Under the Hood – The Complete Picture
The Complete Picture
By The Warden
When I learned to drive oh those many years ago (24 years ago, to be exact), my dad taught me. He took me out to an unused country road, pulled over, and spoke the words that every teenager longs to hear. “OK, hop into the driver’s seat.” After fifteen minutes of seat and mirror adjusting, along with a lengthy lecture on responsibilities while driving...
Under the Hood – A Sea of Words
A Sea of Words
By The Warden
I’m a big fan of words. They may not get me as giddy as a schoolboy like dice, but there’s no denying their power. Don’t get me started on sentences either. Put a string of them together into a paragraph and you have something wonderful to behold. Or long winded. That’s the curse of words, sentence, and paragraphs: too much of a good thing can...
Under the Hood – The Canadian Principle
The Canadian Principle
By The Warden
I want to tell you a story about my nephew for a second. He’s a huge video gamer at eight years old and has already advanced up to some rather elaborate games (including some mature ones). While he’s quite good at catching onto the game’s demands and resources, there are still some things he struggles with due to inexperience.
When I went to...
Under the Hood – The Perfect Fight (Part 5: Stand or Fall)
The Perfect Fight (Part 5: Stand or Fall)
By The Warden
PREVIOUSLY: We have covered the first three-quarters of a combat management system’s key features. We’ve established a fight’s difficulty, built a timeline of how long the average fight should take, and provided the means for players to dish out the damage needed to bring the fight to an end. The final step can be the nail...
Under the Hood – The Perfect Fight (Part 4: A Necessary Pain)
The Perfect Fight (Part 4: A Necessary Pain)
By The Warden
PREVIOUSLY: By establishing an overall goal to challenge your players in a fight scene and by how much (i.e. rules heavy miniature combat or descriptive story-based interactions) and determining how long you want a fight to last, it all comes down to that most definitive measurement of combat production: damage.
I have an odd attachment and...
Under the Hood – The Perfect Fight (Part 3: Making It Last)
The Perfect Fight (Part 3: Making It Last)
By Cape Rust
Boxing may be the perfect comparison for measuring duration in any RPG. Each participant must be able to last all nine rounds, but their intention is to bring an end to the match sooner.
PREVIOUSLY: The challenge of incorporating the proper amount of challenge in a combat system is a challenge to say the least. It’s the first and simultaneous...
Under the Hood – The Perfect Fight (Part 2: Feeling the Rush)
The Perfect Fight (Part 2: Feeling the Rush)
By The Warden
Challenge is a personal perception based on past experiences and initial expectation. Does this look challenging to you?
PREVIOUSLY: Last week launched the first part of our 5-part series on RPG combat design with an overall and an initiative roll between challenge, duration, damage, and survivability. Challenge won the roll and will start...
Successful Encounter Design
Successful Encounter Design
What makes a good encounter? Memorable encounters are far more than a collection of stat blocks to be defeated and treasure to be looted (although great encounters often include both).
Thousands of words have been written about the mechanical aspects of encounter design – how to create balanced and appropriate challenges and rewards – but such considerations...
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