How To Play Ludus: Nightmares Into Reality.
Hello! I’m the GM running the game Ludus: nightmares into reality in an upcoming episode of Firebreathing Kittens. This is a brief introduction to the game’s mechanics to help familiarize our players and listeners with the game before we play.
Ludus is a game where the players influence a dream using “twists” and try to turn it into a true nightmare. There is no character sheet, nor weapons nor magic. Technically, it doesn’t even really need a GM. The players are in charge and it’s very improvisation-heavy.
That’s not to say there isn’t a mechanic. There is, but it’s rather tricky to explain so I’ll do my best.
The game starts with the characters establishing a dream. Then, they take turns adding a twist to the dream until they reach 20 twists or they decide they’re done. A twist is basically “yes, and…”-ing. So if the dream is sheep hopping over a fence, a twist would be “the fence has barbs”, then another twist is “the fence starts to grow and the barbs get closer to the sheep”, etc. etc. until the players decide to stop.
This is where the game’s core mechanic comes in. The mechanic to determine whether or not the dream successfully turns into a nightmare is a cursed formula. The best way I can describe it is this: x(y@zD#w). I encourage you to write this down, so I’ll repeat it: x(y@zD#w). Where x = the number of twists; y = the dice to roll based on the number of twists to the dream; z = the number of players; and w = the number of dice values that equal the wild die’s value. @, D, and # are placeholders within the formula and hold no alternative meaning. The equation will be explained further in a second, but with the addition of twists, we get three values to plug into the formula: x (the number of twists), y (the dice to roll based on x), and z (the number of players). The game rules include a table that tells you which dice to use for what number of turns.
So, we have three values. Now we roll the dice, represented by the variable y. This can be anywhere from one to three dice; no matter what, one of the lowest dice Must be designated as the wild die. If the wild die hits its maximum value, then it explodes and you roll another die of the same value. If that die also explodes, you repeat the process until it no longer explodes. For example, if your wild die is a d6 (or your common six-sided die) and you roll a 6, you roll another d6. If that die also rolls a 6, you roll another d6, etc. etc. until you don’t roll a 6.
Next, you sort the dice from lowest face value to highest face value going from left to right. Count the number of dice that have the same face value as the wild die, including the wild die itself. This number is the w variable in our equation which again, is x(y@zD#w). We’ve finally finished writing our equation. Now we have to resolve it.
Starting with the lowest die, count, from left to right, the number of dice equal to our w variable. The die you land on is the number of Rounds you have to do things in the Ballad section (more on that in a bit). Next, starting from the highest die value, count, from right to left, the number of dice equal to the z variable. Add up the face values of the dice you counted. This sum is the Success value.
Now, compare your Success value to the number equal to your x variable. If the Success value is greater than x, the dream is twisted into a true nightmare. If the Success value is less than x, the dream gets weird but resolves as a dream normally would.
After the resolution of the Success value, we move into the Ballad section. This is where the dream fully manifests into a failed or true nightmare. The players go around taking turns describing what happens, again using “yes, and…” to craft the nightmare. This “yes, and…” is known as a verse in the Ballad section, rather than a twist like it was in the dream section. A round is made up of each player contributing one verse, and the entire Ballad section has a number of rounds equal to the w variable. The nightmare should be a full story that resolves at the end of the last round.
And that’s how you play Ludus! In the game I’m running, the players will need to make three true nightmares to succeed in their quest. Before we begin play, though, we’ll also go over player comfort and safety. I don’t want any of our fellow Firebreathing Kittens to feel overly uncomfortable, and this game has the potential for disturbing stuff to arise. We’ll be talking about lines, veils, and x-cards before we play. Lines are firm boundaries: any topic that is a line for a player won’t be brought up, period. Veils are more loose, things that players may feel uncomfortable with but also feel ok exploring. X-cards are for players to use if those veils are explored and they don’t like how it makes them feel. Anythin
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