Making RPGs, Art and More!
It has been a few days since I have come back from a wonderfully weird trip to Game On Expo in Arizona and to Gary Con in Wisconsin. I never thought I would have the opportunity to go to both at these cons and visit these wonderful places, and I am incredibly grateful that I did. Thank you universe!
I am working on a new game called My Dream(less) Journal (that’s actually the game’s 5th name already in its brief existence). I had a flash of inspiration one day talking to my wife, Raquel, about dreams, about how I wish I could remember them, and about writing a Dream Journal. I suddenly realized all these solo games, journaling games, and generators would be perfect to manually generate dream I could write about!
And thus came to be the idea about a solo journaling game about dreams, where you can create your own dreams, based on your own experiences and memories, and then use it to write your own fake dream journal. A Dream Journal for the Dreamless we called.
What follows is a preview of the part in where I explain what is is in the draft of the game. This means this is not the final text folks, but I am enjoying it a lot so fat!
I daydream so much that when I lay down to sleep, my dream pool is all used up. – Diogo Nogueira
Continue reading “WIP – My Dream(less) Journal – What is it?”
The way the characters in the game see and recognize people, objects, structure, and other things is not like we do. We see a small oval vertical smooth placid lake hanging on a cave wall that casts your reflection back at you and we immediately recognize a mirror, they will not.
When we look at something we try to understand it with the library of things we already understand, so as to make it “less scary”. And we know more than any other humans ever knew. The characters in Primal Quest do not have this knowledge however, so they will need to “understand” the things they find in the mythical and weird primal world of the game with what they know, which is not much beyond what they see in the primeval setting they live in.
So when you are describing the world to the players, being their sense in the game, make sure to remember that. Try to imagine you don’t recognize any of these things, and can only rationalize them through the natural world and early technological objects. And then try to explain this to the players. Here are some examples to help you get inspired.
Crashed Plane: A huge creature made of this shining hard rock that makes loud clattering noises when hit. It appears to have wings, but one of them was torn apart from its side, and hundreds of small blank eyes stare at the nothingness. A small mouth on the side lies open, and a furry humanoid is getting in, carrying a sack on their back.
Continue reading “Describing Scenes to Prehistoric Characters”
In the mythical primal world of Thaia, the ancestral spirits of the world can sometimes influence the fate of their descendants by interfering with the world and by lending these individuals their talents. Almost like how players do with their characters.
Thus, in Primal Quest, players also act in the role of Ancestors of their characters, watching over them, lending their strength, and granting them benefits from time to time. As their descendants go out into the world and face a myriad of challenges, they grow, change, and earn Ancestral Points (AP). Then, the players can spend these AP either to improve their descendants through Character Improvement or to grant them Ancestral Gifts.
Continue reading “Primal Quest – Players as Ancestors”Short answers: A lot and not so much. But let’s dig into this and be more clear. My life has been pretty hectic lately. I suffer from anxiety/depression, and even though I am much better at dealing with this than I was a couple of years ago, things can get complicated from time to time, especially when “real life” gets messy as well. In short, I am OK. I am super tired. I wish I was creating more. But for now I am prioritizing my health (physical, mental and emotional), my family, my kid, and unfortunately the job that keeps a roof over our head and food on our plate. But I am working on getting back on the RPG horse. I miss it too much.
Much longer answer: Old Skull Publishing is basically a fantasy name for a company composed of myself, Diogo Nogueira. It’s almost like a mask I put on to pretend to be something else and have the strength and courage to create, produce, and share this creation with others (and even charge for it). And I LOVE doing that. Creating something, sharing with others, and creating connections through this is one of the things that help give meaning to my life. I am incredibly happy and grateful for all the stuff I’ve created so far, for the connections I’ve made (making me feel welcomed and part of a community), and for the many dear and true friend I’ve met, even if we are thousands of kilometers away from each other. I want more of this. But for now, I can’t dedicate myself to this as much as I did before.
Continue reading “What’s Happening with Old Skull Publishing?”