Just wondering if enough people are here for posts and discussion about what people are creating for their table top games. If you are and want to share a snippet about what you’re working on, that would be great!

  • Mot@beehaw.orgOP
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    1 year ago

    I think it’s the subtlety across multiple factions that I struggle with. It’s easy enough to do a monster of the week and be subtle about what and why it’s there but the interrelations are a challenge.

    • Exaggeration207@beehaw.org
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      1 year ago

      I’m not sure if my approach would work for everyone, but I like to have a strong faction leader so I can clearly define their character and think of them like I would think of my own PC. If I have a solid understanding of their motivation, their personality, how smart they are and how they deal with conflict, I can determine how they’d react to moving and shaking in their sphere of influence. A warlord might bristle at the slightest insult, or perceived insult, and be ready to settle a dispute with fists rather than even entertain diplomacy. Depending on which faction he’s picking a fight with, they might ignore his posturing, get intimidated and back down, or try and goad him into doing something stupid.

      Other members of a given faction will tend to reflect the leader’s personality, since realistically, that’s the sort of follower a strong leader often attracts: imitators. It’s a bit of a shortcut so I don’t have to create 50 different NPCs that the party may or may not ever meet, but still. I also think that when AI chatbots get a bit more sophisticated, I could use those to literally simulate conversations with characters I design.

      • Mot@beehaw.orgOP
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        1 year ago

        That sounds a lot like Icons from a game that I can’t remember the name of atm. The idea being to make faction leaders the definition of the faction. Maybe sometime I’ll remember that advice, lol.