Dreamwalker demo

[Demonspahn]

Hi everyone,

I've been touting a free demo of Dreamwalker: Roleplaying in the Land of Dreams now for almost a week and am starting to second guess myself.  I know that's a short time to expect any feedback but the fact that I haven't received _any_ (not just from here, I mean from other places as well) leads me to believe that either a. no one is downloading the demo, b. it's not coherent enough to understand. or c. my html code is all screwed up.  Of course I would prefer it to be c.  :)

I don't know if any of you have encountered this before, but designing a free "rules lite" version of a full game is damn difficult.  You have to include enough rules and setting to make it playable without giving up the entire manuscript for free.  And it's not just a matter of cutting and pasting either, as someone else here has already noted---you almost have to write it as a separate game in and of itself.   This may be common knowledge to everyone here but I found it hard to wrap my mind around at first.  

Anyway, before I get whiplash from Ron or Clinton snatching this thread out of Indie Game Design, the reason I am posting here is to get some feedback on the demo.  I read the policy sticky and think this is allowed (the game is fully written and I know what it is about) but I could be wrong and I apologize in advance if I am.

If you guys could take a minute to give the demo a look, I would like to know if you think it is concise, interesting and playable.  Just FYI Dreamwalker is more of a Simulationist game, I think, in case you have other preferences.  I know this is kind of a bass-ackwards marketing strategy (releasing the demo AFTER the printed game is out), but you live and learn---and _boy_ am I learning.

Any feedback would really be appreciated.  Really.

Thanks,

Pete

http://home.att.net/~dreamwalkerrpg/Free_Demo_.doc>FREE demo

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Pete,

I've ordered a copy of the game through Amazon, and they sent me a note telling me it would be delayed several weeks. I was waiting for that copy to arrive before downloading the demo, but I think I'll get the demo now that the wait is longer than expected.

Also, you might do well to play the game yourself and post about it in Actual Play. This serves multiple purposes, one of which is to get some discourse going as opposed merely to announcing releases.

I agree with you about the rules-lite document being difficult to write. The one I have dates back to 1998 and is way obsolete; I just haven't been able to bring myself to write a new one, even though I really should. I do think that having such a document on-line is one of the best promotional devices.

Best,
Ron

[Mike Holmes]

I have a question after looking at the demo adventure. There are all these italicised comments about why the dreamer has dreamed the dream he has. Is this just for flavor for he GM? Or are the players supposed to come into knowledge of the italicised text in some way? If so, how (during the briefing, maybe)? And does this information serve a purpose other than color?

Why the term denoument? That refers to falling action, usually what happens after the climax of the story. Why is it used to refer to the mission of the dream?

Mike

[Demonspahn]

Ron,

Thanks a lot for ordering a copy.  Hope you don't change your mind after reading the demo.  :)  Sorry about the Amazon delay.  From what I understand, Books A'Million. com has been a lot faster and more reliable for ordering purposes.  A little cheaper too.

I have been meaning to post something in Actual Play but just felt weird about posting sessions of my own game.  Now that you have given me the public nod though, I'll get on it.  

Mike,

The italicized comments are flavor for the GM and players.  In the full version of the game it is called "fluff", described basically as those strange, out of place little things that occasionally pop up in a dream.  You (a normal person dreaming) might not understand the significance of them during the dream, but when you wake up and think about it, you say "Oh yeah, that's where that came from."  I didn't go into detail about fluff in the demo---just one of many things that didn't make the final cut.

As far as player knowledge, the Joined character has access to the Dreamer's memories.  When he sees something like that, he can choose to scroll through the memories and discern its significance.  If it is something very private/important, he may have to make a roll (in the full version).  The benefit to doing this is that sometimes fluff is not fluff at all but of greater significance to the Dreamer, like the car/vault license plate in the adventure.

And as far as using the word "denouement", I was looking for something similar but less common than goal, objective, mission, etc.  I went by Dictionary.com's defintion:

de·noue·ment

1.
      a.The final resolution or clarification of a dramatic or
         narrative plot.
      b.The events following the climax of a drama or novel in
         which such a resolution or clarification takes place.
2.   The outcome of a sequence of events; the end result.


I hope I didn't overuse and/or misuse it.  

Pete

[Mike Holmes]

The italicized comments are flavor for the GM and players.  In the full version of the game it is called "fluff", described basically as those strange, out of place little things that occasionally pop up in a dream.  You (a normal person dreaming) might not understand the significance of them during the dream, but when you wake up and think about it, you say "Oh yeah, that's where that came from."  I didn't go into detail about fluff in the demo---just one of many things that didn't make the final cut.

I thought it might be something like that.

I hope I didn't overuse and/or misuse it.

Connotations and denotations.

That second part of the first definition from dictionary.com is key. The part after the climax. It's where you wrap up all the loose ends in the story, after the story has peaked. It seems to me like what you want includes the climax. Very much not the connotation of denoument. Denoument implies, in fact, a release from the tension of the story. Its that part where you can breathe easily again and relax.

I'd use something else, personally.

Mike

[Demonspahn]

Denoument implies, in fact, a release from the tension of the story. Its that part where you can breathe easily again and relax.

No, that's right.  The denoument is the part of the adventure that the Dreamer finds release.  The Dreamwalkers still have work to do.  

I'd use something else, personally.

*sheepish grin*  Well, it's kind of too late for that.  I guess if I get my back to the wall, I can start spouting "creative license appropriate to the setting" or something like that.  :)

Pete[/quote]