Devlog #5: v0.1.2 Errata, Reworks, and Layout

Last Week Recap

In the previous week of Ambition development I released the Heir of Swords TTRPG and released the Dustborne playtest.

Heir of Swords: https://thepressbetwixt.itch.io/heir-of-swords

Heir of Swords Design Blog: https://www.patreon.com/posts/heir-of-swords-117511156

Dustborne Bloodline: https://www.patreon.com/posts/dustborne-early-117624869

Posts Coming Next Week

Hey everyone! Things are going to be a bit weird coming up for the reasons below but here’s what to expect over the next few months. Slower cadence while I refind my groove on what content needs my focus.

• Posts are going to be more spaced out until Mid-January due to traveling, the holidays, and using the extra time to start learning the layout design skills to get the pagelook I want.
• Things nearest on the horizon are
  • Sphinx Bloodline Playtest
  • Human Bloodline Playtest
  • Spellcasting Update
  • Perfumer Playtest
  • Satyr Art Bible
  • Witch Rework Playtest
  • Armory Art Pass
  • Dustborne Art Pass

Devlog #5: v0.1.2 Errata, Reworks, and Layout

Last week I started up a new playtest group and ran through the adventure I plan on adding to the next draft. I also have started dipping my toes into exploring the final look I want for the book and designing the layout in Affinity publisher. Its made me do a quick reflection and restructure of some of my goals and timelines for the upcoming v0.1.2 Errata. Below is a little general list of my broad thoughts and underneath it will be some more specific elaborations.

• Content that is being reworked for v0.1.2 is going to have a focus on being designed with the final books layout in mind.
  • The current plan is to release content for playtesting in a document format, workout the kinks, and rerelease the content in layout and add to the final book.
• Grimoire content
  • On the periphery there is currently a lot of content that just needs more tables from the Grimoire, lots of filling out.
    • Language mechanics and languages (High prio)
    • Kit mechanics and write ups (High prio)
    • Equipment and consumable tables (High prio)
    • Armory content (Med prio)
    • Spell content (Med prio)
    • Witch familiar features (Med prio)
    • Plain clothes (Low prio)
• The v0.1.2 Errata has also expanded in scope with some reworks and new content
  • Engagement, tribunal, and narrative play rules are going to get slimmed down and streamlined a little bit.
  • Sundance is going to get a Witch-sized rework.
    • I’ve gotten a lot of good feedback on Sundance recently and it is not up to the standard of the current archetypes I am writing. It has a lot of useless features, its conditional features rely on rules that no other archetypes uses, its needlessly confusing, and doesn’t come online until third level.
      • I’ve already reworked first level entirely and the entire archetype feels better for it
      • Glitter is Gold is a core feature
    • Editor of Edict is getting reworked from the ground up to better deliver on their esoteric weaponry design fantasy
    • Firewalker and Crowd Pleaser are mostly staying the same but the wordiness of each expression is being cut down substantially
    • Icarus is going to be either editor sized or like firewalker I just need to see how it feels with the new core expression
  • Lionheart and Fool are getting minor reworks
    • Lionheart is the most wordy and fundamentally overpowered archetype in the game right now because the design levers I was using were too blunt
      • Almost all of their first level features are getting reworked or retooled
        • Sacred Heart is being changed entirely
        • We Make Our Stand is being changed entirely
        • There is an overall refocusing trend to make Lionhearts weaker as a physical fighter in an engagement, and have more features relating towards morale, support, and tribunals.
      • None of the expressions are changing that much
      • Their bannerspear is going to be more integral to chosen feature expression
    • Fool is in a rough spot, it feels like they have one core feature and then their expressions
      • First and second level fool is going to be focused on more offensive morale features, and battle instrument is going to just become a core feature
      • Harlequin, War Jester, and Pierrot are in a very very good spot but are going to get some minor retoolings to give them some more narrative play and tribunal expression
      • Folk Hero has some cool things going for them but feels a little distant from what fool is going for, the scope of their rework is dependent on how much the first and second level rework changes them.
  • Bulwark is getting minor adjustments
    • I am going to be using some of the lessons I learned while making Deserter to try and make Bulwark its opposite in expression. Deserter has a ton of flavor and feels good but Bulwark is in a weird spot with both flavor and mechanical expression. Landsknecht is perfect.
    • Bulwark General
      • CONFRONT feels bad and isn’t flavorful for the protector type arsenal fighter I want to make with Bulwark and might be getting removed entirely.
      • Bulwark currently has 7 chosen combat features in 1st and 2nd level and some feel core to the archetype while others feel weak. Looking to make things more interesting and more of a choice at 2nd level, and rework Bulwarks 1st level features to be tribunal and narrative play features
    • Parriarch
      • Strongest expression in the game right now but not interesting in gameplay. I like the flavor but gameplay isn’t matching the flavor
    • Landsknecht
      • Perfect, no notes
    • Bersegliere
      • I like this fantasy but its not expressing well right now, combination of needing more specific playtesting and that the features are complicated when they should be simple.
    • Witch Lancer
      • The core right now has great ideas but its not coming together mechanically, parriarch scale retooling.

Layout and Look

Looks mean a lot! Presentation is key, Ambition has some really nice core flavor and core mechanics that are being done so dirty by the layout. Especially clarity on things like voices and dispositions. The Art Bible is also beginning to really fill out content-wise and we have a good reservoir of work to rely on and a foundation to create more cooler work for splashes and layout art. This has gone from a very low priority goal to a very high priority goal, the upcoming individual playtest material having a layout is the short term goal but I am shooting for v0.2.0 to be released with its layout fully locked in only waiting on art to be made to fill placeholders.

Grimoire Content

The grimoire is in a similar zone right now that spellcasting used to be in that there are a lot of features that are referencing the Grimoire for rules that do not exist in it yet. Also right now Bulwark is the only archetype that has expressive choices from the weapons in the Grimoire. For weapons here’s a loose idea of what I am working on for the errata.

• Sundance
  • 3 break-action pistols
  • 2 dusters
  • 1 break-action rifle
  • 2 fist weapon
  • New sword type: Curved Swords
    • 3 curved swords
• Fool
  • 4 throwing weapons
  • 3 non-throwing fool weapon types
    • Whips
      • 2 Whips
    • Scythes
      • 2 Scythes
    • Twinblades
      • 2 swords are currently twinblades
      • 2 new twinblades
• Witch
  • 2 athames
• Lionheart
  • maces are being broken into flails and maces
    • 3 new maces
    • 2 new flails
  • 3 axes
  • New bow type: Greatbow
    • 2 new greatbows
  • 2 straight swords
• Bulwark
  • Arbalest is becoming a weapon type:
    • 2 arbalests

Upcoming in v0.2.0

• Perfumer
  • New weapon type: Flask
    • 4 Flasks
• Deserter
  • Ultraviolent weapons
    • Can convert certain two-handed weapon-types into ultraviolent weapons
      • Straight Swords
      • Axes
      • Maces
      • Scythes
  • Heartless Weapons
    • Can convert certain one-handed weapon-types into ultraviolent weapons
      • Straight Swords
      • Curved Swords
      • Axes
• Investigator
  • 2 Break-Action Pistols
  • 3 Maces that are very investigator focused
  • 3 Thrusting Swords
• Papercraft Mage
  • 2 Athames
• Untamed
  • 4 Natural Weapons
  • 4 Fist Weapons
• Weaver
  • 1 Natural Weapon
  • 1 Fist Weapon
  • 2 Athames

Sundance Preview

I wanted to share some of what has been reworked with Sundance. Here is the new Style and Provocations feature. It is so much slimmer, the provocations themselves are less conditional, and the style rules are clearer. It is monumentally more easy to read and slot into a players character sheet.

And here is the new format for Trick Weapons. All trick weapons now have a maneuver they can perform. The rules are clearer, more streamlined, and expressive to the specific trick weapon.

Lastly. Glitter is Gold is now a core Sundance feature, there are still two trick weapons that can not inherently proc glitter is gold but sundance now starts with a break action pistol to get uses out of it.