Project Overview
The Night of the Maddening Star Project was to be created within a week for a gamejam. It involved modifying the Cairn rules to fit the setting and creating a module story as well as creating logos, branding colors and typography, book formatting, and illustrations for the inside. The game design involved creating a game loop of inventory management and battling or evading battles (managing resources and strategy). Most roleplaying games encourage combat by making player progress only tied to battles. In this game, it is far more rare to gain experience and level up with the stats of the characters much lower in comparison to the enemies make battling being more of an obstacle than a way to progress. The game rewards creativity and roleplay to solutions rather than battling in of itself. It is fairly easy for the player to make new characters on the fly, so the character is likely not going to be the only one that the player uses throughout the game. This allows all players to continue playing the game after their character is defeated or they can switch out characters at any point, so it encourages experimentation and storytelling.
Key Elements
- Narrative Design
- Book Layout Design
- Illustration
- Game Design
- Color Palette
Programs Used
- Clip Studio Paint EX - for digital illustration
- Adobe Illustrator - for packaging design and layout
- Adobe Photoshop - for image editing and digital asset creation
- Adobe InDesign - for packaging design and layout
- Inkarnate (for the Overworld Map)
Colors Used
- Black (#040404) - Primary color
- Bright Red (#45b0d8) - Accent color
- White (#ffff) - Secondary color
Approach
I chose to create this game by first creating an outline for the different paths of the module. I then created a map using a custom map creator like Inkarnate for the Overworld map. I then designed my own icons and the like for the map. I then created the Game Master tools section and created the illustrations and creatures for the module. I wanted to have several unique creatures so that it had some variety to the encounters. In addition, the game design was created around the existing Cairn game system with some changes to allow for more experimentation with different items and skills for characters since the original game had very limited inventory space which would have made this module far more challenging and I wanted to be sure it was still approachable to novice players.
Results
This game was downloaded by more than 200 players and mostly recieved a positive reception on Social Media (such as Twitter (X)) and on itch.io. This game was designed in a way that was easy for the Game Master to read and take notes on for hidden parts of the game (such as the solution to puzzles) while also being able to be played in different ways by players to make playing the game different on every playthrough. Most modules typically only have one path while this one has multiple paths to get to the end so it can be reused and the game will be mostly different from the previous playthrough. The gameplay loop and focus on making the game challenging enough for experts but approachable enough for novices was rewarding because it opened the game to more players to experience.
Download the Module for Free Here at itch.io
