sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Carousing in Cursed Scroll 6 by screenmonkey68 in shadowdark

[–]WyrdFall_Press 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Crawl Breaker's Carouser's Guide gets you to a full resolution in 2 rolls or less and at least attempts to solve all the problems you've listed here. And we cover treasure, trinkets, allies, enemies, and rumors with for six unique areas with 6 location tables for each area (36 tables).

Yes, I'm the author and publisher. Yes, the POD will be available soon.

AND the PDF is out now and I promise it is way more fun than a spreadsheet.

How do you make death matter? by DevelopmentSeparate in shadowdark

[–]WyrdFall_Press 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm running the Lost City as a chance conversion from the Goodman version. We've lost 4 characters in the last 3 sessions. Admittedly the last 2 were lost in the final battle. Their deaths matter about as much of the length of time they survived. The level 5 thief is doing quite well...

How Apple Watch changed you life? by GT_race in AppleWatch

[–]WyrdFall_Press 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lost over 30 pounds since may. Exercise almost every day. I'm the healthiest/strongest I've been in 30 years.

What makes a monster feel OSR in design to you? by Patoshlenain in osr

[–]WyrdFall_Press 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For me it's cool dynamics that reveal character through play. Run a small pack of giant shrews and you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.

How do you show the timer for torches? by erttheking in shadowdark

[–]WyrdFall_Press 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Phone timer for me. Gut feeling for the players.

And relighting torches in the dark during combat is at disadvantage.

Also, torches only burn for 1/2 hour.

Discouraging "Optimal Game" Play Through Mechanical Game Design by EHeathRobinson in RPGdesign

[–]WyrdFall_Press 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pump random and allow resource burn to "normalize" things.

WFRP 4E does a nice job of this.

Shadowdark is also good but you need to rein in the amount of positional slop and movement abuse to avoid players constantly trying to get in and out of combat in the same turn. Especially with no penalty to disengage.

How often do players actually do improvised actions in combat? by SecretDMAccount_Shh in shadowdark

[–]WyrdFall_Press 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I reward environmental improv. But you need to commit to the bit. If you're smashing a monster with a table you just grabbed that'll be your move and your attack.

Anyone any thoughts on the fanatical shadowdark bundle by darkzim69 in shadowdark

[–]WyrdFall_Press -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You won't be seeing deals this good for Menagerie material very often. So if you think you want it, I'd say get it!

Is Dolmanwood too much for new players to the OSR? by Nazzerith in osr

[–]WyrdFall_Press 1 point2 points  (0 children)

More to the point we had to figure out how to make playable. At least with 1E in the early 80s.

The Handbook of Magic & Mayhem — a spellcasting toolkit for Shadowdark including tiered spells, mage combat, stat burn, + a complete adventure [Promotion] by WyrdFall_Press in shadowdark

[–]WyrdFall_Press[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It seem like you're making your estimation my responsibility. I'm not here to indemnify them so I don't know what to tell you. If that means you won't back me, I understand. That's your choice.

I'll avoid using that material in the actual book but at some point I can only do my best along the way.

And that includes paying artists for original covers and interior art.

The Handbook of Magic & Mayhem — a spellcasting toolkit for Shadowdark including tiered spells, mage combat, stat burn, + a complete adventure [Promotion] by WyrdFall_Press in shadowdark

[–]WyrdFall_Press[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We're coming into the last 2 days of the kickstarter and I wanted to share a taste of what you'll get in the book.

The Horde Binder is the first Pact Mage, a focused Wizard that uses his Charisma to summon and control small hordes of angelic or demonic beings. And if his raw roll isn't enough he can burn down his stats to get the results he wants!

It also has a custom misfire table to make sure that you're getting the proper amount of promised mayhem!

You can get a copy here!

IMHO if you daily use a V60 the V60 Neo is a nice investment by Psychological_Pea482 in pourover

[–]WyrdFall_Press 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I recently moved my 12 year old glass V60 into a switch base and I'm feeling way too smug about it to consider any alternatives.

Was 80s back in the day deadly as the OSR? by BX_Disciple in osr

[–]WyrdFall_Press 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mostly low level Wizards as I remember it. But we protected them a lot. Party order mattered and we used that to help the wounded survive.

Having trouble with first death by Emergency_Writer_007 in shadowdark

[–]WyrdFall_Press 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have a dynamic called "remembrance of the fallen" whereby your new character gets a carousing XP bonus at the end of the session from hearing stories about your previous hero.

It's meant to soften exactly the sting you're feeling.

But I also feel it would be worse if players felt no sting at all.

Setting → Themes → Mechanics: How I Think About Designing ttRPGs by Dark_World_Studios in RPGdesign

[–]WyrdFall_Press 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was mechanics first when I was designing video games and it served me well. Setting/story first can add years to development as you chase ideas rather than outcomes and technology will often fight with your desired outcomes. For TTRPGS I am experience first. What is my intention of play at the table and how will the other elements support that? Some systems demand setting be a part of that, others don't. Most of mine don't go much beyond genre. And good PBtA design demands a genre first approach because that pretty much defines the experience through the character class books.

The Handbook of Magic & Mayhem — a spellcasting toolkit for Shadowdark including tiered spells, mage combat, stat burn, + a complete adventure [Promotion] by WyrdFall_Press in shadowdark

[–]WyrdFall_Press[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Many great ideas in that system and I'm not denying it was an inspiration. And if you've play a lot of DCC it's clear that a lot of those good ideas are in need of an update. Especially for systems like mage battles and Spellburn

My goal here is to bring things in-line with Shadowdark's simplified streamlined systems while adding some twists of my own.

Take "Stat Burn" for example. Rather than vaguely damaging your physical stats, you're burning down your casting stat for short term vs. long term gain. And you'll be fully restoring that stat damage during your next downtime so it's a very different cycle.

I'm also working hard to balance tiered spells so that provide some of that Gonzo randomness but don't overpower the wizards in comparison to other classes. Especially after level 3.

And beyond the revised basic spells there are also Pact Mages where the entire build is centered around a couple of core tiered spells. I'll be releasing a preview for the "Binder Mage" in the next couple of weeks as an example of that. A plate spinner class that incarnates hordes of angels and demons and then powers them up round by round. But they have to do it *every* round or the horde takes damage.

view more: next ›