I suppose this is a dev log — Haemonculus, a QBN browser game

[Randozart]

A while ago I created the following topic, outlining some design considerations I was making if I were to commit to a narrative browser based QBN game: Design for prototyping a Fallen London-like browser game

I got several fantastic responses, some good ideas, and couldn’t wait to get to work. So, for lack of a better word, here is a bit of a dev log, followed by some open questions I still have regarding the design

What did I decide to make?
I’m calling it “Haemonculus”, a game set in a manapunk setting where magic has completely supplanted traditional technological fields. It was a long search for a good aesthetic, but I will likely be drawing a lot of inspiration from things like 17th century fashion and architecture, Venetian Carnival, MTG’s Ravnica, that kind of thing.

The image of an alchemist, and of a silver tree, which bears philosopher’s stones as it’s fruit

The society is one where magical houses and organisations hold onto their secrets firmly. It uses a Vancian Magic paradigm, where spells must be learned, and are forgotten upon casting them. Therefore, a shadow war of sorts is fought between houses to steal arcane secrets from each other, in order to expand their influence.

The player will take on the role of a Haemonculus, an alchemical creature, grown from a Philosopher’s Stone which are incapable of magic, yet are bound to these houses. For whatever reason, your philosopher’s stone has gone wayward after falling from the tree, and you are what amounts to a free person.

Your character is defined by Qualities, as is the basis for a QBN system. In order to make characters scale, while keeping their main skills unique to them, there is a level quality (which doesn’t always come into play, but is relevant for level-locking specific content), and several Skills qualities. Skills qualities are difficult to level up on their own, and generally require permanent decisions to be made about your character at the end of storylines. These are:

Mettle – physical prowess, martial ability and courage

Thought – intellect and knowledge

Eye – discernment and craftsmanship

Voice – communication and persuasion

Instinct – intuition, survival, and navigation

Guile – deception, cunning, hidden intent

Furthermore, I loved the Quirks in Fallen London, but I disliked how malleable they were as part of different grinds. To not copy Fallen London entirely, I wanted to introduce my own set, based on alchemical symbology and planetary temperaments:

Lunar – Introspective, Intuitive, Emotional, Nurturing, Reflective, Mysterious, Imaginative, Receptive, Dreamy
Solar – Charismatic, Radiant, Confident, Authoritative, Generous, Warm-hearted, Ambitious, Consistent, Goal-driven
Mercurial – Quick-witted, Adaptable, Intellectual, Curious, Communicative, Mischievous, Clever, Analytical, Inventive
Venusian – Harmonious, Sensual, Artistic, Diplomatic, Affectionate, Gracious, People-pleasing, Beauty-oriented, Pleasure-seeking
Martian – Assertive, Passionate, Energetic, Competitive, Bold, Confrontational, Action-oriented, Courageous, Hot-headed
Jovial – Optimistic, Expansive, Philosophical, Wise, Humorous, Benevolent, Lucky, Idealistic, Magnanimous
Saturnine – Disciplined, Responsible, Reserved, Pragmatic, Cautious, Somber, Structured, Serious, Enduring

This is the basic idea I have so far, but there’s obviously a lot of work to do. One idea I definitely want to play around with, is the fact that Haemonculae are used in this arcane shadow war to steal spells and assassinate mages, but I don’t want it to be the major focus of the game. I just feel it fits, because of Haemonculae being less sensitive to magic in general.

Progress so far
I admit I had to learn web-development for this, because I was mostly accustomed to Unity. So I taught myself web development in the week following my post, and this is where I am at. Note that I use a lot of Fallen London placeholders for the layout, and I have yet to really develop a style of my own.

Furthermore, I’m currently figuring out the data model for storylets, locations, options, etc. using JSON files, which would make it easier to develop the game using text documents, and can therefore be done anywhere using an iPad or small laptop.

What I could use some ideas or feedback for
Honestly, right now much of this is still vague ideas and setting up basic systems. I have never played many browser games, and I’m noticing I am drawing a lot of inspiration directly from Fallen London. I am intentionally diverging from it in a few key places, but the layout of the frontpage is very much me just trying to copy it.

I could use some ideas on what to do differently, or problems Fallen London has which I could solve. For example, @HanonO offered the idea of using locations and location decks more as ‘play spaces’, which is something I really liked

@HanonO

Locations weren’t quite what you’d think of in an adventure. They didn’t have to be a location, but “play spaces” like each one was a card table with different decks set up on it.

I am very much intending to work from this, divide the game into ‘open spaces’ (the marketplace, a college, etc.) with very clear rules and associated activites, and ‘closed spaces’ (a battle, crafting something, etc.) which must be performed to completion or escape. I am especially a fan of this idea:

@HanonO

I created a ticking clock/time progression mechanic by setting that the main deck flips three cards and there were several “The Hour Advances” cards which the player could only dismiss from the table by playing it which would advance time.

It allows me to play around more with the idea that you are living and doing things, and sometimes you just run out of time. I like that from a roleplaying point of view, and it even allows me to simulate the passage of days, if you don’t mind me using this mechanic.

This is all to say, I need some ideas, and fun ways to make it a strong roleplaying experience. I would appreciate any and all ideas!

[JoshGrams]

I’ve never been able to get into Fallen London, so this may not fit what you’re trying to do, but a couple things stick out to me:

You’ve talked about a setting here but I don’t see anything like a plot or character or player motivation? What does the character do? Why do they want to do that? Why would the player want to do it? What are the stats that drive your progress forward? How do you even decide what to put in the game and what to leave out? I feel like Emily Short’s Plot: It’s a Problem might be relevant here.

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Similarly, where do you start writing? I think scaling down with QBN to something that you can actually get started writing is often a challenge. From Beyond Branching:

QBN does pose some challenges of scale at both the high and the low end. I think StoryNexus is hard on new authors because the content tends to be uninteresting until there are a fair number of storylets in the database, so it’s hard to feel like you’re really rolling until you’ve spent quite a bit of time in the tool.

And… idk, but on the lower end, I feel like role-playing in an interactive game is often more effective in a more limited scenario because there’s less of a mismatch in the player expectations and the game’s capabilities. While more open-ended games tend to flounder. Can you come up with some qualities that drive a story that you can start with and then build out from there?

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Other daily-play browser games: these aren’t anything like Fallen London so they may not be useful, but if you want different inspiration…

I forget if you mentioned The Kingdom of Loathing - do you know about that?

I vaguely remember a few of Jim DuBois’s browser games being surprisingly evocative in a pretty simple sparse way.

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And other things that somehow seemed relevant in my head:

Maybe John Ayliff’s Seedship for storytelling-through-almost-nothing-but-numbers? I think this is a great example of stats driving a game. Or his later (commercial) Beyond the Chiron Gate?

You probably already know about Bruno Dias’s (again, commercial) game Voyageur as another possibly-evocative storylet game.

And in a parser format, I wonder if William Dooling’s Skybreak! or Lost Coastlines, or C.E.J. Pacian’s Superluminal Vagrant Twin might be worth checking out briefly for wandering and vibes.

[Randozart]

So, these are some very good pointers, and I’ll try to address them:

@JoshGrams

You’ve talked about a setting here but I don’t see anything like a plot or character or player motivation? What does the character do? Why do they want to do that? Why would the player want to do it?

So, I did omit this part when I introduced the setting. The idea here is very much to rely less on a clear plot, and instead lay out a few plot hooks and see what the player wants to bite down on. Then gate some content in that plotline behind resources such as qualities or items, and have the rest of the game in place in order to acquire those in order to advance the desired plot.

The main motivator for the character here would be the fact that, as a Haemonculus, if they don’t decide their fate, someone else will for them. In more mechanical terms, make it clear from the start there are some things you could be working towards, be it plot-wise or achievement wise, and guide the player in the right direction to achieve that.

@JoshGrams

Similarly, where do you start writing? I think scaling down with QBN to something that you can actually get started writing is often a challenge.

Now, that is precisely why this type of game appeals to me to build. I have been rather stuck in writing straightforward plots for some time, and in order to offer myself a bit of a break, I want something I can keep adding to and on top of.

@JoshGrams

I feel like role-playing in an interactive game is often more effective in a more limited scenario because there’s less of a mismatch in the player expectations and the game’s capabilities. While more open-ended games tend to flounder. Can you come up with some qualities that drive a story that you can start with and then build out from there?

This very question is one that I have been, and still am thinking a lot about. How do you achieve a roleplaying experience in a game where the player has a limited role in authorship. I believe several pillars laid out in the previous topic I created achieve this, but I have since also found some additional ways to reinforce the experience of roleplaying. However, I won’t get into this too deep right now, they mostly extrapolate on the pillars listed in the other topic.

At its core, the trick here is to have players engage with parts of the story not purely for mechanical benefit, but because they feel confident it’s something their character would do. Supporting this is the trust that the game won’t punish them for their decision, and the game acknowledges the player’s partial authorship of the plot.

In other words, the playing is the plot. And the game ought to be designed in such a way to acknowledge the playing. Working in a factory might be a mechanical decision, but for it to become narratively relevant, the game ought to comment on it. This turns what is initially assumed to be a mechanical decision, into a narrative one.

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Regarding the examples listed, I do know a few of them! I shall have to take a look at a later point. Thank you for these.

[HanonO (Hanon Ondricek)]

@Randozart

This is all to say, I need some ideas, and fun ways to make it a strong roleplaying experience. I would appreciate any and all ideas!

@JoshGrams

You’ve talked about a setting here but I don’t see anything like a plot or character or player motivation? What does the character do? Why do they want to do that?

Part of QBN is giving the player an almost ridiculous amount of agency, and part of that is discovery of the play structure. When you start Fallen London there isn’t as much to do as the game eventually offers up. You want to kind of teach the player the mechanics and then build on them.

If you think of clicker games, the first thing you can do is just click a button to make paperclips. Eventually when you earn enough money making paperclips, you may be offered a choice to buy a robot that clicks the button for you. Then you click alongside it buying upgrades until it clicks faster and your clicking no longer is as productive, so now you’re managing a factory of robots making paperclips, upgrading and repairing and replacing them, and now that you’re making money you need to consider competing with other companies…

A good first step is to limit the player’s interaction. That is why many games start with the player confined or in jail and the tutorial leads to finding the way out and then the world opens up.

You can start a game just by spelling out the main goal “kill the evil wizard Foozle” but of course you can’t do that right away. So the player needs to grind at the gym to level up, they need to find a job to earn money to get better weapons and pay for the gym. They need to talk to people about where Foozle is and how to get there and what the wizard’s weaknesses might be they can capitalize upon. There may be completely unrelated side-quests that buff the player and offer resources but can be hooks to discover more lore about the world. To even have access to Foozle, the player might need 10 “main quest” points, which they can obtain from their choice of 20 mini encounters, so while the Uber-goal is established, how the player gets there and what they see on the way can vary.

Some games may not reveal the overarching plot initially and will breadcrumb the player there via mini-goals. Your aunt needs you to buy some carrots. When you buy carrots the carrot-seller tells you a rumor about nasty business at the library which reveals the “library encounter” deck. The player can return home and pursue romance with their sweetheart, or they can start grinding at the library, first it’s just books offering lore and tooltips and play suggestions, then they find a book that can’t be checked out. The librarian doesn’t trust anyone not in the Seer’s guild to read that book, so you seek out the seers guild, make friends with them, maybe do odd jobs until they initiate you and say their enemy is Foozle the Wizard and to read the secret book in the library to understand the world’s plight…

If you think of the game Monopoly, there are basically only 36 “locations” that randomly can be traveled to via dice roll. Most offer resources you can buy to increase your money. Some offer a random encounter (you owe $35 income tax!/Receive dividend of $40!) some spaces are hazards “go directly to jail” which is a time and resource drain/grind, and the player gets their salary by completing a circuit of the board. The goal of Monopoly is to basically bankrupt everyone else, but before that it’s a story about gobbling up real estate to get the money/paperclips flowing in regularly. Monopoly doesn’t detail how the “story” of the game works, but there can be emergent plot that develops in the players’ heads: the richest player hits Go Directly to Jail so it makes sense there could have been some shady business dealings happening and the oligarch of the board finally fell afoul of the law - although this is not spelled out in any game lore or mechanics, players will naturally infer a reason why a player went from point A to point B which is how the “fires in the desert” story structure works.