Topics regarding design and game theory.
GreyKnight asked for some sample tiles that show ‘nonlinear features’, so I’ve done up three tiles. Sample Cave Tiles I decided to do cave tiles because it was quick and easy (draw some squiggles, floodfill them, and call it done). Drawing with a mouse sucks. Tile 1: Simple Cave This …
I recently had this blog added to the RPG Blog Alliance (there’s even a wee banner in the links section); I won’t insult anyone by describing what it is. This aggregator has shown me a slew of blogs I wasn’t aware of and I’ve found some articles that greatly interested …
After my recent posts about Ability Pools and their use, including as a resource opponents can target, I thought I would do a bit of simple analysis to see if things are sane or not. So far, I think they are. In this article I am exploring only the effects …
I was thinking yesterday about how I might model in Echelon the Favored Enemy ability of RSRD rangers. I haven’t found a specific answer yet, so what I’ll do here is describe some of my thoughts on it. Writing this down might help clarify my thoughts and lead to a …
I was thinking about how Ability Pools will be used. There are some obvious uses such as fueling talent abilities (such as Spot talent’s clairvoyance), they are a way to measure (and mitigate) conditions and ability damage. I love that they should get rid of ad hoc adjustments during play. It …
The conversations on my blog about shield and armor talents has brought up spell resistance. If it’s in the game, one or the other of these talents would be an appropriate mechanism for gaining it. However, I have to wonder… is Spell Resistance really an appropriate mechanic in the first …
So far, these articles have focused on definitions and theory. This article shows how they can used together to actually craft something. Summary of Steps Develop the setting, so the campaigns have a place to happen. Develop campaigns, so the player characters have long-term goals and to provide a general …
The number three seems to have a strong cognitive effect. Hearing something three times can help someone remember it, we usually need at least three observations to predict a pattern, and we seem to be able to easily remember about three things about a subject. Listing sets of three is …
This process owes its genesis to ideas I had while reading Justin Alexander’s Node-Based Scenario Design essay. This essay formalized processes I had been applying and helped focus my mind on them… and led to me to some abstractions I hadn’t considered before. An adventure, a scenario, can ultimately be …
I’ve been looking through some older D&D materials. I know I’ve seen something in at least one of them about non-linear adventure design, but haven’t been able to put my hands (or eyes) on the one I want. I remember a section in a book that talks about trying to …