I have the awesome opportunity to see @themountaingoats.bsky.social in Melbourne tonight. My hope is that for the encore, John just tells us all about his Night Witches characters.
"Normally, this is where we'd play No Children"
Band starts up
"But today, I want to talk about Lt Olga Sebrova..."
Ugh I have missed every Aaron West or Wonder Years show in Australia for the past 4 years through the worst luck.
Hope it was fantastic!
This is EXACTLY my frustrated response when my boss asks me to look into what we could automate with AI. The answer almost always depends on how much my boss cares about the quality of the product (vs just caring that a product was made, to meet some administrative standard).
Eurogame style - "whoever has done the most prison time chooses first"
"my character concept was deep on grief"
Yeah, Andrew, we've all played Low Cantrefs! 😂
"Haha wouldn't it be funny if I highlighted the Slide's Greed before we busted this bank vault?"
"Wait, no no no, we highlight the Whisper's Haunted Betrayal!"
"y'all are thinking small. I'm highlighting the Scenario's Token of Doomed Leviathan Rage!"
And it's in response to the game, right! Like, "okay we're going to steal the, whatever, the Dimmer Sisters' Demon Core, which of course is covered in mystic traps. Quick, someone highlight the Leech' Survey."
This is a good question! Well asked. The answer is not for me, really -- When it comes to xp I always seek Conspicuous Design: it has to not just reward the player but remind the player that it's rewarding them. It has to stand out and say "Don't forget, you're meant to Survey on this score!"
Plz report on available indie nonsense, Nick!
Yeah, absolutely! And again this really gives players a chance to self-express. But I'm looking for discussion, the negotiation. So much of Blades is about using the mechanics to have productive conversations at the table. I want to bring back the conversation of "what do you want to see from me?"
Deepest Cuts, mate?
Have you tried highlights before? I'm wondering if it needs to be elegant at all, or just like, "pick someone who hasn't been picked and tell them an action rating you want them to use"?
Tim does a similar thing with 68, where the player Turns a Key to show a character changing. It fucking rips.
But a highlight is a FAN'S request. "You've been so sneaky, highlight Skirmish". Or, reinforcing their identity "you're the big tough cutter, let's see you Skirmish and Wreck real good"
I love love love Blades "earn xp when you address a challenge with X or Y", but after three sessions or so I want to see A or B, y'know? I want to see our leech have to get cosy to Sway a chemdealer, or watch our cutter Rig a door to blow.
I miss session stat highlights!
A few months ago I played some Apocalypse World 2e with old friends and new friends, and I really fell in love again with the idea of Highlights.
I miss having a tool to say "we've been rewarding you for being X, try being Y"
daily-apocalypse.com/daily-apocal...
“why didn’t you just”
[developer explains complicated 36 dimensional interlocking problem space where your solution cascades into four other issues with equally complicated details, any of which when solved, reintroduces the original problem in a new and unique way]
“ah yeah. fuck that. ship it.”
non-dev playing a game: why didn’t the team do [X thing that seems obvious]? are they stupid?
dev playing a game: why didn’t the team do [X thing that seems obvious]? am I stupid?
How do your favorite #TTRPGs handle death when your character hits 0 hit points? @sidneyicarus.bsky.social and @heyitsmattyp.bsky.social discuss this and cover #NightWitchesRPG in their video podcast Start A Quest! #RPGs #games
youtu.be/XuCdM-PErhc
I've said before my favourite special ability of the last however long has been "When it matters who's fastest, you are."
But, actually, this is such a giant problem and I'm so tired of it.
"Flames erupt from your finger tips, growing in intensity as you focus the arcane rage that dwells within your draconic blood. Creatures smaller than Large but larger than Tiny take 1d6 fire-element damage for every Shift by which they fail a Dexterity (Trap [Arcane {Fire <Hot>}]) check."
More! Again!
I'm ravenous for the good work you do, mate.
From @diceexploder.com in the Lightning Barriers Episode:
"I should do a whole episode on Turf"
Omg yes please, yes. Friend. Yes. Please do. Get me back on for this. Or anyone else. Get Tim on. The world needs this.
“Make bad game? Fired. Make good game? Fired. Make incredibly successful game? Believe it or not, also fired.” Original source of meme is from Parks and Recreation.
the video game industry is a mess
I spent two days in hospital investigating mid-tier abdo pain (kidney stone >1cm takes the money).
The biggest thing I achieved, besides getting a bit of needed rest, was learning how to solve a Rubik's cube.
Not a meaningful success, but a success all the same.
I'm really looking forward to the day we get a good critical deep-dive to answer this exact question.
So, there's three ways to approach games: Gamist, Narrative, Simulationist. No, no, you only have to remember GNS. Okay so, GNS say that there's a creative agen- No! God no. Nobody believes this any more. This from when Ron Edwa- oh god we're going to have to talk about Brain Damage aren't we?"
How wholesome!
Local DMV game "Valiant Horizon" on the shelf next to the D&D Players Handbook
What really mattered: We were part of their community.
What still mattered: basics like attractive covers, MSRP discounts, and easy distribution
What didn't matter: that D&D is over 100,000x bigger than any of us
4/▶️
Does my social reach hit anyone in the Northern Territory? Katherine-adjacent?
Is "Jesus Loves Nachos" still a thing? I have an overwhelming nostalgia for three words spray painted on a rail bridge.
So my very favourite part of beta-reading, Playtesting, or giving any feedback is when I ask the question that gets answered by "That's just the kind of thing I'm making."
This is what I call reaching "Feedback Bedrock".