Headed for rune

[AeroDm]

Update 3/21/2012. It has been a while but I figured I would update this thread to be a complete repository of the project. I put Runeward on hiatus until I see how 5e goes, but there is a mostly finished alpha draft available on the site. I am wrapping up some parting comments on the alpha draft to make sure I've communicated everything in it, but I welcome any questions or comments. In sum, it was really fun and I think it is a neat little project with some innovative ideas. I know it can't stand up to the production value of 5e, though, and since the heart of the project was seeing if you could crowd source an RPG, that is sort of dead in the water. Thanks to all the folks that chimed in and, if 5e tanks, maybe we'll all pick it up sooner than we hoped.

Way older updates. Updated first post as a table of contents for newcomers to the site. There is a smattering of additional content on the site but some of it is already obsolete due to the great feedback I've received so far.

One-shot analyses of game design
These articles are mostly one-off mathematical arguments for some specific topic that caught my fancy. They often include references of how it would apply to a specific game, but the main point of the article is neutral.

• Armor as DR and then a follow up for how those lessons impact the game.
• The dominant strategy of stat raises and, later, a different approach to increasing abilities
• Speeding up combat with fewer dice
• The indifference line between attack and damage (part 1) and (part 2)
• How to flatten the power curve by replacing bonuses with re-rolls
• The design spiral
• Examining the fundamental math underlying combat

Articles on general game design theory
These are general opinion articles on the theory of game design. Lots of room for other opinions and discussion...

• How systems help the game
• The cost of rules
• Core competencies of a game system
• Aligning rule incentives with player behavior
• Three sources of power creep
• Trying to halt power creep (part 1) and (part 2)
• How great design can result in bad rules
• Where the burden of rules should fall
• Making favorable assumptions when designing a system
• The different economies of D&D (i.e. character creation, combat, and time)
• The importance of words in game design
• Different mechanisms that can be added to the game to more easily balance powers

Articles on zone combat
Zone combat is probably the thing I've developed that people have taken the most interest in, so it gets its own section. It is an evolving rule set, but could be used in other systems with a little effort

• Primary overview of zones
• Primary introduction of zones
• How zones enable you to tailor complexity during play
• Initial article on zones and post to sample document
• The first update to zones incorporating feedback and a longer explanation of the update

Articles specific to my game
These are articles that take a lot of the lessons and theories discussed above and apply them to producing an alt-D&D game.

• All things hit points
• Monsters and wounds
• Adding flavor through talents
• Encumbrance made simple
• Focusing in on just what each action does
• An introduction to affinities--a variant take on 4e skills that works as a 4e house rule. Affinities are slowly evolving away from this introduction but maintain the spirit of it.

Tools or utilities for GMs
Some general resources for GMs of any game, setting, or campaign.

• Random name generator with easy customization to create different linguistic profile for different races or regions of a campaign setting
• Random town name generator with the same functionality.
• A starter file for making area maps in power point
• A mostly tongue-in-cheek list of quips for those moments when your NPC just lost, but you sort of want to get a dig in anyways...
• A document of symbols in powerpoint such that sizes and colorization can be easily changed

Stuff unique to my campaign
Samples from my own setting that I sometimes use to illustrate a point or just wanted to share. Be nice.

• Designing my campaign calendar to be easy to memorize and use in play. Also, a graphical representation of the calendar.
• Hubris house rule

 

[AeroDm]

In honor of the summer solstice, a post about my setting's calendar and how it shows up in play.

 

[AeroDm]

Flattening the power curve. An idea for flattening the power curve with re-rolls instead of numerical pluses.

 

[AeroDm]

One of the virtues of 3e class design (and 2e kits) is that they provided bundles of powers and within those bundles you could tuck little gems like "trackless step" or other features that players wouldn't necessarily go out and purchase with resources. I feel some of that was lost in 4e and this article discusses my working solution to bring it back.

 

[AeroDm]

Two quick posts soliciting feedback about game design issues. The first is trying to distill combat movement into its simplest forms as I try and develop tactical combat without being grid-reliant. The second is about different approaches on magic items.

 

[AeroDm]

First update is a graphical whine about the compounding challenge of designing anything. Second update is an idea for narrowing the scope of what an action does with the hope that a narrower scope helps people choose more quickly while still being effective.

 

[AeroDm]

A change on tactical combat from squares to entire zones. The effort was inspired by a blend of Dresden Files RPG and the contributors to the site.

 

[AeroDm]

Two more followups on the idea of zonal combat refining the idea and explaining how zones help "adjust the dial" of complexity from battle to battle.

The more time I spend with the idea the more excited I am getting by its prospects but I'm still a bit nervous that in a few weeks I'm going to find some fatal flaw that makes me go back to the standard D&D format of square-by-square tactical combat. Fingers crossed.

 

[AeroDm]

A follow up article on the fix presented yesterday that explains the design rationale and implications of the fix.

 

[RandomCitizenX]

I just wanted to chime in here to say that after reading through some of your blog entries I liked the logic behind your design, and much of it (though not all) lined up with some of my own ideas that I have been kicking around.