Tag: Design Diary
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“Perfect” is a moving goalpost
I wrote something on the last page of a journal today, and decided to transcribe it here to my blog so I don’t forget it when I shove this notebook in a box in the basement. It feels like something I may need to remind myself later, and maybe something others might find helpful to…
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Back from the Grave?
People sometimes ask if I plan to make a second edition of Grave to correspond to the updates in the second edition of Knave. 1️⃣ The answer is: sort of, maybe but not quite. But I’m closer to it now than I was a year ago, now that Dungeon23 left me with an adventure to…
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#Dungeon23 retrospective
2023 is over, and with it, the #Dungeon23 challenge: a yearlong effort to create a 365-room megadungeon, one day at a time. Now that I’ve filled two notebooks with a pair of soulslike adventures, I’m reminded of a birthday card I once got from my wife: I share this sentiment with everybody who completed Dungeon23…
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2400 Devlog: Nuclear Family
Nuclear Family is a game about braving the wasteland with your misfit buddies in a gonzo, post-apocalyptic future. (And my attempt to answer folks who wonder whether a super-short game can be used for long-term play!) Download it on Itch.io as part of the entire 2400 collection, or on DriveThruRPG either on its own or…
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2400 Devlog: Junior Hybrid Battle Cryptids
Junior Hybrid Battle Cryptids is a game about anthropomorphic animals protecting the innocent, investigating strangeness, and crushing it at dance-offs. Download it on Itch.io as part of the entire 2400 collection, or on DriveThruRPG either on its own or in the 2400 bundle. An origin story Cryptids is a goofy parody and a heartfelt homage…
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A few ways to hate armor rules
Armor rules are, for me, the most vexing part of designing D&Dish games. I don’t need games to “realistically” simulate fantasy worlds, and I do need rules to be simple and approachable. Even so, the binary “you get hit or you don’t” default rule of armor has always seemed far too clean and boring to…
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Starting #Dungeon23
I started #Dungeon23 a little early, hoping to hit the ground running on New Year’s Day. Blogged a bit about my intentions. Took some notes to help me visualize the big picture. Sought inspiration from locations and maps for Dark Souls and Elden Ring. Read articles (and started reading books) on dungeon and adventure design.…
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2400 terminology update
2400 is not a terminology-heavy game. It has very few rules, as contemporary RPGs go, and every game in the series was designed to be internally consistent. I found I had trouble explaining how to combine 2400 modules, however, because I used the same terms to refer to different things. I can only write “traits…
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24XX devlog: The SRD
The 24XX System Reference Document (available on Itch.io and DriveThruRPG) is a free, Creative Commons licensed version of the rules used by the 2400 lo-fi sci-fi RPG series (also on Itch.io and DriveThruRPG). I was on the fence about writing about the SRD in a series of 2400 devlogs because the 24XX SRD is not,…
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2400 devlog: Battle Moon
Battle Moon is a 24XX combat rules primer disguised as a patently ridiculous (but still quite usable!) one-shot scenario. Create a black-belt vidcast celebrity with a bandolier of plasma grenades, a robot chessboxer with a glitchy force-field generator, or a cephalopoid master of disguise with a sentient Rigelian worm-whip, and see how they fare at hoverboard…
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2400 devlog: Legends
Legends is the one (and likely only) “lo-fi hi-fantasy” entry in the 2400 series, an homage to D&D that might actually fit into a unified 2400 setting (if you squint hard enough). You can find it in the full 2400 series on Itch.io, and on its own and in the 2400 bundle on DriveThruRPG. Legends…
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2400 devlog: Xot
In Xot, players take on the roles of settlers crash-landed on a world that forces them to adapt. You might play an undying priest with an aversion to gravity, a sharp-eyed mystic with cameras for eyes, or a horned mechanic with finger-plugs that interface with machines, or any number of other bizarre combinations. It’s available as part of…
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2400 devlog: Resistors
Resistors is a game about activist hackers struggling to get by and make a difference in a hyper-corporate cyberpunk dystopia. Download it as part of the entire 2400 collection on Itch.io, or on its own or in the 2400 bundle on DriveThruRPG. Cyberpunk aesthetics vs. praxis As I wrote on the original Itch devlog, I…
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2400 devlog: Habs & Gardens
Habs & Gardens is the very first (and probably only) hi-fi sci-fi 2400 microgame. It features (probably) mundane community first responders, dealing with (most likely) low-stakes situations on a (seemingly) idyllic space station. Find it in the full 2400 series on Itch.io, and on its own and in the 2400 bundle on DriveThruRPG. Influences The most obvious influence…
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2400 devlog: Data Loss
Data Loss is a soulslike sci-fi TTRPG scenario about waking up in a cloning station on a ruined world, tasked with gathering memories of the dead to piece together the situation and how to survive it. It’s available as part of the full 2400 series on Itch.io, and on its own and in the 2400…
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2400 devlog: Codebreakers
Codebreakers is an action-thriller microgame about hackers, investigators, and innocent bystanders who know The Truth: This is all just a simulation. They’ve glimpsed enough of the code behind reality to exploit it, at the risk of attracting the attention of relentless daemons. Get it as part of the entire 2400 collection on Itch.io, and on…
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2400 devlog: Zone
Zone is a game about scavengers, scientists, and soldiers exploring a once-ordinary landscape where the laws of physics no longer apply. It’s available as part of the full 2400 series on Itch.io, and on its own and in a bundle on DriveThruRPG. Influences Zone was born from my interest in Roadside Picnic, Annihilation, and Into…
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2400 devlog: The Venusian Job
The Venusian Job is a heist scenario generator, sending players up a space elevator to rob the swankest casino in the inner system. It’s available as part of the entire 2400 series on Itch.io, and on its own and in the 2400 bundle on DriveThruRPG. Influences It should come as no surprise that The Venusian…
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2400 devlog: Tempus Diducit
Tempus Diducit (which I sure hope is Latin for “time unravels”) is a genre-bending, multiversal mishmash that welcomes you to bring in characters from any game made with the 24XX SRD. It’s available as part of the full 2400 series on Itch.io, and on its own and in the 2400 bundle on DriveThruRPG. As I…
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2400 devlog: Emergency Rules
Emergency Rules is a (slightly) longer version of the 2400 rules, offering no setting-specific information to make space for clearer guidance for play. It was the first 2400 document I ever wrote, but not the first I ever released. In a way, I hoped it would never be needed. And, in a way, I think…
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2400 devlog: Orbital Decay
Orbital Decay is a one-shot space horror scenario generator. It was the first 2400 game to include a map, four broad skillsets, stress rules, and guidelines for creating and running scary monsters. Get it as part of the entire 2400 collection on Itch.io, and on its own and in the 2400 bundle on DriveThruRPG. Influences…
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2400 devlog: Exiles
Exiles is a microgame about strange castaways on a xenotech-riddled quarantine world. It’s available as part of the entire 2400 collection on Itch.io, and on its own and in a bundle on DriveThruRPG. Influences As noted in the original devlog, I honestly don’t know what genre Exiles belongs to. I designed it while geeking out…
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2400 devlog: Project Ikaros
Project Ikaros is a microgame about rogue psychics fleeing from or fighting against elite agents. Which side you’re on is up to you. Find it as part of the entire 2400 collection on Itch.io, and on its own and in a bundle on DriveThruRPG. Influences Project Ikaros is supposed to play like an action/thriller — and…
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2400 devlog: Eos
Eos is a microgame about humanity’s entry into a diverse galactic community, seen through the eyes of a crew that’s expected to serve as soldiers, explorers, and diplomats alike. You can get Eos as part of the entire 2400 collection on Itch.io, and on its own and in a bundle on DriveThruRPG. Influences Eos is…
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2400 devlog: Xenolith
Xenolith is a microgame about a multi-species crew responding to crises caused by the very same ancient relics that made galactic civilization possible. You can get Xenolith it as part of the entire 2400 collection on Itch.io, and on its own and in a bundle on DriveThruRPG. My favorite game on the Citadel Let’s get this out of…
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2400 devlog: ALT
ALT is a game about transhuman operatives in a star system where memories are stored on magnetic tape backups. It’s my lo-fi love letter to Eclipse Phase, Altered Carbon, and Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. You can find it as part of the entire 2400 collection on Itch.io, and on its own and…
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2400 devlog: Cosmic Highway
Cosmic Highway is a game of space truckers trying to keep their ship in the air, inspired by Firefly, The Expanse, and the Mothership RPG. It’s available as part of the entire 2400 collection on Itch.io, and on its own and in a bundle on DriveThruRPG. In the original devlog for Cosmic Highway v1.0, posted about a…
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2400 devlog: Inner System Blues
Inner System Blues (on Itch and DriveThruRPG) is a microgame about cyberpunk freelancers in a grainy retro-future. It’s an action/adventure RPG soaked in neon-glow nostalgia and a grim determination to survive in a world that’s just as messed up as sci-fi authors warned us about (but at least you’ve got a cool computer). But also,…
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2400 devlogs
Whenever I add a new game to the 2400 series, I write up a devlog over on the Itch.io page. These started as pretty brief changelogs, but over time, I got into more detail about the design process behind them, and how to blend them with other 2400 modules. And — somewhat to my surprise…
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100 O.D.D. items
I initially released Agents of the O.D.D. with a list of 20 magic items, or “arcana,” but admitted right out the gate that I felt it needed a lot more. So, here are a lot more. The first 20 are rituals, which take longer to perform safely; you might only be able to do them…
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Collecting magic items with a day job
I love roleplaying games with tons of weird little magic items and strange oddities. They’re the secret sauce in games like Into the Odd, Numenera, and (since I realized what those games were doing that I liked so much) my own in-progress game Odd Luck Charms. I think those sorts of things work even better…
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Change Agents of the O.D.D.
I’m running Agents of the O.D.D. tonight for the first time since Metatopia, and looking to playtest some changes. (Please feel free to grab a free “community copy” of the earlier edition if you’re practicing good social distancing or performing essential services during the pandemic, by the way.) We likely won’t even get to all…
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(Un)written rules of play
I tend to design relatively short RPGs because I’m more likely to get them done, and because the intended audience (myself, my personal friends, and fellow longtime hobbyists) doesn’t need much more than the basics. I’m working on a couple longer games now, though, one of which is explicitly written to welcome newcomers both to…
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Down Town draft: Into the Odd meets Blue Blazes
Awhile back, I blogged about a work-in-progress RPG tentatively titled “Down Town,” a hack of Into the Odd about modern-day urban spelunkers delving into the weird underworld far beneath the streets. I think this game will be super fun to run, so I keep getting distracted thinking about it—but I have more pressing projects, and,…
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Fonts of wisdom
Please pardon me while I take a break from obsessing over game design long enough to obsess over graphic design. Specifically, typefaces. If one of my students had turned in a 40-page book in a novelty typeface back when I was teaching design classes, I would’ve docked their grade for it. I gave myself a pass…
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Metatopia Design Diary: Agents of the O.D.D.
I ran two sessions of Agents of the O.D.D. at Metatopia, a convention geared toward playtesting games in development. The feedback was a mix of things that made me go, “Great, I was planning on doing that already!” and things that made me go, “Hmm, I’m really going to have to think about that.” Some key takeaways: More…
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Metatopia Design Diary: Nighttide
Last weekend, I ran my first playtest of Nighttide (and the Gauge system on which it’s based), a diceless gothic horror game inspired by Bloodborne and Castlevania. It was a lot of fun! Also, it didn’t work. That session did suggest that it could work, though, and that this game may be worth developing into something more detailed than a page-long scenario…
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Grave 1.0 release notes & alternate rules
After five months of playtesting, I’m finally calling Grave (more or less) done. This game offers a minimalist D&D-inspired rule set for soulslike fantasy adventures, built on Ben Milton’s tried-and-true Knave. Like Knave, it only offers hints of an implied setting, so it works best when paired with “Old School Renaissance” (OSR) adventure modules and…
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Aetherway: Tunnel Goons meets Troika!
My second game jam submission in a week (and, well, ever) is Aetherway, for the delightful Goon Jam featuring hacks of Nate Treme’s Tunnel Goons . It’s meant to be a companion and/or conversion for Troika!, but I think it’s potentially useful to anybody who would like d66 tables of strange travelers and otherworldly portals—and…
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Rumors, Legends & Lies for a soulslike campaign
Here are 45 snippets of lore that probably aren’t making it to the final text of Grave, but that I could imagine making use of someday. I figured I’d put them here rather than just leaving them on the cutting room floor. This list came out of an attempt to provide d50 Dark Souls-inspired “Rumors,…
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Grave: Hacking Knave for soulslike adventure
I’ve been wondering aloud for months about how (and whether) to fix the rules for my soulslike game, Exhumed—but learning that its working title is taken by yet another metal band may have been the final straw. (“Titles that inadvertently turn out to be taken by metal bands” may be the only consistent thing in…
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Design Diary: Grave Knave
I recently wondered aloud whether I’d be better off rethinking my soulslike game Exhumed as a Knave hack, especially given that my earliest pre-playtesting version of Exhumed unwittingly looked quite a bit like Knave. (I ended up using much of those rules in in a Fallout hack instead.) Now, I know the smart move is…
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Exhumed design diary: Action-packed minutiae
I’m still sorting through the trickiest design issues in Exhumed, my soulslike tabletop RPG: how frequently characters act, and the options available to them when they do act, as I wrote awhile back. I got to try some ideas in my last playtest, and have been approaching various problems with different kinds of actions atomically,…
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Designer’s block
Do game designers get writer’s block, or some equivalent thereof? I’m very curious how you other designers, hackers, and homebrewers experience this (or not). Me, though? When I get stuck on a game, it feels like the exact opposite of writer’s block. With writer’s block, I just stare at the page blankly, trying like hell…
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Lessons from playtesting once in a blue (super wolf blood) moon
When I last wrote about playtesting Exhumed, I lamented that it seemed impossible to deliver a fun experience to my friends and whip my rules into shape. I had been trying to test so many different mechanics across so many sessions that each session was getting bogged down with the fallout of experimental fixes that…
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Designing a Soulslike Action Economy
The greatest design problem I face with my soulslike tabletop RPG, Exhumed, is getting the feel right for the action economy—that is, the rules for how frequently each character can act, and what they can use those actions to do. When I showed readers online the initial approach, the most common reaction was doubt that…
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Playtest Review: Exhumed
Every time I’ve run Exhumed—an RPG built on the Into the Odd rules, and inspired by Dark Souls—it seems to have worked more or less like I intended. Playtesters familiar with soulslike games tell me it manages to evoke the same feel, and players new to the genre assure me it’s still interesting and accessible for them too. The…
Pretendo Games 