Dice & Dungeon Masters - WIP

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Dice and Dungeon Masters

– New Link –
COG Demos Variant of Dice & Dungeon Masters
– Old Links, no longer Work –
Link → New Website Link to Dice & Dungeon Masters : Cog Demos Link
Link → Play Dice and Dungeon Masters : Old Website soon to be discontinued

This is a role-playing game about playing a role player. In the course of this game, you will get to define your game master/dungeon master, the game you play, your dice, who plays at the table with you, your future, and the story of the game. Will you rise to become a paragon of tabletop role playing or fall into failure and obscurity, doomed to be haunted by the dice rolls you will never make?

In the course of your role playing life you will get to hold down a job, perhaps school, deal with parents, significant others, and all the other monsters of madness that lurk away from the table. You will be able to play as any gender and any sexuality both at the table and within the story of the game itself.

-Roleplay as a role-player.
-Customize not only your own character, but also many other characters throughout the game.
-Play both the game within the game and the game of the life sim of the real world: hold down a job,
pay bills, go to school, date, practise religion(s), and, of course, game.
-Enjoy simulated alternate reality fandoms.
-Play as any gender and any sexuality.
-Experience the life of a tabletop gamer in all its good and all its evil.
-Enjoy a mostly optional metagame plot with many different dimensions.

Please note that this game is very alpha; many of the planned features either don’t exist yet, have bugs, or are incomplete. That said, after careful consideration, I decided that now was the time to share this game with the community. I originally started work on this game a few years back so some of the lingo and pop-culture references may be a little dated though hopefully still good. As for myself, while I don’t roleplay as often these days as I’d wish, I still do upon occasion (albeit down from the playing all night every night I did during high school and early college) and I have played with dozens or (if one includes my game play at conventions) hundreds of tables in my own career of dice slinging; I have been very fortunate to play with a wide assortment of groups and though I may have not played with legendary figures of the game I have played with those that have upon occasion. While some of this alpha demo may be a bit rough, this game is one of the projects I feel a lot of energy for and hope that it will level up soon.

NOTE: Patreon has been permanently discontinued for various reasons. Haven’t yet but I might eventually add a tip jar or a subscribe star account someday, but that is down the road a bit.

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This sounds amazingly fun. I love how meta the concept is.

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An amazing read and concept so far! I’m eager to see where this goes, especially with all the customization options you’ve written already!
(Little spelling I noticed accruing often is many uses to ‘to’ are meant to be ‘too’. Hope this helps and cant wait to read more!)

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I like the concept so far. It definitely a unique concept and look forward to seeing more.

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Thank you Aletheia! Yeah, the meta is multi layered, though some aspects will be optional.

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Thank you, Warden! And thanks for the spelling tip. Sadly, my spell/grammar check function isn’t so great. If you or anyone else notice any major grammar/spelling problems, feel free to let me know.

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Thanks Dpwjermy! Yeah, I feel like while many games have flirted with d&d/tabletoprpg metagame’s being part of their plot (i.e. Life is Strange) few have done that as the core plot, other than perhaps Knights of Pen and Paper, which is a little different than this here.

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**The What: Who would like me to select two more fandoms for the game? Here following is a poll to pick two more fandoms for the game.

The Details One of the concepts of the game is the protagonist’s embrace of a fandom to help simulate geek culture. These are basically areas of interest that the prot will select one of that will be a near obsession for the prot. Currently we have four fandoms. I’m leaning towards getting that number up to six, which seems like a doable number. The fandoms will come into play in the game in several ways: unique dialogue options, relationship modifiers for NPCs that like or dislike the prots fandom, unique clothing, gear, and other collectables, dream sequences, fandom media (i.e. little back ground scenes of tv shows, books, booths at conventions, etc.), and probably a few scenes involved in the optional meta world subplot.

Now, it is important to mention that these fandoms, being in an alternate realty from our own, are more or less mirror inversions of the fandoms in our world. i.e., We have Mary Ploeter instead of Harry Potter, involving the story of an aristocratic French girl hunting and slaying monsters and spell casters in an ongoing inquisition rather than the story of an English orphan wizard. Same treatment for the other fandoms, more or less. So, picking a fandom will mean that its inversion will be in the game and not the original fandom itself, in some mutated form. If a fandom is not selected, it is possible that the fandom will still exist in the game in its original format, though in a much more limited format.

That said, here’s the poll:

  • Buffy
  • Disney
  • Dr. Who
  • Dragon Ball
  • Firefly / Serenity
  • Jurassic Park
  • Naruto
  • Star Trek
  • Star Wars
  • Witcher

0 voters

Also, if you do not see an option that you would like in the poll, let me know. The goal is to pick areas of geek culture that might be of intense interest to someone like the prot.

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I decided to close and reopen the poll as I had forgotten a few options that I feel should be included.
Once more, if you have fandom ideas that I have failed to include, feel to reach out to me.

So, thus far we have from the prior poll:

Dr who 4 votes
Witcher 4 votes
Dragon ball 3 votes
Star trek 3 votes
Buffy 1 vote
Jurassic Park 1 vote
Nurato 1 vote

This does not include patron votes, which will be weighted.

As a reminder the game already include alternate world fandom versions of:

-Harry Potter, i.e. Mary Ploeter
-Lord of the Rings, i.e. Hoard of the King
-Marvel (and other comic franchises) Swellmen and the Legality Foundation (yes, DC won in this universe?)
-My Little Pony; i.e. My Unique Unicorn

Here is the new poll with a few more options added on:

  • Buffy
  • Disney
  • Dragon Ball
  • Dr Who
  • Firefly / Serenity
  • Game of Thrones
  • Jurassic Park
  • Monty Python
  • Naruto
  • Power Rangers
  • Red Dwarf
  • Star Trek
  • Star Wars
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
  • Witcher

0 voters

The two polls will be tallied together along with the weighted patron votes eventually and then the fandoms will be added to the game in alternate universe format.

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Poll - Should Dice & Dungeon Master have standard RPG stats for protaganist and major NPCs

So one of the tropes for the genre of media that have role playing games within the game is for the main characters to have a character sheet with standard rpg stats. While we do have a character sheet in the stats screen that will generate during the character creation chapter, it more tracks the protaganists psychology and spirituality than the standard d&d stats.

Originally standard d&d/rpg stats weren’t added for a few reasons.

1- They might have minimal affect and rarely be used, so they might not be needed.

2-They probably should match, more or less, whatever gaming system the prot and the NPCs play. This brings up some corollary problems:

i-the prot might play more than one system. If so, which one ought to be presented?

ii-the different displays need to be somehow equivalent for coding reasons, regardless of system used. However, is that always possible?

iii-There are various instances of open licenses and IP/Copywrite involved, not sure legally of how presenting character stats for a given system would play out with all that accounted for. So, a can of worms left unopened.

However, as oft happens when working on a project, ideas on the direction of a project change over time. Upon evaluating the meta plot and some real world aspects, such as the world of work, I can now see a strong case for prot and main npc stats being helpful. Doesn’t erase the concerns other than point 1, but might be beneficial in some way.

That said, could certainly make the game without the stats in the standard rpg/d&d format, or could keep the stats mostly hidden to avoid concern 2 and 3. However, there is something just lacking about an rpg game without a standard stat table.

So . . .

Yeah, figured I’d run a poll to see what route people would like me to do.

Do you want the prot and other main characters to have a displayed stat table on their character sheets and if so should it be one system or variant depending on which rpg the prot and company mostly play?

P.S. interestingly enough I most often see Hackmaster character sheets used in media rather than D&D . . . not sure why that is, but from my observation that seems to be the case.

  • Do not display stats. If stats are needed they can be recorded and measured without display.
  • Stats should be used and displayed, however, keep it to one system.
  • Stats should be used and displayed and be variable (i.e. if the prot plays WOD, then it should match the stats seen in WOD games)
0 voters
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The results are in and we have our winners and here they are:

-In our alternate universe fandom poll after an epic battle of near planet destroying proportion when the dust finally cleared it was in a two-way tie. Here we see Dragon Ball Kamehamehaed to victory with a power level of 10 votes thereby undergoing a transformation into an alternate world fandom. Meanwhile, our other victor was none other than Witcher cutting down the remaining fandoms and mutating into an alternate world fandom. Runner ups were Dr Who (7 votes), Star Trek (4 votes), Star Wars (4 votes), Game of Thrones (3 votes), etc.

Overall, I am happy with these results. I feel that both of the fandoms that were selected I can make alternate world versions that aim to keep some of the tone and genre while giving a nice alien world twist to the story and ways of the fandom. Some of the others would have been more problematic, as they are so iconic that I can only think that even in an alternate universe they probably still exist, and while it would have been nice to make Star Guard were the United Empire of Planets battles dreamy versions of Vulcans and guilefull Klingons or something, it would have been a bummer not to include the original fandom in a limited way in the game.

Not sure how soon our winning fandoms will be added but look forward to that in an eventual update.

Note: weighted patron votes were added on to get some of these vote totals.

-In our poll on if the protagonist and notable npcs should have standard rpg stats displayed on their character sheets the results were more clear cut – the answer is yes, which I was kind of leaning towards anyway. Even after accounting for weighted patron votes the end result is that stats should be used and displayed, however keep it to one system. While I do breath a bit in relief at this result, for the prestated reasons regarding difficulty in coding for more than one rpg stat versions of the prot, I do also feel a bit bitter sweet on this to as it sort of feels like a lost opportunity. However, at least for early versions of the game, one system seems the way to go. Though this does not mean that our prot is doomed to just play that one system – which will probably be d&dish or close thereto – it just means that for our near versions of the game on the prots stat block on their character sheet, they will have d&dish stats displayed and not, for example, World of Darkness stats, or Rifts, or Alternity, or etc. etc. This seems the safer bet as far as IP and Copywrite respect as with the open gaming licenses offered for 3.5 and D20 from WotC, I shouldn’t get myself in too much trouble via using those.

Thank you to all those that participated in the polls. I really appreciate it. As always, if you have any concern or feed back, feel free to let me know.

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Tiny updates away!

Not much and lots more to do, but I have started adding the two new fandoms to the game as well as adding stats and skills. The very start of the next chapter is also underway.

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While I am currently deep down the code hole, the next chapter for Dice and Dungeon Masters is coming along. It is absolutely surprising how long the section for making the protaganist’s first player character for the first game night is taking. I want it to be expansive enough where you can do what you want but simple enough where it is not too complicated to code; a difficult balance to be sure. At present the new section is too ethereal to post to update but anticipate an update likely late august/ early september, which will hopefully be the bulk of the Dice in the Dark chapter, which will include Player Character Creation, reading or watching some of the prots fandom, other leisure activities, intro to the real world problem section, and then intro to the first game night.

In addition, I did want to let everyone know that for the time being I have pulled the plug on my patreon page due to an expanding list of reasons. Not 100% but I may add at some point one of those tip jar things I see some creators using, but we shall see. At least in the near term, production goals for my games shall remain the same, though that may differ late '23, early '24 as I anticipate a steadily decrease to my free time to make these games and other creative content, sadly.

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Great job on the consistent work!

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Thank you Dragomer! Ha, yeah, I only wish I had more time that I could put into these projects . . . they are coming along, but without work and family stuff they’d go three times faster I think. As mentioned, production should remain consistent in the near term, but late '23 and early '24 it will sadly slow down for a while at least.

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Just a heads up that the coming update is taking longer than I figured it would. Probably sometime in October now, but not 100% sure. More real-world stuff (medical appointments for a family member, more hours at work, etc.) and then more time spent on my other creative projects has meant slower progress than I would wish. My apologies for the delay.

I’m going to put this poll up for my other presented project as well, Sense & Sorcery and it’s probably less relevant here unless I’m in a complex section, the current small length of Dice & Dungeon Masters is more accommodative, but wondering if people would prefer more shorter updates or fewer updates but updates that are longer with more content added? The reason I usually go with fewer updates and more content is that whenever I reupdate a chapter the player is kicked to the start of the chapter, which can mess with variables, and I think in general creates disorder and chaos. But good for me to get a feel for this as I will probably have even less free time in the coming months, which translates to less time to work on these projects.

************** Update Frequency and Amount of Content in Update Poll ******************************

  • Do fewer updates with more content
  • Do more updates with less content
0 voters
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Thanks to all who have voted. This seems pretty conclusive, and I’ll bare this in mind while continuing on with the project. I’ll post again when the update is finally ready.

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Hey, I think it’s cool how you’ve got such specific gender options: the two cis ones, the enby one, and the three gender fluid ones, and not to be nitpicky or anything, but like, there’s no transfem or trans masc options. Like, I wanted my character to be amab and identify as a not gender fluid woman, cause that’s what I am, and I couldn’t find an option for that. And I know some games have it where if you select male at first you can be transfem later, but I played through where the customization seemed to end and I didn’t see an option for that. Again, I’m not trynna nitpick or nothin, just, like, wondering if I missed something or if you just don’t have that option. And then, if it ain’t, if you plan to add it or not. Sorry if this is a bit rant-y, just havin issues trynna word things properly.

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Spooky_Girl thank you for playing my game and the feedback. Really appreciate it - not sure how quickly I’ll have it updated, but I will look into that matter and look forward to adding it in.

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So the good - update away! Though it is probably a quarter size of what I was aiming for. I did add in some of the features previously discussed, though lots more to go. There also are a fair amount of bugs; unfortunately, one section has an accidental infinite loop that I need to clear out so I can use random test to hunt down the bugs and defeat them.

What will you find in this update?
-The first television or movie section for each fandom and a bonus fandom.
-General skeleton for unworked sections.
-Some lead into tabletop character creation and probably about 3/4 of that with unfortunutly a ton of bugs and problems.
-Lead into a dialogue scene with ally NPC.
-I did add in trans gender for prot per request; I will aim to add that in for NPCs as well, though its gonna take a while.

What is missing?
-Completion of the tabletop character creation process . . . it’s getting there.
-Other expressions of fandom and other geek and non-geek lore, i.e. comics, books, etc.
-More detailed exercise, dance, and study systems.
-Further depth into real world problems and initial handling thereof.

Main goal will be to fix the current bugs, then resolve what is missing. Probably will do it in two updates, one per each of those. Not sure on ETA. October was brutal as we had a family member in the hospital and then that family member needed greatly increased care - honestly needed a little me time after that, so thus the initial delay. And then November and NaNoWriMo hit and other projects were monopolizing my time. Hoping the bug fix will be done relatively soon, more substantial update probably early 2024.

Thanks again for trying my game all and sorry for the repeated delays.

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