tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post8302157587798112965..comments2024-03-25T22:48:31.750-04:00Comments on Dreams in the Lich House: Call of Cthulhu's Old School RootsJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18031181424520125213noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-63665987988117481772012-01-21T00:41:36.017-05:002012-01-21T00:41:36.017-05:00That 3E DMG quote is right on the money - makes me...That 3E DMG quote is right on the money - makes me kinda wish I had those books - I absolutely use flow charts to help generate investigations, and often notice how they're a bit like dungeons.<br /><br />The Hill Cantons post is great because it reminds - organizing your thoughts on post-it notes is really helpful! Easy to move around while still brainstorming.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18031181424520125213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-91353599185499411812012-01-20T16:47:47.494-05:002012-01-20T16:47:47.494-05:00One of the things I'll highlight in some upcom...<i>One of the things I'll highlight in some upcoming posts is how investigative scenarios are basically virtual dungeons; you can flow chart an investigation much like a traditional dungeon (and I find it's helpful in scenario design to avoid a linear experience).</i><br /><br />I've always thought that this was an interesting idea, but I've never really been able to implement it well. The problem comes with defining and communicating the "doors" between nodes in the flow chart without also seeming like you are limiting the players. It's like the difference between a multiple choice test question and an essay test question.<br /><br />When you think about it, this is really a pretty sophisticated metaphorical translation that is going on here: from limited spacial movement to predicting potential avenues of investigation. So any techniques you have would be welcome. I look forward to the future posts. <br /><br />The 3E DMG also mentions this in a "behind the curtain" section on why dungeons are used (page 58):<br /><br /><i>You have an easy way to control the adventure in a dungeon without leading the characters by the nose. In a dungeon, the parameters are clearly defined for the PCs—they can’t walk through walls (not at first, anyway) or go into rooms that aren’t there. Aside from those limits, they can go wherever they like in whatever order they like. The limited environment of the dungeon grants players a feeling of control over their characters’ destiny.<br /><br />A dungeon is really nothing but an adventure flowchart. The rooms are encounters, and the corridors are connections between the encounters, showing which encounters should (or could) follow which other ones. You could design a dungeonlike flowchart for an adventure that didn’t take place in a dungeon and accomplish the same thing. One encounter leads to two more, which in turn lead to others, some of which double back on previous encounters. The dungeon becomes a model, in this way, for all adventures.</i><br /><br />This whole line of design thought also reminds me of the <a href="http://hillcantons.blogspot.com/2012/01/crawling-without-hexes-pointcrawl.html" rel="nofollow">discussion about point crawls</a> over at the Hill Cantons.Necropraxishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12716340801054739658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-19929604125553558482012-01-20T06:31:21.702-05:002012-01-20T06:31:21.702-05:00I'm planning a post or two on how I run invest...I'm planning a post or two on how I run investigation/criminal/espionage/character-based "sandboxes" (what you might call node-based design), so I'm interested to read your thoughts on that. I've never run a CoC game, but plan to.noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-40576370145153407492012-01-16T19:18:43.068-05:002012-01-16T19:18:43.068-05:00I think this post and the promise it holds just ma...I think this post and the promise it holds just made my year.<br /><br />http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lts0cu3qMA1r22325o2_500.gifDavid Larkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04133630988557116729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-62363710268295272212012-01-16T15:38:24.096-05:002012-01-16T15:38:24.096-05:00I've been running Tatters of the King, and whi...I've <a href="http://brightonandhoveroleplayers.blogspot.com/search/label/Tatters%20of%20the%20King" rel="nofollow">been running</a> <i>Tatters of the King</i>, and while it's a pretty good campaign, as written it is a horrible railroad. I decided to ignore the stated order of events and run it more or less as a sandbox, and the players have responded well to it.thekelvingreenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01928260185408072124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-59856732054030661572012-01-16T12:23:06.895-05:002012-01-16T12:23:06.895-05:00I completely agree with the "hearth analogy&q...I completely agree with the "hearth analogy", though in upcoming weeks you'll see me refer to it as "points of darkness" instead of points of light, to borrow a phrase from a fellow blogger. Points of darkness is much more evocative for the horror theme.<br /><br />The idea is that the <i>Call of Cthulhu</i> sandbox can dispense with rail road by using loosely tied situations (hearths / points of darkness). After all, it's impractical to have a location-bound sandbox that might range from the British Museum to New York to the Pyramids of Giza.<br /><br />I'm using the term sandbox to describe more than a hex-crawl or site-based adventure in D&D; there are ways to structure a virtual sandbox and deliver a free-form game experience - and node-based design is a fine way to structure and manage the information on the Keeper's side of the screen, even if the player's aren't so bound.<br /><br />The closest I've seen to the traditional D&D approach to structuring locations were in the Lovecraft Country supplements by Keith Herber (Arkham, Kingsport, Dunwich, and Innsmouth) though I don't think the typical scenario needs that much detail.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18031181424520125213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-63593772789114568842012-01-16T11:43:05.856-05:002012-01-16T11:43:05.856-05:00I've never played in a location-based or boudn...I've never played in a location-based or boudnary-based CoC game (despite having played a lot of CoC), if you have, could you write about how it worked?<br /><br />Let me back up a minute. Architects sometimes talk about two ways of defining a space - the boundary and the hearth. Boundaries are like the borders of a country** or the walls of a cave: they make a bubble of space which is all self-similar on the inside. Dungeons are boundary designs: everything inside the dungeon is ready for inclusion in the game, which is whatever events happen inside the dungeon. <br /><br />Hearths are like lights in the wilderness - they define spaces by drawing people toward themselves. Event-based or plot-point-based games are hearth-like: if there is a creature who will eat the world and you need the book to get the ritual to dismiss the creature then creature, book and ritual are hearths: the game happens when you engage with them. If you ignore them then you're experiencing something that is not the design of the game, and you could maybe play "hotter and colder" with how much you're engaging with the hearths and how much you're doing something else.<br /><br />And IME CoC is the very first self-consciously hearth-based game and I don't know how I would run a location-based CoC adventure, because even if all the clues were inside a cave, it would still be the clues running the investigation.* So that's why I ask if you've ever played location- or boundary-based CoC.<br /><br />* note, these clues don't have to exist in a single trail of breadcrumbs: there can be multiple places to go from each single clue, per The Alexandrian's "node-based design."<br />** the nation-state is a boundary-based idea, the mandala-state is a hearth... so it's not all countries that follow this model.richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13517340075234811323noreply@blogger.com