For the last bit I've been comparing some of my favorite games across 4 broad groupings. I've shared memories and insights. I've whittled it down to four. I'll start the next phase of posts on Monday, April 20th. Before I get to that I wanted to share some other thoughts.
About the Sweet Sixteen
OSR
NSR
Narrative
Others
I also want to write a bit more about some thoughts that I've had. Which of these do you want to read about?
Kingdom as Faction Infrastructure - Kingdom is a no-randomizer game about communities navigating crossroads and crises. But what if the community isn't the main campaign? Running Kingdom as the off-stage engine for factions in Arden Vul or Stars Without Number might be the most interesting thing I took away from this whole bracket. I want to find out what the Voidsong Collective does when nobody's watching.
- What For a Game Reveals About It - When I wrote a room for Under the Floorboards, I built a toybox: description, complications, obstacles, changes over time, goals. When I wrote magic items for Mausritter, I built fuel. The game told me what it needed. That difference, UtF is about the place and Mausritter is about what you find there, turns out to be a useful lens for thinking about any game you're designing for.
- The Mystery Mechanism Is More Portable Than It Looks -The Carved from Brindlewood writers room doesn't care whether the mystery is a murder, a haunting, or a dungeon. No canonical solution before play starts, everyone building the answer from what they notice: that structure works wherever you put it. The More Than a Mystery jam proved it. Beneath Ahknoor is built on it. I want to think out loud about where else it might go.
- The Reddit Bracket vs My Bracket - If you polled the right communities, Shadowdark beats AD&D, Cairn beats Under the Floorboards, and FATE Accelerated beats Toon. My bracket diverges from that result in at least three first-round matchups. That gap isn't random. It says something about the difference between the discourse and the table, and I think it's worth naming.
- The Honest Case for the Loser as a Format - Every post in the Sweet Sixteen includes a section that argues against the pick. That's not throat-clearing: it's the section that makes the pick land. A recommendation that doesn't acknowledge what it's leaving behind isn't worth much. This one is about why, and what it looks like when you apply the same discipline outside a bracket, at the table, in your design work, in the way you talk about games you love.
About Beneath Ahknoor
Working on the next release turned into a much bigger undertaking than I'd imagined.
I reworked how the Above Ground phase acts as a reflection of the change and loss that delving brings. I added a full retainer system that contributes to both tension and reputation. I built the Reckoning Move, a mechanic for reckoning with a level at the end of a delve cycle. And I sharpened the level through-line into four connected elements: the Saga, Entry and Re-entry Questions, Unlocking Questions, and the Reckoning Move. That line flows across multiple sessions, giving the table time to build out each level and what it costs the Adventurers.
I also ended up writing four new levels instead of the two I'd planned.
There's some polishing left, a few loose ends to tie off, and a substantial editing pass ahead. The rules now run to 70 letter-sized pages and around 25,000 words.
Two playtest games are lined up. One is with a group of four OSR and narrative gaming veterans from my table. The other is with a mostly 5e group who have spent time at my table as well. I expect to learn different things from each group, and I'm looking forward to finding out which of my assumptions were wrong.
I'd hoped to have the 0.6 release ready by the end of the month, but that's not happening. My revised plan is to release it in the summer.About my other projects
The Awful Weekend On-Call
"Just finished a play of The Awful On-Call Weekend. What a blast. The game concludes either with you unemployed, in prison, or back at work on Monday. I was one circle away from getting arrested so I flipped the narrative and quit. But to end the game I got my character arrested for speeding. It was super fun, engaging, and just crazy watching my errors pile up one after another."
It doesn't get much better than finding something like that written about one of your creations.
It's Worse Than That!
Right now, I'm selling both volumes for $4 ($1 off of the combined cover price). If you're looking to strengthen your GMing chops, this is a good place to start.
Some things on the horizon
I'll be writing more about the Stars Without Number and Arden Vul campaigns as they get off the ground, and you can count on reports from both Beneath Ahknoor playtests. Beyond that, there are a few projects I'm itching to spend time on.
The monsters I wrote for Patreon are good, but they could be better organized and more useful at the table. A rewrite is overdue. I also have a short-form Carved from Brindlewood game that's been brewing in the back of my mind for a while, and a handful of solo games that are playable but not yet in publishable shape.
And then there's the rabbit game. It's a horror game about rabbits, and it's nearly done with design. I'm not ready to say much more than that, except that this one is good.
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