Alright everyone, it’s time to talk about Quest and the context surrounding it, and what I think we should be doing in our attempts to move away from dnd.

Please bear with me here, this is gonna go a bunch of places.

Let’s get into it.

People have been divesting from dnd for a while but the latest events have folks rushing to quit cold turkey. This is quite literally creating a power vaccuum in the space with folks needing to try to fill a dnd shaped hole so they can get back to their podcasts/ games/ etc.

And the issue is, most of the shit that tries that... fucking sucks.

The biggest indie example is Dungeon World, a game that doesn’t divest itself from any of the racist or colonial trappings of dnd and is tied to a person who thinks playing sexual assault for kicks is funny.

But here’s the thing about this power vaccuum. It’s complicated AF. Some folks genuinely enjoy dnd gameplay, some folks don’t know other options exist/ don’t know accessible ways to get to them, and some folks have just never examined what they want from role playing games.

And the second and third group I think are adressed perfectly by @vidityavoleti’s thread here. I think that our goal at this junction should not be to rush and say
“What can full dnd’s void right now”
It should be to ask:
“Why was I playing dnd, and what can replace that?” https://twitter.com/vidityavoleti/status/1280731858746081281

But, I think we as indies also have a lot of super valid hate for WotC and all the garbage shit in dnd. None of it is invalid, literally none of it, they deserve it and so much more. Yet, I think that hate can sometimes make us forget that the first group exists...

Even amongst indies. I know folks who would play a once every while dnd game because is scratched an itch that kept building up.

On top of that, if you’re trying to make an immediate transition to keep your product moving you want something as close as possible.

And I think that we’ve deliberately, in response to dnd and DW and all the others, moved our design away from that sphere.

Especially marginalised creators who want to tell different kinds of stories. And that’s super valid. It also means we can’t fill that void at this time.

Side bar; indie creators did this because of usually three reasons:
1) Because dnd is problematic as shit
2) We examined what we like about games
3) We wanted to tell our own stories

Not because we lacked ambition, leave that garbage shit at the door along with anything like it.

So, their are beautiful indie games that can fill all kinds of voids but none that hit the same level of complexity and core loop of play of dnd that are ready to go right now.

Enter Quest.

The pretty elephant in the room. The game everyone’s talking about, and now I will too.

I’ll be upfront: I’m not enamoured by Quest. I think design wise it’s pretty cool for a dnd-alike, but I don’t enjoy dnd-alikes. The closest to one I’ve enjoyed is 13th age and that’s mostly cause the occultist is written for me.

But some people do. Or at least, right now...

Enough people need to utilise dnd alikes and Quest seems to be one of the best options in the space for taking a narrative and more rules light approach while sticking to a dnd flow of play, immediately.

But to me, immediately is the operative word there.

I’m fine with Quest being used rn. Yes it’s by a white dude in a well off position who is chasing clout, but honestly designing a game for it to popular is as valid a reason as any and I’ll fight people on that, even if it’s not my reason. I do think it lacks perspective of...

What makes a lot of indie game sing though, but they’re listening. And that’s why I hope that Quest is used until it’s no longer needed.

Some folks will love Quest and stick to it for a long time and power to them, but for folks using it as a bandaid to the immediate problem:

Start putting in the work to narrow down what kinds of stories you’re really telling.

Set yourself a timeline; a few months, one supplement, one season of your show, one arc, etc, to do research in so that quest is the stepping stone towards supporting marginilized creators.

Going back to Viditya’s thread, I think that making the jump to a marginilized creator’s game that does what you want specifically is the best option. If you can do that rn you should, and if you choose not to then yeah imma judge you a little.

But if you are one of the groups..

That dnd did genuinely work for you and you did it cause you enjoyed it not because it was just fine, by all means use Quest to transition.

But please, don’t let it be the end of your journey.

And I’ll say, I don’t think Quest is a bad game. There’s elegance in part of the design and a beautifully simplistic layout that certainly makes it appealing. The creators don’t seem to be pieces of shit and are actively working on open licensing and growth. It’s pretty alright.

But I still think we should support marginalised creators.

And if you’re wondering routes for transition:
BOLT can take you a more crunchy approach ala genesys.
Unconquered (and most of @/nicholasmasyk’s products) offers some awesome routes for all sorts of play experiences.

And if you’re telling literally any story that isn’t go out and explore, fight things and get stronger, there will be an indie game for you. I promise. Just ask, we’re super friendly and love to give recs.