Phase 4: Tightening Things Up
Armed with a list of ideas, we now have to start trimming. We get 8 pages. 16 if we use A5, but that’s still the same real estate. My extra self is going to try hard mode, so even less space than that. Now, you can pack more in if you forgo a cover. Even more if you forgo art entirely. I want art.
I’m going to make a case for art here. Several finalists last year lacked much art. They used the words to convey value and theme. It’s entirely possible. I am of the mind that a single good picture can convey more than words could. Well applied, the art can add information you don’t have the space to type out. Art also evokes a feel. Considering I have to convey NES 8-bit, art is going to do a lot of heavy lifting here. Something to keep in mind when you are deciding what to keep or drop.
Okay, rant about art over (for now). Time for the meat and potatoes.
Seeking Input
We have a discussion board and a discord channel dedicated to talking about the game. USE THEM! I am creative. I like to consider myself smart and entertaining. I am one man. This year there are over 200 people in this competition. Of those, maybe 50 actively talk on the channel. I’d be an idiot not to put my ideas out there and see what comes back.
But what if someone steals my idea? They won’t. They want to do something original and stealing something another person openly talked about is tacky. More importantly, even if they do take the idea, what they create is going to be miles away from yours. Everyone’s different. Seriously, don’t fret it.
So where input is really valuable is getting past your blind spots. As an example, the dino/monster body I was having issues with. I kept imagining it would be linear. That worked in a side-scroller, but not in a dungeon. Digestive tracts are notoriously linear.
I pointed this out on the channel that I really liked the idea, but didn’t want a railroad. I was so tightly focused on the digestive tract, I was blind to reality. It’s a dead body. Others pointed out if it had been dead, scavengers could have been creating tunnels and hollowing out some of the organ areas. It could create a number of connections to other areas and grim chambers. With that in mind, there’s no need for it to be linear!
Dropping Elements
I like the idea of a duck racial heritage or adding a new class. Last year I added a class and was pleased with it’s unique benefits for game play. This year though, the most reasonable additions wouldn’t add anything to usability of the entry, nor any long-term benefit for players to take with them. They’re just so tangential that they would actually detract.
Some of the other things I am dropping are locations like the mansion and snow area. The green and yellow pipe ideas aren’t going to fit into this. I need to stay tight on a central set of ideas. Tossing in things like Ikari meaning angry are questionable at best. That one is on a side-burner and may get dropped too.
Transforming weapons, while interesting, won’t tie well into the thematic elements I am working with, so that’s out too. Pogo’s gone. Shocker I know. A teleportation mirror is on the maybe list, but probably not going to fit. We’ll see when I get a bit further along.
Stitching Together Elements
Okay, so now for the general setup. This is a primordial jungle. Thick to the point of blocking light even in the day, but I am going to lock it into a cycle of permanent night. This will let me tie the moon in as a nod back to the moon level from Ducktales. I’m also going to put an active volcano in the deep forest. The idea of a dead dino dungeon and the already-dead boss are going to be tied together. A huge dragon-eater monster supposedly protects the McGuffin treasure. It’s already dead and finding the treasure means a literal looting of the body!
ABBA is going to become Ab-Ba, who was a goddess of primordial life. Sometime in antiquity, she warred with a god of death and god of fire. Her territory got locked in this endless cycle and she died. Her last remaining power is in idols of Ab-Ba and it is possible to evoke her name to restore life to the recently fallen. This setup also allows me to tie undead and fire/explosion elements to the enemies who’ve lingered here. The great beast mentioned before probably protects her greatest treasure and was a defiance of the other two gods who long ago abandoned this place. There are a lot of small ruins. Just little stone caves and temples with lingering traps and hidden treasures.
I’m probably going to apply the bone key to the primary dungeon. We will see once I am further along.
The Devil in the Details
Details are important. Details are also hard to include when you get two sentences to convey most concepts. I get maybe two paragraphs to convey the idea of the setting. I can maybe have two or three NPCs, A few custom monsters along with references to ones from the book. A couple of unique items are an option too.
I’m going to use random tables to do a bit of the work here too. Since I can’t map every little location, I can use a random table system to convey aspects of what is found as they explore around and let the DM do the on-the-fly jungle map. Perhaps a chart where you can make a roll and determine a ruin type, an event/enemy, and a treasure. 10 to 20 options can create a ton of mix and match happening to build interest.
If I include a rumor table right at the beginning, it can go a long way to flesh out some of the lore without taking a lot of space. Mentioning things I can’t actually add statistically.
Conclusion
So now I have a working setting concept, a set of enemies, locations, potential treasures and events. This should be a lot to work with. In the next one, I need to work out some design choices for how to tie the art elements into these ideas as a means to make the most use out of my limited space. This is going to be where a lot of the ‘vibe’ elements come into play.
