Skip to main content

Further Amberlodge Playtest Post-Mortem

Today I thought I’d look more closely at one of the things I gleaned from my recent build-as-I-go playtest of Amberlodge.  Specifically, the input parameters for Processor cards, and how I need to tailor those to the outputs of the Producer cards.  My confirmation bias had me looking at the cards and continually returning a faulty confirmation of bad logic.


The big picture takeaway is that because I was thinking about the resource conversion chain from the standpoint of Ratios, I forgot that you need to divide out the common factors to get the least common denominator, because concentrating a solution (9Water1Sugar) only removes excess (Water), it doesn’t add the target resource (Sugar).  And, consequently, that I need to tailor the input requirements of the Processors, because I’d set them up based on that faulty logic.  A fermentation card that accepts water with a higher sugar concentration shouldn’t be set up to accept 10 units of a solution to which sugar has somehow been added (8Water2Sugar) but 5 units of a solution where water has been removed (4Water1Sugar).  That’s not to say there can’t be a large fermentor that for some reason accepts two 5-unit batches of (4Water1Sugar), but that can’t be the default, otherwise you can’t start fermenting until you have distilled two batches of Maple Sap.  Again, maybe I want to inject that challenge, but for proof of concept, that’s counter-effective.


This has also sparked a couple of other possibilities for me.  One is how these resources are tracked.  I’ve been loathe to reduce the granularity of resources, but I shouldn’t rule out lots as cards, perhaps with clips since they’ll move around so often.  So a maple tree produces a card that starts out with clips at the 1 hashmark for sugar, and the 9 hashmark for water.  Since I dislike clips in tabletop, I could also go bolder: Have each Lot be represented by A) a card in a fixed location, where tokens can be placed on tracks to indicate amounts and B) A token tied to that Lot which moves from card to card to represent that Lot’s progress in processing.  Worth examining, could greatly cut down on the number of components, even if it doesn’t chop down cost.


One last thought on Amberlodge I want to get out of my brain: Something I keep wishing for in Stardew is the ability to improve the things I build.  I loooooove that you can fertilize the soil for planting, and that your hives produce different kinds of honey based on what flowers they’re near.  But I’d also love to be able to improve or alter all the other resource converters in the game.  So why not build that into Amberlodge? I should look at actions that better automate the Processor cards, or change their output, or that improve/change the yield for Producer cards.  Go beyond the source material.


That’s enough words for now.  Until next week.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

TTRPG Tuesday: Three Means Of Resolving

Hi it’s another TTRPG Tuesday! First of the year.  Let’s get right into it. Saw a challenge on Twitter to make some resolution mechanics.  I can do those! Here we go: Hand to Hand The player performing the action and the person running the game or otherwise opposing the action both put their dominant fists toward one another, bounce them three times to get a rhythm, and reveal a number with their fingers, 0-5.  Sum the two numbers, and if the number is greater than 5, subtract six, so that the final number is always between 0 and 5.  On a 0, the action fails catastrophically, on a 1-2 it fails, 3-4 it succeeds, on a 5 it succeeds spectacularly.  The player taking the action starts the game with all five fingers up on their non-dominant hand; after an attempt, they may lower fingers on that hand to add to the sum of the attempt. Ex. Alice attempts to seduce Cat’s character over to the coup conspirators.  They put their dominant hands together (right for ...
Post a Comment
Read more

TTRPG Tuesday: Campaigning

  Hey it's TTRPG Tuesday, let's see if I get something written before sleep overtakes me. I'm still on that Channelers kick, but today I want to talk about a possible campaign path: The Magpie Offensive.  I see this as a military campaign where the PCs are conscripted, volunteers, or mercenaries for an army that is marching to quell Spirit threats and unite the region under a protectorate. There should be free RP sections as interludes between missions, and missions should be chosen by the party.  The army ensures loyalty with intangible rewards as well as artifact items. NOTE: This whole thing is being designed with the Rascal article on militarization in ttrpgs in mind. What is the thrust of the campaign? It's fundamentally one of conquest.  How do I encourage characters to question their presence and their complicity? How much interpersonal violence is an acceptable price to pay for environmental justice? How can party composition affect all this from jump? H...
Post a Comment
Read more

TTRPG Tuesday: Channeling Curses

  Hey it's TTRPG Tuesday.  Well I’m gonna start writing one on a Tuesday.  We’ll see how it goes. Been doing a lot of writing on Channelers lately.  And this time is no exception! In particular, I’ve been wondering if there's room for a sixth Calling: the Haunted. The Haunted There are those who live with a Spiritual affliction: a family curse, intermittent possession, psychic wounds from exposure to a manifestation - whatever the cause, the Haunted lives with a power they can try to manage but never fully control.  The act of Channeling itself is risky, with twisted and unpredictable Techniques and Incarnations, and a tendency for the Haunted’s power to run away from them. The hidden truth of every Haunted is that they bear their burden because they believe they deserve it.  They may despise their state or try to suppress it, but they will remain cursed only as long as they believe, consciously or otherwise, that they should be.  If a Haunted eve...
Post a Comment
Read more