Recent content by zakael19

I've run exclusively published adventures until recently. I thought they saved me time. I thought that having tokens and profiles pre-built along with the chapters made things easier. I thought that a plot and story details would help me provide good content. I was wrong across the board...

A somber crew helps the surviving townsfolk exit the amphitheater, Valak consigning the unholy assemblage and detritus to purifying fire with a tossed flask of Dragon's Fire before turning to stride away. At the split leading back towards Easthill or to roads beyond he halts, feeling the tug of...

Ask your players how things are going, ask if they want to see more of a thing, less of something else, are excited about whatever. Build on their replies. You don’t have to do it every session the way some PBTAs formalize, but every couple of weeks (or when I try something new encounter...

“Writer’s room” in the classic media sense means: collaboratively determining the outcome or totality of the narrative. BITD/PBTA resist implicitly any control of the narrative. At most, you’re asking a player for some details about elements of a singular scene that will still require rolls /...

I honestly think you've missed the thrust of the argument here, which was more around creative vision and impulses, and less about say beta testing. Most of the indie game sector at most has a small amount of testing done to ensure mechanics aren't horribly broken, but the creative thrust is not...

This may be true for software design in a commercial setting, but the context here was creative works. Lots of people are making games, digital and otherwise, with at most small scale “does this break” testing and input and not looking for creative vision feedback.

Flee, Mortals! still has what are essentially Legendary Resistances for certain solos - they just have an interesting tradeoff that diminishes the monster some how, and thus feels better for the players (along with giving a counter of how many resistance tokens the monster has). I feel like...

I just wrapped up watching a GDC Indie talk by Jeff Vogel of Spiderweb games - he notes that for his entire game making career he's ignored his forums/steam pages/feedback, made the games he wants to make that fit within his capabilities, and if those stop selling he'll retire and go sell shoes...

Can you talk a bit about why you think this is so required? I've seen lots of designers/creatives say the exact opposite on top of successful games and careers, so I'm struggling to figure out why you think this is so important - outside of shareholder responsibility type requirements to get...

To add something substantive, since I found the video in post #177 interesting, I understood the presenter's arguments are mostly this: "A cursed problem is an unsolvable design problem, rooted in a conflict between core player promises." Essentially, a game will explicitly or implicitly...

That’s not actually an answer, fails to engage with his argument at all, and also shows a lack of understanding or refusal to consider what a “cursed problem” is in the defined context.

No, you simply restated his argument for what isnt a cursed problem. So, I guess you agree with him?

Perhaps instead of simply dismissing an entire well reasoned talk with 5 words, you could share why you think the core definition of a cursed problem is faulty in your eyes? After all, per his definition if it was solvable with hard work and creativity it wouldn't be cursed. Given that this is...

It’s generally not uncharitable to assume somebody didn’t watch or read something when their immediate comment is addressed in the initial portion of an author’s thesis/argument. Knowing that you have in fact watched it makes your statement make even less sense.