I think I need to re-write Kapok Hearts to have a more Pilgrims-like epilogue, because I can't figure out any other way to make a story structure fit the ludonarrative.
Yes, it's not a criticism, lemme think how to articulate this
When kids play with toys, usually they've constructed some imaginary narrative in their head, and they visualize the environment in terms of that narrative - instead of a teddy bear on a tall dresser or crowded closet, it's a ferocious grizzly trekking a mountain or mysterious forest
So what if toys could experience or "tap into" that imagination?
If you read my notes rambling, you'll see that's the conclusion I've eventually come to, with the mechanism of three random tables for the goal, obstacle, and setting of the game the toys are playing. And each toy's preferred playstyle encourages the players to push the story in different directions.
I'm very much into "laser-focus" these days. "You can do whatever you want" doesn't spark anything. Give me a concept, a limitation, and I can work with it
@BESW That could be the point, perhaps? The toys of different themes/genres working together, simply because their story-creator (a child's imagination) allows it?
@MikeQ I like that, but the token mechanic works against it by operating on a much larger scale.
The obvious answer is to go more Pilgrims-y, where the token mechanic triggers an epilogue for the immediate play-story (and the session) and then allows players to decide if their toys meet a fate or simply change and play again later.
But that makes this less Pilgrims-inspired and more of a clumsy Pilgrims drift.
Part of the problem here is, I really like the idea of having the story of the toys' growth taking place interstitially within the story their child is playing with them... but I can only think of one example of that narrative structure, and that's the Lego Movies.
Oh! The epilogue mechanics. If the bond with the child is important to a toy, then that should be reflected. Right now it's all about the toy's self. And very... final?
I mean, The Bear Nobody Wanted counts? But it's so divergent from my vision in every other way that I can't figure out how to draw on it.
Yeah, the finality is important to me, these stories are about mortality--either the toy "dies" before the child grows up, or the child "dies" by growing up.
But I'm coming around to the idea of opening it for more episodic play.
Well, I suppose a story could continue across multiple sessions by saying that the toys passed to a new owner. Or the owner revisits the toys at a later stage in their life.
And that's part of the problem I've written myself into: the epilogue turns a single session of play into the entire span of the toy's life with a child, and that's a scope problem if I also want a session of play to focus on a single play-time story.
Hence writing more than two pages trying to figure out what I value about the game and what just sort of happened but can be tossed.
> Tiamat returns to Dungeons & Dragons this fall. To celebrate the fifth anniversary of its Fifth Edition ruleset, Dungeons & Dragons announced that it would be re-releasing its first Fifth Edition storyline, Tyranny of Dragons, as a single volume this October. Tyranny of Dragons will collect Hoard of the Dragon Queen and Rise of Tiamat, the two adventures that kicked off D&D's Fifth Edition back in 2014. The adventure pits players against the sinister Cult of the Dragon and their quest to bring back their dangerous god Tiamat back to the Forgotten Realms.
This could be a little out of left field (and I haven't read your game writeup yet), but... ...remember the puppet scenes from *Being John Malkovitch*?
@V2Blast Wow. This is, like, third-level "milk the nostalgia" stuff, here. "We're going to re-sell you the very first adventure <cough>of this edition<cough> we published! (With some fixes because people really didn't like it all that much.)"
@BESW There's a little bit of that in Toy Story, no? And maybe if you just read the first story of Winnie the Pooh and the last story of The House at Pooh Corner as a duet?
@nitsua60 I've not actually seen that film. I've seen the Big Wolf On Campus parody though!
@nitsua60 I've really gotta re-read Pooh...
But Toy Story doesn't really have any character growth through play. Being played with by a child is apotheosis, fulfillment. It's motive, goal, reward, but not a space for progress.
@BESW Reading it to my own kids simultaneously (a) makes me weep and (b) wish Milne had a decent editor.
@BESW Toy Story 2, though? (Stipulating that I last saw it (through tears) in the theater.) Jessie "grows" from discarded/purposeless to finding a new way to be happy?
I had a friend in college who was a voice major; she chose that song--having lost her mother young--as the encore piece for her senior recital, and I accompanied her.
I keep going back to The Bear Nobody Wanted and wondering if there's another game I need to write to exorcise that touchstone before I can nail down what I want in Kapok Hearts.
@BESW I've been lucky enough to play in some "impressive" venues and performances, but that one, for about a dozen of her friends/family/professors in the audience, is possibly my proudest. I played it well enough that nobody noticed a thing about the accompaniment, and she felt supported in the singing.
@BESW It's probably the least memorable, too. TS3 is obviously more recent, and the first one is obviously more of a classic. TS2's in that weird "unnecessary sequel" area.
The Bracer of Flying Daggers (from Waterdeep: Dragon Heist) lets you use an action to activate the item to make two normal thrown dagger attacks. There's no limit to the number of times the item can be activated, though it does require attunement.
A thief can, at 3rd level, use their Cunning Ac...
Do gauntlets count as armor?
Specifically, would wearing Gauntlets of Ogre Power negate the AC bonus that barbarians and monks get because they are technically armor? I feel like they wouldn't.
Is there a standard or default frequency for wandering monster checks in an underground dungeon?
This concerns both dungeons of my own design, and existing modules either by TSR or Judges Guild that do not specify an encounter frequency for the dungeon.
@Miniman Haha, I doubt anyone who already owns it will really rebuy it unless they have lots of disposable income and just need to have the alt-cover books. But I can see WotC's perspective in that the errors/issues do drive people away from recommending it and it probably hurts future sales of those adventures, so rereleasing with the fixes and an alt cover incentivizes new people to buy it
I think I see HOTDQ/ROT referenced the most out of all the (non-starter)adventures, but also referenced as the worst ones. I guess they're just looking to do a big 'errata' update to it to fix the problems with it. I imagine it's a situation of "Look, this adventure gets a lot of attention as the first one released, but it's also a big drop-off in our new player metrics because of all the issues it has. We're going to do major errata so it's not such a pain point for people picking it up."
Gosh, imagine if 4e had revised Keep on the Shadowfell so the kobolds weren't hiding on the wrong side of the bushes, and Irontooth didn't feel like a harder boss than the actual boss encounter.
@nitsua60 TS2 definitely has it. I'd argue its theme as a whole is having to make the choice between sheltered fame in immortality and the often fun, often rough fun life where you are pretty much guaranteed to be forgotten at some point but get to mean a lot to those close to you before.
(And have lots of fun while at it)
Woody has a bad experience with Andy (through misunderstanding his intent, as things often go, further amplified by cynical counseling from a friend) and having been hurt, thinks he'd be happier pursuing another life where no one gets close to him ever again.
@BESW "Smashing" might make it too close to "Smashing Pumpkins", though.
so maybe deodorant
@V2Blast He stormed my flat (hasn't visited before, by no fault of his), was really taken by how "huge" place we have, lingered for a cup of tea and then absconded with my dice after pouring a bit on my carpet x)
(he hasn't bought his own dice, so I borrowed him mine)
We have three facts.
In reality, there are 13. But in Germany, there are 12.
One is Russian, one is French.
The thing they've created is spread all around the world.
What is it?
Edit: One more hint. People sometimes thought these two are only one person. (French and Russian)
Edit 2: Fourth ...
@Carcer Btw little tidbit: "Onni" means luck, happiness or joy. "Tuuri" also means luck (specifically that). I only noticed the connection between their names yesterday :P
And Lalli shares his name with a legendary axe murderer who killed Bishop Henry of Uppsala.
@V2Blast Interesting. I really liked (and remember) 2 but didn't even remember that I'd seen 3 until, poking around, I saw a screenshot. So it's flip-flop for me.
@nitsua60 I did another deep dive and ended up having to change my answer based on Holmes. (AD&D wandering Monster question) Holmes didn't get a lot of attention in our gaming groups since most of us went from OD&D to AD&D without starting over. Glad I still have it.
People are happy to complain particular weekends aren't ok for them but when I create a doodle so people'd tell me which weekends are ok for them, no replies.
When leveling in Dungeon World, if you choose a move that has a "Replaces: X", do you need to have the X move?
For example, a thief wants to take the move "Dirty Fighter". It states "Replaces: Cheap Shot". Does the thief need to have taken "Cheap Shot", or can he just choose "Dirty Fighter"?
I play Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (aka 1e) and have for quite some time. Mostly I've been the DM. I've started to ask questions here about the rules to help better understand the game as it was written.
When I ask a question, I tag it adnd. The tag description says it refers to 1e. This clar...
The Bracer of Flying Daggers (from Waterdeep: Dragon Heist) lets you use an action to activate the item to make two normal thrown dagger attacks. There's no limit to the number of times the item can be activated, though it does require attunement.
A thief can, at 3rd level, use their Cunning Ac...
Is there a standard or default frequency for wandering monster checks in an underground dungeon?
This concerns both dungeons of my own design, and existing modules either by TSR or Judges Guild that do not specify an encounter frequency for the dungeon.
We have three facts.
In reality, there are 13. But in Germany, there are 12.
One is Russian, one is French.
The thing they've created is spread all around the world.
What is it?
Edit: One more hint. People sometimes thought these two are only one person. (French and Russian)
Edit 2: Fourth ...
When leveling in Dungeon World, if you choose a move that has a "Replaces: X", do you need to have the X move?
For example, a thief wants to take the move "Dirty Fighter". It states "Replaces: Cheap Shot". Does the thief need to have taken "Cheap Shot", or can he just choose "Dirty Fighter"?
