All of this is to say; write the RPG book in the way that you want it presented to you, there's no single answer here and the best path is the one that leads you as a creator to a work you're proud of.
The hypothetical bullet points version of the dungeon is dead easy to run as a game, but now instead my tension is in how much mental load I spend creating colorful descriptions on the fly– to say nothing of whether that version of the book is equally evocative & desirable to run in the first place!
As is I just have to own the tension between slowing my pace down for accuracy versus accepting some user error for pacing. That's *fine,* but to me clearly illustrates the impossibility of one perfect and clear form for RPG writing.
Arden Vul is also just big and heavily interconnected; I couldn't prep every possible outcome of a session if I tried. So I would kill for a magic book that could switch between bullet points and prose! Sometimes I really just need to see the possible dangers clearly laid out in advance.
Here's a fork in the road; if I'm in a prep session that transition is fine, good even because it contributes to me forming a holistic image of the room's implicit story in my mind. I don't always get to prep though; dad life is like that.
Natural language in this case is really well suited to speaking aloud and creating a mental image for the benefit of the table. The weakness is that the lack of layout aids can make it difficult to anticipate when the text block I'm in the middle of is about to transition to hidden information.
Using my experience with the Halls of Arden Vul as the primary data point I'm drawing on: most of the book is in prose, and that's invaluable for purposes of being able to run a session on little to no prep because in many cases I can read straight from the book as my players delve.
Good post. I think the fundamental difficulty is that role-playing is an activity which encompasses many modes of communication; my needs from a game text can vary widely literally by the minute. 🧵
That makes sense– I haven't read the CoT books yet (but I liked Service Model!) so knowing there's a generational aspect helps differentiate from the likes of Traveller or Eclipse Phase.
Big fan of RR&D; what niche in the sci-fi rpg ecosystem are you hoping this game will fill?
Educational!
Thanks for this earworm, I hate it
Hey Americans— if you know anyone in the armed forces, now would be a great time to reach out and make sure those people know their rights and obligations concerning unlawful orders! Cause you better fucking hope at least some of them will be ready to refuse them.
Plus, leaving aside the undercutting anxiety with riffing point, there's also just a tension with player agency there. Helplessness is a key horror element imo but quite difficult to incorporate the right amount without degamifying the table.
I like incorporating a lot of horror elements in my games but I freely acknowledge you can't stay immersed in it as a genre very easily. One does what one can.
It's 2007. You resolve Chandra Nalaar and ping for one damage. Your opponent angrily scoffs, declares planeswalkers to be bullshit, and scoops.
It's 2027. You resolve Oko and Iron Man, Multiversal Pals and create two 7/7 Iron Elk tokens. Your opponent angrily scoffs about UB and misses lethal.
Either that or a super hot lady version of the TF2 Demoman
Canadian non-lawyer here, I'd say it's borderline but probably below notice either way. Could easily be tweaked to "marching down to goblin town" or something
I mean I can think of one potentially very positive repercussion.
Constituency is a close synonym also yes. The riding is generally geographically defined (you verify your address when registering to vote), so as a Canadian if I wanted to call my representative I might say "Hi (you conservative fuck), I'm a voter in your riding and blah blah blah."
In parliamentary electoral systems a riding is mostly synonymous with an electoral district. Any given location exists in multiple ridings associated with different levels of government.
I would be quite happy for you to name and shame influencers in case I need to unsubscribe 😒
Lower cost = not a big deal, design guy has nothing better to do
Higher cost = design guy is busy and experienced, changes could impact budget
god big fucking mood
Hank I love your work and this is beyond the pale how dare you
> "Build strength, your body won't hurt as much"
> Work out
> Body hurts
> mfw
A small white dog comfortably draped in the lap of a human, face out of frame
Respectfully man I think you'd look great if you just shave if off now. Every post on r/bald has convinced me it takes 15 years off a man
Well good vibes are coming your way from one internet stranger
I saw someone point out that the YB&B stuff isn't actually that weird in a lot of ways. Contracts get disputed all the time, it just usually doesn't end up being reported on as ~drama~ so I wouldn't necessarily conclude that the indie rpg scene itself is the problem— but idk your other stuff so 🤷♂️
