Stepping It Up To Version 1.3

Todd Crapper Uncategorized , , , , , , , , , ,

ScreenPlay_Rehearsal_GoogleForms_banner_v1p3With almost 20 pages of new and updated rules, options, and a brand new treatment, Version 1.3 of ScreenPlay: The Rehearsal Edition is now available for download on DriveThruRPG and RPGNow. If you’ve already clicked on this free (that’s right, FREE!) playtest edition of the upcoming storytelling RPG, check your message to see what our awesome playtesters have helped up improve and expand upon. And if you’ve never heard of this ScreenPlay thing, you’ll want to click on this fancy blue text to read all about the game reviews and playtest surveys have awarded an average rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars.

You say you want bullet points of all the new goodies available in ScreenPlay? Well, why didn’t you say so?

  • New rules for adding motivations and hindrances to your characters. Adding motivations not only provides roleplaying incentives for your lead and supporting characters but also provides opportunity to earn more milestones (think of them as XP points) and hindrances are personality flaws and obstacles your characters must overcome during the course of the story… plus they’re opportunities the Director can use against your characters to make a scene more challenging.
  • Creating advantages for your allies with step bonuses, maintain a description’s effects over multiple turns, and prepare/concentrate on a description to gain step bonuses.
  • Refined rules and explanations on conflict rolls and complications making them easier than ever to understand and apply.
  • Expanded and clarified rules for resources
  • A revised 2-page character sheet with room for additional in-game tables, notes for character roles, initiatives, even your own sketch of the character.
  • New rules and guidelines for using super powers, perfect for the freshly unlocked treatment called Nightfall, a superhero tale exploring the concept of multiple people taking on the role of a single masked vigilante.

Nightfall_logo

The work is not done yet and the door is always open for more playtesters to join in the quest to make ScreenPlay better every day. Earn playtest points for free copies of the game, maybe even a print copy of the upcoming Director’s Cut of the game. Join the ScreenPlayer’s Guild community and enter in-depth conversations on various aspects of the mechanics or join in a play-by-post game. Help us make the game you want to play and create the stories you’ve always wanted to tell.

ScreenPlay Playtest Report (Week 2)

Todd Crapper Uncategorized

ScreenPlay_Rehearsal_GoogleForms_banner_v1p3Work on ScreenPlay: The Rehearsal Edition (and therefore it’s final version due out for next year) has picked up the pace. While the number of playtesters has only increased by a small amount, the amount of feedback has jumped exponentially. This means work on Version 1.3 will see a large increase in page counts as we work on not only touching up some of the existing mechanics (particularly with complications, a component always considered the trickiest piece of the puzzle) but adding on new ones. Let’s break it down with the bullet points.

  • Starting off with the best news of the past week, the playtesters have unlocked the next ScreenPlay treatment. Nightfall is a modern day superhero/masked vigilante story with a twist on the standard genre: what if there was more than one person behind the mask? And what if someone learned this secret and started trying to eliminate them one-by-one? For a special preview of this second playtest adventure, check out the brand new Nightfall page and watch for it in Version 1.3.
  • Speaking of unlockables, we’re now past 20 total playtest points handed out with one playtester already rocking 8 of those for himself. Our new unlocked treatment will be Escape From The X, a sci-fi/horror story set in the Mercenary Breed setting by our publisher, Mystical Throne Entertainment. You can learn more about it on our Playtest Points page.
  • This past week, the very first game not played by anyone directly affiliated with Broken Ruler Games. A group of Writers and a Director took on the challenge of joining the Ironbound and the results were incredibly positive. Plus we’ve already received a Writer’s and Director’s Survey from this group with an average score of 5 out of 5.
  • If you’re read through The Rehearsal Edition but haven’t joined the G+ community, you’re missing out on some vital discussions. One of them involved bringing up old ideas and breathing new life into a concept of character flaws, be they moral, social, or what have you. Thanks to this discussion, Version 1.3 will include a new section on motivations and hindrances, including mechanics on how they can bring you milestones to help move the story and your characters forward.
  • Characters will be able to create advantages, special bonuses you can introduce in a scene by sacrificing Stamina to activate and applying details to maintain.
  • Minor revisions have been made to resources, such as how many can be applied at a time and for which reasons.

This weekend will be dedicated to finalizing the updates to Version 1.3 of the Rehearsal Edition. Expect to see it updated to your RPGNow/DriveThruRPG account by the middle of next week.

ScreenPlay Playtest Report (Week 1)

Todd Crapper ScreenPlay , , , ,

ScreenPlay_Rehearsal_GoogleForms_banner_v1p2What a brilliant, crazy week it has been! Our first week of playtesting for ScreenPlay has now moved into the second week and the results have been helpful, insightful, encouraging, and so much more. There’s a risk in throwing out something unfinished to the void and hoping that most of it will stick to the wall. So far, it seems those of you who have decided to help us out have really latched onto it.

Here’s a brief bullet point update on what’s transpired over the past week.

  • Version 1.1 of the Rehearsal Edition is averaging 4.4 out of 5 on our surveys
  • A lot of terrific comments have been shared on the same surveys, as well as some constructive feedback. On Tuesday, October 26th, Version 1.2 of the Rehearsal Edition was updated to everyone who has downloaded the original PDF on DriveThruRPG and RPGNow. The primary focus was a revised approach to Act Two: How To Play using a more traditional approach to mechanics presentation and character creation, along with some modifications to milestones and the additional of character hooks.
  • The current number of playtest points awarded sits at 11 as of the time of this writing, meaning we’re only 4 more points away from unlocking Nightfall, a modern day superhero story of multiple people acting as a single superhero/vigilante.
  • Page views to this site for October have tripled the previous highest month and the month isn’t even finished yet.
  • On the ScreenPlayers Guild G+ Community, we’re getting ready to start a play-by-post rendition of Ironbound, the dark fantasy treatment provided in Version 1.1 of the playtest. If you have yet to join the community, feel free to join in. It’s a great opportunity to see the game in progress and laying down the foundations for how Directors and Writers can set up their own take on a story.

Fifteen weeks remain and the wheels are turning faster than ever. Huge thanks goes out to everyone who has joined in the effort with more than just enthusiasm and has shown this tale is far from over. And remember to keep using the #ScreenPlayRPG hashtag to help get the word out and fill out those surveys to collect those playtest points. Now let’s close out this post with a trio of gracious comments from surveys completed this past week.

CR2cUe6U8AAC3jC.jpg-large ScreenPlay_RehearsalReview_v1p1_AnonymousSurvery ScreenPlay_RehearsalReview_v1p1_MarkMintz

ScreenPlay: The Rehearsal Edition Launches

Todd Crapper ScreenPlay , , , , , ,
The cover for ScreenPlay: The Rehearsal Edition, by Jeff Brown.
The cover for ScreenPlay: The Rehearsal Edition, by Jeff Brown.

Let the games begin!

After two years of development and three months of writing, re-writing, and sweating, ScreenPlay: The Rehearsal Edition [will be] available for free on DriveThruRPG and RPGNow. Aside from putting the first draft of this unique, public playtest edition of our upcoming storytelling RPG, you can also learn everything about the game in our new and expanded ScreenPlay pages.

  • Discover ScreenPlay for the first time on our updated lead page and the Rehearsal Edition product page;
  • Get the basics on how the game works on the Learn To ScreenPlay page and see how the pieces fall into place before downloading your free copy;
  • Unlock the secret of this game’s unique rewards and how this playtest works like a Kickstarter campaign on our Playtest Points page;
  • Finally, explore the dark secrets of Ironbound, the first treatment for ScreenPlay where the Writers take on the role of these elite witch hunters tasked with protecting the kingdom of Alduire from all forms of magick and rituals.

The time is here, so starting click, start reading and start writing your next story with ScreenPlay.