#some tabletop card game project find me to draw

[shut-the-burrow-door-pls]

Alright, just to say what am I doing at the moment, to explain why i post so little

yes I know that the uncolored things look confusing and the last one looks suspicious

[rathayibacter]

Ok so how does one MAKE a tabletop game because this is something I want to try!! Are there good references out there for non-d20 systems or how to balance mechanics yourself?

oooh, hell yeah! honestly the big thing is to just do it, unlike board and video games the gap between idea and execution in ttrpgs is incredibly narrow, so if youve got an idea just start writing stuff down and see where it starts pulling you, where it feels like something's missing, find what excites you and what you feel isn't working. but that's not very specific, so let's get into it!

first off, read games! read weird games! there's tons of free ttrpgs on itch, lots of people sharing their work here and on other social media, there's 200 word rpgs here and here, and lots of system reference documents written specifically for people looking to hack games. reading other games is a great way to enrich your work whether you're building systems from scratch or working in an existing framework, because every game you read will show you a new way of approaching design problems.

on that note, draw inspiration outside of ttrpgs too! i pull a lot from video, board, and card games in my work, as well as poetry, novels, movies, etc etc etc. im autistic, and ive spent a lot of my life thinking about and dissecting unwritten social rules, so that's another big source of material for me. take your passions, whatever they may be, and put them in your work!

next up, think about the core of your game, sometimes called the minimum viable product. this is whatever the fundamental idea at the heart of your work is, and it's important to keep in mind because it keeps you from spiraling down unnecessary tangents. the core of your game can change, don't get me wrong! in fact, it likely will. what you want to do isn't prevent your work from growing and changing, but have a point of light you can always refer back to and ask "is what im doing important to this game?" you might be surprised by what you find isn't actually as important as you thought at first, and what turns out to be vital to the experience you're going for.

next up, once you start working, don't throw things away. if youre working in a word processor or google docs, it can help to have a section at the bottom of your document that you copy anything youd otherwise delete into. i do the same with my Affinity documents, ill have a few pages i dont export to store all my scraps. i know other folks who keep a dedicated scraps document that they use across projects. whatever works for you! the reason you do this is twofold: it makes it easier to cut things if you know you can always put it back later if you change your mind, and it gives you a lot of raw material that you can pull from in the future. months or years from now, you might find yourself looking to fill a gap in a new design and realize that some cool toy you set aside is exactly what you were looking for.

lastly, i wanna strongly encourage you to practice finishing things. that's often the hardest part for people, cuz we have a lot more experience starting projects than finishing them. here id like to once again direct you to 200 word rpgs, because that strict limit means you wind up with a finished first draft really quickly, and the rest of it is polishing and editing. once you've finished some bite-sized projects, you'll have a better idea of what it entails, what parts you're good at and what parts you struggle with, when to keep working and when to cut yourself off. i find it really helpful to add arbitrary limitations and deadlines on my work because that helps me push myself to finish something when otherwise i'd just keep adding and tweaking, but you'll find what works best for you!

[jennamoran]

The Far Roofs: Systems

Hi!

Today I’m going to talk a little bit more about my forthcoming RPG, the Far Roofs. More specifically, I want to give a general overview of its game mechanics!

So the idea that first started the Far Roofs on the road to being its own game came out of me thinking a lot about what large projects feel like.

I was in one of those moods where I felt like the important thing in an RPG system was the parallel between that system and real-world experience. Where I felt like the key to art was always thinking about the end goal, or at least a local goal, as one did the work; and, the key to design was symmetry between the goals and methods, the means and ends.

I don't always feel that way, but it's how I work when I'm feeling both ambitious and technical.

So what I wanted to do was come up with an RPG mechanic that was really like the thing it was simulating:

Finding answers. Solving problems. Doing big things.

And it struck me that what that felt like, really, was a bit like ...

You get pieces over time. You wiggle them around. You try to fit them together. Sometimes, they fit together into larger pieces and then eventually a whole. Sometimes you just collect them and wiggle them around until suddenly there's an insight, an oh!, and you now know everything works.

The ideal thing to do here would probably be having a bag of widgets that can fit together in different ways---not as universally as Legos or whatever, but, like, gears and connectors and springs and motors and whatever. If I were going to be building a computer game I would probably think along those lines, anyway. You'd go to your screen of bits and bobs and move them around with your mouse until it hooked together into something that you liked.

... that's not really feasible for a tabletop RPG, though, at least, not with my typical financial resources. I could probably swing making that kind of thing, finding a 3d printing or woodworking partner or something to make the pieces, for the final kickstarter, but I don't have the resources to make a bunch of different physical object sets over time while I'm playtesting.

So the way I decided that I could implement this was by drawing letter tiles.

That I could do a system where you'd draw letter tiles ... not constantly, not specifically when you were working, but over time; in the moments, most of all, that could give you insight or progress.

Then, at some point, you'd have enough of them.

You'd see a word.

That word'd be your answer.

... not necessarily the word itself, but, like, what the word means to you and what the answer means to you, those would be the same.

The word would be a symbol for the answer that you've found, as a player and a character.

(The leftover letters would then stick around in your hand, bits of thought and experience that didn't directly lead to a solution there, but might help with something else later on.)

Anyway, I figured that this basic idea was feasible because, like, lots of people own Scrabble sets. Even if you don't, they're easier to find than sets of dice!

For a short indie game focused on just that this would probably have been enough of a mechanic all on its own. For a large release, though, the game needed more.

After thinking about it I decided that what it wanted was two more core resolution systems:

One, for stuff like, say ... kickstarter results ... where you're more interested in "how well did this do?" or "how good of an answer is this?" than in whether those results better fit AXLOTL or TEXTUAL. For this, I added cards, which you draw like letter tiles and combine into poker hands. A face card is probably enough for a baseline success, a pair of Kings would make the results rather exciting, and a royal flush result would smash records.

The other core system was for like ... everyday stuff. For starting a campfire or jumping a gap. That, by established RPG tradition, would use dice.

...

I guess technically it didn't have to; I mean, like, most of my games have been diceless, and in fact we've gotten to a point in the hobby where that's just "sort of unusual" instead of actually rare.

But, like, I like dice. I do. If I don't use them often, it's because I don't like the empty page of where to start in the first place building a bespoke diced system when I have so many good diceless systems right there.

... this time, though, I decided to just go for it.

--

The Dice System

So a long, long time ago I was working on a game called the Weapons of the Gods RPG. Eos Press had brought me in to do the setting, and somewhere in the middle of that endeavor, the game lost its system.

I only ever heard Eos' side of this, and these days I tend to take Eos' claims with a grain of salt ... but, my best guess is that all this stuff did happen, just, with a little more context that I don't and might not ever know?

Anyway, as best as I remember, the first writer they had doing their system quit midway through development. So they brought in a newer team to do the system, and halfway through that the team decided they'd have more fun using the system for their own game, and instead wrote up a quick alternate system for Weapons of the Gods to use.

This would have been fine if the alternate system were any good, but it was ... pretty obviously a quick kludge. It was ...

I think the best word for it would be "bad."

I don't even like the system they took away to be their own game, but at least I could believe that it was constructed with love. It was janky but like in a heartfelt way.

The replacement system was more the kind of thing where if you stepped in it you'd need a new pair of shoes.

It upset me.

It upset me, and so, full wroth, I decided to write a system to use for the game.

Now, I'd never done a diced system before at that point. My only solo game had been Nobilis. So I took a bunch of dice and started rolling them, to see ... like ... what the most fun way of reading them was.

Where I landed, ultimately, was looking for matches.

The core system for Weapons of the Gods was basically, roll some number of d10s, and if you got 3 4s, that was a 34. If you got 2 9s, that was a 29. If your best die was a 7 and you had no pairs at all, you got 1 7. 17.

It didn't have any really amazing statistical properties, but the act of rolling was fun. It was rhythmic, you know, you'd see 3 4s and putting them together into 34 was a tiny tiny dopamine shot at the cost of basically zero brain effort. It was pattern recognition, which the brain tends to enjoy.

I mean, obviously, it would pall in a few minutes if you just sat there rolling the dice for no reason ... but, as far as dice rolling goes, it was fun.

So when I went to do an optional diced system for the Chuubo's Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine RPG, years later, to post here on tumblr ... I already knew what would make that roll fun. That is, rolling a handful of dice and looking for matches.

What about making it even more fun?

... well, critical results are fun, so what about adding them and aiming to have a lot of them, though still like rare enough to surprise?

It made sense to me to call no matches at all a critical failure, and a triple a critical success. So I started fiddling with dice pool size to get the numbers where I wanted them.

I'm reconstructing a bit at this point, but I imagine that I hit 6d10 and was like: "these are roughly the right odds, but this is one too many dice to look at quickly on the table, and I don't like that critical failure would be a bit more common than crit success."

So after some wrestling with things I wound up with a dice pool of 5d6, which is the dice pool I'm still using today.

If you roll 5d6, you'll probably get a pair. But now and then, you'll get a triple (or more!) My combinatorics is rusty, so I might have missed a case, but, like ... 17% of the time, triples, quadruples, or quintuples? And around 9% chance, for no matches at all?

I think I was probably looking for 15% and 10%, that those were likely my optimum, but ... well, 5d6 comes pretty close. Roughly 25% total was about as far as I thought I could push critical results while still having them feel kind or rare. Like ...

If I'm rolling a d20 in a D&D-like system, and if I'm going to succeed on an 18+, that's around when success is exciting, right? Maybe 17+, though that's pushing it? So we want to fall in the 15-20% range for a "special good roll." And people have been playing for a very long time now with the 5% chance of a "1" as a "special bad roll," and that seemed fine, so, like, 20-25% chance total is good.

And like ...

People talk a lot about Rolemaster crit fail tables in my vicinity, and complain about the whiff fests you see in some games where you keep rolling and rolling and nothing good or bad actually happens, and so I was naturally drawn to pushing crit failure odds a bit higher than you see in a d20-type game.

Now, one way people in indie circles tend to address "whiff fests" is by rethinking the whole dice-rolling ... paradigm ... so you never whiff; setting things up, in short, so that every roll means something, and every success and failure mean something too.

It's a leaner, richer way of doing things than you see in, say, D&D.

... I just didn't feel like it, here, because the whole point of things was to make dice rolling fun. I wanted people coming out of traditional games to be able to just pick up the dice and say "I'm rolling for this!" because the roll would be fun. Because consulting the dice oracle here, would be fun.

So in the end, that was the heart of it:

A 5d6 roll, focusing on the ease of counting matches and the high but not exorbitant frequency of special results.

But at the same time ...

I'm indie enough that I do really like rolls where, you know, every outcome is meaningful. Where you roll, and there's never a "whiff," just a set of possible meaningful outcomes.

A lot of the time, where I'm leaning into "rolls are fun, go ahead and roll," what it means to succeed, to fail, to crit, all that's up to the group, and sometimes it'll be unsatisfying. Other times, you'll crit succeed or crit fail and the GM will give you basically the exact same result as you'd have gotten on a regular success or failure, just, you know, jazzing up the description a bit with more narrative weight.

But I did manage to pull out about a third of the rolls you'll wind up actually making and assign strong mechanical and narrative weight to each outcome. Where what you were doing was well enough defined in the system that I could add some real meat to those crits, and even regular success and regular failure.

... though that's a story, I think, to be told some other time. ^_^

[beaujagr]

Piggybacking so that I can offer some free shit to people: If anyone of y'all would like to grab copies of any of my games to enjoy with this, there should be comp/community copies for all marginalized folks (including financial limitations), if anything is ever out of free copies just please let me know!

https://thoughty.itch.io

https://thomasno.myshopify.com

There's also copies on DriveThruRPG and IndiePressRevolution and some at MonkeyPawGames. My charitable project, Of the Woods, is only on DriveThruRPG because proceeds go directly to The Trevor Project.

Some of my products on offer: Script Change RPG Toolbox (free or donation): comprehensive content, consent, and safety toolbox of calibration tools with cards, Discord emojis, and references that's also on Roll20 and used in many other RPGs Turn: A Tabletop Roleplaying Game (community copies or paid): an RPG about shapeshifters in small rural towns that focuses largely on exploring identity, community, and finding acceptance (in yourself and others) through the lens of characters trying to live as shapeshifters and balancing their human and beast habits and instincts. A supplement, Towns Like Ours, offers work from other game designers around the world with more towns, beasts, archetypes, and setting options! The Man and The Stag (community copies or paid): A two player storytelling game that explores the relationships between man and nature, time and physical existence, the cosmos and humanity, using a timeline, a map you draw as you play, and playing cards for an oracle. Beep (community copies or paid): A shorter atmospheric one shot game about the end of a mecha battle that wins a war in which players set up the events of the battle then speak only in sounds until their batteries and bodies die.

Let Me Take a Selfie (community copies or paid): A collection of games using selfies as mechanics for telling stories, roleplaying, and both group and solo play (including live action play). One of my older collections, but still really has some fun ways to play!

I might start putting out some feelers for the indie RPG book club, the idea of which will be to get an opportunity to run all the various independent RPGs we've accumulated over the years. Conducted via Discord. No need for a long-term commitment, people will be allowed to come and go at their leisure. The idea will be to rotate GMs, encouraging players who wish to bring a game to others' attention to take a shot at running it.

Still need to figure out the other details. It'd be valuable for each player to have the opportunity to read over the rules of the game the GM is bringing, and how to do that needs to be figured out. If characters can be created in isolation, great, but if group creation is assumed by the rules then games where character creation is relatively simple would be a good idea. But I'm willing to leave stuff like this to GM discretion.

If anyone has ideas I've neglected to mention here, feel free to chime in.

[pagesofkenna]

Heads up, today is Creator Day on Itch.io, meaning Itch is waiving their service fee for the day and giving 100% of profits to creators! A bunch of people have put bundles together, including a bunch of indie TTRPG folks! Here's some of my tabletop and video game recommendations:

Tabletop:

Blades in the Dark - This is a very well known title in the TTRPG community, and one of my FAVORITE games of all time. You and your friends play a gang of scoundrels - thieves, murderers for hire, cultists, whatever you want to be - trying to survive in the seedy underbelly of a city plunged into eternal night. Very reminiscent of Dishonored, Bloodbourne, Peaky Blinders, and Crimson Peak.

Golden Sky Stories - THIS IS SUCH A CUTE GAME. You and your friends play animal spirits in a quiet, rural Japanese town. You can transform from forms that look like human children to foxes, birds, tanuki, and so on. There's no combat mechanic (not that I remember) because the purpose of the game is to help out the humans in the town, or the great spirits in the forest. I wish this was more well known!

Superstition - This is the game I did a writeup of on my portfolio blog a few weeks ago, written by a friend so you should check it out! It's a solo storytelling game where you play a fake seer making up rituals.

The One - A tabletop dating sim! I actually helped beta test this a little. It's another solo game, you draw cards and roll dice to try to maintain a successful relationship in a weird fantasy city. I ended up dating and breaking up with at least ten different monsters and spirits.

Take Root - Tabletop farming sim! Like Harvest Moon or Stardew Valley? Play it with dice! Can be played solo or in a group. I haven't personally played this one yet, but I'm planning to play it soon and do a writeup for my portfolio blog.

Alone on a Journey - A collection of solo games, some of which you can pick up for free if you just want to try them out. Sort of a meditative worldbuilding exercise - you draw cards to get prompts, then write out what you discover about the world around you based on those prompts.

Thursday - A diceless, GMless 2+ player game about time loops - like Groundhogs Day! I haven't actually played this one yet (*eyes emoji*) but I've been watching it for a while and it looks fantastic.

Delve - A solo dungeon mapping game. You control a kingdom of dwarves who are digging further and further into the ground, trying to unearth riches without unleashing an elder evil. The first time I played this I... sorta got my whole kingdom killed....

Monster Mix - A 2-player game, both players create a monster character and then create a music playlist for that character. Then you each listen to the other's playlist, and try to see how many questions you can answer about the other's character. It's a cool experiment in character creation AND playlist making, which I love.

Artefact - Another solo game, but instead of playing a character you play a magical artefact, a cool sword or magic ring or whatever you want to create. Over the course of the game you tell the story of this item, how it was created and what great events it's seen, over the long, long arc of history.

(Note on Solo games for people new to them: They're a lot like guided writing prompts, but I love to use them to create backstories for OCs, or flesh out a setting for writing projects or DND games. You can journal as much or as little as you like.)

Video Games:

Oxenfree - (In last year's Itch megabundle) A 2D sidescrolling horror game about teenagers stuck overnight on an island with angry ghosts. Listen I don't love horror as a genre but this got me SO good, its creepy and unsettling and ghosty, and the music is amazing, and it's an indie fan favorite.

A Short Hike - (In last year's Itch megabundle) A cutesy short exploration game - also stuck on an island, you play a bird-person who sets off on a hike to the top of the mountain.

Arcade Spirits - Nerdy visual novel/dating sim! I think this also may have been in that megabundle. In an alternate world where arcades never went out of style, you try to hold down your job at a floundering mom-and-pop arcade, fight the capitalist megacorp, and maybe find love (but only if you want)!

A Normal Lost Phone - The entire game takes place in a phone you've apparently found on the ground. You have to snoop through the owner's texts, email, and apps to figure out how to turn on the wifi and unlock more parts of the phone, discovering the story of the person who 'lost' it. I don't wanna spoil anything but it was a very touching game.

Feel free to share some of your own recommendations!

[hughjidiot]

Hugh Jidiot’s Weekly Whatever #1

Hey there friends and fans! Welcome to the inaugural post of my new blog, the Weekly Whatever.

Since I’ve recently had some more free time added to my schedule, one of the things I want to do is be more sociable online. To interact more with the folks who follow me, whether they follow me for my fanfiction, my original fiction, my opinions on cartoons and media, my stupid memes that aren’t half as clever as I think they are, and so on.

So I’ve decided to start this new blog series where I talk about everything I listed above, share random facts about myself, discuss upcoming projects... Pretty much ramble about whatever’s on my mind. I do have a fair number of follows, so hopefully at least some of you will find some of my blathering interesting and could potentially open further avenues of conversation. Naturally if I want to get really in depth into a particular subject that will get its own blog post(s) in the future.

Let’s start!

- All my life I’ve loved creating things, writing stories in particular. From a young age I decided I wanted to make a living writing books, and I’ve been regularly writing fanfiction on and off for well over a decade as a way of cutting my teeth. The Hugh Jidiot moniker is probably my... tenth account I’ve had over the years? At any rate, it’s by far the most successful.

- I’m hoping to make this the year I finally write a novel I’ve dreamed of writing for years, now that I’ll be having a lot more free time. I have many ideas, some more developed than others. Currently I’m in the process of refining one idea that’s been in my head for years, and hope to start on the project proper soon.

- This project in question might not even be a traditional novel. It might work better told in a non-traditional format like a web series, or even an audio drama.

- In case it wasn’t obvious by anyone who’s seen my stories on Reddit, I love horror. I grew up on Goosebumps and was reading Stephen King as early as 6th grade. I hope to write more horror/thriller themed fanfiction as well at some point.

- I’m also interest in a lot of other creative venues: graphic design, drawing, sculpting, painting, even tabletop game design. That last one in particular is a favorite hobby of mine, and creating a full tabletop game - board game, card game, RPG or whatever - has also been a lifelong dream of mine.

- I’m a tarot geek, big time. I love studying the meaning behind all of the different cards and how they link when paired with others as part of a larger reading. Of course I don’t really think tarot cards can predict the future; I just think they’re neat.

- I’m secretly five raccoons who stand on each other’s shoulders and don a trench coat when I need to go outside.

- To give you an idea of just how much I love writing: in fifth grade we had a creative writing assignment to write a short story based around an illustration. Most kids’ stories were one or two pages. Mine was seven pages.

- I love Pokemon, even though I sort of fell out of it in recent years and am just now trying to get back into it. One of my possessions I still have from my childhood is a small stuffed Squirtle, who is also my favorite Pokemon.

Well, I’d say that’s enough rambling for now. Hope some of you found this interesting, at least. Until next time, peace from the heart my friends!

[echelonlab-blog]

Echelon Author Interview -- Lolainblue

Echelon Author Interview

Your URL: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/lolainblue

Your name: Missie (Blue is my nickname)

Link to your Masterlist: https://lolainblue.tumblr.com/post/174506158608/masterlist-20

What was your first experience with 30 Seconds to Mars? A friend had bought their first album and brought it over while hanging out. We listened to a few songs, I immediately fell in love. She asked me “Guess who the lead singer is? It's Jordan Catallano!” I was so stunned. 

Your Favorite Mars song? I could never pick one. There is one for whatever mood I am in. I love Attack, a lot of the old stuff, Buddha for Mary... They have changed so much over the years but I still love all their sounds.

Has anything ever happened to you solely because of being a 30STM fan? There are people that I met only because of Mars, and friends I have made in the fandom I wouldn't have otherwise.

What is your favorite thing about the fandom? Your least favorite? I think this is a very welcoming, supportive, and open fandom for the most part. It does have certain cliques, which is all right, everyone has their things they're into, but it would be nice if they got along a little better.

Is there any advice you would give to someone who is new to the fandom? Don't get too caught up in rumors. There are some people who are crazy obsessive and love to trash talk. It's a strange combo.

How long have you been writing? Since I was in elementary school.

Why did you start writing? (Either in general or for Mars specifically) I went through a catastrophic health event a few years ago. I found myself stuck at home and mostly bed bound, looking at a slow recovery. I started reading more, and also reading more fanfiction. I restarted my Tumblr account and came across some Mars writers. @thepromiseofanend and @fyeahproudglambert were actually among some of the first writers I read here and very much inspired me to keep writing for the fandom.

Do you write for other fandoms? If so, which ones? I have written for other fandoms in the past but right now the only one I am writing for is Mars.

Do you share everything you write? If not, is there a reason why? No. Not everything I write is Mars related, and some of the pieces I am working on only sporadically and I will share when I have more of them written.

Have you written things that aren't fanfic? If so, could you tell us about those works? I have written plays and screenplays, short stories.. I write a lot I am currently working on a paranormal novel that is original fiction.

Of all your works, which is your favorite and why? I think Fangs and Fairytales is probably my favorite, I love horror and vampires and the paranormal, and it's fun to play with an alternate timeline like that.

Is there one that was particularly difficult to write? Why? There is one I am working on currently that is not yet published that I draw from some difficult personal experiences and struggles. I am not entirely sure I will share it when I am done.

What is the ideal writing environment for you? At your desk? Quiet? Music? I work on my laptop and I prefer to have silence. I can't stand having the television or music on when I am writing. The location doesn't matter much but the silence does. If I can't get silence I will put on headphones with ambient sounds, like thunderstorms. When I was writing the first part of Thunderbirds, I had a site that had cafe sounds that I listened to a lot.

What type of fanfic are you most comfortable writing (drama, fluff, angst, drabbles, series, etc.) I absolutely love to write angst. I torture my characters mercilessly. I also tend towards long pieces.

What is your favorite fanfic trope? Enemies to Friends, Ooops there's only one bed, Mutual Pining

Is there any trope or subject that you won't write? There are certain kinks that I don't care for, and extreme stuff is off the table. Don't make me name them all.

Are there any special tools that you use when creating or writing your story? I use either Open Office for short pieces or Scrivener for longer more structured stories. Grammarly is a lifesaver.

Do you write your story in order or do you jump around and then string it together at the end? Mostly in order. I am a very linear thinker.

Do you outline, or do a great deal of prep work or do you 'fly by the seat of your pants'? I have a general outline and a plan for each story. Some are more detailed than others.

How do you usually get your inspiration? Dreams, music, other stories, movies... I get so many ideas, it's the execution that's an issue more than inspiration.

Do you have ideas on the drawing board or in progress currently that you haven't shared yet? Yes. I have two series that I am working on. One I had originally planned to be ready in a few weeks but due to illness I am behind.

If you have an unpublished work in progress, please pick two to three sentences and share them without context.

Jared assured me however that he was fully prepared, gripping me ever tighter as he pressed me into the upholstered bench seating, no sign of shyness in regards to the driver who was currently ferrying us through damp and intimate back streets. The evening's earlier rain had broken and everything was left looking freshly glazed, colors amplified in reflection. It would have been a lovely drive through the Latin Quarter if he had paused from his advances long enough to look out the window.

Do you like requests? Would you like more or less of them? I love requests but I don't always have time. I have several series I am actively working on for myself, several things in the lab, another collaboration as well as original work. But one of my favorite oneshots (Overtime) came from an anon request. You can always ask. I may not be able to fill it but you can always ask.

Is there an upcoming project from you that you are excited about? Why, and what can you share about it? I am excited about all my writing. There is one piece that won't be coming for a while but it's a new Shannon series with a rather different romantic interest.

The best piece of writing advice you've ever received? Eliminate your inner audience. Whenever we write we have a tendency to think of the people who might be reading it and how they will react. It can limit us from being true and fearless with what we are producing. Write for the characters, focus on the story, and don't mentally allow other people to look over your shoulder. Especially when writing smut.

The worst piece of writing advice you've ever received? For overcoming writer's block: Just sit down and write. If I could do that Karen, I wouldn't be complaining about writer's block.

What piece of advice would you give to someone just starting to write fanfic? Don't worry if you don't get a lot of attention to start. Don't worry if your stories aren't as good as others. Just keep writing and try to make each piece a little better than the last one. Compete against yourself. Your writing will grow and develop as you continue to work and as it does you will find your audience.

Three (stories, series, scenes, etc) written by others that you really like or that inspire you? Only three? I think Save Me by @spillinginkwithlove was probably the thing that truly drew me in. Closer to the Edge (@thepromiseofanend) has my OTP of Mia/Jared. @darklydelicousdesires has my favorite piece of Shannon smut, Double Measures

Are any of your characters closer to being “you” than others? Any reason in particular?  All of my characters have tiny pieces of me in them, whether it's a taste in food or future aspiration. In a lot of ways, I think I'm more Jane than anything, a lot of Jane and Roger’s childhood memories come from my own experience growing up in small towns in Illinois and Indiana -- but there are characters in two pieces I am working on that draw deeply from a lot of my life experiences.

Are any of your characters based on someone you know? Roger (from Thunderbirds) is actually very strongly based on an old boyfriend of mine.

Are any of your plots based on something that happened to you? The upcoming pieces Bodies, Rest and Motion and Mirror Ball both draw strongly on my own personal experiences, although the characters are unique as are the circumstances. The stories aren't autobiographical in any way, I have just drawn on things that I have been through and know to create something that conveys those experiences.

Favorite font for writing? Segoe UI ( In 14pt because I'm blind)

Do you consider yourself a reader outside of fanfic?  Yes. I love to read.

Your favorite book? I don't know about any one book, but I love Brandon Mull, Tad Williams, and Charlaine Harris. Also Poppy Z Brite, Terry Pratchett, so much science fiction and horror.....

Your favorite things to do when you're not writing? I love to cook, watch movies, binge Netflix, hang out with my dogs, play video games and just be with my family.

Two truths and a lie? I owned and ran my own catering company, I lived briefly in Italy, I was the drummer for a punk band

Something surprising about you? My original career ambition (and the college program I started in) was for experimental high energy (particle) physics. I still love science. I am a huge nerd.

Favorite food to enjoy while watching Netflix? Popcorn, of course.

Favorite way to spend a Saturday night? The activity doesn't matter to me as much as the company. I just want to be surrounded by good people. I love a good meal and a card or board game with friends and family. (I love tabletop games and have a small collection. Gloom and Betrayal at House on the Hill are two of my favorites.)

Blankets Tucked or Untucked? Untucked!

Do you have any pets? Would you like to tell us about them? I have two rescued pit bulls that are big love bugs (Twilight and Lokii) and two cats, Coyote and Mayhem. Lokii is the only one that is technically mine (Twilight is my son's dog, and the cats are just household pets) and Lokii never leaves my side. He is very protective and watches over me when I am feeling ill. He is also very goofy and loves to play

Are there any particular battles or struggles in your life you'd like to tell us about? I've been through a lot. I have somehow managed to pick myself up and keep going each time I've been knocked down. You have to keep putting one foot in front of the other, no matter what. There's really no other choice. Just keep going. There's always something good ahead.

Anything you'd like to add? I am horrible at initiation and maintaining friendships. It's mostly an anxiety issue, I feel like I'm annoying people, I think they don't want to talk to me, that they simply tolerate me... I know there are lots of you that can relate to that. Chances are really good that I'd like to talk to you, even if I seem stand-offish or seem to have withdrawn. Please don't ever take it personally. And if we've never talked, well feel free to say hi, or ask me a question. I love to chat, I really do, I'm just bad about keeping things going until I get used to people. I take ridiculously long to get used to people. I guess what I'm saying is I'm a big mess and I have social issues but if you're into that, come chat with me.

[entergamingxp]

Fuser Mixes the Best Elements of Harmonix’s DropMix and DJ Hero Into a Killer Beat

April 7, 2020 10:00 AM EST

Fuser, the upcoming new rhythm game from Harmonix, takes inspiration from the studio’s past games and spins up a new mix of rhythm game.

Since the studio first started spinning beats with its early projects like Frequency and Amplitude, Harmonix has been the go-to studio for finding creative ways to mix video games with music. That trend would continue for decades with the studio’s major successes like Guitar Hero and Rock Band, to its more experimental ventures like DJ Hero and Fantasia: Music Evolved. This is especially the case with its entry into tabletop gaming with DropMix, a board game that utilized physical cards to have players spin their own song mixes. The game itself was almost magical in how it blended together wildly different music genres, and with the studio’s upcoming Fuser, that essence continues in what is more or less DropMix’s spiritual successor.

During PAX East 2020 a few weeks ago, I got to spend some time with the show floor demo of Fuser, which was announced by Harmonix at the show and is coming to consoles and PC later this year. In the tradition of Harmonix’s past games, Fuser is an experience aimed entirely at giving players the chance to live out their dreams as a turntable DJ and assembling their own mixes. From an outside glance, Fuser seems to draw a lot of its elements from DJ Hero and DropMix as players take different strands of music and combine them together. But in motion, Fuser manages to take these elements from some of Harmonix’s best games and blend them together for an energetic and thrilling experience.

Part of this was aided by the fact that Harmonix’s demo booth for Fuser at PAX East 2020 was turned into an almost literal concert venue, as attendees were greeted by a gigantic statue with a DJ spinning beats at its base, pulsating lights, and some fog machines. It definitely helped enhance the immersion of spinning different mixes together while a literal DJ did the same thing a few dozen feet away, but it also captured what exists at the heart of Fuser: pleasing a crowd and drawing from their energy to make exciting music happen.

Now that we’re all back from our epic announce at PAX East we would like to send out special thanks to our partners, @Alienware and @HyperX, who made our #FUSER booth possible. Thank you! pic.twitter.com/lLgTDj455G

— Fuser Game (@FuserGame) March 6, 2020

The simple way to express how Fuser plays is that it essentially works like DropMix, just without the physical cards that players used in that game to create different mixes. As the DJ in front of an excited crowd, players are given a variety of different tracks to utilize in different combinations and instrumentations. With each “song card,” players can take a specific element of the songs in front of them — drums, vocals, guitar/rhythm, piano, etc. — and mix and match them to their liking combined with the game’s lineup of different songs. From what I played of the demo, Fuser already boasts a mix of a lot of current hits like Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy” and Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” alongside plenty of older favorites like Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” and Blue Oyster Cult’s “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper.”

While the final game will have over 100 licensed songs (and I would assume more to come through DLC), Fuser is already off to a strong start with its song selection and a strong sense of experimentation at its core. Want to hear what Smash Mouth’s “All Star” sounds like when you mix it with the bassline of Lizzo’s “Good as Hell”? Fuser lets you do just that. Even with some of its most outlandish combinations, Fuser manages to spin some incredible magic by connecting the different threads and elements of these songs and making them work together, feeding into the sense of players getting to be creative with how they combine these sometimes wildly divergent songs.

“Even with some of its most outlandish combinations, Fuser manages to spin some incredible magic.”

What really feeds into this sense of discovery in Fuser is having to play to the crowd, as players will have to react to what the in-game audience wants and use that to their advantage for a higher overall performance and score. During the course of a game in Fuser, the crowd will shout out suggestions for specific song types, genres, or music elements — ‘70s rock music, ‘00s pop, the vocals from an Imagine Dragons song, etc. — and then challenge the player to assemble that mix within a certain amount of time.

Adding on top of that is a meter that shows players the beat of their current mix, and if players are able to drop a new track or song element in time with the beat, it will enhance how the crowd reacts to their new mix. While you can simply ignore this feature and drop in new beats or segments of songs when you please, this additional timing element gives a bit more depth and mastery for players to experiment on top of trying to find new mixes that work to please the crowd.

“Harmonix have proven themselves before several times over that they know how to bring life to the music genre.”

Given Harmonix’s track record with taking the joy of listening to music and making that an interactive experience through its past games, what I’ve played so far from Fuser already has me excited to jump back in and get creative with new music mixes. As a fan of the underappreciated DropMix, I’m glad to see that the innovative and unique tech behind it can live on in a new form, and I am interested to see how it plays in its final release with a full song library (especially being able to play it on-the-go on Switch). Harmonix have proven themselves before several times over that they know how to bring life to the music genre, and Fuser already seems like it will be the life of the party.

Fuser will release later this year on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

April 7, 2020 10:00 AM EST

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/04/fuser-mixes-the-best-elements-of-harmonixs-dropmix-and-dj-hero-into-a-killer-beat/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=fuser-mixes-the-best-elements-of-harmonixs-dropmix-and-dj-hero-into-a-killer-beat

[cthulhubert]

I was tagged by @shrimp-bird

5 things you’ll find in my bag:

bits of cloth (a pack towel and a scarf, not like, random scraps)

tools (pliers, bit driver, bike multi-tool, caliper, etc)

paper, pens, and pencils

baggy with tea, cocoa mix, and a granola bar

pouch with chargers, cables, USB drives, and a deck of water proof cards

5 things you’ll find in my room:

cthulhu statuette

batsumaru and tux having a stare down

variegated snake plant in a pretty pot my grandmother made (hopefully to be joined by a dwarf broadleaf ladypalm soon)

fancy headphones connected to a fancy headphone amplifier connected to a fancy DAC

big plastic tubs filled with camping/backpacking supplies or sewing or electronics projects

5 things that make me happy:

making food that my friends and/or family enjoy

inclement weather

let’s be honest: good drugs

couldn’t pick one kind of physical activity I liked best so any of these: weights, martial arts, swimming, or hiking

sappy romantic comedy manga (other manga too, but little compares to bitter virgin or bokura wa minna kawaisou)

Things I’m currently into:

finally got around to playing bastion and transistor and they have consecutively consumed me. eclipse phase the tabletop RPG has one of the most interesting and well realized settings I’ve seen lately; the game rules themselves aren’t perfect but that’s okay. In the same vein I’m reading the ultra-deep-future science fiction story, the quantum thief, and it’s wild shit. I really wish I could say I’ve been into learning to draw but my sketch book has not been opened in some time. this demented music video with art by the guy who did double king

I’ll tag @sugar-dollie, @jemariel, and @honey-and-vinegar. No presh, do it if you want.

[blademaster-banryu]

Got tagged in a thing while my computer was in the shop #2

Tagged by mah gurl @gladihoes​ I’M FINALLY DOING IT /SHOT

How old are you?: 26, y’all saw it in the last one (maybe? shrug)

What’s your current job?: ...uhh... ;;; being an unemployed dad... I’M LOOKING FOR WORK NOW THAT I HAVE MY COMPUTER BACK THOUGH CRIES

What are you good at?: Analytically picking shit apart lol. Probably my most substantial talent honestly, I just... have a mind for the critical and analytical, I guess. I usually try to put it to (’’’good’’’) use by making up lists and game systems/mechanics related to stuff I like, IE the Digimon Chart project I do on @digivolutioncentral. Apart from that, I’m pretty decent at writing, mostly use it in private RPs with the waifu @biryu13 and haven’t written anything independently in a while... might change soon. Also, I think it’s safe to say I’m pretty good (decent at least) at video games in general, in particular platformers, RPGs, action games, and some fighting games. 

What is a big goal you are working towards (or have already achieved)?: ....uhh... it’s hard to think of much I’ve actually accomplished that doesn’t involve stupid video games stuff, haha... ;; Well... I got married and have a great kid and great relationship... I think that’s something a lot of people strive for (well... dunno bout the kid part lol but y’know) and I’m not gonna let that go unappreciated. Apart from that? ....Oh, well I guess this is significant... I achieved every gamer kid’s dream of being a game tester and worked QA for id Software for 3 months, testing Doom and Wolfenstein so that was pretty badass, however shortlived. I don’t think 3 months is enough for anyone else in the industry to seriously consider using me... haha... ;; but.. it’s something... As far as longer-term goals, I want to start making my own games. I’ve got some of the resources, but lately I’m trying to improve my drawing and watching my kid a lot... so... hopefully I’ll get there eventually ;;

What is your aesthetic?: Green, swords, scales, dragons, knight stuff, ninja stuff... fantasy/adventure stuff, like yellowed, musty maps, peaceful forests, beaten paths, that sort of thing... Also, Fire Emblem GBA’s Dark magic is suuuper my aesthetic. Ancient runes, spirit flames, purple lightning, mages so deep in their robes that they’re barely recognizable as human... that shit is my jam. 

Do you collect anything?: I can’t exactly afford to be what I’d call a dedicated collector, but I do go for specific things of characters/series that I like... Got a few Smash Bros amiibos of characters I like, some pins, buttons, video games ofc (own both of the Tellius Fire Emblems, which are pretty rare from what I understand haha), and some Pokemon/Digimon/Yugioh cards.

What’s a topic you always talk about: Right now, it’s Fire Emblem lol. I’m friggin’... playing Heroes, thinking about shit from Awakening and Fates, debating writing fics for both of those, and also writing up a modified list of classes and weapons from across the series for use in a forum/tabletop RPG, or maybe somewhere in the future, a fangame. 

What is a pet peeve of yours: OH MAN WHERE TO START HAHA. I am so irritable that what ISN’T might be a shorter list, but... 1) Fuckin’... rude drivers. Like, shit like switching lanes to get in front of me when I’m going the goddamn speed limit. Fuck you. 2) Contrived plots in movies and games-- makes it way harder to genuinely enjoy the bulk of movies I go to haha... hollywood contrivances are everywhere. Stuff like the forced romance, white/male heroic protag (or alternatively, the nerdy underdog who becomes ‘cool), things that are just silly or unrealistic, dramatic/selfish monologues, etc. In video games, it’s usually the super edgy, angst-ridden white dudebro protag who’s totally unrelatable. 3) On the japanese/eastern spectrum of contrivances, villains whose goal is to ‘make a pure world’ that involves mass genocide of humans or whatever. Like what worse excuse could you possibly have for wanting to vent your pissbaby angst? There’s no way you can objectively sit there and tell me that killing ALL humans, innocents included, is going to make a ’’’pure world’’’. Fuck off. ....that’s probably enough for now haha ;;

Good advice to give: Lately, one of the credos I find I’m trying to live and act by the most is just let people like what they like. Like... that SHOULD be obvious, but it’s funny how so many people (including myself until relatively recently!) are so quick to condemn or put down people for something they like. Just, like... If it’s not HURTING someone, then what’s the harm? Don’t shit on people for liking it, however trashy, or dumb, or objectively bad or whatever you might think it is. Everyone has different tastes and your views of what’s objectively good and bad aren’t as unbiased as you might think they are... So just, don’t be a jerk. 

What are three songs you’d recommend?: 

Halo by Starset (just a really good band honestly, all their stuff is good lol)

Shelter by Porter Robinson (pretty sure everyone’s heard it by now though lol)

GDI it submitted while I was still typing OTL but UHH... anything by @phyrnnaofficial, her stuff is great

Tagging most of the same people as before =w= @biryu13, @juakianako, @tamqtran, @elvje, @noctuart, @thetictactician, @hornedfreak, @alagaesha, @tacorosso, @awkwardklutz

I think I forgot to mention this in the last one but NO PRESSURE TO DO THIS if you’re busy or don’t feel like it or anything, I won’t be butthurt or nothin’ so no worries! ~3~

[waynekelton]

Like... Magic: Arena? You'll love these alternative CCGs

Just a few short years ago almost every developer inside and out of mobile gaming was holding the idea of the CCG close, finding every which way to include 'Card Battle' elements into new IPs and sequels that made absolutely no sense. That RTS sequel? Have some cards. The latest iteration of your favorite shooter? Cards.

Developers have taken a step back recently, but the resurgence of Magic: The Gathering with its new MtG: Arena game has reignited the urge to pull packs and build decks. It hasn't made its way to mobile just yet, though, so if you lack a PC capable of running the game or just need your CCG fix on the go, we've rounded up a bunch of popular big-brand CCG games you can play where and whenever the itch needs scratching.

Barring a few odd exceptions, All of the titles below can be played on both PC and mobile, with console being an option with some. Each takes certain cues from the Wizards of the Coast game that started it all, too. So while you'll need to learn the ropes with each of these, if you can play the CCG that stumps Chess-besting artificial intelligence, you can probably pick up and play these without much issue.

Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Links (iOS and Android)

Konami has released a few different Yu-Gi-Oh games on mobile over the years, but Duel Links has proven to be the more resilient of the lot: and it's multi-platform!

Released back in 2017, Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Links condenses the classic card battler into short, snappy duels better suited to on-the-go play while preserving popular strategies seen in top tournament over the years. If you haven't played Yu-Gi-Oh before, it's less about managing resources and more about managing your monsters. Battling requires notably less mental arithmetic despite attack and defense numbers going well into the thousands, yet the core idea remains the same: whittle down your opponent's life with direct attacks to win the game.

Spell and Trap cards help create synergistic strategies, and with thousands of cards to pull from its dozens of packs, there's just as much thought to building a themed deck as you'll find in Magic. It's not quite the core Yu-Gi-Oh experience you'd find at your local card shop, but it keeps enough to not feel dumbed down for mobile play. It's Yu-Gi-Oh, but faster, and fans of the still on-going anime show will find the overhanging story and periodic character releases as a reason to keep coming back.

Shadowverse (iOS and Android)

If you prefer the high-fantasy style of Magic but enjoy a side-helping of anime, Shadowverse is really worth a look.

Created by the good folks over at Cygames - who are responsible for Nintendo's Dragalia Lost and the ever-popular Granblue Fantasy, Shadowverse is like the love child of Hearthstone and Magic, mixing the mana management of Hearthstone with the more complicated battle systems of Magic. The gorgeous anime-inspired high-fantasy art-style adds a unique personality to the game that's sure to appeal to a more specific type of player. And if you've ever played a Cygames title before, prepare to see characters cross over from their other titles for that added easter egg kick.

Like some of the other options here, Shadowverse has a rich lore and a single-player storyline to run through. The English dub doesn't skimp out on the voice actors, either, with Cassandra Lee Morris (Persona 5's sleep-obsessed Morgana) taking the helm. It's available on both mobile and PC, so there's a good chance you'll be able to squeeze in some practice at home without draining your phone battery.

The longevity of ongoing support for Shadowverse comes into question with the recommendation. Mobile titles can close down at a moments notice. But if you're at all interested in the premise, I can personally attest to Shadowverse being well worth your time. Maybe just think twice about dumping too much money into if I you notice a few too many run-ins with the same player. Though the recent announcement of an anime project might mean there's still plenty of life in this one yet.

The Elder Scrolls Legends (iOS and Android)

Another case of a popular franchise jumping on the bandwagon. The Elder Scrolls Legends isn't the most popular CCG on the market, but its reputation is that of a unique and intriguing card game that wasn't just some ham-fisted attempt to cash in on the Elder Scrolls namesake.

If you're one of the thousands of players still enthralled by Skyrim or happen to be balancing life around The Elder Scrolls Online, The Elder Scrolls Legends can keep you immersed in the world of Tamriel while you're out and about. Its various expansion sets all bear an obvious likeness to ESO add-ons, too, so new and old players of the franchise are sure to get something out of its varied content.

You won't be able to hop on over from another CCG and play like a champ from the get-go with this one. There are similarities - like the return of the ever-popular Mana system - but you'll still have to play through the tutorial to understand the rest of the game board and how to position your cards.

Gwent (iOS) (October 29th)

Here's one we weren't expecting to add to the list. Despite more or less every other CCG tie-in making a point to release on mobile, CD Projekt Red's attempts to tackle the genre extended to simply making a standalone version of the card game available in The Witcher 3. That changes toward the end of October when Gwent finally leaves its PC/Console confines to join the Apple ecosystem by landing on the iOS App Store.

Notice the lack of mention of Android? It's true. Gwent is doing the unthinkable by launching exclusively on iOS. The original blog post (from March) does bring up Android as something that's being worked on, but even seven months on, we're still being told and Android release will "be announced at a later date". If you're here before the grand iOS release date, chances are you can still squeeze into the closed beta.

As Paul Tassi explained in a Forbes article a few years back, unlike the other games on this list, an understanding of something like Hearthstone doesn't mean squat in Gwent. They couldn't be more different. It's a numbers game, with rounds as well as turns. There's less card RNG in play and far more strategy. It's about reading the room and outplaying your opponent, and about knowing when to hold back and when to go all-in.

Learning the basics is about as hard as learning its intricacies. It's a complex game. If you like the fake-out meta of Poker, you'll probably get a kick out of Gwent. And if you like The Witcher, you're just looking at an extension of the tabletop game you probably sunk dozens of hours into across The Witcher 3.

Hearthstone (iOS and Android)

Josh had a whole section here, but Hearthstone doesn't need any further introduction. It's the game that launched a thousands CCGs, and it differs from Magic in a few key fundamental ways that you probably already know about. 

Honorable Mention:

Pokemon TCG Online (iPad and Android Tablets)

If, like me, your first venture into the CCG/TCG space was with Pokemon, you might be surprised to hear that you can play a completely digital and 100% official version of the Pokemon TCG at home and on the go. This one predates the card-game boom of recent years, but for one reason or another, the only way it's playable on the go (without a laptop) is with a tablet. They just never updated the game to really work on a small screen.

For the uninitiated, Pokemon TCG Online is quite unique in how it plays. Much like the traditional RPGs, you're encouraged to focus on a small and varied selection of Pokemon. Resource management comes in the form of coloured "Energy" cards used to power each card's multiple moves, with the aim of the game being to knock out enough of your opponent's critters to claim the six "prize" cards taken from your deck at the start of each match. There's quite a bit of RNG not only with luck of the draw, but also countless coin flips to decide how status affects like Paralysis and Sleep help or hinder your team.

Unlike the other entries on this list, the Pokemon Trading Card Game app extends into its physical version. Packs can be bought in-game, but each real-life booster pack and deck comes with a redeemable code to add that same purchase to the video game.

It's a great tool for existing TCG players to practice their strategies online, but those without a nurtured interest in the physical game have plenty to gain here, too. Its visuals are overly childish and barely represent the franchise's other entries, and there isn't much single-player content to sink your teeth into. But if you're looking to play the Pokemon TCG against other players without waltzing into your local hobby shop, it's a good go-between.

-----------------

In an earlier version of this article, Nick put forward his own list of credible Magic: The Gathering alternatives. Since the mobile CCG market has moved on a bit since then and Magic’s potential on mobile has shifted, we thought we’d re-do this article with a fresh perspective.

It’s not possible to keep all text, but if you’re interested in the games he recommened that were like Magic: The Gathering, here they are:

Card City Nights

Dream Quest

Lost Portal CCG

Five Card Quest

Treasure Hunter

Do you have any games you'd recommend to scratch that Magic itch? Let us know in the comments!

Like... Magic: Arena? You'll love these alternative CCGs published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/

[ttaikattalvi-blog]

[rules:  repost.  always post the rules. answer the questions asked, then write 11 new ones. tag 11 people to answer your questions, as well as the person who tagged you]

Tagged by @thedalishbloodmage. Tagging everyone because I just chugged half a bottle of wine. 1) What was the last movie you saw? Was it any good? The last movie I saw in cinema was Wonder Woman. I went to go and see it with my mom, which was sort of odd—my mom and I don’t typically agree on movies and that sort of thing so we don’t often go and see them together. However, I did enjoy it. It was awfully nice to see David Thewlis in a big role again. Even though there were some flaws (nothing is perfect or exempt from analysis!), I’ll definitely watch it again and may even purchase a physical copy.

2) Is there a genre of books you like the most? What about when it comes to video games? This is an interesting question. For me, at least, it really depends on what an author is trying to accomplish. I’ve always been a voracious reader and will read nearly anything I can get my hands on. What it really boils down to whether or not the book or video game is an effective medium for whatever literature is being composed. For me, satire and world-building is incredibly ineffective when placed in a book only format. It takes a while for me to get into it, if I can manage to at all. As far as videogames go, I’m down for almost anything. My undergrad program treated their undergrads as if they were grad students and we had to essentially write thesis arguments and pick thesis projects. Mine was videogames as ultimate forms of literature and my big end project was over the original Mass Effect trilogy. My main downfall with videogames is that I’m pretty cock-eyed so I don’t have the best depth perception and I get motion sick super easy. As long as I don’t get sick, I’ll usually give any game a chance. 3) Is there something that everyone hates that you love, like a book or a movie that bombed? There are definitely movie and book and videogame characters and pairings that Tumblr seems to truly hate that I really like. However, I tend not to take Tumblr seriously on some things because I think that any and all sorts of social media sites are the worst kind of echo chambers. I mean, it doesn’t keep me from having them or using them for my own means but I’m still aware of it. I can’t really think of any books or movies off the top of my head, but what I can think of is food. I absolutely adore black licorice—-especially strong black licorice—-and salted black licorice. Some of this is likely a cultural thing, but some of it definitely isn’t. I don’t have too much of a sweet tooth, but I will down an entire package of salmiakki faster than you can blink. 4) Do you have a special hobby? If so, what is it? I tend to always need something creative to do with my hands, or I’ll get bored and get myself into trouble. Anything artistic, I probably do. I sew, crochet, draw, cosplay, paint, and so on. Lately I’ve been coloring in adult coloring books, but before I did summer school for work, I was on a drawing and colored pencil kick. 5) Outside of BioWare games, what are some of your favorites? I’ll always have a soft spot for BioWare. The first game with a campaign that I ever remember “beating” (really, my uncle beat it and handed me a mouse that wasn’t plugged in while he played because I was about four) was Bauldur’s Gate. I also love Bethesda games. Morrowind was the first big RPG that I ever really got into. I like a lot of tabletop RPGs too, but I haven’t played them in ages and likely wouldn’t remember anything. I like card and board games. As a kid, I played a lot of Reader Rabbit and Jump Start games. They were educational and since both my parents are teachers, I’m fairly certain they got them from their schools. I also played a lot of Zoo Tycoon and turn-based civilization building games, like 1602 AD and Pharoah. 6) When roleplaying, is there anything else you do like listening to music or drinking something in particular? Not particularly, no. I’ve always been more of an opportunistic writer—doing things quickly or in-between tasks. The most that can be said is that I have to be entirely comfortable and sort of in a mode where my brain is refreshing and not actually trying to work. That being said, the majority of my writing tends to come out when I’m watching something stupid on Netflix or when I’m in bed and trying to fall asleep. 7) If you could choose between mind reading and teleportation, which would you choose and why? Teleportation, definitely. I could go see friends and travel for no cost and when it was time for bed I could just go home. Also, I would have absolutely no qualms about teleporting into a bank vault and getting enough cash to pay off my student loan debt, tuition for grad school, my sister’s and parents’ student loan debt, replace my car with a decent used one, and move out or even to a different city. I would literally be a world class thief in order to pay off debt, keep myself mildly comfortable, and then likely to donate money to no-kill animal shelters and charities. 8) Do you like ancient mythology? If so, what culture is your favorite? I think it would be more appropriate to ask what I don’t like. In general, I’ve never been incredibly fond of ancient Roman or Greek mythology. I find it to be far too overdone. My favorites overall are likely Egyptian, Norse, and Slavic. There are several kinds of myths that I have an overall fondness for. I especially like mermaid and siren myths. Most kinds of mythologies have some variation on fae or elven courts, and I enjoy those as well. And, as should surprise absolutely no one, I have a huge soft spot for tricksters. 9) If you could meet anyone, alive or dead, who would it be and why? That’s a damn good question, and I nearly always change my mind each time I’m asked it. There are so many interesting historical figures that I would love to meet, good and bad, that I’m not sure I could choose just one. The top of the list includes more historical figures (Thoreau, Whitman, Poe, Hatshepsut, Elizabeth I, Lovecraft, Tesla, Jefferson) than live people (Rowling, Jennifer Hale). The people who I would like to meet generally are people that I would like to actually sit down and spend time with. They're people I've admired or found fascinating since I was young. There are, of course, two people who have passed in my personal life who I would give anything to see one last time. I would like to see my great grandma, who passed when I was in eighth grade, and tell her that I managed to get through college and that I have a decent job---she was so, so fond of all her grandkids and great-grandkids and she wanted to see us all go to college so badly. She was older when she went and I'm okay with that now, but she was such a nice lady and I think she'd be just so pleased. The other person I'd like to see would be my second momma who passed away from leukemia not even a year ago---I had known her since I was five and she was such a tough woman and never put up with my shit and pushed me to do my best and she was such a good, proud person. The job I had at the time wouldn't give me time off when I finally got word that she was in hospice care or when she passed and I asked to go to the funeral. She did get a college graduation invite and even though she didn't get to actually see me in person, she did get to see the live stream. I never really got to say goodbye or give her a hug or anything, and I know she basically considered me her kid. 

10) What about your blog is your favorite thing you've done?

I have a lot of headcanon that I haven't published yet. I need to get on that. There's one in particular, about elves and elvhen and footwear, that I really like.

Roleplay on Tumblr is a lot different than on other sites, which is interesting. 

I like the friends I've made on here most of all. I know that is awfully altruistic, but I do value them immensely.

11) What drew you into roleplay? What made you stay?

Honestly? I was bored.

I've been roleplaying off and on since Xanga and GaiaOnline, which is hella sad. 

As for what drew me to Solas? Honestly, when I started I hadn't even finished a playthrough where I had romanced him yet. A friend jokingly said that he and I have quite a bit in common so I started sort of as a laugh.

Joke was on me, I suppose. They were right---Solas and I do have a lot in common, which has made writing for him a deliciously difficult challenge---and I'm still here two years later. 

Don't get me wrong, I've learned a lot about myself while writing for Solas. It is immensely relaxing to write as him. Which has helped me stick around, too.

Questions:

1) who?

2) what? 

3) when?

4) where?

5) why?

6) how?

7) Lannisters or Starks?

8) Who did 9/11?

9) Tell me about it, stud.

10) How would you do it?

11) Who was phone?

[symbianosgames]

Video game devs' interest in tabletop games has been growing for years, to the point that at this year's Game Developers Conference there was a whole day dedicated to studying them: the Board Game Design Day.

Since most of us grew up playing board games, this begs the question: Why now? What is it about tabletop games that remains enduringly valuable to devs of digital games?

After chatting with a few devs about this during and after GDC, a few common answers emerged. Let's get the most obvious one out of the way up top: games are games, however you play them, and game designers were messing with the mechanics of chess, rummy, and Dungeons & Dragons long before they were thinking about MOBAs or immersive sims.

"We would have no video game business without [Dungeons & Dragons co-creators] Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson," veteran game designer Warren Spector told me at GDC 2017. "I always say that every game developer should get down on his knees once a day, face towards Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, and say a little prayer of thanks to those guys."

He was speaking to something a lot of game designers can empathize with -- that feeling that you are in some sense standing on the shoulders of game designers who came before, and who worked out how to create endlessly playable games with just a pencil, paper, dice, and maybe some figurines.

  "I find that board games allow me to more clearly take apart mechanics. They allow you to make your thoughts clear, before you start to put code together."

While the video game industry has never forgotten its roots, in recent years appreciation for tabletop game design seems to have surged. When League of Legends wrangler Riot Games released its first board game last year, producer Chris Cantrell told Gamasutra that it was in part because the tabletop game business was "an area where we see a lot of tremendous growth and a lot of exciting innovations happening."

Some video game devs have been saying this for a while, of course; Mohawk Games' Soren Johnson has written and spoken about the value of studying tabletop games for years, to the point that he helped put together the afore-mentioned Board Game Design Day at GDC this year.

Not everyone was excited about the show's growing focus on tabletop game design; one developer from a well-known studio asked me, earnestly, why anyone would want to make or play a tabletop game when they could rely on a video game having a computer keep track of all the "boring numbers."

But for the most part, the devs at GDC I spoke to were excited about studying tabletop game design -- something Johnson says has been true for some time.

"Board games can do so much with so little"

"We've been adding more and more board game talks over the years, and there has been increasing interest in the topic at GDC," he wrote in a recent email. "Board games have been undergoing a renaissance in popularity, diversity, and innovation over the last two decades, so it makes sense that video game developers would want to know more about how board games are developed."

GDC 2017 attendees playing Captain Sonar at the conference's Shut Up & Sit Down board game lounge

So what, exactly, can you as a video game designer learn from games that are totally analog? Johnson suggests devs can learn valuable lessons about efficiency and transparency from studying tabletop games, pointing to successful video/board game hybrids like Hearthstone as an example of what can be achieved when you apply those lessons well. 

"The most obvious lessons are how board games can do so much with so little (as board games tend to have a much smaller rule set than video games) and the value of transparency in game design (which is an inherent aspect of board games as all rules must be visible and processed by the players,)" he wrote. 

In a sense, the limitations inherent in tabletop games demand efficiency in design; longtime game designer David Sirlin says that efficiency can be seductive, especially if you're feeling overburdened by the expense and scope of big-budget game production.

Sirlin gave a talk as part of the Board Game Design Day at GDC this year that was all about game design lessons learned working on Puzzle Strike, his competitive tabletop deck-building game. As a longtime video game designer (Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, Chess 2), Sirlin says he was drawn to studying tabletop games and eventually changed careers to focus on tabletop game design for one reason: low production budget.

"I worked in the video game industry for many years, and I kind of like, snuck a peek at board games," Sirlin told me. "I thought 'I would like to make a game. How can I not fall into that trap, that I see killing all these video game companies I'm working with?' Well, I want to make something that has no burn rate. So that if I need to take another month, or another year, or however long it takes, nothing can stop me. I can just work on it until it's done. And I only have to worry about myself. And I didn't see any way to do that in video games, at the time. But I could do it in board games. So that's why I started working on a card game. Simply because I wanted to make a game, any game, that I felt was high-quality. And that's how I knew how to do it."

Sirlin is now spending significant time working on video games again (most notably his crowdfunded fighting game Fantasy Strike) and says he misses the low overhead and "efficiency of design" that are inhernet to tabletop games.

Those virtues also make the realm of tabletop games an excellent place to prototype your next video game before you pour a bunch of resources into development. While at GDC I bumped into Zephyr Workshop COO Sarah Como (in the Shut Up & Sit Down board game lounge area, naturally.)  

Tabletop games double as great prototyping tools

"I think if you're making a digital game, you should always paper prototype it," Como advised. "Because it's the fastest way to figure out: do the things work?"

As an example, she noted that before embarking on production of the mobile game Florafiora she and her team quickly doodled on some index cards and created tokens they could use to model (and mess with) the game's various mechanics.

A tabletop version of Florafiona

"You can get that immediate feedback of 'does this make sense?' And then from there you can start building systems," she said. "So I think people should always be making paper prototypes of games, just to at the very least see if it's even a feasible idea. Of course then you need to get into the digital space and start prototyping that way as well, but doing it on paper is a really quick and dirty way to figure out 'does this even work?'"

Incidentally, this is a really good excuse to keep a bunch of board games around the office. Game designer Gil MacLean, who currently serves as director of Melbourne-based studio Inn Between Worlds, says that in his time at Electronic Arts he spent a few years on a team that would basically prototype every potential gameplay mechanic by raiding the office supply closet and board game stash.

"We would steal miniatures from everything you could imagine; from an advanced Hero Quest set, from an old 40K set, anything we could find. It didn't really matter -- we just needed raw materials," MacLean recalled. "And then we would map that out on paper and we would game that out in a little room, over and over again. Refine it. Before we would bring a design to a programmer for implementation. Because, you know, it saves time, it saves money, and often you work out a lot of the kinks before you even get it into an engine."

  "It saves time, it saves money, and often you work out a lot of the kinks before you even get it into an engine."

What's important here is that the game projects MacLean is referencing weren't tactical strategy games, or digital board games, or other video games that might seem easily analogous to real tabletop games -- he's talking about games across the genre spectrum, from a third-person shooter to a party-based RPG.

It's not just designers, either -- at GDC I bumped into more than one programmer who said they had an easier time thinking through their work on video games by studying and playing tabletop games.

"I find that board games allow me to more clearly take apart mechanics," said game developer and programmer Liam Routt. "They allow you to make your thoughts clear, before you start to put code together, where everything moves faster. I find the process of going and designing a tabletop game, which I’ve done a couple of times on weekends with friends, is a great start to working on a bigger video game. You know, 'lets just make a game, doesnt matter what sort,' spend a couple days on it, focus in on mechanics and moves, all that stuff, and that really gets your brain working."

"And you have flexibility, right?" MacLean interjected. "If you wanna rewrite the entire win condition for the game, you can do that without rewriting every single bloody bit of code."

"And without assets," added Routt, with a laugh. "Unless you count, you know, things you draw on bits of paper."

"Tweaking one thing on paper is so much easier than having to tweak one thing in code and having to bugcheck that," adds Murray Philbrick, who now works alongside MacLean at Inn Between Worlds. "I was lead designer on Puzzle Quest 2, and with that, every single spell in the game was done on paper first. Just to check for balance. Every single one. I mean, the entire game was playable on paper beforehand."

So while this was the first year that the Game Developers Conference lined up a whole days' worth of talks about board games and board game design, many devs at the show felt tabletop games had always been a critical piece of their work. They're (relatively) cheap, demand efficiency in design (because players have to understand and keep track of everything) and serve as useful prototyping tools for more complex, more expensive projects.

"It's just a massive time-saver," said Philbrick. "It’s pretty vital for a lot of things."

[carpeomnisgames]

In my previous post, I promised that I would write up something about art directing and dealing with freelancers. I’ve got all my illustrations for No Honor Among Thieves at this point, and am in the process of getting things sent to the manufacturer for them to do their part, so I figured now would be a good time to sit back and talk about that, since I have such recent experience with it.

Where Do I Find Freelance Artists?

I am a member of a bunch of different Facebook groups, subreddits, and other forums where new and experienced tabletop designers and publishers can ask questions of each other. One that I see come up very often is some variation of the following: “Where can I find artists to work on my project?”

This is something that I struggled with for a while. At first I tried contacting artists directly based on their DeviantArt profiles, which didn’t really work out. The few artists who bothered to reply to my query emails responded that they were too busy to take on additional work, or asked for more details and then never replied further when I got back to them. I’ve heard that some people have had good results from commissioning artists that they found on DevientArt, but I personally have never had any luck with it.

If you want to do the same thing on a website that is actually composed of concept and game artists looking for work, I would suggest browsing ArtStation rather than DeviantArt. You’re more likely to run into people who are actual professional artists instead of hobbyists.

You don’t really need to search for artists, though. You can get them to come to you very easily by posting a job on freelancer sites like Guru.com or Fiverr — I got great art from artists on both of those sites. Leave the job posting up for a week, and if your post is well written you should get twenty to forty replies from different artists. The aforementioned ArtStation also lets you post jobs, but charges you $150 for each one that you post, which is a bit much for your average indie Kickstarter.

In general, posting jobs and letting people apply will let you find artists much faster than seeking them out yourself.

The Inquisitor, by Florencio Duyar III

How Do I Write the Job Posting?

There are certain elements that you need in the job posting to ensure that you get the sort of artist you’re looking for. The first time I made one of these postings, I got a lot of artists that just weren’t suitable at all for what I needed, and had to spend a lot of time sorting through them. The second time I was much more specific with what I wanted, which saved me a lot of effort.

Describe the style of art that you want, and provide links to examples. Find something on Google Image Search that looks like what you’re going for.

Outline your budget. How much are you willing to pay for illustrations? Mention your maximum cutoff in the initial posting and you won’t spend as much time staring at amazing portfolios wishing you could afford to hire them.

Mention in the post that applicants should provide a link to a portfolio. I know this seems obvious, but if you don’t mention it then sometimes people don’t bother. If they send you an application without a portfolio after you’ve put it in the job posting, then you know that they can’t follow basic written instructions and you probably don’t want to work with them.

Describe the scope of the work. Are you going to be assigning an artist a dozen illustrations? Two? A hundred?

Definitely link to your Kickstarter page or other web presence so that prospective artists can get a better idea of the themes you’re trying to get across with the art.

Include these elements, and you should get a much more focused and specific group of freelancers looking for work.

Bored Guards, by Sheryl Chieng

Which Artist(s) Should I Work With?

The people who respond to your job posting on freelancer websites can usually be broken down into a couple of broad categories.

Design companies with staff, a logo, and a professional proposal. These can range from companies with wildly different skills than what you were looking for that were obviously just going through every new post in the Illustrations category and replying to it with a form letter, to companies that actually look competent and could probably do everything you need them to. I’ve never worked with any of these companies, personally. I like to have a personal relationship with my freelancers, and I like to review a specific person’s portfolio rather than not be sure which artist out of half a dozen at the company I’ll be getting.

Companies and individuals who grossly misunderstood what you are looking for and obviously either misread or ignored the text of the job posting. For example, every time I have posted a new job on one of these sites I have received responses from programmers offering to build websites or apps for me. Sorry, buddy, but that’s not at all what the posting was about.

Individual artists who understood the posting and are ready to work. Those are the people you have to sort through to narrow down who you want to work with.

When you’re sorting your artist applications, you need to answer a couple of questions for each one of them.

Does this artist do good work in the style I’m looking for? Go over their portfolio of previous work and make sure it looks good. Keep an eye out for issues like wonky perspective, mushy shading, and unsettling proportions. Also note any peculiarities of their style. For example, if the pieces in their portfolio are all character art with no backgrounds, don’t expect them to be able to draw landscapes or complicated machinery or anything that isn’t character art with no backgrounds. Also pay attention to their style in general — if you’re looking for realistic drawings and their portfolio is entirely cartoons, that’s probably not someone you want to hire for this job.

Does this artist have any issues communicating in English? Thanks to the Internet, you can work with artists from all over the world, which means you’re going to be talking to a lot of people for whom English is a second language. Usually that’s not a problem, but very occasionally you’ll come across a message from an artist with great work but who you can’t really communicate with. You can still work with those people, but realize that it’s going to be more difficult, and take more time.

How much does this artist charge per illustration? From my experience commissioning card art, prices can range anywhere from $30 per illustration to $200+. In general, my rule is that if an artist charges $60-$100 for a small colored illustration for a card, then that’s an artist to keep on file. If they charge over $100, then you might want to consider only using them for the larger or more important pieces of art. If they charge over $200, you could probably use them if your game doesn’t have that many cards and you’re flush with cash, but otherwise you can find people who will work for cheaper. If your game requires larger pieces of art than cards, be prepared to pay $150 and up, all the way to $400-$600 for covers or boards.

Is this artist reliable? There’s not really any good way of telling this. The freelancer sites tend to let employers review freelancers and vice-versa, so you can sometimes go off of those, but the best way to tell if someone is reliable or not is to work with them. I like to assign one or two small pieces to an artist before working with them more extensively, to see how fast they work and how reliably they deliver, but even with the best people sometimes things come up unexpectedly. Over the course of getting illustrations for No Honor Among Thieves I had multiple artists get sick, one hard drive crash, and one poor guy who had his apartment flood while he was trying to work on my art. The best way I can say to build up reliability is to have a stable of artists that you know and can work with, and know who is fast enough that you could potentially sub them in if another artist becomes unable to complete their work.

If you want to have only one artist illustrating your game, obviously that approach won’t work. In that case, you’ll have to be extra careful when coming up with that initial relationship. I cannot stress enough the importance of working with your artists ahead of time if you’re able. You need to know how long they will take to complete illustrations, how much instruction they need and if they can follow instructions given. You need to know if they will communicate when things go wrong, and you need to know that they’re good for the work. Even then, be sure to build in an extra month (at least!) to your illustration schedule, just in case something goes wrong. Because something will go wrong. That’s life.

Paranoia, by Chyi Ming Lee

How Do I Pay My Artists?

Never, ever, pay in advance. Unless you know the artist personally, have worked with them many times before, and are willing to never see that money again if worse comes to worst. I made this mistake once, and then never again.

Escrow is your friend. If you don’t want to figure out an escrow service (some of the freelancer sites, such as Guru.com, offer them for free — read through the documentation of the sites you decide to use) then I suggest a simple half now, half later approach.

You may want to come up with a freelancer contract for your artists to sign, especially if you’re heavily working with one in particular or aren’t working through a freelancer site with its own contract built-in. You can find basic templates for this sort of thing all over the internet. Pick and choose the language you want to use. What you want is a work-for-hire agreement, unless you’ve decided to split profits with your artist, in which case you should probably consult a lawyer instead of asking the opinion of a part-time game designer offering anecdotal advice.

The Sponsor, by Ahmad Said

Conclusion

I think that covers most everything. Remember to check in with your artists if you haven’t heard from them in a while just in case something’s gone wrong, get them to keep you updated with sketches and the like so you know how things are progressing and can make changes when it would be easy to make them, and always be polite and understanding. Treating people with respect and courtesy goes a long way towards getting good work done.

If you have any questions about any aspect of hiring and working with artists, please feel free to ask in the comments. I don’t have experience with profit sharing agreements and the like, so I can’t offer advice on that, but I have worked with a dozen or so different artists over the course of this project, and I think I’ve gotten the hang of it at this point. Hopefully this is helpful to someone.

The post Post-Kickstarter Work: Art Directing appeared first on Carpe Omnis.

[symbianosgames]

Video game devs' interest in tabletop games has been growing for years, to the point that at this year's Game Developers Conference there was a whole day dedicated to studying them: the Board Game Design Day.

Since most of us grew up playing board games, this begs the question: Why now? What is it about tabletop games that remains enduringly valuable to devs of digital games?

After chatting with a few devs about this during and after GDC, a few common answers emerged. Let's get the most obvious one out of the way up top: games are games, however you play them, and game designers were messing with the mechanics of chess, rummy, and Dungeons & Dragons long before they were thinking about MOBAs or immersive sims.

"We would have no video game business without [Dungeons & Dragons co-creators] Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson," veteran game designer Warren Spector told me at GDC 2017. "I always say that every game developer should get down on his knees once a day, face towards Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, and say a little prayer of thanks to those guys."

He was speaking to something a lot of game designers can empathize with -- that feeling that you are in some sense standing on the shoulders of game designers who came before, and who worked out how to create endlessly playable games with just a pencil, paper, dice, and maybe some figurines.

  "I find that board games allow me to more clearly take apart mechanics. They allow you to make your thoughts clear, before you start to put code together."

While the video game industry has never forgotten its roots, in recent years appreciation for tabletop game design seems to have surged. When League of Legends wrangler Riot Games released its first board game last year, producer Chris Cantrell told Gamasutra that it was in part because the tabletop game business was "an area where we see a lot of tremendous growth and a lot of exciting innovations happening."

Some video game devs have been saying this for a while, of course; Mohawk Games' Soren Johnson has written and spoken about the value of studying tabletop games for years, to the point that he helped put together the afore-mentioned Board Game Design Day at GDC this year.

Not everyone was excited about the show's growing focus on tabletop game design; one developer from a well-known studio asked me, earnestly, why anyone would want to make or play a tabletop game when they could rely on a video game having a computer keep track of all the "boring numbers."

But for the most part, the devs at GDC I spoke to were excited about studying tabletop game design -- something Johnson says has been true for some time.

"Board games can do so much with so little"

"We've been adding more and more board game talks over the years, and there has been increasing interest in the topic at GDC," he wrote in a recent email. "Board games have been undergoing a renaissance in popularity, diversity, and innovation over the last two decades, so it makes sense that video game developers would want to know more about how board games are developed."

GDC 2017 attendees playing Captain Sonar at the conference's Shut Up & Sit Down board game lounge

So what, exactly, can you as a video game designer learn from games that are totally analog? Johnson suggests devs can learn valuable lessons about efficiency and transparency from studying tabletop games, pointing to successful video/board game hybrids like Hearthstone as an example of what can be achieved when you apply those lessons well. 

"The most obvious lessons are how board games can do so much with so little (as board games tend to have a much smaller rule set than video games) and the value of transparency in game design (which is an inherent aspect of board games as all rules must be visible and processed by the players,)" he wrote. 

In a sense, the limitations inherent in tabletop games demand efficiency in design; longtime game designer David Sirlin says that efficiency can be seductive, especially if you're feeling overburdened by the expense and scope of big-budget game production.

Sirlin gave a talk as part of the Board Game Design Day at GDC this year that was all about game design lessons learned working on Puzzle Strike, his competitive tabletop deck-building game. As a longtime video game designer (Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, Chess 2), Sirlin says he was drawn to studying tabletop games and eventually changed careers to focus on tabletop game design for one reason: low production budget.

"I worked in the video game industry for many years, and I kind of like, snuck a peek at board games," Sirlin told me. "I thought 'I would like to make a game. How can I not fall into that trap, that I see killing all these video game companies I'm working with?' Well, I want to make something that has no burn rate. So that if I need to take another month, or another year, or however long it takes, nothing can stop me. I can just work on it until it's done. And I only have to worry about myself. And I didn't see any way to do that in video games, at the time. But I could do it in board games. So that's why I started working on a card game. Simply because I wanted to make a game, any game, that I felt was high-quality. And that's how I knew how to do it."

Sirlin is now spending significant time working on video games again (most notably his crowdfunded fighting game Fantasy Strike) and says he misses the low overhead and "efficiency of design" that are inhernet to tabletop games.

Those virtues also make the realm of tabletop games an excellent place to prototype your next video game before you pour a bunch of resources into development. While at GDC I bumped into Zephyr Workshop COO Sarah Como (in the Shut Up & Sit Down board game lounge area, naturally.)  

Tabletop games double as great prototyping tools

"I think if you're making a digital game, you should always paper prototype it," Como advised. "Because it's the fastest way to figure out: do the things work?"

As an example, she noted that before embarking on production of the mobile game Florafiora she and her team quickly doodled on some index cards and created tokens they could use to model (and mess with) the game's various mechanics.

A tabletop version of Florafiona

"You can get that immediate feedback of 'does this make sense?' And then from there you can start building systems," she said. "So I think people should always be making paper prototypes of games, just to at the very least see if it's even a feasible idea. Of course then you need to get into the digital space and start prototyping that way as well, but doing it on paper is a really quick and dirty way to figure out 'does this even work?'"

Incidentally, this is a really good excuse to keep a bunch of board games around the office. Game designer Gil MacLean, who currently serves as director of Melbourne-based studio Inn Between Worlds, says that in his time at Electronic Arts he spent a few years on a team that would basically prototype every potential gameplay mechanic by raiding the office supply closet and board game stash.

"We would steal miniatures from everything you could imagine; from an advanced Hero Quest set, from an old 40K set, anything we could find. It didn't really matter -- we just needed raw materials," MacLean recalled. "And then we would map that out on paper and we would game that out in a little room, over and over again. Refine it. Before we would bring a design to a programmer for implementation. Because, you know, it saves time, it saves money, and often you work out a lot of the kinks before you even get it into an engine."

  "It saves time, it saves money, and often you work out a lot of the kinks before you even get it into an engine."

What's important here is that the game projects MacLean is referencing weren't tactical strategy games, or digital board games, or other video games that might seem easily analogous to real tabletop games -- he's talking about games across the genre spectrum, from a third-person shooter to a party-based RPG.

It's not just designers, either -- at GDC I bumped into more than one programmer who said they had an easier time thinking through their work on video games by studying and playing tabletop games.

"I find that board games allow me to more clearly take apart mechanics," said game developer and programmer Liam Routt. "They allow you to make your thoughts clear, before you start to put code together, where everything moves faster. I find the process of going and designing a tabletop game, which I’ve done a couple of times on weekends with friends, is a great start to working on a bigger video game. You know, 'lets just make a game, doesnt matter what sort,' spend a couple days on it, focus in on mechanics and moves, all that stuff, and that really gets your brain working."

"And you have flexibility, right?" MacLean interjected. "If you wanna rewrite the entire win condition for the game, you can do that without rewriting every single bloody bit of code."

"And without assets," added Routt, with a laugh. "Unless you count, you know, things you draw on bits of paper."

"Tweaking one thing on paper is so much easier than having to tweak one thing in code and having to bugcheck that," adds Murray Philbrick, who now works alongside MacLean at Inn Between Worlds. "I was lead designer on Puzzle Quest 2, and with that, every single spell in the game was done on paper first. Just to check for balance. Every single one. I mean, the entire game was playable on paper beforehand."

So while this was the first year that the Game Developers Conference lined up a whole days' worth of talks about board games and board game design, many devs at the show felt tabletop games had always been a critical piece of their work. They're (relatively) cheap, demand efficiency in design (because players have to understand and keep track of everything) and serve as useful prototyping tools for more complex, more expensive projects.

"It's just a massive time-saver," said Philbrick. "It’s pretty vital for a lot of things."