The Almighty Bennies

Supplement ideas, house rules, homemade stat cards, homebrew weapon types, and other cool variations

Moderators: warman45, Rev. Sylvanus

User avatar
Rayhawk
Overlord
Posts: 870
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2007 8:02 pm
Location: BrikWars HQ, USA
Contact:

The Almighty Bennies

Post by Rayhawk » Mon Mar 24, 2008 9:20 pm

I may have brought this subject up once or twice on Frappr, so I hope you'll excuse me if I'm revivifying an old thread, but I've been trying to think of a good mechanic for players to reward each other for being awesome, and to really highlight the kinds of gameplay and behavior that they'd like to see more often. I've gotten bogged down in the past because my proposals got too complicated and because I couldn't think of a good name, but I think I'm on to something this time.

I don't know if any of the rest of you follow the indie RPG scene, but they're big into this kind of idea, enough so that they've got pretty standardized terminology. When a player does something that deserves a reward, he gets a special token that he can trade in later for benefits; these tokens are called "bennies." And so, for my latest stab at this idea, I present the Almighty Bennies. And they work like this:

Any time one of your enemies does something cool that makes the game better, you can award him an Almighty Benny. Examples include:
  • - building awesome models
    - bringing doughnuts
    - doing anything that causes everyone to laugh their butts off
    - doing anything that causes everyone to say "that was AWESOME"
    - something about beer
    - etc.
To make an Almighty Benny, grab any arbitrary object or element and say that it's an Almighty Benny, and give it to your enemy. You might even give it a name like "This skull is the Almighty Benny of Extreme Decaptiation." From that point forward, your foe can cash in the Almighty Benny for an bonus Almighty d6 whenever he thinks he's about to need it most. This reflects the fact that the Almighty Gods of BrikWars shine their favor on players who are awesome more often than on players who are merely sub-awesome.

The rules governing the Almighty Benny are as follows:
  • 1. Each Almighty Benny can be used once to add 1d6 to any roll or stat, except when rolling for What I Say Goes or a Heroic Feat. This is awesome. Each individual Benny can be used only once, but if a player has multiple distinct Bennies he can use up as many of them in a single roll as he likes. He must decide whether or not to add Bennies before he makes the roll, however; no fair waiting till afterwards.

    2. You can only give Almighty Bennies to your enemies, knowing that they'll almost certainly use them against you. Theoretically they could use them against someone else, but it's way better if they use it against the player who gave it to them. Don't try to give an enemy an Almighty Benny hoping that he'll use it against someone else, because that sucks.

    3. You cannot place any conditions on the use of an Almighty Benny. Once it's in your opponent's hands, he can use it however he wants. If he can save the Almighty Benny for something related to the rewarded action, that's best; but he can really use it for whatever he wants (excepting the Feats and What I Say Goes rolls, of course).
Now some of you might be asking, why would I willingly choose to give my opponent more power? The answer is, because it gives you the direct ability to steer the group towards exactly your favorite kind of fun, and that's way more important that winning and losing. If you like awesome models, give Bennies for awesome models. If you like hilarious hijinks, give Bennies for hilarious hijinks. This keeps everyone explicitly aware of what makes the game most fun for everyone else at the table, and the more Bennies you hand out, the more you're likely to get in return, unless you're playing with a bunch of total lame asses. (In which case it's better to find out about it sooner rather than later, so you can conveniently forget to invite them next time.)

So that's the pitch. Comments?

User avatar
Tzan
Has anyone ever used those holes before?
Has anyone ever used those holes before?
Posts: 4799
Joined: Sun Dec 30, 2007 4:41 pm
Location: Boston

Post by Tzan » Mon Mar 24, 2008 10:04 pm

Thats a great idea.

In RPGs its very complicated. People can gang up and give them to people who don't deserve it. Or if there is a negative rating, people can rate good people as bad. I'm not up on any current system, but its something I've thought about.

This idea works nice because there is a self interest in giving them but also a self limiter since you don't want to give the enemy too much power. You think twice before just handing it over, thats the way it should be.

In an RPG the person you just voted for wont be beating your head in soon.

User avatar
IVhorseman
If she don't want the brick, she won't get the dick
If she don't want the brick, she won't get the dick
Posts: 5293
Joined: Tue Dec 11, 2007 10:12 pm
Location: The Abyss
Contact:

Post by IVhorseman » Mon Mar 24, 2008 11:42 pm

wow, great idea! although perhaps a free re-roll would be another option.

also, can we give people Alfred Jr.s for being a brikwussy? this includes hiding behind fortifications and being cheap, whining, anorakory, whining, and not wanting to break models. -1d6 for an opponent to use at any time, under the same circumstances as an almighty benny.

of course, finding a good way to make this a fair give-out could prove difficult. we don't want alfred jr.s to be handed out by alfred jr.s. what if you can only give out an alfred jr. if you've given an almighty benny? and if you gave 2 ABs, you can also give 2 AJs, etc.

User avatar
Rayhawk
Overlord
Posts: 870
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2007 8:02 pm
Location: BrikWars HQ, USA
Contact:

Post by Rayhawk » Tue Mar 25, 2008 12:45 am

Nope. First, because I already forgot why I scapegoated Alfred in the first place into being the whipping boy for other people's crimes, and second, because punitive measures don't really work to encourage camaraderie and good sportsmanship.

As much as I'd like to discourage brikwussiness, I haven't thought of a good way to do it. Even if I could somehow make it completely fair, punishments from one player to another create animosity and alienation at the table. As much as possible, I think it's better to keep players focused on their shared purpose (maximum minifig violence) by creating opportunities for mutual generosity rather than judgmentalism.

User avatar
IVhorseman
If she don't want the brick, she won't get the dick
If she don't want the brick, she won't get the dick
Posts: 5293
Joined: Tue Dec 11, 2007 10:12 pm
Location: The Abyss
Contact:

Post by IVhorseman » Tue Mar 25, 2008 5:04 pm

okay, fine.

what if we called em piltoggs?

User avatar
Captain Nomouth
Officer
Posts: 157
Joined: Wed Dec 26, 2007 10:57 pm
Location: Sacramento
Contact:

Post by Captain Nomouth » Tue Mar 25, 2008 6:13 pm

I second that!
Image
Is it solipsistic in here, or is it just me?

User avatar
Almighty Benny
Jaw-Jaw
Posts: 951
Joined: Thu Dec 06, 2007 12:40 pm
Location: Connecticut
Contact:

Post by Almighty Benny » Wed Mar 26, 2008 12:33 pm

Brilliant!


Image
Image
I said "no" to drugs, but they just wouldn't listen...

User avatar
Rayhawk
Overlord
Posts: 870
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2007 8:02 pm
Location: BrikWars HQ, USA
Contact:

Post by Rayhawk » Sun Sep 28, 2008 10:48 pm

Image
Portrait of the Almighty Benny, as his character is described in the wiki.

Edit: I don't think I ever remembered to mention my latest Benny innovation. When you create a Benny to give to someone, you create it by sticking two pieces together; this stores 1d6 of power in the Benny. When the recipient wants to release the 1d6 from the Benny, he breaks the two pieces apart. This makes it a lot easier to keep track of when Bennies have been given and used and is also awesome.

User avatar
Dr. X
Jaw-Jaw
Posts: 990
Joined: Mon Jan 28, 2008 2:22 pm
Location: Ventura, CA
Contact:

Post by Dr. X » Wed Nov 19, 2008 12:13 am

Yes. It is awesome.
I think those stats only apply to non-Mexicans.

User avatar
Rayhawk
Overlord
Posts: 870
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2007 8:02 pm
Location: BrikWars HQ, USA
Contact:

Post by Rayhawk » Mon Jan 26, 2009 4:42 am

I put these rules up in their own mini-chapter, you can see it here:

http://www.brikwars.com/rules/2005/benny.htm

Right now none of the rest of the rulebook links to it. Before it goes "live," I'd like to have a little more eye candy to put along the sidebar. I'm thinking some photos of example Bennies would look nice.

WITH THAT IN MIND, what do you think are some good examples of an Almighty Benny that players might conceivably hand out?

EDIT: moved the thread out of Non-Dimmies so that the regular dumb people can give input too.

User avatar
Tarren
Dimmy
Posts: 506
Joined: Mon Mar 24, 2008 11:57 pm

Post by Tarren » Mon Jan 26, 2009 7:36 am

Rayhawk wrote:WITH THAT IN MIND, what do you think are some good examples of an Almighty Benny that players might conceivably hand out?
Are you talking things that could BE an Almighty Benny, or more things that could result in one being given?

For the former:
Pizzaria Combo.
Oreo Cakester

For the latter:
Finding a suitable place to near permanently hold Brikwars.
Summoning bigger fish.
Silverdream wrote:As you can see the majority of sex workers in BC are not only children, but aboriginal children. It's mostly because we treat them like shit.

User avatar
OneEye589
Pooplord
Posts: 3228
Joined: Sat Jul 19, 2008 6:35 pm
Location: New York
Contact:

Post by OneEye589 » Mon Jan 26, 2009 8:30 am

How about a giant cube made out of Legos? Instead of rolling actual dice for the Almighty Benny you could just give them the gigantic cube of Lego and they could roll that.

User avatar
IVhorseman
If she don't want the brick, she won't get the dick
If she don't want the brick, she won't get the dick
Posts: 5293
Joined: Tue Dec 11, 2007 10:12 pm
Location: The Abyss
Contact:

Post by IVhorseman » Mon Jan 26, 2009 10:38 am

The classic of course: A red 2x4 and a blue 2x4 slapped together.

User avatar
james+burgundy
I tend to just pile the shit on myself
Posts: 2933
Joined: Sat Dec 29, 2007 8:34 pm

Post by james+burgundy » Mon Jan 26, 2009 1:34 pm

Benny where are you!!!!!!!!!!
Been here longer then pretty much all of you or some shit.

User avatar
Greenkey15
Cannon Fodder
Posts: 338
Joined: Tue Jul 01, 2008 10:01 pm

Post by Greenkey15 » Mon Jan 26, 2009 3:58 pm

Almighty Benny has been captured by peaches. That is why the site doesn't go live! Rayhawk needs Benny's official conformation, and is why World War Brik must go on! To Save the Almighty Benny! CHARGE!!1

Post Reply
cron