RPGs that use rocks, and a nice video
Two beautiful things as observed by an addled mind
If this post seems different in style, it’s because I’ve got a temporary jaw pain problem that’s got me on a liquid diet. This means my brain chemistry is basically feral, I feel wired and insane right now. Nonetheless…
‘A Perfect Rock’ looks so cool
This is a GM-less, zero-prep world building sci-fi game that uses actual rocks!! Here’s the description from the itch page:
A Perfect Rock is a sci-fi worldbuilding game for rock collectors. Search for a new home by exploring planets made from the rocks, gems, or crystals in your collection.
Create your explorer and their lost homeworld. Discover the strange lands, the cursed skies, or the deadly life on each planet. Debate how you would survive and, when everything has been explored, choose a planet to be your new home.
Plays in just under a couple of hours? I’m breaking this out soon, so I’ll have a lil’ play report, eventually. Go get it for FREE or throw the guy a tip. The publisher is Deep Dark Games, and I’m jealous of his talent. Homie has me feeling competetive.
People are playing this game on the f&^%ing beach. How cool is that? It’s also partially inspired by In This World, and I like that game a lot (I think I’m facilitating it this Tuesday, actually).
Beautiful video, 5 minutes, about wandering
I make YouTube videos, and I think a video with only 500 views or so can be pretty darn good. But some of my own are also pretty crass. I make advice videos, pretty straightforward and utilitarian stuff. This guy did something different, and I like it a lot.
I like that he made something original, original music that matches his tone and doesn’t seem to be winking and nodding. I like how his ethos of play, whether in music or in games, feels like the same ethos. That’s a real author.
I like that he connected tabletop games to another form of art without simply talking about TTRPGs as a way to simulate another medium and its genres. I like the firm connection to philosophy that inspires us to get up and get moving.
Sure, he does some cliches, some cliche shots and interruptions, the thing where a guy goes “Capitalism makes us all into productivity animals,” etc, a sentiment that is beginning to mold a bit.
But he also avoids my important “icks” within the YouTube essay format, like mentioning “liminality” or basically not knowing what he believes.
I like that he knows what he believes, and that he likes it. You should check it out.
Assorted thoughts:
It appears that Nick Gralewicz, when designing the rock game, had gameplay loops in mind. I’ve been thinking about gameplay loops a lot, and it seems this person named Caroline is thinking of them. D&D 5e suffers from having no clear loops, or open loops, or broken loops. Brindlewood Bay and many PbtA games bake the session structure into a separate loop than the mystery structure, which is a very cool thing as well. I guess I’ll write about that at some point.
My thoughts and further conversations with others on r/GMLess and other places leads be to ponder: Could a person write a fool-proof, step-by-step recipe for a good dramatic scene? Something less “Ready… action!” and more “First A, then B, then choose from C or D or E, and bingo, you have a scene.” I can’t stop thinking about this.
The GM-less games community should have a Discord. It’s a lot of work to do, but it might be a cool thing.
Reading Byung-Chul Han’s The palliative society. Can’t stand the stuff, will drop it soon. Gives me the impression that a lot of trendy philosophy is mostly the academic bourgeois complaining about itself and its own surroundings. “We are in a crisis of narration” seems to mean “My colleagues and I have run out of good stories, and we bore each other to death.” Or “We have hidden death and pain from our collective awareness,” seems to mean “My colleagues and I are never around sick or dying people.” Insufferable.
I am disappointed in myself for not completing The Roaring Age’s layout and art yet. I probably shouldn’t be, but I am.