Post AsHfkOfRe0FbNsLyhE by alxd@writing.exchange
(DIR) More posts by alxd@writing.exchange
(DIR) Post #AsHfkFxu00fQOVv5iS by Farbs@mastodon.social
2025-03-17T23:38:52Z
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A Random Game Design Question:Are there many campaign narratives that are about achieving a positive outcome, rather than avoiding or alleviating a negative one? I'm thinking particularly about games where the player acts as a single character.Sports games tend to do this, but in action RPGs we always seem to be preventing an apocalypse or rescuing a puppy.
(DIR) Post #AsHfkHEFIjKoJUZepU by Tom_ofB@23.social
2025-03-18T06:46:44Z
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@Farbs I don't remember any, but a question in kind is rummaging through my mind.I want to create a game based on Solarpunk, but I struggle to come up with something that is about a future "we want" without an element that is antagonistic and thus revolving around things we don't want. I did find texts on non-/less violent game design, but not a solution per se.
(DIR) Post #AsHfkIbgB5foaSXszg by susankayequinn@wandering.shop
2025-03-19T01:04:09Z
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@Tom_ofB @Farbs cooperative games are great for this—I'm not a big gamer, but the ones I like to play are cooperative gamesI just launched a #solarpunk anthology (releases Earth Day) & one of our giveaway items is DAYBREAK a table top coop game where you're working together to fight climate change.https://lnk.to/BGFgiveawayThere are more solarpunk (or adjacent) games all the time. Part of solarpunk is *not* having a lone hero, the idea that it will take all of us, together.
(DIR) Post #AsHfkJZwZ1sZbMk0vY by patryk@soc.gronkiewi.cz
2025-03-19T14:38:31Z
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@alxd@writing.exchange wrote relevant article!https://alxd.org/notes-towards-a-solarpunk-game-design-overview.html#notes-towards-a-solarpunk-game-design-overviewCC: @Tom_ofB@23.social @Farbs@mastodon.social
(DIR) Post #AsHfkKPLTuzoAmn42y by Tom_ofB@23.social
2025-03-19T14:41:43Z
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@patryk glorious! will read asap. skimmed it for now but can already confirm it's great and really relevant!@susankayequinn @alxd @Farbs
(DIR) Post #AsHfkLPjjwu3IHytIO by alxd@writing.exchange
2025-03-19T16:22:42Z
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@Tom_ofB @patryk @susankayequinn I'm the author of the blogpost above! It's just the first piece in a series, I have a lot of loose notes I'm forging into something more substantial.Feel free to ping me with specific questions you have!@Farbs I think you're looking for games which are non-zero-sum and are not just about rescuing the status quo, but introducing lasting systemic change.If you're looking for a TTRPG, Legacy: Life Among The Ruins might be your thing, but it's a collective.
(DIR) Post #AsHfkM5vD6eBP7ia36 by alxd@writing.exchange
2025-03-19T16:24:49Z
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@Tom_ofB @patryk @Farbs From video games, https://exocolonist.com/ might be more up your alley, as a single character there (working with a community) shapes the future of the whole colony in a very non-zero-sum game.I would avoid the Daybreak @susankayequinn mentions as it's incredibly problematic when it comes to its descriptions of the Global South. It bundles several continents together and teaches people not to see them as agents being capable of influencing their own future.
(DIR) Post #AsHfkN1LlaaIHEaRYu by alxd@writing.exchange
2025-03-19T16:27:28Z
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@patryk @Farbs @susankayequinn If we're looking at boardgames, https://www.sdrgames.studio/products/earth-rising is much better than the Daybreak, even if less polished.I absolutely agree with the collective approach!@Tom_ofB maybe what you're looking for is really my https://alxd.org/solarpunk-rpg-factions.html ? It shows several factions working towards a better future, but with very different definitions of what is a better future.Each set can form an alliance or work against each other.
(DIR) Post #AsHfkNwQLOEp8FI1WS by alxd@writing.exchange
2025-03-19T16:28:02Z
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@patryk @Farbs @susankayequinn @Tom_ofB Last but not least, my https://writing.exchange/@alxd/110074727020505792 thread on how to show degrowth in a game might be useful!
(DIR) Post #AsHfkOfRe0FbNsLyhE by alxd@writing.exchange
2025-03-19T16:48:54Z
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@patryk @Farbs @susankayequinn @Tom_ofB > I did find texts on non-/less violent game design, but not a solution per se.Let me hit you with a quote from Jay Dragon, the creator of https://possumcreekgames.com/pages/wanderhome"Our game is non-violent, meaning that it includes EVERYTHING up to violence."My reading: our tension and conflict writing in games is pretty boring, as the American culture pushes us to escalate everything to physical violence. There is a lot we can do with tensions before that point!
(DIR) Post #AsHfkPifjUQUeAs4Mi by alxd@writing.exchange
2025-03-19T16:51:42Z
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@patryk @Farbs @susankayequinn @Tom_ofB There is A LOT you can do just with a social tensions within a community + some non-zero-sum disaster relief.Take a "pressure cooker" faction / heist system from Blades in the Dark / Band of Blades and make the player characters firefighters or first responders. Have them fight disasters and make the community more resilient.Non-obvious moral choices, who to help, how to weigh probabilities?If you need to shoot someone, it's a traumatic experience.
(DIR) Post #AsHfkQVwmHqF6zvQAa by alxd@writing.exchange
2025-03-19T16:53:49Z
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@patryk @Farbs @susankayequinn @Tom_ofB Games like the @FullyAutomatedRPG base most of their systems around violence hoping for the narrator to fill-in the community aspects.I would flip that and gamify the systems of non-violent conflict resolution, especially if those are not us-against-them conflicts, but for example disaster relief / resource management.Give players the good "number go up" feeling when helping community, not actively resorting to violence.
(DIR) Post #AsHfkRVd4xBKCImgJU by FullyAutomatedRPG@mstdn.games
2025-03-19T18:52:47Z
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@alxd @patryk @Farbs @susankayequinn @Tom_ofB Alxd, I think you're operating under a great misunderstanding of Fully Automated.One of our GMs is running a one-shot on Sat. 3/29, 4 PM pacific. For the @happyjacksrpg Game Daze. There's room at the table for 2 more. Would you (or anyone else) like to try FA?
(DIR) Post #AsHfkSZv6UCxVtncdk by alxd@writing.exchange
2025-03-19T18:56:22Z
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@FullyAutomatedRPG @patryk @Farbs @susankayequinn @Tom_ofB @happyjacksrpg Thank you for the invitation - I don't know if I'll be able to make it, but I'll try.Clarifying question: what is the amount of mechanics dedicated to violence vs non-violent tensions in FA?The beta version I read had literally dozens of pages on tactical violence and a single dice roll for non-violent actions.Don't get me wrong, you have awesome characters and ideas, but they boil down to "8 hitpoints +3 medicine"
(DIR) Post #AsHfkTQ1yjtM7WBErg by alxd@writing.exchange
2025-03-19T18:59:20Z
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@FullyAutomatedRPG @patryk @Farbs @susankayequinn @Tom_ofB @happyjacksrpg You have a separate page to explain why you dedicate so much space to combat - https://fullyautomatedrpg.com/combat/But… why?(...)Why did we put so much effort into describing fighting? Isn’t the game predicated on a world where people eschew a worldview of domination and violence?First, keep in mind that you’re free to disregard this. You don’t have to play combat scenarios, or use this system.
(DIR) Post #AsHfkU3jb7eQ6ekwka by alxd@writing.exchange
2025-03-19T19:01:34Z
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@FullyAutomatedRPG @patryk @Farbs @susankayequinn @Tom_ofB @happyjacksrpg I am not saying that you made a _bad game_, I am saying that your game is specifically geared towards combat as a default- or semi-default conflict resolution.Compare that to say - Ironsworn, Wanderhome, Legacy: Life Among The Ruins, Dream Askew / Dream Apart, Lunar Echos or Cezar Capacle's Scraps.
(DIR) Post #AsHfkUlKz0WsHt9liK by alxd@writing.exchange
2025-03-19T19:05:50Z
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@FullyAutomatedRPG @patryk @Farbs @susankayequinn @Tom_ofB @happyjacksrpg I understand why you've done it and there's nothing wrong with it, it's just not a game I am looking for.If you want me to start recommending Fully Automated as not only a combat-heavy game, try to design a tactical disaster relief, firefighting system which would feel equally good and "click".You don't need Mutant Year Zero's basebuilding. Just imagine satisfying session phases with characters fighting... fire ;)
(DIR) Post #AsHfkVb5sZvgsPN6O0 by jacobcoffin@writing.exchange
2025-03-19T21:13:16Z
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@alxd @FullyAutomatedRPG @patryk @Farbs @susankayequinn @Tom_ofB @happyjacksrpg I don't expect this to sink in at this point but in actual gameplay, well over 90% of play time I've seen was spent with that 'single dice roll' mechanic. It works remarkably well for a narrative-and-roleplay-heavy game. This thinking that the number of rules somehow sets the most common gameplay rather than that the most streamline one is the most used seems like it comes from just skimming the rulebook to me.
(DIR) Post #AsHfkWjzcydsQIXitc by jacobcoffin@writing.exchange
2025-03-19T21:17:31Z
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@alxd @FullyAutomatedRPG @patryk @Farbs @susankayequinn @Tom_ofB @happyjacksrpg In the games I've run the players were focused primarily on investigation, conversation/negotiation, and exploration. When I threw unreasonable people and complex situations where they didn't have all the information at them, they did me proud by roleplaying them as reasonable people who talked first and built community, and because this seems to be important to you, THAT's what they were mechanically rewarded for.
(DIR) Post #AsHfkXcaM0JL9c5JzM by jacobcoffin@writing.exchange
2025-03-19T21:28:12Z
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@alxd @FullyAutomatedRPG @patryk @Farbs @susankayequinn @Tom_ofB @happyjacksrpg I think you and I fundamentally disagree on the role and utility of violence in media and especially in solarpunk. We've both written about it elsewhere - current events as they are I'm sure as hell not going to try to expunge violence and conflict from any genre claiming to be punk.But I also think you're misinforming people about the nature of this game.
(DIR) Post #AsHfkYAyI9ogsGAmaO by alxd@writing.exchange
2025-03-19T21:32:18Z
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@jacobcoffin @FullyAutomatedRPG @patryk @Farbs @susankayequinn @Tom_ofB @happyjacksrpg Well, my take on #solarpunk is kind of post-violence. Not denying it will happen, just trying to imagine a world healing from it. Ever noticed that Wanderhome is explicitly post-war?But yes, we disagree on violence as a tool in the game. I want game design which specifically inspires people to find non-violent solutions and forget of violence-as-a-default that the mainstream Western culture promotes.
(DIR) Post #AsHfkYyFKxERL5E8OG by alxd@writing.exchange
2025-03-19T21:34:17Z
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@jacobcoffin @patryk @Farbs @susankayequinn @Tom_ofB @happyjacksrpg I fail to see where I'm misinforming people about @FullyAutomatedRPG .I'm not saying that every session must be violent. You are showing examples which show that it doesn't.I'm saying that the >mechanics< don't actively promote non-violent solutions. That the weight of that lies on the players and the narrator. Not the procedures and systems.Am I wrong in saying this? Are there things I missed in the mechanics?
(DIR) Post #AsHfkZ1n7m4FW4sxuq by alxd@writing.exchange
2025-03-19T16:55:55Z
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@patryk @Farbs @susankayequinn @Tom_ofB Because at the end of the day, we often reach for games to get that good "number go up" feeling. We're happy to see the 20 rolled on a die.A good game design can take this often unconscious expectation and use it to tell a specific kind of story, not always violent.In the Monty Python RPG, if you roll too-high-of-a-number, your character gets too serious and "kills the mood of a scene".In Tales From The Loop, you heal by spending time with others.
(DIR) Post #AsHfkZj2Wyf7gD7VKK by alxd@writing.exchange
2025-03-19T21:36:08Z
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@jacobcoffin @patryk @Farbs @susankayequinn @Tom_ofB @happyjacksrpg @FullyAutomatedRPG Because I can run a #solarpunk story with #DnD , with #cyberpunkRed, with #paranoia and even FATAL.I just admit that I will be working without the main design philosophies of those games, often against them. None of them were written to tell the stories I want to tell.As I said, we had multiple examples of people running non-violent D&D 5E - often with just single skill-checks.It's just not what I want
(DIR) Post #AsHfkaZVNud6IvfP6W by Computer@dice.camp
2025-03-21T15:53:30Z
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@alxd @jacobcoffin @patryk @Farbs @susankayequinn @Tom_ofB @happyjacksrpg @FullyAutomatedRPG Hrmm... Solar punk.Please explain your knowledge of classified Outdoors information, citizen alxd.