Scampir

It will not be a 14-session campaign like Spire was, so while I do plan on writing another Cohost post about my experiences, I have also been thinking about checking out Wanderhome by Jay Dragon and Wagon Wheel by W.L. Marigold. These all present laid-back experience of travelling, so I expect it to be a nice experience.

That said I also have been thinking about Claims grids on BitD/FitD Crew sheets (and analogues). I know that Untitled Dungeon Game by @Partheniad (a friend of mine) is going to include a crew sheet as a town, and I've been tipped off to Songs for the Dusk by Kavita Poduri and Neon Black by Michael Elliot as other games using the claims grid to center communities in a similar way.

Not to leave you with disconnected thoughts, I think these are two questions I have lingering from Spire that I want to explore in other systems. In Spire, and other action-heavy roleplaying games with no concrete phases, roleplaying exchanges between characters have to, imo, keep to the pace of the action. Conversations are dramatic because they need to get out of the way from the plot, and the characters are interesting in that they choose what they will and won't say. I hope I can enjoy the time relaxing in leisurely games of roaming. Claims grids are also a more structured approach to the hideout rules in Spire's expansion "The Magisters Guide," and I wonder how the harder game-rule approach to box-filling will feel different.

I remember a few years ago, it was common on discord to refer to a person by their username and the roleplaying game they wrote. That was really neat. It was funny to give someone's username a last name that way.

My friends Cole and Marley had me on their podcast to discuss RPGs. This was my first time on a podcast, and I of course wish I did more to prepare (and maybe have been less sleepy while recording) but it was still a lot of fun! Yet I feel I could have expanded more when recording.

So, below under the Read More are notes on some stuff I thought I could still expand on, provide more context for, and link to. It's FIVE-STAR FRIDAY so go follow these itch.io links and give these games a five-star rating if you would be so kind.😎

1. Here's a Link to Half-Life VR but the AI is self aware. If the charity stream segment I discussed also goes up on Wayneradiotv's main channel I'll link to it in these notes as well. This crew of streamers are great.

2. Record of Twilight War by Brock McCord is a Illuminated by Lumen & Forged in the Dark. It uses a value named Anima as both a health total (if it goes to zero, the character is incapacitated) and a resource spent to improve rolls. Characters regain Anima by defeating enemies (more threatening enemies grant more anima) and between missions. The game's design language is drawing on Musou video games, meaning characters are suited to carving their way through crowds of enemies in the middle of a battlefield. This is all situated in a tragic industrial fantasy world where empires have slain gods and implanted their hearts into vessels, the player characters. Burning the candle at both ends is an interesting gameplay mechanic that presents an interesting reality for characters to confront, and I find the player principles are very helpful in setting all of this up.

3. Armor Astir: Advent by Briar Sovereign "f***ing slaps" and there are many reasons to be excited about it. I started playing it two years ago (it was the first game I bought on itch.io). I had a blast in my first game playing as a Captain. I wrote a playbook last year that in retrospect had been influenced by me processing my climate grief. I'm playtesting it in an Armour Astir game I'm currently in, and have already made some changes. It was also the project that I learned to use Affinity with, so I think a second pass and maybe another playtest are in order before I look to commissioning art and release a 2e. Also I don't think I did a solid pitch on what exactly my Playbook is but you can get a general idea from the itch.io page

4. Here is the link to my Red West Pinterest Board, and a link to Red West

5. Urban Arcology Cynicism is uh a great chain of three words in that Spire portrays an absolutely miserable city that people live in. Though satirical isn't the best way to describe the tone, and Warhammer 40k isn't the sole touchstone I could have drawn on for this. Tongue-in-cheek might describe the tone better, and you could check out Brazil (1985) as well.

6. We talk about restricting play to one floor of Spire, and my approach would be to set the action or mission of the cell in one floor, then let players reach for solutions from other districts/floors of Spire. Kings of Silver can set goals in Silver Quarter, but players can still go find bonds or solutions on other floors.

7. As I continue to refine my thoughts on Fallouts vs Harm, I think how Harm in fitd is open to define, consistent in effect (-1d, less effect etc) and how fallout is pre-defined with varying effect (fallouts are unique) makes Harm more intuitive to GM for if that makes any sense? I think a closer design analysis between these two engines and how the severity of punishments is either left to discussion or a die roll is warranted.

8. Hearing about shifts in Ascendancy by Gemworks is really interesting; it will probably be the next game book I purchase and check out.

9. Here's a link to Our Stormy Present where I found the Hero class. It caught me off guard when I tried it out for a some-shot but this different take on what it means to be a "hero" intrigues me deeply.

10. I write a lot of fan stuff I never release lol, but I do love it when I read something and my reaction is "damn the ideas here are a lot of fun, what could I do with these."

I'm going to be playing... Ryuutama? And we're going to be playing with the Blue Dragon.