#blghack

[bleongambetta]

A singular rite in the life of a tabletop designer is the creation of their D&D heartbreaker. I’ve held off on it personally, in part by making near-misses like RADCrawl, but the siren song has proven to be a little too powerful and thus I’ve started on extremely temporarily named BL-G Hack. It is just coincidence that I’m additionally trying out blogging at the same time, after reading a Twitter (X?) thread with discussion of how much in the indie space is lost to Discord.

I’m starting from a framework of what I want the game to feel like and how I want to work on the game.

What I Want The Game To Feel Like

In terms of the table experience, I want the game to feel like playing a mostly theater of the mind D&D. I’m a huge 4e apologist, but for this I want to try to capture what it felt like to play D&D as a kid and we goofed around with world and city maps, but didn’t usually get out the grid for combat. I want to evoke some of the Catalogue TTRPG feeling, but ideally with choosing things pretty quickly. I want for characters to feel powerful and be able to do cool things, without feeling like bags of HP.

There’s definitely some merging of PbtA and D&D that I’m aiming for; but I don’t want it to feel like PbtA. I’m aiming for resolution systems that give interesting results, not full on Moves. You roll d20s.

I want to have players battling monsters and feeling like badasses. I want the game to feel ‘gamey.’ I’m developing a set of toys that tell a fantasy story.

I want to simultaneously have the joy and excitement of playing a West Marches game while avoiding the feeling of ‘go out and conquer.’ I love looking at a map, exploring it, battling things, and grabbing riches… but I don’t want to casually recreate the same approach of D&D of ‘orcs are evil, we are allowed to take their stuff.’ Balancing that is a little fiddly, but I think I have a solution that I am comfortable with.

How I Want To Build This Game

I want to approach this game in the style of blogs, Dragon magazine, and tiny splat books of the 3.5 era. Scenarios, skills, abilities, classes, monsters, etc should be able to be relatively stand alone; the kind of thing that I can sit down and crunch something out over the span of a lunch break or two. I think I’m going to try to keep barrier to entry on this low, the intent is to let people explore what kind of D&D I like to play.

That said, I’m aiming to be able to after initial release have some fun with zine-size releases that give some locations, some monsters, class options, etc. I’m actually truly hoping to get a group together to actually PLAY this game and have that playing inform design… but, let’s stay realistic here.

Core Systems

So, without further delay… the first bites of The BL-G Hack.

Characters have stats, probably six of them, probably the same D&D stats. When a roll is called for, the player rolls at least a d20 and tries to get under their stat for a hit. A basic roll is d20, a proficient roll is 2d20, and there may be higher bonus dice than that.

One hit (rolling under your stat) gives you a partial, marginal, or barely managed success. Two hits (rolling twice under your stat or your stat exactly) is a full hit, a heroic hit. Three or more hits (rolling thrice under your stat or an exact roll plus an under) is a truly superheroic hit.

Characters have classes, which give them proficiency in some scenarios which allows them to roll two d20s instead of one. They also give them a couple of Abilities that allow them to do cool things and a table for starting equipment. When characters level up, they’ll get new abilities which can come from any class or situational ones. Character classes will be specific (think prestige classes from 3.5 rather than base classes), but hopefully pretty mix and match.

Between adventures, are Map Phase and Company Phase. The GM will run the Map Phase where dark forces move, quests and landmarks are added, and the map is revealed by the player’s actions. Additionally, some player abilities will allow them to be invited to Map Phase or give input into Map Phase. Company Phase is run by the players, where they can share equipment, spend gold to roll for purchases, and take downtime activities.

Call to Adventure

The world is misted in a choking miasma; remnants from the Shattering when the death of gods sent magic running wild, slaughtering and corrupting all it burned over. In few seats of power the mages who did not succumb to the falling produced the Dimlight crystals that hold back the corruption and prevented all life from being burned out. The spells that produce these Dimlight artifacts destroyed the mages who cast them, turning their bodies into haunting, crystaline statues that radiate safety. In larger cities, where mages worked in circles, the protection may extend over neighborhoods. In rural areas, where only a single adept worked the protection may be as little as a room.

The world in miasma is dangerous; elemental monsters and corrupted humanity feeds on all who dare delve into the mist. The very air stings to breathe where Dimlight doesn’t clarify it and can have worse effects. There are refugees in the miasma and small enclaves that have gained access to Dimlight, but most are clinging to a solitary existance separate from the world. Those who live in cities where Dimlight is more plentiful have can live more normal lives, though communication with other cities and wealth remain exclusive to the hands of nobles and the wealthiest merchants.

The world just changed; Dimlight has been miniaturized. A new generation of Dimlight spells can be created without killing it’s user and requiring significantly less space for the artificial crystal. Dimlight torches offer the greatest possibility, an opportunity for adventurers to delve into the miasma and destroy the godsplinters that corrupt the land. The world is still dangerous, even when the miasma pulls back the monsters remain. But there is no end to the treasures that could be gained; abandoned riches, incredible power, and reclaiming homes long lost.

Roadmap

Currently I've got this, four out of five starting character classes, and some ideas that I've got to get into paper. The actual PDF of it is probably a little bit off, but I'm hoping to have an accessible, playable version available soon.

If you'd like to get it as soon as possible, consider backing my Patreon where I'll be doing an announcement post with a link soon! There'll be an itch page too, but it'll need to be more final before that.

So what do you think? Wanna play some BL-G Hack?

[bleongambetta]

2024 TTRPG Winter Stovetop

It's cold out there and the orders are stacking up for new ttrpgs so it's time to check the ttrpg stovetop. CHEF, I NEED HANDS

Maybe lost the metaphor a bit there.

TTRPG designers tend to have a lot of games in progress at once and it's useful/nice to be able to check in on those things! Here's what I'm working on!

I'm structuring mine (as I have for a little while) as front burner (active), back burner (paused, but simmering), cold (essentially abandoned, but may pick up again), or done.

I think probably that's also the order of how interesting they are, so I'm going to write them in that order. Feel free to ask me about any of these games or ask if there's something else you know I've worked on!

Front Burner (by approximate time focus)

Pasión de las Pasiones: Tormentas del Corazón

Contract Work That Isn't Public Yet (but a preview is 💀🤹🏽‍♀️)

Towershield/The BL-G Hack/Three Musketeers/Romantasy Roll Under Apasionado por el Apocalipsis Game

Deadly Kobold Racing: Artful Version

Pommel Ball

Back Burner (by approximate interest)

Bottle Episode (to be inserted into long-running campaigns or played as a one shot experience)

RADCrawl Roguelike

Dancecards & Debutantes (may be part of Towershield, etc)

Can't Handle The Heat

XOXO

Cold

Catching the Nice Guy

Luchadorratón

Chase the H0ll0w (hopefully will revive with edits for 2023 Spooky Season?)

Done

Pasión de las Pasiones

Deadly Kobold Racing: Artless Version

If you want to know anything about any of these projects, give me a shout!

[bleongambetta]

Heroic Sacrifice and The Warlord (BL-G Hack)

I saw a post yesterday from @drakeanddice about Blaze of Glory mechanics in tabletop games and was going to just show him what I'm doing for that in (the still obnoxiously named) The BL-G Hack, but then realized it could maybe be a post of my own.

Let's talk mechanics for heroic sacrifice.

Okay, maybe I lied, we're going to talk briefly about WHY mechanics for heroic sacrifice make sense for a game. This is still going to be mostly me dumping over a box of toys, a quick glance at planned mechanics, but I want to ground it a little bit first.

Why would a player want to have a heroic sacrifice moment?

Thematic Payoff: Fantasy fiction is full of moments of a character (especially one who has broken oaths and bonds) sacrificing themselves for the good of the many. We want to see a someone who we didn't think could live up to being a hero doing it.

Strategic Goal Reaching: Setting up a heroic sacrifice will often allow a momentary contract between the GM and the player; I really want X to happen, so much so that I'm willing to give up my character. In exchange, will you give us the cool thing? Yeah, nice.

Character Shuffling: Players don't always want to stick with one character or may have an RL reason that they need to change. This lets them not just fade away.

Kicking Up Drama: In a lot of games (lookin' at you dnd) combat can be lengthy and cumbersome for players that want dramatic play. This shortcuts combat (usually) in order to hit that drama.

With these goals in mind, an ability that does heroic sacrifice needs to be redemptive (it makes the character feel heroic even if they have not been previously), effective (it succeeds at a task), lethal (it definitely kills them), and big (the moment feels important).

The BL-G Hack's Approach

As discussed elsewhere the BL-G hack is a class based DnD-like that uses PbtA inspired abilities and has a focus on World Map play in a West Marches style.

If that sentence didn't make sense, don't worry, it's a game where you do fantasy stuff.

Characters in the BL-G hack will be able to gain Abilities through leveling up, circumstances, equipment, etc, and some of those will be Heroic Sacrifice moves. One of the classes that gets one of these abilities is The Tactician.

The Tactician is based on using martial prowess and tactical knowledge to improve your party's fighting and provides an inroad to the Map Phase. It's based on the 4th edition Warlord pretty explicitly, though it's exchanged martial healing for troop movement in a way that I think will be fun. Here is the Tactician's Heroic Sacrifice Move.

Sheath the Sword: When all is bleak and you take position at a choke point, you may give up your life to hold the position for as long as your allies need to escape to safety. You have a moment to speak with them, confessing your weaknesses and sharing your love for them. You battle long, until the ground is slick with blood and the bodies have stacked before you, weakening the enemy and ensuring that pursuit is delayed long enough to give your allies a true advantage. The spot you died becomes a Landmark where future heroes can use this ability at will.

Notice how this move is aimed to handle those four pieces:

Redemptive: You confess your weaknesses, a fitting redemption for a class that is about not showing weakness.

Effective: It definitively allows your allies to escape to safety from a bad situation. It specifically weakens and delays the pursuit.

Lethal: There's no roll, you die.

Big: Your sacrifice is so noble and awesome that the Map is permanently changed.

When a player picks this ability, they are letting the GM know that they want to have one of these moments and they are setting themselves up for it. It lets the GM know that they can kick up the danger, somebody has an out and they'll want to use it when the moment is right.

Not all classes will get Heroic Sacrifices (multiclassing is SUPER supported and I don't want the classes to feel same-y), but others will include magically pulling down a building onto yourself to destroy a major villain, healing those around you and creating a healing garden around your grave, and writing your soul into a song that can later be played to strengthen your friends.

Roadmap

Work on The BL-G Hack continues to slowly roll on according to my whims and lunch breaks. The actual PDF of it is probably a little bit off, but I'm hoping to have an accessible, playable version available soon. Being honest, Deadly Kobold Racing is going to come out before this in all likelihood, but BL-G Hack should be close behind.

If you'd like to get it as soon as possible, consider backing my Patreon where I'll be doing an announcement post with a link soon! There'll be an itch page too, but it'll need to be more final before that.

When it does come out, maybe I'll have a Heroic Sacrifice contest and add a Dramatic Location to honor whoever manages to pull one of these off first.

Additional Edits:

Thiago makes such a such a good point! I've got two concepts that I think could handle this well to make it a little bit more tempting to take one of these possibly hard-to-pull off abilities.

I might take a look at adding an additional smaller rolling benefit onto these moves. Probably in a way that builds up their reasons for making the move! If I do that, I'll need to make sure that it's not too hugely impactful on it's own; I want it to be a little cherry on top, not a reason on it's own to get the move.

Also, free Abilities are DEFINITELY going to be a thing! My intention is that Abilities are given out like candy, look to Compendium Classes from Dungeon World for some idea of what I'm talking about. You hit a trigger, you get an ability, you have future level up options!

[bleongambetta]

#AdventureCalendar December 1st

Dice Goblin Games launched this idea for taking drafts, ideas, and unfinished works and putting them into an Advent Calendar style release with a little something each day compiled possibly into a PDF at the end of things.

I love that idea, so I'm doing it too! It's gonna be a scattered collection of bits, but hopefully something people enjoy! There's a jam also (that I'll link when I'm not idly copying and pasting)

In the first little box... Where Did This Goodberry Come From?

The natural forces that guide nature arcanists allow them to create a goodberry when they camp. Higher level nature arcanists may be able to grow multiple berries or produce them more often.

Upon each time they camp, roll under Arcana for each rank in nature arcanist. On each hit, produce 1 berry that will heal 1d6 for each rank of nature arcanist.

If any roll is a crit, you may produce more berries when you camp next regardless of how much time has gone by. If not, you must wait until the sun next rises.

If the area you are in has magical miasma produced from the death of a wizard or the splintering, the goodberries will be infected by the miasma. If it has been clarified, they gain a magical boon instead.

General Arcana

Miasma: Roll with disadvantage against spell effects targeting you for an hour

Clarified: Roll the healing dice twice and take the higher

Flames

Miasma: Roll Arcana next time you are struck. On a failure, burst into flames causing d6 damage to yourself and adjacent people

Clarified: You are immune to non-magical fire for an hour. You may scoop fire as though it is mud.

Undeath

Miasma: Your skin blanches and your visage becomes drawn; roll with disadvantage for social checks for one hour

Clarified: Your scent changes nearly imperceptibly, the undead will treat you as one of their own for one hour

Frost

Miasma: Your body begins to shiver as cold grips you; you can not heal from any source other than goodberries with frost miasma until you sweat out the curse.

Clarified: Your skin takes on a layer of frost and ice. For an hour, you cannot be grabbed and can slide at 1.5x your speed down hills or 2x your speed on ice.

If you'd like to join the jam, check it out!

https://itch.io/jam/the-adventure-calendar

Hope you enjoyed the first little box!

[bleongambetta]

Fell off of posting, but I've got things I'm looking forward to posting this or next week hopefully!

Also, if there's questions or topics you'd like to see me talk about, please let me know!

Edit: Oops, forgot to include HUNT and Barkeep on the Borderlands reads! Those are on the docket also!