The Sprawl by Hamish Cameron​ is a pleasure to read.

The Sprawl by Hamish Cameron​ is a pleasure to read.

The Sprawl by Hamish Cameron​ is a pleasure to read. Like, it’s easy to read. Simple but cool layout, flavour but not so much that the text is opaque, and you never have any doubt about how the game is meant to run.

I think that’s massively underrated in games design. Recently purchased a very successful game, and I just can’t get through the text, which is a shame because I hear it’s fantastic in play.

Anyone else have examples of great game texts?

I hate this movie but Hannah Shaffer​ has nonetheless cool ideas on how to gamify it…

I hate this movie but Hannah Shaffer​ has nonetheless cool ideas on how to gamify it…

I hate this movie but Hannah Shaffer​ has nonetheless cool ideas on how to gamify it…

Originally shared by Paul Taliesin

Some great stuff here!

http://makebigthings.com/2016/09/speculative-game-design-sex-and-death-in-it-follows

http://makebigthings.com/2016/09/speculative-game-design-sex-and-death-in-it-follows

The Golden Cobra submissions are up, and just from a skim it looks like there’s way more women entering than in most…

The Golden Cobra submissions are up, and just from a skim it looks like there’s way more women entering than in most…

The Golden Cobra submissions are up, and just from a skim it looks like there’s way more women entering than in most tabletop rpg contests, eg Game Chef.

Why do we think that is? Is LARP design (or perhaps the LARP community?) intrinsically more attractive to women, or is it something to do with how the contest is run?

CC: Alex Roberts​

Originally shared by Stephen Dewey

Golden Cobras are up!

http://www.goldencobra.org/submissions2016.html

Who fancies joining me in a spooky design contest this Halloween?

Who fancies joining me in a spooky design contest this Halloween?

Who fancies joining me in a spooky design contest this Halloween?

Originally shared by Giacomo Vicenzi

SPOOKY DESIGN 2016!

A Table top RPG contest

Hello there fellow designers!

This year, I wanted to start a contest myself. The Spooky Design Contest will start today and end November, 2nd. This is intended for table top game designers, both seasoned and beginners, and all in between, who love to bring their ideas to reality and have a little bit of challenge.

Obviously, some rules are to follow:

– The contest starts today, 12th of October and will end November the 3nd, midnight (GMT-11). You have 3 weeks to work on something cool!

– The theme is obviously Halloween-related. Monsters, ghosts, murder, demons… everything related to supernatural beings connecting with reality and people is fine, for as long as it keeps being dreadful.

– There’s a limit of 6000 words. This is about 4 A4 pages (210×297 mm or 8.3 × 11.7 in), or in other words 2 sheets (the reference font and size are Times New Roman, 10). Exceeding the limit by a bunch of words is acceptable, just don’t stretch it too much.

Be creative, bring something innovative to the contest. Make it something you didn’t prepare beforehand.

No hacks or additional material for other games are allowed. It must be a stand alone games.

– The language of the submission must be English.

The week that follows the contest will be for peer reviewing. This means that you’ll vote for other designer’s games. This process will be done through Google Modules, so the winner(s) will be immediately declared the day after the peer reviews are done. If you submit your work, you commit to the peer review process, too.

Once you’re done with your work, feel free to upload it in PDF format to this google Drive folder: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B33DRSaKGHacay1hQy0telppV0U?usp=sharing

Anyone is free to access and upload to the folder anytime, and read other’s entries.

Have fun, and good fright… I mean, luck!

How to encourage behaviour in a one shot

How to encourage behaviour in a one shot

How to encourage behaviour in a one shot

XP is (and maybe you want to argue me on this) a way of encouraging style appropriate behaviour in an RPG. You act in a certain way, you get the carrot of a measurable reward. D&D is about fighting monsters, so you get XP for killing monsters. Dungeon World is more about character interaction while you’re killing monsters, so you get XP for resolving your bonds.

But without advancement, XP has no meta purpose. You can’t use it for anything, so the little buzz from getting it is gone.

So: is there a similar system that can be used in a one shot? Some sort of near-tangible *ding* moment for a game that will never have any advancement? Is In-session advancement the solution?

The Cabin In The Woods Twitter bot went there. Sadly, “smooth-chested” wasn’t one of the available adjectives.

The Cabin In The Woods Twitter bot went there. Sadly, “smooth-chested” wasn’t one of the available adjectives.

The Cabin In The Woods Twitter bot went there. Sadly, “smooth-chested” wasn’t one of the available adjectives.

https://twitter.com/cabin_woods_bot/status/777351846935597056

https://twitter.com/cabin_woods_bot/status/777351846935597056

Has anyone here played Sorceress Bloody Sorceress from World’s Without Master? How long does it take to run?

Has anyone here played Sorceress Bloody Sorceress from World’s Without Master? How long does it take to run?

Has anyone here played Sorceress Bloody Sorceress from World’s Without Master? How long does it take to run?

I’m hosting a story games night for 9 people next week and was wondering if it’s quick enough to work as an icebreaker before we split into 2 groups for our longer games.