Shadowdark 8-Bit Game Jam Diary #2

Ri'gal won the Steelblade Cup with trickery and deceit, waking the Divine Automaton and unleashing the Animalized. Even with the plateau devastated, the Steelblade games continue. The surviving Dorani cling to the hope that a champion, the reincarnation of all before, shall win the cup and end the terror of Ri'Gal. But how much longer can the games continue before there aren't any Dorani left?

After my first diary I made a satisfying conceptual soup of my three games (predominantly Rygar flavored). This diary concerns the past four days of intermittent work on scope, layout, content, and a general vibe I'm going for.

Scope

I love getting into a flow state where ideas dovetail into each other. But when this recent wave of inspiration ceased I had summarized 10,000 years of history in one nausea inducing bullet list. This list didn't make me feel excited. Instead I felt dread about how much work I just gave myself. So I started chopping and organizing- distilling a "master truth". What is too convoluted? What is cool? What seems out of place? How am I going to accomplish this? What limits do I need to establish? What is my overall goal?

I drew a lot of inspiration from this video by Dungeoncraft, the "7-Hex Codex" by Castle Grief, the "Hex Crawl as a Mega Dungeon" by Strange Flight, and of course the Cursed Scrolls of Shadowdark itself. When my keyboard fell silent I was left with a solid goal to strive for in finishing this game jam.

Create a compelling themed playground for players and GMs to revel in.

Layout

Admittedly, I am not the biggest 8-bit game fan. I'll be trying to stay on that theme primarily by using the NES Booklet layout (16 5.25x4 in pages). I'm anticipating some friction in this department as graphic design is a hobby I've never really dabbled in.

I've also already encountered some friction going down the art rabbit hole. Content first, art can come later. Even then, no more than three pieces of art (cover art, world map, some other piece).

Setting a 14 page limit will give me two pages to spare in case I need them. Those pages will contain...

Content

• Cover Art: Not complete. I want to show the plateau and the head of the Divine Automaton glowering over it. Maybe a Dorani Reincarnate raising a weapon to the sky a la He-Man?
• General Situation: Complete...more or less. I know what's going on but have not settled on a final blurb. The mini-paragraph before the jump break in this post is indicative of what I'm aiming for.
• Factions: Complete. Written with a name, goal, and obstacle preventing them from achieving that goal. We've got...
• The Divine Automaton: Angelo. Oust Ri'Gal from the Divine Automaton but does not have enough power to combat Ri'Gal and control the Animalized.
• Vile Dorani Trickster: Ri’gal. Establish a vile kingdom but his psyche currently wrestles with that of Angelo within the Divine Automaton.
• Chief of the Animalized Outcasts: Tinakarnos. Seeks freedom from their conditioning for all Animalized but doesn't know how to break the conditioning other than through time.
• Last Surviving Dorani Sage: Skygretz Kinovech. Hopes to bring about the prophecy of a victorious champion via the Steelblade games but the Dorani numbers are dwindling.
• Supreme Drakes Adventuring Party: Elven Thief Mira Cull Onize. Wants to make it back home, ideally with loot, but is being forced to participate in the Steelblade games.
• Supreme Drakes Adventuring Party: Leader and Human Cleric Paul Brookherb. Unlock the secrets of the Divine Automaton but is held captive by the Animalized Outcasts.
• New Ancestry: Complete-ish. Animalized Outcasts. Animalized whose genetic conditioning has frayed. Their beastly nature gives them some benefit but harms their mannish attributes.
• New Class: Complete-ish. Dorani Reincarnate. Past champions of the Steelblade Cup reincarnated to aid the Dorani. Meditate for memories which allow them to buff allies and themselves.
• The Plateau: Not complete. Rough draft pointcrawl map. Focus for the 3rd design diary.
• Dorani Town: Not started. Part of the 3rd Design Diary.
• A Treatise on the SteelBlade Cup: Not complete. Rough draft on how to play the SteelBlade games. Part of the 3rd Design Diary.
• Angelo the Divine Automaton: Not complete.  Rough draft of a 12 room dungeon inside the head of a robot worshipped as a deity. Ri'Gal is somewhere inside. Part of the 3rd Design Diary.
• Devastation of Ri'Gal: Not complete. Rough draft of a 5 room dungeon inside the body of the robot worshipped as a deity. Part of the 3rd Design Diary.
• Monsters: Not complete. Reskinning core monsters for use with the module and three new monsters inspired by the enemies from Pinbot. Part of the 3rd Design Diary.
• New Items: Not complete. Six (maybe more?) rare items to be found on the plateau. Part of the 3rd Design Diary.
• Licensure: Not complete.

Vibe

I'm aiming for a "sword and planet" or "sci-fantasy" vibe. The Dorani are a warrior culture, kept peaceful by the brutal Steelblade Games, their warriors become wise sages, they worship a giant robot, are currently besieged my chimeric monstrosities, believe in a chosen one, and the plateau is a red rock scrubland with occasional giant conifers. I think it fits the bill but of course I'll have to convey that with art and layout.

A Perilous Pastime... 

I struggle with getting tunnel vision on things that ultimately don't matter. I need to focus on what I've outlined here in order to deliver on my goal. I'll be hopping on a flight soon for a short vacation so I'll use my time on the plane to work on The Plateau, Dorani Town, the Steelblade Games, the two dungeons (The Divine Automaton and the Devastation of Ri'Gal), monsters, and items.

See you next time!