Synthesized Ludology: Notes on Game Design

I don’t intend this piece to be a pure review of what other people have said; I have written a number of things on a variety of subjects, and there are a few ideas I wish to bring in. Chief among them are the concepts of the “Paradigm-Syntax” dyad (which can be connected to the GNS or the MDA sections) and that of “Complex Pleasures” (which connects to the Eight Kinds of Fun.) I also have the compulsory commentary on Nostalgia and Genre that readers of this blog will know is coming.

The Why of a GM (a.k.a. Why I’m in Control)

I have been gaming forever, or near enough as makes no difference. My brothers and I dug up an AD&D core set back at the edge of my memory, 2000 or 2001, and knew we’d struck mithril. It was my father’s and it took us all of a heartbeat to drag him away from whatever project he was working on and get him to tell us all about it. It took us a week to get him to agree to build a campaign and another month or so to get everything ready.

Guest Writer, GamingCameron SummersJuly 29, 2019tabletop gaming, memoir, Dungeons and Dragons, Alternity, World of Darkness, Apocalypse World, Chronicles of Darkness, Monte Cook, Numenera, Invisible Sun, Call of Cthulhu, Unknown ArmiesComment