The Delta Sinkhole entry as above, now with a little map.The Half-Dreg entry and two points, as well as two combat maps.Three entries so far. Map is going on that first grid for space reasons. I definitely didn't screw up and write Point 1 on Jan 9th already. Ignore that (1) on the map for now. Combat maps for fights go on the grid on the right (they're hexes in the actual game, but the way I have it set up is basically hexes). ...
Ok. This is the part where I talk more firmly about the scenario. (See the map above.) The goal of this scenario, as repeated from above, is the same goals as Level 0 in general: Establish some "starting points" for characters, and give some playstyle options. Figure out, through play, what kind of people your characters were and are. (The Background mechanic is the obvious version of this, but even more subtle decisions inform a character. ...
The Delta Sinkhole entry.For my first Region I’m making the swamp. The idea I have is basically a downriver swamp that was enough of a crossroads to build walkways over it. Over time, it’s been clogged with the detritus of centuries of war from upstream: materiel, corpses, undying warriors left as waste. The near-constant flow had attracted scavengers, making it hard to maintain; and eventually there was nobody left to maintain the walkways. ...
Map of CI Central Processing Station 1 (CICP-1)I'm in a posting mood because I'm putting off finishing writing a press release/kit so I figured I'd ruminate a little bit about how I put the Liminal Void Quickstart rules and scenario, Escape from CICP-1, together. Mild spoilers for the scenario under the fold if you care about that sort of thing, but most of the big scenario stuff is going to be in a follow-up post, but also it's just long and this seems polite. ...
Figured I'd get a little into the sausage on one particular thing I found that I'll be using quite a bit. Cyclic dungeon generation is a really, really cool thing that I saw posted about on twitter (from @riseupcomus I believe?), and from there I've seen other people posting about it too. In general it's a great read just for picking out good design patterns for making little moments in a level, dungeon, etc - Zelda is described as the big influence but you can see this kind of technique for design going pretty clearly into a lot of soulslike areas, for instance. ...
(Originally posted on Cohost: https://cohost.org/binary/post/162256-total-effect-core-m ) So this is my first public post/design blog/etc about a system I’m developing as a SRD/toolkit, Total//Effect. It includes a bunch of probability stuff at the end if you’re into that, but I do sum up the important bits if you’re not. I’ll start with my initial forays into the humble 3d6 (and the originator of some of these mechanics), 36th Way and LUMEN. ...
(Originally posted on Cohost: https://cohost.org/binary/post/173316-total-effect-subsys ) I realized I barely described what the rest of the system is in favor of being a Probability Weirdo. Let’s do that. I also didn’t describe, or even mention any of the three games I’m outlining while I’m writing it somehow. Let’s do that too. The Subsystems What’s a core system for the system? Like what parts do you need? You need the core mechanic, which can in turn be expressed through any of the subsystems listed. ...
Hi there! I’m just going to go over the general history of this project, where it went, what state it ended up in, and takeaways going forward. This is going to be fairly rambly in parts. How did we get here? To put it bluntly, the primary reason this exists is because I tried running Pathfinder 2E in late 2019 and hated it. It’s not the only reason though. To back up a little, I’d been playing various D&Ds regularly (among other systems) for roughly 9 years prior, and irregularly for longer than that. ...
Hi there! Long time no see! I’ve been thinking about 36th Way a bit recently and realized I never finished my class redesign rundown by talking about Alchemist. So let’s do that, then I’ll do a rundown of other stuff. But first… Why isn’t there a Chaos Mage? To be perfectly honest, because I don’t like it at all. Having seen it in play, it never seems to have interesting choices and the concept isn’t that interesting. ...
Hi there! We’re coming up on the 1 year anniversary of APOCALYPSE FRAME v0.1 (which was also my first published game)! So let’s talk about AF v1.0, which I’ve been pretty quiet about up until now. (And especially who I’m working with!) Book Contents First off, what’s going to be in it? This seems like it has an obvious answer: the core book has been out for a year. And that’s mostly right, but my plan is to add on some ACES HIGH stuff at the end as Advanced Rules. ...