Diary of a Failed Game Designer

Known as the mega forests of  Cul Tur in my game world. Just East of the second dwarven  stronghold, nestled between the  mountains and the coast. Once home to loosely united Rakasta tribes, now just shadowy jungles left unexplored. No one has ever gone there in game, I doubt anyone will. I guess it's safe to blog about my thoughts on one of the least talked about biomes in fantasy RPG's. Lets Jungle.... The Forest Canopy: When it comes to  real life biodiversity  the Jungle canopies are some of the most biodiverse place s on earth. Keeping this in mind, it's easy to extrapolate that in a magical fantasy setting the canopy perched high above the floor of a jungle could be home to just about anything. Native vs Non-Naitve: One recurring theme in this blog will be that of native Jungle dwellers Vs visiting  travelers. The Native populations will have EVERY ADVANTAGE in this territory with the possible exception of technology. Most native societies in jungle terrain subsist v

Here's the  kickstarter page, for record. if you are into games (and you must be if you landed in this tiny blog backwater) or if you are into what can be done in the world of  game publishing at its upper limits, check out this kickstarter. "1,846 backers  pledged  $664,274  to help bring this project to life." I wrote thsi a few weeks ago and let it sit in my drafts folder. I waited to post this until the kickstarter campaign was over. Not that this wee little blog in the  corner of the  internet would be able to slow that supporter train down. Regardless I didn't want to confuse anyone into thinking that I was trying to slow that train down. Now my disclaimer: I like Monte Cook Games and their products very much. I feel they are an upstanding group  running an outstanding company. The quality of their products, and the obvious time and attention they give each project has been impressive. I own the Numenera book. It ranks among my top gamebooks when it comes to the

This post was inspired by  two  sources.  Primarily my friend Neal putting my brain to work about a game I wrote which he has played with  other people that I will likely never meet. So naturally he asks a lot of good interesting and useful questions about the game. Secondly This Post  from the Pits Perilous blog served to further my thinking. I'm going to write a bit about  character death and just some of my thoughts on the subject. I will directly relate some of those thoughts back to a game I wrote. Other points will be more general. I'm afraid this  post will likely be a meandering mess, please forgive me. I have a game, It's called Amazing Adventures and Incredible Exploits. Check out the labels on this post to read more about it. The facts are the game started as a joke among the people I game with and myself, and it has grown a bit like an unpredictable weed. The  premise being  that for every successful character in D&D,  Swords and Wizardry, dungeon world, or

This  might  tangentially  tie into The Disorientated Ranger's latest post found here: There has been a trend for a while no within the group I game with. Some of our characters come with endings. Even if the  end game is known it doesn't mean we know how the game will end. The wilhelm example: In our last game Wilhelm the  Dwarf, finally tracked down the band of thieves who "ruined his  life. * " The party gained entrance to their hideout, talked to a massive snake, avoided some traps, stole a large nutria, bashed some heads and cornered the thief guild's leader. After some talking, the thief leader offered to  restore the connection between wilhelm's wrist and his hand. The thief leader also offered to bring Wilhelm into the guild. They could work together and make some money on Wilhelm's triumphant return. I'm going to be honest here. I really thought Wilhelm was going to growl something dwarfy and hit the weasel thief in the face with his hammer o