Aaron The Pedantic

Tarot Cards are pretty damn sweet . My recent plays of Hand of Fate 2 and even Cyberpunk 2077 have had my wheels spinning on how these incredibly evocative tools can be used for procedural generation. All of this is purely theoretical at the moment, but I'm going to use it in my upcoming games and see how it goes, tweaking as needed. As with any procedural generation in RPGs, you should always be keen to use common sense when randomization ends up in subpar results. Hex Generation This was one of the very first things that popped into mind for me. You've got 78 cards in your tarot deck, so using this process, you could populate up to 78 hexes with a significant variety of landmarks. Simply shuffle your deck, then locate the Emperor. Slap down your capital on a hex of your choosing and start working your way outward. Once you're done, it's time to start filling in blanks on a contextual level. Here's what the cards could mean. Majors Empress - A benevolen...

Dungeon Space: Why does it matter?        Space, and the clever use of it, is one of the most important aspects of what makes a Dungeon successful. This is the first of several articles on Dungeon Space, and why it matters. Today's article was intended to be all encompassing on the matter of Dungeon Space, but it turns out I had a lot to say just on the matter of tracking time and torches.  So this is the torch one.      But first, why does space matter? The dungeon is a place where tension is at its absolute highest. It is in the dungeon, and nowhere else, that careless resource management can lead to backtracking through monster-laden catacombs in utter darkness. It is in the dungeon, and nowhere else, that breaking down the door is an invitation to be surprised by savage beasts. It is in the dungeon, and nowhere else, that you have such a high concentration of life-or-death moments, whether by trap, by steel, or by claw.     ...