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As we move into week 2 of the #Brinkwood kickstarter, I thought it'd be interesting to talk about some of my inspirations for it's design. Stick around if that's something you're interested in, and be sure to check out the kickstarter at http://brinkwood.net !
First up, I got to credit @OrionDBlack , who's work, both on circle theory and in the landmark "Mutants in the Night" were foundational to Brinkwood's design from both the meta-campaign level to the use of camera language and scene structure. https://oriondblack.itch.io/mutants-in-the-night
I can't really understate the the influence of @temporalhiccup 's work, as reading their games helped form a large part of my sensibilities on brevity, tight design, and fantasy fiction. If you'd allow it, I'd cite their entire body of work as influential. https://temporalhiccup.itch.io/
Building off of that, @ostrichmonkey 's work, particularly https://ostrichmonkey.itch.io/extracausal and @raphdamico
's "The Zone" are foundational to my current conception of horror in tabletop rpgs, as well as in expressing intent through graphic design.
's "The Zone" are foundational to my current conception of horror in tabletop rpgs, as well as in expressing intent through graphic design.
I gotta shout out @umbral_aeronaut , of course, who's depth of understanding for the Forged in the Dark system, as well as his vision for what it's capable of, particularly through hello, world inspired me and contributed greatly to my understanding. https://umbralaeronaut.itch.io/hello-world
It almost goes without saying, but @john_harper
's work, not only in the design of the original "Blades in the Dark", but also his continuing work and generosity in making his wonderful system available and understandable to others is simply astounding. Thank you, truly.
's work, not only in the design of the original "Blades in the Dark", but also his continuing work and generosity in making his wonderful system available and understandable to others is simply astounding. Thank you, truly.
"Band of Blades" by @strasa lit my brain on fire, and provided a lot of the original impetus and ideas that formed #Brinkwood's core loops. You can see influence from Bands in how #Brinkwood presents everything from antagonists to rules. https://offguardgames.itch.io/band-of-blades
Going to take a break for lunch, but I got more folks to talk about, just you wait and see.
When it comes to characterization and NPC design, a lot of my work is informed by @BrennanLM 's excellent work on @dimension20show . Well-rounded doesn't have to mean grimdark, and I'm thankful Brennan showed me that.
Consider this your semi-regular exultation to read Bankuei. Bankuei formed most of my understanding of GNS theory, indie games as a genre, and just what good design looks like at a fundemental level. https://bankuei.wordpress.com/
It's not super-well-known, but @RequineGG did some roleplaying design and writing that was highly influential to the way I view the artform, how I think about community, and how the two can intersect in dramatic ways, as well as the risks associated with that intersection.
"Five Fires" by @qh_murphy , as well as Quinn's writing on design were crucial to my development as a writer and designer, and a lot of the focuses and skills I've racked up have come from reading his stuff.
Speaking of influential writing, @Rivetgeek's blog, Aggregate Cognizance, taught me a lot about FATE, indie games, and how to think through the inner design of games I didn't have a ton of visibility into. https://aggregatecognizance.com/
