Grasping Nettles and rondels
Exploring circular action selection via Adam Bell's worldbuilding game
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The last two weeks were focused on wargames, specifically Tactics II nostalgia and Arcs trick-taking. This week we are focused on a worldbuilding TTRPG called Grasping Nettles by Adam Bell.
Grasping Nettles
I picked up a (signed!) copy of Grasping Nettles at Adam Bell’s PAXU booth last year. It’s a compact 5.5x5.5” square zine with a colorful cover and easy rules that can be played by 1 - 6 players. As someone who likes heavy/complex board games, but light and easy TTRPGs, this seemed like something I would enjoy.
In my recent solo play I used one of the “Quick Nettles” included in the back of the book. They are ready-to-play settings with three factions, a character, season, and issue. Mine was “Cemetery” by Jeremy Gage about The Spirits caught between worlds, The XIII guides, and The Masked who slay evil spirits.
I enjoy solo worldbuilding games like The Skeletons, but it was the core mechanism of Grasping Nettles that caught my attention:
You take turns dictating various things about a world of your creation. On your turn, you move one of three faction pieces around a central game board called the Wheel and perform the action you land on. Actions include defining factions, describing locations, discovering issues, creating characters, starting projects, catching glimpses of other communities, and framing scenes.
The Wheel has eleven wedge-shaped spaces, each with a different action. The Season action has you change the season (weather or cultural). The Issue action creates a problem or mess to be solved. The Glimpse action shows a location just outside the normal scope of the game. Some actions require a folded card to be placed for later.
Rondel action selection
This sort of round wheel divided into wedges is called a rondel:
The available Actions are represented as pie wedges in a circle. Each player has one or more tokens on Rondel’s wedges. On their turn, they may move their token around the Rondel and perform the Action indicated by the wedge where they stop. It is typically more costly to move further around the Rondel.
It’s one of my favorite action selection mechanisms, both because of the inherent fun but also the endless variations.
In Grasping Nettles there are three tokens representing the factions that can be moved clockwise around the rondel. Players can choose which token to move and (due to the inner and outer circle actions) where to land. Landing on the Generation action stops that token until all tokens also land on Generation.
Other board games that use rondel mechanisms include Teotihuacan: City of Gods (Tascini, 2018), the Tea Party Phase of Wonderland’s War (Eisner, et al., 2022), and Viscounts of the West Kingdom (Phillips & Macdonald, 2020).
Rondel variations
One of the most interesting variations on rondel action selection is used in Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done (Jaffee, 2018). It combines two concepts:
Rondel: The player moves a token around a circle, selecting the action based on where the token stops or lands.
Mancala: The player picks up tokens from one space and distributes them around a circle, sometimes with the last piece having extra significance.
In Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done, each wedge of the rondel circle contains two actions and begins with two tokens. When an action is taken, the tokens from that wedge are distributed around the circle, one in each wedge. The number of tokens in each changes with each action.
The number of tokens in the selected action wedge determines how powerful the action will be. An action with just one token is weak, while an action with many tokens will be strong. This creates a game where your less used actions become increasingly powerful while your frequently used actions remain less powerful.
Rondels in TTRPGs
While rondels show up in over 250 games according to BGG, I wonder how they could be used more often in TTRPGs. Grasping Nettles is a prime example of how this mechanism can be used to create engaging, narrative worldbuilding games. Can they also be used in other types of TTRPGs?
There are quite a few games with cycles that appear to be similar to rondels. The “Routine” for missions in Flying Circus of Action, Landing, Stress Relief, and so on is shown as a circle with wedges. The difference is that this shows a cycle, and is not used for action selection or player choice.
A few ideas:
Classic action selection: Your character’s actions are limited and determined by movement on the rondel. I personally think this would feel too “board game” and would be tough to implement thematically.
Resource management: Magic systems give a little more room for mechanical creativity, so a system where your casting is structured as a rondel might work. This would be used to prevent using the same spell over and over.
Character progression: Not sure how it would work exactly, but moving around a rondel to limit and choose which player skills or upgrades could be unlocked. Could be an interesting alternative to the usual roll dice to upgrade HP.
Combat mechanism: I think this would be the hardest to implement in a thematic way in a TTRPG. The joy of TTRPG combat comes from unlimited options and creative solutions. Still, I wonder if it could be done.
If you have examples of TTRPGs that use rondels for action selection or other similar mechanisms, please let me know in the comments!
Single character vs. worldbuilding
I mentioned at Exeunt Omnes that many solo TTRPGs focus on a single character controlled by the player. Of course there are exceptions, but it is certainly common.
Because single character control tends to mimic real world actions, it becomes more important to implement them thematically. When you say, “I walk through the door.” there is usually a thematic reason why you can or can’t do that. It would be odd to be forced to stay in the room because the rondel didn’t allow you to leave!
Worldbuilding games give, however, a little more room to explore other mechanisms. Creating factions or ending generations don’t have simple real world action analogs. It doesn’t feel as strange to use a rondel or other mechanism to decide when they happen.
Conclusion
Some things to think about:
Consider rondels: Rondels have been around for a very long time, and continue to be used in innovative ways. It’s one more mechanism to consider using in your next game design.
Combine mechanisms into something new: The mixture of rondel and mancala in Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done creates a mechanism that feels fresh and unique.
Rondels aren’t just for board games: Grasping Nettles uses a rondel in a thematic and interesting way to create a fun solo or group narrative experience. The dice roll and flexibility in movement path allows for just enough restriction that it helps the creative process rather than hindering it.
Want to reinvent the wheel? The Grasping Nettles Game Design Guide has tips and resources for hacking Grasping Nettles into your own game.
What do you think? Are rondels a useful mechanism for TTRPGs or do they only belong in board games? Can you think of interesting ways they can be used?
— E.P. 💀
P.S. Skeleton Code Machine was nominated for an ENNIE! 🎉
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This is a fascinating article that has my mind spinning with ideas.
At what point do you think the line between a board game and a TTRPG is crossed? Especially in solo play where events / consequences are more or less determined randomly (by a GM oracle or by event cards or the like)?
My excitement in using a rondel system would be the way you can thematically make each wedge on the rondel equal / opposite of one another (for some reason my mind goes to Magic the Gathering's color wheel). My trepidation is that in application, the rondel *seems* too board gamey at first blush. I'll have to do more exploration on it, but I'm curious as to where is that line for you?
Great article!
The newly-funded HOLLOW by Rowan, Rook and Deckard uses some form of Rondel as its battlemap, I think...