The Campaign Builder's Guild

[ooc]Contest entries go in this thread.

All other troggling should take place in the discussion thread.[/ooc]
In most games, whenever an outcome is uncertain, we use dice as the deciding factor. Their result tells us whether something happens or it doesn't.

It doesn't always have to be this way.

For this contest, you are to come up with an alternate resolution device. Something other than dice, which will perform the same function: figuring out whether something does or does not happen during the game.

Your entry should be about a paragraph long, and it should describe your unique resolution device and how it works. You should also briefly describe the type of game that would use such a resolution device, and why.

For example:

Quote from: ExampleMy spooky horror game uses a Jenga tower as the resolution device. If you pull a block successfully, you succeed at what you were doing. If you refuse to pull, you fail. If you knock the tower over, your character dies, and the tower is rebuilt with fewer pieces. As the game goes on and the tower gets more and more rickety, tension increases around the table because everyone can see their doom creeping closer and closer.

(P.S. - This game exists, I did not make it up. It is called Dread, and it is pretty awesome.)

the details:[/u]
- your entry should be in by August 31, 2011, at the Stroke Of Midnight. Late entries can go right to hell.
- one entry per person, void where prohibited.
- I ran out of things to write in this area.

entries will be judged on the following criteria:
- how weird/awesome/fun your resolution device is
- how well your resolution device fits your proposed game
- general creative mojo

the fabulous prize:
You get to choose! Either:
- I buy you up to $15 worth of whatever you want from drivethroughrpg.com, lumpley.com, customdice.com, or any other game-related web purveyor you like, OR
- I kick in $15 toward your purchase of something more expensive from the same sources

go on, get crackin'

[spoiler][/spoiler]
[spoiler]
[ic=Fog and Flame]The night was moonless and shrouded in thick, tenebrous cloud, the sky as black as the empty socket of a skull.  The only light in the city that night was the eldritch glow of the gas-lamps, floating like eerie will o' the wisps in the viscous haze of a London particular.  Through the dim labyrinth of fog and greenish ghost-light the magus crept, following tracks that had been burnt into the cobbles, melting the very stones of London.

In one hand Sebastian held a revolver; in the other he clutched a Theosophical talisman.  He muttered a mantra feverishly as he crept through the oppressive murk towards the yawning darkness of the Tower Subway entrance, a lightless pit that gaped like the maw of Moloch.  The steam-powered cars that had originally rattled along that narrow, subterranean passage hadn't run in years, but the tunnel was still used as a pedestrian walkway. The entrance kiosk was a round brick cylinder jutting from the street like a tombstone.  At this time of night, of course, the place was closed.  The being's ashen footprints led down into the tunnel '" if he hurried he could still catch it.  

The gate had been melted and torn asunder.  Sebastian crept in, his heart pounding, a cold sweat beading his forehead.  The details of the botched ritual were still seared into his memory as surely as the creature's smouldering touch eroded stone and metal.  At first everything had gone according to plan.  The book they'd stolen from their French rivals '" the Confrérie du Crâne Noir '" had contained all the necessary instructions for the Invocation of Xaphan.  The raid on the Brotherhood's black abbey last Walpurgisnacht had cost them dearly: two dead, one permanently deranged, another amnesiac and bewildered, his mind wiped by a stray spell.  The materials they'd come away with, though, had seemed worth the cost.

They'd procured all of the necessary supplies: coals, argent vive, sulphur, a knife of meteoritic iron tempered in virgin's blood, goat's bones.  Their Host, bound within the Circle of etched glyphs they'd so carefully prepared, had at first seemed to contain the demon admirably.  The young prostitute had spoken with a voice like crackling flames, her eyes glowing with the white fire of whatever esoteric realm the being within her hailed from.  He'd spoken the words of the Invocation precisely while the others had begun their interrogation of the creature, attempting to extract profane truths while his spell tortured it.  His chant had been flawless in tempo and enunciation.

And then he'd faltered.

A single syllable mumbled, and her hair had started to sizzle, her skin to crisp and smoke, to blacken and slough away, the spirit within burning through her meagre mortal shell, an incandescent eruption.  The flaming girl-thing strode from the Circle effortlessly, its laughter like the sound of burning wood: without the chant to lend them power the sigils were worthless.  With a glance the creature had reduced most of the Cabal to char.

And now he had to track the being down, recapture or it else banish it back to its home-plane, before one of the other occult orders of London discovered it and bound it for their own.  He had been the Celebrant: it was his task to remedy things.

The tunnel was scorched and smoky, filled with the thing's mephitic breath; it smelled of rotten eggs, the rancid reek of brimstone.  Sebastian thumbed back the hammer on his revolver.  The blessed bullets within had been quenched in holy water and etched with sacred symbols: the hot lead wouldn't harm the demon-possessed woman '" if woman she could still be called '" but the wards imbued into it would stop her in her tracks.  The jewel in his talisman had begun to glow softly; he was getting closer.

It was then that he heard the click of another pistol being cocked behind him.

"Put down the pistol, Sebastian," a familiar voice said.

For a moment he considered spinning and firing, trying his chances, but he knew the voice's owner, knew that she wouldn't miss, that she'd put a bullet through his brain before he could get off a shot of his own.  He cursed softly and put the gun on the ground, then turned to face his assailant.

"The charm as well," she purred, smiling with pearly white teeth.  They said the Lady Penumbra was three hundred years old but she didn't look a day past twenty.  She was garbed as a New Woman '" she might have stepped from an Ibsen play, garbed in men's clothes, a cigarette dangling from her lip, pistol in hand.  Sebastian placed the talisman on the ground, conscious of her revolver's barrel following him as he did so.  "Good boy," she said, waving her gun to shoo him away so she could pick up both amulet and firearm.

"You should have known that attempting an Invocation like that within the city without the appropriate glamer to cloak your activities would attract the attention of every Sensitive in London," she chided, tucking her pistol into her belt and idly inspecting his talisman, his own revolver now in hand.  "You boys over at Charing Cross are getting sloppy in your old age.  All it took to find you was a little clairvoyance.  You can't wander the streets during the witching hour with a blessed pistol and an apotrope of this potency without someone noticing."

Sebastian opened his mouth to respond, but a sound from out of the fetid darkness stopped the words in his throat '" a bestial snarl like a roaring flame.  The possessed woman came bounding down the tunnel on all fours, her skin black and fissured with red, fire spewing from her mouth, eyes, and nostrils.  Lady Penumbra raised the talisman and spoke puissant words while firing blessed bullets at the charging monstrosity.  The being dodged with preternatural speed, its sulphurous spittle searing the ground as it loped towards them.

Seeing that Lady Penumbra's attention was distracted Sebastian dashed for the exit, up the stairs and back towards the misty streets of London.  Below, he could hear the rival diabolist chanting and firing; flashes of light and flame emanated from the depths of the Tower Subway, illuminating the stairwell as he ran.  He stumbled up into the fog, panting heavily.  The noises had stopped '" but who had been victorious?  Sebastian hesitated on the threshold.

As he stood there, willing himself to descend once again, a whistle pierced the clammy night, half-muffled by the mist but close at hand '" peelers!  If he was found in jail, the scandal would be enormous '" his reputation would be stained beyond recovery.  That decided it.  On long strides Sebastian strode off into the mist.  After he'd put sufficient distance between himself and the Subway he would catch a hansom and be home by his fireside with a glass of brandy by one.  With any luck Penumbra and Xaphan had destroyed one another; he would cast the runes in his study to see what he could discover...[/ic][/spoiler]

What You'll Need

1 Ouija Board & Planchette
1 Deck of Tarot Cards (Minor and Major Arcana) '" recommended 1 per player
d20 Modern SRD
Paper & Writing Implements

While both Ouija Boards and Tarot Cards are available cheaply online, it is very easy to make your own Ouija Board using a piece of cardboard or paper (or a whiteboard) and a shot glass or tumbler (or just another piece of card) for a planchette; tarot card images can also be printed out and glued to cardstock.

Additional Materials

Candles & Matches or Paraffin Lamp & Fuel (for atmosphere)
d20 Past Sourcebook
Laptop

Recommended Reading

Arthur Machen's The Great God Pan
M.R. James' Ghost Stories of an Antiquary
Aleistor Crowley's Moonchild
Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Arthur Conan Doyle's The Parasite
Alan Moore's From Hell
China Miéville's Kraken
Hellblazer

The Game

In the game of SÉANCE!, you play as paranormal investigators, magicians, spiritualists, psychics, and eldritch warriors in the occult underground of 1890's London (though alternative places and time-frames are of course also possible).  As in most tabletop roleplaying games, one player assumes the role of the GM, who in SÉANCE! is called the Medium.  SÉANCE! Is a game of arcane intrigue, diabolic mystery, occult experimentation (sometimes gone horribly awry), and Gothic horror.  Beneath the surface of the fin-de-siècle cityscape Cabals of magicians engage in a shadow-war for occult domination.  The players may either be initiates already engaged in this deadly clandestine conflict or as investigators '" perhaps even sceptics '" drawn into a world of dark wonder, sinister conspiracy, and infernal terror.
 
System

A variety of systems could be used for SÉANCE! with some tweaking (Call of Cthulhu and Unknown Armies certainly come to mind, as does FATE).  The version presented here uses d20 Modern/Past as its basis.  The following modifications will be required:

Action Resolution

The Tarot is used for physical actions (any check modified by Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution) and the Ouija Board for spiritual and mental actions (any check modified by Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma).  Instead of rolling dice, actions are resolved either by playing cards from your hand or using the numbers, letters, and words on the Ouija Board.  In the case of d20 rolls not influenced by either the physical or mental ability scores, the Medium decides whether the Tarot or the Ouija Board is used.

In SÉANCE!, playing cards and using the Ouija Board should not be commonplace: the chief emphases should be on investigation, conversation, exploration, and character development.  Conflicts should be very small-scale, between individuals or small groups (if nothing else, to avoid cluttering the table with cards).

The Tarot Deck

You begin each session of SÉANCE! by drawing ten cards from the deck.  You play these cards to have your character complete tasks.  When you run out of cards, draw ten new cards at the beginning of your next turn to form a new hand.  When the deck is exhausted, shuffle the discarded cards to make a new deck.

When you attempt a physical action '" such as breaking down a door, aiming a revolver, or hiding from a slavering goat-beast in the flooded sewer-tunnels of London '" choose one or more cards to play (maximum equal to your level) from your current hand.  If the card is of the Minor Arcana, the number of the card plus any modifiers added by you (skill ranks, base attack bonus, attribute bonuses, etc '" all the usual modifiers that would normally affect a die roll) is the result of your check; Aces are worth 1, Pages 11, Knights 12, Queens 13, and Kings 14.  In addition, the suite of the card allows you to play your card in a different way:

Swords can be played to force an opponent to discard a number of cards equal to the value (number) of the Swords card.  This ability can only be used on your turn.

Pentacles can be used to aid an ally, adding an additional bonus equal to the value of the Pentacles card.  This ability can only be played during the turn of the ally you wish to aid, and as such do not count towards your play limit.

Wands cards can be used to steal cards from other players (not from the Medium).  The value of the Wands card determines which cards must be revealed: all cards equal or lower in value than the Wands card are revealed.  Choose one card from a single ally and put it into play to assist you; while this card does not count towards your card limit per round, the Wands card does.  This ability can only be played on your turn.

Cups cards can replenish the hands of others.  Cups cards allow players to draw cards until either their hand is full or they have drawn as many cards as the value of the played Cups card.  This ability does not count against your play limit but can only be used once per round, during anyone's turn.

If the card is of the Major Arcana, consult the following chart for its value:

The Fool '" 0 or discard your whole hand and redraw immediately
The Magician '" 1
The High Priestess '" 2
The Empress '" 3
The Emperor '" 4
The Hierophant '" 5
The Lovers '" 6
The Chariot '" 7
Justice '" 8
The Hermit '" 9
Wheel of Fortune '" 10
Strength/Fortitude '" 11
The Hanged Man '" 12
Death '" 13
Temperance '" 14
The Devil '" 15
The Tower '" 16
The Star '" 17
The Moon '" 18
The Sun '" 19
Judgment '" 20
The World '" 21 - A critical success.  You automatically succeed, and do so spectacularly (Medium's discretion what form this takes).

You cannot redraw cards until your hand is exhausted.  Thus, you must guess as to the DC of a given task (or the Defence of an enemy) and hope that the card you play will allow your attempt to succeed.  Note that the number of cards playable on a single action is limited by your hand size as well as your level.  Thus, while a level 10 character can theoretically play up to 10 cards on a given action, if he only has 3 cards in his hand he cannot play three, draw seven more, and play those as well.

The Ouija Board

Note: To be clear, I don't believe that Ouija Board actually allow one to contact spirits.  They function using the well understood principles of unconscious motion - small movements of the hand that aren't supernatural in any way.  When multiple people use the Board at once, the combined unconscious motion (ideomotor effect) makes it seem as if the planchette is being moved on its own.

When you attempt a mental action '" like calling on a spirit to speak, resisting the seductive gaze of a soul-sucking lamia, or exorcising a demonic spirit from a child's body '" employ the Ouija Board with the aid of the Medium.  The first character the planchette stops on is the result of the check.  If a number, add the number to any modifiers; this is the final result of the check.  If a letter, the value of the check is equal to the letter's place in the alphabet (A=1, B=2, C=3, etcetera); again, add relevant modifiers to get your final result.  If the planchette stops on "Yes," you automatically succeed at your task; if it stops on "No," you automatically fail.  If it stops on "Goodbye," the result is 0 but not an automatic failure; if it stops on "Hello" the result is 20 but not an automatic success.  If your Ouija Board includes different words or phrases, decide on their values before beginning play.

Sometimes, the Ouija Board might not "work" properly - maybe the planchette is just taking too long to move.  In this case, there are lots of free online Ouija Board applications available which produce fast, random results.  While Turning the Tables becomes impossible using an online Board, it at least provides a consistent, fast way of keeping the game going.

Alternative Methods of Action Resolution

For a more random game, simply draw cards from the deck instead of drawing a hand.

Non-d20 Rolls

For non-d20 rolls '" such as weapon damage rolls or hit dice rolls '" simply use the maximum result.  For example, a weapon which deals 1d6 damage simply deals 6 damage every time.  When abilities such as a Mage's maximize spell ability call to maximize a given roll, double it instead.  This makes for a more deadly, high-stakes game, in which a single bullet or spell can mean death.

Reroll Abilities

Abilities that call for someone to reroll a result allow them to draw a new card from the deck and play it in lieu of the card the previously played, or to use the Ouija Board a second time to obtain a different result (potentially).

Defence

Instead of using 10 as the base Defence of a character, characters play cards to establish their base Defence.  This means that high level combatants who can play numerous cards on an attack won't always hit opponents of a similar level.  Since a new hand is only drawn at the beginning of a character's turn, players must decide how many cards to use on attack vs. defense in a given round of combat.  If a character cannot play a card to defend themselves because their hand is empty, they draw a single card from the deck and add it to their defence bonuses to calculate their defence.

Energy Points

Instead of adding 1d6 to your d20 roll, an action point '" called an energy point in SÉANCE! '" allows a character to draw an additional card from the deck and apply it to an action or use the Ouija Board a second time and add the results together.  Additionally, one can us an energy point to affect a Reversal on an opponent or to Turn the Tables.

When you wish to use a Reversal, use an energy point after an opponent plays a tarot card.  The card they played from their hand (usually the Medium's hand) is Reversed '" turned upside-down.  It now has a negative modifier rather than a positive modifier.  This ability is most often employed to save a character's life '" for example, to cause an opponent to miss an attack.

When you wish to Turn the Tables, use an energy point before someone '" either yourself or an opponent '" uses the Ouija Board.  Instead of the player and the Medium using the Ouija Board, you now select players of your choice to touch the planchette (since Ouija Boards work via the ideomotor effect, if you choose wisely then the result should be favourable).

Classes

Characters take levels in the following d20 Modern/Past Advanced Classes '" they do not have to meet the prerequisites: Investigator, Dandy [Personality], Shadow Slayer, Occultist, Telepath, Mage, Acolyte, Arcane Arranger, Glamourist, Mystic, Mesmerist, and Spiritualist.  NPCs may have other class levels.  Prestige Classes are permissible with Medium permission.

Optional rule: Ordinaries (i.e. non-heroic characters) draw from a standard deck of playing cards instead of a tarot deck.
[ooc]Thanks to Coyote Camouflage for assisting with tarot special abilities![/ooc]

Since there's a one-paragraph limit, I'll only post the resolution mechanics from DUGS.

Quote from: http://thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?42599.firsthere[/url], for more details.

[ic=Look Ma, No Dice competition entry by Superfluous Crow]
Manifest Choice
The resolution system I have designed for this competition is called Manifest Choice and is designed with FATE and similar RPG systems in mind, but will work fine with anything using discrete skill levels and success margins.

The primary goals of the system are as follows:

* Remove the random factor - let the players keep control of the narrative
* Fuse story and system so that one affects the other organically
* Create a natural balance between success and failure - let the player pay a price for success
* Blur the line between mythology and mechanics

The system operates with a set of entities tied to setting or game mythology, represented by chess pieces or similar tokens. These pieces are divided amongst the players and the game master, called the Architect.
Whenever an action is attempted, it is resolved based on the Entities in front of the player with the balance between so-called Boons and Curses being particularly important. Before this balance is tallied, though,  the Architect and the player get a chance to act, in that order. A player can manipulate the game board a number of times equivalent to his skill level, but every time he makes a move the Architect is awarded an additional move the next time someone acts. Failure is thus more sure to follow great success.
In addition, a player can only manipulate the board by calling in unused Entities or by exchanging bad Entities for good Entities with his fellow players, thus setting them up for a fall when it's their turn to act.
To spice things up, players are haunted by inevitable failure in the form of the Shadow and can at any point call upon their Manifest Destiny to ensure their victory. But always at a price.
[/ic]
[spoiler=complete system to follow]
Objective: The player must achieve a positive Balance by possessing more Boons than Curses, while the Architect (game master) will try to prevent him from reaching this goal.

Layout: Each player, including the Architect, has an area in front of him called his tapestry. In addition, there is a neutral area called Oblivion at the center of the table. 32 chess pieces, called entities, will be moved around between these areas and their positions determine the outcome of any attempted action. Half of the 32 entities are Curses/Boons while the remainder are special entities.

Setup: Before the session begins split boons and curses as equally between the players a s possible. Give the remaining curses/boons to the Architect. All other Entities are assigned to Oblivion.  

Resources: Strands of Fate (represented by real twine or other tokens). A player has a pool of two strands plus his skill modifier for any given action. Whenever a player spends a Strand, it goes to the Architect who gets to keep it. If the Architect later spends it, it goes back into the pool of unused strands.

Turn: Whenever an action requiring resolution is announced, the player and the Architect get their allotted strands and the resolution phase begins. First, the Architect can choose to either make one free move or spend as many of his strands as he wants to. Then, its the player's turn and he can likewise spend as many strands as he wishes. After this process, the action is resolved by finding the character's Balance.

Moves: There are two possible moves:
   —‹ Call: Spend one strand to move an entity from Oblivion to any tapestry.
   —‹ Exchange: Spend one strand to exchange an entity from one tapestry for any other figure of the same color, making them swap places.        
In addition, the Architect can, at the beginning of his turn, choose to Chain any number of Entities, making them immovable for the rest of the turn. They can neither be called nor exchanged.
If an entity is banished, it is returned to Oblivion.  

Resolution: The difference between boons and curses determines a person's Balance. If he has more boons than curses, he has a positive Balance and he succeeds. If it's a tie or lower, he loses. The higher the Balance, the more significant the outcome will be. More difficult tasks might require a minimum Balance of 2 or higher.

Adaptability: Any system which uses a discrete number of skill levels and uses a resolution system with a margin of success can be easily adapted to use Manifest. FATE would be an example of such a system. The tone of the resolution system can easily be adapted to fit any setting's mythology.

Architect's Tapestry:
Boons and curses possessed by the Architect are communal and apply to everybody!
For every Boon he possesses, he can make one more free move when he chooses not to spend strands.
If he possesses any curses, on the other hand, the Shadow can no longer be summoned.

Basic Entities

The Shadow
The Shadow is the most troublesome Entity of them all. While a player is under the Shadow he can never win, no matter how many Boons he possesses. His Balance always counts as negative.
The Shadow cannot be called, exchanged, nor chained. Instead, any player can put the Shadow in play by removing three black entities from a single tapestry and replacing them with the Shadow.  

Boon
A Boon adds one point to the Balance of the player who possesses it.

Curse
The opposite of the Boon. It deducts one point from the Balance.

Manifest Destiny
The Manifest Destiny is the most powerful Entity as it ensures your immediate victory. You count your Balance as positive for that single action. You can call it for free, but after resolving the action it banishes all of the following entities to Oblivion: Boons and the Shadow.

Other Entities

Blind Warrior
Calling the Blind Warrior allows you to move one Entity (including the Shadow) from the tapestry he is called to, to any other tapestry. In addition, you are fervently protected from everything. You can't receive Boons, Curses or the Shadow as long as you are guarded by the Warrior.

The Lurker on the Threshold
The Lurker breaks ties to the hero's advantage. As an exception to the general rule, a player holding the Lurker can win while under the Shadow by getting a tie.  
In addition, all communal Curses and Boons held by the Architect do not affect the player holding the Lurker.

Cosmic Irony
If a player calls the Irony, count all of his Curses as Boons and vice versa. This also goes for calling the Three Fates or the Shadow. Irony and the Shadow can't be in front of the same player, and if the latter is called the former is removed. Cosmic Irony can only be exchanged between the players, not by the Architect.  

The Ravenous Man
When a Ravenous Man is called or exchanged, an entity is immediately banished from the person now possessing the Man. When a person possessing the Man acts, the Ravenous Man eats another Entity. This continues until the player has no more Entities in which case the Man jumps to the player with most Entities, immediately devouring another one. The Shadow cannot be eaten, but it is powerless (has no effect) as long as the Man is fed.  

The Three Fates
A person holding the Three Fates can at any time choose to move an entity from one tapestry to another. This can be any entity, including the Shadow.
Like the Shadow, the Three Fates can neither be called, exchanged, nor chained. Instead, you put it in play by removing three white entities and replacing them with the Three Fates.
The person holding the Fates can make these moves even when it isn't his turn, but he can only ever make three of them. When he has used the Fates three times over any span of time, the Fates are banished. He loses his remaining moves if the Three Fates is moved elsewhere.

Golden Lie
When resolving the action, Golden Lie increases the magnitude of the Balance (be it positive or negative) by one. Ties count as negative as usual.
In addition, at the beginning of your turn,  remove a number of strands from your pool equal to your positive Balance or add a number of strands equal to your negative Balance. Use the unmodified Balance, as this is not part of the final resolution.
 
The Weaver
When you hold the Weaver, Entities exchanged with you do not need to be of the same color.

The Devil's Bargain
You can call upon the Devil's Bargain for free and as soon as you do the resolution phase ends. You narrowly escaped the consequences of your action. Exceptionally, you can even call upon the Bargain outside of a resolution phase to escape your current situation!
While holding the Bargain, your fate is separated from that of your friends and no exchanges can be made with entities from your tapestry. The only exchange you are still allowed to make is between you and the architect. You can still call entities from Oblivion.
If the Bargain is forced to move, banish it instead.  

Chess-Entity Correspondence
As it stands, the resolution is meant to be played out with chess pieces, using all 32 pieces.

Piece	Black	White
Pawn	Curse	Boon
King	the Shadow	Manifest Destiny
Queen	Devil's Bargain	Three Fates
Knight	Cosmic Irony	Lurker on the Threshold
Bishop	Golden Lie	the Weaver
Rook	Ravenous Man	Blind Warrior

[/spoiler]

From: Tatterdemalion

A whimsical way to determine conflict resolution in an Alice-in-Wonderland world. Come through the looking glass and resolve disputes through random selection.

The general concept is that the setting is one of tomfoolery and tension. Players can have fun by gorging themselves as they travel a land of candy and caprice. As more and more numbered cookies are drawn from the pot, other players can adjust actions based on "cookie counting," that is, if cookies 10-30 have already been drawn and the GM's cookie pot contains all cookies from 20-30, then they know a string of bad luck is coming their way and they can steel themselves for it or Player 1 can delay and avoid acting, allowing Player 2 to absorb all the trouble. One drawback of this system, however, is that the GM may grow quite fat due to all the icing. The GM is advised to use coins rather than cookies--but she should not eat them.

Madlibs are also involved to some degree in character creation, as detailed in the spoiler.

Rules
1. Bake 30 cookies out of dough.
2. When it is your turn, take the cookies out of the oven.
3. Label Each 1-30 with icing.
4. Put them in a bag.
5. Take one out, look at its number, then eat it.
6. That is your roll.
7. When out of cookies, grab 30 candy bars
8. Repeat steps 3-6.
9. When out of candy bars, grab 30 ice cubes
10. Repeat steps 3-6
11. When out of ice cubes, make more
12. If too lazy to make ice cubes, grab 30 coins
13. ... ... Perhaps not.

And for more on the type of game to be played:
[spoiler]
Tatterdemalion.

The Idle Mushroom left a sheet of paper, stuck to your door with a bloody butter-knife.

Bloviating, the verbose Boorish Boar bombastically denounced the Mushroom's posting, causing you to run outside.

After twisting your head skyward and turning the Octagon 180 degrees away from the Boorish Boar, to point at the Southern Arc of the Lower Hemisphere-- looking directly at the Constellation of Constellation, you turned your head and read the note- scrawled awkwardly and written in saffron, genie-dust, and ink.

The title was Sadly Not an Amphigory.

Awkward angle angel
Beared Bouyantly Bound
careens clearly crying
delicious delightful dirge

Awkward Angle Angel - The most glorious creature of the heavens. That which brings order to Tatterdemalion and keeps it sewn tight into a straitjacket of peace, and harmony.

even enlightened elephantine elkenbeasts
find frivolous firespeech foolish
golden glib greatspeakers gasp, grasping
how haughty heavenly host hounded
in illustrious invidious instances

Elephantine Elkenbeasts - Weighing a ton, these creatures amble from wrecked moving-panes in waves of migration. Their magnetic hearts beat and pull as the weight of the planet's center migrates from up to down over the course of a year. The seasons can be told by the movements of these beasts that sup on but oil and salt to keep their magnetic parts ready and clean

Firespeech - Speech of war

Glib Greatspeakers - Term for famous orators, the world has had 7 times 77 of them over 777 years... according to the official histories anyway. Some argue that the number is smaller or larger and that the 7 times 77 number was just created to meet Quota.

jilted-- jibed jibbering jabberwockies jump

Jibbering Jabberwockies- Oligarchic and proud, the ignoble Jabberwockie race jaunts in their jalopies around the plain, justifying their to immunity to age or poison or illness to jealous leopard-lepers who proceed to pouce and prey on the Jabberwockies' tender, un-hardened throats. Jabberwockies stand about four foot five, although some have been seen at the height of seven foot one, and they crawl at the height of two foot two, and they usually walk two by two- they are pack-beasts by nature.

keeping killing kleptomaniac klutzes
leaping lordly leopard-lepers lunch,
munching marvelously, making mulch
on odious ossified oligarchs


* Nota BeneThe Jabberwockies are jumping and the Leopard-Lepers are killing the klutzes, who are likely Jabberwockies.

purely purile Petrarchs prey petulantly

Petrarchs are noted "Humanists", they believe in the active life of mental, spiritual, and physical accumulation of knowledge and skill. They can be of any race. Alas, some are quite venal hedonists.

quite quaintly queer questions quote
rather regularly-- redacted redundancies rewrite
say solemn Sonambulists, speaking-- still sleeping

Sonambulists- Sleepwalkers.

then the Terrors twist the twilight.
underdark, undercover, under-observed, underfoot
villainous vile vermin VEX!

The Reticulated Whorl - The vilest of vermin, with a tail made of silk, the Whorl floats on the winds and brings chaos when it lands, warping reality into a Whorl of matter as the electrons fly from the atoms, the quantum foam releases and Chaos Theory is proven true.

women weep, watching waxen waspen-waist wildangels wallow wistfully
xenophobic xylophagous xylopyrographers
yelling, yelping, yearning--
zoocephalic zitellas zizz

Xylophagous Xylopyrographers - Wood-eating wood-etchers of the west; very nasty folk.

Zoocephalic Zitella Zizz- Animal Headed Young Girls Sparkle... but not in a good way.

---

It is a painful thing now that the waspen-waist wildangels have fallen from their glory, struck down and sent into madness by the underfoot Vermin- the Reticulated Whorl.

But the Idle Mushroom has a plan- he has chosen you to defend Tatterdemalion- you, the great hope of the world, you who would bring back order to the chaos and who would return the world to its grandeur.

Quick! Before the Boorish Boar makes his way around the 180 degrees, you must begin your plan. But before you may begin your plan, you must first know who you are.

1. (Repeat 4 times until each of category I and i is chosen once)
You Have! _____ _____
Category I
a- six
b- one
c- twelve
d- no

Category i
a- eye(s)
b- arm(s)
c- leg(s)
d- heart(s)

2. I Once Was a _____, But Now I'm _____

a- A Human Being! (no evil)
b- A Human Doing! (no evil)
c- A Human Seeing! (no evil)
d- An Elephant
e- An Elven princess/prince

a- A gallavanting, yet smartly dressed cadaver
b- A devious dodecahedron
c- A Human unbecoming.
d- A 4 foot tall tse-tse Fly.
e- Something more amenable

Quick! Quick! Roll 4 1d4 or make up your mind- you can hear him loquaciously (and lewdly) swearing.

3. (Repeat 4 times until each of category i is chosen once)
You Own! ____ _____

Category I
a- a
b- no
c- some
d- lots of!

Category i
a- sword(s) -You are a warrior!
b- rope(s)- You are a thief!
c- magic- You are a mage!
d- glitter- You are ... ... a bard!

Now you are ready to adventure![/spoiler]

Suitable Music
Katy Perry... ET
Donovan's.... Riki Tiki Tavi
The Lemon Piper's.... Jelly Jungle
Donovan's.... Hurdy Gurdy Man
Donovan's.... Maria Magenta
Donovan's.... Epistle to Dippy
Beatles'.... Octopus' Garden
Beatles'.... Mean Mr. Mustard
Beatles'.... Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
Beatles'.... Hey Bulldog
Beatles'.... I am the Walrus
Wild Beasts'.... Brave Bulging Bouyant Clairvoyant
The Hollies'.... Stop Stop Stop
The Lemon Pipers'.... Rice is Nice
Donovan's.... Sunshine Superman
1910 Fruitgum Company's... Special Delivery
The Ohio Express'... Down at Lulu's

The Electric Prunes'... I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night (For the darker times)
Pong's.... Killer Lifestyle (for darker times)

Card System:

During the course of the game, the players receive cards (as quest rewards, as a partial place of xp, in treasure, etcetera). These cards are gathered and collected to form the player's deck. At the beginning of the game, the players each recieve a number of cards equal to twice their level. At every period of rest, this hand is refilled to that minimum amount. During conflict resolution, the player and GM select up to X number of cards from their deck (the GM using all non-held cards), where X is equal to the relevant skill in question. These are then played against each other, war-style*, until there is a winner. The match determines success; if the player wins, she succeeds, and if the GM wins she either fails or succeeds with a price, as decided by the GM. The winner takes one card from the match's entire selection of cards, and the remainder are discarded back out of play to be drawn from at a later date.

Face cards have special abilities, as denoted below:
Jack- If the player wishes, the jack can count as a 7, but allows one additional card to be played to add to this number (an additional jack couunts as eleven, queens as twelve, kings as thirteen, and aces as fourteen). A face-card's power can not be used if it is played as a jack addition.
Queen- A queen can, at the player's discretion, remove the played hand from the match. The queen and whatever is played against it do not couunt for either side's number of tricks.
King- A king, when played, allows the player to add one additional card from her deck into her hand for the match.

Complex actions can also be modeled, using the suit of the card to determine the kind and type of support being given to the conflict being modeled:
Diamonds- This represents material assistance; money, food, weapons, and the like in various amounts and quality.
Hearts- Hearts represent persons, from a small band of peasants to a powerful lord or king.
Clubs- Clubs are forces of nature. A beneficial storm, a fog on an important evening, or the rain washing out traces of the passing patrol.
Spades- Spades represent chance and magic, everything from a powerful wizard's assistance to the lucky coincidence of a guard looking the wrong direction.

In complex modeling, the resolution is a driving force in the narrative; each player must not only play correctly, but be able to explain why their card should defeat the other (an eight of diamonds beating a four of clubs, for instance). As an optional rule, a group may allow an 'inferior' card to take a higher one if the explanation behind such a victory is good or interesting enough.

*War-style: A simple trick-taking game; aces are high, one card is played against another, highest card takes. The one with the most tricks at the end of the match wins. If hand sizes are unequal, the player with cards remaining takes those tricks at half value (two additional cards counts as one additional trick). In the event of a tie, the trick in question goes to the winner of the next won trick.

Epic Battle in the Hippodrome
For a game based on exciting action that could get rather zany and random (like certain games of Asura, most assuredly!) I suggest the use of a game that is also based on exciting action that can get rather zany and random, Hungry Hungry Hippos. Conflicts between more than two players/characters are possible, and, indeed, encouraged, because HHH is best when everyone's trying to play it at the same time, anyway. Characters have basic ability scores (Power, Grace, Vitality, Senses, Mind in Asura, but Strength, Intelligence, etc. from D&D or whatever other system works too), to those, add their skill score. Then, toss in 10 marbles if 2 players are playing, 15 if 3 are, and 20 if 4 are. Then, play a round! Add the number of marbles your hippo eats to your ability + skill, and that's your final "roll."

Hmm thought I'd already posted this on here, guess not. It was only in the discussion thread. Didn't have time to really work out the modifiers as I was focused on The CBG 2.0 but anyhow I think that's pretty much it.

[ic=Summary]Planar uses a standard deck of 52 playing cards. The system is designed for the guildschool rules system which is a d100 focused system with two cards being drawn much the same way you might roll 2d10. The random factor is still there like in Celtricia, however the use of cards gives a feeling of a fate that is more "set in stone" with greater powers behind the scenes manipulating the pieces. This is most noticeable in the form of special cards (face cards) that empower your draws with abilities akin to the Planars granting you their favor.[/ic]

[spoiler=Planar Full Rules]
Planar
Planar is a dice replacement system for Guildschool which uses a set of playing cards in place of a regular dice roll to determine the outcomes of various actions. Just like with the standard dice version of Guildschool, Planar is a roll under (or rather draw under) system where lower numbers are generally better. The game is played with a deck in the center of the table with each player drawing from it as is appropriate to calculate their results during gameplay. Additionally the deck contains all four suites (referred to as the four houses) with each suite having certain abilities as well as special face cards which can be used to cause certain effects.

Materials:
- Standard Celtricia playing materials (except for dice)
- Shuffling Machine (optional, but very useful)
- Standard 52 card playing deck

Using the Deck:
Whenever anything would make anyone roll one or more dice they instead draw from the deck using the following rules depending on which kind of dice they would be rolling. After a roll series (a skill check, attack/defense roll, or anything else that would constitute a single roll of one or more dice in guildschool) is complete the cards are immediately shuffled back into the deck for the next roll. So if you were to roll an attack roll of 2d8+10/1d6 you would draw in order (1d8, 1d8, 1d6), then shuffle all drawn cards back into the deck.

d100
The most common roll in Guildschool uses the full deck exactly as it is set up with the roller handling the cards much like they would use 2d10 to roll a percentile (with the first roll being the tens place and the second the ones). The player draws two cards and sets them down in order with the first card being the tens place and the last card being the ones place. Card values are based on the number shown on them with the Ace being equal to 1 and the Ten equal to 0, a double Ten draw (0 - 0) is equal to 100. The Jack, Queen, and King cards are also used but grant special qualities to a roll as described below (Section: d100 special cards).

d12 (d6/d3)
For a roll of one or more d12 dice the roller draws a single card with the Ten being equal to Ten, Jack equal to Eleven, and Queen equal to 12. Kings are discarded (after which the player then draws again until they get a card worth 12 or less). This can also be used to handle a roll of a d6 by drawing a card and dividing the result in half and rounding up. It may also be used to roll a d3 by drawing a card, dividing the result by 4 and rounding up.

d10 (d20/d5)
For a roll of one or more d10 dice the roller draws a single card from the deck with the Ten being equal to Ten and Jacks, Queens, or Kings being discarded (after which the player then draws again until they get a card worth 10 or less). This can also be used to handle a roll of a d20 by drawing a d2 followed by a d10 (with a roll of 1 on the d2 equal to 0 while a roll of 2 is equal to 1; a roll of 1 - 10 being equal to a 20) as well as a roll of a d5 by drawing a card and dividing the result in half and rounding up.

d8 (d4)
For a roll of one or more d8 dice the roller draws a single card from the deck, discarding any card greater than an 8 (after which the player then draws again until they get a card worth 8 or less). This may also be used to roll a d4 by drawing a card, dividing the result in half and rounding up.

d2
Draw cards as if you were rolling a d100 and divide the resulting draw such that any draw resulting in a value between 1-50 is equal to a roll of 1 while a draw resulting in a value between 51-100 is equal to 2. Unlike a d100 roll however, a d2 roll does not use Special cards. Discard any Jacks, Queens, or Kings you draw and draw a new card.

d100 Special Cards
Anytime you would draw a d100 you have a chance to draw a special modifier card, these are the Jack, Queen, and King of all four suites. If you draw one while making your "roll" you must decide whether to keep it and use its ability or to discard it. If you choose to keep a modifier card it may not be swapped out for any modifiers that you happen to draw after. If after attaching a modifier to your draw you draw another modifier, you must discard it. As modifier cards do not count towards your roll value you must continue to draw cards until you have two cards with values between 0 and 10 discarding all extra modifier cards you draw.

d100 matching suites
Additionally while making a roll if your two value cards happen to be of matching suites (known as houses) they confer a special effect to the roll. The four suites represent the four elemental houses (Air, Earth, Fire, and Water) and their effects match their houses.

* Spades (Earth):
* Hearts (Fire):
* Clubs (Air):
* Diamonds (Water):

[/spoiler]

And the time has expired.

I'll go through these entries and make my judgment over the next few days. Internet is down at the house right now, though, so it may be longer than I'd like.

Thanks, everybody, for participating! Results forthcoming!

Judging the contest was agonizing. There are a ton of good ideas, fresh ideas, and you folks went a lot deeper than I had been expecting. It was tough to choose just one winner.

But I did choose just one winner, because that's what you agree to when you set this sort of thing up, and I couldn't see a way around it. That one winner is Superfluous Crow, for the Manifest Choice entry. It is interesting, unique, and weirdly evocative, and for this reason it distinguishes itself even amid this field of exceptional entries.

Superfluous Crow, PM or email me and we'll work out the details of your fabulous prize.

Congrats Crow, and thanks for running the competition, LC.

Dear Steerpike- Ah, I finally dedicated some time to reading your tale in depth.

>>The book they'd stolen from their French rivals '" the Confrérie du Crâne Noir '" had contained all the necessary instructions for the Invocation of Xaphan.  The raid on the Brotherhood's black abbey last Walpurgisnacht had cost them dearly: two dead, one permanently deranged, another amnesiac and bewildered, his mind wiped by a stray spell.  The materials they'd come away with, though, had seemed worth the cost.

Great. I like the dueling societies aspect of the tale and system.

>>A single syllable mumbled, and her hair had started to sizzle, her skin to crisp and smoke, to blacken and slough away, the spirit within burning through her meagre mortal shell, an incandescent eruption.  The flaming girl-thing strode from the Circle effortlessly, its laughter like the sound of burning wood: without the chant to lend them power the sigils were worthless.  With a glance the creature had reduced most of the Cabal to char.

The spare writing here and the interesting use of punctuation make this flow in an interesting way. I am impressed by the way you wield your craft here in painting a scene.

It seems that a bit more math is involved in the system than I would like, however. But the story snippet was great.

My profound thanks LC :D
I feel very honored that somebody actually likes my idea!
Also, thanks to everybody else for the great competition, always great to see the creative spirit of the boards, that makes the CBG what it is, is as alive and well as ever!
I will PM you shortly. (wow, just looked at the prize. That's actually pretty grand. I was just expecting like a badge or something :) )