By: Steph, Liese, and Kay
Designing a table-top roleplay game immediately presented some obstacles for us. First and foremost, two of us had never experienced TTRPGs before, and one of us had very limited experience. Secondly, carving out a concept for our game in the terrifyingly vast world of TTRPGs would be difficult, especially since TTRPGs come in all forms and all kinds of genres. The slideshow the professor presented in class became an important beacon for us by giving us a set of TTRPG standards and structures to work off of. We were immediately drawn to the TTRPGs that stepped away from conventional combat game mechanics and instead had game mechanics focused around other activities such as conversation or investigation– non-combat TTRPGs felt like a fertile opportunity for creativity and finding different ways to design playful experiences. However, none of us had ever played a non-combat TTRPG. To alleviate this informational blindspot, we gathered some friends and went to the MADD center to play some non-combat TTRPGs, choosing Fiasco and Dialect for their unconventional mechanics. We found some helpful insight by playing these games, specifically in how these games create a sense of game progression. That issue of game structure stumped us for a while– TTRPGs must be flexible enough to encourage meaningful, enjoyable roleplaying, but there still had to be a substantial skeleton for the roleplay to build off of. We wondered, how do games thread that needle? What kinds of game progression models thread that needle? Fiasco and Dialect provided two different examples, and we found that we appreciated Dialect’s structure (prompt cards, role cards, turn-of-play cards) more than that of Fiasco, which felt like an aimless, almost endless cycle of the same kinds of mechanics.
Keeping in mind the elements we enjoyed in Dialect and Fiasco, we set out to brainstorm a concept that would allow players to work cooperatively on building or designing something with varied, fun elements and the potential for evolution. We knew that we also wanted to maintain the possibility for complicated dynamics, tension, or competition between the characters. We came up with a cult-building concept, imagining that players would brainstorm central tenets, manipulation tactics, rituals, and thematic elements and enjoying the darkness of the theme. We discussed whether the players should work collaboratively, designing one cult but occupying different leadership roles, or design competing sects. We decided that the latter might better suit a board game format, and would necessitate more scored and prescribed elements later on in gameplay that would limit the creativity and storytelling in the game. Once deciding on a general theme, we spent a good amount of our first meeting brainstorming mechanics. We struggled with choosing a resolution mechanic, as we knew we wanted something that employed the mind control/coercion/persuasion tactics of a cult, but that also incorporated enough of an element of chance or determination that the game wouldn’t be immediately winnable by a united group of players who faced no conflict. The idea of assigning roles within the cult – things like cult leader, head recruiter, seer, enforcer, etc. – was also intriguing to us, and something we discussed balancing with player-led character creation and as a potential source of conflicting goals or motivations for different players.
By the time of our second meeting, our ideas were more fleshed out. Steph introduced the idea of setting the game within the cult’s delusion, rather than at an objective distance. We decided that this would help establish a more achievable and uniting goal for the characters, and allow us to push the boundaries of reality and fantasy within the world. We also decided on a two-fold resolution mechanic that incorporated both a time-limit for the endgame (our burning candle) and a physical manifestation of the players’ progression through the game (the filled “chalices of blood”). We brainstormed some initial ideas for “event” cards and worked out logistics for water quantities, deck separation, and player motivations. One of our main sticking points was figuring out how to keep players from collaborating perfectly throughout the entire game, eliminating any friction and making the goal too achievable. We sought to balance players’ individual goals, which we thought should be in conflict, with the incredibly pressing group goal of stopping the apocalypse, which produced our current set of “win conditions.”
Before testing our prototype, we spent the day putting the final touches on the game. This meant generating content to put onto our “Environmental” and “Demon Decree” cards, and gathering supplies for gameplay. Overall, we wanted the cards to affect how the players made their appeasements to the “Demon Lord,” so there are both fun and cult-life aspects to make it more balanced. Also, when searching for materials to use in our game, we had to get creative as we didn’t want to spend too much money. So, we gathered materials from our jobs, dorms, and apartments in order to bring the cult experience to life.
