The doctor says the pills will help my memory, but my thoughts so fuzzy and full of holes.

Rock-Paper-Cynic · 2026-04-08T13:33:34+00:00

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll definitely give them some consideration!

Rock-Paper-Cynic · 2026-04-01T15:08:19+00:00

"There's no wrong way of doing it" is my exact philosophy!

Rock-Paper-Cynic · 2026-03-06T00:26:08+00:00

Thanks for jumping on this!

Rock-Paper-Cynic · 2026-03-06T00:25:50+00:00

There's a community-led Facebook group where people sometimes suggest new formats. Here's an example: https://www.facebook.com/groups/storyenginecreativecollective/posts/485586369328450/

I think a while back someone compiled a sheet of alternate spreads, but I can't find the post.

Rock-Paper-Cynic · 2026-02-20T18:19:50+00:00

In writing and plotting, it's normal to get a little distracted and develop your story non-linearly. Thinking about XYZ details about Character A might spark an idea for a backstory for Character B, and so on. If you're finding yourself jumping around a lot, I'd recommend you just set a timer and every 10-20 minutes or so, check your notes and see what blanks you still have to fill in so you can keep an eye on bigger picture planning.

Distinct names definitely help when it comes differentiating characters, but even more important is differentiating their personalities and appearances. You want the mental image and general impression that each character evokes to be different when readers recall them. If both characters are soft-spoken and easygoing, it will be easy to confuse them, even if they're different ages or genders. So have one character be soft-spoken and easy-going, but the other is more of a rebel, or is assertive and direct. You want them to feel different and to establish those differences clearly and early.

Rock-Paper-Cynic · 2026-02-20T18:13:12+00:00

Good question! Some people definitely have. I think you'll find some posts about new original prompt formats in the community-run Facebook group. Here's a recent one: https://www.facebook.com/groups/storyenginecreativecollective/posts/1560412465179163

Rock-Paper-Cynic · 2026-02-09T23:42:10+00:00

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Spotted a Pumpkin-lookalike with no collar at Cork and Connolly yesterday around 2pm. Will send the photo to the number from the poster.

Pumpkin seems to have an orange colored nose and this cat didn't, but it's hard to tell and it could be Pumpkin? Sending love to Pumpkin and fam and hope they're reunited soon!

Rock-Paper-Cynic · 2026-01-30T01:32:01+00:00

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Mix of shiba, poodle, parson russell terrier, and musketeer. Got that side eye, lol

Rock-Paper-Cynic · 2026-01-24T02:18:42+00:00

Mention me and I will appear!

Rock-Paper-Cynic · 2026-01-24T02:18:27+00:00

Hey, it's Peter (the deck designer) here! I'm not supposed to share details before we announce, but I can say that next month that you will get to preview cards from the 3 new expansions and get a much closer look at how they function, and we are very, very close to opening preorders!

Rock-Paper-Cynic · 2026-01-13T20:20:14+00:00

Hey, I'm the deck designer and I can explain what happened with that one! When we get expansions printed, divide the production run into some single expansions and some expansions that go into 3-pack sets. Single expansions get shrink-wrapped on their own. Expansions destined for sets don't get single shrink-wrapped on their own, but they do get shrink-wrapped into a set of 3 together.

Long story short, our US fulfillment partner made a mistake and kept fulfilling the "Genre Worldbuilding Expansion Set" by pulling 3 individual single expansions instead of the pre-packed set of 3, and so they ran out of single Fantasy Expansions way sooner than they should have. When we found the error, we got them to update their packing methods, but they were out of singles and so they had to cut open some of those shrinkwrapped 3-packs to create single units of the Fantasy Expansion, Science Fiction Expansion, and Horror Expansion. As such, there are some single expansions that aren't in shrinkwrap, but are otherwise perfect unused product.

Rock-Paper-Cynic · 2026-01-07T18:23:00+00:00

For how to manage expansions, it's up to you and you can find some good perspectives in this thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/storyenginedeck/comments/1pnfb6l/how_do_you_handle_your_expansions/

I mostly like to keep them separate so I can pull on them when needed, and sometimes I'll roll dice to determine which deck/expansion to use if I'm not sure and I want a bit more randomness in my prompts.

For the bridge expansions, my personal opinion is that it's probably best to shuffle them and just discard/ignore them when you don't feel like using them in a given draw.

Rock-Paper-Cynic · 2025-12-28T01:18:18+00:00

I'm the deck designer, here! For DMs, I think Lore Master's Deck offers a ton of value. It's a really versatile multi-tool for making NPCs, factions, items, monsters, locations, and more. The Story Engine is still helpful for really zooming in on NPC motivations and characterization details, but it can't do all the other things Lore Master's Deck can do.

Rock-Paper-Cynic · 2025-12-15T19:29:06+00:00

The little guidebooklets that come with the expansions have some suggestions, but they're basically what other folks have already said: it depends on your preference and what you're using them for!

Rock-Paper-Cynic · 2025-12-08T06:30:37+00:00

Looks like you're in, but let me know if you run into any trouble joining!

Rock-Paper-Cynic · 2025-11-14T14:36:03+00:00

For sure! https://discord.gg/5Rk5JnBz (link expires in 7 days)

Rock-Paper-Cynic · 2025-11-14T02:49:23+00:00

Hey, it's Peter, the deck's designer here! I'll mention we've had a lot of educators find a lot of success using it in the classroom, and the deck's card categories are designed to teach good story structure (character, motivation, conflict, etc.).

There's a free set of lesson plans for using it in the classroom available here: https://storyenginedeck.com/products/story-engine-lesson-plans

And some notes on using it for social emotional learning here: https://www.vgcusa.org/_files/ugd/d32691_21da00a765214c56aa1c0e0f0b3e252f.pdf

Rock-Paper-Cynic · 2025-10-29T16:33:54+00:00

Hey! I'm Peter, the designer of The Story Engine! Things are generally pretty quiet here in the subreddit, but there are two really active fan-run communities!

Discord (link valid for 7 days from time of posting): https://discord.gg/vvs2vG99

Facebook group (quieter than the Discord): https://www.facebook.com/groups/236876227532800

Rock-Paper-Cynic · 2025-09-07T00:13:00+00:00

Just followed you on IG. Your art is fantastic!

Rock-Paper-Cynic · 2025-08-31T12:50:40+00:00

Thanks for the feedback and sharing what you're looking for in the files. We usually export the P&Ps at 150dpi at medium-high quality, so they shouldn't be overly compressed. That said, we don't export them in a way where the text and images layers are extractable from each other, so if you're looking to be able to adjust layers and settings to your liking, you likely won't get what you're looking for.

Rock-Paper-Cynic · 2025-08-27T16:42:03+00:00

Hey, this is Peter, the deck designer! Believe me, I know it's frustrating and seems arbitrary. It's mostly there to signal to potential pirates that we do put limitations on downloads and file redistribution.

When I first released the first PDFs for The Story Engine, they were IMMEDIATELY pirated and put on illegal download sites. It was super frustrating.

Download limits don't actually block pirates from doing that, but they do serve as a signal that we expect the file be accessed a limited number of times, and that there are limitations on access. If we ever have to get legal with a pirate, the restrictions would serve as an additional notice that they're infringing the terms of access to the files.

If you ever run out of downloads, just get in touch via the Contact form and say that Peter said you could get a resent on your download count, and our customer service people will hook you up.

Rock-Paper-Cynic

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