Wednesday, December 28, 2016

FissureVerse: Back on Track

Thanks to Ariduka for the art!

After my hard drive died, I finally got a new computer, and redid the work of the previous few posts. I also changed some vocabulary. I feel like there's too many Re- words in Actions, so I changed Refill to Enlist. I think I'll need to change one or two more Action words, but for now it works because it simplifies the term "Directly Refill" to a single word, and I corrected instances where I said Refill but meant Recruit. I've also changed the Discard action (which is the opposite of the Enlist action) to be "Dismiss", which should separate it from other instances of Discarding for other purposes. Also, the Discard Pile is now the Dismissed Pile (which means I sometimes have to say "Discard into your Dismissed Pile").

Optomites, Lugubrious, Academic, Mystics
Click to enlarge.
Optomites retains the same attributes and rules, I just changed the wording in hopes to be clearer. It may be the type of card that really needs to be explained two ways for everyone to understand. Originally, for art, I was thinking of some particularly happy, fluffy-type critter, something jolly with rainbows and cottontails. But, of course, as is the way of things, art strikes me funny and I find all kinds of interesting new ways to look at things. Now this card seems a bit more vicious. It's all good; it goes with the macabre theme of the game better and Emptiness could use a few more mad hatters.

If there was ever an Eeyore of FissureVerse, it would probably be Lugubrious. A bit the opposite of Optomites, too. I like how both are forest creatures, which is s common theme of Emptiness, though it's good to have other factions pick up a few, especially for a spin on a wizened old ent like this.

With Lugubrious, I'm half done with green cards!

Academic and Research have been a tough find, especially since they sound like they're the same thing. They are nearly the only two calm Frenzies left to find, so the rest will have to be mostly wild and vicious art. This is is some nice, chill-out style art for Academic that helps set it apart from other Frenzies, but the alien that's front and center fits with the game theme. The flavor text tried to push the theme of the card more to the teaching aspect of an academic person, so I can separate it more from Research.

Mystics gets a refresh to fall more in line with the sci-fi aspect of the game; it being too fantasy before. Also, the new art and flavor text both go better with the attributes.

I really like how all four have the same traveler meeting the main creatures of the cards. A few other cards do similar things, and I think it really helps make them look cohesive.

Saturday, December 3, 2016

New PC, new blog name

So I finally got a new PC and am slowly customizing it.  I tried to access my old broken hard drive and it is dead for good, so I lost a little bit of work and will have to redo a little bit.  Not too much is gone from FissureVerse or other creative projects; I just lost a lot of my music and games which weren't backed up.  But not the end of the world.

Bigger news is I think my blog name (Scattergamed) is getting dumb, so I'll be changing it.  Hopefully Google is smart enough to redirect to the new blog name for a period of time before decommissioning the old name.  Otherwise, it may appear like the blog has disappeared.  Since I won't know what I'm naming it until I figure out what's available, I can't even say right now what I'm changing it to.  Well, if you lose your bookmark or something, perhaps do a search for "FissureVerse" and my new blog will pop up.  That's all I got.

Edit: ScatterGamed is now Pixelated Dice. Also, I have to fix every single link I've ever made between posts, so that may take a while.

Sunday, August 21, 2016

Computer go boom

Hard drive boot sector failed, so I am using a loaner until I can get my data off the old hard drive, then get a new computer.  I have a recent backup, so I haven't lost too much; probably a couple of posts' worth of FissureVerse cards need to be remade.  Not the end of the world, fortunately.  Just the slow process of putting everything in order...

Sunday, August 14, 2016

FissureVerse – The Prophet of Prophets Hitchhikes

Thanks to Hozure for the art!

Prophet of Prophets, Hitchhiker
Click to see bigger.
My original Prophet of Prophets placeholder was just a picture of Nostradamus, but copying a classic prophet look would be too cliché. I like the new look of the art far better, and I think it goes well with the stats, and the magic thorns coming up from the bottom are one way to explain the special rules. (The other way is to say the other Crusaders in the Field are filled with vigor from hearing that they will win from the Prophet so they fight better).

Hitchhiker has an Easter egg in the art: the character in the middle is literally standing on a giant hand. Ha! I was arguing with myself for a while over which card that art would go with, first thinking “Learning to Walk”, then thinking of various other Yellow and Green cards, but Hitchhiker is too good a visual pun to pass up. I also slightly modified Hitchhiker's stats so its Reason stat gets boosted while its Torment stat gets nerfed. This works to Hitchhiker's advantage, since it's now harder to be converted by Reason. I am currently stumped on flavor text, and I kind of do what something, since I could make it fit, but for now it will go without and I may revisit it later.

Next log: Four more cards after a hiatus...

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

“__________ at the __________”

“__________ at the __________”
A 200 Word RPG, version 1

One impartial narrator keeps score, describes events and determines if judges solutions.

Shuffle. Draw one card each (apart from narrator). Hide your card (even from narrator). Discover your gender, outlook, profession:

Spade: Noble Man
Club: Devious Man
Heart: Noble Woman
Diamond: Devious Woman

Ace: Gambler
Two: Store Owner
Three: Barkeep
Four: Miner
Five: Soldier
Six: Rancher
Seven: Barber
Eight: Doctor
Nine: Veterinarian
Ten: Banker
Jack: Outlaw
Queen: Priest
King: Sheriff

Keep some (devious) secrets.

Every ten minutes, draw a new card; discover an event:

Ace: Murder
Two: Riot
Three: Acid rain
Four: Fever outbreak
Five: Wolves
Six: Fire
Seven: Locusts
Eight: Hold up
Nine: Flood
Ten: Lynch mob
Jack: Bandits
Queen: Stampede
King: Nothing new

At the:

Spade: Schoolhouse
Club: Jailhouse
Heart: Ranch
Diamond: Saloon

Ten minutes after the tenth event card drawn, the game ends. Reveal your own card.

Goals:

Noble: solve each problem. One point for each successful solution.

Devious: let each problem continue into the next. One point for every continued problem every ten minutes (“nothing new” does not count as an event).

Players with the most points at the end win.

Kill a noble, you lose. Die, lose.

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

FissureVerse – Lost Souls in Hiding

Thanks to Lastovka Dmitriy for the art!

Lost Souls
Click to see it bigger.
Lost Souls has always been a bit of a fun one to get art for. The term comes from the DOOM enemy, which is just a floating skull. I like how this art makes the Lost Soul look like a Grim Reaper, who himself is supposed to shepherd lost souls. I also kinda like how it's similar to Nomads, so The Noise is developing a Grim Reaper kind of theme, which of course goes well with what they stand for. I changed the extra rules to include that if a Zealot is killed (not just converted), the Frenzy is lost as well.

Hiding

The location Paradox has been giving me a headache to find art for (well, the last few locations left have all been doing so). I've decided to mix things up a little bit. First, what was once Paradox is now Dimension Zed, and what was once Dimension Zed is a newly named location called Hiding. Kind of like how you can be in Denial, you can also be in Hiding. It struck me only when I found this art, which suggests to me there may be people in hiding in this picture, waiting for a terror to pass by (like mice when a cat's snooping about).

Saturday, July 2, 2016

FissureVerse - 3 cards get art

Thanks to Karol Sollich for the art!

Mirage, Bottom of the Universe
Click to embiggen.
You'd be surprised how difficult it is to find a good sand castle! I've been on the lookout for a good one for ages, and now that I've found some great art for it, that crosses off green locations completely.

Bottom of the Universe got something of a change in concept. At first, my idea was a macabre version of the Mos Eisley cantina, but this particular image just spoke to me when I found it. Perhaps that kind of cantina is deeper in that city, but overall in shows a bigger view of the location. Maybe the whole city is a scummy place to get some followers, not just the bar. I removed the old flavor text (“Come with me if you want to live.” ~Warrior's Adage) for space, but I think it's still a funny enough bit of text to remember and use elsewhere later.

Unkempt

Unkempt has always been meant to be a dirty person, but I like to push the religious theme of the game on occasion, so a dirty altar works well in this regard.