There's the Scope SRD and Scope Core system build up at the Thought Punks Open Library: bit.ly/OpenPunks

Dropping soon, first game temple: The Yearning!

Gonna talk about an aspect my playtesters have seized onto: The Shattered, one of the main Lineages.
#TTRPG #IndieDev There's an obvious parallel. But it's a radically different take. Things are distinctly NOT framed as "madness" and "prank" culture. And all that sprawls from that. And there's a clear reality to their experience, not a subjective claim and random GM roulette as to what's real.

On the computer! Let's talk Story Hour!

Here is one of each type. We should have POD decks available this summer. Hopefully will order a test print in a month or less.

Don't these look cool!?

Keep reading the thread for what the stuff means! 🧵
#tabletopgaming #IndieGameDev Overview, basic game: Everyone draws 5. 1st player draws top card from deck as the random starting seed. Card types = obvious guidance. Pick a card from your hand + one trait from each category. Tell a paragraph or two fitting that. Vote on best storyteller at end, they end it.

I have just witnessed an incredible natural event never before witnessed by human eyes.

I saw how my kitty gets himself tucked in all the way under a blanket! It was always a mystery.

And lemme tell you, most adorable thing ever. Also very clever/smart for a kitty! First he slip his paws under an edge, then gets his head under there. Then he happily churrs backing in & out to make a tunnel until he can fit in. Then he goes in + half turns around to pull the blanket on him. Then lays down all purring content.

I AM BLESSED TO SEE & KNOW THIS

Common design element for me: no combat, just conflicts & action sequences. Not a lot of difference between a stare down & a gunfight. In many of my games, even the same down to taking stress/harm. It makes even outright fights flow so differently.
#TTRPG #GameDesign #IndieDev Openness of action [including combat] as just a zoomed in version of universal mechanics is key. Battles often end with intimidation rather than a killing blow. Even regularly outright interrupted by talking to enemies, distractions, & other "non-combat" actions. It's open play.

behold, my amazing artistic talents.
draw a comic if you're not a squirrel, they said.
fine.
I bring you, "i am not a squirrel".
the most incredible webcomic you'll ever read.
speaking the most powerful truths. As a fine artist of great refinement, I give you the advice of the important difference between drawing a squirrel and cat being to make the tail bushy for a squirrel.

YOU ARE WELCOME.

Follow me for this and other deep insights.

Bit more about The Yearning, the vampire #TTRPG template coming for Scope Core.

The initial template will come with the full details for the 4 most populous Lineages.

And I'll jump into one of the most obvious questions [and common ones received so far]:
How do they compare?

https://twitter.com/ThoughtPunks/status/1647821877279064066

So let's start with the big 7.
Drop the Warlocks first. 1) No wizard vampires here. 2) Depending on POV, blood magic available to all or all vampiric magic is blood magic here.

It was an easy choice that wasn't even a choice. They just never got an analogue as it built.

Me: I've been really out of the loop, what's going on in #DnD land?

*five minutes later*

Me: Nope. We got Pinkertons being sent after people for unboxing videos, streaming fandoms going to war, and several instances of massive accounts sending harassment after relative nobodies.

And that was just my glimpse. Please for the love of all things holy tell me indie #TTRPG is OK.

OK, so people saw the dice pools in Scope, the main stat + skills in Scope SRD, and know there's a vampire game template. And so people have some questions about similarities and differences to the obvious comparison. Let's explore in a thread! 🧵
#TTRPG #IndieGameDev #Vampire Starting off at the top, there is a functional character concept as you would expect in a Cypher or Fate. This is part of the basic Scope SRD.

Also player-facing with a PC-relative scale. No "objective" stats. NPCs instead have modifiers for PC rolls.

Two big differences!

Gen X "Elder" here.
1) Shorter life expec due to a wild variety of factors. Note OVER HALF of the Traditionalist LGBT population vanished.
2) Note the 2020 dip and bounce back for Boomers. Peer pressure to stay closeted.
3) LGBT Gen X *more than doubled*. The biggest in-gen gain. 4) And related to #2 and why #3 isn't even larger, and a really serious community issue: Many spaces are extremely ageist and hostile to older LGBTQ folks. There's a fair number of us elders still around. We ain't all dead. I fare better but it's a real problem for many peers.

By complexity, I mean there's 3 separate tracks and players have to track them & their penalties individually. There's also stuff about accumulating permanent flaws, what happens when you go over, etc. But this is all the main Stress/ladder rules right here. Not overwhelming.

https://twitter.com/ThoughtPunks/status/1647298959855976454

While it works on its own as tested, it's also intended to provide direct hooks and examples for design levers. That negative spiral could invert into heroic grit, getting stronger the more you are hurt. Recovery can be tuned grittier/nastier or more action/episodic.

imagine those dice pool games from the 80s & 90s.

Now imagine instead of traditional design, they were modern style player-facing.

That's the key "modernized retro" heart of Scope.

DriveThru reference PDFs and a fleshed out core build coming soon!
#TTRPG #IndieDev

https://twitter.com/ThoughtPunks/status/1644424630151655424

Scope Core has proved especially interesting to some of my readers and testers because while overall it is a much lighter/tighter system than its closest comparison, some aspects are actually more complex. Turned out pleasant surprise, thankfully! Unexpected but cool.

It's after midnight, so I've got trashy x-rated movies queued up and I'm charging up with raunchy music.

Speaking of which, should I make it through this tight housing spot, who's interested in a mondo video vibe midnight show channel?

#TTRPG #streaming It would be a variety channel with, well, a variety of programming.

The starting programming will focus on:
Surreal, b-movie, and "adult" games.
Occult streamers and discussions.

Room for guests & mini-series in the punk, grime, street, & after-hours sphere.

This timeline sucks so hard. Please get me back to one slightly less terrible.

Two of the big contracting marketplaces I use for copywriting and consulting gigs have completely shut down for at least the next week. Rebuilding their system so they can use better AI detection. I really don't need the loss of income right now, when I'm fighting to collect enough to avoid eviction.

They pay well for freelance markets, which is why the AI problem is standing out so badly. Clients are paying enough to actually care about the accuracy and quality.

So some people have been having fun embracing an hour of chaos with Anarchy Goat. One thing people keep mentioning is that it vibes like I got the bugs in those Goat & Goose games meshed in. A couple asked for #TTRPG design advice.

Honestly? It's both purposeful AND accidental. *For me*, I have a strong sense of "vibes" and aesthetic in the art I enjoy. So for me, it comes down to starting with a strong sense of what genre, themes, and just general aesthetic I'm going for. What is the core concept? How do I initially imagine it playing out?

Thoughts for #TTRPG #worldbuilding econ edition:
One key thing to understand about any kind of economic system is that it is near impossible to escape market anarchy. That is even under the most unified and oppressive systems you will have parallel markets and pocket systems. The persistence of illegal and questionably legal markets throughout human history are a steadfast example. Another example is the occurrence of "found family", mutual aid, and other communitarian and socialistic direct action within capitalist markets. There is no one market.

Familiars out to save their witch.
What a fun concept for a #TTRPG & fertile ground for a #gamejam!
[Credit to A Couple of Drakes for such a great little game!]

Matching the season,
the jam concept is "Found Family Holiday".

Running all month!
Come join us! [Links below.] Here is the link to join the Run, Familiar! Found Family Holiday #TTRPG #gamejam on Itch.

All forms of entries are welcomed! Contribute dungeons, scenarios, adventures, add-ons, or whatever else you imagine. 😍

Looking forward to your jam entries!
itch.io/jam/run-famili…

Our open license materials grow!

Motif Toolkit SRD, based on the popular Motif Story Engine & Runs On Motif #indiegames.

Two open source #TTRPG games: The Princess and The Dragon + For Treats! For Glory!

Diceless SRD [Opus Theater] & a Motif SRD dice pool add-on coming soon! With the Motif Toolkit SRD, you can create your own Motif tools and games!

Wanna add some low prep or #solorpg oracles to your existing indie #TTRPG? You can!

Have an idea for a game completely running on Motif? You can!

Commercial use allowed.
drivethrurpg.com/product/361409…

Are you a newbie or hope-to-be #TTRPG #indiegame designer? Do you like genre-heavy and player-facing games? Or are you interested in GM-less and #solorpg games? We recently released an open license SRD. And we're willing to take pitches for mentorship!
drivethrurpg.com/product/361409… The SRD itself has a conversational walkthrough style that cover a variety of build possibilities in way useful for newbies and old hands alike. The mentorship offer comes with no strings attached and no costs. We will consult with you to bring a Motif game to life.

@BrubruGeek @jesseschell 1) Anyone interested in ludology generally (and even TTRPG designers) can benefit greatly by reading him. Want to make it clear upfront that ANY framework and definition of games inevitably excludes swaths of games. Which he admits himself and thus places his ontology as fuzzy. @BrubruGeek @jesseschell 2) Getting to it, the concept of space as presented needs a fairly radical retune and or different perspective rewrite to match TTRPGs. The reductionist 0-dimension explanation (simple mental space) doesn't reflect the actual reality of play and experience.

Not usually jerks but: Watching new TSR burns themselves in a clumsy media blitz after we called them out on weak marketing & brand awareness + bad customer relations. (Their ego heard the nobody knows they exist part but missed the get a marketer & customer service parts. Oops.) How they come across like transphobic trash, miserable self-parodying grognards, and generally clueless embarrassing grandpas is just... just a thing of beauty.

Bloodmuse: Murderhobo Modern Art

Created & Written by Rev. Casey
Based on Revisions and Project Management by Jim Liao
Consulting by Leah Cohen and Yvette White
Playtest Management and Consulting by Liv Millspin

@chelslarsonart, @AbyssalBrews: Hope you're pleased w/ yourselves. @chelslarsonart @AbyssalBrews The setting/intro we wrote for it.