The Idea
been thinking about game structure and I think i'm gonna settle with a solid-ass template of everything I do going forward
Which is:
Everything's encapsulated within a distinct phase of play.
Makes everything easier on my end of writing it, because like, in my experience, even the ideal "go anywhere!" OSR shit is all phased, it's just not like said aloud.
When in town, you can...
Get some hirelings.
Equip your dingus guy with something other than a kitchen knife. Torch, oil, and grease up, all that.
Ask the local smart guy about bullshit.
Once learned, I always had that as a possible solution. Funnel gold into weird old guys to enchant my shit, get answers without getting got, all that.
and dungeon crawling's the same.
Going to the next room.
Searching the current room.
Touching the Weird Thing.
Talk, Offer Peace, Slap the random encounter.
What I'm doing with that
For Obscuras, a LUMEN 2.0 ttrpg inspired by EYE Divine Cybermancy, I'm running everything through a fucked up mil-scifi lens.
Basic exploration shit, "We go here, there," is the Strategic Phase. You take big sweeping actions. "We investigate this part of town. We talk amongst the locals."
Then from there I just slap on verbs.
But...
The Big Thing
I have like 18 old prototypes of Shipgirl Game, my white whale currently. Shipgirl Game is a game about being a kantai-collection, Azur Lane style shipgirl. A boat themed military cyborg, fighting against horrible biotech mirrors of yourself.
But, in one of the prototypes, I had a Research system. Basically it's a pair of involved Blades Clocks.
You have a variety of actions that increase Progress and Doom in various ways.
And I geared the math so that unless you play it suuuuuuuuuuper safe, you WILL fill Doom before Progress.
But Doom only triggers a lil event. A small RP moment, or in the imagined, slushpile doc, it might trigger a full fight.
Once you fill Progress, there's a bespoke move to end it, and maybe you'll get a lil headstart on the next step.
I could totally clean that up, LUMEN-ify it, and make that the general system for like, everything.
yeah.
Time to get clackin'