ABAWARI
Tabletop RPG
for 1 month in November 2020
Team: 6 game designers
Tools: Google Suite | Indesign | Inkarnate
Skills: Gameplay design | Rational design | Narrative design
In role-playing games, the core of the gameplay is mainly defined by the action resolution system, which can be blurred in the case of narrative projects. In our case, one of the initial intentions was to offer a game focused on combat, with a very systemic approach.
From this starting point, in collaboration with two other designers, I developed an action resolution system to highlight our intentions. Character skills are infinitive verbs - persuade, craft, dodge - used to perform an action. Each skill is rated from 1 to 5, a number that indicates the number of dice to be rolled. These skills are also associated with characteristics - strength, intelligence, sociability - also scored from 1 to 5, which define the number of faces on the dice rolled - the higher the score, the fewer faces. Finally, the dice with the lowest value is kept, as it must be less than or equal to difficulty levels in order to determine whether an action is successful.
This system proved to be very interesting statistically: skills allow more dice to be rolled, which reduces variance and ensures globally correct results. That's the acquis. Characteristics reduce the number of faces, allowing more spectacular successes, but are more unpredictable. That's the innate.
By its very nature, the project required a certain amount of Rational design work, as all elements of the game could be statistically interpreted to match the simulationist aspect of the game. My main task in this aspect was to convert playable and non-playable characters into balanced numerical values.
I spent two-thirds of the project on the system and the remaining third on worldbuilding. My task was to define the current state of the world, what the main factions were and how they interacted with each other. Below are examples of paragraphs I wrote that describe my work:
ORIGINAL FRENCH VERSION
TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH
Des enquêtes, du combat et de la magie
Abawari met l’accent sur les enquêtes et les combats, vous invitant à traquer divers criminels et créatures influencées par les Maux dans le but de les abattre et de purifier le monde qui vous entoure. Il faudra faire preuve de tactique pour sortir vainqueur de vos confrontations, aussi techniques que mortelles. Pour vous aider, des Abawas, dieux déchus qui veulent défaire les Maux, vous prêtent leur force magique sous la forme d’un Masque de pouvoir. Utilisez-le à bon escient et devenez un porteur de ces artefacts surnaturels : un Abawari.
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Une région en plein conflit
Masud est occupée par différents peuples dont vous trouverez une description plus détaillée dans les pages qui suivent. Nakir, nation principale des évènements d’Abawari, est un rassemblement de plusieurs clans s’étant alliés pour se défendre face aux Terres de Hagu, qui menacent d’envahir toute la région dans un avenir proche. Arshed Sayem, un troisième peuple habitant une île à proximité, observe ce conflit d’un œil distant : ils préféreraient ne pas s’occuper des affaires de guerres, mais sont bien obligés d’apporter leur soutien à Nakir afin de garantir leur propre sécurité. Enfin, les Nomades de Mungo parcourent l’ensemble des territoires de ces grandes nations, tolérés tant qu’ils n’interfèrent pas avec les grandes décisions politiques qui se jouent à Masud.
Investigation, combat and magic
Abawari focuses on investigation and combat, inviting you to track down various criminals and creatures influenced by Evil in order to bring them down and purify the world around you. You'll need to be tactical to win your confrontations, which are both technical and deadly. To help you, Abawas, fallen gods who want to defeat the Evils, lend you their magical strength in the form of a Mask of Power. Use it wisely and become a bearer of these supernatural artifacts: an Abawari.
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A region in conflict
Masud is occupied by several populations, which are described in more detail in the following pages. Nakir, the main nation of Abawari events, is a gathering of several clans that have allied to defend themselves against the Hagu Lands that threaten to invade the entire region in a near future. Arshed Sayem, a third nation living on a nearby island, observes this conflict with a distant eye: they would prefer not to be involved in the affairs of war, but are obliged to support Nakir in order to guarantee their own safety. Finally, the Nomads of Mungo roam the territories of these great nations, tolerated as long as they do not interfere with the political decisions that are being made in Masud.
