#tabletop game development

It’s unfortunately been quite a long time (over a year!) since I last updated this blog. Life really happens fast and I’ve done a lot of gaming and game development since the last time I was able to make a blogpost. I am fairly confident in saying that the current build of Blademaster! (the game that was Bloodfall and then Amulet) is the final form and we’re only doing a few tweaks in full…

Are you ready for something strange?

Five years ago, the world got weirder. It made sense of everything that followed, but that didn't help us poor schmucks caught in the crossfire. America was sealed off from the rest of the world, a vast network of demonic birds preventing anyone from fleeing the country. Fascists occupied the seat of the state, and violence and brutality was felt all over the country.

But there was still hope. The very reason America had been sealed away could be its salvation. The fae creatures known as Neverlanders are spilling out into America, cartoon creatures and demonic lawyers with a passion for drama and lunatic antics. The magical warriors also stand up to protect us, Divines who were once mortal but now wielding the great power of fairytale bullshit! With their efforts, we may be free. Our chains are designed to be broken!

The Neverland System is a tabletop game played with a deck of tarot cards and a big pile of PBTA-inspired moves. Failure is success and success can be torn from failure. Players only die when they want to and can literally bottle their feelings into jars before weaponizing and exploiting them.

There's no dice, but there is a tarot deck. ♥♦♣♠ Between tarot interpretations, snappy combat and courts (your standard fae classes) drenched in literary themes, you'll always be able to find a way out of any given situation and into a predictably worse one.

If you're interested in joining watch parties to observe pre-recorded sessions (we've got 10 hours so far!) or learning more about the system, radical. Stay subscribed and you'll see stories from the revamped Neverland System and watch party streams for the beta-tester's adventures.

I am re-writing my old stories, sorry to my readers who found me through those. A lot of changes happened to the system, oops. It's so much cleaner now, but it means I had to stop writing full stop to make sure I was done first. But you'll be able to get a good taste of that soup soon! Stay subscribed.

If you're interested in joining the beta, please contact me at FernGilly#0083 on Discord so I can vibe-check you before letting you into the inner sanctum.

In the process of developing the projects that we have going on here at Red Lily Adventuring we came across a problem: How do we make these systems unique and having their own feel while maintaining the feeling that they were developed by the same people? We wanted some sort of “brand identity” for lack of a better word. A specific hook that answers that the question “Why Red Lily Games over game…

A preview from my upcoming title Neverlands System, taken from the chapter The Suit of Swords - Conflict and the Methods of Arbitration...

Methods of Arbitration - Metanarrativistic Non-Decision

 There may come a time where your decision becomes a Non-Decision because the nature of said decision threatens something outside of the scope of the game. It's impossible to list every example of a Non-Decision, as there are simply too many to count. Plenty of well-meaning mechanics may cause Non-Decisions, but there may also be times where the World sets the groundwork for a moment in time which forces a Non-Decision and ends the game abruptly while waiting for the collapse of the conditions which caused the Non-Decision to form in the first place. We'll cover five such examples here; I implore you to envision your own examples of Non-Decisions on your own time.

Example 1: Biological

 Jenna and Markus are playing a game with Socks, and Socks needs to use the restroom. Socks is not present, so the game cannot continue. Markus decides to leave the table to grab pizza. Socks returns and tries to play, but Markus has his mouth full. He finishes the bite he's on, and play resumes as normal; the Non-Decision collapses.

Example 2: Logistical

 Markus wants to purchase a new mace from a blacksmith. While he is making a purchase, Jenna wants to know what other stock the blacksmith has. The Emissary stammers, realizing they have not completed the storefront. They ask Jenna to wait while they complete the storefront. Upon completing the storefront, the Non-Decision collapses and the Emissary tells Jenna all about the knives the blacksmith is packing.

Example 3: Ethical

 Through some contrivance, a move that Socks wrote demands that a player abduct an endagered species to trigger the spell. Woven magic can actually write such a move, as absurd as it is; even so, to create a move which puts endagered animals in harm's way may cause other participants to experience discomfort. If Markus felt that abducting animals was unethical, he could ask that the move be struck down on ethical grounds, turning the result and activation of the move into Non-Decisions. Moves crafted in this way should be immediately refunded to collapse the Non-Decision.

Example 4: Traumatic

 Markus was beaten by his father with a belt at a young age, and the trauma of that situation has lasted into adulthood. Markus now feels uncomfortable when belts are used as a lashing tool. Jenna crafts a character who uses their belt as a whip, and Markus voices his discomfort with that idea. Jenna, being understanding and kind, realizes she will need to rewrite her character to make Markus feel welcome. The Non-Decision collapses as soon as she's adjusted her character to use snakes as whips instead.

Example 5: Epistemilogical (Setting)

 Socks has come face to face with The-Orb-That-When-Eaten-Destroys-The-Setting. They are tasked with protecting the orb from the Big Bad Evilest Ninja, but in a moment of chaotic energy they attempt to eat TOTWEDTS. This decision would immediately end the game; there would be no more game to enjoy. The other players voice dissatisfaction with the game ending so abruptly, and the Emissary decides that actually eating the TOTWEDTS is a Non-Decision that no player character could make, even accepting the consequences. Socks apologizes for being a little silly, and the party laughs. That would have been a funny way to end the story, but not today.

Example 6: Epistemilogical (Player)