[Yeld] Looking for play testers and feedback

I'd still like to get together with you and play -something- soon. :} I've been interested in Yeld since you first started talking about it.

I saw that you had it posted at GameStorm? Not sure what you're planning or if I'll be able to get a spot, but at least I'll get to see you and maybe talk about it.

The only thing that scares me is the "shared GMing" thing. :{ But maybe this would be a good way to do my first foray into the *gulp* leader-of-players role.

"The only thing that scares me is the "shared GMing" thing. :{ But maybe this would be a good way to do my first foray into the *gulp* leader-of-players role."

My original intent with Yeld was to make a game that could get my "afraid of GMing" friends to GM. I like to think the GM part of the game is pretty easy to handle, especially if you watch a few other people do it first.

I hope I see you at GameStorm, or if not, then at Go Play SE Portland which is just a few weeks after.

Well, I was definitely planning on hanging out with you at GameStorm, but given your newfound celebrity status maybe you'll be forgetting about us little people now. ;P

'Kay, I'm not really giveng you crap about that. I think it's hella cool.


I realized I have an extreme lack of gaming t-shirts. I guess it'll be the mildly offensive babydoll tee for Iconoclast this weekend... :>

Dude, it's fucking 88 pages.

That said, I offer my skills as editor of the nitpicky kind, also applies to rules and content, as evidenced here, but I can only do it to one version of a game with utmost skill, since otherwise I use previous knowledge.

I'd be totally grateful! Editing for grammar and spelling probably wouldn't help much at this point since I'll probably change the text significantly over the next few months.But eventually, that would be useful. For some reason people seem to want to complain about my spelling and grammer.

Grammar I am only 80-90% on, since I'm not a native English speaker, with spelling, I'm batting nearly 100%.

I'm more useful for the content editing, IMO.

I welcome content editing!

Is that... is that good or bad?

For a playtest document, it's inordinately long, unless half of it is Setting.

Also, not making a table of contents for a document of this size is fricking criminal.

By coincidence, the Panty Explosion play test doc was also 88 pages.I guess that's just how long my games are.

The setting material is part of the game text. So it's all mixed up in there. I'm playing around with a different kind of idea then a table of content. Instead, the book is divided into 6 Guides, which can be read in any order depending on your interest and role in the game. So the Guide list at the beginning of the book acts as a sort of table of contents. I plan to do an extensive index as well.

This is only half an answer.

The other answer should be what page each Guide is on and on what page each sub-section.

Even if we can read it in any order, and even with an index, a Table of Contents is a good thing.

Yes, good point.

Hi Jake!

My name's Buddha, and I'm a Northern VA player. I've got a regular indie gaming group, and I'll see if I can hit them up to put Yeld in rotation! I've been grooving on the little tidbits I've seen, so I hope I can get the group to play! At the very least, I can read and give comments...

Buddha

PS- Do you want comments PMed to you? If we get a chance to playtest, I'll probably post in my livejournal about it, if that's cool...

Public posting is fine with me! Thanks!

I can't get the download link to work. Could you e-mail it to me?

yrs--
--Ben

Sure.

I have a few questions about Vampires. The text says:

Vampires: Vampires are especially dangerous monsters. When you buy a Vampire it costs 2 Points instead of 1, but it gets 2 of each Special die and 2 Evil! dice! Vampires also get the Bite Special die for free. Friends that are attacked and lose Tough dice from a vampires Bite gain an Evil die!

1. What does the "2 points instead of 1" mean? Is it just that being a Vampire costs 2 points, or should it be "costs 10 points instead of 5" since a basic monster costs 5 points?

2. When it says "2 of each Special die", which Special dice is it talking about? Does it mean that you get 2 Special dice for every 1 point you spend on them, or does it mean something else?

3. It says elsewhere that Monsters cannot have both Good and Evil dice. Can Friends? If not, what happens to a Friend who loses Tough dice from a vampire bite if he/she already has Good dice?

Edited at 2008-04-03 03:56 pm (UTC)

Wow, I totally butchered that part. What it should say is this:

"Vampires: Vampires are especially dangerous monsters. When you buy a Vampire it costs 10 Points instead of 5, but it gets 2 of each Core die and 2 Evil! dice! Vampires also get the Bite Special die for free. Friends that are attacked and lose Tough dice from a vampires Bite gain an Evil die!"

Does that clear it up?

Friends can have both Good and Evil in very rare circumstances. This is talked about in the Special dice section in the Players Guide under the entry for Good! and Evil!:

"Good And Evil dice can be found on some Jobs Special dice lists, and are granted by some equipment. Friends and monsters with Good! or Evil! dice cannot buy the opposing dice or use items that grant the opposing dice. You can have Good! dice or Evil! dice, but never both. The exceptions to this rule are Friends with Good! dice that are bitten by a Vampire and inflicted with Evil! dice, and Drudge Angels. In both these cases, Friends can have both Good! and Evil! dice."


Hope this helps!

I'll update the document with the vampire fix soon. Thanks!

Yes, that makes total sense. Thanks!

One other quick question: Is an appropriate Spell Book (at a cost of 2 points) the only thing that is required for a Monster to cast spells?

For a monster, yes.

Awesome. I hope you don't mind me asking piecemeal questions like this. If you do, I'll take it to email or just hold off for a while. A few more:

When someone is hit with Fight Dirty, do they lose both a Strong and a Brave die, or just one of the player's choice? What happens when someone loses all of their Core dice in something other than Tough? Do they just become ineffective because they have so few dice?

Also, do Freelancers have to actually spend one of their Improvise dice to cast a spell or can they just roll their Smart dice? Are they limited to casting a given spell a number of times per adventure as their core Smart dice as well?

Edited at 2008-04-04 10:51 pm (UTC)

No, I don't mind at all. I get this little tingly feeling whenever anyone asks about my games.

Fight Dirty does take away both a Strong and Fast die. Trip is supposed to take away a Strong and Smart die. Actually, now that I think about it, that should be switched.

Nothing really happens if a Friend or Monster looses all of their Strong, Smart or Brave dice. They just suck. Only loosing Tough dice sends you to the Ghost World.

Hmm... it looks like the Improvise ability isn't written very well. freelancers do have to spend at least one Improvise die to cast a spell. They are limited to casting a given spell a number of times per adventure equal to their Core Smart dice.

I am partway through the document now, and while I understand the text is aimed a little young (out of curiosity, I plugged samples into a Flesch-Kincaid analyzer and it gave it a 5.2 grade level), I have to say that the constant use of exclamation marks are wearing me down. They make the text sound way too perky and pleased with itself. I would suggest ditching the exclamation marks and just let the text speak for itself. A simple search-and-replace of all exclamation marks with periods would improve my own reading experience by about 20%.

That said, I really like the premise, and it's the first game I've read or even heard about that I'm seriously thinking of using to play a game with my seven-year-old. If I do, I'll let you know how it goes!

(Er, this post may be a bit unexpected, as I've never commented or even read your journal before. I think I saw you at Go Play NW last year, though, and am here via amnesiack.)

Hi. I'll tone down the exclamation marks. I was wondering if anyone would comment on them.