Nerdarchy on RPG Dice for Zoo Mafia RPG Design Diary #9
In this 20-minute video on Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted explore making their own roleplaying game about going wild and doing crime. While Nerdarchy is mostly known for Dungeons & Dragons we do play lots of other RPGs. In this video they explore the use of dice in Zoo Mafia, Nerdarchy’s own game.
The conversation starts an overview of how to play Zoo Mafia, the RPG where you Go Wild, Do Crime and Don’t Let Humans Catch You. Playing Zoo Mafia RPG calls for a trio of d6s and the game relies on a unified mechanic for resolution. Players roll 3d6 and add a relevant attribute modifier for a result on a scale with failure, success with a consequence and success. But then we make things get a little wild.
Each of a player’s three dice represent one of the three Mafia Families in an abstract way. It’s important to distinguish each die as the Ally die, Enemy die and Neutral die, which correspond with the crime organizations vying for criminal supremacy within the zoo. When players roll for resolution of any task they only add the Ally and Neutral dice. The 6 on each die represents a Crime Boss.
Whenever the dice show doubles there are additional effects such as receiving a benefit on the player’s next roll or granting another player a bonus. This is especially the case when the result of any die including the Enemy die is a 6. This generates additional effects like benefits for multiple characters or even gaining the game’s most critical attribute — a Marker.
Nerdarchy got some custom Zoo Mafia RPG dice made! Players can differentiate between Ally, Neutral and Enemy boss dice by color and an image of our Mafia Bosses — Carlo Hambino, Machinegun Otto and Owl Capone shows in place of the 6 pips.
In our Zoo Mafia RPG live playtest at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel players differentiate between the three dice by color. This works great for the group but Nerdarchy has also been experimenting with producing custom dice. We’ve gotten a prototype set with images of the three Mafia Bosses from the campaign, which Dave and Ted plan to bring along on their D&D In A Castle adventure. We’re aiming to prepare our Quick Start Rules by then so they can play some Zoo Mafia In A Castle too! Incidentally there’s still a few spots left at their tables for the event. Check out Nerdarchist Dave’s page and Nerdarchist Ted’s page to learn more.
If you want to be one of the first people to get your paws on those Zoo Mafia Quick Start Rules you can sign up for the Zoo Mafia RPG newsletter here.
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