Recent Testing

Hey! Not that long ago we had some test streams to make sure the combat was stable and functional so that I could finally bring a group in to play a real campaign. Lots of bugs were found, fixed, and I feel confident that the system is stable enough for a group. However, testing help me feel confident that some things needed to be changed. These are not time consuming changes, but they have taken some time to really tackle exactly how I want to move forward on them with confidence.

Character Creation

As it stands I think the way characters are created contradicts some earlier posts which I still hold as ideals of how the system should be designed. As somebody who loves deep character building potential I created a lot of options. I always felt there were not enough options, but when throwing players rather blindly at it, I can see that there are far too many options. The real problem with having many options is that they are always going to be somewhat superficial. 

I would use a card game like Hearthstone or Magic the Gathering as an example. After years of MTG there are so many cards printed that you have a ridiculous amount of options of what you can put into a deck. However, the reality is that some cards simply synergize with others so well that it is clear that they should be paired together. As differences in power level are discerned by players, it becomes even more obvious what the 'correct' choices are. Adding more options mostly only serves to bait players into making 'incorrect' choices. 

Before I would argue that these incorrect choices are fine, because you should not be playing roleplaying tabletop games to win. Making a flavorful character that includes all the personality you wanted to portray is more important. However, the reality is that making a character that has more of these points of interactive synergy between their abilities is simply more fun. It ultimately makes a more consistent and powerful character as well, but pulling off a big combo is a great moment you should want a player to experience. There is nothing wrong with guiding somebody to see those combos more clearly and quickly when throwing together a character.

In testing, Ashley wanted to make a healer. I thought to explain to her which healing option she should look at because I knew the spell list was so large it would take her a long time to find it. Simply put, there are going to be healing abilities. There are going to be fire abilities. However, you have to dig through a pile of stuff unrelated to your goals to find what you really need. 

 In that way, I must really think of my audience as well. If Myriad for the time being is primarily going to be played by streamers on my channel, there is no reason to expect them to deeply dive into a complicated system before session 1. I believe it is also the absolute norm of these types of games that most players do not even have a backstory for their character. Being within a class like 'Fighter' or 'Wizard' and choosing a 'Dwarf' as a race is really as complex as the majority of player characters start out as. Seeing Dwarf as an option and identifying as a 'Warlock' is a very helpful foundation to simply be able to show up on session one before you are fully invested in what it really means to be your character. The system is very efficient in creating a character token that can be immediately played with, but I want the decision making to get there to feel just as easy so the game can be quickly picked up and complexity introduced later.

I also earlier spoke in posts about the deep belief that planning your character several levels in advance is a bad thing -- that unexpected items or acquired power should mix up your expectations and excite you. The large list of choices was created so that you could pivot at any moment based on finding something new, but it sacrifices so much more to meet that goal that it is not worth it. After another recent binge of Path of Exile, I can tell you again how overwhelmed with complexity new players become for what is realistically just a very complicated way to portray very straight forward choices. Like the card game analogy, they have printed a lot of melee abilities, but sooner or later you will find out that Cleave never really was a choice and you'll have more fun with a more functional ability. You really can't simply respec your character in a tabletop game without causing disruption once you figure that out, either.

So, I want to rework how characters are created..... by going back to how things were before all of this. Damnit. I know. I put a lot of thought into what all of this actually looks like in practice and realized I was already doing it in the best possible way. One or two classes may be chosen and you spread points evenly into them. I still do not want extreme vertical progression, so having many options within one class of equal power level is ideal. However, all of these abilities follow a theme and synergize to created a specific type of character that is already laid out for a player. They would be picking these synergistic abilities anyway, best to put them all in the same place.

On the positive side, I coded a lot of very specific abilities and interactions across many abilities that don't need to be thrown away. Bringing the classes down into a more specific grouping of abilities means I can still use any of the abilities I made elsewhere into things which appear on items. So, loot will likely end up being significantly more varied with very little additional work required to transfer code already written into that space. This lines up perfectly with players finding exciting new gear with unique abilities being a goal. The introduction of more options and depth just need to be introduced when players are ready for it.

Testing really took me a step back to reflect on all the work I've actually done and how overwhelming explaining every system to a player can be if they ask about them. Mechanics are introduced too quickly. An example would be the shock Tiffany had when realizing there was an entire system for the manipulation of elemental tile effects like Fire and Poison to change based on overlapping effects. That is a minor note to me at this point, but requires detailed explanation to a player of what tile changes into what element if they want to plan around it. In planning the encounters for players I even quickly realized there is so much I could incorporate into a combat that testing everything would really be impossible. Creating an enemy with interesting mechanics is more valuable in terms of varying gameplay than having more build options ever could.

And, Tiffany played a very basic accuracy stacking archer. She basically shot an arrow every turn, but it still seemed enjoyable. Even though her character had little depth, the declarations of enemies inspire players to plan actions, even if they are simple. Not being able to move after using an action was also a major point of decision making. And within all that simplicity, they still had a lot to learn. There were many scenarios where the extra actions their tank had could have been used to shove enemies into position so that the archer could penetrate and hit multiple targets. 

In the end what I'm really saying is, I'm very pleased with how the tests went. I created a lot of content because I believed I needed more and more to make the system satisfying, but it was enjoyable without needing every single piece to come together. The extended timeframe has only helped to create more artwork and plans for a smoother launch.

I will be taking what I have and structuring it in a way I believe will be more accessible. Another big point of contention for me through all of this is exactly how players who can cast spells interact with books and acquire their abilities, but I believe I have some more simple ideas that will work just fine. I am still training for a viking strongman competition....yeah, still weird...and that event is in early December. It is eating a lot more time to prepare for than I originally thought and my current goal is to try and organize a campaign after that event is over so I can approach it with a more focused mind. Doing so after the holidays will surely also have the benefit of avoiding some game cancellations by players due to holidays and all the new games that come out before them.

I really appreciate everyone's patience until then!