This feels almost like trying to replace the ubiquity of combat in something like D&D with an equally ubiquitous system of environment traversal a la something like Assassin's Creed or Mirror's Edge. I've very excited to see how it develops! I'd love to combine this with some of the minimalist dungeon approaches I've found on here...
Early in my present D&D campaign, I thought how nice it would be to have my players explore sites/dungeons that didn't have anything in them to fight. There might be some traps, some environmental hazards, but no one to hurt and no one looking to hurt you. Besides some puzzling spots, they'd just be vista, places to look out over the world, take in the scenery, immerse oneself, maybe learn something new and melancholy about the world, and still find a treasure of some kind for the trouble. A snapshot out of something like Frieren, where there was still something to puzzle through but also a delightful relief that nothing was going to sneak up on you -- combined with the melancholy of something truly empty.
... I never quite pulled it off in a way that grabbed the interest of my players. But this is definitely inspiring me to try again, to consider that maybe this emphasis on traversal-as-adventure was exactly what I was missing.
Replacing combat as the primary vehicle for risk and player engagement is the goal. It's struck me that a lot of my love for TTRPGs involves traveling through wonderous and unknown settings.
Death Stranding's mechanics are another inspiration where the game design upends the traversal of space when even an uneven incline can cause you to tip over when first playing.
Awesome to hear the post inspired some traversal ideas for you!
This feels like parkour more than the 'trad' climbing that I used to be really into (placing non destructive gear to protect yourself on falls). But, have you considered allowing some kind of mechanic for reducing risk with ropes ect., or are you wanting a more fast paced race against time and gravity?
Also, the British climbing grade system might help with a language for providing players with route choices. For example, a high grade route may not be the hardest climb but there may be little protection (free places to anchor a rope) if you take a fall, where a lower grade could be well protected but quite a hard physical climb. It adds a lot of nuance to planning climbs that suit your skill level. Then there's beta, the info climbers share about routes to help each other prepare. Could be a good source of NPC interaction.
Sorry for all the unsolicited suggestions. Reading your plans got my head gears turning! All that is to say, this feel like it's absolutely my jam! Excited to see what you come up with.
Oooooo interesting! Something worth testing potentially. In the current design, an encounter roll is rolled at the start of each new location to populate it with interesting events/NPCs/and Threats.
Under your proposal, I almost feel like Delay would make more sense to make encounters more frequent (or at least speed the party up towards their next encounter), and attention would increase the difficulty/challenge of that encounter. In this line of design, I think I'd like to try some kind of dungeon timer track with Encounters spread out on tick marks.
Great article, I really like the damage, delay and attention mechanic!
Do you find it easy to select which one to use? I appreciate that it's GM choice, but does the situation itself usually help you decide which is appropriate, or do you find yourself rotating through the options for variety?
I'm making a note, as selecting between consequences should be something I add a lot of context to in the Rulebook.
Aside from a particularly obvious choice, I look for the most narratively compelling/interesting option. In cases where the consequence is clear, I typically ask the player what they think is most reasonable/likely for their character.
I also have players narrate the outcomes of most/all Saves, so having a player pick the consequence usually creates more vivid explanations. I suppose, you could also randomly decide by rolling a d6 (1-2: Damage, 3-4: Delay, 5-6: Attention).
This feels almost like trying to replace the ubiquity of combat in something like D&D with an equally ubiquitous system of environment traversal a la something like Assassin's Creed or Mirror's Edge. I've very excited to see how it develops! I'd love to combine this with some of the minimalist dungeon approaches I've found on here...
Early in my present D&D campaign, I thought how nice it would be to have my players explore sites/dungeons that didn't have anything in them to fight. There might be some traps, some environmental hazards, but no one to hurt and no one looking to hurt you. Besides some puzzling spots, they'd just be vista, places to look out over the world, take in the scenery, immerse oneself, maybe learn something new and melancholy about the world, and still find a treasure of some kind for the trouble. A snapshot out of something like Frieren, where there was still something to puzzle through but also a delightful relief that nothing was going to sneak up on you -- combined with the melancholy of something truly empty.
... I never quite pulled it off in a way that grabbed the interest of my players. But this is definitely inspiring me to try again, to consider that maybe this emphasis on traversal-as-adventure was exactly what I was missing.
Replacing combat as the primary vehicle for risk and player engagement is the goal. It's struck me that a lot of my love for TTRPGs involves traveling through wonderous and unknown settings.
Death Stranding's mechanics are another inspiration where the game design upends the traversal of space when even an uneven incline can cause you to tip over when first playing.
Awesome to hear the post inspired some traversal ideas for you!
This feels like parkour more than the 'trad' climbing that I used to be really into (placing non destructive gear to protect yourself on falls). But, have you considered allowing some kind of mechanic for reducing risk with ropes ect., or are you wanting a more fast paced race against time and gravity?
Also, the British climbing grade system might help with a language for providing players with route choices. For example, a high grade route may not be the hardest climb but there may be little protection (free places to anchor a rope) if you take a fall, where a lower grade could be well protected but quite a hard physical climb. It adds a lot of nuance to planning climbs that suit your skill level. Then there's beta, the info climbers share about routes to help each other prepare. Could be a good source of NPC interaction.
Sorry for all the unsolicited suggestions. Reading your plans got my head gears turning! All that is to say, this feel like it's absolutely my jam! Excited to see what you come up with.
Oh also removing trading time to remove damage by setting up a rope could be a neat interaction I hadn't thought of!
Agreed, parkour is definitely a better fit, but the term has some cultural baggage in America, I think.
Interesting suggestion about contextualizing pathways with a certain level of risk/difficulty.
Awesome suggestions and thanks for sharing!
I wonder if the mechanical difference between attention and delay is:
Delay: encounters themselves change their nature or difficulty, goal expires sooner
Attention: encounters become more frequent, focused
Oooooo interesting! Something worth testing potentially. In the current design, an encounter roll is rolled at the start of each new location to populate it with interesting events/NPCs/and Threats.
Under your proposal, I almost feel like Delay would make more sense to make encounters more frequent (or at least speed the party up towards their next encounter), and attention would increase the difficulty/challenge of that encounter. In this line of design, I think I'd like to try some kind of dungeon timer track with Encounters spread out on tick marks.
Great article, I really like the damage, delay and attention mechanic!
Do you find it easy to select which one to use? I appreciate that it's GM choice, but does the situation itself usually help you decide which is appropriate, or do you find yourself rotating through the options for variety?
I'm making a note, as selecting between consequences should be something I add a lot of context to in the Rulebook.
Aside from a particularly obvious choice, I look for the most narratively compelling/interesting option. In cases where the consequence is clear, I typically ask the player what they think is most reasonable/likely for their character.
I also have players narrate the outcomes of most/all Saves, so having a player pick the consequence usually creates more vivid explanations. I suppose, you could also randomly decide by rolling a d6 (1-2: Damage, 3-4: Delay, 5-6: Attention).