Difference between revisions of "The West That Wasnt - Rulebook"

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Welcome pardner, to the world of Past Participle. A world where...wait. Who the hell names a world, or game for that matter, Past Participle? And why did you just call me pardner?
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The West That Wasnt is the Old West, or is it? This is the system that started with [[Future Imperfect]]. When we determined that the scope of FI was too large to easily fix, we developed TWTW as a scaled down version to facilitate easier project completion.
  
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Past Participle is named as such because even though I am not that clever, I sure like to pretend I am. Past Participle is an offshoot of [[Future Imperfect]], but instead of being set in the far future, it is set in the Old West, the setting we have colloquially referred to as Old West X-Files. There you have it, pardner.
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=The Setting=
 +
This is a description of The West That Wasnt, including geography, history and important elements.  
  
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Ugh, I cant believe you just called me that again.
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[[The West that Wasnt]] (Basic intro-original version)
  
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=Past Participle Unleashed=
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[[The West that Wasn't:  The History of the DTI]]
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During testing of Future Imperfect it became clear that we had bitten off more than we could chew. The project could be completed, but many issues were apparent. For one thing, we had so many moving parts that it was difficult to determine how each of them affected the others. This is where the idea of PP came into being.
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By transitioning to a different setting, we allowed ourselves to strip out a bunch of elements that while essential to FI, do not appear in the old west. These include things like aliens and other races, psionic powers, armor, vehicles and high tech equipment.
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Here are descriptions of the types of gear and weapons that are available.
  
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=The Setting=
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[[The West That Wasnt - Gear]]
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This is a description of the world of Past Participle, including geography, history and important elements.
+
  
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[[The West that Wasnt]]
+
=The Rules=
 +
What follows are the rules for playing a game set in The West That Wasnt. A current rules pdf is located here:[https://www.dropbox.com/s/u2kbkwr3qdkbjag/TWTW%20-%20V3.1.pdf?dl=0]
  
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Here are descriptions of the types of gear and weapons available in PP.
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==Character Generation==
 +
[[The West That Wasnt - Anatomy of a Hero]]
  
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[[Past Participle - Gear]]
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[[The West That Wasnt - Hero Creation]]
  
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=The Rules=
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[[The West That Wasnt - Skill List]]<br />
  
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==Character Generation==
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[[The West That Wasnt - Character Growth]]<br>
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[[Assigning Traits, Skills and Edges]]<br />
+
  
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[[Past Participle Skill List]]<br />
 
  
 
==Task Resolution==
 
==Task Resolution==
 
This section discusses how to interact with the environment, as well as use skills.
 
This section discusses how to interact with the environment, as well as use skills.
  
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[[Past Participle - Task Resolution]]
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[[The West That Wasnt - Action Resolution]]<br>
 +
[[The West That Wasnt - Advanced Action Resolution]]
  
 
==Conflict==
 
==Conflict==
 
This section discusses conflict of all types, physical and otherwise.
 
This section discusses conflict of all types, physical and otherwise.
  
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[[Past Participle - Conflict]]<br>
+
[[The West That Wasnt - Conflict - AP v2]]<br>
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[[Past Participle - Initiative and Action Speeds]]
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[[The West That Wasnt - Advanced Conflict]]<br>
 +
 
 +
==From The Bench: The Judge==
 +
[[The West That Wasnt - The Judge]]
  
 
==Interaction==
 
==Interaction==
 +
[[The West That Wasnt - Social Combat]]<br>
  
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==Movement and the Environment==
+
==The Environment==
 +
[[The West That Wasnt - Interacting With the West]]<br>
 +
[[The West That Wasnt - Adversaries]]<br>
 +
[[The West That Wasnt - Tombstone, AZ]]
 +
 
 +
==Rogues Gallery==
 +
[[Angus Laroq]]<br>
 +
[[Felicia Laroq]]<br>
 +
[[Francisco Del Valle]]<br>
 +
[[Dave Perkins]]<br>
 +
[[Clem Perkins]]<br>
 +
[[Pete Perkins]]<br>
 +
[[Doc Rouska]]
  
 
=Playtesting=
 
=Playtesting=
 +
[[The West That Wasnt - Sundown]] On May 5th, at 1:00 PM, the DTI heads to Tombstone, Arizona for a spell.
 +
 +
The design goals from Future Imperfect were ported over the PP, and then to TWTW. Eventually, they became more and more well defined. This is the first attempt to put them all down for perusal.
 +
 +
=Design Goals=
 +
The first set of design goals focused on Action Cards: [[Action Card Concepts]]. They are:
 +
 +
1. Use what you need, ignore everything else. <br>
 +
2. One card, one resolution. <br>
 +
3. Leave the rulebook on the shelf. <br>
 +
 +
Actions cards are designed to deliver exceptional detail, very quickly. They are loaded with information. They require a short learning curve to master. Because they have so much information, the rulebook is rarely necessary after the first session or two.
 +
 +
Action cards are also extensible. Even though they are designed for one card, one resolution, once they are mastered it is easy to customize the game experience for your group. In fact, the extensibility and modularity make it simple to customize the game experience to each player, so that individuals at the same table can tailor their own experiences to the level of detail and mechanical depth they prefer. This leads to arguably the most important design goal:
 +
 +
Play the game that you want!
 +
 +
Just about every game has a section discussing the idea that the rules are just a guide, and the players should work together to craft the best game experience. TWTW (and the other tenses) take this one step further. Most rules in the game are designed with a set of goals (that you are reading) but they also are created in a modular fashion to facilitate easily swapping out and customizing rules as you see fit. The game also has multiple appendices dedicated to doing exactly that, providing suggestions for using the rulebook as a road map, showing you many paths to the same goals, and also illustrating how different players can take their own road without impacting the others.
 +
 +
Mechanical depth is important to the design. This is clear in all facets of game play. Most of the choices themselves are relatively simple, but the wide variety greatly increases personalization and flavor. The game is created to provide mechanical support for many different play styles. These choices need to be simple enough to implement that they never block the delivery of satisfying narrative.
 +
 +
While the game does not attempt realism, it does attempt to simulate the kinds of choices that bring a level of tactical verisimilitude to the shared hallucination that is created at the game table. This is especially true in combat, where concepts regarding action speed, covering fire, and tactical movement are implemented so that they are easy to use, rather than fully grounded in reality.
 +
 +
Speaking of combat, why does every game have a combat minigame of some kind, but few other interactions are afforded such a level of detail? The tense games attempt to provide optional minigames that allow diverse characters to have dedicated and mechanically deep minigames to enrich the experience.
 +
 +
=Deprecated Pages=
 +
 +
[[TWTW 3.0 - Gear]]  <br>
 +
Task list for the 3rd edition update: [[TWTW 3.0 Task List]]<br>
 +
Resolution Mechanics: [[TWTW 3.0 Brainstorm]]<br>
 +
[[TWTW 3.0 - Anatomy of a Hero]]<br>
 +
[[TWTW 3.0 - Hero Creation]]<br>
 +
v 1.0
 +
 +
[[The West That Wasnt - Character Generation]]<br />
 +
===TWTW 3.0===
 +
[[The West That Wasnt 3.0 - Action Resolution]]<br>
 +
 +
===Version 3.0===
 +
[[TWTW 3.0 - Conflict]]<br>
 +
===Old Versions===
 +
[[The West That Wasnt - Conflict]]<br>
 +
[[The West That Wasnt - Basic Initiative and Speed Rules]]  <br>
 +
[[The West That Wasnt - Initiative And Action Speeds]] <br>
 +
[[The West That Wasnt - Social Combat (original version)]]
 +
 +
[[The West That Wasnt - Action Point Combat System]] Initial proposal
 +
 +
[[The West That Wasnt - Conflict - Dice Pool]]<br>
 +
[[The West That Wasnt - Conflict - Action Points]] <br>

Latest revision as of 11:48, 2 April 2023

The West That Wasnt is the Old West, or is it? This is the system that started with Future Imperfect. When we determined that the scope of FI was too large to easily fix, we developed TWTW as a scaled down version to facilitate easier project completion.

The Setting

This is a description of The West That Wasnt, including geography, history and important elements.

The West that Wasnt (Basic intro-original version)

The West that Wasn't: The History of the DTI

Here are descriptions of the types of gear and weapons that are available.

The West That Wasnt - Gear

The Rules

What follows are the rules for playing a game set in The West That Wasnt. A current rules pdf is located here:[1]

Character Generation

The West That Wasnt - Anatomy of a Hero

The West That Wasnt - Hero Creation

The West That Wasnt - Skill List

The West That Wasnt - Character Growth


Task Resolution

This section discusses how to interact with the environment, as well as use skills.

The West That Wasnt - Action Resolution
The West That Wasnt - Advanced Action Resolution

Conflict

This section discusses conflict of all types, physical and otherwise.

The West That Wasnt - Conflict - AP v2
The West That Wasnt - Advanced Conflict

From The Bench: The Judge

The West That Wasnt - The Judge

Interaction

The West That Wasnt - Social Combat

The Environment

The West That Wasnt - Interacting With the West
The West That Wasnt - Adversaries
The West That Wasnt - Tombstone, AZ

Rogues Gallery

Angus Laroq
Felicia Laroq
Francisco Del Valle
Dave Perkins
Clem Perkins
Pete Perkins
Doc Rouska

Playtesting

The West That Wasnt - Sundown On May 5th, at 1:00 PM, the DTI heads to Tombstone, Arizona for a spell.

The design goals from Future Imperfect were ported over the PP, and then to TWTW. Eventually, they became more and more well defined. This is the first attempt to put them all down for perusal.

Design Goals

The first set of design goals focused on Action Cards: Action Card Concepts. They are:

1. Use what you need, ignore everything else.
2. One card, one resolution.
3. Leave the rulebook on the shelf.

Actions cards are designed to deliver exceptional detail, very quickly. They are loaded with information. They require a short learning curve to master. Because they have so much information, the rulebook is rarely necessary after the first session or two.

Action cards are also extensible. Even though they are designed for one card, one resolution, once they are mastered it is easy to customize the game experience for your group. In fact, the extensibility and modularity make it simple to customize the game experience to each player, so that individuals at the same table can tailor their own experiences to the level of detail and mechanical depth they prefer. This leads to arguably the most important design goal:

Play the game that you want!

Just about every game has a section discussing the idea that the rules are just a guide, and the players should work together to craft the best game experience. TWTW (and the other tenses) take this one step further. Most rules in the game are designed with a set of goals (that you are reading) but they also are created in a modular fashion to facilitate easily swapping out and customizing rules as you see fit. The game also has multiple appendices dedicated to doing exactly that, providing suggestions for using the rulebook as a road map, showing you many paths to the same goals, and also illustrating how different players can take their own road without impacting the others.

Mechanical depth is important to the design. This is clear in all facets of game play. Most of the choices themselves are relatively simple, but the wide variety greatly increases personalization and flavor. The game is created to provide mechanical support for many different play styles. These choices need to be simple enough to implement that they never block the delivery of satisfying narrative.

While the game does not attempt realism, it does attempt to simulate the kinds of choices that bring a level of tactical verisimilitude to the shared hallucination that is created at the game table. This is especially true in combat, where concepts regarding action speed, covering fire, and tactical movement are implemented so that they are easy to use, rather than fully grounded in reality.

Speaking of combat, why does every game have a combat minigame of some kind, but few other interactions are afforded such a level of detail? The tense games attempt to provide optional minigames that allow diverse characters to have dedicated and mechanically deep minigames to enrich the experience.

Deprecated Pages

TWTW 3.0 - Gear
Task list for the 3rd edition update: TWTW 3.0 Task List
Resolution Mechanics: TWTW 3.0 Brainstorm
TWTW 3.0 - Anatomy of a Hero
TWTW 3.0 - Hero Creation
v 1.0

The West That Wasnt - Character Generation

TWTW 3.0

The West That Wasnt 3.0 - Action Resolution

Version 3.0

TWTW 3.0 - Conflict

Old Versions

The West That Wasnt - Conflict
The West That Wasnt - Basic Initiative and Speed Rules
The West That Wasnt - Initiative And Action Speeds
The West That Wasnt - Social Combat (original version)

The West That Wasnt - Action Point Combat System Initial proposal

The West That Wasnt - Conflict - Dice Pool
The West That Wasnt - Conflict - Action Points

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