Yep. Sketch out a game or system using candles somehow in the mechanic.
Why? Just to say we (you) did, I guess. And 'cuz I'm bored. :)
OK. It's a FATAL variant, called "Back Passage Dungeon Crawl"...
Quote from: Age of FableOK. It's a FATAL variant, called "Back Passage Dungeon Crawl"...
NOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooo!!!!
Quote from: Zachary The FirstYep. Sketch out a game or system using candles somehow in the mechanic.
Take a lesson from the ancient Chinese who used to put tortoise shells into fires and perform divinations based on the cracks formed by the heat. Hold something in the fire and interpret the results based on how it burns or cracks. Another interesting idea might involve trying to blow the candle out from various distances. None of this is likely to replace die rolling, though.
How about one trip of hot wax on your hand for ever hit point of damage your character gets to help the players appreciate the damage that their characters are taking in a visceral hard-to-ignore way. I bet you'd see a lot fewer characters standing in the way of damage with the player saying, "My character can take it!" unless there is a really good reason for it.
Quote from: John MorrowHow about one trip of hot wax on your hand for ever hit point of damage your character gets to help the players appreciate the damage that their characters are taking in a visceral hard-to-ignore way. I bet you'd see a lot fewer characters standing in the way of damage with the player saying, "My character can take it!" unless there is a really good reason for it.
Combine this with Age of Fable's post you've got some nipple waxing!
:what: :eyepop:
Non-S&M Starter idea: Once apon a time candles were used as timing devices. With markings on them to denote increments of time passed as the candle burned.
Quote from: DwightNon-S&M Starter idea: Once apon a time candles were used as timing devices. With markings on them to denote increments of time passed as the candle burned.
I was thinking, if you knew the approximate time a candle burned, you could use it to heighten tension. You know: the Flame of All has burned for eons, keeping at bay the forces of darkness and chaos that would otherwise consume the world. If you don't recover it and speak the words of power in time, etc, etc, etc...
Quote from: DwightNon-S&M Starter idea: Once apon a time candles were used as timing devices. With markings on them to denote increments of time passed as the candle burned.
You can embed things in the candle that cause it to flare up or pop at various points when the heat hits it. Basically, I don't think a predictable time-keeping burn is going to be very useful but something random might be.
Combine candles with astrology. If the stars are right and you blow them all out, you get a wish.
Well, the slogan "the only limit is your imagination" has been scrapped, on medical advice.
Set up an array of those number-shaped candles from the party store. At an opportune moment, you try to blow them out, and that's your dice pool.
edit--Hey, for combat you have to pinch them out.
edit--Hey, for ranged combat you have to shoot them out with a squirt gun. :)
I like the candle timer idea. Like...in CoC, when the candle goes out...the world ends...what're you gonna do before that!
Oooh, I've got a variant for the dicepool one:
Whatever candle you have lit is your current dicepool. You can change your dicepool by lighting a different candle. Once the candle is burnt out, you can no longer use that number.
Plus a new one: This requires a lighter with a variable flame.
The monster has a postion on the lighter given in percentile (like 50% would be dead center). The players have to come up with creative ways to assist one another or work in concert. Everyone who succeeds gets to touch their flames together to combine them. If their flame is noticably larger than the "monster" than the win the battle/do damage...etc.
I actually had to do this when we forgot dice several years back. We play by candle light a lot so we had several color candles.
1. Cut two candles into equal sizes.
2. Cut a piece of one candle of a third color equal to the individual pieces already cut up.
3. Designate a Positive and negative color. The third color is the Wild color.
4. Put all pieces in a dice bag (it has to be a big one).
Actions.
For actions a character declares what they will wager and picks that number of pieces out of the bag. If the total is positive (more positives better) then the action succeeds. If negative, then fail. If wild is pulled, then the character owns the narration and may describe the scene until the candle burns down. This was shared with the GM who kept the game going.
Bill