Great article! Agon's islands are fantastic, and I never really appreciated until now how they walk the line between over-written scenario and hands-off story telling prompt.
Personal thought on dungeon crawlers, as someone who has played a lot of Dungeon Crawl Classics lately: factions and conflict are great if you love narrative conflict, but for me the best part about dungeon crawlers are discovery and exploration. I like walking into a room and immediately going "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!?" I've found that this is a personal taste of mine though, and I love that dungeon crawling is able to support both play experiences.
I'm sure a ton of people agree with you about dungeon crawling. I really aspire to that kind of play and think I would enjoy it, but I've found my players do too much of that "this looks dangerous, don't touch it" thing and need more of a push.
Maybe that means I need better dungeons though! Do you have any recs to share?
Yeah, that’s a huge problem too. If players are too afraid of getting hurt, than they’re really not buying into the experience you’re offering. DCC teaches you pretty quick that death is cheap and losing characters is part of the fun.
First thing that comes to mind is Bakto’s Terrifying Cuisine by Roll 4 Tarrasque, which is an Iron Chef parody where players must create a meal for a demon using ingredients from the dungeon itself. You’re guaranteed to die if you DON’T explore the dungeon, and there’s a time limit, so there’s an incentive to try things out and explore everything. Also has lots of factions and wtf moments to keep things spicy.
My other thought is The Alchemist’s Repose by Questing Beast. More puzzle-driven than combat driven, if I remember right.
Great article! Agon's islands are fantastic, and I never really appreciated until now how they walk the line between over-written scenario and hands-off story telling prompt.
Personal thought on dungeon crawlers, as someone who has played a lot of Dungeon Crawl Classics lately: factions and conflict are great if you love narrative conflict, but for me the best part about dungeon crawlers are discovery and exploration. I like walking into a room and immediately going "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!?" I've found that this is a personal taste of mine though, and I love that dungeon crawling is able to support both play experiences.
I'm sure a ton of people agree with you about dungeon crawling. I really aspire to that kind of play and think I would enjoy it, but I've found my players do too much of that "this looks dangerous, don't touch it" thing and need more of a push.
Maybe that means I need better dungeons though! Do you have any recs to share?
Yeah, that’s a huge problem too. If players are too afraid of getting hurt, than they’re really not buying into the experience you’re offering. DCC teaches you pretty quick that death is cheap and losing characters is part of the fun.
First thing that comes to mind is Bakto’s Terrifying Cuisine by Roll 4 Tarrasque, which is an Iron Chef parody where players must create a meal for a demon using ingredients from the dungeon itself. You’re guaranteed to die if you DON’T explore the dungeon, and there’s a time limit, so there’s an incentive to try things out and explore everything. Also has lots of factions and wtf moments to keep things spicy.
My other thought is The Alchemist’s Repose by Questing Beast. More puzzle-driven than combat driven, if I remember right.
These are great, thanks!