Dinoberry Press
CREATOR
8 days ago
Project Update: Let's talk about DOOM (and the next poll!)
Good morning, Pilots!
The first system poll has ended, and y'all want to hear about DOOM, so here we go! :D
The first system poll has ended, and y'all want to hear about DOOM, so here we go! :D
What is the worst possible thing that could happen?
That's your story's Doom. During setup, the table establishes some facts about the world (IE; how does tech look and function, where in the universe are we, how long has the war been raging,), sets the groundwork for 3 factions (by answering 2 questions for each), and decides what their story's unique Doom is.
The game describes Doom best:
The game describes Doom best:
The end is not out there. The end is not coming. It is already here, a stagehand in black ready to lower the curtain when the lights die.
(....)
Doom is a ticking clock shared by the entire table that represents the amount of time left before something catastrophic happens. It can represent things as relatively small and personal as losing your home to those as large and widespread as the destruction of the galaxy or a successful power grab by a universal empire.
Whether or not Doom occurs isn't really the question- it's how long? Doom is an eventuality, one that the Pilots are (possibly) fighting against. In some instances, the Pilots may not even know of it. One of our playtests had a Doom of "the machine-god at the center of the planet wakes", but the Pilots were neck-deep in a revolution with know knowledge of this possibility.
Fictionally, Doom is an omen, a very real countdown and sense of pressure on the whole table--not just the Pilots. Unless you're very clever (and lucky), Doom will come to pass after a long enough time playing. While that exact amount of sessions will vary, the pressure will always be there. Heck, in our digital character keepers the DOOM clock sits right at the top of the sheet:
The ongoing playtest campaign this clock is from has had 5 sessions, and Doom has progressed 5 times. One of those session had no Doom gained, while another had 2. It varies, but its triggers aren't uncommon.
Currently, they are:
- You only reach a Pitiful result at Magnitude 4.
- An already-marked Disaster is rolled.
- You lose a Conflict.
- A Pilot’s Dragon is destroyed.
- A Pilot or Anchor dies.
Mechanically, Doom is a soft limiter on the length of a single campaign. When approaching Dragon Reactor's session & campaign structure, we think of the story as a season of a TV show. What kind of show is this? What's the usual structure of an episode? How long should a season (campaign) last?
Doom makes sure that season has a good length and guides pacing. The more that clock fills, the sooner the season will end. The close that end is, the more desperate the Pilots will get to win and the more dramatic and intense the Poet should make the Conflicts.
Should that clock fill and Doom come to pass, though, it doesn't mean you'll never play Dragon Reactor or see those characters again, though! In fact, we encourage you to consider what happens and decide what your next moves are together.
When the Doom clock fills, the event comes to pass. Discuss it as a table, and describe how the world changes in response–and if you’re even still around. Decide if this is where the story ends, or how it continues. Do you make new characters to try again in this forever-changed world? Do you somehow survive and push forward, hopeful despite it all?
We want your show to get renewed for a second season. We want you to have a satisfying ending. If your table agrees that the ending brought about by Doom is sufficient, then you're absolutely OK to put the game down and pick up another. But if you're not? Then by all means, run it back.
What about winning?
It's hard to play a longer game where such a tragic outcome is so likely, and we want our Pilots to win just as much as you do. There's so much desperation, drama, tension, and tragedy throughout Dragon Reactor that having this inevitability hangin' out in the room can make it feel like a difficult game to approach.
I want to make it clear that while this game is intense, it's also very, very fun. I'll likely talk more about the push-your-luck mechanics when we get into the details on Magnitude and Rivals, but for now I'd recommend checking out one of the Actual Plays in our coverage!
When it comes to overcoming Doom, or "getting the GOOD ending", we decided we didn't want that to also be a ticking clock. We also tried to make "pushing back" the Doom clock work, reducing its marks to get more time, but we couldn't get something that felt right at the table. Then, we realized the reason those approaches weren't clicking: they're too tidy, too specific, and too obvious for the stories we want to tell.
Having a straightforward "good ending" meter doesn't land for this project, while having that "the bad ending is on the way" clock hits the exact kind of pressure we want.
Instead of forcing another clock into the game, we decided instead to offer some instruction on how to win. Currently, here's how that looks:
I want to make it clear that while this game is intense, it's also very, very fun. I'll likely talk more about the push-your-luck mechanics when we get into the details on Magnitude and Rivals, but for now I'd recommend checking out one of the Actual Plays in our coverage!
When it comes to overcoming Doom, or "getting the GOOD ending", we decided we didn't want that to also be a ticking clock. We also tried to make "pushing back" the Doom clock work, reducing its marks to get more time, but we couldn't get something that felt right at the table. Then, we realized the reason those approaches weren't clicking: they're too tidy, too specific, and too obvious for the stories we want to tell.
Having a straightforward "good ending" meter doesn't land for this project, while having that "the bad ending is on the way" clock hits the exact kind of pressure we want.
Instead of forcing another clock into the game, we decided instead to offer some instruction on how to win. Currently, here's how that looks:
Overcoming Doom
What does victory look like in a world as doomed as yours?
War does not yield victory as readily as it doles out Doom. There is no dedicated system or set of rules in place to allow the Pilots a clean, obvious, preferable end to the war. No special lever to pull or clock to fill. No single move that lets you stop the bloodshed for good.
Together, you will need to be clever. Think about your Pilots and the desires of your opposition. Figure out if you're even on the right side of this. Tell your story, and try to win. Eventually, with your efforts combined, you may be able to stop the war in one way or another. If you do, you have a choice: stop playing right then and there and tell yourselves that peace will last, or continue the story to discover who fires the next shot.
War does not yield victory as readily as it doles out Doom. There is no dedicated system or set of rules in place to allow the Pilots a clean, obvious, preferable end to the war. No special lever to pull or clock to fill. No single move that lets you stop the bloodshed for good.
Together, you will need to be clever. Think about your Pilots and the desires of your opposition. Figure out if you're even on the right side of this. Tell your story, and try to win. Eventually, with your efforts combined, you may be able to stop the war in one way or another. If you do, you have a choice: stop playing right then and there and tell yourselves that peace will last, or continue the story to discover who fires the next shot.
We want your Pilots to be clever. We want the Poet to grant them plenty of opportunity to work towards a victory. We want you to win, but you're gonna have to work for it.
I'm so, so proud of Doom and the effect it has on play. Any time I, as the Pilot, get to say "everyone needs to fill their Doom clock by one" it hits, and often it hits hard. You should also know that, through those 5 sessions we've had, the Pilots haven't lost a single conflict. They've been making great strides towards victory, though they may not know it yet. At this point, they have in their midst the key to ending the war they're in.
I can't wait to see how they work with her to bring the story to a close.
And that's Doom!
Or, as much of it as I can talk about for now. I have a lot of thoughts about this system in particular, but this post is getting long and I should have some breakfast.
With that said- thanks for reading! Please share this with your friends & TTRPG spaces to let as many people as you can know about the work we're doing with Dragon Reactor, and help us get across the finish line for funding!
What system would you like to hear about next? There's a new poll attached below- give it a vote, and I'll do another one of these! :)
-Nevyn
With that said- thanks for reading! Please share this with your friends & TTRPG spaces to let as many people as you can know about the work we're doing with Dragon Reactor, and help us get across the finish line for funding!
What system would you like to hear about next? There's a new poll attached below- give it a vote, and I'll do another one of these! :)
-Nevyn
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