{"id":2036,"date":"2020-08-06T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-06T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/?p=2036"},"modified":"2021-11-16T00:38:32","modified_gmt":"2021-11-16T05:38:32","slug":"wanderhome-with-jay-dragon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/2020\/08\/wanderhome-with-jay-dragon\/","title":{"rendered":"Wanderhome with Jay Dragon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hey y’all, today I have something really good for you – Jay Dragon is here to talk about Wanderhome, which is currently blowing past goals on Kickstarter<\/a>! This game of traveling animal-folk is so much more than just a walk through the meadow – check out Jay’s responses below.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cover art of the roving animal-folk is by Sylvia Bi.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

—<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What has your experience in games been like and how did you get into it?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve been designing games since I was 12 years old for my summer camp The Wayfinder Experience<\/a>. I ran my first game when I was 14, a largescale LARP with 50+ players, a full team of staff, and a production budget. I got into tabletop years later through Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition and Monsterhearts. I released my first largescale tabletop game, Sleepaway<\/a>, on Kickstarter last year, where it would go on to win an ENnie and be nominated for two Indie Groundbreaker Awards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then I’ve been designing games nearly continuously, and I’ve released more than two dozen projects of various sizes on my Itch.io page<\/a> and on my Patreon<\/a>. Wanderhome is my second solo Kickstarter, although it represents my fourth Kickstarter involvement, either as co-writer or project manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
The Veteran by Letty Wilson, a sketch.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

What projects do you think you’ve worked on that have led you to designing Wanderhome, which seems so new and exploratory?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wanderhome is very much the culmination of a lot of the work I’ve been doing over the past year. As I become more comfortable with the No Dice, No Masters engine (often called Belonging Outside Belonging) through Sleepaway, I realized the sheer flexibility involved in the system. Projects of mine like Dungeon<\/a> helped me realize that the structure that Avery Alder and Benjamin Rosenbaum had built, with tokens, moves, setting elements, and community worksheets, was intentionally an enormous well of unexplored design space. Wanderhome takes all the tools I’ve been futzing with – longer-form narrative games, modular structures, toolkits and other OSR principles, integrated safety mechanics (which I know we’ve talked about!), an enormous variety of options, and a general focus on prosody, lyricism, and art direction to give the game a tone that go beyond the normal RPG ruleset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, tell me a little about Wanderhome itself. What excites you about it? What makes it whole?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wanderhome is a pastoral fantasy RPG about the peaceful world of H\u00e6th and the folks who live there. You play as a group of traveling animal-folk (including but not limited to; a dancer who moves with the soul of the world, a caretaker for a gaggle of small and forgotten gods, a delivery-person who uses carrier moths to send letters by moonlight, a shepherd with a herd of bumblebees, a little kid with a big heart, and a veteran who has sworn to never draw their sword) as you go from place to place over the course of many seasons, helping people and making friends. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There’s a lot of things about it that excite me – it’s in a lot of ways everything I’ve wanted from a game for a while. I think right now I’m thinking a lot about the way it rejects so much of what we’re used to from RPGs in its genre. It focuses on the idea of a journey over a story, it lacks rules for failure (and in fact challenges the idea that failure exists), it’s designed for very <\/em>longform play (you can play it for years or decades!) and it reimagines what play can be like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"An
Art by Jennie Lindberg of the Small and Forgotten Gods.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

How did you come up with this concept that defies some of the norms we expect from RPGs, and that has already captured many enthusiastic fans?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wanderhome came about towards the start of quarantine, when I was struggling with a lot of mental and physical health issues and a friend came by for a week to check up on me. While we were sitting together in the grass, I had a vision of a landscape that could exist in a world after all this. I sat down and sketched out how I’d want people to engage in the world, and figuring out basically a bounding limit of what playing the game is like – I didn’t care about failure, and I didn’t care about enormous success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I concentrated most things you can do in the game as essentially a toolbox of window dressing, “idle animations” and basic tools you can use to unpack what’s happening. It uses the token system classic in Belonging Outside Belonging games to push and pull you in and out of your character’s comfort zone. I think it’s attracted a lot of attention because there’s not really anything like it – there’s some comparisons to games like Ryuutama, <\/em>but to me that’s like night and day. I think people are clamoring for a game that proposes a world after COVID, after our global trauma, and tries to figure out ways to heal – even if it’s not always going perfectly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I definitely want to talk more at some point with you about electing not to have rules for failure since I’m a fan, but first I want to talk about your choice to do extremely long campaign play as an option. Why allow such long engagement with the same campaign potentially the same characters? How does the design support the different lengths of play?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve been captivated since I was a little kid by those tabletop RPG campaigns that have been meeting for 20+ years. Generally those groups aren’t actually playing whatever game they originally set out to play – they’ve been messing with the system for so long that it’s become something deeply personal and totally new. When I got into Indie TTRPGs, I fell in love with so much of those games, but I found myself missing the dream of that long, long play. It’s not that I needed <\/em>every campaign to last that long, but the idea of playing a game for so long that I’ve completely reshaped it into my own is so appealing. I think of a lot of my game designs as being about teaching the players how to write the game and make it their own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The moment I started working on Wanderhome <\/em>I was so struck by the idea of a game that, if you spent enough time with it, could become another feature in the landscape of your life. When you play Wanderhome <\/em>for long enough, you eventually have to give up your characters and make new ones, but that’s intentional. If you play it for decades and decades, it stops being about the people, but the shared world you’ve all made. The episodic structure of Wanderhome, <\/em>along with the sheer variety of options, means that shorter journeys feel natural and easy, while also giving you the sense of what more is out there, if you just kept on traveling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Colored
More amazing work by Lettie Wilson, this time a few character types.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Everything I have seen out of Wanderhome and everything you’ve said here has made me envision the vibe that you give off when we’ve chatted – calm and quietly investigatory, but with the chance at any time to run off with an idea and a half drawn map that’ll be fully drawn by morning. Tell me, what are a few example scenes you’ve had or envisioned for the game, and how do your mechanics support that type of play?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I designed Wanderhome, I was constantly making note of the sorts of scenes I wanted people to have, and possible landscapes where that could happen. Many of the things you can do in Wanderhome came directly from the lists of ways I wanted players to navigate the world – leaving offerings to small and forgotten gods, opening up about their feelings, taking time to tell the other players about the beauty of a sunset or the path a butterfly travels through the air. Ultimately though, I worked hard to keep Wanderhome <\/em>from making confident statements about what you feel. I wanted to create the space in the game for you to fill in your own meaning, and treat the mechanics as more of an interface to engage with the world than a prescriptive set of laws that dictate the world itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

—<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you so much Jay! I hope you all enjoyed reading the interview and that you’ll hop over to Wanderhome on Kickstarter today to join the many excited backers<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hey y’all, today I have something really good for you – Jay Dragon is here to talk about Wanderhome, which is currently blowing past goals on Kickstarter! This game of traveling animal-folk is so much more than just a walk through the meadow – check out Jay’s responses below. The cover art of the roving … Continue reading “Wanderhome with Jay Dragon”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2038,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[390],"tags":[90,221,10,4,17,25,113,46,8,15,12,26,23,18,56],"class_list":["post-2036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive","tag-fantasy","tag-feature","tag-game-design","tag-games","tag-gaming","tag-interviews","tag-joy","tag-queer","tag-roleplaying-games","tag-rpg","tag-rpgs","tag-story-games","tag-tabletop-games","tag-tabletop-rpgs","tag-worldbuilding"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/color_RGB-1.png?fit=2000%2C2000&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paHOcG-wQ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1860,"url":"https:\/\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/2020\/04\/behold-products-ultimate-micro-rpg-book-pre-orders\/","url_meta":{"origin":2036,"position":0},"title":"Behold, Products! Ultimate Micro-RPG Book Pre-Orders!","author":"Beau J\u00e1gr Sheldon","date":"April 2, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Hello all! I've been honored to be a part of the Ultimate Micro-RPG Book, edited by James D'Amato, which is currently on PREORDER! Preorders are a great way to support the product and the idea if you like it, because it lets big box stores know that there's demand, so\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Archive"","block_context":{"text":"Archive","link":"https:\/\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/category\/archive\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":133,"url":"https:\/\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/2017\/11\/boy-band-the-game\/","url_meta":{"origin":2036,"position":1},"title":"Boy Band: The Game","author":"Beau J\u00e1gr Sheldon","date":"November 2, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi All! Got an idea today, so I wrote it down. Check out Boy Band: The Game, which will get a fancier version at some point, but until then, get ya grabby hands on it.Boy Band: The GameThis post was supported by the community on patreon.com\/briecs. Tell your friends! To\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Archive"","block_context":{"text":"Archive","link":"https:\/\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/category\/archive\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":170,"url":"https:\/\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/2017\/06\/game-design-insight-on-twitter\/","url_meta":{"origin":2036,"position":2},"title":"Game Design Insight on Twitter!","author":"Beau J\u00e1gr Sheldon","date":"June 13, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been participating in a meme on Twitter about game design insight!Check it out here!Also check out Ewen Cluney's thread with links to other designer's Twitter threads!This post was supported by the community on patreon.com\/briecs. Tell your friends! To leave some cash in the tip jar, go to http:\/\/paypal.me\/thoughty.If you'd\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Archive"","block_context":{"text":"Archive","link":"https:\/\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/category\/archive\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1031,"url":"https:\/\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/2019\/03\/quick-shot-on-by-aecers-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":2036,"position":3},"title":"Quick Shot on By Aecer’s Light!","author":"Beau J\u00e1gr Sheldon","date":"March 18, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Today's quick shot is with Mad Jay Brown on the project By Aecer's Light!, a setting zine on Kickstarter now! Check it out! -- What is By Aecer's Light!, both as a product and as your vision? By Aecer's Light! is me 'small scale testing' a creative project on my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Archive"","block_context":{"text":"Archive","link":"https:\/\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/category\/archive\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/00000PORTRAIT_00000_BURST20190317180415618.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/00000PORTRAIT_00000_BURST20190317180415618.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/00000PORTRAIT_00000_BURST20190317180415618.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/00000PORTRAIT_00000_BURST20190317180415618.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/00000PORTRAIT_00000_BURST20190317180415618.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/00000PORTRAIT_00000_BURST20190317180415618.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1435,"url":"https:\/\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/2019\/07\/friday-hi-day-youtube-post-live\/","url_meta":{"origin":2036,"position":4},"title":"Friday Hi-Day YouTube Post Live!","author":"Beau J\u00e1gr Sheldon","date":"July 12, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Tfn7OHqQ_HQ","rel":"","context":"In "Archive"","block_context":{"text":"Archive","link":"https:\/\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/category\/archive\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/Tfn7OHqQ_HQ\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1862,"url":"https:\/\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/2020\/04\/script-change-now-has-discord-emojis\/","url_meta":{"origin":2036,"position":5},"title":"Script Change Now Has Discord Emojis!","author":"Beau J\u00e1gr Sheldon","date":"April 2, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Check it out! https:\/\/briebeau.itch.io\/script-change","rel":"","context":"In "Archive"","block_context":{"text":"Archive","link":"https:\/\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/category\/archive\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"the script change buttons on a sheet.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Script-Change_121118_BSheldon_Page_6-791x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Script-Change_121118_BSheldon_Page_6-791x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Script-Change_121118_BSheldon_Page_6-791x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Script-Change_121118_BSheldon_Page_6-791x1024.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2036"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2036\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}