Monday Musings #45 – On Systems Design
Systems Design is probably my main discipline. It’s the thing I can’t shut off when my brain wanders. Today I thought I’d share a bit of the process and headspace behind it through an example that will be landing alongside Foundations.
Time for some philosophy.
[h3]Stake the Perimeter[/h3]
When manipulating an image you lock the corners so you can nudge the inside freely. When pitching a tent you stake the perimeter first so the rest of the structure can take shape. Large buildings need corner stones to build around. I think of systems design the same way.
You start by laying out the high-level pillars of the game. For MoteMancer that means: Spells, Elements, Planes, Research, Foundations, Entropy.
The goal isn’t to fill them yet. It’s to understand the shape of the space. Once the buckets exist, you can start feeling which one should own a given idea. Naming those buckets has power. It creates boundaries. It creates responsibility.
You don’t have to literally venn-diagram it, but conceptually that’s what’s happening.
[h3]Start Sorting[/h3]
Now think of a variety of details that you know need to exist. Power systems, resource gathering, combat etc. At bottom, the goal is to marry the details with the high level concepts in a way that has the most number of benefits, or choosing where there can be overlap.
Now take something small but fundamental: movement speed. Where does it live?
It could be:
Any of the buckets could own it, but design is about balancing where it belongs and where it doesn't. Think of what makes the most intuitive sense to a player, where can it create a delightful surprise, and to not overuse it so there's space to breathe.
[h3]Inevitable Iteration[/h3]
You are smarter today than yesterday.
Make the best decision you can, but don’t be precious about it. Future you (or indeed your players) will probably have a better idea. You are curating the best ideas whether or not you are the creator of them. Implementing something even if you suspect it won’t survive still has value. It gives you something real to react to and design against. even if you ultimately replace it.
Wave Dash is a good example. Right now it competes awkwardly with Haste. They both solve similar problems, one conditional, one not. The better solution is likely to turn Wave Dash into a passive benefit and let Haste breathe on its own. We can also mirror that and say that Wind Corridors from air power confer a similar passive benefit.
But that means something else has to fill the now-empty spell slot. And that’s where design begins to reveals itself.
[h3]New Useful Toys[/h3]
All of that thinking led to two new spells: Oracle and Shear.
Oracle is straightforward. A Water spell that lets you view any revealed part of the map remotely. It has some fun implications around the Dark Reach ritual as well, but more importantly it nicely fills a niche use case in the factory genre of remote viewing, while staying in kit.
Shear is the more interesting one. Shear will be replacing Echotracer, and here’s the chain of friction that led there:
There are more, but all of that leads elegantly to Shear and its upgrades:
Shear - Destroys a Structure and its contents, reclaiming 50% of their Raw ingredients to your inventory.
Collapse - Allows Shear to toggle between reclaiming 100% or 0% of Raw ingredients.
Unravel - When Shearing an Ichor Slick or Void Chest, also Shear all linked Ichor Slicks or Void Chests.
Shear falls squarely within Shadow's kit of dealing with linked structures, breaking things down with mycelium, and a nod to quantum mechanics. It solves recycling and clearing in a single stroke - two niche sides of a coin that feels more cohesive. It acts as a clean alternative to Excavator with its own use case and flavor.
The important part is this: Shear could not have existed at the beginning of MoteMancer. It only revealed itself once the rest of the systems solidified. The hole had to exist before the piece could be shaped. Many details only reveal themselves after the broad strokes are complete.
[h3]What About Echotracer?[/h3]
Blueprint filling still matters. I loved the kit for Echotracer as a blueprint filler aura, but another happy accident along the way was Echo Flare - turning Mana Flare into your blueprint filler as an upgrade in the shadow tree. Since blueprints come from the Entropy Research tree, it only makes sense for Echo Flare to live there as well.
Best of all, that means you will have access to it in your second plane - no matter the plane - as soon as you start fighting Entropy. Pacing wise this is just about perfect. Just as you are setting up your second plane you get the tool to alleviate that burden. Plus, if Mana Flares are still serving as short term power, you can literally power the structures as they create themselves.
Tools deserve full lifecycles. It’s satisfying when something you loved early never truly becomes obsolete, it just evolves.
[h3]The Pattern[/h3]
If I had to distill this down:
There is no such thing as perfect design. Good design is building enough structure that the right idea becomes obvious.
Back to the lab 🌿
~CyanAvatar
Time for some philosophy.
[h3]Stake the Perimeter[/h3]
When manipulating an image you lock the corners so you can nudge the inside freely. When pitching a tent you stake the perimeter first so the rest of the structure can take shape. Large buildings need corner stones to build around. I think of systems design the same way.
You start by laying out the high-level pillars of the game. For MoteMancer that means: Spells, Elements, Planes, Research, Foundations, Entropy.
The goal isn’t to fill them yet. It’s to understand the shape of the space. Once the buckets exist, you can start feeling which one should own a given idea. Naming those buckets has power. It creates boundaries. It creates responsibility.
You don’t have to literally venn-diagram it, but conceptually that’s what’s happening.
[h3]Start Sorting[/h3]
Now think of a variety of details that you know need to exist. Power systems, resource gathering, combat etc. At bottom, the goal is to marry the details with the high level concepts in a way that has the most number of benefits, or choosing where there can be overlap.
Now take something small but fundamental: movement speed. Where does it live?
It could be:
- A spell aura like Haste.
- A conditional spell like Wave Dash.
- A passive research node.
- A Foundation modifier.
- A plane-specific trait.
- A ritual bonus.
- A reward for defeating enemies.
Any of the buckets could own it, but design is about balancing where it belongs and where it doesn't. Think of what makes the most intuitive sense to a player, where can it create a delightful surprise, and to not overuse it so there's space to breathe.
[h3]Inevitable Iteration[/h3]
You are smarter today than yesterday.
Make the best decision you can, but don’t be precious about it. Future you (or indeed your players) will probably have a better idea. You are curating the best ideas whether or not you are the creator of them. Implementing something even if you suspect it won’t survive still has value. It gives you something real to react to and design against. even if you ultimately replace it.
Wave Dash is a good example. Right now it competes awkwardly with Haste. They both solve similar problems, one conditional, one not. The better solution is likely to turn Wave Dash into a passive benefit and let Haste breathe on its own. We can also mirror that and say that Wind Corridors from air power confer a similar passive benefit.
But that means something else has to fill the now-empty spell slot. And that’s where design begins to reveals itself.
[h3]New Useful Toys[/h3]
All of that thinking led to two new spells: Oracle and Shear.
Oracle is straightforward. A Water spell that lets you view any revealed part of the map remotely. It has some fun implications around the Dark Reach ritual as well, but more importantly it nicely fills a niche use case in the factory genre of remote viewing, while staying in kit.
Shear is the more interesting one. Shear will be replacing Echotracer, and here’s the chain of friction that led there:
- Blueprint filling is highly sought after. Gating it deep in Shadow is probably too late.
- Pacing the unlock differently depending on starting plane feels messy.
- Recycling has flirted with both Entropy and Shadow trees but never fully landed.
- Mass clearing areas that clog up your inventory can feel tedious.
- Ichor Slicks and Void Chests can get contaminated or want to be reset wholesale.
- What happens if you Shatter Earth and still want access to a deconstruction tool like Excavator?
There are more, but all of that leads elegantly to Shear and its upgrades:
Shear - Destroys a Structure and its contents, reclaiming 50% of their Raw ingredients to your inventory.
Collapse - Allows Shear to toggle between reclaiming 100% or 0% of Raw ingredients.
Unravel - When Shearing an Ichor Slick or Void Chest, also Shear all linked Ichor Slicks or Void Chests.
Shear falls squarely within Shadow's kit of dealing with linked structures, breaking things down with mycelium, and a nod to quantum mechanics. It solves recycling and clearing in a single stroke - two niche sides of a coin that feels more cohesive. It acts as a clean alternative to Excavator with its own use case and flavor.
The important part is this: Shear could not have existed at the beginning of MoteMancer. It only revealed itself once the rest of the systems solidified. The hole had to exist before the piece could be shaped. Many details only reveal themselves after the broad strokes are complete.
[h3]What About Echotracer?[/h3]
Blueprint filling still matters. I loved the kit for Echotracer as a blueprint filler aura, but another happy accident along the way was Echo Flare - turning Mana Flare into your blueprint filler as an upgrade in the shadow tree. Since blueprints come from the Entropy Research tree, it only makes sense for Echo Flare to live there as well.
Best of all, that means you will have access to it in your second plane - no matter the plane - as soon as you start fighting Entropy. Pacing wise this is just about perfect. Just as you are setting up your second plane you get the tool to alleviate that burden. Plus, if Mana Flares are still serving as short term power, you can literally power the structures as they create themselves.
Tools deserve full lifecycles. It’s satisfying when something you loved early never truly becomes obsolete, it just evolves.
[h3]The Pattern[/h3]
If I had to distill this down:
- Set your stakes in the ground.
- Fill obvious matches first.
- Implement imperfect solutions.
- Watch for the gaps that form.
- Let the missing pieces reveal themselves.
There is no such thing as perfect design. Good design is building enough structure that the right idea becomes obvious.
Back to the lab 🌿
~CyanAvatar