Episode 1: Inventory Management
Welcome to the very first* episode of System Shop, the podcast where we deep dive into RPG design, one subsystem at a time.
Today, we’re talking about inventory systems: what’s the point of tracking all your bits and bobs, and can it actually be fun?
Violet can’t wait to talk about Ryuutama, and wants everyone to know it. Freya can’t stop talking about counting missiles (ancient and modern). Violet gleefully torments her players with maths homework. Freya has no idea how heavy 1lb is**. Blades in the Dark defies the Taxonomicon, for what will surely not be the last time.
Games discussed in this episode:
Dungeons and DragonsWorld of DarknessApocalypse World / PBTAPathfinderBlades in the DarkDogs in the Vineyard KnaveRyuutamaTroikaMausritterHeavy GearBlack HackShadow of MoggThey Do Not Stop, You Must Not FailMistborn (the 2011 TTRPG, not the upcoming one)WingspanBattletech (the tabletop wargame, not the excellent strategy videogame)Battlestar Galactica (the board game)Galaxy TruckerResident EvilDiabloMegaman: Battle Network 2 (Blue Version)Backpack HeroHalo: Combat EvolvedGoing UnderBreath of the WildGears of WarHomestuckNotes:
* Unless we become bold enough at a later date to release our secret Episode Zero!
** The D&D 5e Player’s Handbook says a longsword weighs 3lbs, in defiance of Wikipedia’s estimate of 4-6.6lbs. Either way, I was way out - F.
The “inciting blog post” discussed in this episode can be found at https://harbingergames.blogspot.com/2020/04/if-your-torches-burn-for-only-one-hour.html
Additional credits:
Our intro music is
"Magic Escape Room" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Editing, musical stings, and other sound effects by Violet Henderson
System Shop
Welcome to System Shop, the podcast where we deep dive into RPG design, one subsystem at a time.
Join us as we explore the origins, empirical trends, and future design space of all aspects of tabletop game design. What’s the point of mechanising carrying capacity or NPC attitudes? Why distinguish between armour and evasion, or attributes and skills? Many stories may begin with “because D&D did it”, but that’s far from the end…
We dig deeper by asking: how do differences in design decisions make players act and feel, and is this wholly intended? What is gained or lost by being able to sum up a monster with a challenge rating? How can initiative checks be used to make combat feel chaotic, tactical, or somewhere in between?
Finally, we suggest our own ideas for future innovations. Can we introduce new technologies and props? Can we shed assumptions of the past? Or should we bring them to the fore and embrace them to the extreme? Restrictions breed creativity, and our best ideas are often our most ridiculous.
System Shop is independent and ad-free. New episodes release whenever we have the time and energy to research and record a new topic.
Violet (She/her) is a recovering academic and alleged game designer, with a particular interest in system design and ludology.
Freya (She/her) is a demographer turned data engineer by day. She moonlights as collaborator, sounding board, and bad idea generator to her beloved and prolific game designer fiancée.
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Cover design by Fallible Things (fallible.net).
Font on-cover is Lineal by Frank Adebiaye, with the contribution of Anton Moglia, Ariel Martín Pérez. Distributed by velvetyne.fr.
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