I want to take the chance to thank you Alex for being the most supportive partner I could have wished for. Thank you for being my muse and better half. Also, your potions are the best.
Felixus & Tym forever!
Also: Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you Michtims out there!
I came to realize that Michtim lacks a size system that actually works. It isn’t complicated to find something fitting though. While working on the creature cards (doing streamlining), I figured out that the following would work quite well.
Tiny, Small, Medium, Large. You get the picture. Each category has a typical Health attribute:
That’s the basic Health pool for a creature of that size. Creature Points can increase this number, but that’s not relevant for now. Sizes have other important uses:
In effect, this is like a forced “Power Punch”.
This is a pretty valid simulation as well as a direct mirroring of the above rule.
This allows some fairly straight forward interaction with most creatures that Michtims encounter in their adventures. It also means that humans (called Mensch), really are this game’s Dragons. They suffer -2 damage from Michtim attacks, and all their attacks deal +2 damage (though they rarely hit).
Good that Michtims have other methods to solve conflicts.
My hubby is in hospital and I want to distract myself from being alone. With too much time on my hands, I try to create new stuff for Michtim: Fluffy Adventures that will really benefit the unique style of the game. Also I’ve got new tools to use! Ulysses is really helpful when creating tons of formatted text for blog posts and traditional writing. Love it! Check it out!
This is the list of all finished tasks so far.
There are now custom d6 for use with Michtim. They feature a variant 6 with the note „+Mood“ because Mood Markers are gained on the roll of each 6. There is also a prototype of an Emotion dice that could be used for mood swings. Sadly the production of these dice is fairly expensive and it has to wait until a later date (maybe a Kickstarter) to be worthwhile to produce.
These cards help in character generation. If people can’t decide what to play, they can pick from one of ten unique personality cards. The cards also feature some questions to ask yourself when playing this character. These cards are best combined with the already existing Calling Cards to create neat characters.
Michtims can now track wounds with style using Wound Cards. Each card has two faces. One is used for General Wounds (that is, wounds without wound effects). The other face shows rules for a specific wound effect, an illustration and info about the damage type (physical, magic or tech). Tracks run from 1 to 10 in the rare case that a creature has more than 7 Wound Tolerance. The deck contains 3 copies of 12 unique cards, bringing it to a total of 36 Wound Cards. That is the exact same amount as is used for the Calling Cards.
These are the projects I’m currently working on from time to time, but that are not finished yet.
This is a big update in my opinion. I might want to create a separate book product to combine these into a new tome. For a KS I would instead create a new Core Rules product.
There are 66 unique combinations between all twelve Core Callings. I really want to write a short blurb for every combo to get creation started. Of course players can still have unique synergies as well, but to some, maybe a little input is a good idea. I figure that every Calling will receive a spread (double page) detailing each 5-6 Synergies. You would have a spread for the Cook, for example, and then have several synergies that go along with it like:
Cook + ……
You can combine multiple synergies as well. Felixus Honigpfote is a Master Alchemist combining Sorcerer, Witch and Cook into extended potions that last really long and are super handy.
I am very exited for this new feature and it basically just takes a lot of time writing and coming up with new stuff. Maybe I can finish it soon. It would be a blast.
I was kinda inspired by Apocalypse World and Mutant: Year Zero lately. I really like no-prep games and Michtim was supposed to be such a game. It turns out that my example adventure is super railroady and is rather used as a starter to show what Michtim can be about. Anyway, my usual style of GMing is also low prep info graphic. I draw boxes with names and draw lines. Basically what Undying calls a Relationship-Map. You should absolutely use such things, they are terrific.
Mutant: Year Zero on the other hand uses Threat Cards (or tables), Artefacts and all sorts of interesting NPCs to build its stories. Some of those things, Michtim does as well. Michtim has an extended NPC section with lots of plot hooks to roll for. I’m not aware that anyone uses these. Most actual plays I’ve heard about are either completely new content or use the premade adventure Spark’s Flight.
Here I’m currently in the ideation phase. Since I do a lot of Cards lately, I might try to stay within this medium… but I’m just exploring options at the moment. For Creatures (I don’t like calling anything a monster) I thought about using the typical stat blocks from the adventure, but actually these blocks could be handled by personality cards or hand-waiving stats anyway. Just pick two stats the creature is good at, and you’re ready to go. Special Mechanics for creatures can be derived from Callings. The system flourishes when you use existing parts. That way expanding Callings would probably offer a lot of new content for Antagonists as well.
The only thing that’s usually different is Health (Wound Tolerance) and Armor as well as Hit-Modifications. Humans have tons of Health, are super resistant to Michtim-inflicted damage but they suffer immense penalties when trying to attack a small (but very fast) Michtim. There you have it. Humans are the game’s dragons already. Customize them with Gear and Callings and you’re good to go.
I tried to showcase how the game works right in the core book. But it helps to have options to pick and discover rather than create at the table. I will probably create new stuff in five areas:
If there’s no special, you might increase general Armor by 1 or specific Armor by 2… that way you could become Magic-/Tech-/Physical-Immune for example. The challenge is creating new Cloak effects, but again, these can be related to Callings as well. I want to keep things interchangeable. For example there’s this special ability that allows you to hide in plain sight. There might be a stealth-related Calling in the future that does that also.
I’ve started to work on several adventure modules, but none comes easily at the moment. I wanted to do stuff for my overarching Restore the Veil campaign, but it just can’t be helped. At the moment, I’m not good at creating dungeon maps, so this will have to wait. Maybe some other aspect is more conducive to my abilities. I want to get the most out of my creative abilities.
I created a mockup of the Boxed Set as I imagine it. At that time I didn’t know I would have 36 Wound Cards, so that part of the info is wrong. The general idea is as follows: Michtim requires a lot of stuff to be really useful.
What really bugs me is the amount of money required to do packaging and orders. I will have to do the math before coming up with a KS. Especially the delivery aspect can be pretty tedious I think. Maybe there is a way I can team up with an US fulfillment company that handles printing and packaging? The dice are already an US product for example. Chessex makes them.
Just dropping you a note! The thesis is now available for 50% off!
So, if you know my #RPG #Michtim already, maybe you know that it’s the practical part of my #MasterThesis in #Media & #InteractionDesign . I self-published the game three years ago, when life was really tumultuous for me. In the meantime I have changed jobs a lot, had a heart surgery and suffered through a tough phase of burnout and depression.
The game has always been a beacon of hope for me. Any time I would feel down and frustrated, I would pick it up and look at my hand-drawn sketch that I made the day I received the very first physical copy of Michtim. It reads “12.10.12. Best Day of my Life so far!”
Though I have entered the game at the ENnies shortly after it’s publication, I wasn’t nominated or anything. I tried to submit it to other awards also, but no success. INSTEAD, I got awesome reviews and shreds of laughter from people who actually liked the game. THAT was much better, I thought, and so I carried on; trying not to be pushy.
Imagine my surprise as the host of #WorldUsabilityCongress contacted me to inform me that I was finally nominated for the #WorldExperienceAward 2015! I received a free ticket and could present my game. Many of you have had encouraging words for me, and I felt the love.
Though I didn’t win in the end, I ranked second and pretty close to first place. Winning would have been awesome, don’t get me wrong, but what I really took away from presenting at the congress was that people liked the game and felt it was inspiring in some way. And I heard one thing a lot:
Why don’t you make the thesis available to the public?
And this is what I did today; three years after publishing the game, now you can have a look at my design decisions. The thesis also touches on topics like #equality and #gender . Things you can deduce from the game’s design, but which aren’t expressly written in the rules.
Well! I’ve already talked too much. Have a look at the thesis if you like! If you think you should receive it for free (like if you’re a supporter or friend), just give me a note. I’ll send you a 100% discount link in private.
Thank you for your ongoing support. You folks are awesome and I love you all!
Turnaya Map Sketch
A wanderer’s notebook has been found deep in the Immergrummelwoods. The unfortunate soul must have made it through the Veil. But who knows what happens to lost adventurers, who sleep within the sacred clearing of Turnaya?
You can see that this wanderer already started to uncover some of the secrets; possibly by observing the Michtims through a looking glass. Turnaya is made up of several districts, called Asts. The wanderer also found out that there are quite some levels to Turnaya:
Palace: The residence of her Highness Major, Majestic Supreme, Queen of Turnaya, Miyu the Wonderful!
Himmelsblatt: (Skyleaf) Most noble institutions can be found high up on the tree.
Grünblatt: (Greenleaf) The hotspot of Michtim life, with school district and workshops and Naschkerias.
Schattenblatt: (Shadowleaf) The docks and seedy taverns can be found here. It is where most goods come to Turnaya through the elevators.
Stem: The residences here are rather unprotected, but still quite busy, especially with workers.
Roots: Outcasts can be found making their living between the roots of Turnaya.
Underground: The Grauling city is a place of industrial and technological miracles, but something went wrong…
So, I’ve been doing a bit of research and had some thoughtful discussions with fellow storygamers from the story-games.com message board. Together, we’ve been looking at possible ways to move Michtim into a different direction.
The game initially was supposed to have a video-game component. That’s the reason for the very combat-centric core mechanics of the Core Rulebook. Yet, I do think that Michtim is also about other things. About exploration. About interaction.
I’ve changed the character sheet to show the new actions. You should be safely able to do everything you did before; but now some Emotions have become a little more useful, in my opinion.
The core mechanic remains the same. You roll vs 7, and may set aside dice (before rolling) to increase hits. Every hit lets you pick one of the aspects that are listed on the character sheet. This way, you can now look for opportunities (Make a Discovery) and distribute hits among the factors Value, Immediacy and Duration.
Go wild with it! Add your own actions!
Also the Sins have been removed from the game entirely. To earn Karma, you play out Complications or try to act in accordance with your Virtues (any will do). Virtues are now only relevant in the fiction, because they are cultural values. There are no sins and no mutations to worry about… of course acting against a Virtue might get you in trouble with the Haus!
Hey there!
If you’ve already followed me since before Michtim RPG,
you might still remember Ratte Macchiato.
Macchiato is a Michtim, living in exile. Hence his demeaning monicker “Ratte“. In truth, he is an agent of her fluffiness Queen Miyu; but only few Michtims know about that. Most others shun him because of his strange abilities.
Instead of relying on Symbolaya, this little Michtim Warrior harnesses the spark of his very soul. He developed a unique ability, called Dynamo that allows him to charge up and turn into living electricity. (He did so before Cole MacGrath became cool, mind you.)
So what is Dynamo all about, you ask? It is a Sorcerer-Variant that explains all the mechanics with a lightning motive. The Focus action of the Sorcerer becomes a Charge move, making his whiskers spray colorful sparks and arcs of electricity. The utility power of Dynamo is also greatly changed from the Sorcerer template. But here are the details of all aspects:
Blitz (J) Turn yourself into a flash and jump a long distance. Also able to magnetize objects and telekinetically move them around. The senses are also greatly enhanced, utilizing an electromagnetic field to cover great distances.
Invigorating Spark (L) Supercharge the regeneration of wounded friends. Repair mechanical objects at a distance, usually by welding broken parts.
Electromagnetic Shield (G) Create a deflecting shield around a target.
Blending Matrix (F) Charged particles create an optical illusion that hides the Michtim. When Evading the Michtim is deconstructed into digital stuff and instantly reassembled.
Spark Hammer (A) Changes the Michtim into electricity and propels them at enemies. After the Attack, the Michtim bounces back to its former place.
Cyberpathy (Utility): The Michtim can communicate with digital/electric systems. It can even possess a machine temporarily, becoming one with the object and controlling it.
Hey folks!
Michtim: Fluffy Adventures is now available as digital download from DriveThruRPG (or RPGNow). You can fetch it for $ 10,- and there’s also an added bonus. If you buy the PDF now you also will get a $ 5,- coupon code valid for the hardcover print version.
Speaking of the hardcover (full color) print version: I really was hoping to get it out until end of September, but the delivery from the printer (who is in the US) to Austria is taking a little longer than expected. I will be able to activate the print product only when I finally receive my proof copies, but I expect them to show up in my inbox any day.
The coupon will only be valid for customers who buy the PDF before the print product goes live, but I will also include options to buy bundled PDF/print deals. 🙂
I want to take the chance to thank everyone who actually goes out there to buy Michtim: Fluffy Adventures. I really hope you enjoy it. If you have any comments, just let me know. You can contact me via Twitter (@zydake), Facebook (Georg Mir) or Google+ (Georg Mir).
You might also want to become a fan of Michtim RPG on Facebook!
Greetings from the Immergrummelwoods,
Georg
Hey there!
I hope I haven’t lost my followers due to the address change. Chances are I completely messed up in that particular quest. Anyway, I hope you’re still with me!
Michtim RPG is nearing its completion, and I am really sorry for not having updated the blog regularly. Maybe I’ll fetch some pictures later, so you can at least see how much progress has been made.
The game will be made available to the public through DriveThruRPG / RPGNow. So stay tuned! You can buy a full-color print (in hardcover format) from DTRPG!
It’s just a matter of weeks now.
Michtim Story Mode Sheet