Decks are an experiment in creating adventure story lines. GMs may construct an Adventure Deck deliberately, or randomly. An Adventure Deck is a group of cards that will be selected one by one, that create a story for the players to work their way through.
You can just as easily swap out decks for tables, but the value of cards that can remain as a tangible indicator of what is being represented is a big advantage.
The last card of an Adventure Deck is always the Target Card, which indicates the players have reached and gained their Target (whatever that might be).
In some ways the decks may seem to limit a player to actions they have cards for. It isnt the intent to replace the general role playing exchanges between a player and the GM. Cards are meant to act like Luck/Bennies/Tokens/Fate etc, allowing the player to specifically change events or request information. They force the GMs hand in specific areas that are important to the player. Where it is inappropriate to allow the cards effect the GM should say so and reward the player with a Respect point. Decks also replace random rolls in determining events, such as surprise
Adventure Decks will consist of cards selected from other defined decks, as follows:
How to use Decks.
Decks can be used in a number of ways, from pre-determined to random, and in various sizes and for different purposes. Decks do not replace the GMs imagination, they simply provide a tool to setup or generate a story or event.
Essentially you decide on the purpose of the deck and then construct it with that in mind.
The most common deck will be an Adventure Deck, with a Target at the end and a sequence of events in between. For eg:
You decide on an adventure that consists of the players leaving their Den, travelling through several tunnels, meeting monsters along the way, getting to a final cavern where the prize is, guarded by a boss mob. You could construct such a deck as follows.
As you can see the deck in no way replaces the GM and their creative view of what is happening, it merely serves as a tool to visually display the basic outlines for the GM and the players (you should let the players turn the cards). Some GMs won't want to use this, seeing it merely as extra overhead on what the currently do, but I can see some advantages to using it plus it has the added advantage of The Random Deck...
Each player will be allowed to select a set number of cards for use during the current mission, drawn from the full Player Deck.
Morale Challenge: force the GM to check morale of your enemy... single or group?
Following is a brief outline of how your game might progress in a staged manner. Decks used change as the your character and the story progresses.
You dont use all the Decks I will suggest here, and in fact you may never use some of them as you may not feel they are of any real use. There are however times to use certain decks and times to leave them behind, but again this depends on the style of game you wish to play.
The Underground Deck - The Starter Deck.
In Gobbos we assume you start out as a small teenage goblin (2-3 yrs old), one of many in a creche/pod of young goblins. You are part of a community of normal goblins living in a normal goblin world, which mostly means an underground lair, cave complex of some sort. Your tribe has managed to carve out a niche in which they survive, barely. Around them are others of similar ability doing exactly the same thing. Your players are special however and will throw the balance into disarray, as they should.
So the world you start in is an underground complex of natural caves and tunnels, along with some roughly hewn tunnels and maybe some ancient remnant tunnels of better days. That should be the limit of your physical environment, and the Deck you use for those sessions should reflect this.
The Dwarven Underground Deck.
As you overcome your starting environment you will need to expand to a new one, you will outgrow the old. The next obvious step is to follow one of the mysterious ancient remnent tunnels to their obvious creators - Dwarves.
Dwarves are master builders and make very tidy tunnels. They also loath goblins, whom they see as big rats, a pest to exterminate if found. So when you move into the Dwarven Underground Deck you move into a world where you are known and hated, and dealt with efficiently. Dwarves dont waste time or think you are cute (see the racial mod description). Dwarves are ruthless enemies and to begin with an overpowering opponent. You are not here to defeat Dwarves, you are here to steal as much stuff as you can and get out before they find you.
The Ancient Underground World.
This is an optional pathway you can elect to explore before going to the Surface World. It is dangerous and filled with monsters who are mostly tougher than you. You will need to work as a strong team to get anywhere. The rewards are some exotic Gifts and possibly some nice equipment. But it will be risky and you may fail. Remember failure is not the end of the game, it is merely an obstacle that needs to be circumvented.
The Surface World.
When you have tired of the underworld you will need to move to the surface. Here you will encounter Humans, Elves and Orcs. Leave Elves for later and start with either Humans or Orcs.
If your goblins emerge onto the surface near Orcs you can assume a dark and unpleasant experience. Orcs are brutal and big and will quickly throw you into their slave pens. You can run adventures to avoid being captured by orcs, to escape once you are captured and to enact revenge after escaping. You certainly cant defeat orcs, so you will have to work out some way to survive them, and the best way to survive them is to escape and run to the Humans.
The Humans are nice, comparatively. AT least they wont eat you. Amongst humans you will find the most opportunities to grow... but what do you do? You can take a job to gain some income, but most of these are dangerous and harsh (for a goblin). You can hire on as packers and scouts for some human adventuring parties (they consider you expendable). You can go to work with a merchant and travel the countryside exploring the surface world. None of thes pay much as humans dont think much of goblins, but at least its better than Orcs.
The Orc Deck
The Human Deck
The Urban Deck
Ratz Deck - cards for all monsters. In an AD drawing a Ratz card will indicate a monster encounter. See Ratz chapter for listing.
Loot Deck - rewards in the form of loot. Loot cards are usually linked to another card representing the obstacle that needs to be overcome to gain the loot, eg a ratz card. See Equipment chapter for listing.
Terrain Deck - an informational card that sets the terrain currently being travelled through. When revealed a Terrain card remains in play until another Terrain cards is revealed. Can apply to surface, structures and underground.
Open ground
Light woods
Medium woods
Heavy woods
Broken ground
Rough ground
Shattered ground.
Tall croplands
Very tall croplands
Obstructed terrain (fences etc)
Very obstructed terrain (debris)
Pits
Crevasse
Walls
Windows
Traps
Slippery
Water
Fire
Lava
Tunnels
Intersection
Cavern
Barriers
Weather Deck - random selection of weather conditions that can be drawn to apply to a specific encounter.
Camp Deck.
Aspects Deck - a set of conditional and setup cards that the GM may use to define an encounter and set conditions that that the players have to work with. Can include detailed terrain or environmental conditions.
Battle Decks - cards that can be used to vary a battlefield.
Cover
Obstacle
Barrier
Event Deck - a set of cards that set up, layout, specify or suggest some kind of encounter or event that the players need to interact with.
Encounters: monsters, lair, enemy, opportunity, ally...
The Target
Place of interest
Rural setting
Village
Town
City
Obstacles
Environmental event
Fork
Lure
Test
Challenge
Story point (GM one or player one)
Weather event
Rest opportunity
Delay
Set piece
Passage of time
Quest Deck - dont know what to do, pick a quest, any quest...
Acquire - Acquire something or someone.
Activate - Activate or deactivate something.
Collect - Collect a certain amount of people or things.
Deliver - Deliver someone or something to someone or something (even a place).
Defeat - Defeat someone or something in a contest, but not destroy or kill them.
Destroy - Destroy or kill someone or something.
Dispossess - Lose something or someone.
Escape - Escape from somewhere.
Explore - Explore somewhere.
Follow - Follow something or someone somewhere.
Go - Go to someone or a location.
Guard - Guard someone or something.
Grow - Reach a certain level of ability or gain an ability.
Interrogate - Interrogate someone about something.
Lead - Lead or escort someone or something somewhere.
Locate - Locate, i.e. or find or search out, someone or something.
Lose - Lose or throw a contest.
Make - Make or craft something.
Patrol - Patrol through one or more places.
Persuade - Persuade someone about something.
Remove - Remove or clear out someone or something from a location.
Repair - Repair or heal something or someone.
Rescue - Rescue or free someone or something from a captivity of some kind.
Scare - Frighten or intimidate someone.
Sell - Sell something or someone.
Sneak - Sneak through somewhere unnoticed.
Solve - Solve a problem or mystery.
Steal - Steal someone or something.
Survive - Survive an event of some kind.
Tell - Tell or show someone something.
Wait - Wait a certain amount of time.
Watch -Watch or observe someone or something to learn something.
Objective Deck - mini quests and other local specific target options that can allow you to set an objective within an encounter. For eg: if you go into a Town you could call for an objective to be set to allow a mini-quest to be spontaneously generated.
Purchase
Sell
Find
Kill/Defeat
Give
GM Deck - a group of cards that the GM may draw from that allow them to manipulate the game. Drawing or playing some GM Cards may generate Respect points for players.
Surprise
Reinforce
Special Gift
Day/Night
Combo - use two cards
Random monster
Ambush
Gear drop
Leader bonus
Capture
Terrain special
False lead
Player Deck - a group of cards that players may draw from that allow them to manipulate the game. Drawing cards will usually cost Respect, although players may begin each session with a few cards.
Fight
Flee
Surprise your enemy (give GM a pick)
Team work
Avoid
Terrain advantage
Take cover
Hide
Sneak
Use Gift
Equipment failure
Find it!
Get back on track
Find a Clue
Notice check
Deal with Death.
Adventuring Deck - Deck of cards for use in GM-less games, giving the players more power to alter the story or encounters to keep them fresh and interesting.
Camp for one day.
Adjust encounter distance 1 Line.
Party is ambushed, gain Respect
Make up a spontaneous encounter and play it, gain Respect
Find some supplies.
Make encounter tougher, gain Respect.
Re-arrange the Player marching order/formation after deployment, gain Respect.
Ambush the enemy.
Cavalry arrive, lose Respect.
Get lost, adjust map.
Make up your own Test or Challenge for the party.
More monsters arrive, gain Respect
Monster take a morale check.
DEAL WITH DEATH, applies to all players for this encounter.
http://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/Aspects_List
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These are temporary aspects, typically used in situations of combat or conflict, often with a single use that goes away after being invoked or compelled . In Fate, these are often the consequence of Shifts or Boosts
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(These are for non-combat conflicts. Many of the mental apply here also)