tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56534673371823945452024-03-20T11:09:36.943-04:00DodocahedronWill Purveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12375096729522589036noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653467337182394545.post-81432602032988484912024-02-29T22:00:00.001-05:002024-02-29T22:00:09.082-05:00Odd Skills After the last session of a Season of the game I run at my FLGS I asked the group about system preferences. We have played fantasy using Knave, then Mausritter, back to Knave, and then ITO in my steampunk hack Sky and Steam Miscellany. Bouncing genres and systems.<div>The answers were mixed. They generally like a roll to hit (aiming high!), stat saves, diegetic and non mechanical skill descriptions, leveling,and story over systems. Oh, and firearms. It was good feedback! </div><div>So, I had already decided the next Season was Corny Grón, and it seems like the ITO chassis is a good fit. I thought that Craftwork framework would be a good fit as it has the skill system built in as well as levels. What tweaks seem appropriate?</div><div>One - Levels as Bonus in Combat </div><div>Since we typically get through a handful of levels, it seems like we can eliminate proficiency and just use levels as the bonus number for a roll to hit in combat. Level two with a skill in riflery? +2! Target number is opponents dexterity. Roll high. The rest of combat, damage etc is per ITO. Done. </div><div><br></div><div>Two - Other Skills</div><div>These will mostly be handled diegetically. If you have the skill in lock picking, then you are picking the locks. If a skill seems appropriate then give a bonus to a stat for a save. Otherwise saves are as ITO.</div><div><br></div><div>Three - Craftwork & CG</div><div>As in Salt Palace, I'll pick six crafts to match the CG backgrounds and adjust some skills to fit. The beauty of Craftwork is that it is super fast to adjust and very flexible.</div><div><br></div><div>Anything I am forgetting?</div>Will Purveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12375096729522589036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653467337182394545.post-83792387534326229662023-07-23T20:18:00.001-04:002023-07-23T20:18:36.110-04:00Moments of Creation I ran A Fistful of Feathers by Martin Orchard for some friends last night, party of two, using Cairn, at our FLGS. It's nice because they have a private room in the back, with a big window so you still feel part of things. There were a couple moments that made me think about co-creation.<div><b>So your background is Outlaw, so let's assume you've been in Ganderfall village before, maybe to </b>...</div><div><b><i>Fence some goods?</i></b></div><div><b>Sure, maybe at the bar or tavern?</b></div><div><i style="font-weight: bold;"><b>Well, I'll head there first. I go in and see if Betsy's around, she's who I usually talk to. And I need coffee before I do anything.</b></i></div><div><b>Betsy is there and welcomes you warmly, telling you the coffee is on its way.</b></div><div><br></div><div>There was a lot going on in this exchange. The player had just rolled up the character moments before, I read the brief intro from the zine, and the two players decided that they'd met on the road and had been traveling together for a day or two. So they knew each other, kind of. </div><div>From that one word, Outlaw, the two of us, in a few words, established the relationship between the player character and the town. Deconstructing it, we were building on our common understanding of Outlaw, probably someone who ranges over a large territory, familiar with the outdoors, steals things and needs to get rid of them for cash. All of that was rapidly established.</div><div>We quickly reached in to our bag of fantasy tropes and pulled out a tavern as the spot to sell things. The player takes the initiative here and creates an NPC with a name, Betsy, and establishes the nature of the relationship with the NPC by throwing in that the tavern will have coffee and that Betsy is close enough to the player character to provide coffee at such an early hour.</div><div>The whole exchange took under 30 seconds, no dice were rolled, and there was unspoken trust that by quickly building on our ideas of the situation, we could establish a base for the adventure to proceed.</div><div>Player 2, a Cleric who rolled a lot of cooking gear, decided that they drink mushroom tea, not coffee. I think this came from their clothing roll, which was 'foreign', and it was their first choice of an odd habit to adopt. Over the course of the next two and a half hours, the mushroom tea resurfaced multiple times, with the cleric offering it to the first player, again, to their new friend Betsy, and then to a group of fairies they randomly encountered. By that point, the taste of mushroom tea had become something of a joke, as I had rolled poorly for Betsy and for the fairies in terms of their reaction to the offering. </div><div>The centrality in the emergent narrative of the mushroom tea was inarguable. It came up in numerous conversations, and even when the pair ran out of food, became deprived, and then began taking on fatigue, player one still refused to drink the tea.</div><div><br></div><div>Together, the two anecdotes, or vignettes, spoke a great deal to me about trust, the endurance of improvisational moments, and the cascade of ideas that can come from single word prompts. When we play again, and if we use the same characters, I have no doubt that both Betsy and the mushroom tea will play a role. Betsy has a place in the world now, a relationship, and the mushroom tea is something that the cleric will continue to proffer as they adventure further.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br></div><div><a href="https://ennie-awards.com/2023-nominees/">Link to the announcement</a> </div>Will Purveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12375096729522589036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653467337182394545.post-36378198705418125152022-12-28T15:27:00.001-05:002022-12-28T15:27:09.919-05:00odd Robots For several decades I have been fascinated with games that directly reflect their constituent physical parts. How can mechanics and rules, systems, coexist cozily with how pieces and how can the pieces be part of the system? This started with a Lego based game and now I am noodling around with a Cairn/Mausritter variant: modular robots. This quixotic task, or at least the recent iteration, started a week or so ago.<div>I bought Micro Circuits, and it wasn't what I imagined it to be. Seems much more like human-in-robot-costume kind of game, which is not a bad thing, just not as deep a dive as I was looking for. What I think I was imagining was a system where the nature of being a robot allowed the characters to mechanically take on features and items from other robots or from the environment. In other words I was looking for a system where the nature of the subject matter reinforced or incorporated the mechanics, that there was synergy between the two. That was not the case, so I started working on...</div><div>C.A.I.R.N. is my operating name here... Cellular</div><div>Automatic</div><div>Independent</div><div>Regenerating</div><div>Nodes </div><div>Still figuring out the acronym! But I think I have a nice core concept, where everything, even the individual core stats, are a modular part of the robot, and can be reconfigured.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br></div>Will Purveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12375096729522589036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653467337182394545.post-19227826017677613092022-12-20T20:50:00.001-05:002022-12-20T20:50:30.168-05:00Salt Palace Update Season 4 just ended with a bit of a whimper, primarily due to illness on my part. However, that didn't mean sessions were any less exciting!<div>The parties solved the big mystery of the levitating beam of light, identifying it as a manifestation of an intelligent white gem, the soul of a dwarvish sorcerer. At war with the undead West of the great canyon , the sorcerer has promised assistance if adventurers clear out the skeletons and shadows. </div><div>They also learned that the Salt Palace lies to the west, wyrms lurk in that path, and that spells can be sentient, mobile, and deadly. Then, the last session a determined party pushed South, unveiling a massive underground cliff face, surmounted by a crumbling stone wall. Is it the Palace itself? The other great tower? Something else altogether?</div><div>Tune in next season and let me know if you want to jump in!</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br></div>Will Purveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12375096729522589036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653467337182394545.post-25481472735329855152022-11-27T09:10:00.001-05:002022-11-27T09:10:09.190-05:00The Bard Shudders!Old Willy Shakespeare needs to stand back, step out, and definitely roll over, as Awake Your Dormouse Valor is out and up! Volume one, MiceBeth, and volume two, The Winter's Tail, are available on Itch.<div>Both of these fine pieces of work were done almost entirely by me, using the tools accessible to me. While they are not typically produced Zines; all the parts are there, but they are art light.</div><div>Follow the mouse tracks........</div><div><br></div><div>https://dodocahedrongames.itch.io/<br></div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br></div><br></div>Will Purveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12375096729522589036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653467337182394545.post-90181727525129444162022-11-15T08:22:00.001-05:002022-11-15T08:22:30.026-05:00Creating IndependenceFor several years now most of my publishing efforts have been happily collaborative, laid out and designed by graphic designers, in partnership, and with great results! This summer though, I became interested-inspired-motivated to do as much of the design process as I could with accessible tools.<div><br><div>One of the issues for me is the complex layering of menus, options, and tools in the more popular layout products, whether web-based or not, free or for a cost. I am not as conversant as I would like to be with JAWS or other text to voice interfaces and their facility in addressing what is essentially a visual medium, lay out and design, is arguably not so good.</div><div><br></div><div>One other issue is independence. A core tenet of the independent living movement and disability rights is acknowledging interdependence and jettisoning an uninterrogated dependence. Making my own decisions and following through on the consequences is pivotal, even with the support of other people, technology, medical devices etc. Making decisions about support on a project by project basis increases my independence.</div><div><br></div><div>In practice, or in my practice, right now, what this means is that I'm using Google docs to write, lay out, and convert games for publication, whether printed, distributed as PDFs, or put out as EDocs. In terms of support, I found a template and font hierarchy that fit the project and adjusted it with the support of a designer. The questions and feedback I got from them generally had to do with visual questions around color, spacing, and the interplay of visual elements, all of which are currently difficult or impossible for me to navigate. One temptation was to share the document and allow another person to make those changes or adjustments. That would make things easier, but could I do it myself? The answer was generally yes, or to find a workaround that allowed me the level of Independence I desired.</div><div><br></div><div>For these particular projects, mini campaigns for Mausritter, It also meant making some design decisions, especially around art. The theme of the project, or projects as it turned out, happily, lent itself to a low level of need for art, except on the item cards, which I may write about later. The process allowed me to use dictation and my phone as the primary tool, and a laptop for some of the points where the mobile interface did not suffice. It has been a grand experiment and I feel like it is pushing me in directions I might not have otherwise tackled!</div></div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br></div>Will Purveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12375096729522589036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653467337182394545.post-47887253201744840342022-11-06T08:12:00.001-05:002022-11-06T08:31:14.241-05:00Noguchi Museum: Deep Accessibility In Queens the other week and my oldest arranged a tour of the Noguchi Museum for us and my nephews. A wonderful guide, deeply knowledgeable, gave us all plastic gloves and we explored four pieces over an hour+. Remarkable, intimate, and personal, it was a master class in accessibility and inclusive design. What made it work?<div><br></div><div><b>Preparation</b>: They knew their topic, inside and out -history, context, site - and were not hesitant to identify and share their own perspective.</div><div><br><div><div><b>Including everyone</b>: Though it was my disability, the whole quartet was invited in. We all did it together.</div><div><br></div><div><b>Providing tools</b>: The gloves, instructions, points to look at. More than enough.</div><div><br></div><div><b>Digging deep</b>: Time to explore, question, and really appreciate each piece. Four sculptures felt so full, complete. We all felt like we didn't need more.</div><div><br></div><div><b>Checking understanding</b>: 'Anything else?' 'Did I miss anything?' 'What do you notice?' Many opportunities to check in, ask questions, find another entry point, and offer our own thoughts.<br></div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br></div><br></div><div><br></div></div></div>Will Purveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12375096729522589036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653467337182394545.post-42930135958171685492022-10-04T20:36:00.001-04:002022-10-04T20:36:41.751-04:00Mausritter & Accessibility For the Win!Starting to think that Mausritter, in a physical sense, is a solid step in an accessibile direction. Specifically the item tokens and low vision. I can feel when my backpack and paws are full. Combined with the low number of numbers, not specific to Mausritter, there is not a lot to manage between my fingers and my memory. If I could read braille, the items could be easily modified.<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br></div>Will Purveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12375096729522589036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653467337182394545.post-15336842066391150012022-08-27T09:13:00.000-04:002022-08-27T09:13:51.937-04:00CraftWork Character 7 Day Challenge VOne more for the crew queue!<div><br></div><div><u>Overview</u></div><div>A human, born into a merchant family or clan, then forced to settle down In a small town as the result of a holy war. It is probably real, as they became a bridge and road builder, and they likely spent by themselves out of doors They are 29 years old, have 15 hit points, have proficiency 3, may cast three spells, have 13 coin, and are 10 ft tall.</div><div><br></div><div><u>Skills</u></div><div>Nature </div><div>Martial Melee weapons, one-handed</div><div>Pole arms</div><div><div>Head butt </div><div>Improvised weapons</div></div><div>Defensive stance</div><div>Tailing/follow</div><div><br></div><div><u>Abilities</u></div><div>Brawling: advantage on grapple and shove, light armor only</div><div>Animal companion: a fox that can phase in and out of the world</div><div><br></div><div><u>Stuff</u></div><div>A spell book with two spells (Excruciating Torrent & Deafening Cascade)</div><div>Light armor</div><div>A long iron bar </div><div>A large sledgehammer </div><div>A magic drill and bits</div><div><br></div><div><i>Notes: with one level of giant, two of war and one of mage craft, this character is an interesting mix. I tend to roll three spells for a starting spell book, using Maze Rats, and one of them was a phasing servant. Given that they have an animal companion, I thought that making that creature phasing would be cool. Given that they work with stone and water, the two spells should be evocative of those two elements, perhaps they are both psychic effects, deafening and tormenting the target.</i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br></i></div>Will Purveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12375096729522589036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653467337182394545.post-79349184474598180092022-08-17T08:01:00.000-04:002022-08-17T08:01:52.137-04:00CraftWork Character 7 Day Challenge IVWell, I never really said which 7 days they were! Onward!<div><br></div><div>Character Quarto</div><div>A human who grew up helping their family run an inn in a small town, learning about herbs and plants, possibly from a kindly relative. Business soured and the family moved back to a village near the water, where they worked at a mill and spent some time as a ship builder and cooper. Probably in this village they began a fascination with dreamwork. They have 20 HP, 10 coin, and they are 26 years old with proficiency 3.</div><div><br></div><div><u>Skills</u></div><div>Find healing/useful plants </div><div>Shipbuilding</div><div>Cooper </div><div>Wood carving</div><div>Parry </div><div>Slieght of hand/ hide item</div><div><br></div><div><u>Abilities</u> </div><div>Alter memory </div><div>Dreamwalking </div><div>Make Whispersledge </div><div>Make Dream net</div><div><br></div><div><u>Stuff</u></div><div>Woodworking tools</div><div>10 ft of chain </div><div>Pot of glue </div><div>Spyglass </div><div>Magical herbs that evoke dreams </div><div>Whispersledge </div><div>Dream net</div><div><br></div><div><i>Notes: This one was curious as I kept rolling skills rather than anything much to do with DreamCraft. They sort of have the minimum, so I imagine they are a bit of a dilettante, or maybe they are very focused on dream walking. Maybe obsessed? And why the Alter Memory; maybe they have a story they want to hide in the village? They would make an excellent NPC for a seaside or boat situation.</i></div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div>Will Purveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12375096729522589036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653467337182394545.post-6667335953233218472022-08-09T07:53:00.001-04:002022-08-09T07:53:00.732-04:00CraftWork Character 7 Day Challenge IIIOnward!<div><br></div><div>#3</div><div>This elf grew up in a wig making shop, but the business did not survive the Great Purge. They left to become a farmer of herbs, then acquired levels of Warcraft and Skincraft. They are 22 years old and have 19 hit points, proficiency 2, and no money.</div><div><br></div><div><u>Skills</u></div><div>History </div><div>Improvised weapons</div><div>Head butt </div><div>Long, short, and crossbow </div><div>Aided climbing </div><div>Persuasion </div><div> </div><div><u>Abilities etc</u></div><div>Elemental weapons (Water) increases damage, other effects </div><div>Archery </div><div>Great leaps and bounds (unusual distances and height)</div><div><br></div><div><u>Skincraft</u> </div><div>Panther </div><div>Shape change is precipitated by happiness</div><div>Fears rods, poles etc</div><div><br></div><div><u>Stuff</u></div><div>50 ft of rope </div><div>10 ft of chain </div><div>Longbow </div><div>Lantern </div><div>Tinderbox </div><div>Drill </div><div>Fake jewels</div><div><br></div><div><i>Notes: This is the first character in this series that crosses into FaeCraft. It is the third character that has been touched by the Great Purge, which obviously had a deleterious effect on this group of people! None of the possessions came up as magical, and the change agent for the lycanthropy was generated by asking Google for a random emotional state. I found it cool that the elemental weapon rolled up as water, which is not a typical weapon feature. It raises all sorts of interesting questions about what water arrows would do.</i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br></i></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div>Will Purveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12375096729522589036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653467337182394545.post-13943778475495672942022-08-08T17:19:00.001-04:002022-08-08T17:19:51.527-04:00CraftWork Character 7 Day Challenge IICreation continues ...<div><br></div><div>#2</div><div>This character is a 29-year-old human with eight coin, 32 hit points, -1 charisma and +1 dexterity. They spend time in War, Wild, and Soulcraft.</div><div><br></div><div>They started life as a simple villager, a miller, and then became a hunter in a nearby forest after being scarred by politics. They serve the Oak Mother as a holy officiant.</div><div><br></div><div><u>Skills</u></div><div><i>Proficiency 3</i></div><div>Jewelry tools </div><div>Improvised weapons </div><div>Navigation tools</div><div>Pole arm </div><div>Two weapon fighting </div><div>Heavy armor</div><div>Hide item </div><div> </div><div><u>Abilities etc</u> </div><div><i>Devotion 5</i></div><div>Favored terrain is forest </div><div>Their preferred prey is forest herbivores</div><div>Holy Power,: Shield of Wood, Copse Guardian <br></div><div>Miracle: Growth</div><div><br></div><div><u>Stuff</u></div><div>Five skins</div><div>Pole arm </div><div>Navigation tools</div><div>Jewelry tools </div><div>Pulleys </div><div>Mirror </div><div>Horn</div><div>Grease</div><div>Magic Helm; Birch Skin</div><div><br></div><div><i>Notes: This was interesting, as there is definitely a forest theme building up from the first character and both of them perhaps entering the forest due to political turmoil. For the Soulcraft abilities, I used an online deity generator, which also seemed to fit, and then riffed off of that for the powers and miracles.</i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br></i></div>Will Purveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12375096729522589036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653467337182394545.post-48849406033053306942022-07-30T22:24:00.000-04:002022-07-30T22:24:40.232-04:00Disability & TTRPG's @ EF Funeral Camp looking back at the Exalted Funeral convention a week or so ago, one of the highlights was the open discussion about disability in TTRPGs. A couple folks stopped by and the conversation was wide-ranging and dug deep.<div><br><div>One question was: what does disability even mean in a fantasy or fantastic setting? Many people would describe a lack of accessibility as a hallmark of a disability, whether the accessibility is to social status, physical space, wealth etc. So, we know that the definition of a disability can shift from culture to culture and from period of history to period of history. I also know that I identify my disability as such generally in the context of not being able to access something other folks are able to access. What constitutes a disability in a particular setting? What constitutes accessibility in that setting?</div><div><br></div><div><div>We also dug into the large amount of creative work done around disability and TTRPGs in the last few years, from super wheelchairs to entire kickstarted volumes of tables and conditions of disability. My main impression is that many of these are taking contemporary, North America and/or Western European ideas about disability and transposing them on fantasy worlds. The consensus deemed to be that, while these are good steps,we can be more creative.</div><div><br></div><div>Finally, we talked a lot about our own experiences entering into non-disabled gaming spaces, and then dug into the accessibility, or lack thereof, for us as gamers in particular settings. Related to this were particular problems and particular solutions that we, or others, could bring to bear to make various gaming spaces more welcoming and accessible. The explosion of virtual play over the last few years has, in many ways, really expanded accessibility, and we wondered how these varied interfaces with gaming might evolve going forward, and what that might mean for folks with disabilities.</div></div></div><div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br></div><div><br></div>Will Purveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12375096729522589036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653467337182394545.post-16107470662818718492022-07-24T09:37:00.001-04:002022-07-24T09:38:41.912-04:00Crafting Agency Now that both CraftWork and FaeCraft are out, I want to outline or explore what they mean to me as a set, as a pair. A critical analysis of role-playing in general allows for the premise of 'radical agency' to be part of a role-playing, or the role-playing, experience. That is, role-playing allows an individual to conceive of and take actions that would otherwise be inaccessible or impossible for them to take in their reality. This is one thing that makes role-playing games, at their best, so good at creating community and supporting personal and emotional growth.<div>Exploding the possibilities for character creation and growth was the main impetus behind developing the two volumes. A second motivation was to make this procedural, so that unexpected, rather than preconceived, character development can be possible. Between the two, a player is not locked in to any particular path.</div><div>At the same time, the mechanical advantage of having a skill is not so great that it precludes a player from trying anything (using 10 levels, it tops out at +4 or 20%). The character sheet contains flavors, not solutions or answers.</div><div>I don't know how many permutations there are in the two books combined, but there are a lot! Character development is a meandering path, and using the tables as a way to prompt, but not dictate, imagination is perhaps the most fun way to use the two. If you have use them, let me know what you came up with!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div></div>Will Purveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12375096729522589036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653467337182394545.post-19339115194546446902022-07-18T21:57:00.001-04:002022-07-24T09:38:01.459-04:00Wherein I Bow to CommerceFaeCraft is available!<div><br></div><div><a href="https://www.exaltedfuneral.com/products/faecraft?_pos=1&_sid=9a0136942&_ss=r">Right here...</a></div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div>Will Purveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12375096729522589036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653467337182394545.post-73644631914746442202022-06-14T21:46:00.000-04:002022-06-14T21:46:02.117-04:00FaeCraft Incoming!FaeCraft is off to the printer and we anticipate it's appearance in July! Matt and I are very excited. The book feels tighter and the production seemed smoother, which hopefully reflects our process and better communication. <div>Together the two volumes provide a really nice tool, a neat subsystem, an evocative medium, and a really fun time! I am proud of them!</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br></div>Will Purveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12375096729522589036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653467337182394545.post-52400901883407868282022-05-30T20:39:00.000-04:002022-05-30T20:39:56.808-04:00Folding Tables And in that Dungeon<div>There was a monster <br><div><br></div><div>Wait, what Dungeon?</div></div><div><br></div><div>So, I had to come up with a good name for the table style I have been writing about lately. I started with Kitchen Table ... Dropleaf was a possibility , but I have settled on Folding Tables for now.</div><div><br></div><div>There are several parts to a Folding Table.</div><div><br></div><div>1.</div><div><b>The number of items is larger than the dice or die used on the table.</b></div><div><br></div><div>2.</div><div><b>Items on the table are eliminated or scratched off as they are encountered or used.</b></div><div><br></div><div>3.</div><div><b>Modifiers are applied to the roll to reflect the game state, the narrative position, where the characters are etc. </b></div><div><br></div><div>Examples are in previous posts. The table is not a static thing, the table is not an artifact, the table is not sacrosanct. The table is mutable, the table is not the answer, the table is part of the process.</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div>Will Purveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12375096729522589036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653467337182394545.post-85819596485503215592022-05-14T19:47:00.001-04:002022-05-16T14:58:08.496-04:00Monsters, WanderingSo, how do the monsters wander and what are their habits in their habitats? Let's take Level One of Salt Palace, which my open table group has just cleared out; I don't think they will mind some sharing of secrets...<div><br></div><div>14 caves, caverns, and spaces, Jaquaysing around, containing an ecology of spiders, giant shrews, zombies, and skeletons. The D6 monster table looks something like this:</div><div>1 Spider</div><div>2 Giant Shrew</div><div>3 Skeleton</div><div>4 Spider Nest</div><div>5 Zombie</div><div>6 Zombie Spider</div><div>7 Skeleton Crew</div><div>8 Giant Lizard</div><div><br></div><div>An astute observer would see that there are 8 possibilities on a D6 table. They would be correct. This is a variation of the flexible table several posts ago. On the diagram of the level are a series of modifiers ranging from -2 to +2. These are applied to the monster roll. The initial set of spaces is at a -2, transitioning to a -1, then 0, then +1 and +2 on the periphery, at interstitial areas, and at connection points with other levels or zones of the dungeon ecosystem. They are NOT assigned to rooms, but to areas, often overlapping. </div><div><br></div><div>Upon the initial descent it is highly likely the brave adventurers will encounter spiders of varying description (after the -2, a roll of 1 to 3 yields spiders), giant shrews, and the occasional skeleton. As the various parties push further into the dark, modifiers shift and the mix of monsters follows suit. The adventurers can feel things changing, meet more undead in one direction, find a nest of spiders in another, and surprise a giant lizard as they go deeper into a tunnel.</div><div><br></div><div>That procedural dynamism is one thing that brings the place to life, and the overlapping zones allow flexibility, especially in an Open Table. Does the group tonight have more lower level characters? Push the negative modifier further ahead. Big party? Pull it back.</div><div><br></div><div>Further, I can carry that modifier onto the monster, thereby ratcheting the challenge up or down. If they are in a +1 zone that Spider card gets fierce, adding +1 to everything: 3 or 4 HD, +1 damage, and more chances of dangerous additional abilities. </div><div><br></div><div>And, of course, there is a higher chance of treasure... +1.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br></div><br></div><div><br></div>Will Purveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12375096729522589036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653467337182394545.post-81152660208732177932022-05-04T15:50:00.001-04:002022-05-16T14:54:46.280-04:00How I Make Monsters Now They have to be simple, clear, visually accessible, and fast to run without a lot of details, or just the right amount of details.<div>NPCs can be different from monsters, or not, so they may be more complex, nuanced. We can return to them another day!<br></div><div><br></div><div> For my stripped down running of the game, they have to be on note cards. It helps to have some procedural surprise built in for me as a player in the game. It really helps to have just a couple of numbers to keep track of during an encounter. For example, spiders in my current dungeon crawl...</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br></div><div>First roll determines hit dice: two, three, or four</div><div>The next roll is the number of spiders, which riffs off of the hit dice. There are probably fewer bigger spiders or more smaller spiders, and the number is probably a d6 or maybe two.</div><div>The attack damage is directly related to the hit dice, with bigger spiders doing the bigger damage. </div><div>Armor class is 10 plus their hit dice, and that number is the same DC the characters need to beat to avoid paralysis.</div><div>Finally there are a series of quick yes or no questions. Rolling a D6 5 times quickly with a 1 to 3 being NO and a 4 to 6 being YES, we quickly determine what kind of spiders these are, how they behave. They could end up being camouflaged zombie spiders in a web network or ambush spiders who can shoot entangling webs. I can be as surprised with the encounter as the other players!</div><div><br></div><div>These are all dials of course, so if the party is in hot pursuit of another creature, the wandering spider may be just a distraction. If the dice indicate that the room is inhabited, then it may be a bigger group of spiders that the party has to contend with. If the party decides to leave, I note it down on my map as a discovery in the world that has been made, so that future explorers may encounter the same thing.</div><div>Monsters can also be easily dialed up. For example, the other night the party encountered a spider web covering a entrance to a great canyon. These are proper giant spiders, none of that 4 HD nonsense. So a quick doubling to 6 HD makes them a real menace that needs careful planning: AC 16 2D6 damage...</div><div>Yikes 😳</div><div>The party returned to the canyon with the fireball scroll, and, that worked well. What they have realized since is that without the spiders, the giant moth population has really escalated!</div>Will Purveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12375096729522589036noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653467337182394545.post-78262424379314893222022-04-22T17:26:00.001-04:002022-04-22T17:26:04.803-04:00FaeCraft Sample Characters <p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-76c6c4fe-7fff-c7fc-d9a1-1615381d9f9f">Below are a few characters from FaeCraft that can be dropped into any game. They are presented in different ways to showcase different playstyles and systems. All were generated using the Procedural Character generation system included in the book! </p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-76c6c4fe-7fff-c7fc-d9a1-1615381d9f9f">What does it all mean?!? Stay tuned!</p><p dir="ltr"><b>Puff</b></p><p dir="ltr">Ibex Fae Dreamer, 4th Level</p><p dir="ltr">HP 23</p><p dir="ltr">Proficiency: 3</p><p dir="ltr">DreamCraft Abilities: Threadwork</p><p dir="ltr">Skills: Light Armor, Appraisal, Jump</p><p dir="ltr">DreamCraft Powers: Alter Memory, Dream Step, Healing, Tug</p><p dir="ltr">Fae Abilities: Shape Shift (Ibex), Pierce Veil, Herd Step</p><p dir="ltr">Possessions: WhisperSledge, Memory Net, Leather Armor</p><br><p dir="ltr"><b>Boots</b></p><p dir="ltr">SkinCraft Giant Fae Bear</p><p dir="ltr">AC as chain | HD 7 | Att: Spear +3, Hurl Boulder +3 (4D6), Bellow (Frighten)</p><ul><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation">19 Ft. tall/long</p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Fae Abilities: Shape Shift (Bear), Pierce Veil, Hunter's Step</p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Shapechange to a Crocodile when in running water</p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Giantcraft: Twist the Land, Long Sleep</p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation">As Crocodile: Fearsome Strength, Night Vision</p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Skills (+3): Sailing, Sneak/Hide, Medium Armor</p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Vulnerable to Darts, Slings etc</p></li></ul><br><p dir="ltr"><b>Rez</b></p><p dir="ltr">Small Mouldcrafter</p><p dir="ltr">Three Sparrows and a Bat live in a grotto near the Old Mill. Polite entreaties for concoctions of mushrooms and magical tourniquets will avoid barrages of flying debris and debilitating fogs of drowsiness. Negotiations and transactions are always handled by a small servant of stone and knotted vines. With time and the offering of arcane trinkets, more powerful concoctions of mold-laden insects may be unveiled.</p><p dir="ltr"><br></p><p dir="ltr"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br></p>Will Purveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12375096729522589036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653467337182394545.post-17394299424482209202022-04-04T17:36:00.000-04:002022-04-04T17:36:38.210-04:00Salt Palace West-March-Dungeon-Crawl So, I've been at this gaming thing a while and thought I would start up a classic dungeon crawl that harks back to the games of my misspent youth. A massive dungeon, a mega dungeon, mysteries untold and perched on the edge of the darkness and possibility is a wee village, a safe place to return to, a haven, and a place to resupply. <div><br></div><div>Every time we play it is a new group, they form in the village, stock up, decide their destination and head down into the ice caves, the eponymous Salt Palace. Each game they push a little farther, uncover a little bit more, dig into secrets, scrape up treasure, amass experience, and then return to the village. The story is evolving.<br><div><br></div><div>They are casual games, ones where people can play as they wish, can drop in, can play regularly, see old friends, and make new ones. The makeup of the group changes constantly, and it doesn't matter your level, your experience, your familiarity, or any of that. You're there for the play! As for mechanics: a streamlined rule set, Knave and CraftWork, virtual play, minimal props, dice and pencil and paper.</div><div><br></div><div>Let me know if you want more details! I'm happy to share any and all of it.</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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