Monday 19 August 2024

GoGoGolf! is out now!

Head over to the Possible Worlds store and pick up a physical copy of my OSR style adventure game that’s about golf for some reason for just $5USD! Click right here


Still working on the Mothership mystery setting - phonebook is about 90% mapped out and 1/3 filled in, and I’ve revised and reiterated the cases yet again, think I’ve got a solid starting adventure down now. Will try to playtest soon, hopefully can get the whole phonebook working by then too! Man, it’s tough writing something that needs so much prep work before you can even start testing it

Conversely, I’m back at work on the miniatures game, which I’m constantly testing and iterating on. It’s pretty good you guys. Very cool to have a game I made that I can just play a bit of for fun whenever I want?? Hope to have more to share on that before too long.

Busy busy! Feels good to be back in the saddle

Thursday 1 August 2024

Mysteries within mysteries

 Working on the phonecrawl adventure - a murder mystery setting for Mothership, mapped as d100 working phone numbers. Twin Peaks in an airport mall.

Once again it’s being rebuilt from the ground up, but progress is still being made from before as I’m using a lot of the same Lego pieces. Folks who supported the project by buying the ashcan version way back when will still get the final thing when it comes out. Also idk if it’s still called Odai 57. We’ll see.

Anyway. Update number one is that I’m shifting the campaign frame slightly. A maintenance worker being drawn into these cases as auxiliary mysteries to their main job is a fun conceit and would be great for a short story or two, but in game it’s an unnecessary layer between the players and the juice of the thing.

So now they’re insurance adjusters, getting to the bottom of android accidents and malfunctions and finding someone to blame so that their bosses don’t have to pay out. This has a more cynical MoSh feel and gives us some great actionable verbs for each case: Find fault, recover assets, prevent further losses. I’m this close to calling them the Android Claims Adjustment Bureau or something lmao

Right now I’m building out some of these cases. The structure here is vital as this adventure doesn’t have one otherwise - all areas being theoretically available at all times negates classic dungeon exploration, and I’m avoiding combat scenarios almost entirely  - though they still make a great failstate.

One of the main inspirations for the setting is the Phoenix Wright games. In those you examine a scene until you find all the clues, then the game unlocks the next scene and you can travel between locations freely. Obviously there are key differences between mediums, here players decide when they’ve found enough clues and where they want to go next, but the flow is similar enough.


Looking into how this flow is built in these games is proving helpful for organising my own cases. The above image comes from a presentation by the series director and covers the progression of a case in-game. You don’t need to understand the text, the key bit is that little loop in the middle. There’s a similar diagram in the Warden’s Operations Manual. Basically, the body of a case is a series of smaller mysteries, little question-answer loops that build until the denouement and climax.

These loops are crucial to play in a mystery-focused game. The overall solve can, and should, feel huge and out of reach, so players need these little victories that propel things along. Structurally I’m thinking of them like rooms in an exploration game or fights in a combat based one. They’re not the treasure or boss at the end of the dungeon, which the players might not even get to, but without them there’s really no adventure at all.

The difference is in the verbs. Players fight a monster and explore a room, but what they need to be able to do with clues is make connections. Everything has to point to something else, building up the staircase of little answers to hopefully get to the big one at the end. As the WOM says, the game also has to work if they fail, but ultimately this is a game of connecting dots. I’ve just got to write a whole load of dots.

Will try to keep posting as the project develops. Don’t want to give too many answers away though x

Tuesday 11 June 2024

Mothership 1E

 

Five years ago I started working in ttrpgs. One of my first jobs was a little pamphlet adventure for a game that wasn’t really out yet, but that I’d seen enough of to know it was going to be cool. It was fun to write, people seemed to like it. I hadn’t even seen Alien.

Fast forward five years and 2d5 published adventures later, and Mothership has finally landed. I’m so proud to see this little game grow into the horrific behemoth it’s become.

You can get the box set for Mothership here, including a new starter adventure that I contributed to. You can also get the core rules for free. Also free are a companion app for Apple and Android (no relation), and more community resources and helpful fellow Teamsters than you can shake a space stick at.

I hope you all have fun dying horribly for many years to come x

Thursday 23 May 2024

GoGoGolf! is back, babyyyyyy



An all-new physical edition of GoGoGolf! is now available to preorder as part of the Details of Our Escape campaign from Possible Worlds!
  • Revamped art and layout from original artist Jon Bliss
  • Streamlined mechanics - everything is 2d6 now
  • More fun surprises???
And it’s only $5USD for print + pdf!

Big big thanks to Jon and to Tyler from PW for working on this with me. I made GoGoGolf! five years ago, my first year working in games. It’s my first ever ttrpg, and it means a lot to me that this very weird project still has fans after all this time. A polite golf clap to everyone who’s played and kept it going this long

Preorder now! And check out all the other great stuff you can get as part of this campaign on backerkit. Click here!

PS I have still never played golf in my life

Friday 1 March 2024

ttfn

I’m making the difficult decision to close down the Graverobber’s Guide.

Lack of time and energy, as well as bad luck financially in and outside of my games work, have unfortunately gotten to the point where I no longer feel able to continue regularly writing for this blog. Instead of forcing things or slowing down, I feel like the best course for me right now is to take a break.

I will still be making stuff, and fulfilling any ongoing commitments. I’ve got some long-gestating projects that will hopefully surface this year. And I’m absolutely still taking on work, now more than ever tbh - contact me at graverobbers guide at gmail dot com

I’d like to thank everyone who’s read the Guide these past years, it’s been a lot of fun! For something that started as, and remained, basically just a notebook for me to blurt out my thoughts and ideas about our fantastic hobby, the response has been amazing. I got to do the best job ever because of this place.

Thanks especially to those of you who’ve commented on and shared your favourite posts. This is a solitary business and I’m not really part of any online discussion spaces, so it’s nice to know people are really out there.

If one person used something I wrote and had a good time with their friends, this has all been worthwhile. All the posts I’ve done here, good and bad lol, will still be here to read of course

If you’re able to help at all or just want to buy some cool stuff, my store is still open here.

I’d like to return some day. Until then, happy gaming x

Saturday 24 February 2024

Straturday, Light Breather

Got to admit I’m really not feeling it this week. I know one option would be to just not post, but it seems a shame to let the weekly posting streak die and also I think there’s value in sharing when you’re just not into it or up to much

Hobbies should be fun! Nobody’s making you do homework. Take a break, do something else or nothing at all. You’ll come back to your projects with a clearer mind and stronger drive, or you might get new ideas entirely

I think we all understand this, but make sure you actually do it. Relaxing can sometimes be something you have to actively do. (And because I know we’re all hobbyists and DIY folks here, make sure the things you do to relax are not just more work lol)

Just… stop. Schedule the time in, and make sure you use it unwisely. We’ll all be here when you get back.

While you do, my zinequest project is looking rough atm. That’s ok, I’ll live, and I know it was a slightly out there proposition int he first place. If you do want to support there’s still time, so check it out.

Take it easy ✌️

Monday 19 February 2024

Inconvertible Currency

 Riffing off this post 

Copper is the coin of the common man. Buy, hoard, sell, barter, clip, forge, steal and render unto Caesar. You’ll find it in pouches on the bodies you loot, trade it in for new adventuring gear. XP, if that’s your system. You can get just about anything an ordinary person might need with enough copper. In amounts only achievable through exploitation it could buy you safety, property, a retirement.

Gold is another thing entirely. Deals done in gold are made in the name of castles, armies, nations. Those who trade in it do so in shadowed vaults, behind grand tapestries, over tournament feasts. For these transactions, copper will not do, no matter how much you save. You may find someone offering gold for copper, or the reverse - the rate will always exceed your means, and there will always be some catch or scam at the rotten heart of the bargain. Gold demands to be inherited, conquered or betrothed. Hoarding it makes you not merely selfish, but a true Dragon.

In game this can be used to transition, wholly or in part, between the phases of play traditionally denoted by levels, the hardscrabble adventurer and the lord of the castle keep. A “gold” session is a banquet to entertain a new ally and sniff out a potential traitor. Then, back to a “copper” session for the journey to the western caves.

Being poor in either gold or copper forces players to resort to their wits, be it in dungeoneering or politicking, and offers a constant choice of two distinct avenues of progress. You could even have two “level” tracks, two types of XP for the two modes of play. And despite the distinct currencies, the two will naturally intersect - this is a single World, after all

(PS hey back my games)