Paris Gondo - The Life-Saving Magic Inventorying

#1

Hello The Gauntlet (Do community members have a special name? :thinking:),

This not only my first post here ever but it is also about my very first foray in game design and publishing.

This community was recommended to me by several very good people including Jason Pitre and Kevin Lovecraft, so here I am.

As mentioned in the title of this post, my game is “Paris Gondo - The Life-Saving Magic Inventorying”.

What is this game?

This project is a storytelling GM-less game for 3 to 6 players, designed to be played in a few hours with polyhedral dice and no preparation.

It is comparable to fan-favourites games like Once Upon A Time and The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen.

This game is a tongue-in-cheek tribute to encumbrance rules and tropes commonly found in our beloved dungeon-crawling tabletop roleplaying games.

The game starts as the Adventurers just defeated their final foes and they discover what wondrous items.

However, before embarking on their journey home, they must decide what to keep or throw away.

If Adventurers hold-on to possessions which “spark joy”, they are likely to feel invigorated and satisfied for the rest of their lives…

…but letting go of less emotionally-charged, often more useful Belongings, might prove to be a deadly mistake on their Journey Home.

What is going on with it?
I am currently running as many online sessions as I can while consolidating the base rules.

My goal is to publish a Quickstart PDF by the end of 2020 ahead of Dragonmeet in London.

Then, I want to expand it with a new play mode and other features into an extended version for a Kickstarter campaign in late 2021/early 2022.

Why post about it here?
Well, I am obviously keen to raise awareness about this game but what I am really after is more people to join my online sessions.

I run weekly sessions (7.30pm BST / 2.30 EST) via the London RPG Community Meetup but more importantly…

…I will be running ELEVEN SESSIONS of the game as part of Origins Online.

It is very exciting but:

  • I am anxious about whether players will sign up to these;
  • I have very limited experience running games for a convention;

So any advice about the above, help in spreading the word about these sessions or volunteer to join one of my online sessions ahead of Origins would be very very very welcome. :heartbeat:

Cheers

Kalum

4 Likes
What are you working on right now?
Designers: How have you been holding playtests during Covid lockdowns?
#2

Awesome! I’ll see if I can get into a session.

Years ago I read this document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KWMcpGKLynl1kZY4og8_Itsch5HTols3GSzPK1Xgoxk/edit?usp=sharing

It was hugely helpful for when I started running con games (and online sessions). While there’s some procedural stuff specific to Games on Demand, there’s a lot of good suggestions.

A few things I remember which changed my approach:
*Being really clear about expectations at the start (what kind of game this is going to be, what’s the tone, etc)
*Laying out for your players what the structure of the session is going to be. (take a break at X time, first part is character creation, we’ll wrap a little early so you can make it to your next session, etc).
*Planning to keep an eye out on the time and warning players than when you get to the last half hour you may “hard frame” some things to bring all the threads together.

There’s a lot more in the document.

3 Likes
#3

Thanks.

Looks like I got some reading to do. :grin:

Your summary points are already very good.

I look forward to having you among my players.

1 Like
#6

I got a online session planned for tomorrow at 7.30pm (BST/London) aka 2.30pm (EDT/US East Coast)…

However a couple players had to cancel and I might have to cancel

Please do not hesitate to join us if you would like to try Paris Gondo again and/or let friends know about this game session.

https://www.meetup.com/en-AU/LondonRPGCommunity/events/271074092/?_xtd=gqFyqTIxMTQ0NDQ2MKFwp2FuZHJvaWQ&from=ref

Following the advice of Jesseabe, I plan to get in touch soon with The Gauntlet team but I’m a bit busy atm with prepping for Origins Online. :sweat_smile:

1 Like
#7

I copy-paste here a post and newsletter issue that I made today following the cancellation of Origins Online.

Original post

Hello,

I wanted to react without any delay to today’s news that Origins Online is cancelled.

I was looking forward to the opportunity to run games there.

As an alternative, I hope to run games at Virtually Expo and other online conventions but I didn’t have the time yet to look into that. Feel free to contact me with suggestions or direct requests for private online sessions for you and your friends.

However, it is really not important at the moment.

What matters…

Black Lives Matter!

I invite you to use one of the following and other alternative means to support the ongoing fight towards racial equality and against police violence.

Ways You Can Help

Video Game and TTRPG Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality

Take care and stay safe.

Kalum


Black Lives Matter banner by @byfrancita

Sidenote:
I will just add that as a result, I will move forward my plan to join games run here on The Gauntlet and once I have met the vetting process I should submit sessions of Paris Gondo here too.

2 Likes
#8

Origins Online is cancelled, but I decided to answer the call of Dennis Furia who is encouraging people from the “Origins Games Fair: Games Master Group” to run their games independently and to do so while supporting Black Lives Matter.

I will be running half a dozen two hours sessions of my game, “Paris Gondo – The Life-Saving Magic of Inventorying“, from Friday June 19 to Sunday June 21st.

An extensive description of the game can be found here.

To register, please complete BOTH OF THESE TWO STEPS:

  • select a session in our Sign Up Doodle

  • AND email me at parisgondo at gmail dot com

I hope the process will be straightforward but I am new at organising such thing.

Those sessions are entirely free, but I would be grateful for any donation to the following fundraising towards the NAACP Empowerment Programs:

#SparkJoy / Eliminate Racial Hatred & Racial Discrimination

If you prefer to support Black Lives Matters in another way, the Ways You Can Help Black Lives Matters webpage is full of other means, including non-financial one, as well as alternative organisations to pick and resources to educate ourselves.

I look forward to playing with you.

Cheers

2 Likes
#9

I still have free spots for the above including today’s Saturday June 20th at 9am to 11am (EDT) / 2pm to 4pm (BST).

Sunday sessions are listed in the Sign Up Dood above (if you fill the doodle do not forget to email me so I can contact you with the details).

I really look forward to running this game for The Gauntlet Hangout someday.

Paris Gondo - The Life-Saving Magic of Inventorying [Demo 1]
Paris Gondo - The Life-Saving Magic of Inventorying [Demo 2]
#10

I’ll be running two sessions of “Paris Gondo - The Life-Saving Magic of Inventorying” as part of the next Gauntle Community Open Gaming.

The sessions will take place on Saturday the 18th and Sunday the 19th of July.

I look forward to playing with members of the Gauntlet. :sun_with_face:

2 Likes
#11

Hey Kalum! Once again I’m sorry I had to drop out of your session. I just saw that BODIE did your dude, I love that guy’s artwork.

I will DM you later in the week about getting a session together for this :slight_smile:

1 Like
#12

No worries.

Thanks for the heads up. I look forward to future opportunities to run the game for you.

Have a lovely weekend.

#13

I’m running several sessions of Paris Gondo - The Life-Saving Magic of Inventorying as part of Virtually Expo :slightly_smiling_face:

https://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/events/?query=Paris&time=0&time=1440&category=8&tickets_remaining=0

2 Likes
#14

In case anyone is on the fence, this is an easy going, nostalgia improv romp. Powered by simple mechanics, it generates all the prompts you need. If you want a simple but fun game, this is worth a look.

1 Like
#15

Thanks @Deckard for the kind words :sun_with_face:

It reminds me to post this article by Brook at Pop Culture Uncovered about Paris Gondo.

1 Like
#16

It’s been a long time since I gave any update here.

I apologise for that.

(Update originally posted on The Rolistes Website)

Meet Our Editor!

We now have a great editor working on “Paris Gondo – The Life-Saving Magic of Inventorying”!

Chris S. Sims is a tabletop RPG industry veteran born in the US.

He lives in Austria, which really helps with timezones.

His professional experience goes back to Dungeons & Dragon 3.5. This includes working on both the 4th and 5th editions of the “Player’s Handbook”.

This should make up for my own shortcomings with Dungeons & Dragons.

More recently, he contributed to the “ Acquisitions Incorporated ” campaign book developed by Wizards of the Coast in partnership with Penny Arcade .

That is a great bonus towards achieving the comedic tone of our own “Paris Gondo – The Life-Saving Magic of Inventorying”.

I was excited to work with Chris and he really did not disappoint.

His work is top-notch.

Where Are We Now?

Chris already completed a review of the introduction and rules.

I need to thoroughly read and review the updated text.

My feedback will likely be followed by a little bit more work from Chris.

In parallel, our “Replay” will require its own review to update any terminology which might have changed.

What’s Next?

Thanks to the fast-paced work of Chris, we are still technically on track with our initial schedule.

However, as mentioned last month, I won’t be able to proceed right away with hiring a graphic designer. This is due to my current financial situation.

I consulted seasoned game designers as part of Jason Pitre’s excellent monthly Game Design Lounge .

Based on their advice, I decided to proceed as follows.

I will release in March a “text-only” version of the game on The Rolistes Itch.io store at a modest cost. This cost will be deductible from digital purchases of the future version featuring art.

The sales of this version will go towards paying for the next steps: graphic design and art.

In the meantime, I will request a quote from a graphic designer. This way, I will proceed with that step as soon as my personal savings and my sales are enough to cover that cost.

Depending on those circumstances, I hope to follow this schedule

  • March 2021: “Text-only” version on Itch.io
  • April 2021: Graphic Design
  • May 2021: Improved version on Itch.io
  • June 4th, 2021: Small print run for UK Games Expo (if pandemic allows)

As always, I am interested in reading your opinions on the above course. Feel free to email me or contact via other means.

Also, you can help me finance the above through The Rolistes Patreon , PayPal or Ko-Fi .

That’s It

It is a bit sad to be unable to cover myself the upfront costs.

However, the project keeps progressing meaningfully.

The prospect of releasing even a “text-only” version is exciting.

It should be an opportunity to raise awareness about the game. Hopefully, it will get more people to play it.

I cannot wait.

See you next month.

Take good care of yourselves. Stay Safe. Have good games.

Kalum

2 Likes
#17

Cool to see an update! I’m curious, why not do a Kickstarter to raise the money for for the graphic design? This project has a few great things going for it.

  1. It’s like nothing else I’ve played
  2. The meta joke about running a silly game using the most often dumped rule of D&D is as fun in play as it is in concept
  3. I instantly saw how useful add-ons could make the game slicker. I see the standard equipment being sold as optional cards to make setup quicker in real world games. Just a thought.
2 Likes
#18

Thanks Decard :sun_with_face:

The plan is to have a Kickstarter later for an expanded edition. The current has a section towards the end explaining what it might included (i.e. physical print, card decks, new classes…). My view is that a KS requires a lot of things to be really successful.

  • I need to build up a follow up before engaging into one
  • It would involve too much upfront costs (i.e.art to be included in promotional material)
  • It would be too stressful at this stage
  • The game deserves a solid KS campaign which meets the above (again that’s the plan)

The plan was initially to cover the upfront costs myself for the current edition but my unemployment lasted longer than expected. It’s been more than a year.

I also got very interesting advice as part of Jason Pitre’s monthly Game Design Lounge. Several designers there highlighted how Itchio was a platform where the community was much more supportive of projects still in development. I must their Sale-With-Goal tool (sometimes called Itchfunding) is simple to use and appropriate to my needs. The next edition (not the expanded one yet), which my graphic designer Francita Soto, will be the subject of another Itchfunding to help cover the cost for additional interior art.

To be honest, I was quite surprised about how it started with a joke but turned out into something rather interesting with storytelling relying on retcons/flashbacks and characters defined almost only by the objects they carry.

I’ll probably develop addons. I had the idea too late this year, but I think I’ll do a Star Wars inspired one for May the 4th next year. I should playtest it as part of one of The Gauntlet Star Wars Saturday/Sunday.

2 Likes
#19

Good stuff! The reasons you made the decision to go this route are really informative. Thank you for sharing!

1 Like