Elven Academy

Here is a list of 100 quest ideas. I spent about six hours googling existing lists of side quests and ideas, then I edited, revised, and added some of my own. I didn’t copy and paste a single idea without some improvements (except the 20 ChatGPT templates at the end.)

There aren’t many silly quests involving mysterious pink cows, angry chickens, etc. because that isn’t my style. (In fact, some quest lists I found online were kind of bad, which is why I’m posting this.) There also aren’t any quests intentionally copy-pasted from existing video games.

As a fantasy fiction writer, I was advised that ‘side quests’ should connect into the ‘main quest’ (aka storyline) in some way, at least to develop important characters and setting. In an interactive game, the main character is most important. So it’s good to choose side quests that allow the main character to develop and roleplay, i.e. as a druid, as a ranger, as a wizard, etc.

The best ideas here are ‘subversion of tropes,’ so just doing that is a way to find good ideas.

The quests are loosely divided into three tiers. That doesn’t mean Tier Three is bad, maybe less useful to my current project. I consulted ChatGPT for 20 generic quest archetypes at the end, and also to pad out Tier Three to reach 100 total quests in this list.

I will be using this list, editing, and adding to it. I hope you also find it useful, better than the existing lists I could find, and certainly better than AI. Good luck, have fun, and happy Game Mastering!

Tier One:

1. A wealthy person, faction, or competing adventuring group wants to hire one group member on a permanent basis, and offers a better deal than the current adventuring party.
2. A wealthy and/or powerful person with a grudge from the past has posted a bounty for the capture or death of one group member.
3. A royal has been assassinated. Find clues and find the mystery for a reward.
4. The group needs to beseech the help of an evil faction in order to achieve greater aims.
5. A gang of female thieves (or equivalent) is extorting money from a male merchant or royal.
6. A very rare reagent or monster organ is needed by a wizard for a particular powerful spell.
7. A bard needs a fabled magical instrument, which was stolen by an evil witch, along with his tongue, or maybe something else.
8. A cowardly fighter wants you to retrieve a powerful sword/item to make him more powerful, makes excuses why he can’t go.
9. A magic mirror or secret portal reveals the dark secrets of the person who uses it, or maybe the person it’s pointed at.
10. A public execution or unjust imprisonment is occurring due to prejudice and hate by otherwise good people.
11. A wizard is possessed by a demon or devil they summoned. They must be captured alive and exorcised.
12. The party, or a member of the party, is framed for something they didn’t do. But why?
13. A son/daughter of a nobleman is in love with a scoundrel or member of a lesser/unliked race.
14. A string of noblemen have turned up missing. A few of them reputedly visited the same brothel. Or this an intentional red herring by the real culprit?
15. A lord/lady of the realm is seeking a new wife/husband, has heard of the exploits and/or lineage of one or more of the group, and sends formal invitation(s) to attend his/her party of candidates.
16. A young girl is accused of an assassination, but it was actually her possessed/demonic doll.
17. Two lovers have become separated due to one being arrested or lost at sea, use divination to help them find each other, with a possibly unforeseen twist when they are found.
18. A sacred shrine or other building is on fire. Use water magic to douse the flames and be a hero, while attracting the ire of a fire elemental, evil entity, or other arsonist.
19. A gnome inventor needs rare components and/or schematics from the goblins, but they are terrified to try to obtain them on their own.
20. An evil lord chooses someone’s beautiful young daughter to be his new wife. The parents want to hire the group to kidnap the daughter, in hopes it will either lure the evil lord out of the castle to be killed, or at least persuade the lord to choose someone else.

Tier Two:

1. A powerful chaotic wizard is building a deadly dungeon. They need help procuring deadly monsters or traps, which you realize will brutally murder innocent low-level adventurers.
2. A highly conservative anti-drinking/drugs/sex/race/anything religious group wants you to sabotage and ruin a local business or person, which isn’t doing anything technically law-breaking.
3. A librarian wants a priceless tome returned from the wizard who won’t give it back.
4. Someone wants to hire the group to kidnap a princess, instead of rescuing one.
5. A vigilante group is killing a repressed minority.
6. A creature or group of creatures has moved into a place, using it as a base to maraud countryside.
7. Whole party is captured somehow, must find a way to escape.
8. A bar room brawl, which includes another group of adventurers. To the victors go the spoils, and maybe a map to a nearby hidden lair, dungeon, gold mine, or lost dwarven stronghold.
9. A member of the party somehow earns ownership of a slave. This causes conflict.
10. Mysterious earthquakes in a nearby region, investigate the cause.
11. An ‘evil’ faction turns out to be just misunderstood.
12. A ship or something wrecked, depositing a huge treasure. Race to get it.
13. A dragon is rumored to no longer be guarding its hoard. Race to get it.
14. A group of bandits is making travellers pay a toll.
15. The group is afflicted with a curse of discord, which turns them chaotic or evil.
16. The group is afflicted with a curse that turns them into monsters that are killed on sight.
17. The group defeats thieves who have stolen something that blackmails a local corrupt noble.
18. A noble hires the group to find blackmail material on another noble.
19. Fire destroyed a special village inn or landmark. Lift the spirits of the people by helping them gather the resources to rebuild.
20. An artist is cursed when his paintings keep coming to life, or predicting death. Solve the mystery.

Tier Three:

1. A princess has been kidnapped and held for ransom … one too many times.
2. The group finds a wounded angel that needs help getting home, before being captured by devils.
3. An evil character is in love with someone good, and wants to be better.
4. One of the group turns out to be a doppelganger. Where is your companion?
5. A circus has come to town, with strange creatures, exotic people, and…?
6. A new party member has a secret past that catches up with him/her, and hopes the group will lay their lives on the line to take care of this problem.
7. Group rescues a damsel, but she’s actually an assassin/thief pretending to be innocent.
8. Salesperson-like promises of gold and glory in a nearby kingdom leads to an ambush and/or a trap.
9. Bounty hunting a goodhearted pirate, vegan troll, evil princess, or other character that defies tropes.
10. Two of the group members have somehow changed bodies.
11. A local lord is trying to build a new road. A powerful landowner, a retired adventurer, or a group of elves or druids is strongly opposed, with escalating stakes and violence.
12. A group member has inherited a long-abandoned estate with an odd groundskeeper or housekeeper, secrets.
13. A cult is trying to revive its lost god.
14. Retrieve an old artifact from a shipwreck at the bottom of the sea.
15. A nobleman hires the group to let his son/daughter tag along to see the world.
16. Deliver a ransom to kidnappers.
17. A mysterious egg is found. Is it hatchable?
18. A curse, or cursed object, is found, group must find a way to get rid of it ASAP.
19. Everyone in a town has gone missing, no one knows why.
20. Someone was kidnapped by something. Rescue them.
21. The group finds a gladiator arena, can participate.
22. An evil faction or aggressive warlord is corrupting small towns before expanding to an assault on the capital. He wants something, maybe marriage to the local lord’s daughter.
23. Chanting or singing is heard in nearby ruins or glade.
24. Someone in the group is afflicted with lycanthropy.
25. Undead are attacking a nearby village, controlled by an evil mastermind.
26. A new cult has arrived in the area, and is recruiting members. Are they up to no good? An established faction wants you to ‘find’ evidence they are no good, and either convince them to leave, or kill them.
27. A mad wizard or cleric is selling potions that have terrible side effects, refuses to stop, and is trying to silence those who call him out.
28. Someone wants the group to find a stolen or missing precious, with payment on receipt of the item. Maybe they are counting on the item’s power to help them avoid paying.
29. You are racing another adventuring group to the treasure, but the other group falls into a disaster. Will you let them die? Or will you help them?
30. The plague scenario. Find the cure, or burn the whole place to the ground, risk getting sick to help the sick, or whatever. (If a group member is out, maybe they got sick.)
31. The pop-culture reference quest. Recreate a popular story with abundant references.
32. A farmer is clearing land to plant crops to feed the growing human village. Local nature spirits or elves aren’t pleased. Take a side and/or mediate.
33. The adventuring group has an opportunity to build their own stronghold. The effort requires various side quests.
34. A group member wants to join a religion, holy order, or assassin’s guild, but needs to complete a difficult quest for entry, and could use some help.
35. A group member is in a guild, church, or other organization who needs them to complete a very important quest, and to bring friends.
36. A legendary but eccentric chef went missing. Find out where they went and what happened, and they might reward you with a secret recipe.
37. A group member is a member of a vulnerable minority. As a relatively wealthy and capable member, they are in a unique position to help defend their people against persecution, and find diplomatic solutions.
38. Hostage crisis. Rescue the princess by negotiation and tact, rather than covert assault.
39. Mediator. Prevent a war by negotiating with both sides. Evade an assassination attempt by those who want a war to occur.
40. A highly publicized wedding of peace is arranged between two usually opposed factions. Escort the bride along a treacherous road, along with a precious dowry.

ChatGPT-Generated Generic Quest Templates

Here’s a list of good generic quests for an adventure game:

1. Retrieve the Lost Artifact: The player must venture into dangerous dungeons and overcome obstacles to find and recover a powerful artifact.
2. Rescue the Captive: The player must locate and rescue a kidnapped character, navigating through enemy territory and facing off against formidable foes.
3. Solve the Mystery: The player becomes a detective and must investigate a puzzling crime or a series of mysterious events, collecting clues, interviewing suspects, and piecing together the truth.
4. Protect the Village: The player is tasked with defending a vulnerable village from imminent danger, such as an invading army, monsters, or a natural disaster.
5. Explore the Forbidden Land: The player embarks on a perilous journey to explore a forbidden and uncharted territory, facing unknown creatures, solving puzzles, and uncovering ancient secrets.
6. Retrieve the Stolen Treasure: The player must track down and recover a valuable treasure stolen by cunning thieves, leading to a pursuit across various locations and encounters with clever adversaries.
7. Defeat the Evil Overlord: The player’s ultimate goal is to defeat an evil overlord who threatens to plunge the world into darkness, assembling a team, gathering powerful artifacts, and engaging in epic battles.
8. Master the Elements: The player must undergo training and trials to master the powers of the four elements (earth, air, fire, and water) and bring balance to a troubled world.
9. Seek the Legendary Weapon: The player embarks on a quest to locate a legendary weapon with immense power, journeying through treacherous terrains, deciphering ancient riddles, and facing formidable guardians.
10. Uncover the Ancient Civilization: The player explores ancient ruins and forgotten cities, deciphering ancient texts, solving puzzles, and discovering the history and secrets of a long-lost civilization.
11. Aid the Wise Sage: The player is tasked with finding and assisting a wise sage who holds crucial knowledge or a solution to a pressing problem, overcoming obstacles and proving their worth.
12. Lift the Curse: The player must break a curse that plagues a person, a village, or even an entire kingdom, embarking on a quest to find the source of the curse and finding a way to undo its effects.
13. Restore the Sacred Relics: The player sets out on a quest to recover stolen or scattered sacred relics, each with unique powers, and return them to their rightful place, unlocking their potential along the way.
14. Help the Lost Spirit: The player encounters a wandering spirit trapped between worlds and must aid them in finding peace, venturing into ethereal realms and solving ethereal puzzles.
15. Expose the Conspiracy: The player becomes entangled in a web of political intrigue and must uncover a conspiracy threatening the stability of a kingdom, gathering evidence, interrogating suspects, and navigating dangerous political waters.
16. Ascend to Godhood: The player embarks on a journey to ascend to godhood, undertaking divine trials, amassing followers, and making choices that shape their path to divinity.
17. Collect the Elemental Crystals: The player must search for and collect a set of elemental crystals scattered across the world, each imbued with unique powers, to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands.
18. Protect the Last of a Species: The player is entrusted with the protection and preservation of the last surviving member of a rare and endangered species, shielding them from hunters or poachers.
19. Save the Dying World: The player must find a way to heal a dying world, whether through restoring natural resources, bringing harmony to warring factions, or finding a mythical artifact with the power to rejuvenate the land.
20. Reclaim the Lost Kingdom: The player’s mission is to reclaim a lost kingdom that has fallen into the hands of an oppressive regime or monstrous creatures, rallying allies, and engaging in epic battles to restore peace and justice.

Feel free to customize these quests to fit your specific game’s setting and mechanics.

Thank you to whomsoever purchased a few of my books.

Please note that the first book is Down Where The Blue Violet Beauties Bloom. The book Inside The Dark Heart Of The Garden is actually book three. I need to fix my link or something, because my Smashwords profile page lists the books in the reverse order, based on when they were uploaded. They should be read in the opposite order, from bottom to top.

I was assuming people were buying “Dark Heart” because it is the most sexy-looking and has incubi, but it could also be the misleading order the books are listed. I don’t know, but it needs to be fixed.

So, about the game project. I’ve completed another full playthrough of current content, and I fixed a lot of typos and bugs. Some of those bugs only showed up when played in Spanish, or with a male character, or in Darkgame mode for example. This is a big challenge of QA for the game.

So I decided to go ahead and upload those fixes.

I was pleased that gear seemed to be working well, without noticeable glitches. A total gear handling overhaul was considered, and it’s something that might happen in the future.

I noticed that Chapter A results in some fairly high character stats. I am considering reducing stat gains after the player reaches the second Chapter B, nudging the somewhat experienced player, with some gear to select from, to start considering their gear loadout for adventures. Or I’ll need to tweak the stat gains a bit from the beginning.

The only actual content added here is a new library book: Elven Dating: Using the Modern Arts of Psychology For Success. That should be found in the in-game library under a new Psychology category.

I am still working on Outdoor Adventure C3: Return to the Town of Terror. I considered pushing for a Halloween release, but I’ve been focused on oil painting instead, while writing down my game dev ideas for when I have time.

General patch notes:

Created a formal story and character arc tracker spreadsheet, because the different stories and timelines are getting a bit complicated.

Added mouseover tooltips to the six gear slots in the character sheets. You can now see the stat breakdowns on individual pieces of gear. Ease of managing items and gearing still could use a lot of improvement.

Added C and M hotkeys for opening character sheet and map. Space bar chooses first dialogue option.

A1: Revised and reduced wordy paragraphs yet again. Added missing translations. Fixed a missing graphic.
A2: Minor typo corrections, bits of added dialog, clarifications.
A3: fixed a wand issue for female Dandelion, fixed a game-breaking conversation bug.
A4: Cut and added more paragraph breaks to wordy paragraphs. Developed character goals and motivations for Connor and Jeanie.
A5: Spanish translation corrections.
A6: Spanish translation corrections.
A7: Minor edits and typo corrections.

C1: Spent hours fixing a dizzying array of Spanish translation failures, including text variables mislabeled and therefore missing, paragraph reductions, and paragraph breaks added, which were never previously done.
C2: Translation editing and proofreading, fixed missing translations. More paragraph breaks, reduced cringiness of over-enthusiastic dialog.

D1: Spanish editing and proofreading. Fixes to egregious game-breaking bugs at the final recap conversation. Fixed broken save progress at end. This could still be polished more, including adding health bars for the monsters.

D2: fixed some typos in generated combat text. Fixed spelling of ‘liege’, and the translation to ‘señor’. Fixed broken save code. Fixed display errors of combat spell icons in Spanish first language modes.

This patch mainly adds B2: The Queen’s Gambit. It also adds a completion panel to the game, so you can quickly see what you’ve completed with your current character. It adds other interface improvements, like character class images, ability to press -enter- to advance the dialogues, and create your character by assigning points (i.e. a third option).

There are also lots of bug fixes and proofreading. This was three weeks of free-time work since I returned to the game, although B2 was substantially finished earlier this year. B2 is about as large as B1, plus offers a substantial branching path if you are more neutral/darkside inclined.  I’d like to improve this branch, since it’s really the first of its kind.

I’m feeling a little burned out already, but I’ve been working hard because I want to start a new module. My options are B3: a diplomacy module, C3: a pirate outdoor adventure, or D3: another dungeon. This patch introduces Outdoor Adventures to the adventure selection, as well as to the new tracker panel.

I’ll playtest on the server this weekend to look for any missing assets or other issues. Thanks for visiting.

Patch Notes:

A third character creation option is now available in module A1. You may now choose assign your own points, or randomize, or play through the full module.

Ora now asks a few organic questions about you in order to determine your character class, instead of awkwardly asking you to pick from an overwhelming list.

The six character classes now have tarot cards assigned to them, which now appear in the character sheet.

You can now press -enter- to auto-choose the first option in any dialog.

Botany Hike with Jeanie and Bird Walk with Connor now count as the first two “Outdoor Adventures” for tracking on the completion panel. Any more dedicated future romance content will be in the form of “Interludes”, and not tracked for completion or character progress.

New module cover art for Botany and Bird modules. Edited modules to correct file paths, write to savecode, which was broken, etc.

Dialog speaker mood text will now flash a highlight when their mood changes. (Will not be active yet in older modules due to referencing a newer version of the mood update function.)

Savecode manual load should now be fixed; there was an error in regular expression check.

On the other hand, the savecode was re-structured however to do the new completion panel, so old save codes will need to start a new game. Unless you want to manually edit your current save code to have 29 alphanumeric in segment 15, and an additional segment 16. Game support docs show how to hack your save code. “NAA100-FFFHFG-FFFFFH-AAAAAA-0-0-00190A0000000-AAAAAA-AAAAAAAAAA-AAAAAAAAAA-AAAAAAAAAA-AAAAAA-AAAAAA-AAAAAA-5222222222222222-00000000000000000000000000000-000000000“;

A completion/achieve panel for story modules and dungeons is added to the interface. This replaces the in-game console record panel, which was kind of useless. The prior save roll etc. output to this panel is now in the browser console.

Some translations fixed in the gift shop. On review, I found the gift shop needs upgrades, but isn’t hopelessly bad. I backed off of developing a new all-purpose shop panel on the main interface for now.

Fixed a few errors and links in game rules.
Fixed settings panel height.
Fixed issue with quest/review panel button.

A1: proofread Spanish.
A2: fixed discrepancy in Chary’s dorm room location
A3: proofread Spanish translation, more cuts on long paragraphs, fixed progress counter?
A4: fixed a conversation bug
A5: proofread Spanish. That translation was frankly terrible. Fixed a few other issues.
A6: proofread Spanish. Added night sounds to the Moon Tower parlor. Fixed broken Morrigan portraits.
A7: fixed typos.

B2: The Queen’s Gambit (El Gambito de la Reina) is now live on the server. It is playable to the end, but it is currently being playtested, and still needs translations of most dialogues.

C1: Fixed typos, made edits to bring Botany Hike up to current code and styling standards, fixed music, added new bird music. Improved lesbian conversations.

C2: This was just a clown fiesta. Sorry about that. Fixed many egregious typos and bugs, fixed title, tried to fix some terrible dialogue, made edits to bring Bird Walk up to current code and styling standards, fixed music, added new bird music. Improved gay dialogue a bit. Apparently this module was rushed and never tested.

I’ve taken a few months off to work on paintings, but I’m ready to return to game developing. The first step is to find out where I’m at, then sort through pages and pages of existing notes, ideas, lists of bugs, and to-do documents.

The main sticking point seems to be the overall plot for Book B. The first chapter of Book B is on the live server. The second chapter is 75% completed.

I feel the second book needs to focus on the player character’s development, especially in relation to heritage. Spoiler: it has an unsurprising derivation, i.e. OH – you’re actually the child of the all-powerful XYZ.

Is there any way to put a twist or surprise on this trope?

I suppose I could research existing stories that featured superpowered children (Baldur’s Gate comes to mind) and see how other writers handled the situation. (I have a terrible memory for stories and plots.)

I see a few people are actually checking out the game lately, so thanks. It’s a big motivation. If you have any suggestions or ideas to add, please do so on this post.

Here is my current to-do list after distilling down all of my old notes. I’m sure I’m missing some important things, and some very important things are currently listed as lower priority. I ended up resisting last year’s plans for a game download due to fear of piracy, basically. I don’t want to deal with that.

In fact, I’ve been thinking lately of a long-term plan of trying to sell my game or partner with someone who knows how to sell games and can manage distribution for me.

High Priority:

Finish module B2: The Queen’s Gambit (Yule Festival, it’s maybe 75% done).
Firm up entire plot for Book B.
Module B3: untitled Sea Voyage to the Unseelie Court, also develop assets in tandem for a pirating adventure module.
Do the diplomacy skills actually increase with use??
Romance T2 – after the first chapter is over.

Lower Priority:

***Writing/Concept/Story***

What about reversed tarot cards in the Tarot Training module?
Add quote to A2: “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.”
― Plato
Complete a few new library books possibly re: oil painting, Tonalism and French painting at the end of the 19th century, and/or Fin De Siecle, Belle Epoque, Victorian periods in England and France.
Work at the gift shop.
Enable option to drain companions vampirically to heal yourself.
Add a module choices (save code) review journal to your room. “I chose not to rescue the fairy.” “I slept with the Unseelie Fey.” Etc.
Need an official spell list with spell difficulties?
More weirdness in A1-A3

***Graphics And UI***

Chary still needs a crying face? (A7)
Still no Alex doll in drawer nail patch? (A7)
Do class portraits.
Gift shop items need item ports.
“Status” on character sheet could more clearly say “Base” to indicate bonus is additive.
Constantine’s Coat is missing an outfit graphic (44f and 44m)
Leonie needs upset mood portrait. (In A6 dialog 97 and elsewhere.)
Fretzel needs upset mood portrait (A6).
Panterah better sexport. (B1)
Show figures in the world more, like in an isometric game or comic book. Makes them seem real.
Chary profile party port hair fix?
A7 panterah port could be painted better, and have succubus styling?
A7 could animate the little demon when chary goes down, loc 67

***Systems/Mechanics/Balance***

Re-examine save roll bonus for staff.
Re-examine starting stats, still too high after addition of classes
Companion roll is luck + a modifier on how good the companion is?
Doing attrib gains wrong? More gain for failing?
Examine use of Hell’s Court rep, change hell’s court rep to something else?

***Coding***

Gift shop items need checks to see if already owned.
Update companion (and all NPC) adjectives to include strengths and weaknesses.
Dreams of desire for a succubus or incubus, or other addiction mechanic to home module.
Room Chair is missing in many modules
Leonie’s hearts (only Leonie) don’t seem to be updating visually on the speaker panel??
Dump jQuery.
Fix dialogues to enable more attitude changes.
Give affect with pi society for d2.
A7 quests 1 and 2 aren’t completing?
D1 needs an endMod func and modFlags?

***Sound/Music***

Sound effects for sitting at vanity and opening closet, etc.
Gift shop and other shops need sound.
More fanfare for gaining a ‘level’?
Need a dungeon theme songs and sound effects for d1 and d2.
Coin sound. And a default path to look for a sound? if it’s missing or something?
Use the recently added choir music,. and also backup music and sound folder
Affordable violin background music throughout? Cheaper than learning the violin?

***Testing/QA***

Playtest all existing modules for equal support for the three class roleplay boxes
Playtest on Firefox, etc.

***Style Guide Percolators***

Use more comic book influence in the art style – dramatic lights and darks, creative third-person perspectives.
Always need more fairies and comedy.
Show the evil, not tell about it.
Have native Spanish speakers in the game with the languages reversed.
Develop more for situations needing specific skills and clothing/gear.
More fairy hijinks.
More fun.
Being a Serpent needs to mean rebelling more.
Being good means feeling good about your actions.
More evil clowns and evil dolls.
More fighting good people who are wrong.
More creative corruption.
Connor – more poem quotes.
Sexy time with the weirdest Fey?
Menstrual blood, virgin blood, alabaster, etc. Ritual components.
It’s a relief to be around normal humans sometimes – Jeanie.
Need more elf atmosphere, a tolkein promise.
Use CONST, recall ASI = automatic semicolon insertion.

Tonight I’ve uploaded a new update for Elven Academy. This includes completed, translated, and playtested versions of module B1: Down The Rabbit Hole, and D2: The Geomancer’s Deathtrap.

These two modules took me most of 2021 to create. They contain my best writing yet, especially Down The Rabbit Hole. In this first module of Book 2, you return for more deliveries as a rabbit in the Peacock Queen’s domain.

This time you actually get to play through several deliveries, meeting various guests of the Queen. My favorite is probably the pair of elves who call themselves “sages of the fifth grade” from Avalon, who actually test your wits using standard questions at the level of “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader.”

I’m also making better use of save flags now, so your choices in B1 may come back to haunt you a bit in chapter B2: The Queen’s Gambit, which I am currently working on. This is a holiday/Yule-themed module.

I’m starting to make better use of my character templates in B2 to provide a good array of choices for the character. I’m also working hard on this module to present more ethical/moral decisions. I hope to go back to earlier modules to add more ethical/moral decisions. This really isn’t as easy as it looks.

As a reminder, my roleplay templates are Charming Good Mage/Bard, Neutral Ranger/Druid, and Cunning/Jaded Sorc/Necromancer. I know, I should have been doing this a long time ago. Each of these templates has a set of favored attributes that are used for saving rolls for respective choices as well.

On a personal note, I’m also still working diligently on oil painting, and also very depressed during the holidays. I feel I’m therefore doing acceptably well to not neglect my elf-ness in real life. I just received in the mail the book Middle English Romances, a Norton Critical Edition. I’m hoping to do some literature reading/research over the holiday days as well. This is the sort of thing Connor (in the game) is supposed to love and be a student of, so I need to research this genre so I can write him better.

I’ve abandoned playing video games lately due to finger pain, as well as my attempts to learn the violin.

Here are the full patch notes for this game update. I playtested the update just a bit on the live server and filled in some missing graphics files. There seems to be some server caching issues now on the JS files that I had to tweak, but hoping they will be cleared up tomorrow.

Patch Notes General:

Uploaded finished/updated versions of B1: Down The Rabbit Hole, and D2: The Geomancer’s Deathtrap. They still probably need more playtesting, especially in Spanish. But they should be playable to the end. D2 is a more difficult dungeon involving a number of combats, and might be quite a challenge for a weak new witch or wizard.

It appears the Spanish text still has a lot of typos and incorrect grammar throughout the game modules due to the fact that I test in English for speed and expediency. I spent some time reading through the Spanish translations and making corrections.

Restored health cost to casting spells, and enabled checks to disallow a spellcast that will zero your health pool.

Added a skip button to the intermezzo/aside/scene timeskip splash page. Skipping past skips … who has time to sit through time passage in 2021.

A1: Spanish playthrough, fixed so many embarrassing grammar errors and typos. Improved attribute telegraphing, improved dark side dialogue.

A2: Spanish playthrough, more cuts to bloated paragraphs, improved dark side dialogue.
The Divination spells are now based on Fortune attribute for Divination school, not Enchantment.
Added some poetry for Connor.
Added some roleplay coded options.
Added sound to Baralto’s Garden
Fix bug enabling becoming Connor’s girlfriend/boyfriend.

A3: Glumskayah is back to being a she-devil instead of prior change to a succubus. She will take a lower profile in Book 2 and be replaced by a succubus. Needs to attend trial for her executions of army incubi, which is seen as possibly overreaching her power by the patriarchal Hell’s Court. Her mission on the island was to set everything up, deal with all legal issues, and eliminate any opposition. With that mission accomplished, she will allow someone else to be the face of Hell’s Court.
Added some poetry for Connor.
Added references to a buried treasure on the island.

A5: Fixed various Glumskayah graphics to show an antique backpiece that silhouettes her head.

A7: Added ambient sounds to Glumskayah’s dungeon, added some module save flags. The fact that I can’t find much in this module to save as a flag for later reveals some weakness.
Added some options to flirt, to be kind, and to be rebellious.
Added some choices and fixed bugs to companion affection gains (and losses.)
Generally more work to make the module more fun and less passive.
Explained why Glumskayah trips when chasing you out of her dungeon.
Bug fixes.

B1: Additional options, Spanish edits, new music, new quest.
Fixed filepath bug preventing module completion and exit.
Fixed a few dialog inconsistencies.

D1: fixed several issues with death checking while taking damage, updated death screen.
D2: Completed the module. This is the largest and best module yet. Translated (2.5 days of work in itself.) Added new scenarios, completed the story satisfactorily. Playtested.

I used to be fascinated by romance in fantasy RPG’s. I played through Baldur’s Gate 2 multiple times to experience the different romance arcs with Aerie, Jaheira, and Viconia. I’m happy that Baldur’s Gate 3 is continuing in that tradition.

I recruited Fall From Grace in Planescape: Torment just for her backstory and attractiveness. I completed romance stories in Skyrim and Dragon Age.

I was very disappointed when SWTOR pulled romance out of their game at launch. I was disappointed more recently that Planescape: Tides offered no romance arcs, especially since the lead writer was an erotica writer.

I was also disappointed that a real romance arc was not offered in Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, especially since The Witcher has such legendary writing in this regard.

Recently I’ve considered taking my game project in a more R-rated direction, so I researched the Book of Erotic Fantasy. It is a very old D&D supplement under the OGL v1.0a. Here are my notes and reactions from the reading. Another, more exhaustive treatment is found here.

Basically, most of this text just doesn’t merit a deep analysis from where I’m at, so let’s look mostly at the gems.

Review of the Book of Erotic Fantasy

The BoEF is broken into seven chapters: Love, Sex, and Roleplaying, Rules, Skills, and Feats, Base and Prestige Classes, Magic, Items, and Adventures and Organizations.

Most of the book consists of lists of spells, classes, creatures, and magical items for your adventure campaign. There is a list of 100 “Adventure Ideas”, but a lot of these ideas boil down to just “something happened”. The something is often: “it happened, good to know”, or “someone is raping and must be stopped.”

A few ideas were cute and doable, however, like the band of halflings that challenge the adventurers to a game of sexual endurance.

Humor was one of the main takeaways from this elder tome. Sex has always gone hand in hand with humor, and therein lies its most valuable asset, since we do play these games to have fun. So why isn’t sex more prominent in RPG’s? Here is my take on the problems.

• Sex and romance offer poor gameplay. (Roll dice to see whether you have an orgasm, etc. is just lame.)
• It doesn’t advance the main story.
• It often doesn’t develop character unless done very well.
• If used as a final reward to a story arc, it loses its ability to advance a story arc.

If we don’t boil sex down to just a reward, like banging the prince after you save him, then there are good reasons to have it: develop a character (NPC or PC), and advance a plot. Romantic titillation and roleplay in themselves are also valid, but not as powerful.

The BoEF touches on these issues in a few actually insightful paragraphs sprinkled into the text. Plot, character, and humor. I was disappointed in the “adventure ideas”, so I wrote some of my own, broken down into the categories where sex can actually be best used. Here are my starter lists that I brainstormed in an hour.

Ideas to develop a non-player character. The NPC:

• Reveals something about the racial sexual customs in an interracial experience, possibly amusing.
• Reveals poor character, i.e. implies it’s free, but now wants money, has a boss to threaten the PC with.
• Reveals they are surprisingly the opposite personality in bed.
• Reveals they are deeply vulnerable in some way, emotionally needy for some reason.
• Reveals they have secrets on the pillow, i.e. this was the point of seducing the PC.
• Reveals tattoos that tell a story about past deeds, exploits, beliefs, mottos.
• Reveals tattoos or marks that indicate of a gang, a cult, physical abuse, sex work.
• Reveals a prosthetic limb, an implant, a welded cuff or a collar suggesting wounds or an owner.
• Reveals deformities, fur, or other evidence of non-human crossbreeding in family.
• Reveals they are a shapeshifter or have an enchanted form, i.e. a dragon or someone really hideous.
• Reveals they have a husband/wife/someone else really jealous.
• Reveals they have a fetish, must have something specific to become aroused.
• Reveals they have an STD. Sexual transmitted diseases are just not fun, unless you’re using them just to whimsically punish a player for fun. It could be used as a consequence of a failed saving roll, however.
• Reveals they are conflicted about sex, they were trying to be chaste, etc.
• Reveals they were a virgin, and now you’re in big trouble with someone or something.

Ideas to develop the player character. The PC:

• Is allowed an actual love romance that leads to a long term relationship.
• Is then allowed to recruit a henchman or henchwoman that provides perks in a relationship, or even bring them along on adventures.
• Is allowed to feel powerful.
• Is allowed to feel powerful by submitting.
• Is allowed to be a prostitute for money, themselves.
• Is allowed to use character skills in new and creative ways, if the sex scene is gameplayed.
• In forming a relationship, creates conflict in terms of faithfulness, promises, and infidelity.
• Offers a roleplay path to retiring a character to the married life in a castle, and possibly children which can form a new adventuring party.

Ideas to advance a plot through the NPC. The NPC:

• Sleeps with the PC, but then falls more for another member of the party.
• Is trying to use sex because they want something from the PC.
• Is using the PC as an alibi for something.
• Actually dies in the PC’s arms, leading to accusations of murder, or demonic possession.
• Incapacitates the PC to steal a map, a book, treasure, horse, sword, etc.
• Reveals a quest on the pillow. PC can offer help, or can try to get to the treasure first.
• Insists that according to their cultural laws, they are now married to the PC (Firefly, etc.)
• Reveals a life-threatening situation they are in, and their desperation for help.
• Is trying to persuade the PC to join a cult, sex club, etc.. This leads to quests.

In many of these cases, the primary question becomes: what does the NPC want? If you establish powerful wants on the part of the NPC who the PC is having sex with, good writing naturally flows from it. This is hard though, and I’ve failed at this to some extent.

It may also help to ask, if the NPC is a possible romantic interest, then who or what are the attracted to, and why? This can also reveal a lot of character.

A big sticking point to incorporating all of these ideas is the gender-locked nature of the gameplay. To incorporate romantic encounters at important points in your plot, you would almost need to have a gender locked protagonist.

Or you would have to “cheat” and change the gender of the NPC to the opposite of your PC, and then assume the PC is straight. What a mess. Maybe that in itself is a big reason why romance isn’t used much in a meaningful way in RPG’s, and why the Witcher franchise seems to stand so tall in this capacity. (I haven’t played the Witcher games personally due to not liking to play male protagonists.)

The BoEF also touched on the idea of “ratings”. I’ve been grappling with that lately myself. Here are the proposed ratings, which are the American scale of course:

PG-13 – Deals with mature subjects including sex, but without explicit scenes or descriptions. Love, flirting, and seduction are all acceptable, but the actual sex occurs offstage.

R – Nudity and sexual situations are common, although level of detail stops at gratuitous details that could be described as pornographic.

Other useful points from the Book of Erotic Fantasy:

BDSM is now mainstream, not a fetish or taboo. Clubs have BDSM nights, it’s a fixture in the fashion industry. Love between Human and non-human (Vampires and Werewolves) is also mainstream.

Assigning an alignment to a type of lover is interesting to help a player to play their character.

Assigning an alignment to an entire society is also useful. The alignment becomes a sort of shorthand for thinking about sex norms in different societies and regions of the game setting.

Not so useful points:

Some things in the book are just silly. A “masterwork” condom, for example.

I also wasn’t a huge fan of the photos, but they’re OK. Consistent, quality artwork throughout would have been very expensive and time-consuming most likely.

Tantrist, Kundalini. I strongly disagree with using real-world Earth terms like this in a D&D setting. These come from Hindu and Tibetan religions. Maybe the authors were trying to be non-specific in terms of campaign setting, but this is just worse.

I skimmed the ‘bestiary’ in the BoEF, which did not really interest me, as my campaign setting is well-developed, for better or worse. Some interesting entries, however, were the half-devil, half-giant, and pleasure golem.

That’s about all for my reactions and notes on this thick, lengthy tome of erotic treasures. It’s well-worth a perusal, and I find myself curious about trying to design some erotic gameplay. The sections of the book dedicated to gameplay, like the mini-scenario at the end, seemed very short of practical examples.

The book lists play-testers in the credits page. I’d like to hear their feedback. Because honestly a lot of this could boil down to the vanilla D&D rules, but spiced up with adventures in brothels. And how do you ‘succeed’ at a sexual encounter? How would this work?

1. Simply getting the NPC naked and/or into a compromising situation is enough to complete many character developments or plot advancements.

2. Physical success (Agility, Toughness, Romance (techniques), Engineering (toys, ropes, who knows)): pleased your lover X times, resulting in advancement or quest success.

3. Emotional success: (Empathy, Psychic) need to achieve some kind of intimacy to solve the puzzle and advance. Physical skills don’t matter.

4. The opposite of #1, the NPC getting the PC naked and into a compromising situation is enough to slip the PC a pill or wake up tied to the bed, etc. and move the plot forward.

If your plot hinges on this encounter, the design concept of “Failure with Consequences” might be useful. You moved the plot and achieved your goals, but failure on your rolls means the success is only partial, or you received no extra reward or treasure, or something bad happened, but you still moved forward on a technicality.

That’s all for my reactions to this book. Good luck, and happy gaming.

This week I added six ‘classes’ to Elven Academy. You choose a class when you create a character. This was done for multiple reasons, but mainly to provide roleplay templates for both the player and for me as a designer.

I put ‘class’ in single quotes because I need to think of a better name, i.e. path.

The previous classless design led to weak player characterization. I used Charm and Cunning stats as a primary way to think about dialogue options, which equated loosely to Lawful and Chaotic. What about rogues? Rangers? Scholarly types? I didn’t have a good handle on the types of characters to design for.

Now I have 6 classes, split into 3 character archetypes. This provides a simpler framework to help design dialogue and options. These archetypes will be supplemented with Gay, Lesbian, Boss, and Serpent (i.e. Slytherin) tags etc., if the player identifies their character as such.

Bard and Fairy Witch/Wizard: charming, fun, goofy, kind, lawful, compassionate, romantic. (Hobbits, Gryffindor, Jedi)

Druid and Hedge Witch/Wizard: practical, earthy, plant-loving, animal-loving, wise. (Rangers, Dwarves, Hufflepuff, Grey Jedi)

Fate and High Witch/Wizard: snarky, cynical, rebellious, intelligent, scholarly, humorous in a dark way. (Slytherin, High Elves, Thranduil, Sith)

So now it’s my plan to go back and improve my dialogues to better support these archetypes, as well as support the individual module outcome variables I’ve firmed up and implemented. And to support this effort, I did a lot research on the internet.

It’s actually quite hard to research elements of game design on the internet. It’s a mess of abandoned and little-used websites, and decades-old posts on old school blogs, such as that of Alexander Freed. Alexander was a staff writer at BioWare for six years before departing in 2012. More recently he has written official novels for Star Wars, including Rogue One. So he’s doing quite well for himself.

Alexander has an old and abandoned blog on writing for video games, which turned up in my searches. I literally read all of his blog posts today. I took notes, a few quotes here and there, added brainstorms of my own, and re-wrote some things into just a few simple bites that I could better grasp with my relatively feeble mind. Here are my working notes and reactions.

From Notes on Branching Conversation Systems: Five Parts.
Part One. Part Two. Part Three. Part Four. Part Five.  Freed’s Blog.

Takeaways:

Use branching dialogue for character development. Gameplay is knowing and understanding the NPCs and their personalities, and how they might respond.

Two main design formats for dialogue:

Hub and spoke – player makes a choice, goes down a sequence of dialogue, then returns to the hub for another choice. Example: Planescape Torment. Best implementation makes player feel in charge of how to approach the conversation. Bad is making the NPC an information vending machine, where you are just punching the buttons to get everything.

Waterfall – there is no going back to the initial hub. This is more ‘realistic’, but difficult because you need to ensure the player gets the needed outcomes and information no matter which path they choose.

Blended approach – some games end the initial waterfall flow with a hub, giving the player a choice to explore more about the lore offered by the NPC, or just leave. This can feel ‘gamey’ however.

Seeing the NPC react strongly to whatever your character said can be immersive, fun, and rewarding.

Response options can be tailored to be rewarding for specific roleplay class archetypes.

Be wary of every single forced dialogue line, and the danger of making the player feel like it’s not something their character would have said.

“Your number of options should reflect the “default” array of personalities available to the Player.”

“Most dialogue-heavy games tend to go with 3-4 options for most Player choices–two choices often feels too limiting and unnuanced, while more than four becomes slow and difficult for the Player to digest.”

Don’t hand code conversations or try to parse them into your game off an excel spreadsheet.
https://www.inklestudios.com/inklewriter/ primarily intended for more prose-heavy, Choose-Your-Own Adventure-style games. Freed says this costs money for commercial use, but that appears to be outdated. It’s free.

It’s easy and common for writers to fall into the trap of using the player character’s guided interactions to develop their beloved NPC’s. This is a trap because the player should be the star, the protagonist, and the center of focus.

The player should always have the best lines and the coolest story points. The player responses should drive the flavor of the story, ideally. If they want to be naughty, then go there. If they want to be nice, go there.

Don’t forget writing fundamentals. A dialogue should be treated just like a scene. Conflict, increasing tension, climax, resolution, driving the plot, etc.

Ideally decisions are made by the player at dramatic high points. (Personal note – this can be a ‘signpost’ in itself if done consistently.)

Try for active dialog from the player, and avoid passive. Questions tend to be passive. “Tell me about the shop.” is better than “Who owns the shop?”

Forced player lines. Try to be sure that the line is either neutral enough to fit any player character type, or it is dynamically adapted to fit the players character.

Notes And Commentary On Other Blog Posts From Alexander Freed:

From: On Cutscenes And Viewpoint Changes

In general these (cutscenes) are bad in a game because they break immersion. Otherwise can be handled like a movie or novel. Can you make the cutscene interactive instead?

“Is your game comedic? Is the cutscene funny? Then you can get away with pretty much anything.”

From: Writing Romance in (non-Romance) Games: Linear Romances

A key aspect is how to make the player care about the romance at all. You can employ it just like another other subplot or theme, but it’s a lot easier to go off the rails with such a an emotionally and politically laden topic.

Don’t force the player into anything. Make the romance worth the effort.

Very good, engaging banter between the two characters helps the premise that they work well together.

Humor is good, the typical funnies and foibles of two people trying to fall in love.

An interesting idea is to write the player character as already in this relationship at the start.

Make the romantic interest impossible to dislike.

From: Writing Romance in (non-Romance) Games: Branching Romances

‘Branching’ in this context is the ability to make significant plot choices and decisions about how to treat the romance.

If possible, don’t make assumptions about how a player will react or feel in any given situation.

Make sure romance options are “signposted”. Whether to initiate a romance, or break one up, the decision should be clear to the player. Try not to surprise them with something they didn’t want, and is irreversible.

Don’t try to please everyone. Not even yourself. You can’t do everything.

Cheating. No, not cheating on your romantic interest. Cheat the NPC’s dynamically into being more what the player wants for romance. A straight character will be gay, a male character changes completely to female if the player makes a straight male to start the game, etc.. This is difficult to program, but it can work.

Some ideas I hadn’t thought about:

Gifts.
Romance that is super hot, but doomed.  This made me think of the Viconia romance in Baldur’s Gate. In a good way.

From: Player and Player Character Motivation in Video Games

“Bridging the gap between player motivation and player character motivation is one of the the most important factors in a game narrative’s success. .. Player motivations and player character motivations should, at a minimum, converge, even when they do not overlap.”

In interactive entertainment, the player has to make a lot more effort to advance the plot etc.. So even more attention needs to be paid to aligning motivations and engagement.

Ideas to achieve constructive alignment of motivation:

Hating the antagonist.

Ways to fail at this:

Force the character to do something really stupid, as part of the plot, which the player disagrees with, doesn’t like (i.e. feels is annoying busywork), or has no reward valued by the player.

Wow, that was a sparse list of ideas to achieve motivation and engagement.  We could add solving a mystery and getting a treasure.  These are all of my notes.  This is just a tiny collection of gold nuggets that I saved from Freed’s long, exhaustive essays on these topics on his blog.  Maybe someday Alexander Freed will return to making video games.  We can hope!  In the meanwhile, I hope this blog digest with links might be helpful to someone and amplify Freed’s old essays a little bit.

In previous posts, I’ve discussed what skills to use to create a diplomacy system in a fantasy RPG, and why. I skipped over an analysis of the basic premise and foundations of using diplomacy. So I want to backtrack and start at the beginning.

I am a weekend warrior making a retro web game with still graphics and basic animations, not a professional. I have a reasonable amount of fiction writing study and experience, however. Unfortunately, scholarly treatments like this one on this subject seem very difficult to find.

I can only do my best to see a vision above abject mediocrity, and maybe edit and add later, to better use this as a reference document.

“The Situation”: Character And Conflict.

It’s the GM’s role to create a story that requires diplomatic solutions. The most basic scenario, the heart of a fantasy tale, is character and conflict.

A player is roleplaying a character (player character (PC), protagonist) in the game, who wants something from another character (non-player character (NPC), the antagonist), and this conflict cannot be resolved by combat. The puzzle is how to win this conflict.

The player’s character in the game has a set of skills to use. Maybe the character is dumb, or attractive, or whatever. This character is like a swiss army knife for the player. The meta-game is for the player to choose how to use that knife to best advantage to beat the puzzle.

So let’s explore different aspects of this basic premise of the puzzle.

How to make diplomacy engaging?

Most players love to murder things. It’s a matter of life and death, so the drama and conflict are high. Most importantly, the stakes are high. The rewards are also usually high compared to diplomacy.

So let’s brainstorm a list of how the GM can make diplomacy compelling, instead of a dull, forgettable hurdle to jump over.

Up the stakes. It’s a matter of life or death.
Up the drama. Enhance the conflict like a soap opera or reality TV show. Manufacture reasons for these characters to be at each others’ throats.
Leverage. It’s possible the player character has leverage over the antagonist.
Agenda. The antagonist should have their own motives and agendas, and should show them.
Secrets. The antagonist may have secrets, which can be used as counter-leverage against the player.
Surprises. Unexpected reactions that throw a monkey wrench in the plans. Example: again and again  the detective or cop is foiled, and the suspect gets away before finally cornered.
Equal rewards to a resolution by combat.
An ideally emotional feeling that you accomplished something.

Leverage: Finding And Exploiting Character Weaknesses

Leverage is way to gain the upper hand in the diplomatic encounter. A good way to write a leverage scenario seems to be to write the NPC with a significant, character-defining weakness. The first half of the puzzle (for the player) is to determine or guess the weakness of the NPC.

I’ve thunk up list of signature weakness(es) of NPCs, then possible method(s) to exploit them, and added ideas for possible consequences of failed diplomacy.

Poverty, Greed. Player character (PC) has an item or money that the NPC desperately needs. Fail: NPC rejects being manipulated, and acts in rage. Or they would rather try to steal the item than give what the PC wants, due to fear of a greater danger from doing so (i.e. betraying the street boss.)

Lust. NPC is a known lush who desires women or men like the player character. Fail: rape, kidnapping, possible catastrophe depending on the NPC.

Avarice, Gluttony, Sloth. The NPC will respond to an offer of something they covet, or something that appeals to their most base natures, such as laziness and excess. This could involve an additional fetch quest.

Stupidity. The NPC has a track record of doing stupid things and making bad decisions. This can be exploited by an unethical PC. Fail: the NPC counter-cons the PC because he is surprisingly more streetwise than the PC, or he gets revenge later.

Naive. The NPC isn’t stupid, but is innocent to the ways of the world. Vulnerable to manipulation romantically or by false promises of money (long con).

Pride. The NPC is known to be arrogant and vain, and is therefore vulnerable to flattery. Fail: NPC sees through the attempt.

Vulnerability to intimidation. The PC has a significant advantage in force in some way, and is willing to threaten to use it. Fail: threat called as a bluff, or threat is rebuffed with a counter-threat.

Submissive. The PC will back down to a dominant personality, without threat of physical force. This could be guessed by the PC as a racial, gender, or sexual trait. Fail: NPC secretly being manipulated and de-escalated, but then acts with passive aggressiveness to subvert the outcome.

Vulnerability to blackmail. PC knows a secret about the NPC that would be significantly compromising if revealed. Fail: counter-threat of violence or damage in kind to PC or loved ones.

Gambler. The NPC is a known gambler, and loves bets and games of chance. The PC can enter a wager, but possibly rig the outcome.

Bigot, Hater. The NPC hates a person or group of people. The NPC can be manipulated by thinking the PC is also a hater, or a sympathizer, and more friendly to the NPC’s faction than in reality, as opposed to the PC actually earning reputation with the faction. Fail: PC is discovered as a fraud, possibly a catastrophic result from the scammed faction.

Diplomatic Rewards: How To Make Diplomacy Fun

Rewards for successful diplomacy seem like the hardest aspect of the diplomacy scenario to write. So let’s try to brainstorm some ways to feel satisfied as a player in a diplomacy scenario in an RPG. First of all, can we tap into proven examples where we’ve seen diplomacy feel rewarding in an RPG?

Roleplaying evil. (Deception, Intimidation) I had a lot of fun roleplaying a Sith in SWTOR. Fun to be evil. Torture, electrocuting people into submission.

Feeling powerful. (Presence, Intimidation) Roleplaying an immortal in Planescape Torment, or a vampire in VtM:Bloodlines. People fear you, or respect you. Your power can be used to do good as well as evil, of course.

Changing people. You can see this in games where you can influence the alignment of your followers, free someone from slavery, or lift someone from poverty. There is a feeling of importance from seeing yourself making an noticeable impact on the emotions and actions of others.

Seduction and Romance. Romancing NPC’s in an RPG can feel like a long diplomatic challenge, with a reward for getting in bed with your object of affection. How can this feel like a rewarding exercise aside from reaching the sex scene though? A conflicted NPC seems effective. You need to persuade them on a deeper level than just convincing them to fuck. An example is Viconia in Baldur’s Gate 2, who had an alignment conflict with you, or Jaheira, who had a current boyfriend. The diplomatic puzzle was also drawn out over time and made difficult using hidden triggers.

Easter Eggs And Hard-To-Unlock Content. Sometimes just unlocking hidden, secret conversations, events, and easter eggs with maxed-out dialog skills can feel rewarding.

What about some examples of diplomacy that just aren’t fun?

Annoying NPC’s. Some antagonists are just annoying in a bad way. There is no fun to be had ever in dealing with them in a diplomatic way.

Dice Roll, Done. You walk up to an NPC, you throw dice for diplomacy, and they surrender. You win. This is where my diplomacy design is failing. There is no puzzle to solve, or choices to make.

No consequences. Suppose you fail the roll. You move on with no consequences. What was the point?

Too many consequences. You are forced to play lots of combats, or a way you don’t want, because you just didn’t put enough points into a specific diplomacy skill. Or your ranger skill. Or you miss out on a critical portion of the game, or lose the game instantly by missing one roll. You basically have to keep reloading and starting over until you make this one roll. This can be annoying, but it depends on context. In some games many near-instant deaths is how the game is designed, and it can be effective.

Conclusion

To sum up some take-aways, we have:

Good fiction is a player character (protagonist) in conflict with another character (antagonist). The basic story is conflict, resolution.
The GM must create antagonist characters that are well-developed and well-written enough to have their own motivations, strengths, and weaknesses.
The diplomacy game is to guess or ferret out the weaknesses, which gives leverage to select the best choice of action. A side quest could be involved to gain leverage.
While the player’s puzzle is to play this detective game, ultimately the dice rolls are based on the stats of the character. That is kind of required by the definition of an RPG. (Maybe the Fighter is better at intimidation than seduction.)
The most rewarding diplomacy gives the player agency, and/or makes you feel powerful, and is multi-stepped. Like a good story, the conflict is drawn out through suspense and events that foil progress again and again, causing the stakes to get higher and higher, until the final scene is reached and resolved.

The player can then feel satisfied by using the clues gained along the way to make the correct choices to solve the conflict diplomatically.

As an older GM, I feel like I’m good at creating characters and conflict, but bad at letting players win and triumph in a satisfying way and frequency over my obstacles. Maybe it’s a good idea pretending I’m a babysitter, and focus on trying to amuse players with short attention spans who want to feel like teenage gods, while laughing at fart jokes, and ease up on just trying to kill them over and over.

As a writer, I can say a spreadsheet or something is a really needed to keep track of your characters.  My own spreadsheet has columns for: Description, Character Traits and Manners, Romantic Preference, Motivations/Story Goal, Family History, and Language Usage (their signature expressions like “zoinks” or “by the balls of Cerberus”.)

After writing this article, I can better see the value of breaking “character traits” into two columns for strengths and weaknesses.

I hope this article has been of some small use for your game development, although I’m sure it’s very incomplete and could be much better and more insightful, especially in the area of examples of what worked or didn’t work in existing games. I might play Planescape Torment again soon if it goes on sale on Steam. Feel free to leave a comment, and thanks for reading.

More Reading:

https://v1.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/features/galleryoftheday/13818-8-RPGs-Where-Diplomacy-Matters

Diplomacy Roleplay In Video Games: Part One

Persuasion As A Diplomacy Stat

I’m currently done with WoW Classic for a while, and I’m back to work on Elven Academy. I’m working on B1: Down The Rabbit Hole. This is the first module in chapter B, which I believe will take the adventurer on a sea voyage to the Unseelie Court.

While writing scenarios for B1, I realized that I’m not using the Persuasion stat much at all. Instead I’m using the other diplomacy stats (Empathy, Intimidation, Presence, etc.) as finer-grained, better flavored methods of persuading in the game. This is bit of an issue.

So I researched my inspiration for using Persuasion as a stat, which was Vampire The Masquerade. Unfortunately I don’t find any in-depth Reddit posts on this topic addressing pen and paper gameplay. I do find a forum post for the VtM:Bloodlines CRPG titled “Persuasion is overpowered, seduction and intimidation are weak.”

According to this post, VtM:Bloodlines took the opposite approach as I am. They over-used Persuasion as a catch-all means of persuading someone, unless there was a clear-cut situation that demanded a specific way of Persuading. I feel like that is non-optimal. I’ve already discussed Diplomacy at length in a previous post: Diplomacy Roleplay In Video Games: Part One, but lets look again.

Alternatives To Persuasion

I could replace Persuasion, but I need yet another fine-grained way to persuade. I already have Presence (Leadership), Empathy (Sense Motive, Emotional Connection), Mercantile (Haggling), Intimidation, and Deception (Lying, Cheating).

Possible other ideas:

Manners – knowledge and use of social decorum and refined speech. A lot of this is in Presence.
Seduction – using flattery, attractiveness, sexual desire to persuade.
Logic – trying to reason with someone, appeal to intellect.

Manners sounds boring, but I’ve wanted manners to be important to the elves. The main problem with Seduction is that it overlaps with the Romance stat, which I’ve implemented currently in the skills/professions category.

A discussion on RPG StackExchange came up with some other ideas like Logic and Acting. Logic is interesting, but Acting is hard to implement in a scripted CRPG. Pen and paper would work better for both this and Manners, I think.

A reddit user spoke of breaking Diplomacy into sub-skills, which I’ve already done. They suggest skills related to socio-economic backgrounds, i.e. Aristocracy, Street, etc. This is something that has been tried, i.e. in Cyberpunk 2020.

So this would be a vote for a Manners-type stat, but how do you use this to persuade people, or make real action and decisions happen in the game? It’s sketchy in terms of gameplay without a GM.

Persuasion Based On Socioeconomic Kinship

So this idea is to break your Diplomacy ability as a whole into your character background: aristocrat, warrior class, street urchin, and priest class, for example. You’re better at negotiating with your own people. This makes a lot of sense.

This idea doesn’t translate to any gameplay, however. Gameplay would be the idea of Cyberpunk 2077, which is to create stories based on your background. Obviously we can give bonuses based on background. We could tie this into a reputation system. Suppose you weren’t born a warrior, but you’ve done a million quests for the warrior’s guild.

The effect would be equal. Background and Reputation both equate to roll bonuses, maybe non-overlapping. Whichever is higher, to prevent overpowered effects like the one cited in the post linked above.

Persuasion Based On Leverage

In the comment to the discussion on Diplomacy, a GM mentioned the importance of leverage in the game “Dungeon World”: “There’s a Move (action, basically) called Parlay, which sort of covers what Persuasion and Intimidate skills would cover in a different game. The trick is that you can’t make a roll unless you have some form of ‘leverage’.”

It seems to me that leverage is a continuum, and each end renders it useless as a mechanic to implement. This leverage can often be boiled down to a quest item. “Here is the XYZ, now give me the thing/fight me/etc.” Or the leverage is moot. “Will five gold coins suffice?” (Just use haggle or another diplomacy skill that in this case just costs money.)

In the middle of that continuum between 100% leverage, and leverage you always have (gold), you have bonuses to the roll based on the strength of the leverage.

Conclusion

Origins (Street, Aristocrat, etc.) and Reputation could be employed as simple roll bonuses towards diplomacy skills. This means each NPC needs to be coded with a faction, which I’ve already done. Another way to code the NPC’s is with a disposition. The original Fallout games by Interplay used disposition heavily when negotiating with NPC’s, and the change in NPC facial expression was graphically rewarding at the time.

Disposition is overly complicated for the goals of my simple RPG. I’m going with KISS (Keep it simple, stupid), which is consistent with the inspirations for my game. And I’m leaning towards not replacing Persuasion with Seduction, but rather re-defining Persuasion per se to be like a seduction. It is derived from the same stats that Seduction would come from, and used when Seduction would be used.

As an aside, I’m also planning to replace the icons for the Diplomacy skills into something more representative. How do you arrive at icons for Diplomacy skills? The only theme of icons that seems to work, at the moment, is close-ups of eyes and eyebrows. Mouths can’t express enough.

I thought about icons showing hands (i.e. a fist for Intimidation, a handshake for Mercantile.) Or stick figures (i.e. a ninja for deception). I also considered animals, because this is an elven themed game. A bear for intimidation. An eagle for presence. A snake for deception. What animal persuades? What animal is empathic?

That’s all for now. Thanks for visiting, happy gaming, and feel free to leave a comment below.

Mini Patch Notes – January 2021

I had time and energy over the holidays to work on Elven Academy. These were all edits and bug fixes. I am still working on the second dungeon (Geomancer’s Deathtrap). Here is a list of ‘patch notes’, which are now uploaded by not playtested on live at this time. This might break existing save codes, in which case you will need to start a new game.

General:

Ora’s affection is now equal to Owl River reputation.
Fixed broken modules on the live server, which were caused by an update to Ora = not affection enabled.
Fixed broken save code during a manual update validity check (again).
Added a quest notification sound (trumpet).
Fixed the overlapping music issues between scenes.
Worked on sound controls to some extent.
Connor has a six more facial expressions in his standard portrait set.
Implemented some of Connor’s new facial expressions in chapter A.
Added character traits isBoss, isGay, isLesbian.
Started adding some dialog for these tags.
Implemented individual module results to save code, so choices (might) matter more.
Enabled completion of modules out of order.
Updated game reference spreadsheet for all updated game functions.
Added total item bonus display to character sheet for blessing, jewelry, and charm.
Language selection should now save in your room and/or when your save code is saved.

Module A0:

Added total items owned #’s in wardrobe for male, and for jewelry and misc items.
Fixed owned common magical accessories not displaying properly in the dressing room.
Fixed several other bugs, mislabeled items.
Removed text indicating dungeons ‘levels 2-4’ in adventure select menu. Ambiguous meaning.

Module A1:

Fixed broken variables that blocked dialog options.
Added a honking sound effect to VW bus.
Fixed incorrect help text.
Fixed some typos and missing preloads, character sheet not updating properly.

Module A2:

Many cuts and edits to boil down overly wordy paragraphs.
Fixed a statue blessing.

Module A3:

Proofreads to the Spanish translation.
Edits to reduce wordy paragraphs.
Cricket and waterfall sound was reduced in volume.
Fixed overlapping sound issues.
Fixed a few typos.

Module A4:

Showing up late to the meeting now means something.
Shortened many overlong paragraphs.
Broken dialog.
Fixed some missing NPC portraits server side.
Fixed typos and made many corrections to Spanish text.
Added 2 new scenes, and facial expressions for Connor.
Added more flirting, since flirt is in the title of the module. So.
Added dialog branches for dominant and lgbt character traits.

Module A5:

Fixed many errors in the Spanish translation (a few of them super mangled.) Like a few other modules, it appears this translation never received much proofreading.

Module A6:

More refinement to long paragraphs.

Main Quests For Development:

Finish dungeon D2: The Geomancer’s Deathtrap
Complete a few new library books possibly re: oil painting, Tonalism and French painting at the end of the 19th century, and/or Fin De Siecle, Belle Epoque, Victorian periods in England and France.
Finish playtesting all existing content in Chapter A, for a Free-to-play download package. Then I can develop premium content so I can receive donations, and then I can think about promoting.

Side Quests for Development:

Develop more for situations needing specific skills and clothing/gear.

Need a dungeon theme songs and sound effects for d1 and d2.

Dump jQuery.
Playtest on Firefox, etc.

Constantine’s Coat is missing an outfit graphic (44f and 44m)

Consider challenge rolls to be a three-die bell curve instead of two-die. This makes gear and CR weighted more and luck of the roll weighted less.

Leonie needs upset mood portrait. (In A6 dialog 97 and elsewhere.)

Leonie’s hearts (only Leonie) don’t seem to be updating visually on the speaker panel??

Fretzel needs upset mood portrait in A6.

(Spoiler Plot/Character Issues:)

Where is Gregory’s Grimoire? Who has it? Aspen made a deal with Glumskayah to speak with the dead, got the information, and got the grimoire. Only Ora knows the grimoire is missing, but she isn’t saying. Now Glumskayah has it after she got Aspen.

What’s with Glumskayah’s fairy dragon wings?

Jeanie playing milkmaid? Serpent reversal?