Procrastination and Links
filed under reviews on 11 May 2017 tagged game design, solo, structure, dungeon, and pbta
Down to the last bits for my latest game; just need a playtest and some quotes and some random tables and maybe another (few dozen) passes on the fluffy stuff. By “last” I mean “kinda close to last”, I guess.
Obviously I’m spending a time exploring the dark corners of the web, starting around 2011 or so, instead of doing those things.
Here’s a fun one – 3 Dice Dungeon. Doesn’t appear to have a name. A very cool stat-based core mechanic and a basic dungeon generator. Definitely going in the “mechanics to mess with” pile.
And some reading on story structure with a historical bent. I need a scene structure (and I don’t feel inspired by any of the ones I already know) for the thing I’m working on so this is actually on point.
The Exploits of the Intrepid Crew of the Fairweather Jay on the Shrouded Sky-Isle of Doom (2014). Powered by the Apocalypse. And you play a group of characters, not just “my guy”. Seriously, this is so cool I have to do a riff on it. I have added it to my “list of things to riff on” list.
Interestingly, it uses a “circumstances add bonuses” mechanic to replace stats, much as I do in Calypso with Conditions. I love how simple yet elegant it is to just be all like, “name one to three things that give you a bonus, ok, go”.
Concrete, add-to-the-character-sheet Conditions definitely have advantages in play – they’re persistent and they serve as a shorthand note on current events – but sometimes I’m tempted to just de-codify the whole process. Definitely an idea I’ve added for the next thing I’m working on.
Yes, I’ve already started jotting down notes for it. Creative constancy is not my thing. Obviously.
Ok, ok, back to work.
