The pre-release PDF of GSS was released to the Kickstarter backers last night. From reading the rules, the penalty for getting into a serious fight is in fact resetting your character's connection to the town. That's particularly heavy because the town connection is the only one that you can build up directly over consecutive scenarios.

There was a d20 Modern mini campaign in Polyhedron called Hi-Jinx that replaced all combat with musical performance. Classes were band members (guitar, singer, drums, bass). I believe it was the band (party) vs the croud's mood or enthusiasm. Something like that. It was Dungeon #99/Polyhedron #158.

Those mini campaigns were pretty cool.

Quote from: Jeffrywith1e;659684There was a d20 Modern mini campaign in Polyhedron called Hi-Jinx that replaced all combat with musical performance. Classes were band members (guitar, singer, drums, bass). I believe it was the band (party) vs the croud's mood or enthusiasm. Something like that. It was Dungeon #99/Polyhedron #158.

Those mini campaigns were pretty cool.

Incredible that it is not as well-remembered as, say, Omega World...

By the way, the finished PDF of that GSS went up on Drivethru a couple of days ago, and the Kickstarter backers received coupon codes for the download. Now, to wait for the print version...

Anyway, the book includes two sample scenarios. In "At the Fox's Shrine", the PCs try to make friends with a fox henge (a kitsune, basically) who's a little too proud to admit that she's lonely in her forest shrine at the outskirts of the town. In "Crying in the Night", they help a scared little kid retrieve some forgotten homework from the school after dark, despite what sounds like ghostly sobbing somewhere out of sight (but obviously won't turn out to be anything terrible).

So that's strictly in the "helping people and giving out hugs and crap" territory. The closest thing to anything even remotely like a damage mechanic in the system is "Surprise": when confronted with unexpected weirdness, characters may scream, flee, freeze, or faint.

Quote from: The Yann Waters;689593The closest thing to anything even remotely like a damage mechanic in the system is "Surprise": when confronted with unexpected weirdness, characters may scream, flee, freeze, or faint.

For some reason this made me go :rotfl:

Quote from: Piestrio;649699Just curious, anyone know of games without any sort of violence inherent in the premise?

Like games about helping people and giving out hugs and crap?

As long as a game doesn't turn into The Ungame -- The RPG, I'm okay with an alternate type of RPG.

Quote from: The Ent;689737For some reason this made me go :rotfl:

Surprise doesn't incur the same relationship penalties as getting into actual fights, either, so for instance scaring people into running away can be used more conveniently to resolve conflicts. Quite a few of the different abilities and disadvantages tie into those reactions in some fashion. It's something of a tanuki specialty, in fact: they can transform into monsters as a basic power, and as an additional power may gain Dreams (the currency of developing relationships) by Surprising others with pranks.

Quote from: The Ent;689737For some reason this made me go :rotfl:

Indeed. My first instinct was "great, now we have Bed-wetting: The RPG."

I'm quite looking forward to my copy of GSS. The calender also solves a problem that I'll have come January 1st 2014...

Quote from: One Horse Town;689856Indeed. My first instinct was "great, now we have Bed-wetting: The RPG."

I don't really see why. One major example in the text is a grown man fainting when her daughter's tanuki friend goes a little overboard with shapeshifting tricks, while trying to persuade him not to move out of town. As it turns out, showing up as a monster and threatening to eat him unless he changes his plans might not have been the best of plans.

"OK, so by how much did you fail your surprise roll?"

"Oh, about 15 points. You know, the most you possibly can."

"Well, your character has a heart attack and dies from fright. Oh, and your bowels and bladder let loose when the heart attack hits, so your character is now covered in shit and piss, and dead."

Quote from: jeff37923;689913"OK, so by how much did you fail your surprise roll?"

"Oh, about 15 points. You know, the most you possibly can."

"Well, your character has a heart attack and dies from fright. Oh, and your bowels and bladder let loose when the heart attack hits, so your character is now covered in shit and piss, and dead."

Sounds like a typical encounter with a (greater) demon in Warhammer.

Quote from: Rincewind1;689917Sounds like a typical encounter with a (greater) demon in Warhammer.

I guess that's a first for Warhammer being mentioned in a thread about cute, non-violent RPGs...

Quote from: jeff37923;652096... Teenagers From Outer Space, for example, has bonk instead of hit points - if you are damaged beyond your bonk score, ...

Apologies if  this has been said already but I find this terminology hilarious, as "bonk" has a very different meaning in British English vernacular.  And its a game about Teenagers who, in  fights, bonk each other.  

Quote from: Psychman;689990Apologies if  this has been said already but I find this terminology hilarious, as "bonk" has a very different meaning in British English vernacular.  And its a game about Teenagers who, in  fights, bonk each other.  

Actually, it hasn't been said before. What is the meaning in British English vernacular? When did this become common?