The Campaign Builder's Guild

I wholeheartedly approve of this use of the :yumm: graphic

Back to the original topic(s) presented, I'm sort of curious about where this all is going. When I was more active, I don't think anyone ever called me innocent of obsessing over minutae, but these whatifs seem really subtle and I'm wondering whether there's an endgame here or if we're just practicing our high-level esoteric alt-history chops.

here's a google drive folder with 59 things in it?

So, these are written for Dungeon World mechanics but should be pretty easily translatable into whatever other system you like. They're themed two-page "dungeon starters" with brief notes on sensory impressions, leading questions for the group, npcs and magic items, and things that might happen. They're designed to kick-off a no-prep game session, but who knows what you might use them for?

Primetime Adventures!

Quote from: LoA

Quote from: Lmns Crn

If you don't already know about Hardcore History, it's a really enjoyable history show and has given me a lot of ideas for the gaming inspiration file.

Thank you for bringing up Hardcore History. I love that show. What's your favorite series he's made? Mine is Blueprint for Armageddon.

That's a pretty good choice, but for me, it's Death Throes of the Republic by a miiiiillllle

The best gaming-related podcast is Narrative Control. Updates are extremely infrequent and unpredictable nowadays, but the archive is a great resource. I have found it very influential. When I'm between episodes of Narrative Control, I sometimes listen to Fear The Boot just to tide me over.

If you don't already know about Hardcore History, it's a really enjoyable history show and has given me a lot of ideas for the gaming inspiration file.

If you don't already know about Welcome to Night Vale, you're not my friend anymore.

I have a bunch of other podcasts I subscribe to (more than I can actually stay current on), and have just listed the ones that impact the gaming part of my brain. I'm happy to talk about the others if there seems to be interest.

Hello, and welcome.

Your question is confusingly worded!

Upfront, your world sounds awesome. If these are the top ten cool facts about your setting, I'm intrigued.

I think the way you're packaging the information is important. If the above text was on an easy-to-find page on a website or wiki, it seems like a great launching-off point in an encyclopedia of Panorah. If this is the quick-reference for players to consult at the table, to remind them of facts about the setting, I think it could be streamlined a lot-- strip it down to bullet points and maybe a map, or some political infographic perhaps, and it'd be a more useful resource.

But if this is the pitch for an upcoming game, I think it's kind of a bad one. If that's the context, I'd like to see some stuff about what the players are going to be doing, or about the specific corner of the world where things are starting up, or what kind of action is involved. To use a well-worn cliche, if I were to start a Forgotten Realms game, I'd go with a pitch that puts the action front and center-- "Let's play a high fantasy political intrigue game" or "let's raid crumbling temples of eldritch horrors" or whatever-- rather than just a list of facts about an established world. And I don't think the first three paragraphs really add anything at all to this.

Regardless, your world sounds really cool and if I had the invitation handed to me, I'd be down to start creating a character. (Weasel, obviously.) I just think the packaging of this particular handout could be spiffed up, to better show off your setting ideas.

I know very little about Mage, except it's one of those (numerous) games I've wanted to play for quite some time, and haven't gotten anything going. I'm excited for when I'm going to have the chance to take a look at the revised rules, although that probably won't be for a bit. I'm intrigued by what little tidbits I've read about so far.

Quote from: SteerpikeI'm not sure Hades is the best name for the planet. Why not one of the more unusual names for the underworld, i.e. Erebus, Avernus, Asphodel, Irkalla, etc?

Naraka

It's underutilized

edit: in response to your actual question, I know my first instinct is usually to go to FATE, but maybe that's not actually what you want here? Lately I've been doing a lot of reading on Apocalypse World (and, mostly, hacks of it) and it seems like the main upside to this is that you get a lot of flexible options in gameplay that can still feel like the crunch gets out of the way when it needs to, but the downside is that actually building an AW hack is an incredible amount of work and the results usually seem to rely a lot on niche protection and I'm not sure whether that's what you want in a mecha game or not.

Quote from: PareidollhouseEARTH - Because interplanetary transit is accomplished through the outer cosms it is everywhere assumed that the diverse worlds of reality occupy different universes and exist in parallel. In fact they exist in the same reality, but they are so far removed from one another, by septillions of kilometers and by relativistic paradox, that their coexistence is undetected even on the most erudite of earths. The "coincidences" shared between so many earths - languages, cultures, magics, gods - are the product of divine or occult tampering, not an endlessly branching multiverse. Whole systems are violently replicated among unfamiliar constellations and misinterpreted as "diverging timelines". (Nobody in the setting is aware of this)

oh my god what the fffff

Lately, I don't know if this is a preference I genuinely have, or if I'm just after a change of pace. I'm looking for examples of games (tabletop games or video games) that are roleplaying games in nature, but without combat.

I know there are plenty of games that could be played without combat, but they're so central to a lot of mechanics that when you take out the combat, not much is left. Stuff like FATE is fine as a system, I guess, but I guess I have a craving for something a little more fiddly? Like, if you took the "combat simulator with a few other added-on bits" nature of D&D or White Wolf or whatever, and just replaced the combat with a different main focus that got a similar amount of attention.

For just one example, I've been wondering lately about tabletop games that are based around a social system for diplomacy or intrigue. Maybe something like the political bits of Game of Thrones, where players are competing against each other using deception, temporary alliances, and influence. Or maybe some sort of game where every PC is secretly a spy, and whatever else is going on at the surface level, we're also trying to work out who it's safe to help, and whether their secret allegiances and missions are aligned with your own.

For video games, I think right now I'd love a fantasy puzzle-based dungeon-crawler, with intricate detail paid to world-building and lore and magic. You'd play as some sort of apprentice magician or resourceful treasure-hunter, using a variety of tools to explore mysterious ruins. "Combat" would be at the level of making sure you have the correct rust spell to nullify a trap, or the right ward to protect yourself from ghosts, or an appropriate bribe for a dragon-- the emphasis is always on requiring the player to figure out what they're going to face and how to prepare in advance for it, so you get the "wizard-as-Batman" kind of feel without the "how-many-fireball-spells-can-I-prepare-today?" kind of feel.

Are there games that do this sort of thing? Are you writing stuff that leans this way? Is anyone else interested in this type of gameplay, or is it just me?

I'm down with this and have been interested in diceless systems for a while. I don't know anything about FLOW in particular, but the concept as I (almost) understand it seems cool.

Folks, this is a rubric, it's not arbitrary. It's a structure for evaluating things so that the evaluation isn't arbitrary. Sounds like it's no more "you propose an idea and the GM decides whether it works or not" than an English class is "you turn in an essay and the teacher decides whether you pass the class or not"; it's trying to formalize the process so both parties know what they're aiming for.

Hey man, that's fantastic. Glad to hear you're still writing and working on stuff.

Holy shit, if you run a political Aztec game then I