Stories as Journeys
[h2]Dear Travellers,[/h2]
How does an RPG look when there is no linear questing? We’ve often talked about how the narrative experience of Book of Travels is different from traditional and classic RPGs, and today I’m going to paint a clearer picture of how the game is designed so that you, the player, will go on a story journey that’s unlike any other.
[h2]Rare encounters[/h2]
Book of Travels takes much inspiration from tabletop roleplay games and live action roleplay, each of which evolve story experiences from the beats of randomly generated scenarios. Readers who have ever LARPed, who like to roleplay or who’ve ever taken part in immersive theatre will know the feeling of being captivated by a stumbled-upon dramatic event. This can be even more special when encountered with only a friend or compadre, and perhaps better still as a singular and solitary audience. Scenarios in Book of Travels are threaded throughout the game world in such a way that players will not share a common set of experiences, and there’s a chance that you’ll experience a scenario which is so rare that you could just be its only witness.
[h2]The personal pattern of your journey[/h2]
Scenarios which are less rare may still be encountered by only a few Travellers who, having taken their own path and honed their own world view, will interpret them in that light. Other experiences will be more common, but whatever kinds of encounters you have, their course and pattern will emerge from the choices you make on the road. Since there is no linear plot through which to advance, Travellers will instead come across many story strands to weave together along the way, but not every player will hold the same threads. Essentially your exploration of Braided Shore will be entirely different from that of any other Traveller and your adventure will take a shape that's all its own.
[h2]Shifting events in a living world[/h2]
Should you tell another Traveller about an exciting moment, they should know that they won’t be able to recreate that experience - events in the game are not static and cannot be depended upon in terms of gameworld time-and-space. In many ways they comprise a vast and eternally shifting collection of encounters that together form the body and soul of Braided Shore.
[h2]Shaping chapters[/h2]
One of the advantages of making a PC game based on Steam is that it allows us to listen to players’ opinions, so over the course of Chapter Zero we’ll be reading and absorbing your responses as well as using game data to observe how Travellers are experiencing and responding to the world and its stories. This insight is something we are really excited to explore, since we’ll be able to respond to the marks that you leave and the tracks you make to craft Chapter One, which we think will help us make it a much richer experience.
Thank you so much for being with us - we’re unbelievably only six weeks away from our launch date of August 9th! We’d love to hear what you think about our narrative design in the comments section below where our Narrative and Game Designers Dennis, Andreas and Beta will drop in and answer your questions. What gaming story experiences have made great memories for you? We'd love to know!
Best Wishes,
Helen & the Dev Team xx
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1152340/Book_of_Travels/
[h2]Want more info?[/h2]
[h3]Become a Traveller[/h3]
Sign up on our mailing list for news and an in-game treat in our upcoming game at www.TMORPG.com.
[h3]What is TMORPG?[/h3]
The T in TMO signals an alternative to the more common industry standard MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game) putting 'tiny' in the place of 'massive'. That means fewer meetings, which we think means more magic... Read more here: What is a TMORPG?!
[h3]Revealing the Early Access World[/h3]
Later this year Book of Travels will be available for Early Access on Steam. In Chapter Zero parts of the Braided Shore will be open, and among the places to visit is the gem of the region – the city of Kasa. Read more here.
[h3]Join our Discord[/h3]
Join our super friendly Discord to exchange ideas on all things Book of Travels as well as art, games and books. Join here.
How does an RPG look when there is no linear questing? We’ve often talked about how the narrative experience of Book of Travels is different from traditional and classic RPGs, and today I’m going to paint a clearer picture of how the game is designed so that you, the player, will go on a story journey that’s unlike any other.
[h2]Rare encounters[/h2]
Book of Travels takes much inspiration from tabletop roleplay games and live action roleplay, each of which evolve story experiences from the beats of randomly generated scenarios. Readers who have ever LARPed, who like to roleplay or who’ve ever taken part in immersive theatre will know the feeling of being captivated by a stumbled-upon dramatic event. This can be even more special when encountered with only a friend or compadre, and perhaps better still as a singular and solitary audience. Scenarios in Book of Travels are threaded throughout the game world in such a way that players will not share a common set of experiences, and there’s a chance that you’ll experience a scenario which is so rare that you could just be its only witness.
[h2]The personal pattern of your journey[/h2]
Scenarios which are less rare may still be encountered by only a few Travellers who, having taken their own path and honed their own world view, will interpret them in that light. Other experiences will be more common, but whatever kinds of encounters you have, their course and pattern will emerge from the choices you make on the road. Since there is no linear plot through which to advance, Travellers will instead come across many story strands to weave together along the way, but not every player will hold the same threads. Essentially your exploration of Braided Shore will be entirely different from that of any other Traveller and your adventure will take a shape that's all its own.
[h2]Shifting events in a living world[/h2]
Should you tell another Traveller about an exciting moment, they should know that they won’t be able to recreate that experience - events in the game are not static and cannot be depended upon in terms of gameworld time-and-space. In many ways they comprise a vast and eternally shifting collection of encounters that together form the body and soul of Braided Shore.
[h2]Shaping chapters[/h2]
One of the advantages of making a PC game based on Steam is that it allows us to listen to players’ opinions, so over the course of Chapter Zero we’ll be reading and absorbing your responses as well as using game data to observe how Travellers are experiencing and responding to the world and its stories. This insight is something we are really excited to explore, since we’ll be able to respond to the marks that you leave and the tracks you make to craft Chapter One, which we think will help us make it a much richer experience.
Thank you so much for being with us - we’re unbelievably only six weeks away from our launch date of August 9th! We’d love to hear what you think about our narrative design in the comments section below where our Narrative and Game Designers Dennis, Andreas and Beta will drop in and answer your questions. What gaming story experiences have made great memories for you? We'd love to know!
Best Wishes,
Helen & the Dev Team xx
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1152340/Book_of_Travels/
[h2]Want more info?[/h2]
[h3]Become a Traveller[/h3]
Sign up on our mailing list for news and an in-game treat in our upcoming game at www.TMORPG.com.
[h3]What is TMORPG?[/h3]
The T in TMO signals an alternative to the more common industry standard MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game) putting 'tiny' in the place of 'massive'. That means fewer meetings, which we think means more magic... Read more here: What is a TMORPG?!
[h3]Revealing the Early Access World[/h3]
Later this year Book of Travels will be available for Early Access on Steam. In Chapter Zero parts of the Braided Shore will be open, and among the places to visit is the gem of the region – the city of Kasa. Read more here.
[h3]Join our Discord[/h3]
Join our super friendly Discord to exchange ideas on all things Book of Travels as well as art, games and books. Join here.
