What's New With WILD?

So I've been playing a lot of Yakuza 7 recently. That's only partially relevant. The big point is that after Steel Hearts my noggin needed a big ol' break to recharge, then my summer ended up being stressful, and now here we are at the end of October and my brains barely processed that August is over. That said there's that western game WILD that's still been brewing in the back of my head... I wanted to post some ideas and musings on how that's going, how things have changed, and what might get added in! Obvs this is all very very subject to change...

Taking a Load Off

Rest is important. It's something I say pretty damn often and it's very true. Extra true if you're a Wanderer in the world of WILD. In WILD you have 3 Stats that keep you alive, your Blood (physical trauma), Brain (consciousness), and Belly (you eatin' right?). Get shot? Cut your hand? Lose a leg? Blood. Get punched? Infected by mold? Lost sleep? Brain. Feeling ill? Missed a meal? Drank some rancid water? Belly. These 3 restore about how they do in real life: Resting.

Blood requires you get medical aid. Brain requires you sleep. Belly requires you eat a hot meal. Depending on your equipment and how much time you have you roll d6s to heal accordingly ((Ex every 4 hours of sleep restores d6+bedding bonuses Brain, and a hot meal restores d6+meal bonuses Belly))

But here's the thing. It ain't resting if you ain't safe. This lovely Blog Post got my mind racing about just Resting Mechanics and penalties for dangerous environs. So how does one go about feeling safe?

Well wrangling witty words from the aforementioned blog post, WILD wrings out 3 types of places weary wanderers may wistfully wait:

(Hostility 0) WARM - A town or well defended outpost. Shelter from the elements, and relative safety from the wilderness. In this environment you suffer no penalties.

(Hostility 1-4) WEARY - Shelter from the elements... but not much else. Perhaps staying in a manor with people you don't trust, or staking out an abandoned fort to escape a harsh storm. All Healing is reduced by -2.

(Hostility 5-10) WILD - Out in the Wilderness. Gotta make camp, but even then this ain't your turf, and a tent's only gonna do so much if the sky opens up. All Healing is reduced by -4.

(Hostility 11+) WICKED - The depths of the mythic underworld. The lair of cannibals. The den of dragons. This place was not meant for you to enter, much less rest in. All Healing is reduced by -6.

But of course, there's ways to keep yourself relaxed. That's where the 4th Base Stat comes in: Buzz. Buzz measures how much bliss your bumbling bastard is bearing in their bosom. You can expend your Buzz 1-for-1 to reduce a locations Hostility Rating (for you) for this Quarter. Some ways to induce Buzz include:

Drink beer or smoke tobacco! (+d3 Buzz per Consumption - Something something be wary of the Drunk Status Effect... we'll talk about alcohol next...)

Drink hard liquor straight or chew tobacco! (+d6 Buzz per Consumption)

Meditate! (Per hour make a WIS Check - Gain +d3 Buzz per Success)

Delve into a good book! (Gain +d3 Buzz per hour spent reading - Make sure you bring the book along in your inventory - Gain +d6 if it's a religious text you believe in!)

Exercise! (Gain +d3 Buzz per hour spent exercising - STR or CON Checks to go multiple hours - On failure you injure yourself for d3 Bleed or Brain)

Dump a fat load in some bussy Spend intimate time with a consenting party! (All parties make the same Check - Gain +d6 Buzz per your partner's Successes - If multiple partners, take the best result that isn't yours - This eats up an hour - STR or CON Checks to go multiple hours)

This all sounds a little complex, but my goal is to have this all neatly laid out in an easily printable players' survival guide for maximum accessibility!

The Thing About D. Rank

Sandro makes combat that isn't fiddly - Difficulty Rank: Impossible. Like a hungry patron in a grocery store patiently waiting for 7:30 so they can get half-off sushi, by delaying getting this game out there I'm ever so tempted to add things to my cart. Currently when you point your Big Iron at a fella the gist is this:

• Roll d6 equal to shots you're firing.
• Every d6 Rolled over the gun's D. Rank is a hit
• Per hit roll Hit Location
• Roll d6 DMG

Pretty simple right? Well...... Currently there's some ways to adjust a Gun's D. Rank via perks and actions. My thinking is I'm (mostly) going to have D. Rank be static, and those +/- will instead be added to the d6s rolled. This then got me thinking: What's my reward for rolling real well with all these bonuses? Well fella, do I have an idea for you: D. Rank Difference.

The D. Rank Difference is a number that then the Player can optionally add or subtract to either the Hit Location or DMG (this must be called before rolling Hit Location). They can add or subtract as much or as little as they want, and can determine how much after the outcome of the Hit Location or DMG roll.

It's fiddly, but makes stronger characters feel... Well stronger. And makes penalties (and bonuses) feel more meaningful. This also would obviously only apply to shot weapons.

There's a part of me that wants this to exclusively be a Perk that you have to spec into, that way a shmuck firing a Big Iron wouldn't get the same bonuses, and in a basic game the rule doesn't need to come into play. Lots to mull over.

Going Medieval on Them

So the swords. I keep mentioning the game has swords right? The big purpose of swords is to be most ideal for fighting monsters in the Mythic Underworld - This is partially because you can safely sever parts to sell instead of destroying them, also because many monsters fight in Melee and this gives you a great chance to negate a lot of that incoming DMG. Also because you can always get +/-5 to mess with for your Hit Location. Convenient and deadly!

Great Swords kick this up a notch. Great swords allow (in a single action) to attack up to 3 Targets in the same attack. Each Target must be unique BUT each Segment on a Monster (if the monster is big enough to have segments) counts as a separate Target. Time to get hacking!

Oh also Shields. They flat reduce bullet damage in the arm holding it or if the chest is hit, and they can be added to the Melee Roll during a Brawl where you're defending (but not attacking). Does this mean a guy with a sword and shield will be rolling more when he's defending instead of attacking? Yes it does! Maybe he should use his Turn Action on something else, like healing or moving?

I also played a lot of Weird West recently which inspired the following sections!

Bows

Yeah somehow in all my research of the Native peoples of America I totally forgot this one. Bows. Duh. They're gonna be a thing. How are they different than guns you say? Well Bows don't roll for DMG, different arrow types have a flat DMG number (that can be modified via D. Rank Difference). Standard Arrows deal 4 DMG (enough for a guaranteed kill with a headshot) and 1 DMG to cover. Fire arrows set things on Fire. Etc etc. Bows! They're here now and they're vaguely unique from guns in a way that feels meaningful! Also they're obviously silent.

Sneaky Sneaky

The OSR would have you believe combat is a fail state. The key in my opinion is making sure combat is quick and swift and ends entirely in your favor - And so WILD will be getting a mild Stealth system pulling from some of my BOX Engine ideas:

• Each Area has an Alert level - At Zero no one knows anything is amiss, at 1 Enemies know something is up, but not where you are, at 6 all enemies are aware of your last known location and have a vague idea of who they're looking for.
• Any time a body or clearly broken lock/seal is discovered the area's Alert level raises to a minimum of 2.
• Repositioning in Stealth requires either a DEX or WIS Check. Every Failure raises the Alert by 1.
• When shooting an unaware enemy you don't roll Hit Location, you hit wherever you wanted to hit in clear view. Shooting a Gun will cause d6 Alert in the area.
• When attacking an unaware enemy in Melee, they do not get to roll any dice to counter attack. Hope you take them out in one go! Any melee attack against an aware enemy cause d3 Alert unless they're killed outright by the attack.
• On their turn an Aware enemy can Raise the Alarm as an action, shouting for help and immediately raising the Alert to 6. 

Does this make Stealth + Bows incredibly mechanically powerful? Of course! But I think it's pretty cool. Some of these bonuses might move into being perks but ehhhhhh.

Well that about wraps up all the ideas I wanted to get typed up and out there. I really need to work on solidifying the new Character Sheet along with the Horse and Enemy sheets... Then the map for the network test... Then the players' guide... Then the shop... Lots to do but very exciting.