slaguru666
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- skills/rpg: SKILL.md + 7 references/assets encoding the house scenario system (convention one-shot structure, craft research, pregens, playtest protocol, production pipeline, living lessons log) - sync.sh: mirror ~/.claude/skills/ into repo - install.sh: install repo skills/ into ~/.claude/skills/ - README: document skills tracking + pull-before-sync ordering
3.5 KiB
3.5 KiB
Desk Playtest Protocol
A scenario is not "convention-ready" until it has survived desk playtests and the fixes are applied and versioned. Three passes is the proven cadence: full session (GM chair) → stress re-run of the weakest act → full session (player chair, contrarian choices).
Method
- Full table simulation. Run the scenario as GM and play every pregen as
a distinct player archetype. The proven quartet:
- the methodical veteran note-taker
- the roleplay-first talker who never reads handouts silently
- the quiet rules-literate tactician
- the lore-digger who asks "can I check…?" constantly
- Roll dice honestly for every contested beat (physical dice or a fair roller). Fudged playtests produce fudged timing.
- Log timing against the schedule per section: planned vs actual, with the drift explained. Note where the break landed.
- Play the players, not the script. Ask the obvious professional questions ("I scan her", "can I phone ahead?", "I run the face against city feeds"). Every improvised ruling the playtest forces is a hole in the text — the written scenario must absorb it.
- Later passes go contrarian: split the party wrong, skip the expected route, refuse the set-piece, shoot early. Verify the fast-tracks and contingencies actually work.
The playtest document
One markdown file per pass in playtest/:
- Method header — what was simulated, which version of the scenario
- Play log by section — planned/actual minutes, what landed, what dragged, table quotes worth keeping, each problem flagged inline with ⚠
- Player-hat verdicts — one line per player archetype, with a score
- Feedback summary / fix list — numbered, prioritised, each fix stating the problem, the proposed text change, and where it goes. Nothing is rewritten inside the playtest doc itself.
Applying fixes
- Apply fixes as a separate pass; bump the version (v1 → v2 → v2.1 …) and record in the README which playtest's fixes each version absorbed.
- Classify every ⚠ before fixing:
- Text hole (a legitimate player move the scenario doesn't answer) → write the answer into the scenario, not the GM's head
- Timing (a section runs hot) → pre-write the cut into the Pacing Note
- Staging (a scene lands only if performed a specific way — e.g. an NPC must recite while the GM hands the card) → formalise the staging instruction in the scene
- Missing option (players invented a compromise the text doesn't list) → add it to the choices/outcomes tables
- Timing target: full run inside the time budget with the drift noted. If a playtest lands on schedule "to the minute with zero slack", that is a fail for a real table of strangers — cut deeper.
- Convention-ready = full-session playtests from both chairs inside budget, multiple endings reached, art and handouts done, README status updated.
Post-slot debrief (after the real convention run)
The con run is the highest-value data the system ever gets. Same day, ten
minutes, one file in playtest/ (<scenario>-con-run-<event>.md):
- Timing actuals per act vs the table, and where the break landed
- Every improvised ruling (each one is a text hole — classify as above)
- Compromise endings or routes the table invented
- What confused players, what they quoted back, which handout landed hardest
- Verdict: what to fix before this scenario runs again
Then close the loop as usual: fix list → version bump → transferable lessons
appended to lessons.md → Graphiti.