Design

  • Rules Sketch: Ability Scores, Part II

    I’m noodling away at the AFD ruleset, picking at problems. One potential problems is this distribution: Another potential problem is that these don’t all match up with the definitions for Ability Scores: I’m going to experiment with asking you a few questions! If I didn’t give you an answer, answer in the comments! Answer the Continue reading

  • Megadungeon as an Overworld

    I started a low-pressure megadungeon. It’s the opposite of Dungeon23: I don’t have to do anything on it if I don’t want to, but if I’m stuck on something else I can go and just fill out a room or a faction or add an encounter or something. It feels a lot more feasible to Continue reading

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  • Rules Sketch: Barbarian Class

    I’m chipping away at the AFD ruleset now, and I can’t help but feel like I want to add in those missing classes: Barbarian, Monk and Psionicist. Our template for classes is looking like this, on Version 0.14 of Advanced Fantasy Dungeons, this is the Fighter class: Gain proficiency in a weapon of your choice Continue reading

  • New Year’s Resolution Mechanic!

    Warren challenged the DIY elf game blogosphere to create an all new resolution mechanic! My upcoming Bridewell uses tarot as randomisation, so I thought a tarot resolution mechanic would be cool! Give everyone a hand of three tarot cards. When a challenge that offers significant consequence of failure occurs, clarify what success and failure indicates, Continue reading

  • Writing Dungeons Without Dice

    I have two processes for dungeons: In one, I draw a map, then figure out what’s in it. In the other, I figure out what’s in it, and draw the dungeon to match those ideas. The second is really hard, because I usually only have one or two ideas for a full dungeon level. So, Continue reading

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  • Intro to Game Design Carnival

    Over on the Dice Exploder discord, someone was asking about the canon of Game Design, and we all agreed it was pretty fruitless an exercise. So, Sam D suggested we do it personally as a personal canon is more meaningful, I suggested a Blog Carnival, and I proceeded to forget about it until Sam posted Continue reading

  • New Release: Hiss!

    Today I hit “publish” on the small module I’ve been playtesting the last few weeks, Hiss! Hiss is a horror module featuring a doomed village for your diy elfgame. It’s short, dense and flexible, and features simmering tensions that could explode over a short two or three sessions, or could become a mysterious feature of Continue reading

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  • The You’re Not An Idiot Principle

    One of my guiding principles in Bridewell is “The reader is not an idiot”. What do I mean by this? I’m assuming that someone reading my (independently published, single-creator, idiosyncratic horror sandbox influenced by haiku, 17th century literature, and queer rage) setting sandbox has come to it with the wherewithal to figure out how to Continue reading

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  • Combat in Trophy Gold

    Combat in Trophy Gold is a mess, as written in the book. I suspect it’s just badly written, not badly designed. I’m going to decipher it, hack it if necessary. Say how you expose yourself to injury, then roll your weak point. If, during combat, any dark die is equal to your weak point, take Continue reading

  • Bridewell’s Annotated Appendix N

    Influences for Bridewell and my work in general are often distant, vague and sparse. My brain works in impressions, absorbs the shape of a concept which is then brought to bear without reference to the concept itself. So the concept of an Appendix N for it feels odd, but may have value anyway. Books Thematically, Continue reading

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Recent Posts

Threshold of Evil – Dungeon Regular

Dungeon Regular is a show about modules, adventures and dungeons. I’m Nova, also known as Idle Cartulary and I’m reading through Dungeon magazine, one module at a time, picking a few favourite things in that adventure module, and talking about them. On this episode I talk about Threshold of Evil, in Issue #10, March 1988! You can find my famous Bathtub Reviews at my blog, https://playfulvoid.game.blog/, you can buy my supplements for elfgames and Mothership at https://idlecartulary.itch.io/, check out my game Advanced Fantasy Dungeons at https://idlecartulary.itch.io/advanced-fantasy-dungeons and you can support Dungeon Regular on Ko-fi at https://ko-fi.com/idlecartulary.
  1. Threshold of Evil
  2. Secrets of the Towers
  3. Monsterquest
  4. They Also Serve
  5. The Artisan’s Tomb

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