Tuesday 1 October 2013

Moving Forward With Wildpath

A rough "logo" for my latest project and likely
the first foray for the Wildpath System. 
I am the Warden!!

Sure, it's been three whole days since the Development Team drove up to the 'Frew for some playtesting and nothing's been posted to brag/moan about it, but I have a really, really, really good reason.

I wrote a new game using the same system. My bad.

Thanks to the two playtesting sessions (including the LUG Con game mentioned in my last post), both of which had two players and a Director (myself), I'm extremely confident this is a workable game. While I'd like to conduct some more testing and up the ante on this one, the results have been positive enough at this point to consider what to do with everything as a viable product.

Asylum was written using the Wildpath System, but I'm not completely sure that particular concept is the best approach for a wider audience. As a story-slash-RPG hybrid, the potential audience is limited. Add to that my current limitations in publishing (AKA no in-store distribution at this time) and the pickings could be a bit slim for Asylum. What this system needs is a bigger launch under a wider banner, something that will appeal to a larger number of fans in either genre.

Sidebar. One of my favourite tools in the ol'laptop is Evernote because I can jot down ideas as they come to me and reference them in a handy list with keywords. Plus I can access and add with my phone when I'm on the go, such as a couple of ideas jotted down during the dog walk last night. After going through my list of ideas-on-pause, I found one that just might suit the need.

DAY 1 is a survival game, as is Asylum, save for one important detail: players take on the role of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary moments of tragedy, such as a massive flood, terrorist attack, or any siege lead by giant monsters. This game is about telling the story of people caught up in extraordinary moments as they attempt to survive the first day. While there's nothing to stop any story from advancing into the second day, the first week, or an entire year, it's designed to act primarily as a one-shot game you can repeat over and over again with different situations and characters every time. After drafting up close to 5,000 words for Day 1 on Saturday night, I think it's time to give this one a run. I'm planning to run it for my Development Team later this month, hopefully with all four members.

In the meantime, feel free to have a read and get a feel for more of the Wildpath System and Day 1's first draft. There's still another section to cover with regards to establishing a dilemma, building a group, establishing connections, and so forth, but I think there's enough here to get the point across. If you have the time, let me know what you think.