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 Tragedy Looper is a small press indie board game. It's a horror/mystery deduction game, drawing from Japanese horror video games like Higurashi ni Naku Koro Ni. A tiny garage project, the game was self-printed and released at the 2011 Tokyo Game Market under the pesudonym BakaFire Party. It had little hope of a larger release...until the international explosion of Love Letter and Japon Brand at Essen 2013, and the subsequent opening of the Japanese board game scene. Z-Man will release the english version at Gen Con Indy 2014. In the meantime, I have a Japanese copy of the game, and an itch to play.             (Introduction comic, translated and released by the publisher here.) Through various means, three high schoolers are given the astounding power to travel backwards in time. But their inexplicable gift comes with a grave price: the attention and interest of a sadistic entity that calls itself "The Mastermind" or "The Scriptwriter." Amused and delighted by these new toys, the Mastermind concocts brutal and horrifying tragedies to play out with the protagonists' friends, classmates, and loved ones. As the protagonists, you must unravel and thwart the Mastermind's hideous script. But you can only watch these bloody and violent scenarios play out so many times before your resolve and your sanity crack. As the Mastermind, I'm operating under a pre-generated set of rules and victory conditions, called a Script. The game comes with a set of pre-written scripts, as well as the rules to concoct your own from a set of given parts. However, you Protagonists don't know the details of my script, and must deduce the truth as quickly and efficiently as possible from your many The game plays out over a predetermined number of Loops, each consisting of a predetermined number of Days. Each day, I will take a number of hidden actions, followed by the protagonists. At the end of each loop, if I've met one or more of my victory conditions, you must reset the loop and try again, and again, and again, until you run out of loops and reach the Bad Ending. (And some events can cause the loop to end prematurely, like the death of a crucial victim, or of the protagonists themselves.) However, if just one Loop ends without my plans coming to fruition, you win escape the spiral of tragedy...for the time being. --- Here's the tricky bit: I have translations of the rules for both the Protagonists and the Mastermind. However, as Z-Man has not yet released the English rules, handing out the whole document would likely violate SA's  rules, and I don't want to get banned. As such, I'll be teaching the game here in my own words, and only providing content directly relevant to the scenario we're using. PLEASE NOTE: This thread will contain spoilers for one of the prewritten Tragedy Looper scenarios (specifically, one of the first teaching scenarios). If you want to play the game completely unspoiled, STOP READING NOW.Protagonists Poison Mushroom (Yellow) Some Numbers (Blue) Fat Samurai (Green) Mastermind Gutter Owl Backup Players ActingPower Stelas GMarshal Fat Turkey Morpheus ---  THREAD RULES1) NO SPOILERS. I know this isn't likely to happen, but if you just so happen to come across a copy of the game, DO NOT SPOIL THE SCENARIO. I mean, duh. 2) This will be an OPEN DISCUSSION GAME for the players: Players are free to discuss strategy with one another at any time, but must do so in the thread. PMs are not allowed. 3) Non-participants may throw out suggestions BETWEEN LOOPS, but may not kibitz DURING an active loop. 4) Player decision for turns are due by midnight Pacific Time the day after the decision is opened. Decisions should be posted in the thread and should be bolded as such: ##Play PARANOIA -1 on SHRINE MAIDEN 5) If a Protagonist is unable to give a decision by the deadline (without prior notice), their seat will be given to the first Backup Player who calls it in the thread, and the former Protagonist will be moved to the Backup Player list. 6) If you would like to be added to the Backup Player list, PM Gutter Owl to be added. gutterdaughter fucked around with this message at 03:25 on Jul 16, 2014 |
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Jul 16, 2014 02:56
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| # ? Apr 16, 2024 08:09 |
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Rules Basics posted:
Turn Structure posted:Each day consists of the following phases: Plots posted:Each script consists of a Main Plot and 1-2 Subplots (depending on the Tragedy Set). Plots are selected from those available within the chosen Tragedy Set. The Plots describe which Hidden Roles the Mastermind will use, and may define victory conditions and special abilities. At the start of the game, the Plots are unknown to the Protagonists. Hidden Roles posted:Each character on the board is assigned a Hidden Role at the start of the game. Incidents posted:Certain days will have preprogrammed "Incidents." These Incidents are each assigned a Culprit, and will occur if that Culprit has Paranoia tokens equal to or above their printed Paranoia Threshold. (Whether the Mastermind wants the Incident to occur or not!) Available Cards posted:The Mastermind's Hand gutterdaughter fucked around with this message at 04:50 on Jul 16, 2014 |
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Jul 16, 2014 04:13
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The Script is written! GAME START! We will be using the First Steps Tragedy Set. This set is specifically designed for use with the tutorial scenarios. This set will use 1 Main Plot and One Sub-Plot! Plots in this set posted:[MAIN] Murder Plan Possible Hidden Roles posted:Key Person: If this character dies, the loop ends immediately and the Protagonists lose! Incidents posted:DAY 2: MURDER --- LOOP 1/3, DAY 1/4 LEADER: POISON MUSHROOM  (Please enjoy this high quality image of the game board that I totally didn't take with an iPhone because I suck at Photoshop.) Day Start: Nothing Happens. Mastermind Cards: Mastermind plays cards on the Girl Student, the Office Worker, and the School location!  Protagonist Cards:  Resolve Cards
 Mastermind Abilities: Nothing happens... Goodwill Abilities: Not enough Goodwill. Incidents: No incident scheduled for Day 1! End of Day: ... ... ...?!  The Girl Student dies! The loop ends prematurely! The protagonists lose!  Travelling backwards in time...Please wait... gutterdaughter fucked around with this message at 05:17 on Jul 17, 2014 |
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Jul 16, 2014 04:40
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How many days and loops do we have to figure stuff out? You are using one specific main and subplot, right? On Light of the Avenger and A Place to Protect, does "Protagonists Lose" mean that we lose the game or we start a new loop?
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Jul 16, 2014 05:33
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Some Numbers posted:On Light of the Avenger and A Place to Protect, does "Protagonists Lose" mean that we lose the game or we start a new loop? Do we need to know the text on the character cards?
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Jul 16, 2014 05:47
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In fact, this is reminding me very much of a combination of Letters from Whitechapel and Mafia. Should be fun.
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Jul 16, 2014 05:49
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Some Numbers posted:How many days and loops do we have to figure stuff out? Sorry. 3 loops, four days. Loops count down on the board, but I didn't give you an indication of days. This is fixed now. quote:You are using one specific main and subplot, right? Yes. One main and one sub have already been chosen. I'm using one of the pregen scripts from the book. If I ever do a homebrew script, I'll need to hire a neutral observer or something who I can provide with the script ahead of time, to keep me honest. quote:On Light of the Avenger and A Place to Protect, does "Protagonists Lose" mean that we lose the game or we start a new loop? Lose the loop. There are no "lose the game" effects, other than failing all loops. (Even the death of the protagonists just causes the loop to end prematurely in a loss.)
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Jul 16, 2014 06:16
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Poison Mushroom posted:Do we need to know the text on the character cards? You can read the character cards by expanding the board image to full size. I've put english text on them. If they're too difficult to read, I can add another box with their text.
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Jul 16, 2014 06:49
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Gutter Owl posted:Mastermind Cards: Mastermind plays cards on the Girl Student, the Office Worker, and the School location!
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Jul 16, 2014 07:07
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Movement cards and Paranoia cards only have an effect on an NPC, but Intrigue and Forbid cards can have an effect on a location, correct? I know that you're allowed to make illegal plays; I'm trying to make sure I know what's going on.
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Jul 16, 2014 07:32
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Some Numbers posted:Movement cards and Paranoia cards only have an effect on an NPC, but Intrigue and Forbid cards can have an effect on a location, correct? Forbid Intrigue can affect a location. Forbid Goodwill/Paranoia have no effect, because locations cannot receive Goodwill or Paranoia anyway.
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Jul 16, 2014 07:55
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I feel like this first round is going to end very suddenly and unexpectedly, so trying to plan around what MIGHT happen is a lost cause. If either of you guys know Mafia terminology (or even just the movie Princess Bride), the operative phrase here is "Wine in front of me". We should try to accomplish whatever we can while we can. Right now, I'm thinking we try to get some Good Will on the office worker? Knowing even one role would be great. One of us Forbid Intrigues the City, another plays a Goodwill +1 on the office dude. Then next turn, we see what happens, maybe play the +2 on him. But a case could also be made for the Shrine Maiden, if we want to, say, be sure of who the Doctor is.
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Jul 16, 2014 09:43
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Poison Mushroom posted:One of us Forbid Intrigues the City... Er, that would be a strange play, seeing as I've played no cards on the City location. Did you mean the School location? Or maybe the office worker in the City?
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Jul 16, 2014 09:58
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Gutter Owl posted:Er, that would be a strange play, seeing as I've played no cards on the City location. Did you mean the School location? Or maybe the office worker in the City? Yeah, I guess someone should play it on the school, then.
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Jul 16, 2014 10:00
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Poison Mushroom posted:Oh, I thought Intrigue could be played on locations to protect characters. Intrigue can be played on characters or locations, yes. I think I see the misunderstanding. A Forbid Intrigue in the city will negate all Intrigue cards played on the City location itself, but will not affect the characters in the City. If you think I'm placing Intrigue on a character, you'll want to place Forbid Intrigue on that specific character. gutterdaughter fucked around with this message at 10:07 on Jul 16, 2014 |
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Jul 16, 2014 10:02
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Gutter Owl posted:Intrigue can be played on characters or locations, yes. Playing a Forbid doesn't make any sense at all when it's on a location we've seen nothing of. And while it's possible it's a feint, I don't know that making one this early would be at all productive. I'll rescind this if you two yell at me or think our only Forbid Intrigue this turn would go better somewhere else, but for now...Play Forbid Intrigue on the School. Still think we should Goodwill +1 either the Maiden or the Office Worker.
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Jul 16, 2014 10:33
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I completely missed the announcement, sorry. I agree with Poison that our best bet is to dump goodwill on someone. My doubt is whether to go for the Office Worker or the Cop. Getting 4 Goodwill on the cop would give us the Killer when she strikes. Of course, then Gutter Owl could just play Forbid Goodwill, but that's 1 less card to worry about for the day, and that's a huge deal. Speaking of which, that card on the office worker could be a Forbid Goodwill, which would make the detective a more interesting target. It would be nice to keep everyone at less than 2 paranoia in day 2, but that seems basically impossible. Same with containing intrigue in a place, although losing by accumulating intrigue in either the School or somewhere else would give us the Plot. For what's worth, I think that Poison's call is the right one. It stops the advancement of 1'25 possible plots. Numbers, what do you think? +2 to the Cop? The Shrine Maiden? I'd rather not put goodwill on the Office Worker this turn, and the students have to be together to use their Goodwill thingy. FakeEDIT: Also, dibs on the pretty anime lady in pink with the magical diary. I want to reach peak Anime.  FakeEDITEDIT: Rules question, each of us has one of each card in our hands. Does it mean we get to play 3 +2 goodwills as long as there are at least three days in this loop?
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Jul 16, 2014 17:06
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Just to be clear, on day 2 if the Culprit is panicked, someone else dies, but we don't necessarily know who the Culprit is? If that's the case, getting the cop's Goodwill up would be nice, so we have a bit more information about the next loop. On the other hand, if only one person is panicked, then I guess we know who the Culprit is? I guess?
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Jul 16, 2014 19:14
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+2ing the Cop would be nice, but if we can only use one +2 total per loop, then we wouldn't know anything at all until day 3. If we can play our own +2s separately, we can +2 rush the cop, hopefully, see what happens. If not, I'm good with either Cop, or again, Shrine Maiden. Knowing what the Doctor is will be important, I think, but I can't see a way to easily learn it this loop without the Maiden.
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Jul 16, 2014 21:20
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Poison Mushroom posted:+2ing the Cop would be nice, but if we can only use one +2 total per loop, then we wouldn't know anything at all until day 3. If we can play our own +2s separately, we can +2 rush the cop, hopefully, see what happens. This is the reason I asked for a clarification. It seems we can play each marked card 3 times, but if not we'd be better ignoring the Cop's Goodwill because it'll probably be pretty obvious who's committed suicide. I'll check back later, but for now: If we can play marked cards once per loop per Protagonist, ##play +2 Goodwill on the Cop Otherwise, ##play +1 Goodwill on the Shrine Maiden
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Jul 16, 2014 21:43
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Poison Mushroom posted:+2ing the Cop would be nice, but if we can only use one +2 total per loop, then we wouldn't know anything at all until day 3. If we can play our own +2s separately, we can +2 rush the cop, hopefully, see what happens. Yes, you have 3 "+2 Goodwills" at your disposal, one per player. Fat Samurai posted:FakeEDITEDIT: Rules question, each of us has one of each card in our hands. Does it mean we get to play 3 +2 goodwills as long as there are at least three days in this loop? This is slightly incorrect...in that all three of you could drop +2 Goodwill on the same day! The only card that cannot be doubled up on is Forbid Intrigue. gutterdaughter fucked around with this message at 21:52 on Jul 16, 2014 |
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Jul 16, 2014 21:49
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Cool. So, what do we do with the last action? Should we maybe move the Cop to where the Doctor is? Or use a Goodwill +1 on the Boy Student?
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Jul 16, 2014 22:08
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Seems like we should just play another Goodwill +2 on the cop, right? I don't see the reasoning behind not doing that.
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Jul 16, 2014 22:18
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Gutter Owl posted:However, a Protagonist MAY NOT play a card on the same character or location as another Protagonist.
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Jul 16, 2014 22:20
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Some Numbers posted:Seems like we should just play another Goodwill +2 on the cop, right? I don't see the reasoning behind not doing that. e:f;b
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Jul 16, 2014 22:20
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Poison Mushroom posted:Cool. So, what do we do with the last action? Should we maybe move the Cop to where the Doctor is? Or use a Goodwill +1 on the Boy Student? Getting the cop killed with only one other person in the same room gives us as much information as getting him alive through the loop,so I say leave him where he is. (Watch as Gutter Owl manages to pile up every single character in the hospital and kills the Cop then)
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Jul 16, 2014 22:23
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Fair enough. Why do we care about the Doctor?
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Jul 16, 2014 22:25
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That why I said move to the hospital, actually. The Boy Student would need to move diagonally next turn to be in the same room as the cop next turn, and that can only happen once per loop (plus also being incredibly obvious as an indicator for something.)
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Jul 16, 2014 22:26
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Some Numbers posted:Fair enough. Why do we care about the Doctor?
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Jul 16, 2014 22:26
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Poison Mushroom posted:To know if we can safely use that first ability or not. If he's a bad dude, then letting him out of the hospital is a terrible, terrible idea. I'm still confused.
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Jul 16, 2014 22:50
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Some Numbers posted:I'm still confused. So am I. I agree that giving Goodwill to the doctor without scanning him first is a bad idea, but pairing him with the Cop gives us no information.
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Jul 16, 2014 22:53
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What I'm saying is that... Actually, never mind, it's a bad idea. I guess my vote's for Goodwill +1 on Boy Student?
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Jul 16, 2014 23:05
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Just a heads up, I've added the current leader to the post above. Of course, in an "Open" game (which we're playing) the leader doesn't do much other than cast the deciding vote for goodwill abilities. Turn order is Poison Mushroom --> Some Numbers --> Fat Samurai. (It's used more in a "Closed" scenario, where Protagonist play their cards facedown and cannot discuss moves or suspicions outside of the "Time Spiral" between loops. In a Closed scenario, protagonists play their cards in turn order, starting with the leader. Likewise, the leader chooses goodwill abilities to use without input from his or her teammates.)
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Jul 16, 2014 23:12
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Poison Mushroom posted:What I'm saying is that... Yeah, I'm okay with that. ##Play Goodwill +1 on Male Student.
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Jul 16, 2014 23:17
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Playing this game Closed seems like a recipe for disaster for the Protagonists. Are non-tutorial scripts harder on the good guys or just more complex in general?
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Jul 16, 2014 23:28
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Fat Samurai posted:Playing this game Closed seems like a recipe for disaster for the Protagonists. Are non-tutorial scripts harder on the good guys or just more complex in general? Yes and no? Scripts from the Basic Tragedy set (or the expansion sets) tend to be longer (3-5 loops over 6-7 days) and have more characters (around 9) and more possible plots/roles. However, these scripts have a backup win condition for the protagonists called the Final Guess. If the protagonists would fail the Final Loop and reach the Bad Ending, they have one last shot. If they can guess the secret role of every character in the game, they snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. The Final Guess is not used in the First Steps set because these tragedies have fewer characters and fewer possible roles, and would be solved too easily. As for the Open/Closed thing, every script outside of First Steps can be Open or Closed. It's always purely a difficulty option for the protagonists.
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Jul 16, 2014 23:38
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This game is great, and I hope it comes over soon, because it seems like exactly the kind of thing I'd buy and then never get a chance to play.
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Jul 17, 2014 00:18
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Loop 1, Day 1 complete. Please read above! Importantly... Gutter Owl posted:End of Day: ... YOU DIED. TRY AGAIN. Collect your data. Loop 2, Day 1 begins shortly. (Don't get discouraged. This isn't terribly unusual for the first loop of a game. If the Mastermind can get away with an early blindside kill, they will.)
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Jul 17, 2014 05:23
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INTERESTING. Looks like the Girl Student is the Key Person and the Shrine Maiden is the Serial Killer? I don't see anything else that would let this happen. If you guys see something I missed, please point it out.
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Jul 17, 2014 06:30
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| # ? Apr 16, 2024 08:09 |
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Girl Student is definitely the Key Person, that's proven. Let's lay this out, then, rather than assuming we each get what we mean. You're saying that you think that card on the Girl Student was Move Vertical, that it moved her to the Serial Killer, who then killed her because she was alone, and that it can't be horizontal, because she wouldn't have been alone in the city? If so, you're neglecting the possibility that the card on the Office Worker was also a move, which would have left her alone with the Police Officer.
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Jul 17, 2014 06:38
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