Desire. -When you have a sex scene with her, she loses -1 Desire. -When you have a sex scene with her, any other girls watching gain +1 Desire. -When you have a sex scene with her, she promises to do something for you. -When you have a sex scene with her, you promise to do something for her. Choose a new plot goal. -When you have a sex scene with her, you temporarily gain a specific super power. -When you have a sex scene with her, she summons a demon. Because these moves are triggered by a sex scene, if you want to trigger it again, you need to change the scene (time passes, new location). Desire would range from +2 to -2, and would be used as a bonus or penalty on all your rolls against that girl (NPC). At character creation, describe one girl who wants you (Desire +1), and one girl who doesn't (Desire -1). When you meet a new girl, give her Desire +0. When you roll against a girl, add her Desire to your roll (if positive), or or subtract her Desire from your roll (if negative). When a girl reaches Desire +3, mark +1 XP, and reset her Desire to +0. When a girl reaches Desire -3, she immediately makes a move, which likely includes "Leaves forever". What's missing is what causes the girls to gain or lose Desire. I could see it being affected by both plot and by die rolls. When you romance her, describe how you do it. She gains +1 Desire, time passes, and the girls make a move. When she catches you, in a lie or with another girl, etc., roll+cool to get out of trouble. On a miss, she loses -1 Desire. When you seduce her, roll +hot. On a hit she gains +1 Desire. On a 7-9, it costs you, or you get in trouble doing it. When you fuck her, one of the options can be "she gains +1 Desire". When you force her, one of the options can be "she doesn't lose -1 Desire." Otherwise, she does.________________________________ Personally, I'm not interested in M/M action, but I can certainly appreciate how including male NPCs and female protagonists would add a lot to the game.
I like the notion of a scene. It would allow the rules to say, "During this scene, take +1/-1 to roll for ..." I like your desire moves. I had some notion of karmic entanglement consisting of any +Desire or -Desire (treat both as summing positively) plus any + you have on her (Submissive), plus any Conditions you've placed on each other. The higher the value, the more likely she'll show up in the next scene and you'll have to Get Out Of Trouble or Go Along With Her Motivation. -Z.
Thanks for inclding Slut World in the "best of 2014" thread. I like your New Kid character! He's got moves we haven't seen in action yet, but he's so uncool he'll probably spend a lot of time just trying to meet girls and stay out of trouble. Sounds like a fun story.
I went ahead and deleted the thread, because it has stayed in "Pending" status for too long, and various circumstances, including working on bits and pieces of my ongoing "Briarwolf Guild" story, has prevented me from finding an opportunity to make any changes in a timely manner. Otherwise, the advice for actually rolling the dice before writing the next one seems like something I can do when I get back to adding to the nightclub storylines. But that adds more questions now, as I have not worked on my nightclub stories for the last 2 months, mostly due to my work on my medieval fantasy story. Should I start a "2nd season" thread, using the roll-then-write method? Or should I finish the branches that I've started first, then go from there? Or should I start something new?
You could start a new story with the new rules, or just start some new story lines with the new rules. I usually change the phrase "you make her like it" to "she likes it". The Desire stuff is good.
So, if you have sisters together and one goes down on the other, if you don't have Cunt-Licking (which gives XP for a girl making another girl cum), do you get the Incest bonus? I think it shouldn't matter. If it doesn't matter, then Incest needs a slight rewording.
As intended, you only get the incest bonus for things that would already give you XP. So if you don't have "Cunt-Licking", you still get no XP when one sister go down on each other. I can see that the "Incest" move might need rewording.
Yes, looks like Sisters only helps if you have Cunt-Licking already, then, so maybe not mention Sisters. Incest: The first time you get sweet xp off a family member (by making her cum or making her swallow your cum), or from making a girl get incestuous with her own family (with the Cunt-Licking move), you get +1 xp. Every time you get a new family member in on the action (yours or hers) you get +1 xp.
Okay, a couple of changes: I changed the Basic Moves slightly to de-emphasize forced sex. Girls are assumed to like anything you tell them to do, or they beg you for, and you don't have to choose "make her like it". Girls are assumed to not like anything you force them to do, unless you choose "make her like it". This should fit better wit the way most of you are already writing, so there is no need to edit any existing posts. I added a thread for Variant Rules. I'd love to see any other variant rules ideas you've got, including rules for female PCs and male NPCs. I added a Variant Rules thread with the Desire moves. It would be great to see a sample game of these moves in action, if you felt like playtesting them. I removed amended the description of "Incest" as suggested, and amended the "Sisters" move to include introducing the sister of an existing girl.
With my new understanding of the Incest move, I realized that I made a mistake when I chose Lesbian in the Tom Jackson and his family storyline. I should have chosen Cunt-Licking. Would it be okay with both SwampThing and Zingiber (who followed up with the correct move) if I changed the Lesbian move to Cunt-licking?
I'd be most flattered if you followed mine, since I think collaboration is one of the highlights of Chyoo, but I have no problem with you switching yours and continuing your own path.
Great to see so much action on the story! We got Story of the Week, and got some new writers too. I just added rules for female PCs (under Variant Rules). I'd love to hear your thoughts / read what you would do with these rules / see more character moves for female PCs.
Nice to see rules for female PCs. But what about a female using a strap-on to fuck another person (usually another female)? And any other sex toys, for that matter. Also, is there an explanation for "take+1 forward" anywhere? After re-reading the rules several times I got the impression that it means "+1 to a future roll" but I still have no idea if it is a mandatory +1 to the very next roll, or if I can choose when to use it? Also, is it for a single roll, or multiple rolls? Similar questions for "hold 1": Is it mandatory? How many can I "hold"?
Thanks for your interest moonblack. "Strap On" or "Sex Toys" would be great character moves for female PCs. Using a strap-on could be like the male "fuck her" basic move, except you can't cum from it yourself. "+1 forward" means +1 to your next roll. Use this bonus once and then it's gone. "hold" means you can save this bonus or ability until you want to use it. Once you use it, it is gone. There is no limit to how much "hold" you can have. Hope that helps!
Currently, I've got a couple of storyline options for the 'Strip Club Patron 2nd Season', as soon as I wrap the 'first story arcs' up, which I've divided into individual sets, to correspond with the dancer characters I'm working on. I could either: Do a club visit next, sorting by which of the 8 clubs he's going to, then allow for a single selection of a given dancer. I could either then play out a lap dance scene on a hit, or he watches a special stage dance on a hit, or he could at least do a simple conversation with a dancer on a miss after she finishes a stage dance, and she's roaming the floor. Have a dancer or two pay him a visit at his dayjob. Right now, based on what I've written for the 'first story arcs', I could narrow it down to a handful of dancers being involved: Mia (for a couple of go-karts that she & her brother owes), Abbie (for her brother's muscle car), Jaina (for her motorcycle or truck), and either Michelle or Candice's sport cycle, Jessica's car, or Kiana's SUV. Eventually, I'm thinking of having him choose a dancer for a Valentine's Day date, and the storyline details of that night can vary with the corresponding roll of the dice. That one will at least wrap up part of 'the 2nd season', if not 'the 2nd season' as a whole.
Dearnise, your plans sound great. Please remember when the girls are making a move, to choose one (or two) of the girls' specific moves. Ayumi, thanks or trying out the new Female PC rules. You will notice that I edited some of your continuing questions. Continuing questions should either prompt the reader to choose a move (either a basic move or character move), or to roll for a move. Lily should have started the story by rolling +cool for her Sexy Outfit, even before she started stalking Mark. How you handled it is fine for now, where she rolled +cool to activate her outfit when she wanted to strip out of it. She now can't use that move again herself until she changes outfits. Thanks for all the interest in this game!
I was figuring that they'd make a move when they either see him at the club, or they visit him at the shop, since time would pass. Either way, I'll work on being as specific as possible on which move they're using. I just felt that giving the specific details on what they're doing would imply which move I'm using.
