edit: 23/03/19 - just updated the post with an actual play document, around 5 pages of feedist smut generated thanks to these rules and some time spent playing with them. definitely seems to be working as intended, though i’ll be giving the rules some polish once i finish my 2k watchers drawings over on deviantart!
edit: 23/03/19 again! - just updated the formatting of both documents, as well as the wording. definitely seems like a fairly functional game, but i’d love to see any of your journals if you use this!
very fair! the engine i built this on keeps everything on one page and keeps things loose, mostly relying on the tarot stuff to really help inspire and guide the player - it worked well enough for my playthrough at least and i usually have a lot of trouble with solo rpgs.
that all said, if i were to add more stuff what would you think would be useful in terms of help / inspiration?
Things I liked:
–The first three questions in the character generation section do a lot to establish personality, history, and conflict/agent of change. Attire specifically is a great choice that plays into wg tropes
–The “Evoke a sensuality” advice to engage with every sense. Absolutely correct for both smut and romance
–Five suit themes. Good picks for broad example types
–Three state resolution. I love it in PBTA games, and it’s great for adding variety in a small ruleset
–Coin bonuses for engaging with characters and the world outside the protagonist. I like that you’ve mechanically incentivized creating and developing character relationships
Things I want to see worked on:
–The whole opening “bravely charts” paragraph sets me up for a metaphorical battle with escalating emotional stakes to just be and enjoy this kink. The “Living Her Life” and “Resolving Uncertainty” don’t match that tone, feeling like the lower stakes of slice-of-life. One of these should change
–If you mean to have escalating emotional stakes, I don’t see any mechanics or flavor to support that
–A set of broad possible questions for the “Resolving Uncertainty” section might be useful (spitball ideas: “How does this affect how I feel about my body?” “Who thinks more/less of me?” “What did I fail to notice?” “Who is in control of this situation?”, etc)
–There isn’t much of a traditional narrative shape here. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but without player direction, it tends toward more of a slice-of-life/litfic feel than a dramatic arc. Is this what you’re going for?
i think i was mostly aping the dramatic voice of ‘princess with a cursed sword’ the game / engine that this is built off of, which probably should be dialed back a bit
definitely see the whole ‘emotional stakes’ as a real part of the slice-of-life thing, but you’re right that it’d be better to include some mechanics to give that some ludonarrative weight. maybe a page two with a few optional mechanics and more inspiration for how to resolve uncertainty, etc.
the toolset the game provides definitely offers no guidance towards traditional narrative on its own, but between the tarot resolution and the loose, light, solo-play experience, it definitely can feel pretty traditional, at least in the sense of kink-story-pacing.
