EOD yesterday.

Okay, well, I'm awake at four in the morning. Wide awake. Yesterday was a slower day due to the effects of insomnia - ~2,000 words of fiction and a bit more progress on A Wilder World. As I look at it, I realize that I should qualify my estimates of its completeness. While the basic rules for playing the game are almost entirely there at this point, the advancement/reward/development scheme isn't, and the rules for stuff on the GM side (like monster stat ranges) are way more rudimentary than player stuff.

That's partly because I'm prioritizing what players will need to know to play through a single session, and partly because those are the sorts of things that will are the trickiest things to pin down without playtesting. I'm not concerned with getting perfect mathematical balance between player characters and their enemies, for a couple of different reasons I'll get into in a more AWW-centric post. But still, it's going to take some practical experience to know I'm hitting the right notes there.

Insomnia is getting old. Unfortunately I think I'm acquiring resistance to melatonin, which has happened before. I might have to cut back on it for a while, which will make things get worse before they get better. But after more than a week of delayed (but not missed) sleep, I'm starting to miss sleep, so it's probably going to get worse anyway.

Game match story.

So, in just about every story with a dragon ever--including D&D spin-off novels--there's a moment when a dragon is about to unleash its destructive breath, and it does what you would expect someone to do before an explosive exhalation: it inhales, deeply. Sometimes it rears up and throws back its head or even closes its eyes. Other times there's just a sharp intake of air.

Regardless, this is treated as a significant thing. It lets the reader know what's about to happen so that the blast of fire or whatever doesn't come across as casual as a swipe of the claw, but it's also often significant in the story. It gives the hero time to scurry back, or twist to the side, or try for one last desperate blow, or whatever.

But if you look at the actual D&D rules, the dragon's breath weapon isn't treated like this at all. There will be a limitation on how often it can be used/how many times it can be used, but other than that... it is as casual as a swipe of the claw, or any other attack. The idea that there might be a moment of warning is abstracted away in a roll of the dice (saving throw/hit roll, and "Feats" or advantages that allow characters with better reflexes to better avoid the effects of the breath).

This idea would be nearly unthinkable in 4E's action economy, where the medium of exchange is attacks-per-round and big solo threats like dragons are supposed to be able to attack swiftly and often, but... what if a dragon's breath were a two stage affair? Round one, the dragon quite obviously prepares, using the action that would be spent attacking to inhale in a big, obvious way. Round two, the dragon lets loose with a giant attack that's powerful enough and big enough to make up for the lost opportunity.

Of course, the players can scurry out of the way and dive for cover... but isn't that potentially more engaging than a roll of the die? And maybe the dragon can hold its breath in for a few rounds before it has to unload it. Maybe the act of inhaling can also be used to pull everyone in closer, making it slightly harder to get away.

The "Oh no, the dragon's about to breath fire! *react*" thing is already potentially part of the combat system in A Wilder World, because of the fact that actions are declared in advance. But I think for big dramatic attacks like dragons, it should go a step further... either make it so that they have to be declared first even if the dragon has the advantage (the side with advantage normally gets to hear what the other side is doing before finalizing their actions), or just go with the two phase thing described above.

I'll probably go with the latter, so as not to further complicate the tactical phase of combat. And maybe make it so the dragon can only initiate a breath attack if it has advantage for the round... give another consequence to advantage, and incentive to keep a dragon pressed back on its heels as often as possible.

Wednesday, May 2nd

The State of the Me

So, I got another 3-4 hours of sleep over the middle of the day today, which is good. This episode isn't quite to the "can't sleep for days" level, and in a few days I'm going to have a change of scenery that might be enough to break the cycle/start a new one.

The Daily Report

Okay, today's shaping up to be a light day by simple virtue of lack of time and tiredness, both stemming from the same source. Not much to say at the moment since I just woke up.

Plans For Today

Well, I'm going to write what I can. My overall goal is to top 2,000 words. Smaller goals:

• Get a handle on the next chapter of Tales of MU, and write at least 500 words of it in accordance with the 500 word minimum/never miss an update principle.
  
• At least one hour on Kin & Distant relations.
  

EOD for Wednesday.

Well, I hit the ~2000 mark. Got a better handle on the structure of the KDR chapter I have to finish for tomorrow. Slightly missed my goal in terms of the Tales of MU chapter, but I wrote something. I feel accomplished, given my mental and physical state.