heres' something i use a lot in spooky. it's a bunnch of theory, but it works. thought i'd share it with the group.

AN EXCERPT FROM AN UNDISCLOSED WORK IN PROGRESS...
by MTKuszek

Yum yum suppression system YYSS


If one thing stands out about Qags as a whole, it is its use of yum yums to alter the game in numerous way. While it works as a tool to get what you want at any time by bribing the GM, and also as an experience system, it can tend to be a little distracting when you want to run a more serious themed game. When playing spooky qags, I have taken these issues into account and have attempted to correct the issues in such a way as to make yum yums less effective, but still use them in the game. Thus, I give to you, the yum yum supression system.

1: limit the number of yum yums you bring to a game session: during a regular game of Qags, I usually bring two types of candy bags, which allow both snacking and use of yum yums a plenty. During a more serious campaign however, only bring somewhere about 1/4th to a 1/3rd of what you would normally bring. Only give out those initial yum yums, and dole them out per game session. Also, for a real cutthroat game, bring a type of candy to which no one can say no.

2: damage reduces to a minimum greater than zero: simply put, it is up to the gm to decide what is the minimum damage taken when any successful hit is rolled (usually one). This in not taking away the use of yum yums to heal entirely, but it does reinforce the fact that spooky qags is not a nice place at times.

3: the lesser of two evils: often there are damaging effect that carry status effects along with them. I.e. a werewolf that bites that also infects disease. In this case, the pc can choose either to negate the damage, or the effect, but not both.

4: no instant successes: in spooky qags, not everything in certain. To reflect this , automatic successes are not a possibility. Yums can be added to a roll, but they must be spent before the roll, then the gm assign a bonus to the roll. If the roll fails or succeeds, the yums are gone.

5: hitting the big bad is hard to do: often there are characters that are just a pain in the ass to hit or just plain too tough to damage. Simply put, these rare individuals cannot have rolls augmented by yums against them in any way shape or form. Sometimes, evil is just…well, evil.

6: karma is a harsh mistress: getting a hold of yums by good role-playing and other assorted heroic of witty deeds often are harder to come by in a spooky game. The gm should decide which deeds are yum worthy and which are not. Perhaps yums should be handed out at the end of a game session like so many other rpgs out there.

hope this helps someone out there

MK

Good stuff. I especially like the variation where yum yums reduce the damage but not all of the damage.

A variation I've incorporated into my M-Force games is usually giving a monster some sort of powerful gimmick-- i.e. fear, charm, possession, etc. PC's are darn quick about spending multiple yum-yum's to keep the particular nasty monster gimmick from affecting them.

If you have a campaign, don't forget Yum-Yum's are used for character advancement too. I've had some luck with PC's who hoard YY's by suggesting they can have +1 skill for one YY based on their roleplaying. This tactic works well.

obviously you never want to take yumyums away from a player directly, and encouraging character development/ advancement is key, it is often hard to get players to think that way when the action is hot and heavy, or you're in a one shot game scenario.

i look forward to playing more qags very soon. i definately think i'm going to have to use the powerful gimmick variation in my next one.

MK

those are some great ideas and i think i'll incorporate them into my games.