Design Diaries

Secret Crushes and Alien Babies

My journey as a game designer started during the Covid pandemic. It was a difficult time, but I was one of the lucky ones. I had shifted to working remotely (and not working much), and roleplaying games were my main social outlet. Around this time I heard an actual play podcast of Grant Howitt’s “The Witch is Dead.” I had never heard of a one-page rpg, and the concept fascinated me. It’s an amazing game with so much rich detail and story potential packed into a very small space. Always up for a challenge, I tried writing my own and was instantly smitten.

Tell Me How I Feel

My journey as a game designer started during the Covid pandemic. It was a difficult time, but I was one of the lucky ones. I had shifted to working remotely (and not working much), and roleplaying games were my main social outlet. Around this time I heard an actual play podcast of Grant Howitt’s “The Witch is Dead.” I had never heard of a one-page rpg, and the concept fascinated me. It’s an amazing game with so much rich detail and story potential packed into a very small space. Always up for a challenge, I tried writing my own and was instantly smitten.

Alien Invasion

My journey as a game designer started during the Covid pandemic. It was a difficult time, but I was one of the lucky ones. I had shifted to working remotely (and not working much), and roleplaying games were my main social outlet. Around this time I heard an actual play podcast of Grant Howitt’s “The Witch is Dead.” I had never heard of a one-page rpg, and the concept fascinated me. It’s an amazing game with so much rich detail and story potential packed into a very small space. Always up for a challenge, I tried writing my own and was instantly smitten.

One Page at a Time

My journey as a game designer started during the Covid pandemic. It was a difficult time, but I was one of the lucky ones. I had shifted to working remotely (and not working much), and roleplaying games were my main social outlet. Around this time I heard an actual play podcast of Grant Howitt’s “The Witch is Dead.” I had never heard of a one-page rpg, and the concept fascinated me. It’s an amazing game with so much rich detail and story potential packed into a very small space. Always up for a challenge, I tried writing my own and was instantly smitten.

The Curiosity of the Dragons

Welcome to the 14th post in a series of Design Diaries for Rangers of a Broken World by the creator Leon Richardson: … Dragons might be my favorite inhabitants of Amylte, and for the life of me I have no idea where their idea first came from. Much like the dragons themselves, I suppose, they […]

The Programming of the Automata

Welcome to the 13th post in a series of Design Diaries for Rangers of a Broken World by the creator Leon Richardson: … If you’ve read the first Design Diary in the whole series, then you’ll know that Amylte, the world of Rangers of a Broken World, was inspired by efforts to reclaim the old […]

The Memory of the Horrors

Welcome to the 12th post in a series of Design Diaries for Rangers of a Broken World by the creator Leon Richardson: … Most paranormal researchers believe there are three (maybe four depending on what you think about poltergeist activity) types of hauntings: human spirits, non-human spirits, and “recordings”. It’s this last kind that directly […]

The Obsession of the Noble Demons

Welcome to the 11th post in a series of Design Diaries for Rangers of a Broken World by the creator Leon Richardson: … This is another one of those things that’s just shamelessly my brand, I’m afraid. I have a lifelong interest in demonology. In Amylte, there exist creatures that are terrifyingly close to being […]

Hector, the Dunes, the Magus

Welcome to the tenth post in a series of Design Diaries for Rangers of a Broken World by the creator Leon Richardson: … The Magus seemed obvious to me at first, but the more I worked with it, the less obvious I wanted it to be. The desert is a difficult place to survive, certainly, […]

Atossa, the Ruins, the Infiltrator

Welcome to the ninth post in a series of Design Diaries for Rangers of a Broken World by the creator Leon Richardson: … I was running a roleplaying game for some people, one of whom I’d never played with before. He was playing a kind of a rogue archetype, and sure enough, he immediately separated […]