Author: Aaron Griffin

So I have a quick question regarding negotiating in a world without real currency. How would you handle, say, cutting someone in on a deal? If I’m making a deal to trade some illicit cargo to a guy, and want to hire some muscle for 20% of the take, how do you translate this into UW? Should it be phrased differently?

Expanded Conflict

I have a player who wants a little bit more in depth combat, but I don’t want to end up doing task resolution with a bunch of Face Adversity rolls per shot. So here’s my idea, based on Trollbabe:

For a conflict, you roll Open Fire/Launch Assault as normal. On failure, you suffer a consequence as normal, but on success the enemy (individual or group) suffers a consequence in the same manner. With each set of rolls, the level of consequences (likely harm) increases one step. Until one side gives up (in which they get to narrate what happens) or is taken out.

It’s not much different than normal, just sort of a defined way to escalate the consequences as the conflict goes on.

Initial musings on Uncharted Planes, a thin reskinning of UW for a fantasy world of planar travel.

1. Stats and Moves: some things may need to be changed to fit the setting. Current thinking is:

Expertise -> feels too technical. Knowledge? Lore?

Assessment -> maybe Discover or Study or Dig (I kinda like Dig)

Get Involved -> feels too cheery. Maybe back to “Help or Hinder”

Brace for Impact -> Take A Hit

Patch Up -> almost fits. Maybe just plain old “Heal”

Open Fire / Launch Assault -> no good original ideas yet but i might combine them into one move.

2. Command doesn’t fit the intended style of play, so this will probably use a Seduce or Manipulate move from other PbtA games. Probably named “Manipulate or Deceive”.

3. Access and Interface don’t fit at all. Currently sitting at:

COMMUNE (+Devotion)

When you spend time communing with the arcane, divine, or philosophical Essence of a place, Roll+Devotion. On a 10+, you are accepted and welcomed; regarded as an ally to others in the area of similar Essence. On a 7-9, as above, but some see you as an enemy instead of a friend.

4. This brings me to the idea of Essence that roughly maps to Data Points. The most engaging part of the Planescape setting is the hard line philosophies and allegiances to gods and powerful beings. It is a world of black and white and red and blue and many other distinct colors, with no in between.

In this hack, Essence is the stuff of concept that permeates everything and colors behavior and ideas. Manipulating Essence lets your know allegiances or fake your own.

Thoughts, opinions, etc?

I am considering a UW hack (yes, not a hack from AW, but starting with UW as the base) in a fantasy Planescape-style setting. What things would you consider critical in a setting like this?

I have the following bullets recorded:

– Origins would become species based, allowing for complex planar hybrids

– Careers would be a simple conversion, but I’d like to add more and possibly create “exit paths” to account for growth into new careers.

– As there’s no space ship, and travel would be portal based, work spaces would have to be replaced conceptually with something different

– LOTS more factions, some pre-assembled. In the planes, everyone has their causes and philosophies

Thoughts? This is all conceptual currently.

Finally bought the print+PDF version of UW and am reading it now.

I love the changing duty of narration on the combat rolls. That’s an excellent way to handle conflict resolution.

All in all this is a great book and a great game. Now to go get some player buy in!