Misspent Youth ... maybe?

[SinbadEV]

http://misspentyouthgame.com/

So I'm reading through the free PDF version of this game and wishing I had the right group of friends to try it out IRL... but failing that I figured I'd mention it to y'all.

The "GM" (Called "The Authority") is selected in the first session and there is a definite "end" to the campaign and a winner and a loser... so if anyone is interested in experimenting with this as a PbP game I'm totally interested... it's a lot more collaborative then most games I've played so I'm not sure how the asynchronicity of forum PbP will work out so maybe some discussion is in order... anyways, back to reading the free PDF version.

[SinbadEV]

So I finished reading through the rules PDF and decided it was probably really bad to come and say "hey come play this game, read about it here".. why would you do that?

The premise is that your "players" control a group of 12-17 year old rebels struggling against some kind of "authority"

Think, Harry Potter, Snowcrash/Diamond Age, E.T., Goonies, Star Wars, Super 8, Scoobie Do, Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Eclipse Saga, The Golden Compass/His Dark Materials, and I guess the current Occupy movement... basically kids trying to save the world.

Essentially the structure of the game is set up that there is no "preparation" for the "DM" to do... the game starts with a bunch of interested players building an enemy "The Authority" and the setting and means this authority uses to influence it... then the players develop a "cast" of interesting characters that would fit into this setting... then you pick a player to play the part of "The Authority" and each player picks one or more persona from the "cast" list to use to create their "Youthful Offender" (the character they will control)... then you make up your character sheet by choosing some traits (called "convictions", some drawn from a list and some simple described).

There is no "combat" but each session is comprised of scenes containing an overarching "struggle" beteween the Authority and the YOs that is resolved by the Authority describing and action, and a YO rolling a die and using describing how they use one of their character traits (convictions) to push the struggle in their favor and then the Authority describing how he reacts to this... the game ends when one of the Characters sells out and is lost to the machinations of the Authority or the Authority is defeated... which based on the book sounds like 3 or 4 "episodes", so it's a pretty short commitment.

It is built around collaboratively developing characters (and relationships between them) and telling an interesting story in an interesting setting.


Here's a few more links:

Interview with the Creator (http://takeonrules.com/2012/01/15/interview-with-robert-bohl/)
Review of the Game (http://takeonrules.com/2012/01/14/misspent-youth-by-robert-bohl/)
Creator on Google+ (https://plus.google.com/115105688391873512546/about)

So that out of the way I am going to describe how I see the game in a way that I think will attract potential players.

The PDF is free for now and forever but he is working on an "better" PDF version (the current one has each pair of "facing pages" as a single page of the PDF and the font it difficult to read unless the page is zoomed in to 100% so with the columnar layout you will be scrolling left to right and top to bottom a lot... doable but not ideal). He intends to sell the (forthcoming) better one and you can already buy a physical copy of the books... as a dude who has never played the game and doesn't know anyone who has and is not guaranteed to ever find any IRL players to play with I am holding off on this option (for now) but it does exist.

OOPS: forgot to finish the post before clicking post.

So, the mechanics are built around anybody playing whenever they want and a lot of collaboratively role playing posts and when people roll they don't need the "Authority" to tell them if they succeed or not... so the way I see it it is actually well suited to an active play by post.

Struggles require this "conflict" chart thing so I see that as being posted thusly (see the manual for this to make sense):

( 7) ( 6) ( 5) ( 4) ( 3) ( 2)
---- ( 8) ( 9) (10) (11) (12)
and then as peopl start covering numbers each player would put a two character "token" on the "mat" each time the posted updated with the current state... so


(AU) ( 6) (sv) ( 4) (mr) ( 2)
---- (AU) ( 9) (10) (11) (AU)

Character sheets would need to be easily accessible to all players so I was thinking a character sheet thread with each "player" posting their "YO" as a post which would allow them to go back and edit their post when their convictions change or have been expended etc. (IRL players have a pencil and will be writing stuff down and erasing things each scene)

I see each "Session(or scene if they get too big)" as a thread with people posting in a one format for IC, one for OOC and one for "mechanics" like rolling and updates to their status (maybe bold, italic and regular).

[Mercutio]

I read through it briefly before my computer took a serious dump. I don't have the time for another game, sadly, but it does look very cool.

It is definitely a Forge created game. I can see echoes of Sorcerer, Trollbabe, Dogs in the Vineyard, and Apocalypse World (which seems like the biggest inspiration at least color wise), and I would very much like to play a game in any of those systems. My feeling is that true innovation in gaming is coming from places like the Forge, and I think indie games in general are becoming exactly what I want from a game.

But I just can't take the time to play another game.

[Robert Bohl]

SinbadEV,

Thanks for considering running my game. I hope it goes well. Please do let me know if it goes off.

Mercutio,

You've seen a lot of my influences there. Sorcerer is probably indirectly-inherited DNA, and I've never played Trollbabe.

Dogs in the Vineyard is a huge influence on the game. In earlier editions of the game, the Struggle was resolved in one step and some playtester (maybe Fred Hicks or Rob Donoghue; they helped a lot). Dogs's roleplaying-throughout-the-conflict piece is the heart of the Struggle.

Funnily enough, even though I consider Apocalypse World to be an amazing game, and better than mine, it was developed entirely after the publication of MY.

[SinbadEV]

Ack! I seem to have inadvertently invoked the designer! Also, apparently my sister was a play tester and that's why I was following Robert on Google+ in the first place and therefore how I found out about it... so contrary to my earlier post, I do know someone who has played it.

Still totally wanting to give this a try on here and hoping that maybe nobody has responded because I posted it mid week and not due to lack of interest.

[Robert Bohl]

It's a shame it looks like the game might not go off, but thanks for trying.

Who's your sister? is it Jennifer?

And your link made a few people follow to the site, and that's how I found the post! I'm a rabid analyzer of my Google analytics output.

[Mercutio]

Funnily enough, even though I consider Apocalypse World to be an amazing game, and better than mine, it was developed entirely after the publication of MY.Thanks for the response, Rob. I probably should have checked the publication dates to be sure of what came out when. I think you've got a great game there, and I just wish I had the time to really try it out.

[Robert Bohl]

Thanks, Mercutio. I hope you get the chance to in the future.

[Linklegacy77]

Best of luck Robert, I'm on the same page as Mercutio here, it looks good but I just don't have the time to try it out right now.

[Lune]

I may be interested. I was initially concerned about the understanding of rules. I didn't want to get into a situation where there were lots of questions about how things are supposed to be ran and possible disagreements (one of my concerns with the d20^ game) but with Robert on board I guess that quells my concern by a fair margin. If you happen to get a few others that are interested then keep me in mind as a definate maybe.

Robert: I was interested by the ...how to put this, genre (?) of the game. The "Shit you'll like" section is what really appealed to me. Between my wife and I all of the stuff on that list falls under the "like" category. I'm not a fan of Ani, she is. But I really think I have a feel for the vibe you are going for. This is what really interests me about it in fact as I can't think of anything else that comes close to that vibe.

I have a friend who is an amateur game designer that has actually published a game before. (Google Riot! Raphael Adley to see it) He has a ton of board games that he has designed that have never gotten published. I wouldn't call myself a board game fan though I do enjoy them on occasion. But, I truly see potential in his games. Any advice?

[SinbadEV]

I wouldn't rely on the continued presence of Robert but that said, the "mechanics" are 100% transparent so there's nothing really to screw up... if you win, lose or continue the struggle you know this immediately upon rolling. There's no experience points to gain or stats to roll up. The source is one single book and if you read it you know everything about the game so there's no wiki to worry about.

[Robert Bohl]

Yeah, the entire system of Misspent Youth is less complex than the combat system of any edition of D&D.

I'd be happy to answer any questions though. Just ping this thread, or hit me up on Google+ or my gmail account, which is rob dot bohl.

[Robert Bohl]

Oh, and Lune, thank you! I'm happy that the game has such a good vibe for you, and your wife has great taste in music.

What kind of help are you looking for for Riot!? Getting it published? I don't have a lot of expertise as a freelancer working for others, all my games have been self-published.

[Lune]

Ah, no. He already had Riot! published. I guess maybe just general advice. I think he would likely be self publishing his other games if he ever got to it.

[Robert Bohl]

That's the smart way to go, IMO. It's a lot of hassle but you get more of the money.

Make that some of the money.

[Lune]

Oh man. I just noticed your from MA. My wife's family is all from Salem. Small world.

So, Robert.... wanna stick around and show us all how this game is played? ;) We already got someone offering to be the "Authority".

[Robert Bohl]

Sure thing!

[Linklegacy77]

Oh shit, from MA? Heh, I'm from Chelmsford MA, went to Harvard, and now live in Amherst with my wife.

[Robert Bohl]

Wow, cool! Do you know about the incredible locus of game designers you live right near?

* Meguey Baker (Psi*Run, 1001 Nights), http://nightskygames.com/
* Vincent Baker (Apocalypse World, Dogs in the Vineyard, Murderous Ghosts, Poison'd, kill puppies for satan, Mechaton, In a Wicked Age), http://lumpley.com/
* Emily Care Boss (Breaking the Ice, Shooting the Moon, Under my Skin, Sign in Stranger, Dread House (with Epidiah Ravachol)) http://www.blackgreengames.com/
* Julia Bond Ellingboe (Steal Away Jordan, Tales of the Fisherman's Wife) http://www.stone-baby.com/
* Joshua A.C. Newman (shock: social science fiction, Shock: Human Contact, and Under the Bed) http://glyphpress.com/
* Epidiah Ravachol (Dread, Time & Temp) http://dig1000holes.wordpress.com/

We all live within 20 minutes to a half an hour of Amherst. We also have this thing called JiffyCon (http://jiffycon.com/) that happens a couple of times a year that's a small, one-day con.

[Linklegacy77]

I knew about a couple of them, didn't know that many :D.

I'm working on my own game too right now, not going to be for sale or profit though, just a labor of love.

[Robert Bohl]

That's great. One of the things we're all very enthusiastic about is helping people with game design.

Hit me up on my Google+ page (https://plus.google.com/115105688391873512546/posts?hl=en) if you have any questions or need help with anything.

[SinbadEV]

I'm willing to play the Authority (or not do so if others really feel inspired, playing a Youthful Offender would be awesome too) but I really think we need at least 4 people (one Authority and 3 YOs) for the game to actually work in any capacity.

Do you think it would help to start the "bully brainstorming (page 2)" we might attract interest?

I feel like I have dozen's of ideas that would suit the theme but we gotta pick something y'all will love to have so let's start with the suggestion from the book to "Brainstorm a list of the things that real-life bullies do that make your guts knot up with impotent fury."

The one idea I had was with this whole "DMCA/SOPA/PIPA/WIKILEAKS/PirateBay/MegaUpload" thing keeps getting sold to us as "Foreign Powers Conspiring the Downfall of the US Economy" and most people are like "lame excuse for our Government to protect the interests of their Corporate masters" but what if that was what was actually happening and our YOs had to fight some foreign power who was in fact trying to undermine our economy and steal our freedom and instigating protests among our populace.

[Lune]

Actually, before we delve into this a bit I kinda wanna make sure we are in the clear with the mods. Politics is kinda taboo here (something a lot of us appreciate). I don't think it will be an issue so long as we be sure to keep our opinions restricted to only the in-character variety. The only potential trouble I see is that we kinda have to talk out of character to be able to begin the game so in character stuff can happen.

One suggestion I have is to base the evil organization on something that isn't real but is believable. For example, I think Sinbad's idea is feasible and it is likely that we can all agree that the foreign power in that scenario would be likely to originate from China. But rather than make anti-Chinesse statements by saying it is their official government supporting this action we could just say it is a splinter cell of wealthy former Chinesse secret service agents leading the cause. That way it is hard to make generalizations and less likely to offend.

My idea had something more to do with healthcare rates and pharmaceutical companies profitting for the need to use the drugs that they developed to treat illnesses. The twist is that many of the illnesses the pharmaceutical companies created themselves to raise demand. They keep the government's pockets lined to keep them quiet but the government is also profitting from this from hush money and from rise in healthcare costs.

[itches]

Actually, before we delve into this a bit I kinda wanna make sure we are in the clear with the mods.

Eh I'm iffy (which is why I didn't come down on SinbadEV already). On one hand politics are an iron-clad, no-go area. On the other hand 'some foreign power who was in fact trying to undermine our economy and steal our freedom and instigating protests among our populace' sounds like something a James Bond villain would do.

Keep things InCharacter, nonpersonal and fictional and you should be fine. But if there is any doubt, stay clear.

But rather than make anti-Chinesse statements by saying it is their official government supporting this action

It is tempting to allow politics so long as it is only anti-Chinese, in the hopes that we'll get Orp blocked on the Great Firewall of China and all the spambots will stop turning up.

[Robert Bohl]

I pointed at this thread on my Google+ feed (https://plus.google.com/u/0/115105688391873512546/posts/9wCA6UpQC3q) to try to drum up some players for you guys.

[SinbadEV]

Oops, didn't even realize I was treading into muddy waters.

We could do something like Eclipse/Vampire diaries (maybe there are evil vampires feeding on people and the evil town council is covering up their activities and we've met one of the "good" vampires who clues us in on the secret).

Or we could recycle Thaumco again... they seem to enjoy getting people hopelessly indebted and then forcing them into indentured servitude in order to get free labour and have a tendency to do things like restrict people from engaging in magical activity by patenting spells and erasing their memories etc...

Or maybe there's some kind of alien race that's here to help us but really their here to enslave us but their actually sorta vulnerable because they have their own internal resistance movement (like in x-files or V... or I guess transformers sortof)

There is plenty of fertile ground to cover without trying to remix the existing socio-political realities

[Lune]

itches: lol, I agree with the spambots bit.

Some time I might get around to reading the rules here. ...eventually.

Thanks for the support, Robert! :) Next time I take a trip to MA I'll have to look up you and Link. You aren't on the same side of MA as we are headed but we do go past you it looks like. Plus, your state has size envy of MI. It takes what?... less than an hour to go through the entire state via expressway? hehe

[Linklegacy77]

Next time you come to MA, let me know Lune, we'll go get some drinks or something.

[Lune]

I'll prolly need it. ...and I'm not much of a drinker.