The Big Three for Hostargo

A friend recently reminded me of The Big Three questions of RPG design. These questions are the basic, must-have-answered problems when creating a new RPG. And they're hard. Following these are The Power 19, which is a broader set of questions designed to really dig into the details. But since the big three are by themselves just as important, I'm going to start with just those for Hostargo.

Question 1: What is Hostargo about?

Hostargo is about characters living in a chaotic city with too many people and not enough space. It's a wild-west town turned gold-rush, and with the influx of new people comes new technology, magic, and problems.

Question 2: What do the characters do in Hostargo?

That depends on which of the three play styles the group decides to run. This makes Hostargo ultimately three times as complex as it might have been, but it's that much more flexible!

While working for a corporation, the characters investigate and combat issues that hinder their corp's progress. For the SEA corporation, that's simply trying to maintain peace and order in a city whose chaos is ever expanding.

While working for a crew, the characters take on missions for profit. They perform investigation, espionage, and sabotage to complete their objectives and gain power for their crew.

While working in a gang, the characters take actions to advance their own agendas. Doing so earns them respect and power, allowing them to advance even further. With each push comes backlash, so characters also handle any fallout that results from their actions. Ultimately, they drive the city of Hostargo in whatever direction they see fit.

In all game modes, characters will interact with NPCs, explore areas for story points, and deal with dangerous threats through combat encounters. Each character uses their special abilities, such as magic or tech, to help overcome their challenges.

Question 3: What do the players do in Hostargo?

This also depends on which of the three play styles the group lands on.

While playing as a corp, the GM creates problems for the players to solve. The players drive their characters to solutions to those problems.

While playing as a crew, the GM creates missions for the players to go on. The players first devise a plan, then roll to see where it goes wrong. From that point, they drive their characters to the mission's completion.

While playing as a gang, the players first create agendas they would like to push on the world. Then the GM creates the world's reaction to those actions, and all players work together to set up scenes on how any conflicts would resolve.

In all game modes, players will roll dice to resolve conflicts, with the GM choosing challenge ratings & target attributes, and the players choosing which skill best applies. Players also get choices through effort pools, called shots, a menu of "ace" effects, luck re-rolls, magical runes, equipment, NPC contacts, and special abilities. When adventures finish, the players choose upgrades for their character, and the GM gives the whole group access to new items and abilities.