These Are Our Games

You can download a PDF of XXXXtreme STREET luge here. Some assembly is required (you’ll need to print it out, cut it, and staple it.) But you’re big indie boys and girls, I’m sure you can handle a little customer-end publishing action.

Alternatively, if you’re lazy, I’ll be sending some hardcopies to IPR pretty soon.

I’ve made stand-alone pages for Polaris and Bliss Stage. They have game and purchasing information.

Hope this is useful to someone.

Several people have written to me asking how to purchase Bliss Stage. Right now, the only way to do so is the paypal $25 to taogames@gmail.com, making sure to include your shipping address, and then I send it to you. When the game goes up for sale on IPR I’ll let everyone know. This buys you the Ignition stage book.

The pre-order is closed, has been for a while. If you sent me $36 by mistake I’ve contacted you to figure out what to do.

Allow 2-3 weeks for delivery, because I’m in the middle of moving.

Thanks for the interest!

The biggest complaint about Bliss Stage is that the promised playcards haven’t been uploaded (and that there are typos.) So let me fix one of those! These are slightly different than I originally anticipated, but I think that they’ll work out just great.

Bliss Stage Playcards

I am pleased to announce a new supplement for Joshua AC Newman’s Under the Bed: Journeying West (西游跡).

In the third year of the reign of Tai Zong (629 AD), the Tripitaka Monk received from the Boddhisattva Guanyin a mission to journey far to the West and recover the true sutras and return them to the Tang. Because his road was long and dangerous, set with many obstacles against his enlightenment, she gave him five demonic companions to protect him on his journey. Their exploits were recorded in the much beloved Chinese epic Journey to the West. In Journeying West, you take on the roles of the monk’s demonic companions on the perilous road towards enlightenment.

Journeying West is a 36 page booklet, the same size and shape as the Under the Bed instruction booklet. It’s a supplement, so it won’t work without the original rules + cards.

It’ll be on sale at GenCon at the IPR (Forge) Booth or the Play Collective Booth. After GenCon, it will be available at IPR. Joshua and I will probably also offer a package deal.

If you really want the game before them, paypal me $5 for the game + $2 postage and handling and I’ll get you a copy pronto. Address: taogames@gmail.com

It’s a pretty little book, and I’m happy to be able to offer it for sale.

I’ve gotten some excellent questions about the game and I’ve been in such a rush to make sure that the Ignition Stage gets ready that I haven’t been able to answer them fully. Now that things are a little more calmed down, I can.

I also welcome any more questions.

Questions from Moreno

1) How many players?

Bliss Stage, in the standard rules, supports 3-7 players without difficulty. More than that and you’ll have to have some players take mostly supporting roles while other players take on hero roles. Also included in the book are rules for a two player version.

“Players” in all cases, includes the GM in the headcount.

2) Is the game playable with one player missing?

… mostly. It is probably slightly more playable with one player missing than a standard party-style RPG game, but having a missing player definitely does damage the game, particularly because each player controls more than one character. You cannot play if the GM is missing, unless someone usurps his position.

Questions from Chan

1.) Exactly how are Relations used in forming the ANIMa? As far as I understand, the ANIMa’s a massive construct of willpower; I’ve read that Relations can be made into, say, the Chassis, Sensors, Plasma swords, what have you- But exactly how is this accomplished?

The pilot constructs his ANIMa out of the spirits of his friends, lovers, enemies, and so on. How exactly he goes about doing, in the fictional world, is highly technical and a big part of his pilot training. The book doesn’t go into detail about this.

All the player has to do to bring in a relationship is say that his pilot is bringing in a relationship, name the relationship, and describe how it manifests. So:

“I’m bringing in my relationship with Lauren. It’s a huge red glowing energy sword.”

1a.) Are the pilot’s ‘feelings’ toward a Relation used as the impetus (Like a Super Robot show, where thoughts of a friend or lover ‘inspire’ the hero to great acts), or are they actually shaped into the equipment themselves?

They are actually shaped into the equipment.

2.) How, then, can Relations be damaged? From what I’ve seen so far, Relations can take a serious pounding from battles…But how is this depicted in fiction? Is it the pilot’s Trust and Intimacy with that Relation damaged- That is, the pilot himself finds that his best memories and bond with that person don’t see to matter as much anymore- Or is it the other way round, with the Relation’s faith in the pilot shaken, after witnessing the horrors of war?

Relationships are actually formed into the parts of the ANIMa, and those parts can then be damaged or destroyed. In the dreamworld, they are simply malfunctioning and damaged equipment. In the real world, the relationship is stressed and its trust is damaged. This can manifest as either the pilot distrusting the relation or as the relation distrusting the pilot, depending on how things play out.

3.) How does the relationship between the pilot and his/her Anchor work? Does the Anchor- Or for that matter, does any Relation- accompany the pilot into the dreamworld? I’ve heard that the Anchor needs to ’sing’ the pilot into the fugue-state, but is she at direct risk? It seems to be so, but the blog fiction implies that, while the Anchor can see what’s happening to the pilot, she isn’t as badly affected, and seemingly has a higher survival rate…

The anchor’s relationship with the pilot forms the chassis of the ANIMa, and thus is at the greatest risk for damage. Anchors also have special abilities which allow them to manipulate the dream and the pilot’s results. Other than that, the relationship is treated the same as any other.

Anchors are at direct risk on missions, but only if they have a broken relationship with the pilot. Because of this, it’s very helpful for them to try to maintain their relationship.

4.) Intimacy/Trust. Are the two mutually exclusive? Thus far, it seems that Intimacy represents romantic interest, while Trust represents comradeship, a bond, ‘united we stand’…That kind of thing. But then, won’t the pilot have, say, a 0/variable score for anyone he’s not in love with (That is, the technician, the adult commander), while-most probably- 5/variable for his Anchor?

Intimacy and Trust aren’t mutually exclusive: You can have a relationship strong in both, weak in one and strong in another, or weak in both. Intimacy is a measure of the physical and emotional intensity of the relationship, trust is a measure of the emotional strength of the relationship. You can be intimate in a lot of ways that don’t involve being in love with someone (for instance, getting into a physical fight can increase your intimacy). You can even be in love with someone but not very intimate with them.

4a) Also, which is more ‘important’ to the game? Again, considering the importance of the Anchor, Intimacy seems to take a higher role- But then, how would other Relations be involved?

Intimacy and Trust are both enormously important to the game. Intimacy gives relationships their power, trust gives relationships their durability. You can’t get by on one and not the other.

5.) In combat, do you target the foes directly- That is, do the aliens have indiviual ’stats’, or do you target the mission as a whole? (Basically, is it a battle on the indiviual, D&D personal combat level, or are you rolling against the situation, like ‘The Mountain Witch’ or…Hmmm, ‘Spirit Of The Century’?)

In missions, you roll to see the following things: Whether you complete your objective, whether you get hurt, and whether any of your relations get hurt. Each roll has the potential to resolve all of these things. So, in some ways, it’s more like the mountain witch, because you’re not whittling down the opponent’s HP or anything. But it’s not like you can just do whatever you want with a roll.
 
6.) Does the system allow for last-minute reversals? Again, it’s a common stable of Giant Robot anime that the hero has a Second Wind- The EVA-01 Berserk mode, SEED Mode, Gurren Lagaan’s ‘Spiral Power’- before busting out some amazing reversal. Can pilots even improve between battles, or are their ’stats’ only meant to decrease?

Yes! There is a rule specifically to allow these sorts of things, called the flashback rule. When everything is at its worst, the pilot can reveal hidden strengths and triumph.

When thinking about what pages to offer as a teaser, I was in a conundrum. Do I show something from the mission rules, with all the fiddly bits and pretty charts? Something about interludes, with the novel judging mechanics?

Then I decided: “Why not show it all?” So I’m posting up the Bliss Stage Table of Contents.

This is what you get from half of your Posted in Teasers, Bliss Stage | 1 Comment »