Dev Log Post Mortem

For a retrospective look behind the design process of the Blackcrest Horror for the Ashquest 2024 HQ Quest Jam:

The initial design idea was built around capturing the feeling of dread.

Design inspiration came from Darkest Dungeon and the feelings that cosmic horror game evokes.  The threat of an unknown danger building up and creating a panic or sense of urgency was the core idea for this.  The exact mechanic of having the skull counters build up on turns with no action was inspired by games with doom tracker mechanics and a desire to use base game components in an interesting unexpected way.  In retrospect this mechanic would have benefitted from more clear instruction to the players on the need for urgency and/or more events keyed off of the building Dread.

The one page rule was a double edged sword for the quest design.  It definitely resulted in a lot of idea cuts and more efficient wording which was both good and bad.  I think this mechanic would be best served by creating a campaign using it as it would have reduced the amount of limited word space needed to convey the mechanic in the quest itself.  This resulted in not having events keying off of the dread build up independent of the rooms which obbfiscated what exactly was going on and undermined how this was intended to work.  

In regard to the story telling.  The abrupt introduction was cut down to a minimum to save space for the other quest notes to keep the required attribution and wandering monster line on the first page.  I like that it is simple on expressing the most important information about the goal of the quest (investigation).  However it is restricted in flavor or world building and doesn't convey the sense of urgency (time pressure) as a stressor to the players.

For enemy encounters I wanted to have the mystery of the investigation being a dark power/cosmic horror type thing converting unwilling orcs (victims) into undead.  The thought of having the monsters change would help convey the greater horror of what the heroes were fighting or a process of how the undead were made.

In the quest notes I couldn't figure out how to do the read allowed boxes in HQuest Builder and due to space don't clearly have Zargon pass on the information about the glassy eyed orcs (hypnotized or mentally influenced).  The environmental storytelling with the rack in the first room was to indicated that the zombie was using the torture rack to convert orcs.  Having the orcs act abnormally (not attack or move of their own initiative was meant to reinforce that something was very wrong in this place.  The idea to have the orcs flee either when their controlling monster was slain or at a later point was cut for space and that having them move to the exit stairs would be difficult with the hall blocked by heroes.  In retrospect, space allowing, a secret door could have opened and had the orcs flee in terror immediately when the zombie is slain.  Having monsters able to use Command would have further underlined the plot I was attempting to convey indirectly to the players with environmental story telling.

Signposting how near the danger (boss) was, was cut down for space and the suspense and dread of the players facing the unknown threat was compromised as a result.  For the boss itself I wanted it to be fought in an unconventional way- going through a few ideas I cant remember and don't have in my handwritten notes other than a scrapped behavior table that took way too much space.  That resulted in the summoners/statues doing the summoning not moving and having their behavior effected by Dread.  (built up skull tokens)  The altar was placed to help convey the summoning and provide a barrier to the orcs so they could be seen to be converted by the players.  The initial idea after 'defeating' the boss via killing the cultists/statues trying to use/control it was to have the creature become free and infest the manor causing a lot of changes on the board as the players make a desperate run for the exit chased by an unkillable horror.  I didn't have a great piece to represent the abstract monster (like with that purple hazy tile in one of the expansions) due to sticking to base game assets to maximize accesabillity.  The planned self destruct kind of escape sequence like you got in Super Metroid was whittled down to one wall shortcut near the stairs opening up.  It was intended to allude to the manor falling under the effect of the elderich entity and it manifesting by warping reality in dangerous ways.

The crumbling ruined estate wasn't conveyed well with only the one pit trap.  More pits and rock fall traps would have been planned for the escape sequence if space weren't already at a premium by that point in the design.

The change in wandering monster type was a neat but possibly missed bit of storytelling as the players may have cleared and done all their searching before tackling the boss room or just not drawn wandering monsters before or after the boss room is opened.  In revision this could be better conveyed in a follow up return to the manor to cleanse it and deal with the Thing that escapes.  Probably some out pouring of undead into hamlet.  So maybe cleanse the town and then dive into the warped and more dangerous manor to thwart it somehow.  Maybe by clearing key locations to weaken it or cause it to manifest in the heart of the manor and then drive it out of reality via a ritual.  Probably a tug of war with the Dread mechanic.

The Ashquest video where this submission was reviewed.

Raid on Lilltrollnaheimnir. Horror at Blackcrest.