Blog Posts

v0.2 release!

June 22, 2023

Hi there! I’ve just released ANOINTED v0.2! This has: A revamped combat system that removes dice entirely. (You can see a preview of my initial formulation here, I changed a few things from there but that’s the general idea.) At long last, rules for exploration! A tutorial region. If I did it right, it should hopefully give you some idea of how to play the game! Give it a play, let me know what you think. ...

v1.1 release! Some extremely preliminary diceless rules!

May 29, 2023

Hi there! v1.1 is out. It’s nothing big: A few clarifications in a few spots. A few typo, bad reference, and bad copy/paste fixes. Some layout normalization on Frame spreads re: right-page spacing. I also made a chost about how I’d convert APOCALYPSE FRAME to diceless here. (At some point I’m going to clean that up and add other variant rule ideas I’ve been kicking around. Compiling The Infected World and updating Ballad of Industrial Gods come first though for APOCALYPSE FRAME work. ...

v2 released!

March 1, 2023

Hi there! I put out a v2 of this quickstart. It has the following changes: Has a slightly more proper cover now for both the rules and quickstart scenario! Made a few typo/clarification fixes Added a few things to the quickstart that came up in play (nothing big, just “you can try doing this” kind of stuff) Until next time! Hi there! I put out a v2 of this quickstart. It has the following changes: Has a slightly more proper cover now for both the rules and quickstart scenario! ...

Valiant Horizon dev: what even are basic actions anyway?

February 25, 2023
TTRPG, ttrpg design, valiant horizon, total//effect

So some of my early playtest feedback is that melee feels less good than range which...yeah, tactics games are sure like that, huh! I'm fixing to handle this in a few ways right now. The obvious moves first: Lower the utility of Far range attacks. (This is even more pronounced because 3/6 of my players have abilities that hit to Far - basically almost all of the ones in the book. ...

v0.1.4 release!

February 22, 2023

Hi there! Been awhile. I’d been iterating on ANOINTED briefly over the past 6 months or so, and thinking about it more recently because of Dungeon23/ANOINTED23. As such I’ve finally gotten enough done that I’ve released a v0.1.4. Brief list of changes: Defenses are all now wildly different. Armor is now subtractive rather than the previous situation, and all Armor now has a Poise to it. The old system was fine but created a bunch of weird problems. ...

Valiant Horizon progress: It's most of a game!

February 15, 2023
TTRPG, ttrpg design, game design, total//effect, valiant horizon

Valiant Horizon, Binary Star GamesJust not quite visually, at least not yet, as you can see. Initial Post Right now I've got: Classes. Each Class grants a Trait, a Signature Ability (will get into this later), a Standard (at-will), and access to 6 1/encounter Powers and 2 1/encounter Reactions. Each Class represents a relationship with a former hero, FFV "hero's soul in a crystal lending you their power" style. I've got 12 Classes: Bard: Healing focused one, with some added offensive buffs and debuffs. ...

End of week 6

February 14, 2023
TTRPG, ANOINTED23, Dungeon23

Feb 6-12 continued this trajectory. Monday, 2/6: Point 5, the Camp A siege engine. If you get here, you can use it on any adjacent point - 4, 6, 7, or 9 - to (hopefully) instantly kill several enemies there. If you get a direct hit on the ballista at Point 7 (we'll get to it in a few days, but it prevents travel to/from point 7 except via point 9), it's destroyed. ...

v1.0.2 is out! And a little something extra!

February 9, 2023

Hi there, v1.0.2 is out! A few more typos fixed, and the character sheet should print a little better (stuff is further from the edges). Also, have a setpiece on me! This is one I made to end out my home campaign - feel free to use it for yours! A flying fortress big enough to blot out the sun, its pointed prow clearly designed for intimidation. On its underside, enormous energy cannons create brief light sources of their own as they crackle violently to annihilate anything that would dare to stand in its way. ...

v1.0 release! (v1.0.1 patch.)

January 27, 2023

Hi there! At long last, v1.0 is out! Featuring: A reorganized body text, with a manuscript edited by Marx Shepherd A full relayout Art by Galen Pejeau and Mykell Pledger A few minor additions and rules changes If you have the game, you now have the final release version as well! As per tradition, there was a release-version typo found on Efficient which has now been fixed in v1.0.1. (I’ll have the epub updated as well in a bit. ...

ANOINTED23, 1/8 (end of full week 1), some rambling on planning for Attributes/Regions for ANOINTED

January 8, 2023
TTRPG, Dungeon23, ANOINTED23

Pointmap from 1 to 9.A bunch of chicken scratch writing from January 2 to 8.(Previous) So we're at day 8 for this Region. Here's the breakdown of what that looks like: Thursday, 1/5: I wrote a new enemy (Scavenger) that I'm picturing as like somewhere between a hyena, wolf, and vulture. Tactics are to approach/surround (they have a very good move for this with Advance 4/Retreat 2) and pick off from there. ...