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    <title>levigilbert.dev</title>
    <link>http://levigilbert.dev</link>
    <description>Personal webpage and blog of Levi Gilbert</description>
    <language>en-us</language>
    <managingEditor>levigilbert00@gmail.com</managingEditor>
    <webMaster>levigilbert00@gmail.com</webMaster>
    <copyright>Copyright © 2022 Levi Gilbert</copyright>
    <item>
      <title>Leveling Up without Leveling Up</title>
      <pubDate>Wed, 21 Dec 2022 16:00:01 -0600</pubDate>
      <link>https://levigilbert.dev/posts/levelingUpWithoutLevelingUp</link>
      <author>levigilbert00@gmail.com</author>
      <category>ttrpg, design</category>
      <description><![CDATA[I haven’t written a post in a while and folks on Discord were talking about leveling up. Typically in ttrpgs you gain experience points from playing the game and then at a certain point, sometimes after every session, you can spend those points and level up your character. This usually grants your character some extra HP, stat increases, and new abilities. 
<p>For this design exercise I’m going to try to:</p>
<H3>Remove</H3>
<ul>
<li>Numbers/tracking XP 
<li>Stat increases 
<li>New abilities </li></ul>
<H3>Keep</H3>
<ul>
<li>Closure 
<li>Sense of achievement 
<li>Break in the action </li></ul>
<p>I’m not as interested in the mechanical side of leveling up. I think there’s been some good discussion on diegetic advancement, having your characters change, etc. I’m more interested in that feeling of leveling up at the end of a session and try to capture that in a different way by having the players make camp and change the pace of the game at the end of a session.</p>
<H2>Make a Campfire</H2>
<p>If the session is winding down, 15 minutes left, try making a campfire.</p>
<p>Roll a d6:</p>
<OL>
<li>A small fire that flickers out half-way through the night. You will get little rest. 
<li>It is an ok fire. 
<li>A perfectly fine fire. 
<li>A good fire. You will feel better in the morning. 
<li>One might worry about waking up on fire. 
<li>A very large and bright fire. Maybe a bit too visible. </li></OL><H2">Tell Stories by the Fire 
<H2></H2>
<p>Each player takes turns discussing:</p>
<OL>
<li>What your favorite part of the session was. 
<li>If your character has changed (mentally, physically, beliefs, etc). 
<li>What you hope for in the days to come. </li></OL>
<H2>Sleep and Dream</H2>
<p>At the beginning of the next session each player rolls a d6. Tell them what they dream:</p>
<OL>
<li>Portents. 
<li>Clues. 
<li>Strange and confusing. 
<li>Something from the past. 
<li>Nightmares. 
<li>You can’t remember. </li></OL>
<p>Weave these into the fiction. If you need a spark of inspiration, use the following tables:</p>
<OL>
<li>Crows 
<li>Crowns 
<li>Death 
<li>Blood 
<li>Bones 
<li>Darkness </li></OL>
<HR>

<OL>
<li>Treasure 
<li>Snake 
<li>Sword 
<li>Poison 
<li>Heart 
<li>Sun </li></OL>
<HR>

<OL>
<li>Wind 
<li>Family 
<li>Chains 
<li>Bridge 
<li>Peace 
<li>War </li></OL>
<H2>Final Thoughts</H2>
<p>The intent is to allow for players to reflect on the session and allow for feedback. Also allowing for some potential direction the players may be interested in that the GM doesn’t know about. This change of pace allows for a break in the action and to keep things fresh.</p>]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Keep your eyes on the Road</title>
      <pubDate>Wed, 1 Jun 2022 17:03:41 -0600</pubDate>
      <link>https://levigilbert.dev/posts/keepYourEyesOnTheRoad</link>
      <author>levigilbert00@gmail.com</author>
      <category>ttrpg, design</category>
      <description><![CDATA[<H1 class=title>Keep your Eyes on the Road</H1>
<p class=subtitle>A fast and furious tabletop roleplaying game</p></HEADER><SECTION>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<p>This post is somewhere between a game and game design. It started as satire, not sure where it’s ended up. Eventually I’ll make a version 2 that is more of a typical ttrpg.</p></BLOCKQUOTE><FIGURE></FIGURE>
<p>It’s an obscure time that could be anywhere between 1970 and now. That’s not important. What’s important is cars and family.</p>
<p>This game is intended for a crew that’s played a couple ttrpgs before, if not then your mileage may vary. You can use dice if you want, d6’s are fun, but use whatever. You at least need to know that the Fast and Furious franchise exists.</p></SECTION><SECTION>
<H2 id=how-to-play>How to Play</H2>
<p>Characters drive the game. Play is structured into sequences, which tell the story of family. This is the end goal, all roads lead to family.</p>
<H3 id=whats-a-sequence>What’s a Sequence?</H3>
<p>This section is based around the ideas from Paul Gulin’s book: “Screenwriting: The Sequence Approach”.</p>
<p>According to Paul Gulin:</p>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<p>“A typical two-hour film is composed of sequences—eight- to fifteen-minute segments that have their own internal structure—in effect, shorter films built inside the larger film.”</p></BLOCKQUOTE>
<p>He also explains that:</p>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<p>“The difference between a sequence and a stand-alone fifteen-minute film is that the conflicts and issues raised in a sequence are only partially resolved within the sequence, and when they are resolved, the resolution often opens up new issues, which in turn become the subject of subsequent sequences.”</p></BLOCKQUOTE>
<p>If you are still confused then maybe The White Stripes can explain it better than I can: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KSvGOKH5zxk">https://www.youtube.com/embed/KSvGOKH5zxk</a></p>
<p>This is a similar concept to Dreaming Dragonslayer’s posts on scenes (<a href="https://dreamingdragonslayer.com/2021/09/27/scene-based-adventure-principles/">linked here</a>).</p>
<p>So you have a sequence. Conflicts and issues are raised in the sequence. They’re only partially resolved and their resolution often opens up new issues which are addressed in future sequences.</p>
<H3 id=how-do-i-make-a-sequence>How do I make a Sequence?</H3>
<p>Here are some tips:</p>
<ul>
<li>What’s the sequence about? 
<li>What’s it really about? 
<li>Sequence length = how much you care x number of characters in the scene </li></ul>
<p>Ultimately the goal of each sequence in a screenplay is to engage the audience. In the case of a ttrpg, we want to engage the players. Paul Gulin gives us some tools to do so (starting from weakest to strongest):</p>
<p><strong>Telegraphing</strong>: This is where you explicitly tell the audience what would happen in the future. This could be saying where you’re headed next, getting into a car or plane, etc. Related to this is the idea of a ticking clock or a deadline. You can also do what he calls “False Telegraphing”, when what you telegraph doesn’t happen. A twist.</p>
<p>Pretty standard “how stories work”, ticking clocks and deadlines are interesting though and are a good way to create some tension/pressure.</p>
<p><strong>Dangling Cause</strong>: Cause and effect, but you let the effect dangle for a while.</p>
<p>Choices having consequences, but the consequences aren’t seen right away. You’re creating anticipation.</p>
<p><strong>Dramatic Irony</strong>: Omniscient narration, when you know more than the characters.</p>
<p>In ttrpgs this might be considered meta-gaming. Sometimes this can lead to powerful moments when you know it’s a bad idea to do something, but you do it anyway because that’s what your character would do.</p>
<p><strong>Dramatic Tension</strong>: Somebody wants something badly and is having a hard time getting it. Also someone trying to escape something, but having a hard time doing so.</p>
<p>This is the juice. It’s the gasoline that makes the car go. Have your characters want something badly and make sure they have a hard time getting it.</p>
<p>This sounds an awful lot like character growth.</p>
<p>How do you do a character growth?</p>
<H3 id=how-to-do-a-character-growth>How to do a character growth</H3>
<ul>
<li>What does the character want? 
<li>What do they actually need? 
<li>Do they figure out what they need? 
<li>What happens if they don’t? </li></ul>
<p>This is also called a character arc.</p>
<p>Always remember: this isn’t about heists, it’s not about street races, and it sure as shit isn’t about cars. These are only ever analogies for what is really important.</p></SECTION><SECTION>
<H2 id=character-creation>Character Creation</H2>
<p>You can be an undercover cop, a street racer, really whatever you want, it doesn’t matter. What matters is cars and family.</p>
<H3 id=cars-and-family>Cars and Family</H3>
<p>Actually cars don’t matter either, it’s all about family.</p>
<H3 id=cars-and-family-1><DEL>Cars and</DEL> Family</H3>
<p>Your character either starts out with a family or they don’t.</p>
<p>If you’re starting out with a family the sequence that introduces your character should be with your family and you should be having dinner together or hanging out being a family.</p>
<p>If you don’t start out with a family your starting sequence can be whatever.</p>
<p>Either way, come up with some dramatic tension for your character or pick one from the list below. This is what your character wants and should be incorporated into the starting sequence.</p>
<OL type=1>
<li>They want money. 
<li>They’re trying to escape the law. 
<li>They want to win a race. 
<li>They’re trying to get out of crippling debt. 
<li>They want a friend. 
<li>They want to get out of jail. </li></OL>
<p>Your character doesn’t realize it, but what do they actually need?</p>
<OL type=1>
<li>To let go of the past. 
<li>To care about someone other than themselves. 
<li>That it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey. 
<li>!? 
<li>!? 
<li>!? </li></OL></SECTION><SECTION>
<H2 id=starting-sequence>Starting Sequence</H2>
<p>Come up with a sequence that introduces your character.</p>
<ul>
<li>Bonus points if you introduce multiple characters in the same sequence. 
<li>What do you spend points on? Doesn’t matter. 
<li>You know what matters. </li></ul>
<p>In this sequence we get to find out what your character wants and that want is what drives the game forward. Your character is having a hard time getting what they want, which creates conflict. Conflict creates tension which eventually has a resolution, but may create more conflict.</p></SECTION><SECTION>
<H2 id=next-sequences>Next Sequences</H2>
<p>Telegraph the next sequence. If you dangled a cause in a previous sequence then let’s see the effect. However, you could leave it and drag it out a bit longer. If you just started playing the game then there should be more conflicts created than resolved and the conflicts you do resolve should cause other conflicts to arise. The opposite is true if you’re wanting your game to start coming to a close.</p></SECTION><SECTION>
<H2 id=where-does-this-highway-lead-to>Where does this highway lead to?</H2>
<p>Eventually your conflicts will be resolved and your character’s arc will come to a close. Did they get what they wanted? Did they learn what they actually needed? If you’re doing a one-shot then great, but if you’re wanting to do multiple sessions you can have your characters arc last through multiple sessions or resolve and come up with new wants and needs or those wants and needs can change throughout the course of playing.</p>
<p>And that’s how you play a fast and furious game of tabletop roleplaying.</p></FOOTER>]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Situational Design for TTRPG Adventures</title>
      <pubDate>Wed, 25 May 2022 21:22:40 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://levigilbert.dev/posts/situationalDesignForRPGAdventures</link>
      <author>levigilbert00@gmail.com</author>
      <category>ttrpg, design</category>
      <description><![CDATA[<H1 id=situational-design-for-ttrpg-adventures>Situational Design for TTRPG Adventures</H1>
<p>This write up takes the lessons and tools from “Situational Design” by Brian Upton and explores how you might use them to create a simple ttrpg adventure. I highly recommend reading the book. It’s one of the most influential books on design that I’ve read in the last couple years.</p>
<p>The basic methodology is:</p>
<OL type=1>
<li>Start with an <strong>experience</strong> you want the player to have. 
<li>Identify <strong>moves</strong> or actions that express that experience. 
<li>Figure out playful <strong>situations</strong> that will structure those moves. 
<li>Determine the <strong>constraints</strong> we need to create those situations. 
<li>Design a <strong>subsystem</strong> that will evoke those constraints. </li></OL>
<p>Since this is a blog post it will be simplified for the sake of brevity. Let’s take some of the concepts from the book and see how we might use them to make an adventure.</p>
<H2 id=whats-the-experience>What’s the experience?</H2>
<p>Brief description of the type of experience you’re creating. Touchstones, theme, genre, tone, etc. Everything should relate back to the experience you want. This is our guiding light.</p>
<p>Examples:</p>
<ul>
<li>Adventurers in a classic dungeon delve 
<li>Highschoolers in a horror mystery 
<li>Detectives in a pulp noir </li></ul>
<H2 id=what-are-the-players-moves>What are the players moves?</H2>
<p>Moves are what the player can do in the game that evoke that experience. The goal of this step is to build up a specific sense of what it means moment to moment for the player to inhabit their intended role within the game.</p>
<p>Examples:</p>
<ul>
<li>Loot a corpse 
<li>Shine a flashlight down a dark hallway 
<li>Knock out a thug in an alley </li></ul>
<H2 id=what-types-of-situations-help-structure-those-moves>What types of situations help structure those moves?</H2>
<p>For the player to do these moves, they need to be in a situation that allows them to. This step is pretty straight forward. If your game is about exploration then the players need to be put into situations that allow them to explore. When designing situations always look for opportunities to incorporate choice, consequence, variety, and predictability.</p>
<p>Examples:</p>
<ul>
<li>A monster eating a corpse, it started at you. 
<li>A dark hallway with sounds of scurrying, you hear something behind you 
<li>A thug in an alley, he’s dragging a body behind a dumpster. </li></ul>
<p>Wait, what’s this about choice, consequence, variety, and predictability? These are our Pillars of Playfulness.</p>
<ul>
<li>We need choices, not too many and not too few. 
<li>Choices need consequences. 
<li>Variety in choices, consequences, situations, etc. </li></ul>
<p>Predictability? Isn’t that bad? Choices you make should have some level of predictability. Not necessarily complete predictability, and in fact that’s usually quite boring, but you want some predictability. If you drop a rock it falls to the ground.</p>
<p>If you don’t have predictability there’s no choice because you don’t know what the consequences of those choices are. If you have a choice between going left or right and the paths are identical then that’s not really a choice. If down one path we smell fresh baked bread and down another we hear people talking, well now it’s a choice and there’s some level of predictability in the consequences of your actions.</p>
<H2 id=what-constraints-do-we-need-to-create-those-situations>What constraints do we need to create those situations?</H2>
<p>Constraints are interesting because they are both the rules of the game and the rules we create in our heads. If I’m playing a wizard there may be rules that constrain how wizards work in the game, but also I may have rules I’ve created in my mind on how I would role play my wizard character. The rules may say how to use magic, but I might choose to have my wizard only use fire magic.</p>
<p>Situations are structured by constraints and determine what moves the player can do. We limit ourselves to the moves we believe are possible.</p>
<p>Examples:</p>
<ul>
<li>What the player knows about vampires 
<li>what the game tells us about vampires 
<li>Rules in the game for how vampires work </li></ul>
<H2 id=how-can-we-create-a-subsystem-that-evokes-those-constraints>How can we create a subsystem that evokes those constraints?</H2>
<p>This is finally where you create a subsystem that has constraints that create situations where the players perform the moves that embody the experience. Since this post is about ttrpg adventure design, this is often:</p>
<ul>
<li>Locations 
<li>Characters 
<li>Creatures 
<li>Items/Treasure 
<li>Random Encounters </li></ul>
<p>It could also be rules, procedures, maps, etc. As long as it’s helping create those constraints.</p>
<p>Also keep in mind the constraints the player brings with them from their previous experiences. This gets into who you are designing for and what they know. Play tests are a great way to check your work and see if your design is working as intended. You might accidentally design with yourself in mind and likely you know things that the players do not. This can create confusion and the experience may not be what you were intending.</p>
<H2 id=the-adventure>The Adventure</H2>
<p>Let’s see what this might look like in creating an adventure. First, what’s the experience?</p>
<ul>
<li>Highschool 
<li>Horror 
<li>Mystery </li></ul>
<p>Next let’s make some possible moves, keeping in mind the experience we’re trying to create:</p>
<ul>
<li>Attending a highschool dance. 
<li>Searching for a missing friend. 
<li>Tracking a monster. </li></ul>
<p>What situations would allow the players to perform these moves?</p>
<ul>
<li>The players are roleplaying as highschoolers and there’s a dance at their highschool. 
<li>Another kid is freaking out and desperately asks the players to help find their missing friend. 
<li>The players come across claw marks in walls, a shoe, bloody marks, or even footprints. </li></ul>
<p>Do these situations hold up to our Pillars of Playfulness?</p>
<p>Theres a choice to go to the dance or not, but it doesn’t seem like there’s any consequences. Maybe you have a date and if you don’t go then you’d be standing them up. What about variety? Currently I don’t think there’s much for variety. It’s mostly one choice, maybe one or two consequences. What if we have our second situation: the missing friend, happen at the same time? Then the choices and consequences are much more interesting. Going back to variety, we can also try not to repeat the same situations too much. Maybe we don’t constantly have dances happening and people going missing.</p>
<p>Finally, there’s predictability. You can probably guess what will happen if we go to the dance or not. What will happen to the missing friend if you don’t help though is a bit ambiguous. If the friend shows us the missing persons shoe and it has some blood on it though, then you have a pretty good idea of what will happen if you don’t find them. This becomes tricky though if the player suddenly thinks the missing person is way more interesting then the choice between that and the dance is diminished. Potentially it could not become a choice at all, which is the tricky part I think.</p>
<p>Finally, what subsystem(s) will create the constraints needed for these situations?</p>
<p>Starting the adventure off with the previously mentioned dance and missing friend situation seems to make sense and jumps us right into the experience we’re going for. We could also create some countdown timers to track the monster and other events in the game.</p>
<p>Let’s create some lists! I’m trying to tie these to highschool, horror, and mystery. I’m thinking about what the players would be doing and what situations they might find themselves in. These all should help express that experience.</p>
<H3 id=locations>Locations</H3>
<OL type=1>
<li>Highschool 
<li>Graveyard 
<li>Haunted mansion 
<li>Abandoned convenience store 
<li>Junkyard on the edge of town 
<li>“Makeout Point” </li></OL>
<H3 id=characters>Characters</H3>
<OL type=1>
<li>The e-girl 
<li>Golfer bro 
<li>Otaku 
<li>Vlogger 
<li>Camo queen 
<li>Cyber stoner </li></OL>
<H3 id=monsters>Monsters</H3>
<OL type=1>
<li>Vampire king 
<li>Vengeful cheerleader 
<li>Mind control parasite 
<li>CIA/FBI 
<li>Doppelganger 
<li>Eldritch god </li></OL>
<H3 id=items>Items</H3>
<OL type=1>
<li>Credit card 
<li>Wad of gum 
<li>Hairspray 
<li>Super glue 
<li>2006 Toyota Corolla 
<li>Bike helmet </li></OL>
<H3 id=random-encounters>Random Encounters</H3>
<OL type=1>
<li>Bad weather 
<li>Monster clues 
<li>Your phone rings 
<li>!? 
<li>!? </li></OL>
<p>I think I’m going to end this post here. It’s not a complete adventure, but hopefully it gets the idea across. Again, I highly recommend the book and maybe this post will help give you some ideas. (I think I need to work on how to end these posts, this one’s a little abrupt)</p>
<p>-Levi</p>]]></description>
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