Q1 2023 Wrap-Up

There has been quite a long break since the last blog post, but fear not, a lot has been brewing in the Loop ‘n’ Loot design backstage. So much that I can share a bit on the advancement on the various books:

Core Rulebook

95% done! Both text and images. Well, until some beta-readers point out missing rules, bad layout, poorly balanced monsters… then the percentage is completely wrong. (Spoiler Alert: 1 Beta-Reader already came up with the perfect plan to be overpowered in the game, way before I anticipated it. I need to adapt 1 game mechanic to fix that issue. Nothing bad, it just need to be addressed.)

But so far, I’m mostly missing the proper page references, hyperlinks and a Croupier cheat sheet but, we are getting close to the early access release.

Oh, and I’m missing a cover: a poll should happen soon within the Loop ‘n’ Loot community via Discord.

Museum of the 4 Queens

90% done! But only text. Page references are missing, the rumor table has to be completed, so is the dead adventurer loot one, the Croupier cheat sheet is also missing.

5 rooms have not been designed: I’m keeping them blank for now as possible high-tier pledge for a kickstarter physical release.

The biggest void at the moment is all the pictures. I’m thinking of hiring a professional illustrator to give the vibe I have in mind. All in all, it’ll soon be sent to beta-readers.

Setting Book

I have started to work on a proper, big, fat setting book, brainstorming like a madman, and found the cornerstones of the lore pillars.

It’s really early to talk about anything. So stay tuned!

Playtesting setting booklet

This one is a bit different. I’m planning to create a small plug & play setting booklet (about 20 pages) to give Croupiers some seeds for a roguelite setting and for kickstarting a Loop ‘n’ Loot campaign.

It should be available for free (or pay-what-you-want) at some point via Ko-Fi first I think.

I’m still missing a bit of content: 1 item page, 1 debt generator double page and 1 cover.

Spell Compendium

Yet another book project! You may or may not know that Loop ‘n’ Loot has a free form magic system that allows you to create any kind of spell based on 2 keywords. But sometimes, players may struggle to find a spell or Croupiers need to improvise a spell on the spot: this is designed to answer these situations.

This book will be somewhat of a collaborative project on the Loop ‘n’ Loot Discord channel: I will put 2 keywords on the #spell-jam channel and the best proposal from the community will be credited in the book.

It has to be decided, but I’m thinking pay-what-you-want business model.

If you want to participate to the Loop ‘n’ Loot Spell Jam, be sure to join the community discord server!

Print & Play Material

I’ve also been working on making some print & play material, which includes the basics for any TTRPG: the character sheet. I’ve also made items cards. I still have to do the Traits cards but I don’t want to start them before receiving the beta-reader feedback on the various traits.

The other non-creative things piling up on my to-do list are:

Create a newsletter
Set-up a Ko-Fi page
Make some feedback surveys
Sign-up to upcoming gaming conventions
Get more people to playtest my game

Let’s conclude that wrap-up with another preview of the core rulebook:

Loop 'n' Loot - Core Rulebook - Adventuring Life Pages

That’s all folks. See you on the Discord server!

January 2, 2023

End of 2022 Wrap-up, 2023 Kick-off!

November and December 2022 have been somewhat of slow months for Loop ‘n’ Loot. Between work at the school supervising my students making their own video game (60 students for 5 week in a single title, it has been an adventure, check out their game RAM on itch.io!) and the Christmas holiday break, not many hours were dedicated to design the latest iteration of the game (which is v9, by the way).

Nevertheless, we went to HexCon in Trondheim and I manage to squeeze one playtest in December. Both of them confirmed my lastest design choices, that I now have to present in the core rule book:

Simplification of the the number of Slots: 2 Hands, 1 Head, 1 Torso, 1 Legs and 4 Backpack. We simplified a lot since the very beginning and the 18 slots for items! I’m still pondering over the number of “Brain” Slots for Traits…
Solidification of memories: Made of two words, the player creates a memory that can be used to draw 1 more card before resolving a Test. See the HexCon link above for a longer explanation.
Item Cards: All items that are tied to Action/Reaction (ex: a Hand Weapon has an Attack Action, a Shield a Block Reaction) are now playing cards that can be used during Test. A Hand weapon that is a 8 Clubs can be added to the cards in hand to make a Combination for the Attack Action. Item cards also implies “Trait cards” which is another limonade to brew…
New status effects: Bleed replaces Poison, Poison replaces Disease, Blind has a new mechanic (you can’t look at your own hand, haha).
A3 Character sheet format, to put the item cards on it. Yet to be designed.
Game balancing: It will be a continuous task over the coming months to tweak values, here and there. Nothing major, but I have to make nothing is too broken… I think the first order of business is put Defense at 1 for Humanoid instead of 0.

If I were to wrap-up the 2022 year for Loop ‘n’ Loot: Amazing! Lots of conventions (Arcon, MidgardCon, RegnCon and HexCon) presenting the game and meeting new enthousiastic gamers, lots of playtest with friends… And overall, I believe the v9 of the game might actually be the one that ends up to be the Early Access version later in 2023!

Speaking of 2023, let’s make a wishlist of what should happen for Loop ‘n’ Loot:

Releasing the game in Early Access on Itch.io! I’m thinking of using this platform to release the game at first, gather some feedback and maybe balance some numbers and add desired features. But a release, even a EA, implies that I must finish the core rule book content first…
Finishing the Maze of the 4 Queens content! I’m missing backstories, final monsters, some rooms, a lot of random generator tables… I’m still working on that book parallely to the core book. This is the first module for the TTRPG and there is a lot left to do, so as much as I want to to the #Dungeon23 challenge I can’t afford to spread my efforts :/ But if you want to make a #Dungeon23 for Loop ‘n’ Loot, just ping me 🙂
Starting on a setting book for Loop ‘n’ Loot! Loop ‘n’ Loot core book is designed to be settingless, so anyone can adapt the rules to a fantasy, sci-fi, urban, etc. setting easily. A bit like FATE, or DnD with Brancalonia, Ravenloft and Dark Sun for instance. BUT, marketing-wise it is way more appealing for customers to have a setting book attached to the core rule book! That book would have lore, a map, ready to play adventure sites and support multiple session campaign. And it’s the part where I want to involve the most the community…
Growing the community! We use discord most of foremost (here is a permanent link if you are not part of it yet) and I want to use the space a bit more, notably via surveys to help me shape the future of the game and that setting book I just mentioned.
Balancing the game! Which means… MOAR PLAYTESTS! It also mean more DMs. Once again, every is organised via Discord, so just jump in!
Going to more conventions! I’ll be going to Arcon again for instance but I think it would be beneficial to also go to some conventions abroad (i.e. out of Norway) to help increasing the awareness around the game (and maybe have a getaway weekend with my fiancee :p). I’m also planning to visit some local gaming club in Norway is they are within driving distance of Oslo. My first stop will likely be the one in Hamar.
Setting-up a Kofi page! And propose there some extra print-&-play content at a minimum fee, like for instance the Item/Traits Cards.
Kickstarting the paper core rule book! Will it happen in 2023? Will it be on kickstarter? I don’t know, it’s post EA and many of the previous bullet points must be done first… It also implies logistical issues that need to be foresee first.

That is already quite a lot for 2023. So enough talking, more designing! Let’s conclude this post with another sneak peak of the core book:

See ya again on Discord or for the January 2023 Wrap-up!

October 14, 2022

Playtest at RegnCon ’22

The previous weekend, I was in Bergen to present Loop ‘n’ Loot at RegnCon XXX (literally the convention of rain, which is accurate given it always rains in Bergen). It was the occasion to see familiar faces, meet new ones and play some games!

I had three pools over the weekend, so 15 hours of play with 15 different players and I used the opportunity to test the latest version of the rules as well as see how the Maze of the 4 Queens is resilient over multiple runs.

Among the positive evolutions of the game, let’s note:

2 out of 3 groups died. Several times. Which is by design. The group who did not die had maybe a bit more luck with the randomness and almost always got the better initiative in combat, in addition to playing it safe. The various adjustments have paid off so far.
The combat seemed to be capped at 2 or 3 turns before one side got obliterated, which is – once again – as per design. So, cool!
I’m genuinely happy with the randomness and the emergent stories that the Maze creates. A group ended the playtest in a very satisfying way as they looted all the amphoras in a cellar and started a new vintage wine trade company.
More players got to test the freeform magic system and they seemed to like it.
The new Attributes and draw mechanics. I remove the fixed hand size to have it depend on the Attributes (putting emphasis on “my character is more sneaky than you”), giving extra cards given tools, environment, time… On paper, it works. Sometimes it felt a bit underwhelming to draw only 2 cards to solve a test. In a way, the new drawing mechanic feels quite similar to the narrative dice from the Genesys system and, as a GM, I need to put more emphasis on how the players intend to revolve an action to give them the adequate hand size.

Among the things that I mixed feelings:

The new iteration of Soul Traits was not part of the playtest but I’m still thinking about it and what it could be. It seems like the playtesters enjoy absorbing souls a lot, and getting monster traits. I’m afraid the next iteration of the soul mechanics removes that excitement. But it’s a problem of a future playtest to determine.
I made small equipment cards to facilitate the playtest while giving or switching equipment pieces. It was not greatly efficient. I would need to create color-coded equipment pieces to find what I need more quickly. Or find a different system.
My brilliant idea of a character sheet pamphlet is looking less and less attractive, especially with all these tiny pieces of paper for representing equipment and flipping the character sheet back and forth. Maybe a boring single-sided sheet will have to be the way to go.

All in all, I can safely say that everyone liked to play Loot ‘n’ Loot. They enjoyed the game mechanics with the cards, they liked adventuring in the Maze of the 4 Queens, they appreciated my NPCs and how I roleplayed them…

Speaking of roleplay, a 1-hour improv’ course was available for those who wanted to know more about that kind of acting. I signed up for it and it was quite fun; it was not really targeted at role-players but I think I got one or two extra tips I could use.

It was a fun convention, with free ice-cream, free pop-corn, free fruits and free cakes! I met new people, got to spread a bit of love around my game and I hope to have something physical to show at RegnCon XXXI.