Piss-Taking ‘Shadow World’ games switching to Xpress

 

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Why We Are Switching the Shadow World to Xpress?

Introduction

The Shadow World has been a lot of fun to develop and has spread the joy of its mockery to fans throughout the world. So what’s the problem? Well we have a few concerns

·        Over complexity/ D20: The games as they stand are a little complex for the first time gamer and have alienated veteran gamers by the fact they are D20. I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve heard “I’ll buy Bloodsucker/Chav but its D20.” Yes our D20 is a simplified D20 but it is still D20 and that is hampering the product. This is especially true as a fair proportion of our target audience are fans of that Certain Other RPG Company and that particular group our known for their loathing of D20.

·        Munchkinism/Loss of Direction: It is natural that a game line should deviate from its original intentions but it’s not necessarily a good thing. Within Chav in particular we’ve gone away from the original idea of mocking the wannabes. Chavs have a potent set of powers which when combined with certain Feats and Pros can be a Munchkin’s dream. The power level and focus of the game needs serious revision. The lack of a real experience system that allows for decent character customisation is also somewhat embarrassing.

·        Sales: You’ve all done well in getting this tired old joke but alas our sales aren’t brilliant. Anything we can do to boost sales would be worth a shot.

The solution we have come up with for these three areas of concern is to convert the Shadow World games to Postmortem’s own Xpress system.  This aids with the three problems as below

·        Over Complexity/D20: Xpress is a far simpler system than D20 and more importantly it isn’t D20. So those of you who wouldn’t touch D20 with a barge pole can finally enjoy our games. Xpress also has the advantage in that its core mechanics, whilst of course unique, are similar enough to that Certain Other Games System to make transition between the two a lot easier.

·        Munchkinism/Loss of Direction: Xpress is a far more lethal system and is designed for playing every day characters from the off. The power level drops like a stone and it is a lot closer to mocking the wannabes as originally intended It is also highly customisable in a way that D20 can never be and includes a simple but flexible experience system. This is also similar to the way that Certain Other RPG Company does things.

·        Sales: Hopefully with the new system the books will sell more copies. Free of the stigma of D20 and put back on the straight and narrow of mocking the pathetic wannabes the game should attract new players who wouldn’t have bought the D20 version for various reasons.

Do you think this is reasonable? Should we be scrapping D20? We would like your input as it is, after all, you who are buying the products. In the meantime here is a look at how we have converted Chav: The Knifing to the Xpress system. Do let us know what you think.

Conversion Overview

This was the first time I had converted anything from one games system to another. Overall I knew what I wanted from the conversion and had plenty of time to work out how to get it. What I wanted from this new Chav was a low powered game about the scummy underclass. I was conscious that the D20 version was ripe for abuse. I have seen some horrible Munchkiny characters appear on the table and I was determined that this would not happen again with the Xpress version. Having said all that I didn’t want to neuter the Chav: crumping Bloodsuckers into the kerb is, after all, a key part of the game. Clearly I would have to perform a considerable balancing act.

Character Creation

I decided from the off to use the Xpress default rules for character creation rather than make any unnecessary modifications. This would mean regardless of your supernatural type you would have the same number of points for your mundane Statistics and Skills. This is a lot fairer than the old system and ensures that the players are playing average Joes rather than min maxed superheroes. I particularly like the Paired Attribute system in this regard. The first time I’ve seen an anti min maxing mechanic that is fair, simple and works. I have however altered Focus. There is only one level of Focus in Shadow World Xpress games. Whilst I’m sure having more complex specialities would be fun I find it an unnecessary over complication to what is a mercifully lean system.

Xpress is a much more customisable system than D20. As there was no concept of Class Skills I decided to drop the whole idea of Life Templates. In Xpress you can truly be anything you want provided it fits with the GM. The money concern was transferred to Merits as I shall discuss below.

In addition to the default points for mundane abilities I gave a further 9 points to purchase Talentz at a rate of 3 each with each level counting as a separate talent. So a starting Chav can have one Level 3 Talent, 1 Level 2 and 1 Level 1 Talent or 3 Level 1 Talentz. I shall discuss my adaptation of the Talentz system later on. In addition extra Bile Capacity and Voodoo spells are put into the points system at one point each.

I always found that Feats rarely make an appearance in Shadow World D20 and when they do their effect is either negligible or grossly over powered. Thus there is no equivalent of Feat in Xpress Chav. With Merits and Flaws and the ability to spend Creation and Improvement Points on things like Bile Capacity they are not really missed.  

Pros and Cons become Merits and Flaws in the new system. The principal is the same. You can customise your character by taking Flaws and Merits for points granted or taken away respectively. The costs and effects of Merits and Flaws have made a remarkable transition into the new system and points values have wildly changed up and down.

The Credoz

There wasn’t much I needed to alter about the Credoz. With no concept of Class Skills in Xpress that part of each profile could go. All that remained to convert was the Credo Strengths and Weaknesses.

I was wary of giving out Statistic bonuses to characters in Xpress as the range was much narrower and there was a potential for a Munchkin to get 6 in a Stat which was not on at all. As such I devised a very simple method for giving out Credo Bonuses without directly adding to the relevant Statistic/Skill. The points cost for the relevant Statistic/Skill would be halved rounding up.  This mechanic applies to all but one of the Credo Strengths. Where there were Statistic penalties before I made the Weakness an inability to reroll successes on the specific stat. Other weaknesses were just a matter of straight conversion. The Will Save became the Resistance Roll etc.

Dramatic Systems

I introduced a new chapter to the Shadow World pattern to meet with the requirements of Xpress. This chapter details the 10 Statistics and gives examples of how they may be used illustrated with more God awful fiction. This section and the Skills chapter that follows have a feel to them that seems very similar to that Certain Other RPG. The Xpress core rules are pretty much straight from the Xpress system document. I have however clarified how complications work on straight rolls with a Skill. Negating the reroll first and then modifying the Statistic. Finally I introduce the mechanics behind Bile. Bile has remained pretty much unchanged from the D20 version although now it is used more frequently. Oh and an additional method of getting Bile has been introduced. Good sex sessions now add to the Bile pool as is appropriate with Chavs.

Skills

As mentioned above there was definitely a feel of the Certain Other RPG company about this detailed look at the Skills available in Shadow World games. I have set out a list of 40 which shall apply to the whole Shadow World series. Of course the GM is free to chop and change if he wants to but I feel the list, as it is, is pretty comprehensive.

Talentz

In keeping with the mission objective of powering down the game and as a natural product of conversion to a new system the Talentz were overhauled. The only Talentz that remained more or less exactly how they were originally were Cloud and Parkour which really needed no modification.

A fair number of the powers in the D20 system were straight bonuses. I had already decided that I didn’t want effects modifying the Character’s stats permanently so this was a bit of a problem. The solution was simple and elegant. Talentz would provide a modifier equal to their level to a single roll with the expenditure of a Bile point. This makes Bile Points even more valuable than they are in their D20 equivalent. It also provides the potent benefits of the power albeit at a cost. I was so happy with this mechanic I extended it beyond the obvious Talentz. Chav Speed now provides a bonus to Speed rolls (for some potential bullet dodging) in the manner of this system rather than the various bonuses of the D20 version and Musk can provide an additional edge to Seduction and Nookie rolls with its benefit.

Finally Voodoo was altered so there is an actual spell casting roll. This makes Intelligence and Spellcraft must haves for your Chemistz and presents an element of risk and uncertainty to the magic(k) system. The Voodoo spells themselves have been altered to fit in with the new system but they remain pretty much the same as they were in the D20 version.

Merits and Flaws

Merits and Flaws are conversions of the Pros and Cons from the D20 version with the addition of Happy Slapping, the only Feat I thought necessary to convert. Their effects are more or less the same as D20 although the points values have gone up and down to fit in with the new system. There is an additional mechanic in the Merits and Flaws section that is important. Pay Scale can be taken as a Merit or a Flaw at 3 different levels or ignored completely. If you ignore it your Pay Scale is 0 if you buy it as a Merit or a flaw it can range from -3 to +3. Pay Scale is a method of ascertaining a character’s resources without having to do accountancy in a game that is supposed to be fun: Again much like the Certain Other RPG.

Background

Background remains unchanged except for the Equipment list which has been adapted for the new system.

Combat

The Combat system is pretty much as the default Xpress system with the addition of mechanics for Bile Absorption and Vulnerability to the Old.

Society

The Cred system remains as is with minor appropriate alterations for the new system.

And an Extra Special Treat

Xpress has some simple Vehicle rules which I have put into the Xpress edition of Chav as an appendix. Now your Chavs can have car chases if that’s the direction you want your games to go in!

Conclusion

Chav very easily made the transition between systems and I think it has become a better game for it. The power level is considerably lower, combat is more realistic and lethal and Character Creation and Improvement is customisable in a way that D20 can never be. I really enjoy writing in Xpress and look forward to filling the rest of the Shadow World with the system if that’s alright by you guys.