Biweekly Update

It's wild how time flies when you're having fun. Or, in my case, when you are sleep deprived from waking up with little monsters every night needing water, or potty, of help unwinding from the ouroboros they've somehow created with their little blanket. But as we all know, sleep is a corporate scheme pushed by mattress companies intent on taking our hard-earned bucks. So with that in mind, lets get into the meat of things.

Issue #2 of Alone Together has dropped this weekend and I am very proud of it. The page count has been boosted a bit and I am starting to get a feel for the layout and flow to begin regularly using. Moving forward, I am still constantly reviewing my own processes and writing to make sure the final offering is top tier. 

One small change that will be made to content is the inclusion of an emphasis on GM-less duet play. I think this format is very special and it has become my own favorite way to enjoy games with another player. While very similar to solo play, I have noticed some slight differences. Issue #3 will begin getting into the process and ways to dip a toe into this style of play. 

The Game In Progress

You might have smelled something strange this week and I want to assure you it was nothing to be concerned about. My brain caught fire while making some changes to the solo game I have been working on and when the smoke finally cleared I had changed the engine from Cepheus (2d6) to the Year Zero Engine (d6 pool).

The reason for this became apparent when one of my shortcomings was laid bare during game design: I am not a great designer. Now, I am not getting down on myself by saying that. I can write, plan, play, envision, and perform a myriad of other tasks very well when it comes to creating product for a game, but the actual design and math behind putting systems together is hard for me. While trying to balance static target numbers and encounter difficulty over an entire game's life cycle, I realized that a 2d6 system just wasn't working for me. So, I made the decision to scrap everything I had designed around that system and rework it for the Year Zero Engine.

The game now feels much better. Year Zero has smaller step changes in probability, which has made encounters easier to balance and plan for. Looking very similar to a Free League game, this solo product will feature three main attributes and nine core skills, which create the dice pools players will roll with. Items and other bonuses can increase the pool to boost the chances of success.

As of now, the game focuses on fast character creation and a gameplay loop that feels like a Choose Your Own Adventure. A player will roll on a table, encounter an event with possibly branching choices, look for clues, fight with foes, and repeat that over and over until they arrive at the final showdown. Its super basic, but evolving into a fun little game. This will be self-contained and include the basic rules for the Year Zero Engine from Free League Publishing.

A Bright Future

Momentum is great here at Alone Together HQ. Things are mapped out past spring and more solo games than I could ever play this year are stacked up and ready for reading in my DTRPG library. About May we are going to switch themes over to fantasy and get deep into games like Vaesen and Warhammer Fantasy (possibly Age of Sigmar???). 

Currently, I am playing around with the idea of making adventure specific guides for prewritten supplements to help new players get into the hobby. I know groups like Parts Per Million are publishing excellent solo guides, but from reading Reddit there is still a bit of a barrier for players who arent sure where to start. 

Anway, have an excellent weekend and make sure you play some great games. I will see you in two weeks for another update.