Sorcerer: Awakening development and plans

Hey all!

First off, thanks to everyone who's followed the Strange Biscuits page (or even paid for the game?!?) in the last week. January was a long but productive and rewarding month, with development of roughly one and a half games in the Sorcerer series, so expect continued iteration of Awakening as well as the Ascension alpha sometime in the next couple months. For Awakening specifically, I'm very pleased with where we are with the game, but recognize that there are gaps that still need to be filled in.

For now, I'm mainly focusing on playtesting and tightening, as well as working with others to help structure the roles--Neonate and Worldkeeper--so to find the balance between "guided play" and structured game. I feel at times that the game is so rules-light that it plays more like an informal party game than a ttrpg. I'm not sure that's a bad thing, but it makes me worry about investment and consequence in the worlds the players create; is this a game in which people care about what they're creating, or is it by design a silly game played as a goof? Can a goof game support multiple sessions? Can the support more rules, or is its lightness its greatest strength? This is what I'm most concerned with about the game as is: the balance between player creation and game structure.

That said, I'm already looking to begin addressing some gaps by adding a couple of mechanics that are presently mostly absent.

First and foremost, I believe Spellcasting--as one of the primary mechanics of the game--needs a slight bit more structure. I think the Minor Arcana are fairly solid as spells that are basically spectacle, but the Major Arcana as powerful spells are too undefined. We're currently working on fixes that won't limit spellcasting options, but will give some balance to those possibilities.

Similarly, NPC spellcasters are referenced, but aren't given any specific rules. Do they cast spells like the Neonate? Do they have a pool of spells to draw from? Yes and yes, somewhat, and that needs to be at least written down somewhere. My initial thought is to limit NPCs to a number of spells equal to their Knowledge, which are pulled like Channeling the Mystic when that character is introduced. We don't want hugely powerful spellcasters in Awakening as the game is about a magical awakening, and we don't want NPCs to just blow the Neonate out of the water. However, stronger mages will probably need to exist, so how as that handled? For now, this is a starting point, and will develop as we move forward.

Additionally, Combat should probably be a bit more heftily designed, though I do like the floatiness it currently possesses, and don't want to lose that. This is not a combat forward game, and we don't want it to be.

Really, a lot of the rulesiness I'm bringing up here is a desire for more efficiency in the instructions. I also feel like a lot of what's missing in the current form of the game are thoughts and mechanics, specifically with running the game, that I haven't yet effectively communicated, and through playtesting I look to realize those thoughts and include them in future versions.

Beyond that, more Suggested Draws? More ideas about creation, tools to use in your games? All of this and more, across the series. As Awakening develops, the whole of Sorcerer: Legend grows and changes, resonating back against and solidifying Awakening in return. We are in the period of iterating and rehashing, and that period will continue until we're satisfied.

In the meantime, please get back to us with any feedback you might have. We are a microscopically small studio, and rely on the support of players like you. For the time being, I plan on doing these devlogs weekly on patreon, though eventually that will probably become monthly. These devlogs will probably continue to be more like dev journals, so check those out if you'd like. I'll post major updates on here as we introduce more things, and will eventually upload Ascension, once we feel it can be run without our input.

Once again, thanks for the support, and we hope you're enjoying the game!

awaveringspeck