Unexpectedly, we've had a couple of days off, and today I got some time to have a good look at what I'd written so far for the game. I think I'd like to be a person who could write "Bear" on a scrap of paper and be happy to use that to test things out. Especially as this isn't a miniatures game, I'm just doing it because it feels like a fun way to visualise the bits of the rules I'm testing.
Instead, I spent a while yesterday making a fold-up shack (https://verdant-core.itch.io/the-cabin) to add to the fold-up trees I made a while ago. It's all sounding very much like a fairy tale so far? Surely there will be some bears, seeking porridge? Or some wolves, huffing and puffing? Well, of course!
Today I spend a little while making poor outlines of a wolf/dog and a bear and making stand-up counters to use in the increasingly elaborate definitely-not-miniature-based game.
I also had a good read through the rules I'd typed up and realised that I had tweaked or replaced most of it in rough notes on various bits of paper as I had random ideas in different locations. I spent a little time hunting through the bin for the updated list of items I'd torn up when I assumed I'd already added it to the typed version. Nice.
However, I did finally get sorted, and created two characters, found villagers for them to possess, generated a local map and faced them off against three of the dogs. One character managed to frighten one dog off (using their Will to try to intimidate the dog), while the other had less luck in hiding from the other two. A brief scuffle broke out, and the characters came out on top, despite one having a serious wound to their arm that is going to leave a scar. Wounds are either Serious or Minor, but either one has a chance of leaving a scar.
In character creation, I toned down the visual clues of possession - no longer will a person suddenly sprout wings or gain an aura around their head. If the characters are to blend in, the outward change of appearance must be subtle, at least at first.
One of the disadvantages of not having a regular group and not finding it easy to arrange ad hoc games online is that I end up testing and tweaking without any input. I think I need to work towards making a play testable version of the rules and see if anyone wants to play and feed back on how it works. I wonder what other isolated game writer people do?
Next steps are more play-though, asking some searching questions about whether the rule are a light as I would like and adding in more flavour.
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