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I wanna talk about something interesting about the set up for Alley-Oop! that I don't _think_ I've touched on before, and that's the role of randomness in the game.
Indulge me!
Indulge me!
For the uninitiated, Alley-Oop! flips between playing out games of basketball, and acting out scenes of the players lives between games.
During the games, each member of your team is represented by a single die, and when you roll the dice, you roll all your players at once.
During the games, each member of your team is represented by a single die, and when you roll the dice, you roll all your players at once.
In more traditional TTRPG, the randomness is built into the game to answer the question of "will they do it?", trying to create drama and fallout hinging on a person's actions.
But for Alley-Oop!, that kind of rolling acts against the kinds of stories we want it to tell.
But for Alley-Oop!, that kind of rolling acts against the kinds of stories we want it to tell.
See, it's Really Easy to take that kind of narrate-roll-results cycle and turn it into a game where you get invested in the outcomes; if it feels like you have control, you want your team to win.
And because the games in Alley-Oop! are zero-sum, someone would end up feeling bad.
And because the games in Alley-Oop! are zero-sum, someone would end up feeling bad.
Besides that, if the mechanics of the game are geared too far towards simulation and player choice in games... Well we might as well be writing a board game instead.
For those reasons, we took control as far out of the roleplayers hands as possible during the basketball portion
For those reasons, we took control as far out of the roleplayers hands as possible during the basketball portion
You're not playing basketball for your team to win, you're playing to find out how the circumstances of the basketball tournament change their lives!
So where do we give you control? Well since the games themselves are randomness + narration (and sports commentary) we give-
So where do we give you control? Well since the games themselves are randomness + narration (and sports commentary) we give-
players a very open scene smorgasbord with witch to paint their players lives. Circumstances get set up during games, and relationships evolve during off-days.
You pick the circumstances, tell the players what happened, and use mood words to give a vibe, and you're off!
You pick the circumstances, tell the players what happened, and use mood words to give a vibe, and you're off!
Anyway, if any of that sounds interesting to you, check us out on Kickstarter! We're part of Zinequest, and our team of artists have put together absolutely STUNNING work for this project. We launch on Valentine's Day, and I'm just BURSTING with hype! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/legendaryvermin/alley-oop-0
