[THOUGHTS] Six Thoughts in August

Potential threads worth investigating further

Hey, hi, hello.

August has proven to be extremely busy for me so I haven’t been able to sit down get a more focused article out the door, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been reading and thinking of what I could write in the future.

Here are six things I’ve been thinking about this month that may (or may not) become articles soon:

1. I’ve been thinking of ways to incorporate/improve the reputation tracker I ideated on in one of my past articles on factions (see here). I feel like this is the seed of something that could be more robust, while also staying usable at the table.

   1. I’ve been wanting a more granular approach to interacting with NPCs on a session-by-session basis, especially because I’ve found traditional reaction tables disappointing.

   2. Characters' actions and the reputations they build should directly influence the initial reactions they receive from NPCs in the world; a ± bonus to the roll feels inadequate.

2. On the OSR subreddit, one of you jokesters shared the “one correct game design” and it was literally a snippet of Tristram’s map from Diablo. While I definitely don't think there’s “one” best option, I think this is worth chatting about.

   1. This gets into the topic of megadungeons, something I haven’t covered much on the blog (mostly because I already wrote one and I’m still reeling from it years later).

   2. Some friends and I are wrapping up our Ultraviolet Grasslands campaign and have been ideating on the fabled megadungeon campaign. We’re also dabbling with having co-DMs, so this might be an interesting angle to approach the topic.

3. Speaking of UVG, you saw the big BackerKit campaign for Our Golden Age right? Luka continues work on his setting, drilling deeper than it seems he ever has before.

   1. If I’m not mistaken, the “anti-canon” approach of world-building for tabletop RPGs originates with Luka (or, at least, was codified this way by him—correct me if I’m wrong here!). I’ve been working on incorporating this into the Shattered Isles, but I still have a lot to learn.

   2. I feel like a deep dive (dare I say, review?) of UVG is rattling around in my brain and could help lift some of the fog around working on my own seemingly impenetrable setting.

4. GenCon has ended, and while I didn’t attend, my feed is full of updates from those who did. Seeing how these different experiences interconnect has got me thinking about how to cultivate a similar (yet distinct) culture on Substack.

   1. You probably have noticed some of this cross-pollination from your favorite creators post-GenCon, with people highlighting each other’s major achievements, projects, or crowdfunding campaigns on their YouTube channels, blogs, podcasts, etc.

   2. Relatedly, I've been thinking about the advantages of establishing a TTRPG cooperative for some time. I'm exploring how a group of individuals could support one another by sharing their work and increasing collective influence while maintaining their unique identities within the group.

   3. Substack, like any other platform, has a strategy behind what gets seen and—unfortunately for the purist writer—does require some social media games to be played to get engagement. That being said, it doesn’t have to be all painful (at least, I hope not).

   4. While I think we’re all seeking engagement, I’ve noticed a significantly higher degree of “I think this is cool, and please won’t somebody talk to me about it” rather than “I think this is cool—use my affiliate link to get 5% off your first purchase of it”. I think that in and of itself makes this less about sales and more about community—one of my core tenets for starting this blog in the first place.

5. Over on the Dice Exploder podcast, host Sam Dunnewold has been discussing Dungeons & Dragons with weekly guests, trying to answer the age-old question: “What the hell even is D&D?”

   1. One of their episodes was about 3rd Edition’s Prestige Classes and how it ended up being this sort of golden nugget of an idea that got muddled over time as the focus from diegetic advancement quickly became about class optimization.

   2. Diegesis (the idea that something in the game is perceivable not just by the players, but by the characters in the game themselves) has been a little brain worm of mine for a while now. I’m always trying to find ways to get closer to the actual ROLE in the roleplaying that’s being done without it turning into an acting class.

6. I’ve recently found a new YouTube channel on RPG theory called “The Tomb of Lime Gaming” that I’ve really enjoyed. Their video “How to Achieve Immersion in a Table-Top RPG” really hooked me, as it approached the topic from a psychological perspective. Further videos cement this and thus set the channel apart from other stuff I’ve seen.

   1. This feeds back into my thoughts on diegesis and may influence whatever article comes out of that.

A lot rattling around in the brain cage this month, it seems. We’ll see if anything from here turns into something tangible, but let me know what you’ve been sitting on for now.

Who knows, maybe we can collaborate!

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