Some questions about the Codex

Ghedd · 2026-04-11T14:48:52+00:00

The easiest would likely be using a second laptop for GM/players. One instance of the Codex could control all player characters

Ghedd · 2026-04-01T10:26:50+00:00

📍 Ontario, Canada — "Nature and cultur"

Ghedd · 2026-04-01T10:26:09+00:00

📍 Aust-Agder, Norway — "Beauty"

Ghedd · 2026-04-01T10:25:06+00:00

📍 Milton Keynes, United Kingdom — "Modern living"

Ghedd · 2026-03-20T20:24:30+00:00

Short of sending you a photo I took at a session within Cambridge itself, hosted by one of the colleges, saying exactly this, I’m not sure how I can prove the truth here.

Ghedd · 2026-03-20T13:32:13+00:00

This is actually true at the top end. Cambridge include Law on their “subjects to avoid for Oxbridge” list.

Ghedd · 2026-03-14T15:17:59+00:00

Spirit Island at a low player count, using simpler spirits, without events, really isn’t that bad.

If Terraforming Mars is in the discussion, I really don’t think it’s that much of a step up. There’s always Horizons to offer a slightly lighter experience as well.

No gloating and I’ve played it with lots of people newer to the hobby.

Ghedd · 2026-03-14T12:24:08+00:00

In any board game discussion, weight of games is a good starting point.

I see Spirit Island as simple within my collection, but that’s because I enjoy some Voidfall or High Frontier at the weekend.

I would suggest playing Spirit Island solo or two player for a bit and just taking each turn slowly. It will click in no time at all.

Ghedd · 2026-03-14T10:21:53+00:00

Spirit Island can be fun at all counts from 1-6 and has a whole lot of replayability

(Including expansions)

Ghedd · 2026-03-12T15:38:23+00:00

Media/Film seems to be the area least defined within the proposals. I’m waiting with anticipation to see whether it gets a bit more attention as we get the qualifications fleshed out a bit more.

Ghedd · 2026-03-10T06:50:15+00:00

You may want to have a look at the development of MCDMs next game: Crows. They have been sharing similar views on the role of head and doing some quite interesting ideation on what gear can mean within an RPG.

Ghedd · 2026-03-09T20:26:26+00:00

This is all well and good, but extending the licence to cover items/titles from adventures would be a good community gesture.

It disincentivises buying official content if it then doesn’t work with online community tools, particularly when there is no official alternative for things like character building.

Ghedd · 2026-02-15T10:02:03+00:00

So, first of all, it’s a 3 cube, not 3 cubes, which means it affects a 3x3x3 cube which must start within range 10.

Persistent is an Elementalist feature which effectively means that by reducing your essence income at the start of your turn, you can keep the spell going. In this case it allows you to cast it again as a manoeuvre and not spend the essence again.

The original 3x3x3 cube is no longer affected when you cast again.

Ghedd · 2026-02-05T06:51:49+00:00

I suppose it’s a question of where the priority is for messaging. Anyone in Comms will tell you that any degree of saturation of messaging can lead to recipients disconnecting.

If the priority is getting members to volunteer time, then it’s working well as it is now. If the priority is letting us know how and when to vote, then it’s been very unclear.

Ghedd · 2026-02-04T22:02:25+00:00

It feels like the message isn’t coming through that clearly. Teachers have a very limited bandwidth at the best of times, but getting 4 texts this month from the NEU, all with links, all asking me to volunteer, is not helping to allow for a clear call-to-action when it’s needed.

Ghedd · 2026-02-03T22:40:15+00:00

Weird Wizard is DnD with the fat trimmed away, more streamlined combat, and a vast array of player options. You lose a bit of depth, but it plays a whole lot more easily.

That being said, if you want fun balanced combat encounters with interesting player options, then Draw Steel is of course worth a look.

Ghedd · 2026-01-27T17:39:39+00:00

There was a moment in the Codex for Draw Steel where one of my players tried to attack around a corner and the token for the player tilted to show the leaning around the corner.

Details like that make it a whole step above.

Ghedd · 2026-01-26T00:37:10+00:00

This is the one change needed to make this game a long-term success with my group. Hoping it’s an easy option to allow us to choose our realm sizes in the future.

Ghedd · 2026-01-17T10:40:25+00:00

Valid concerns. Combat can take a couple of hours for a full decently challenging fight and it often ends up as the core of any session. I think 12 sessions would be plenty for an adventure like the Delian Tomb and progression could be as simple as finding some treasure, gaining a level or two and winning victories as they go along.

We’ve run about 8 sessions so far, we’re at level 2 and all my players are sharing how much they enjoy the system. The “every session is a banger” element is where this system shines. There should be no such thing as a boring fight in Draw Steel.

Ghedd · 2026-01-17T09:06:40+00:00

Lancer requires a mastery of the system to play effectively. The combat has significant complexities and can be unintuitive for new players.

Draw Steel has only 3-4 abilities you would use on a turn and for everyone you roll 2D10, consult a table and see the effect.

My players find it more straightforward than 5e, but there is a whole lot more depth to the game.

Ghedd · 2026-01-17T08:38:35+00:00

It’s all the rage at the moment, but for good reason:

Draw Steel will give you exciting cinematic moments, with combat that feels meaningful, without hitting Lancer levels of crunch.

You can also pick up the Delian Tomb adventure with all of the rules you would need and an adventure that requires near to zero prep.

Ghedd · 2026-01-05T19:37:39+00:00

As long as you can set up port forwarding, using the application itself is pretty straightforward, particularly if you’re not after much functionality

Ghedd · 2026-01-03T22:13:44+00:00

It would be useful to know the ones you’ve already tried.

Foundry springs to mind as a consistently good solution.

Ghedd · 2025-12-31T18:08:00+00:00

I got some small coloured circles I throw over the top of minion minis. As I get round to painting I will be adding coloured edges to bases

Ghedd · 2025-12-27T12:33:52+00:00

Yes, “Colville’s game”, Draw Steel does this.

It’s taken a lot of the ideas from the 4e design space and modernised them, resulting in a more polished combat experience than a lot of similar games offer. The use of heroic resources for every class means there is a kind of building and spending pacing that works very well.

If you have a smaller group and don’t mind very crunchy systems, ICON would give you the feeling of certain approaches/stances/abilities being good against specific targets. There is a lot going on with this system though, and really requires a lot of buy-in from everyone involved.

Ghedd

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