Wordsmith
A downloadable game
My entry for the Minimalist TTRPG Jam 3.
Wordsmith is a small, fun game made of words, for people who aren't afraid to use them.
In just 4 pages (to be honest I could squeezed more and make them 2) I hope to inspire you to have fun with words.
This little update 1.2 contains a few corrections and a few graphics improvements for legibility and style.
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Hi! I like the ideas of this game, would like to run it for my group, however I have a few questions:
1. In 5.1 it is said that the Wordsmith can adjust the difficulty of an individual roll and declare the adjustment before the rolling player chooses to use their word(s). But the example given makes it as though the player chooses their word (plus an assist), and after that the Wordsmith adjusts the difficulty. Could you clarify if the declaration is before or after?
2. In 5.2 it is said that upon reaching a certain number of marks, a word is replaced. Does the word get replaced with something that the player chooses themself, or should they use a random word from a dictionary again and try to make it into something that reflects growth/failure?
Hi Wahl! Thrilled you want to run it.
Just a quick note: be kind to the game :) I develop it for my group, and we are an odd bunch. And please let me know how you'll manage, would be really insightful.
About your questions:
1) This is a good point that I should expand in a future version. In our beta-testing game I, as a wordsmith, adjusted the difficult before, as written in the rules, and I still think the Wordsmith should make things clear before the word choice.
Still, the possibility to alter things at the end can add a bit of thrill that certain players enjoy, as happens during my game. So, it depends on your grour group, but I suggest to stick to the rules. (Note to self: correct the example and add a section "how to manage players who like risky games")
2) I checked the italian version (the first i wrote) and this is a player's choice. In the english version is the example described in 5.3, so this should be a word that is connected (even in a "stretched" way) to the original one. The Wordsmith has the final word in this case, too.
Thank you for clarifications! I did run it :) Due to the themes of the words that the Lexiconauts ended up picking up from a dictionary, it was a story about Time Thieves breaking into a public library to steal readers' time.
Wanted to show you the final wordlist image, but itch refuses to upload the picture, so here is the list:
Lexiconaut 1:
factual +
timely +++ > quick
capable > practised -- ++
catching - + > hold +
municipal - +
volume +
Lexiconaut 2:
bookish - +
reader -
habitual +
accord + - > bond +
detective -
expert - > handy +++> accessible
Dice hated the Lexiconauts at first, but then it got better.
Some observations:
- three rolls might be too many for a complex challenge, Lexiconauts tend to use the same words throughout the challenge (it's not forbidden, but a little bit boring) unless the plan is really elaborate; two rolls might be enough to resolve the challenge (+ another if results are a tie);
- it was not clear whether a word used as an assist gets +\-; in the game it was decided to give the assist-word a +\- as well;
- the game becomes more and more fun as it goes on! with clever word usage;
- thesaurus helped with changing words after challenges, but sometimes it was not needed at all.
Thank you for sharing the game!Glad you find it interesting! Some of your feedbacks really resonated with my beta testing. Unfortunately some people feel this kind of games too “alien” for their experience and don’t like words as a playful tool so I had to keep the rules really simple and forgiving so they would not feel excluded. But yes, I should make a longer, step-by-step revision for the beginners, and a brutal mode for the expert (note to self: do this).
by the way if you like this kind of games I just published a really experimental game called break>rules. It’s related to words but with a much more extreme concept.
Yes, I already read through Break>Rules and plan to run it! Absolutely amazing idea, I loved it at the first glance.
Thank you for creating and publishing these interesting games!