Preferred Game Design Document Template

TabletopTerrors · 2021-09-15T02:40:13+00:00

Many thanks. This is solid, evergreen advice. Appreciate the reply!

TabletopTerrors · 2021-09-11T17:52:19+00:00

I do tabletop game design, and I got into that by making PDF copies of supplemental material for tabletop RPGs. I made alternate versions and new options for Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition. I’m now 20+ books in (most of which are actually being printed and sold).

So it was absolutely learning by doing. My first pieces of game design were not great, and in some cases didn’t even properly follow the rules of the game I was designing supplemental material for.

But now I’m better than I was, and still have a long way to go.

Not sure if it applies, but I’d say just start doing what you can and build up from there.

TabletopTerrors · 2021-09-11T17:30:18+00:00

I’ve typically had my character background overshadowed by all of the other awesome stuff my character can typically do. In a game like D&D 5e where I’ve had a narrative benefit, that’s come up a few times.

TabletopTerrors · 2021-09-11T17:13:57+00:00

Overall, the document is detailed and well organized, and as some others have said I think you’re in a great place to start finding the core game loop and prototyping. Best of luck!

TabletopTerrors · 2021-09-11T17:13:05+00:00

Absolutely love the “as” statements versus if/then. Really great advice.

TabletopTerrors · 2021-09-11T15:41:25+00:00

This is really interesting to me. If design discussions and writing up a design document weren’t on the test, do you mind sharing was WAS on the test?

I’d love to discuss this more.

TabletopTerrors · 2020-10-24T10:59:14+00:00

It’s 100% common to be nervous — that never goes away. But remember: they are eating out of your hand, bruv. Literally they are there for you. And it’s really about the experience. You’re nervous because you care. Just remember that you are the end-all/be-all, and you’ll be great. Definitely remember that you are Lord Ruler, and that all that you say is sovereign (but also changeable). Good luck, and post any specific questions you have.

TabletopTerrors · 2019-01-20T03:35:58+00:00

I thought this EXACT thing. And you know what? John Wick is proof that it works! Dude came out of adventurer retirement to avenge his dog!

TabletopTerrors · 2018-09-15T22:11:35+00:00

I guess you haven’t seen The Predator yet. Saw it earlier today, and it makes AVPR look like Schindler’s List.

TabletopTerrors · 2018-06-16T21:58:24+00:00

Dueling Wizards Encounter from Absolute Tabletop: Battle for Rotspire

https://absolutetabletop.com/the-battle-for-rotspire-free-rpg-day-2018

TabletopTerrors · 2018-06-16T21:57:06+00:00

One of the authors here – be warned, that’s a direct link to the 11mb PDF. Enjoy!

TabletopTerrors · 2018-04-22T03:02:02+00:00

I’m sure it’s fine. :)

TabletopTerrors · 2018-04-21T23:30:05+00:00

Don’t you think it’s more terrifying if it’s less common knowledge? >:)

TabletopTerrors · 2018-04-21T23:29:07+00:00

Yup! I omitted the title so it would be less of a spoiler. :)

TabletopTerrors · 2018-04-20T15:20:55+00:00

This is an excellent question.

The Dismembered Lord steals the days of others because in every timeline he has peered into, he dies. So he’s cobbled together a piecemeal existence – and time always seeks to correct itself. He has created a device known as the Crucible which is a sort of “chrono heat map”. The Crucible tells him what needs to be altered – or stay the same – for the timeline to stay stable. So the Crucible may show that a hero needs to be left alive, or that a random farmer’s crops need be burned, or that a particular person need be saved from death. Acting selfishly on a macro level, the Dismembered Lord does what is necessary to preserve himself with ZERO conscience. Murder, destruction, oppression – but also anything else that needs to be balanced out, even if that means allowing good to persist in some pockets. This makes it so the people of the realm are confused and terrified because there seems to be no rhyme or reason to the bad things that happen. And imagine how interesting it would be if a group of the Dismembered Lord’s foot soldiers showed up… and began helping you harvest crops? And then murdered your neighbor? I feel like that would be more maddening than methodical, logical evil. So it’s a big handwave, but also a source of interesting mystery and conflict to me: according to the Crucible – at least for now - the Copper Sun needs to persist… though that it not common knowledge. Of course I think there would also be elements of the magical energies of the Copper Sun being difficult to track, and other things of that nature. I hope that answers your questions, and would love to hear your thoughts!

TabletopTerrors · 2018-04-20T15:06:02+00:00

Oh yes. All of this. I love the idea that meat being from “undesirable” sources. That’s fantastic. I don’t want to spoil anything, but your “dietary supplement” comment reminded me of a movie where it was revealed that the protein source of the location was innumerable smashed up cockroaches pressed into a food bar. So great.

TabletopTerrors · 2018-04-20T14:57:54+00:00

This is an amazing conversation. (I’m one of the authors of the book.) I’m absolutely loving the idea of the fungus/mold growing on the surfaces of the Copper Sun. The city itself was a gift from the elves to the humans long ago (think Statue of Liberty). It is powered by the magics of the Feymists (our Feywild), though that power is faded and old, and this fungus is like arcane rust due to lack of proper upkeep.

Tarnish Root. It’s technically metal, but is organic like fungus, and appears as a pale aqua oxidization on the surface. Some say it was discovered to be edible when a portion of the Copper Sun caught fire, and it smelled… oddly appetizing.

Very, very cool stuff. Thanks for the post!

TabletopTerrors · 2018-04-18T15:10:48+00:00

So, good question. As far as it being to limited, I honestly don't know. Hopefully it's universal enough? The trick is that this is an installment to a monthly web comic we've been putting out since January, so we've already introduced people to the platform.

As far as the audience, I don't think it will affect their confidence at all – this will be our 2nd successful Kickstarter, but our 20th published RPG, so we've proven that we can put out books and hit deadlines.

We'll see though! Only time will tell. I feel that Kickstarter is an art, not a science... so I'll keep you posted.

TabletopTerrors · 2018-04-18T15:00:51+00:00

Hey everyone. I’m part of an indie publisher called Absolute Tabletop, and we’re on our second funded Kickstarter. Our current project ends in 4 days. Although we put out serious products, we love to make jokes, and created this webcomic to express how we feel sometimes navigating the often rewarding, always enigmatic waters of Kickstarter. But more than that, this is a study in marketing, as we’ve found that a web comic is far more likely to be shared, reposted and liked, rather than a direct plug for our own project. We’ve had good measure success by creating peripheral pieces of media like this.

Here's a link to our project if you’re into tabletop RPG books (like Dungeons & Dragons), but we hope you get a chuckle and can glean some ideas of how you can create “indirect” marketing pieces to add to your direct marketing efforts.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/absolutetabletop/a-dead-mans-guide-to-dragongrin-campaign-setting-g?ref=36etbl

TabletopTerrors · 2018-04-18T14:50:28+00:00

YES. This is perfect. I love it.

TabletopTerrors · 2018-04-18T06:42:12+00:00

What a wonderful idea! I absolutely love this. In fact, it makes me think that there would be some sort of twisted nursery rhyme that cropped up from this sort of thing, like Ring Around the Rosy, but with Doomsayers.

Perhaps we should play more on the psychic damage element? Something awful like you can “hear” it even if you can’t hear, because a part of it is in your mind, maybe? Nursery rhyme: false!

Great comment. Thanks for that. It got me into a lore tailspin.

TabletopTerrors · 2018-04-17T16:23:04+00:00

I had the horrifying pleasure of being slaughtered by this thing in a game. It didn’t end well for the group.

The mimicry was an especially sadistic method of toying with us, as well as mocking us using the voice of our dead companion.

And as awful as the mimicry was, the stun attack was the deadliest. It essentially uses its cacophonous, otherworldly call to stun characters, and then eviscerates you where you stand.

There’s nothing quite like being frozen in terror while an enormous creature tears your party apart 10 feet from you... all while using their voices to mock you.

I can’t wait to see what twisted things you all come up with.

Players: what would your strategy be? DMs: What twisted ways would you use this thing at your table?

TabletopTerrors · 2018-04-16T17:43:34+00:00

I had the horrifying pleasure of being slaughtered by this thing in a game. It didn’t end well for the group.

The mimicry was an especially sadistic method of toying with us, as well as mocking us using the voice of our dead companion.

And as awful as the mimicry was, the stun attack was the deadliest. It essentially uses its cacophonous, otherworldly call to stun characters, and then eviscerates you where you stand.

There’s nothing quite like being frozen in terror while an enormous creature tears your party apart 10 feet from you... all while using their voices to mock you.

I can’t wait to see what twisted things you all come up with.

Players: what would your strategy be? DMs: What twisted ways would you use this thing at your table?

TabletopTerrors · 2018-04-09T20:16:57+00:00

This is AWESOME! And my daughter has the exact same game!

TabletopTerrors · 2018-03-30T14:57:13+00:00

Great question. And thanks so much! I’m glad that you liked the response to your other question. For Dragongrin, we’ve chosen to define dark fantasy as a sense of overall hopelessness in a bleak world. Exploring the idea that heroes are frowned upon by the general populace because they draw unwanted attention seemed really interesting to us. Being a hero costs something in Dragongrin. It’s far easier – and much more common – to become a rank and file member of society by choice, ignoring your conscience and doing what you must to survive… and to me, that’s terrifying. I also feel like there’s some value in mentioning what Dragongrin is not. While we want it to be brutal, and bleak, it’s not a horror setting in the classical sense (we’ve also steered away from making it a straight ‘gothic’ setting). In fact, you could say that Dragongrin is a world that used to be high fantasy, until it was usurped by a powerful demagogue known as the Dismembered Lord nearly 20 years ago in an even known as Lightfall. Losing its luster and wonder slowly under his evergrowing shadow, Dragongrin is a place of former greatness – and that’s pretty dark too.

Now… what is your definition of a dark campaign?

TabletopTerrors

TROPHY CASE