It’s Thursday. It’s almost Friday. It’s been a long week. The brain at this stage is of a tapioca-like consistency. Delicious, yes. But not primed for juiceful thought. So, it seems like a great idea to make you people do our heavy thinkin’ for us. I’m going to ask questions. And if you love us, you’ll answer our questions without question! Or something! Oh my God! Loud noises!
Okay.
Questions.
- Dice, cards, random chance. Do you need that to feel satisfied in a roleplaying game?
- So, if we do conflict resolution that involves you pitting traits against other traits, nouns against nouns, modified by adjectives, and made active by verbs, is that just too fucking weird? I’m a fan of non-traditional, but by reaching too far outside the traditional, is there a chance of alienating readers and players?
- Is there anything wrong with alienating people? By which I mean, is there anything wrong with limiting your audience provided you know you’re doing it? Is that just dumb? Are we dumb? Are you calling us dumb? Hey, you shut up! You wanna throw down? I got Jack Johnson and Tom O’ Leary right here! I love scotch. Scotchy scotchy scotch.
- I’m less and less satisfied with character progression in gaming. The slow grow, the experience points, the experience costs, the ZZZzzz. In Shadowstories, we’re less concerned about character growth — and yet, we still want to invoke change, we want there to be an arc. Not just in the character’s stories, but in some cool way where the player feels like he’s gaining something session after session. What goes beyond stats? Options include a way to modify traits (adjectives added to your nouns), temporary traits, or cool equipment. Any other options? Do those options suck? Why are you looking at me that way? You’re a cannibal. A goddamn cannibal. I knew it.
- Why don’t you like Space Blob Cowboys? How did your parents raise you?
- We like this idea of adding adjectives to the nouns/traits. Question is — how to use them? What currency do the adjectives bring to the table? Obviously, any adjective’s function is a sentence is decorative, but still has to have substance to counter the style — Bone-Cracking Fists are… well, they’re fists that do more than just punch, they crack motherfuckin’ bones! The question is, how does that play at the table? Can I “spend” my adjective for a bonus move? A special trick? A riskier, high-chit gamble?
- Do you demand a single gamemaster? Tell me about experiences with games where you’ve had a rotating gamemaster, or in games where no gamemaster is necessary or present.
- Is existence just a sucking void into which we’re ineluctably drawn, hopelessly spun downward into the giant drain of the universe before being once more ejected out of God’s Mighty Asshole?
