Tetris Inventory for the Tabletop

[Chainsaw Aardvark]

Quite probably everyone of you has played a video game with some sort of grid based inventory system. Deus Ex, Stalker and Diablo are prime examples. How about we try this for a pencil and paper RPG?

This would get around the usual problems with encumbrance rules - poo visualization of how big/unwieldy something is and lack of knowledge about actual weights or sizes. Equipment markers could also have an image and game stats on them to assist recognition and game flow.

[kylesgames]

I'm totally up for it, but I seriously think it would work best in a survival/action oriented game. I'm thinking a zombie game?

When I reboot Green Dawn I'm going to use this, to reflect that gear is cheap, carrying is expensive.

[koipond]

That's ... bloody brilliant actually.

Now, would you have just a shape, or would you have the actual thing drawn? A sheet you can photocopy and cut?

[vulpinoid]

There was a game in development that used a system very similar to this over on Storygames last year (or it might have been 2010). It was a zombie survival horror game where the characters all had parkour and had to jump from building to building, avoiding the ground for fear of contacting the zombie hordes. You collected things in your pack using an inventory system like this.

I don't know what happened to it.

I had also considered developing a "Tron"-like rpg where the characters are described as an 8x8 matrix, with programs (skills/special powers) added to the matrix in the form of tetris-like blocks. Simple programs taking up 1 square, useful programs taking 2 squares and complex programs taking 4. When you overclocked yourself for temporary advantages, you'd risk blowing out the size of your programs (and causing them to take on unwieldy shapes)...then you'd have to rest and defragment yourself to return to a more efficient state.

My plan for this was shapes you'd cut out and fold into different forms before applying them to the matrix.

It's one of many projects that I consider going back to from time to time.

[Rob Lang]

Is this cool or a pain in the bum? I am not sure. If you have a small amount of equipment and it is changing a lot then it could be cool. If you have a large amount of equipment and it rarely changes then perhaps not.

Also, many people complain about having meta-games taking over the roleplay at the table. I see where they are coming from (although don't agree). To many, the act of having a game that is not directly affecting the actions of the characters is jarring. One might circumvent that problem by providing the character sheet with a tetris board shaped like the character. Bigger characters have a bigger tetris board.

Still not sure if it's that much fun, tho.

[Chainsaw Aardvark]

On one hand, I'm inclined to go for ease of production and minimal mess - just provide a grid of 1.5x1.5cm squares, and let player's write in notes & sizes on their own. Actual small handouts would end up with a lot of small bits to lose, but would give you a tactile feel for gaining and loosing stuff, and be a bit easier to manipulate than drawing and erasing.

Perhaps we could go for an intermediate step - have playing card sized hand-outs for gear. An image, stats, a small text block. You can only have so many cards "in play" in front of you, and a second limit on how many in hand. No rearranging needed, but still physical items and physical limitations rather than a bland list of stuff and weights.

Grid inventory would actually work with Dead and Back, at least in part. "Up-Rise" - things on hand/useable in combat - is measured in discrete two kilogram slots, everything else is under the heading of "Pack". It would be good for a con game when I'm trying to explain it and keep things moving.

If you guys can direct me to some of the finished works over on "Story Games" I'd like to check those out.

[Rob Lang]

I'd go with paper cut-outs that you glue to card and then have a little board to put them on. That would make it fun and tactile to move the pieces about.

[Thought]

Reminds me a little of the upgrade system from some of the Mega Man games. Anywho, I always like bringing a tactile feel to the table, so I'm all for eschewing paper and pencils in favor of something blocky.

The easiest method might be to recommend a particular version of a child's puzzle block set. Every time a character gets a sword, for example, the GM gives the player a small square. Every time they get a boat, the player gets a large triangle, etc.

If that doesn't work, or seems to cumbersome, legos might be a viable option. Every character gets a small flat plate and the GM hands out particular shapes and the sort for specific equipment. Failing that, perhaps an old battleship game, or even just a grid with tokens or gaming stones.

Finally, dice could also be used for a similar effect. A character might have a pack size of a D8. If the character is currently at a load 3, then the die is adjusted so 3 pips are showing. They get a helmet 2, and the die is adjusted to show 5 pips. Maybe then they find fullplate 4. Alas, the dice doesn't go up that high, so they either can't take it or have to discard something else.

Anywho, just a few ideas.

[vulpinoid]

Here's a link to , the survival-zombie-horror-parkour game I referred to on Story-Games.

Looking back on it now, it's not quite what I remembered (or what I described). But it has ideas linked to the points in this thread.

Instead of using tetris like shapes, you use coins on a set area. It's still all about maximising the space available for the stuff you want to carry.

[kylesgames]