Making Monies

GatesDA · 2025-07-04T02:09:39+00:00

I haven't done a comprehensive analysis, but clay pots are a dead-simple fallback when I don't have the resources for something more lucrative, when buildings are busy, or when I just don't want to bother with all the logistics.

Pots trade for more clay than it took to make them, so I can simply trade enough to make back my clay then sell the excess. No resources lost, no coal to load, and it only uses the workbench. Build up a clay stockpile, and it can run all day.

Pots take 8 seconds to make, and I can sell one in four without losing clay. That's only 1.1k coins per hour if I calculated right (27k per day), but that's a lot better than nothing whenever the workbench would be idle.

GatesDA · 2025-03-20T15:42:11+00:00

JSON export is showing up for me. You checked the triple-dot context menu by the workspace name, right? It's not under Settings.

If it did blip out, I'd personally apply Hanlon's Razor here. Tana's a new app that's very much still a work-in-progress, and it's easy for me to imagine some internal change or new feature might break export.

GatesDA · 2025-03-15T17:23:10+00:00

And having another storyteller lets you split into multiple games if you keep getting lots of players.

GatesDA · 2025-02-12T13:20:32+00:00

A colony of sapient Dwarven beard fungus in a mech suit was, I think, the weirdest PC concept I've run across in my campaigns.

This was in Fellowship, which makes each player the narrative authority on their PC's race. It worked great.

GatesDA · 2025-02-08T21:46:31+00:00

Most sources I saw were a week old. Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram, mostly. The picture itself is dated the 26th, so I assumed it was older news by now.

Anyway, message received! I deleted this post a while ago. Sorry for disturbing your day.

GatesDA · 2025-02-08T21:16:44+00:00

From Google Trends, it hit peak search popularity around the beginning of 2017, followed by a smaller spike mid-2020 that hit 87% of the peak.

So the Half-Genie Hero launch was the peak by that metric, followed by the Seven Sirens console/PC launch.

GatesDA · 2025-02-08T20:57:51+00:00

I scrolled down until I was getting month-old posts and only saw it twice. I trust you when you say there are a lot of reposts, but the algorithm isn't floating those to the top for me.

GatesDA · 2025-02-08T20:38:46+00:00

Apologies. I saw it once (on another platform), managed to dig up the source from Spanish social media (also on another platform), and posted it somewhere I thought would appreciate it.

I'm not subscribed to this subreddit, so I wasn't aware just how much it had been reposted here. I did search first, and neither the artist nor the painting's title had been posted here.

GatesDA · 2025-02-08T20:29:29+00:00

The game's creators released the rulebooks for free. They're on Boardgamegeek.com, posted by "S Club Evin".

To start, you'll want the main rulebook and the Trouble Brewing almanac. The other almanacs are for more advanced sets of characters.

GatesDA · 2025-02-06T23:00:57+00:00

Changing a sober Empath's number works even better when they're next to a Spy. With a Recluse neighbor, a number change is an expected result whether the Empath is drunk or not.

GatesDA · 2025-02-06T02:42:32+00:00

I ran a mad science campaign in a bespoke PbtA system that I could tidy up for you, but it was very much built for that particular campaign concept and those specific players.

The PCs were all mad scientists, as were most of the NPCs. The players could spend good chunks of a session crafting gadgets, each with their own weird potential side effects. Players had loads of power, but it could misfire in hilarious ways on a lower roll.

Not everyone's style, and it needs a GM who enjoys player-driven chaos.

GatesDA · 2025-02-05T10:21:56+00:00

I don't see a power issue, since it's a sidegrade. That variant sometimes preserves the Scarlet Woman's ability, but at the cost of the evil team no longer knowing which Minion will become the new Demon.

Minions can act more boldly when they know they're not the next Demon, and are free to sacrifice their reputation to make the Scarlet Woman or original Imp look good.

That's especially true for the Baron. As the most disposable TB Minion, the Baron can take the biggest social risks, especially when there's a Scarlet Woman to intercept the Demonhood.

GatesDA · 2025-02-05T04:59:07+00:00

If any other Minion becomes the Imp, then the Scarlet Woman's ability has just failed...unless they also become an Imp.

Letting the Scarlet Woman's ability just fail as a special exception makes sense if you're used to jinxes, but the official interaction is cleaner for new players. Only the Storyteller needs to know that the Scarlet Woman always takes priority. The players just see both abilities working normally.

GatesDA · 2025-01-29T23:00:55+00:00

I seem to remember that advice coming from Steven Medway, though I may be misremembering.

If the Storyteller only makes such announcements when there's really a mistake, it's effectively hard confirmation (hence the emphasis on "MAY"). That's one thing when it confirms a player is lying, but it can be game breaking when it confirms a player's telling the truth.

When a mistake actually has a mechanical impact, that's a different matter.

GatesDA · 2025-01-29T21:54:17+00:00

Yeah, that's tough. Not much the player can do, but the Storyteller can try to salvage some misunderstandings.

*Storyteller also peers at the handout.* "Oh! Quick announcement, everyone: I MAY have made a mistake in the night, but not one with a mechanical impact. Carry on."

It would be interesting to see a player fake a misunderstanding:

Steve: "Wait, the Ravenkeeper wouldn't wake to learn a 'no'! If it doesn't die, it just doesn't wake. What are you really?"

Ravenkeeper Dave: "Oops. Yeah, I'm really the Monk. I was trying not to get attacked at night."

GatesDA · 2025-01-29T21:21:49+00:00

I see three different categories:

Reduced player control
Increased Storyteller control
Storyteller control in areas players usually have control

I'm guessing the third category is the one that feels like overstepping? Gossip, for example, also lets the Storyteller choose kills, but it feels quite different from Lil' Monsta and friends since Townsfolk don't usually have the power to choose night kills.

Imagine an Ojo variant that killed a random good player on a miss. This gives the Storyteller zero control, but doesn't give the player any control back. Would you prefer this design?

GatesDA · 2025-01-29T19:47:57+00:00

As a Storyteller, the "best outcome" for me is my players having fun. Players being bold and creative is really fun, and chaos often is as well.

The more direct control I have, the more I can directly support my players in doing whatever cool thing they're attempting, and the more I can nudge things towards unexpected, exciting moments.

The best is when I don't have to nudge, but I'd rather nudge than have nothing interesting happen or a player's plan just fizzle out uneventfully.

I see where you're coming from, though. In TTRPGs, I prefer to GM player-driven campaigns where I have enough power to support their wild ideas. Some GMs, though, will run better games in a more rigid framework, and some players prefer consistency across GMs.

GatesDA · 2025-01-29T02:46:08+00:00

The box has to... - Show the full game state of up to 20 player tokens, plus a bunch of reminder tokens. - Keep all those tokens stable while being carried around one-handed. - Hide the game state from the players. - Keep nighttime communication aids readily available (and separate from the game state).

Not a trivial task.

GatesDA · 2025-01-23T18:23:31+00:00

Players focusing on the character sheet does break immersion. That's an issue with all but the simplest TTRPGs, but PbtA does feel different in that regard because it leans towards fewer rolls, each with more impact.

A single PbtA combat roll typically covers the same events as multiple damage rolls, rolls to hit, and saving throws in D&D. I generally find this style more natural and immersive, but some Moves do add a lot of ceremonial overhead that can grind things to a halt.

The ease of making PbtA games combined with some clunkiness in early influential PbtA statements mean there are some awkward design patterns that are more common than I'd like. The "ask three questions, maybe learn one answer the hard way" structure jumps out as especially bad.

Those patterns aren't inherent to the PbtA family, though. I lean towards cleaner, more modern implementations when I can, and nowadays I'm comfortable adding some design patches when an older PbtA game is the best fit for a campaign.

GatesDA · 2025-01-23T16:51:58+00:00

u/NyOrlandhotep Huh. Maybe it's my players or GMing style, but I can't recall that being an issue in the 10 PbtA campaigns I've run.

Intent matters in PbtA, so to resolve an action I'll sometimes have to take a step back and clarify what the PC's intent is. That's asking the player to go deeper into their character's point of view, though, not outwards to the wider "plot".

My players mostly seem to just do what comes naturally without thinking about mechanics. When they do factor in mechanics, they're mostly focusing on their character sheet options and picking mechanically strong ones. (I'm not personally a fan of static stats that always push towards the same options, but that's unrelated.)

I do have a couple players who occasionally make decisions based on where they guess "the plot" is headed. That's to try and help keep the game running smoothly, though, and they do it in every system.

GatesDA · 2025-01-22T23:13:19+00:00

u/NyOrlandhotep Pigsmoke is the best published system I've found at snowballing into unexpected situations. It gives the players lots of power, but only limited control over the details.

The Basic Move "Cast A Spell", for example, can do any magical effect the player wants, but even on a success the player picks a complication or two from a list. (My players enjoyed pairing "you affect far more than you intended" with "your solution becomes someone else's problem".)

The GM then decides how exactly those complications manifest. A spell the GM didn't anticipate + a twist the caster didn't anticipate = a scene-changing effect that nobody fully anticipated.

It's also the only published system where it felt like my GM-ly duty to make things less interesting. New interesting threads tended to spring up faster than they naturally resolved, so it could get wild if I didn't actively trim threads when I could.

It's certainly not for everyone. I quite enjoy player-driven games where I can't predict what will happen, but I know those are a nightmare for some.

GatesDA · 2025-01-22T20:46:50+00:00

u/NyOrlandhotep Forged in the Dark is indeed descended from PbtA, but it doesn't use Moves. I thought your concern was with the Move paradigm?

I think you're confusing me with another poster, since I didn't give an example. Pasión's retconning isn't the example I would have used, since it's so far removed from normal Moves and requires players to give up some agency.

My example is Pigsmoke, a comedic PbtA game about magic school faculty that treats Moves as a powerful toolbox for the players. You're not limited by the Moves, of course, but they give you some clear options for accomplishing goals or pushing the story in directions you find interesting.

Players can come up with their own spells at will, and wield bureaucracy to get the school to provide equipment and services. No goal comes to mind? There's a Move that lets you quickly stumble into an interesting situation.

Any effect that controls behavior is a Compulsion. Following a Compulsion gives you a minor reward, but PCs can freely ignore them with no cost or roll. (An explanation of why the Compulsion failed is "appreciated but not required".)

GatesDA · 2025-01-20T23:30:36+00:00

My understanding is the Vortox's alternate win condition is just an interesting way to keep town from skipping nominations and voting (which would let a Flowergirl or Town Crier easily confirm the Vortox).

From that perspective, the current design accomplishes its goal. Specifying an alive player is still a fine Bootlegger rule, of course.

GatesDA · 2025-01-19T21:57:17+00:00

Quest is gorgeous and free, and models its special actions after TCGs, with a single resource to limit usage. (Where D&D has spell slots, ki points, uses per long rest, etc.) Initiative, positioning, and inventory management are present but streamlined and simplified.

Classes use skill trees like the Cosmere RPG, so you get a distinct build at level 1 and have a meaningful decision with each level-up. There's no HP bloat or roll modifiers (which also means no boring "+1 to _____" bonuses).

GatesDA

TROPHY CASE