TROIKUS - A Troika/Risus Hack

I like mashing things together and seeing if something interesting forms from the reaction. Generally I pick ingredients that I like individually, and see something a bit special in them. Like how putting chilli and chocolate together brings out elements of each that you might not have noticed before. 

I wrote about a similar process before.

So the two games I've been thinking about are...

RISUS

What do I like?

• One of the great examples of having a simple core and then putting the core to work, especially if you pick up the Risus Companion, which I'd recommend as a great read even if you don't love the system. 
• Low barrier to entry. Here are your four(ish) things you need to know about your character. When you do that thing you roll that many dice and add them up. Let's go. 
• It took me a long time to realise that the "Inappropriate Cliche" rule is sort of the MVP of this game. It means that players are encouraged to twist their characters into situations they shouldn't really be in, and come up with creative and entertaining solutions. It's not how I want every game I ever play to work, but in the right context it's a lot of fun. 

TROIKA!

What do I like?

• The flavour is just pouring out of this thing. It's like when you eat something so tasty that you just can't shake the aromas from your head for the rest of the day. 
• The Backgrounds are perhaps the most famous example of the above, but I think the monsters are up there alongside them. 
• I don't normally think Skill systems add much to a game, but here many of the skills are so flavourful and specific that they serve a similar niche to the weird bits of equipment that I like to give characters in Electric Bastionland. You've got the usual candidates like Swordfighting, Locks, Sneaking, but then things like Gastrology and Vengeance. I really wish there was more of the second type in the original book, but the wealth of additional backgrounds available make up for that. 

What common links are already there?

• Comedic elements, albeit from different angles
• Squeezing flavour into those Cliches/Advanced Skills
• Encouraging creative use of Cliches/Skills that might not be an obvious fit

Where do they differ?

• Troika has a lot of fancy little mechanical systems (initiative, damage tables, luck) compared to Risus, which is essentially a unified-mechanic system. I'm going to lean more towards Risus on this one, though there's some interesting stuff in Troika. 
• Risus is "the anything RPG" so is generic by design, but Troika is all about its own specific tone and flavour. This is a case of "opposites attract" for the purposes of this experiment.
• In Risus every character starts with the same number of points to spend on Cliches, but Risus can have fluctuating character power levels straight out of creation. I'm happy with the imbalance here, but I can also see the appeal of less quantitative imbalance (Troika) ad more qualitative imbalance (Risus). Like if you have Skill 4 and you have Skill 6 that's not especially interesting, but if you have Talentless Imposter (4) and I have Genius Rocket Scientist (4) that's a more interesting type of power-variance.

What could be gained from this union?

• I understand that Risus is deliberately generic, but personally I don't like the "blank slate" method of character creation. Blending some of the looseness of Cliches with the strange specifics of Troika's backgrounds and advanced skills could yield fun results.
• Similarly, I feel like Troika's skills could benefit from Risus' attitude towards Cliche creation. Make each one work for you in an interesting way and drench your character in flavour. 
• Annoy a whole bunch of people that think these games are untouchable, I guess. 

TROIKUS - The Anything Spheres

Rule 1: Go get both games because they're great and you'll need them. 

Character Creation

• Roll d66 to get a Troika background, or take one from a supplement if you like.
• Note down your Advanced Skills and their score, but you have to go through and make each one more unique and interesting, drawing on their description if possible. So the Ardent Giant of Corda has Strength but you might change that to Display of Strength to lean in on their storytelling side, or Mournful Strength if you prefer the tragic side of this background. 
• Get creative when doing the above, and any amount of rewriting feels right as long as the end result is more interesting, rather than just more powerful. 
• Note down gear, but don't worry too much about specific mechanics.
• Spells are just a really specific Skill. Again, ignore specific mechanics and just write down the spell effect as if you were writing a proper spell book.

Playing the Game

Basically play Risus with Skills replacing Cliches. 

BUT because I can't help myself I'm going to mess with the core of Risus while nobody is watching. 

I never liked the way Target Numbers are assigned in Risus, and simply totalling die pools gives more of a middle-weighted probability curve than I like in this sort of light-hearted game. So run the game with the following tweaks:

• When you roll your die pool, discard all dice showing 4-6 and total the remaining dice. 
• For opposed rolls follow the rules of Risus after this point. 
• When you would normally make a Target Number Roll, instead use this 1-2-3 scale based on the result of the roll.
• 0: Failure
• 1: You scrape through. The bare minimum of what could be considered a success while making a real mess of it. 
• 2: Success with a minor setback or complication. 
• 3: A clear success.

Run everything else by-the-book from Risus, especially the Inappropriate Cliche and Proper Rools rules. Up to you if you want to use double-pumps and other fancy stuff but I'd personally keep it down to the core.

What about Difficulty Modifiers?

Nah.

What about that Risus Death Spiral?

Leaving that in there. I don't see Troika as a setting where you grind away on dungeon crawls or settle in for big boss fights, so having to surrender or flee from combat and find somewhere to recover seems like it would lead to some fun interactions with weird characters. 

Monsters

Use Troika monsters but split their Skill points between two or three skills as appropriate, drawing on their special abilities and description. So a Troll might get Regenerate (4) and Abuse of Power (3) while a Dragon gets Wanton Slaughter (5), Wealth Accumulation (4), Forbidden Knowledge (4), and Soaring Between Worlds (3). 

Make sure to use their Mien from Troika, because it's a great mechanic with an awful name. 

So there you have it. Raw, untested chemistry in action. Enjoy. 

d20 Foods of Bastion

Bastion has everything, so whatever food you're craving is just around the corner. Maybe a quick jump on a tram, or actually you might need to change at the ice factory and use one of those hire-bikes... well I can smell it, so it can't be far. Wait, how are we supposed to get across that new canal?

Forget it, let's just see what's on offer around here.

Roll d20

1. Neep Cakes (£1 each): Dense pancakes of various root vegetables. One fills you up for the day, two sees you through tomorrow as well. Halve your DEX (rounded up) for this duration. 
2. Miscie Pies (£2 each): Short for Miscellaneous, but the actual recipe is closely guarded. Immediately lessens the effect of any alcohol in your system, but in a few hours you're Deprived unless you're laid down on a comfortable bed.
3. Tyre Bread (£3 for one, large enough for two to share): Chewy black bred served in a ring. Pass a STR Save to even be able to eat it, but doing so generally impresses anybody that's familiar with this challenging food. 
4. Stuffy Pufflers (£1 for a portion of 6): Aerated pastries filled with gluey mashed potato and dipped in saltwater. Once they go cold the mashed potato hardens like a super-adhesive clay. 
5. Buckbirds (£2, condiments sold extra): Salty sardines crammed into hollowed-out bread. Always attracts seagulls, no matter where you go. 
6. Bean Boomers (£1 each): Refried beans wrapped in a pancake and super-fried at temperatures previously thought to be impossible. Freshly cooked they can be thrown for d6 blast damage. 
7. Edibowls (£3 each): Watery soup served in a bowl of edible porcelain. The bowl isn't good at holding soup or as a food. 
8. Crisp Boxes (£1 each): Various flavours of fried potato crisps topped with onion, mustard powder, and relishes, before being shaken up in a cardboard box. Anybody ordering this without knowing how bad it is loses d6 CHA upon opening the box. 
9. Noodle Bricks (50p each): The latest trend, just a brick of dried noodles. So much effort to eat that you don't actually receive the benefits of a meal.
10. Fatty Branches (50p each): Actual tree branches coated in a thin lair of meat drippings and flecks of salt. Regular consumers will insist you can eat the branch. If it's your first time doing this you're Deprived for the rest of the day with an upset stomach, but by next time your body is used to it.
11. Hog Paste (£1 each): Meat-free salty spread, slathered onto cheap sliced bread, toasting optional. Don't ask how they make it so meaty. Afterward you are Deprived until you drink at least a pint of water.
12. Mushy Jar (£1 for one serving that can comfortably serve two people): Glass jar of various beans and vegetables cooked down and pureed, traditionally garnished with a softened rib bone to use as a spoon and crunch up at the end. Rumoured to improve your eyesight, and actually grants a mild darkvision for the rest of the day. 
13. Dead Dogs (£5 on a plate with side salad): Actually half a roast bird with an aggressive spice rub. No, they don't know what the name is all about. Anybody eating must pass a CHA Save to see if they're especially susceptible to the spices. Those that fail are Deprived until they consume a large amount of milk, cheese, or similar, to quell the heat. 
14. Three-Lunch Handy (£1 each): Battered vegetables in a stodgy bun, then battered and fried again. After eating this your hands are oily for the rest of the day no matter what you try. 
15. Sweaty Rice (£3): Rice sticky with the cooking juices of whatever is being served in the next stall or cart and pepped up with a special hyper-addictive ketchup. You are sweaty and  Deprived for the rest of the week unless you eat another portion (with ketchup of course).
16. Broiler Baps (£2 each): Gravy soaked sandwiches filled with melting cheese. Something happens to them when they go cold, and they develop a sickening stench. You couldn't possibly eat a cold one. 
17. Bagger's Mix (£4 for a portion): Cold salad of squid and stuff that can pass as squid. Works great as fish bait. 
18. Bodybags (£2 each): Long griddle-seared dumplings filled with a whole cooked animal (whatever fits in there really, commonly a small bird or rodent). Eating one is seen as a test of bravery among local students. 
19. Slobbery Boys (£3 each): Small steamed sponge puddings filled with a rich, spicy gravy. No way to eat it with dignity. Anybody that sees you eat one will never quite be able to take you seriously again. 
20. Slammed Egg (50p each): Smash an egg down whole onto a flat griddle and cook it up, shell and all. Can be served in a sweet bun (50p extra) or wafer cone (20p extra). The seller offers you a seemingly endless selection of up-sell toppings (£15 extra if you go for everything), and is working on commission. 

d100 Chess Scenarios

So like everybody in the world I'm trying to play Chess again.

I've done this every six months or so for the last decade, and the pattern generally goes like this:

• I'm in a pub or waiting room or ferry crossing with my partner and there's a chess board. We play it and have fun. She beats me, but she used to play at school, so I'm just glad if I can make it a challenge for her.
• "I enjoy games. Chess is like... the game. I should be all over this."
• Play some online Chess and lose by blundering away my Queen to an attack I didn't see because I'm not great at spotting things.
• Go and read up on principles, methods to avoid blundering.. Decide to really concentrate this time. I refuse to learn openings or memorise sequences.
• Play some more online, or maybe even just a low-level computer this time. Maybe I win as much as I lose, but only when it feels like the other player makes a huge mistake.
• Try some "creative" play thinking I'm a swashbuckling maverick, getting thrashed in return. 
• Abandon the cause until the next time we're in that pub or waiting room or ferry crossing again. 

BUT this time we're in lockdown, so I naturally have a little more time to be able to sneak in a game each day. I think the regular practice really helps. 

Maybe this is the time I break the cycle... I'm still giving away stupid pieces, but it's happening later into the game, so I feel more like I've been outplayed and less like I've just thrown it away myself. 

So I'm sticking with it for a bit longer. 

Chess Variants are fun too, but I wanted to see if I could create a list of Scenarios that maintain the fundamentals of standard chess but add a single twist to the game, ideally not requiring any additional pieces or more than a single rules change. 

There are already a million chess variants out there, so full disclosure that this list is going to be stealing from them liberally and even the ideas I'm pulling out of my own head are sure to have discussed somewhere else before now. The d100 format is by design, as the intent is that you use a different scenario for each match, so that you're always exploring something new based around that existing core.

Unless noted, all existing rules of Chess apply to these scenarios, including but not limited to:

• Put your opponent in checkmate to win.
• You cannot end your turn with yourself in check.
• Stalemate results in a draw. 

In terms of balance... ha! They're more a set of experiments to try out, and I suspect over half of them are fundamentally broken if you dig into them too deeply. I'd advise playing with them in a casual environment. 

Nomenclature

This seems to be not entirely consistent, so for the purposes of these rules:

Adjacent: In a neighbouring square in any orthogonal or diagonal direction. 

Centre Four Squares: D4, D5, E4, and E5. 

Centre Line: The line between ranks D and E. 

Minor Piece: Bishops and Knights.

Major Piece: Queens and Rooks.

Piece: Any of the 6 types of piece.

Protected: A piece occupying a square threatened by one of their own pieces. 

Threatened: A piece is threatened by a piece that is in a position to capture them on their next turn. 

Roll d100

1. Warrior Queen: Queens can also move like a Knight.
2. Archbishops: Bishops can also move like a King.
3. Cataphracts: Knights can also move like a Rook.
4. Watchtowers: Rooks can also capture like a Pawn.
5. Sentries: Pawns can also capture like a King.
6. Excalibur: Kings can Capture as Knights.
7. Phalanx: Pawns capture as normal but do not move from their original space.
8. Horse Archers: Knights capture as normal but do not move from their original space.
9. Holy Spear: Bishops capture as normal but do not move from their original space.
10. Artillery: Rooks capture as normal but do not move from their original space.
11. Mountain: Place all Rooks in the centre four squares of the board. They cannot move or be captured. 
12. Fortresses: Remove all Rooks. On their first turn each player places a Rook in an empty space on their half of the board. On their second turn each player places a Rook in an empty space on the opponent's half of the board. Rooks cannot move or be captured. 
13. Angels: Place Bishops aside. Instead of a normal move a player can move either of their Bishops from off-board to any empty space.
14. Archangel: Place Queens aside. Instead of a normal move a player can move their Queen from off-board to any empty space.
15. Pope: Remove Kings and one Bishop from each side. Place the remaining Bishop in the King's space. You win when you place the opposing Bishop in mate. 
16. Trenches: Start the pawns rank 4 and 5. 
17. Barbarians: When a pawn captures they must capture again if able, repeating as many times as possible.
18. Slaughter: Immediately lose if you have no pawns remaining.
19. Scouts: You can only move Knights until a piece is captured or a piece enters check.
20. Infantry: You can only move Pawns until a piece is captured or a piece enters check.
21. Throne: The King cannot move unless they are capturing.
22. Cathedral: When a Rook is adjacent to a friendly Bishop either piece can choose to move in the matter of the other instead of their normal movement. 
23. Panic: When the first piece is captured all pawns on their starting rank are captured.
24. Skirmishers: Pawns may also move backwards as if you were playing on the other side of the board.
25. Honour: Non-pawns cannot capture pawns.
26. Assassin: The Queen can only capture and be captured by the King. 
27. Elitism: Pawns cannot capture non-pawns.
28. Sunrise: Place a barrier between both player's halves of the board so that neither player can see the other half. You can only move into spaces you can see. Lift this barrier when a piece enters a space adjacent to it. 
29. Hill: Move your King into one of the centre four spaces to win.
30. Betrayal: You can capture your own pieces.
31. Ghosts: Bishops can move to any empty space on the board. They cannot capture or be captured.
32. Torpedo: Pawns can always perform their double move as if they were on their starting space.
33. Strikes: Win by putting your opponent in Check three times.
34. Combined Arms: On your turn you must move a pawn if able and then must move a non-pawn if able.
35. Princess: The Queen can only move as a King.
36. Lancer: Knights leap three spaces in any direction instead of their normal movement.
37. Flankers: Pawns in the A and H file begin on ranks 4 and 5.
38. Civilians: Pawns cannot capture or be captured. 
39. Order: No castling or en passant. Pawns can only move a single space forward, capturing only in this way too. 
40. Coronation: Win when you promote a pawn. 
41. Holy War: Bishops can only move a single space diagonally. Capture both enemy Bishops to win. Normal Checkmate does not apply. 
42. Blessing: Pieces protected by a Bishop cannot be captured.
43. Deserters: When you move into Check, capture any one opposing Pawn.
44. Arthur: Remove both Kings from the board. When a player has one Pawn remaining, replace it with their King. 
45. Dragoons: Rooks and Knights that begin their turn adjacent to each other may move in the manner of the other piece. 
46. Summer: When a pawn crosses the centre line all pawns can move as Rooks for the rest of the game. 
47. Winter: When a pawn crosses the centre line all pawns are removed from the game. 
48. Revolt: Pawns can also move or capture one space in any direction as long as they move closer to the enemy King.
49. Extinction: Capture all pieces of one type to win. 
50. Scholars: A pawn can move in the manner of any friendly piece it is orthogonally adjacent to at the start of its turn. 
51. Revenge: If your opponent captured one of your pawns their last turn your Pawns can capture as a Queen for this turn. 
52. Warrior King: Kings can perform a second move if it results in a capture. 
53. Vampire: Win if your Queen captures three pieces. 
54. Chivalry: Knights can only be captured by other Knights or the King. 
55. Turncoat: After three moves, swap sides.
56. Shieldmaiden: Pieces orthogonally adjacent to their Queen cannot be captured. The King cannot be protected in this way. 
57. Outgun: Instead of performing a normal move you can capture a piece that is threatened by two or more of your own pieces.
58. Dragon: When you capture with a Knight you may move that Knight again as a King. This effect does not stack. 
59. Isolation: Win by having your opponent end a turn with their King having no adjacent friendly pieces.
60. Tanks: Rooks can only be captured by Rooks, but can only move as part of a capture. 
61. Monks: Pawns can capture as Bishops.
62. Chasm: Pieces can only cross the centre line of the board by capturing. 
63. Squires: Pawns can capture as Knights.
64. Arena: Pieces in the centre four squares can only be captured by pieces in another of the centre four squares.
65. Priestess: Queens move as Bishops and cannot be taken.
66. Bloodbath: The first player to capture 6 pieces wins.
67. Invasion: Win if your King crosses the centre line.
68. Spears: Pawns cannot be captured by non-adjacent pieces. 
69. Queen of Hearts: When either Queen is captured, pawns can no longer move for the rest of the game. 
70. Duet: After the white player's first turn, each player move two different pieces each turn. If they only their King remaining then they move the King twice. 
71. Formation: At the end of your turn lose all pieces that are not adjacent to another friendly piece. The King ignores this rule. 
72. Ice Queen: When either Queen captures, pawns can no longer move for the rest of the game. 
73. Gorgon: Pieces that are threatened by the Queen cannot move. Kings are not affected by this. 
74. Mad King: Kings can capture all pieces (of either colour) adjacent to them in place of a normal move.
75. Knighthood: If one or more of your Knights are currently captured, when you capture with a Pawn you may replace that Pawn with the captured Knight.
76. Snipers: Pawns that move into a position where they are not protected by another piece are captured.
77. Blood Sacrifice: On any turn you may sacrifice one of your pawns to have a major or minor piece move as a queen. 
78. Menagerie: Win by capturing at least one each of Pawn, Knight, Bishop, Rook, and Queen. 
79. Border: Pieces cannot capture across the centre line of the board. 
80. Dethrone: If you end your turn with your King not protected by another piece then you lose. Normal checkmate does not apply but Kings cannot be captured.
81. Royal Guard: Pawns can also move like a King.
82. Great Wall: Rooks cannot be captured if they are protected by another Rook. 
83. Apathy: If your opponent did not capture on their last turn, your Pawns cannot capture or be captured.
84. Fatigue: You cannot move the same piece in two simultaneous turns. Stalemate counts as a loss for the player that cannot move.
85. Schism: Both players swap starting position of their Queen Side Knight and Bishop.
86. Etiquette: Queens cannot be taken, but must end their move on a square of their own colour.
87. Royal Guard: Pawns that are adjacent to the King cannot be taken. 
88. Runners: Pawns can move as Queens but can only capture by their normal method.
89. Politician: A Bishop cannot capture as normal, but can sacrifice itself to remove any one Pawn from the board.
90. Plague: When you capture a pawn, immediately lose the capturing piece.
91. Diplomatic Immunity: Pieces in the same File as their king cannot be captured. 
92. Vizier: If the King begin their turn adjacent to their Queen they can move as a Queen.
93. DMZ: Pieces in the centre four squares cannot be captured until at least one Queen is captured.
94. Populism: Your King cannot be captured while you have at least four pawns on the board.
95. Conscripts: Pawns cannot double-move and are captured if they perform a capture themselves. 
96. Stealth: When you move a piece without capturing, that piece cannot be captured on your opponent's next turn.
97. Werewolf: Remove both Queens. At the start of any turn a player may replace any of their pieces (except the King) with the Queen, who they must then use to capture another piece. 
98. Duel: While both Queens are alive, Queens can only capture and be captured by the other Queen.
99. Deployment: Start with only Kings on the board. Instead of a normal turn a player can place any of their pieces on any space on their back rank.
100. Deathray: When two of your rooks are adjacent and occupy the same file, or your queen and bishop are adjacent and occupy the same diagonal, you capture all enemy pieces on that file or diagonal respectively.

The Twelve Failed Careers of Oddmas

Did you enjoy all of the weird stuff and silly references in Electric Bastionland's Failed Careers?

Feeling festive?

The Twelve Failed Careers of Oddmas is now on sale!

(also on DrivethruRPG but Itch takes a smaller cut)

Twelve more Failed Careers for your seasonal Electric Bastionland game, focusing on the council-endorsed winter conglomerated-festival of Oddmas. A 30 page PDF. 

Featuring (in reverse order):

12: Drumbelleer

11: Primal Piper

10: Lady/Lad-a-Loopin

9: Layman Duncer

8: Malady Milker

7: Sworn Swimmer

6: Goose Allayer

5: Gold Ring Grappler

4: Coalie Bird

3: Fancy Poulterer

2: Turtle Devotee

and

1: Apprentice to a Paired Tree

d6 Urban Monstrosities

It's easy to think that you're only likely to encounter monstrosities in the darkest corners of the Underground, out in the wilderness of Deep Country, or if you draw too much attention from the Living Stars. 

Fact is, Bastion has everything, including its fair share of terrors, each specially adapted to urban life.

1: Ur-Urchin

5hp, Stony Body (Armour 1), Choking Hands (d8) and Thrown Rocks (d6)

• Emerge from, or disappear into, any stone building at will.
• Encourage others to perform acts of escalating mischief against adults, the older the better. Turns hostile if you refuse.
• On Critical melee Damage the victim is dragged into a wall and becomes a stone gargoyle until the Ur-Urchin agrees to release them.

2: Spirit of Surveillance

10hp, Shapeless Body (normal physical attacks are Impaired). 

• Has no means of attack, but knows everything about you and knows people that would like those secrets. 
• Wants you to acknowledge that the Spirit's existence makes everybody safer, and spread that word around.
• Slips into a stupor if given an opportunity to view a particularly juicy secret. 

3: Portraitor

No physical presence.

• Shows up in place of another person in a particularly beloved photograph or painting, with a mocking expression.
• If you go a day without returning to look at the image, he takes something valuable from the image for himself. It is also stolen in reality.
• If you destroy the image then everything in the image is also destroyed. 

4: Hospitalliteth

STR 16, 10hp, Huge Body (Armour 1), Trample (d6 Blast) or Chew (d12). 

• Rumoured to appear if restaurant staff are treated poorly by gluttonous patrons. 
• Only wants to devour those that have over-eaten their fill of delicious food.
• Gives victims one final chance to make amends with their scorned hosts.

5:Fleetlamp

STR 18, 10hp, Huge Metal Body (Armour 3), Colossal Claw Swipe (d10 Blast).

• Can disguise itself as a regular streetlamp before unfolding into its true form.
• Carries out disproportionate justice against those causing petty vandalism, seeking them down until killed.
• Each Fleetlamp has varying standards for what qualifies as vandalism, but they all lack any tolerance for people dropping chewing-gum. 

6:Detritan
STR 18, 10hp, Hefty Body (Armour 1), Fists (2x8).

• Born out of a waste heap that has been left for too long, now defending it so that other Detritans may be born. 
• Incredibly sensitive about their appearance and smell, seeing themselves as noble knights, swiftly avenging any perceived slight.
• Any melee attacks that roll a 1 have their weapon absorbed into the Detritan. They regain 1pt of lost Strength and can use the weapon in addition to their Fists. 

Upcoming Electric Bastionland Live Play with TPKRoleplay

This Friday I'm running four players through the Prison of the Worm Queen.

And I'm told there are some surprises waiting for me .

You can watch on TPK Roleplay's stream at Midnight GMT on Friday night. 

I'll also be hosting the channel on my stream, so you can follow the usual link too. 

Mark of the Odd Licence and SRD

Want to use Into the Odd as a basis for your game or adventure?

Now you can give it the Mark of the Odd and use content from the MOTO SRD.

Click here for the full licensing info and SRD.