The Kobold Guide to Board Game Design

The Kobolds did it again: They've released another Kobold Guide. And offered me a free PDF to read.

The previous Guides had loads of solid information on writing and publishing RPGs and RPG Adventures. How to approach publishers, various models of design, and so on. I really loved them - enough that I purchased print copies after reading the free PDF copies.

The new one, however, hit me in a particular weak point missed by the others: Board Games.

The Kobold Guide to Board Game Design is structured similarly to the three RPG-flavored volumes - that is, there is one "core" author, who does the interstitial work as well as an essay or two.  This time, it's Mike Selinker who fills this role. There are also essays by Richard Garfield, James Earnest, Matt Forbeck, Jeff Tidball, Andrew Looney, and several others - all of whom I recognized (which says something about me).

It's divided into four parts: Concept, Design, Development, and Presentation.

Part 1: Concepting is just what it sounds like - working on coming up with an idea for a game, and it includes some thoughts about game design in general. I especially recommend reading Richard Garfield's essay in this section, in large part because I agree with him. I don't always like his games, but I do like what he has to say more often than not.

Part 2: Design overlaps a great deal with Part One. It does include the first thing in the book that made me actually laugh out loud - Andrew Looney's chart detailing his creative process.  It ends with PUBLISH and then START FAQ FILE. It was an excellent reminder that publication is never done.

I particularly enjoyed Rob Daviau's essay from this section, where he discussed how a small rules tweak can clear out multiple paragraphs of rules text and make a game easier to learn.

For those of you who don't know, Mike Selinker has a Livejournal account dedicated to the "most beautiful" things.  Each time he posts, he picks a category, and discusses what he finds to be the most beautiful example of that category. So it was not a surprise to find an essay here called, "The Most Beautiful Game Mechanics."

Part 3: Development has (no surprise) some overlap with the previous section. Rob Daviau's essay could easily have fit into this section. It's all about taking your game and then polishing it some more - generally it's polish that is out of the hands of the designer, too.  Dave Howell's essay could easily have fit into Part 2, as it outlines a series of design rules.

Part 4: Presentation is all about that final coat of polish and what to present to potential publishers.  Steve Jackson (of Steve Jackson Games) has the first essay in here, with a long list of "This is a bad idea and why." It's written interestingly, and demonstrates a solid understanding of gaming and gamers. Having been in business for as long as he has, it should come as no surprise that he has this depth of understanding.

Michelle Nephew's essay in this section seems to my (unpublished) mind to be the most useful. It summarizes much of the rest of the book, and does so clearly and concisely.

Even if you aren't thinking about designing a board game, I would still pick up a copy of this book - the sneak peek into the mind of some truly excellent designers is well worth the price of admission.

Kobold Guide to Game Design

As I mentioned briefly once before, I'm a real fan of the Kobold Guide to Game Design.

Volume One was rich with adventure design tips, including ways to add flavor to your game and it had a few tips on world design as well. It was well worth the money I spent on the PDF version (I was given the print copy as a gift).

Volume Two was all about cleaning your adventure up and selling it. I have used it when discussing published adventures with friends to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of those adventures.

Both of the first volumes are very Pathfinder-emphasized, but most of the ideas contained therein are useful for other games - just keep in mind that other games may have different reward structures and character goals.

A few weeks ago, I was given a download link for The Kobold Guide to Game Design, Volume Three: Tools and Techniques

I noticed one difference right away: Volume One is "by Wolfgang Baur with Keith Baker, Ed Greenwood, and Nicolas Logue," Volume Two is by, "Wolfgang Baur with Nicolas Logue." Wolfgang Baur's name is in a larger font than the other authors, making it clear that it is primarily his work.

Volume Three is by "Wolfgang Baur, Monte Cook, Ed Greenwood, Rob Heinsoo, and Colin McComb." All five authors' names are in the same size font, giving them roughly equal billing this time out. Not only that, but the little word "with" is missing - again, emphasizing the shared authorship of this one.

Volume Three is also almost twice as long as the first one.

Like the other two volumes, Volume Three is a collection of essays. From the very first essay, it's made clear that this one has a broader scope than the other two volumes. The first two were about building adventures, this one is about building games. The bulk of the advice in here is about systems and mechanics. There's even an essay on computer-based roleplaying.

The other two volumes, with their tighter focus on adventures, started with a central idea and (for the most part) focused on that idea, building on it the further into the book you got. This one, without that same tight focus, doesn't build in the same way the other two did. There are essays in here on the creative process, on fighting writer's block, and several good discussions on what the essential parts of a game are. Several essays overlap to varying degrees, but - again - with the much broader focus, it doesn't feel like this overlap is robbing me of wasted space. This book is also much less Pathfinder-focused than the others, so nearly all of the advice is useful without any sort of adaptation or conversion for the non-Pathfinder players.

There are also essays which would have been at home in the earlier volumes - essays on plotting and using locations as adventure hooks, for example - but the bulk of the essays have that larger-scale focus on rules design - this book barely even touches on setting and world-building.

The book wraps up with a few paragraphs on each of the contributors - it's a good reminder that these aren't just game bloggers and hobbyists. Each of the contributors has had a significant (and measurable) impact on the role-playing hobby. These guys know what they're talking about - even their mildest suggestions should carry weight for those who are interested in game design.

All in all, I think it's very well-done. Volume One is $18.95 for a print copy. Volume Two was the same price. Volume Three is actually more useful for me, and is the same price. Because I'm a completist, I plan to purchase a print copy of this one on my next payday.

It's also worth mentioning that Open Design has made the first three volumes available in Kindle editions (in fact, I think that the links at the beginning of this entry go to the Kindle editions). Print copies can be purchased directly from the Kobold Quarterly store, and PDF copies are on IPR and RPGNow.

The PDF resolves on the Kindle with no problems.

Next week, I'll be talking about ... something.  There are several possible news items hanging, so next week's post will depend on what happens over the next week or so.  I'm also starting to gear up for GenCon, which is now less than a month off.

And in case you somehow missed it two weeks ago, you can now read my blog on your Kindle.

Is Gaming All I Think About?

After reading last week's post, a friend of mine had the following to say to me:

It's interesting, Eric. You tied all of the fiction you have been reading back to gaming. Do you ever think about anything else?

Yes. Yes I do. I spend a lot of time thinking non-gaming thoughts. But not when I'm reading. Even non-fiction keeps throwing game ideas at me.

For example, Salt: A World History. When I read this book a few years ago, it sparked all kinds of RPG ideas to the point where my wife and I are working on a setting using some of the ideas from this book.

When I read fiction, I try to figure out which game system will best model that story. Allow me to qualify this just a bit. See, I'm a firm believer that RPG's and literature (or, for that matter, novels) are two different animals.

Wolfgang Baur put it very well in The Kobold Guide to Game Design, Volume 1: Adventures:

The worldbuilding I do with these fiction writers tends to be all about the telling detail, building the world from the character out (or building the character from the setting), directing reader attention to just the parts that matter and so on. None of this works for gamers because, as a designer, your first audience is the DM, not the players.

There's more to it than that, though. You see, writers have to come up with dialog , and most gamers don't spend a lot of time talking - action is more central to adventure RPG's than conversation is. Players don't want to chat up the guard to find the clue he has - they want to knock him out and then bring him around and beat the clue out of him. But that's a much longer discussion for another week.

That said, however, when I read The Night Angel Trilogy, I was trying to figure out which system would best model the action (and magic) of the story. I wound up figuring it'd have to be something like Sorcerer, where the rules for what is possible are extremely flexible. But there are ideas in the book that I'd love to tie into a game of my own sometime ...

When I read Lost States: True Stories of Texlahoma, Transylvania, and Other States That Never Made It, I was trying to figure out how to work this into a Deadlands game.

Even when I'm using Google Reader, I keep seeing links like this one, which I easily could work into a Call of Cthulhu game.

And sometimes, my reading goes from game to book - for example, I recently read that Cubicle 7 was doing a book based on The Atrocity Archives. So I checked out the Wikipedia entry, which intrigued me enough to download the sample onto my Kindle. I liked the sample enough that I bought the whole book. And the sequel. And I read the two short stories that are on Tor.com. And I added the upcoming third book to my wishlist.

Speaking of fiction-to-game:  the preorder for The Dresden Files RPG is up.  We preordered earlier this week.

So yes. If I'm reading a book (or my Kindle), odds are about 90% that my brain is still working on games.

Do you think that's a problem?

Reading, Prepping, and Playing

This post is basically just an overview of what I've been reading, prepping, and playing for the last few months. And I'm only going to talk about the ones I like. Fair warning: It's long, and I'm naturally a bit long-winded (as I'm sure you know by now).

Cyclades
I have been excited about this game since I played a prototype at GenCon last year. And now it's mine, received in my latest care package from Asmodee. It's also my wife's first print credit. And I've found that I really like the game. As it's distributed by Asmodee, you can find it at your FLGS, on Amazon.com, Thoughthammer, and Boards and Bits.

Mow
Another gift from Asmodee. I've been a fan of Bruno Cathala's games for a while, now. This continues the trend - it's fast-playing and simple. And oddly entertaining.

Heartily recommended.

Dixit 2
I honestly hadn't expected to like Dixit. I don't tend to like party games, you see. I don't like games with subjective elements most of the time, either. Just looking at the game, it looked like both of these.

I'm glad I gave it a shot, though. The art was totally enchanting, and the stories and fragments that spilled forth once gameplay started ...

This expansion is more of the same. Marie Cardouat continues her pattern of hauntingly beautiful story-drenched art which often tiptoes along the edge of disturbing.

If you liked the original, don't miss the expansion.

Ghost Stories
I'm still playing Ghost Stories. After playing it constantly for all of GenCon last year, I'm still playing. And the expansion has just improved things for me.

And no, I still haven't won on Wednesday. Soon. Soon.

Battleground: Kingdoms
I had a match a week or so that reminded me just how much I enjoy this game. Battleground: Fantasy Warfare is fun, and adding the campaign system from Kingdoms kicks it up a couple of notches in my book. Provided you and your opponent(s) can make your schedules work.

Dungeon Twister. Of course. I love this game, and need to write more about it. Especially since the XBox Live version is due in June.

Iconica
I just acquired this one. The game play is not hugely awesome, but it is entertaining. I think my issue is a lack of deep decision-making; once you've drafted your team, you only need to make one decision per turn. Well, two. Which of your characters will act (usually an easy decision), and which opponent to target. It reminds me a bit of Pokemon. It also provides an excellent segue into what I'm reading, as the designer published a book to go along with the setting of the game.

This one is currently only available from the designer.

The World Of Rynaga: Prelude
I've barely started this one, but I like how it's put together. The art is phenomenal, and it provides an excellent travelogue. And its laying roots in my head that I may be able to create an RPG setting for. I'd love to see an RPG in this setting.

Io9 has a Book Club. This month, the book is Infoquake. I look forward to the discussion - it's a Cyberpunk-genre novel with some definite posthuman elements to it. You could definitely run an Eclipse Phase game with this setting and a bit of tweaking, but it'd fit a Cyberpunk game better.

Speaking of Eclipse Phase, I'm also reading The Quiet War. This is a novel which reads as though it were designed as an alternate setting for Eclipse Phase. Characters are locked into a single body, but the main conflict of the setting has its roots in several elements, one of which is the fact that the "Outers" have significantly modified themselves to better survive in space. You could also use Blue Planet V.2 for this setting.

As a bit of an alt-history geek, I was excited to hear about a book, Lost States, on NPR recently. It's a very funny book, but has a great deal of fodder for alt-history geeks who want to incorporate one (or more) of these states into the game. And it makes me wonder, too: How would Congress be different if we had a state of Lincoln in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho? How would the various Dakota divisions that were proposed have changed the political landscape? The (beautiful) maps are just gravy on an already tasty feast.

I just recently read The Night Angel Trilogy. These books would not work as a D&D setting, but I think it could really shine with Fudge. Or you could use the Cyberpunk system (just rework the setting, of course).

The Kobold Guide to Game Design is the single best resource I own with regards to adventure building. Volume 2 is also very good, and, even though I'm not an adventure designer, I think it'll be useful as a tool for critique. And if I ever feel the need to publish, I'm sure I will find this invaluable.

A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying reminds me of Pendragon crossed with the Legend of the Five Rings RPG. In a good way (in both cases).

Speaking of Pendragon, that's the next one-shot I'll be running. Once I'm ready. I have a good group of talented roleplayers who are actually interested in both trying and actively engaging these one-shots. I'll admit that I have some concerns about a one-shot of this one, but that's a discussion for another time.

I'm also reading Traveller (the latest edition from Mongoose). It reminds me a lot of the classic game, with a few of the old rough patches ironed out. It's "on deck" for the one-shots. Unless I can talk someone else into running one so I can play.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be writing more about Dungeon Twister (especially with the XBox Live Arcade version due in June). I've got a guest post coming (at some point) from my wife about gender and gaming. And, of course, more randomness. Just like you have come to expect from me.

The Kindle: One Week On

I've had my Kindle DX for about a week, now. It's long enough to be learn a great deal - both good and bad.



As you know, I wanted the Kindle DX because of its larger screen, so I could read gaming .pdf files from a variety of sources. My wife has the smaller size, so I can easily do side-by-side comparisons. After a week, I'm sure I made the right decision. You see, the Kindle .pdf reader could still use some work.

I hadn't expected perfection, so I'm not hugely disappointed - in fact, the .pdf reader has worked well enough for most of the pdf's I tried to read on it.

Last week, I used Houses of the Blooded as an example of a .pdf I wanted to read on my Kindle. Houses of the Blooded is the only PDF which I have had zero luck on. It takes ten minutes to load, and then almost five minutes to change pages. It's frustrating and annoying. Yes, I can read it, but it's far too slow to be worth the effort. Why? HotB is big. 31 MB. I don't know how much RAM the Kindle has, but I've noticed most Kindle files are less than 5 MB. I've also noticed that pages with images are slower than pages without. HotB has images (even if it's just a background image) on nearly every page.

By contrast, The Kobold Guide to Game Design, Volume II opened perfectly. The cover page is a bit slow to load, but once I'm past the cover, it's pretty fast.

Other .pdf files have been mixed. For example, as a D&D Insider, I can download issues of Dragon Magazine. If you download the sample issue, you'll see that Dragon is published in landscape format. The Kindle .pdf reader auto-fits documents to the width of the screen. On my Kindle DX, it reminds me of watching letterbox films on a standard 4:3 TV - the image is shrunk down and there are gaps across the top and bottom of the page. If had my wife's Kindle, I wouldn't be able to read it due to its small size. When I rotate the Kindle, it does rotate the image - but it still auto fits to the width, so the bottom inch or so of text is cut off. I can jump to the next page to reach it, but it means jumping back and forth to read pages with multiple columns of text.

Amazon also makes a "conversion" option available. You can e-mail files to them, and they will convert that file to a native Kindle file format. I'd love to have a web interface for this - some files are just too big to e-mail. The PDF conversion is (of course) imperfect, however. I converted the Kobold Guide as a test, and it lost some formatting (including page breaks) but was perfectly legible.

After working with my office's IT guy for a while, I managed to get HotB e-mailed to the conversion address (not many ISP's will allow e-mail attachments that large). It came out almost completely unreadable. Images were compressed to a ridiculous degree, and the text was split randomly - I don't know if the columns or margin notes threw it or if it was something else. Either way, I wouldn't have been able to use it to run a game.

I tired a couple of other IPR books, including the now apparently out-of-print Thousand Suns. Once I got past the cover, it read just fine. It was a little slow to change pages, but nothing on par with HotB.

I know it sounds like I'm down on the Kindle, but I'm not - really. I think that all of the above issues can be fixed with a few software updates - and I know that Amazon is hard at work on the next generation of the software.

In the not-too-distant future, I very much hope that some publishers will publish specifically for the Kindle. It's dangerously convenient (by which I mean "my wallet is a bit unhappy with me").

Or maybe gaming publishers will release .pdf files which are better-optimized for the Kindle (and other e-book readers) - whether that means releasing two versions of their games on .pdf or not, I don't know. But I wouldn't mind buying an "image-light" version of a book.

I have found other gaming uses for the Kindle. For example, I created my D&D character using the Character Builder from D&D Insider. I then printed that character as a .pdf, and put him on the Kindle. Now I don't have to worry about losing the character sheet - all of his stats are right there. My scanner at home is capable of scanning to .pdf, as well, so I can put other characters on there if I want to.

I think that eBook readers such as the Kindle have a legitimate place in the future of roleplaying.

As an aside - does anyone know if the Dresden Files RPG will be available in .pdf? Because I'd like to take advantage of Evil Hat's Brick & Mortar PDF Guarantee. Since the FATE RPG file loaded just fine, I'm guessing Evil Hat's other games will load, also. Maybe this is the kick I needed to finally pick up Spirit of the Century ...