game:puppetland [RPG Design Patterns]

John Tynes authored Puppetland and Hogshead Publishing distributes it. In this game, all of the players portray puppets in a world fashioned by the Puppet Maker. Unfortunately, the puppet Punch murdered the Puppet Maker and thus because the primary villain of the game. Punch has a number of minions, known as “Punch’s Boys,” which he fashioned from the flesh of the dead Puppet Maker. Punch also has an army of nutcracker soldiers. He tyrannically rules most of Puppetland without compassion or mercy. The game encourages the players to overthrow Punch and, if possible, restore the kindly Puppet Maker to life.

The world contains a number of fairy tale attractions. First, most puppets live in Puppettown, which Punch’s castle overlooks. The Lake of Milk and Cookies borders Puppettown. True to its name, this lake contains eternally yummy milk in which cookies float like icebergs. Across the lake from Puppettown lies Respite, a small village founded by Judy, a kindly female marionette who was Punch’s one time lover but is now his arch enemy. Puppets fleeing Punch’s wrath congregate here.

The game world follows the rules of puppet physics. That is, events take place purely for dramatic purpose rather than as any kind of attempt to simulate “reality.” There are no tables, no dice rolls, and no numbers to compare. If one puppet stabs another puppet with a sword, the second puppet falls to the ground. At the end of each hour-long session, all puppets in Puppetland wake up safe and snug in their beds fully mended, even those recently stabbed or otherwise mutilated. The only exception to this rule is that puppets that have lost all of their “puzzle pieces” do not waken. Puppets start out with 16 puzzle pieces and lose one whenever injured or if they attempt an action their description says they cannot do (such as pick something up when they have no hands). Once lost, puzzle pieces never return.

RPG Design Patterns Identified

Class (various puppet types), Diceless, Drama Based Initiative, Faction (Punch’s Boys vs. everyone else), Flaw, Game Master, Gift, Hit Points (“puzzle pieces”), Negotiated Contest, Trait

Character Makeup

Characters can be Finger Puppets, Hand Puppets, Shadow Puppets, or Marionette Puppets. The game recommends having at least one of each type in a group. The various puppet types have different strengths and weaknesses. Finger puppets lack hands, so they cannot grab things. However, their tiny stature makes them quick, so they can dodge aside when things are thrown at them. Shadow puppets disappear when they stand sideways due to their extreme thinness. The big, strong, and slow marionettes can pick things up and throw them, but cannot dodge. So, each of these puppet types has specific flaws and gifts categorized under the headings of “This puppet is,” “This puppet can,” and “This puppet can not.”

After choosing the puppet type, the player must decide on three traits about the puppet for each of the gift and flaw categories. These can be anything the game master agrees to and are commonly such things as “very clever,” “do magic tricks,” “can’t tell a lie,” etc.

Conflict System

The decision of who wins a conflict is entirely on the game master’s shoulders. He makes choices based on what he feels is most dramatically appropriate to the story. A character’s flaws and gifts ordinarily weigh heavily into these judgments.

Turn Order

Action order is, once again, based purely on the dramatic effect it has on the storyline and is decided upon by the game master.

Reward System

Lacking virtually all mechanics, Puppetland essentially has no mechanical reward system. Its hit point system, involving the puppets’ puzzle pieces, is about the closest thing that it has. Puppets don’t want to take damage, since it is permanent and always brings a puppet closer to his “death.” So, avoiding damage is rewarded by virtue of the fact that the puppet didn’t take any.

game/puppetland.txt · Last modified: 2011/05/05 04:41 (external edit) -