Here is my revision for my A.G.E. project, a Call of Cthulu module titled “Blood in the Bayou”.

Blood in the Bayou

Here’s our (the Barbershop Quartets’) D.I.E. project, a Twine based text adventure game titled “Turn The Page / Save the Princess”. In the game you are a noble adventurer, going on a grand quest to save the princess of the land. I hope you enjoy!

Turn The Page / Save The Princess

Game Design Document

This is a playlist created by my group and I, consisting of video game soundtracks we enjoy and songs we like to listen to while playing games. These tracks include everything from songs from Hotline Miami and the Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, to prog-rock and Death Grips. Personally my favorite video game soundtracks are energetic, exciting songs like from Hotline Miami and Payday 2, but as far as my own music I listen to while gaming, it’s usually just whatever songs I enjoy at the time.

This playlist serves as a collection of songs that represents my group mates and I’s favorite games and our favorite aspects of games. Some of us enjoy high-energy soundtracks and games, while others enjoy a nice and engaging atmosphere such as from Dark Souls or the Witcher series. While the playlist is a bit eclectic in terms of genre it’s a auditory representation of our different tastes, and can shed light on these different influences in our D.I.E. project.

I’m going to be honest I’m 175 words and running out of steam. So I’m just going to talk about my personal additions. My first songs I added were from the Hotline Miami games, as I believe both games have a phenomenal soundtrack that fits the vibe and gameplay of the game amazingly, and is one of the few videogame soundtracks I listen to outside of the game. Beyond that I added similar electronic songs, such as from the soundtracks of games like Payday 2 and Deadbolt. I also added songs from Doom (2016) because how could I not, and more atmospheric songs such as from the soundtracks of Dishonored and Red Dead Redemption 2. My non-soundtrack additions are from a variety of genres and for various different games, though most of the songs from Indie rock to Death Grips to classical music, I listen to while playing League of Legends. Yeah.

1. Describe, at some length, the following:
   • The genre of your game.
   • A short (1-2 sentence) synopsis or ‘elevator pitch.’
   • A longer, paragraph-long description.
   • A statement about the purpose, and audience for your game.
2. List out short descriptions of the following:
   • Key rules (no need to write them all out, but describe what they will cover)
   • Audience details (play time, age range, interest groups, etc.).
   • Material components (cards, pieces, boards, dice, core game system).
   • Significant obstacles that you will have to overcome to do this.

My game is a module of the tabletop roleplaying game Call of Cthulu. In my module, the party is going to be tracking down a werewolf in the Louisiana bayou.

The party is going to be a group of mobsters sent to make a deal with the elusive Blanchard family of moonshiners. Once they make contact and are told to leave town, an attack on their car and a violent murder will keep the party in town as they investigate and slowly uncover the truth behind a string of violent attacks in town.

Like most Call of Cthulu modules this is going to be a horror, investigative based experience, but I especially want to appeal to fans of the Southern Gothic genre. I want my module to stand out from other mainly northern focused CoC modules.

As a Call of Cthulu module, my game will include information for both the game master and players, and should contain enough material for two to three sessions of decent length. I’m making this module for Call of Cthulu fans, especially those who are fans of Southern settings. As for material components, the module can be printed but besides that all people will need is dice.

Mainly I just am worried about everything being comprehensive together. I don’t want the mystery and investigation to be too obvious, but at the same time I want the party to feel smart as they uncover details and put everything together.

I just want everything done before the deadline.

For my Analog game project, I’m going to be making a Call of Cthulu module. Call of Cthulu, a tabletop system designed to play adventures related to the mythos of H.P. Lovecraft, is a pretty simple game in terms of content. In Call of Cthulu (CoC) modules, players investigate weird happenings until they finally come across some sort of monster, either traditional or from Lovecraft mythos, which they then kill / run from / die to.

As an investigative game, CoC modules usually have players finding and slowly putting together clues, following leads down a rabbit hole of strangeness. This sort of investigative game play is good for Discovery players, as well as Fantasy players. Fantasy players will especially like how the game pulls no punches towards players and players feel as fragile as any other character in the game, an attribute also compelling for challenge players. CoC is a game where you die. A lot.

A lot of modules of this game have the players slowly uncover more and more information about the monster, I trend I plan on following as players slowly realize a werewolf is terrorizing a small town. Unlike a lot of CoC modules I’d like for the players to win. I won’t make it easy, but I want there to be a chance of them killing the monster. I want there to be a definite “A-Ha!” moment where the players realize what the creature they’re hunting is, and hopefully that moment will come at the exact right time. I want to make sure the clues and leads follow each other in a way that makes sense, and that the players feel like they’re actually uncovering something as they keep playing.

My 5 Favorite Analog Games:

1. Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition. DnD 5e is how I got started with TTRPG’s, and I love the simplicity of the system, especially how easy it is for newcomers.
2. Call of Cthulu 7th Edition. In contrast to DnD, CoC is a lot harder to learn, but makes up for that by being a flawless system in my eyes. Plus, I’m a huge fan of the 1920s and of horror.
3. Cards Against Humanity. Hilarious, original, and to me it’s a great way to get to know people.
4. UNO. Amazingly simple and amazingly competitive.
5. Magic the Gathering. Not so much nowadays, but I used to be really into MtG, and it’s a great game to play when just hanging out with friends.

For my game I’m analyzing I’ve chosen the 5th edition of Dungeons and Dragons. As a tabletop game, I see the primary purpose of DnD 5e as one of collaborative storytelling and expression. Thus, the core engagements for such a purpose would be expression, fantasy, discovery, and narrative. For my analysis I’m focusing on expression and fantasy, and the relation of these engagements to the concept of ‘flavoring’: how the dungeon master (DM) and players describe the appearances of different mechanics and elements of the game. Specifically, I want to argue about the value of flavoring, and how I often see it underused. As a tabletop game, some sort of imagination in terms of appearance of elements is important, but my argument is that this flavoring is essential to helping players express themselves in the game, and that for a dungeon master or even the game itself to limit that is ultimately harmful.

For a relatively tame example, lets look at the first level spell Magic Missile. The concept is simple: casting the spell creates three darts of magical force that fly out and hit a target of the caster’s choice. What does that look like? If you’re anything like my party and I, you probably imagine a thin mass of magic, ultimately formless, probably blue or something like that. My question is why does it have to be?

Imagine this: A young wizard, raised by a gang of criminals and a thief by trade, is cornered in an alley by three city guards. Right as the guards are closing in for the arrest, the wizard runs his hand along the crystal necklace that serves as his arcane focus. There’s a hum and a small flash of light as three crystal daggers appear between his fingers, crystal daggers which fly out to hit the chest of each guard, shattering on impact.

Mechanically, the spell cast was Magic Missile. It follows the same rules as any other casting of the spell: three darts, 1d4 + 1 force damage each. However, the casting is vastly different than an aged and grey wizard sending out bolts of magic from his gnarled wooden staff. Nothing has changed mechanically, but the player of the wizard in our example comes away feeling not like a studious, fragile wizard, but a cunning thief whose mastery of magic allows him to pull off the perfect crime. This is a relatively tame example compared to what I’ll ultimately suggest in my analysis, but the idea stays the same: flavoring of attacks, spells, mechanics, and items allow players greater creative freedom and can enhance player enjoyment.

The most fun I’ve ever had playing a tabletop role-playing game was during a solo session for my friends Call of Cthulu campaign. While I can’t remember the name of the module the premise was simple: the party was all for their own reasons signing up for an expedition to the arctic, the Starkweather expedition, and at the time we were still in New York, preparing for the expedition. I was playing a man named Winters, a Pinkerton agent and general bastard pretending to be a humble, wheel-chair bound expert on arctic drilling. In the session prior the party had found out that a rival expedition was bound to leave on their ship before the Starkweather expedition could get going, possibly taking the glory of first arrival and of any discoveries found. Seeing a threat to his paycheck and an opportunity for mischief, Winters decided he would stop the opposing expedition in its tracks. A short amount of planning between my DM and I and we ended up in a Discord call, where I happened to have the funnest, most luck-fueled and ridiculous session of any TTRPG I’ve ever had.

To describe the events in full would take too long, and even in my mind the session blurs together in singular, remarkable events: scaling the side of the ship after tricking a night guard, breaking into the captain’s quarters, raiding the ship’s mess for bottles of alcohol which my character then proceeded to use to set fire to the ship’s communications. What brought the session to a whole other level of fun however was not just what my character was doing, but how he was doing it. Winters, a sort of juvenile James Bond archetype I suppose, strutted about the ship in complete confidence; whistling as he strolled down corridors, wearing the captain’s coat with bottles of whiskey in both hands. Winters is still one of my favorite characters I’ve ever made, and the reason is he was both a part and apart from the world. His story and background fit perfectly into the world my DM had concocted, but Winters constantly pushed against those bounds just slightly, with an amazing sort of confidence.

Looking back on these events, I suppose it is a perfect descriptor of why my top two playstyles are Fantasy and Expression. I love creating a fantastical character, someone who fits in the world around them but still isn’t an average joe, before putting said character at odds with the world and finding new and creative ways to get them out of the situations they work themselves into. I like my character to feel badass, but never unjustly, and I love for there to be a real element of danger, the idea that my character might die at any moment. As a result of this, I tend to lose interest when my character and the party as a whole loses agency, when we’re reduced to simply completing tasks or being cogs in a much larger machine. I don’t mind being minor, but I love for the minor to be awash with opportunities for self-expression.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
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The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.