masukomi

masukomi, 3 months ago (edited 3 months ago) to random

Happy to report that I'm officially in the Daggerheart playtest group. Everything's NDA'd until March 12th (i think) so, I can't share any details beyond that I'm part of it.

That being said, I'm REALLY excited. Everything we've seen so far makes it sound like it's got real potential to be a fun, and innovative collection of ideas.

Plus, Critical Role actually has a significant enough following to make it a real alternative to D&D & we need that.

masukomi, 4 months ago to random

I finally replayed Spire's End - Hildegard https://www.spiresend.com/hildegard This time as a 2 player game with @dachary

Second play-through was radically different from first. I really want to play again, because there's so much we didn't see.

I'm definitely backing the kickstarter for the next one (Rangitaki) https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/favro/spires-end-rangitaki & I really want to find out what happens to Hildegard in Spire's End

(Hildegard & Rangitaki are prequels)

masukomi, 1 month ago to random

@ian_h_cooper Can you share any details about the current status of QuestWorlds? The last update i see on the Chaosium site is from Nov 2022.

Did they abandon work on it? It seems like it was so close.

masukomi, 4 months ago to random

Bodie H makes cute (usually fantasy) illustrations. They've got a kicstarter right now for a new choose your own adventure book, that's sure to be filled with lots of cute silly goodness.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bodieh/mystery-under-magi-mart

You should totally back it. Also, check out their site: https://www.slowquest.com/

and back them on Patreon if you want a steady stream of illustrations like this for your games.

masukomi, 2 months ago to random

I am stuck on the porch for a while, keeping an eye on our dog (details https://connectified.com/@masukomi/112287121388263134).

Last night I started playing my game again, and the tense dangerous moments were actually really tense feeling in just the right way. So, as i sit here on pupper-watch I’m continuing to play and it’s continuing to impress me. :D

I started with the Year Zero engine, & then took a hammer and rivet gun to it. The folks at Free League deserve a lot of thanks & kudos for that core math

masukomi, 1 month ago (edited 1 month ago) to random

Last night I had a really surprising encounter in my playtest. As it unfolded I became 100% convinced I was about to have a TPK. I'd "screwed the pooch" on the mechanics, and was going to have to go back to the drawing board.

But then, I discovered that I'd baked in enough support for player creativity that even the most ill-equipped characters could succeed IF the players could think "outside of the box".

A recap of the events followed by lessons learned.

https://weblog.masukomi.org/2024/04/21/lessons-from-an-unexpected-playtest-moment/

masukomi, 2 months ago to random

@BuzziEdoardo I just listened to the Third Floor Wars interview with you. Your FEEL system sounds great and i 100% want to check it out.

Please pull the trigger on the Kickstarter, or ashcan. We need more cool stuff like that in the world! ;)

masukomi, 2 months ago to Fate

I finally finished reading Fate of Dungeons.

At a high level, it’s a good port of the D&D tropes to the FATE mechanics.

I have a lot of nits to pick: mostly technical writing, tone, and precision issues.

However, the more important issue is that I just don’t care about porting D&D to any other system. That’s not interesting to me.

I was hoping for a fun and creative way of playing a dungeon delving / fantasy adventure using #FATE . This just feels like simpler D&D with different dice.

masukomi, 1 month ago to random

TIL that Warhammer has a faction called the Adeptus Custodes who are the elite bodyguards of the Emperor of Humanity... who has been dead for > 10,000 years, so they decided to run around shooting aliens or... something.

And, holy shit... The idea of a group of elite bodyguards of a dead emperor that just went off and did their own shit, but kept being the dude's elite bodyguards?! that's amazing. I love it.

It's so stupid and awesome and... just... fuck yes. :D

masukomi, 5 months ago to random

I just received a lovely Christmas present from past me. I look forward to finally reading these this weekend. I have not yet read any of the PDFs, because I hate reading PDFs. ;)

masukomi, 2 months ago to random

Real question: Can someone explain to me the thinking behind @mcg 's bundling of VERY different books into 1 crowdfunding campaign?

They bundled a Post Apocalyptic genre book (Rust & Redemption) with modern day + magic overlay with a kinda "cozy" feel (It's Only Magic).

Now it's Weird West (High Noon At Midnigt) with Cypberpunk (Neon Rain) and old west meets motorcycles meets knights in armor (Gunslinger Knights)

I'm 👍 about them individually but the combo crowdfunding is bewildering to me.

masukomi, 8 months ago to random

Please help me figure out what game I'm thinking of.

In this game players/characters always have 2 things their characters would like to do in the near future. Might be something as simple as "i'd like to get one over on Sam". Players get some sort of advancement when that happens, and GMs get to outsource the job of figuring out "what would be cool to have happen" to the players.

I THOUGHT I saw this in a Rowan Rook & Decard game, (#Spire ?) but I can't find the rule.

Help?

masukomi, 1 month ago to random

I heard an interview with the creator of Gaslight Club (Stoo Goff) . The premise is basically that you're one of the robots in Westworld who's waking up to the reality of your world. Obvously cool storytelling to be had there. Except it's in a 1920's(ish) nightclub.

He described it mechanically as being the "...Year Zero Engine with a few of the influences from Blades [in the Dark], and from Genesys." I was intrigued. I downloaded it.

A few thoughts. 🧵 1/?

masukomi, 3 months ago to random

Well i HAD feedback for the Daggerheart closed beta, but i was too slow. I didn't realize that the 12th was a cutoff, and not just when the public beta started. :/

so frustrating to have taken all those detailed notes and then "this survey is now closed"

masukomi, 7 months ago to random

I keep seeing the posts about the Invisible Sun crowdfunding campaign.

I almost bought one of the last few of the 1st batch, but decided not to. Since then I got the digital version, but it's just not the same.

It's an amazing unique piece of TTRPG gaming & gaming history & I wouldn't be surprised if they never reprint it again because the logistics have to be a massive pain in the butt.

However, it's not a game I'm yearning to play. It's not a game I'm likely to ever get to the table.

masukomi, 4 months ago to random

We got our Wyrmwood Modular Gaming table & accessories a little bit ago and I finally finished up my writeup about it:

https://weblog.masukomi.org/2024/02/02/wyrmwood-modular-table-thoughts/

tl:dr; it's ok, but there are some very concerning manufacturing issues.

I commented on their 🐄💩 handling of the Topper Tray "switcheroo", but didn't really go into my many thoughts on how 💩 that co.'s leadership is or how dirty I feel having done business with them. That'd be a huge post on it's own.

masukomi, 7 months ago to random

@dnaphil @idellamithlynnd in the “feel the character beat” episode you mentioned that it might be worth doing another episode about asking leading questions.

I am currently in the process of writing a series of archetype/class descriptions for my game that are comprised primarily of leading questions. So, I would definitely be interested in hearing your current thoughts about that. ;)

masukomi, 4 months ago to random

It took 6 pages like these two to catalogue all the challenges and face-offs in #SpiresEnd Hildegard and i have 2 big takeaways:

1: Holy 💩 the variety of challenges he’s been able to create with simple variations on simple mechanics is amazing. In challenge level, encounter feel, encounter type… just EVERYTHING

2: there is WAY more replayability here than i thought.

masukomi, 7 months ago to random

It’s funny, I have an absolutely terrible memory, but I still remember those god-awful dice that came with the D&D Red Box. I don’t know if they came with a crayon to color in the numbers or if I just had a used set that someone had put a crayon in.

For those who don’t know, a crayon is a terrible solution for numbering dice. I mean, “use this crayon” 🖍️ is far more practical & reasonable than providing paint & brush, & expecting everyone to be able to paint some thing that small. But still…

masukomi, 4 months ago to random

....bwahahaha 🤣😿

reports that Hasbro fired the entire team in charge of production and distribution of physical books back in Dec. in the great big layoff.

They're currently trying to hire a VP of Digital Publishing who will "lead our publishing services" who will "lead a team critical to our goal of delighting fans with our VIDEO GAMES" 🤦‍♀️ (emphasis mine)

not games... "video games"

Details in this Dungeon Craft video: https://youtu.be/qUFUwLM3xRI

masukomi, 7 months ago to random

I was reminded of the Devil character in Stealing Stories For The Devil and i must admit that i just don’t get it.

Like i get the basic game. I just don’t get why’s the Devil character exists in the background or what in supposed to do with the knowledge that he’s there.

It’s like “oh by the way. The Devil was in the room and you didn’t know”… ok. So?

1/2

masukomi, 4 months ago to random

@genesisoflegend 🤔 have you had any negative (to you) consequences to having released Spark, or anything else, into the public domain?

masukomi, 7 months ago to random

Thinking about the question of what games have a good balance of success & failure.... Starforged is, in my mind, an effing masterpiece.

Mechanically it does a spectacular job of riding that line of "can I do this? I think i can do this..." and then when you roll the partial successes, full successes, & failures all feel meaningful. Momentum is just barely enough & never feels like a cheat.

He's taken PBTA and given it just the right amount of additional complexity and nuance for me.

masukomi, 8 months ago to random

Last night I worked on my TTRPG game instead of playing Baldur's Gate or coding. A few things gelled and I felt like I was really close.

In the middle of the night i woke up with 2 great Ideas. 1 i was convinced i'd figure out again even if i didn't write it down (gods i hope so) and the other was like "I must write this down because i WON'T remember." so i did.

This morning, i woke up like 30 minutes early with my brain going "holy shit holy shit holy shit i've got it! all the pieces fit!"

masukomi, 4 months ago to random

I remember listening to an interview with one of the guys who made Shiver. They have been very intentional about what they include in each new release. Each time it's basically

1. core writing stuff
2. things we learned how to do / overcome in last attempt(s)
3. trying 1 new thing

the new thing is always harder than they expect. But they focus on learning from the problems they encounter so that they won't have them next time. Repeat. get better.

The result is consistently good product