I’m looking back at a very successful Itch.io Black Friday Sale, which saw many purchases of Block, Dodge, Parry, almost a full year after its first release. I’m still – still – stunned that so many people would pay any amount of money for a passion project I kinda whipped together and put out online.
The first version of Block, Dodge, Parry was released on the 14th of December 2022, and the game has seen many tweaks and improvements since then (including new insights from playtests) and a whole bunch of new content, encompassing new ideas.
Looking back at this first year, I didn’t work on it quite as much as I would’ve liked to, but hey, life tends to happen.
14-12-2022: Version 1
19-01-2023: Version 1.1
26-01-2023: Version 1.2
05-02-2023: Version 1.21
25-02-2023: Version 1.22
12-03-2023: Version 1.23
06-05-2023: Version 1.3
01-07-2023: Version 1.31
05-11-2023: Version 1.32
What’s Next?
Layout & Formatting
I’m increasingly certain that the core document – the original ‘toolkit’ – is complete. This means I can start shifting focus to a topic that really deserves some love: layout. I feel that the original PDF is serviceable when read on desktop, but would require some adjustments for 2 other formats: mobile and print.
Adobe Acrobat Reader
On (my) Android, I have a nifty app called Adobe Acrobat Reader, which has an option to take all text from a PDF and present it in a responsive format:
Perhaps this can be of use until I figure out a better mobile experience!
New Releases
I’m working on a bunch of new things at the same time. Together, I feel that it’ll elevate the game from ‘just a toolkit’ to a more fully-fledged experience.
Equipment & Weapons
Using the rules and tools laid out in Block, Dodge, Parry, I’m working on a big ol’ table of tables to quickly pick interesting weapons and equipment. The version I’m working on has over 100 items at the moment (I think), and is also compatible with Cairn.
Status: Proofreading, formatting – will be out soon.
Player Guide
The toolkit is very much aimed at Wardens/Game Masters etc., kinda putting the weight of explaining the game to players on them. A core design philosophy for the game has been that it tries to deliver on the promise/expectation/potential of RPGs to completely new players as well; more so than, say, D&D. This means that I’ve ran Block, Dodge, Parry for players new to OSR or RPGs in general quite often, and the Player Guide is aimed to be a rewrite of the original version into a format that’s easier to grasp for the player side of things.
Status: Core text is almost done, moving to editing soonish.
Bestiary – Beasts, Dangers & Persons (of Interest)
I’m not sure yet if I want titles to always be abbreviated to BDP. Still thinking about that.
Anyway, there are many great Monster Manuals already out there. Cairn has a Bestiary and guidelines for converting monsters, not to mention amazing stuff like the Runecairn Bestiary which is also functionally compatible with Block, Dodge, Parry.
So, what do I have to add to that space? Two things, I hope:
- In the philosophy of Just Use Bears, I’ve been working on a framework to create fun and functional template-like monsters that are made to be homebrewed and reskinned. A bear, for instance, represents “bulky, dangerous wildlife”. In my drafts, I call this archetype Clawed & Fanged. I hope to create a whole bunch of archetypes that are easy to plop down and use.
- Block, Dodge, Parry‘s NPCs are built basically the same as PCs, and there’s very little difference crunch-wise between what makes a PC and what makes an NPC. Since information, gear and training is quite often gained through interacting with NPCs, I think a big catalogue of ’em could be quite useful.
Status: Work-in-progress, a big pile of notes
Starting Adventure/Dungeon
I’ve made and ran tons of dungeons, but never actually published one. I’m working on a dungeon that should serve as an exciting location to dungeoneer, while also highlighting all the parts that make Block, Dodge, Parry fun. It’ll feature the greatest hits of ideas that worked well in my own long-running campaigns, as well as ideas from the cutting room floor.
Status: Work-in-progress, a big pile of notes
So, that’s all I have cooking! All that remains is thanking you, the reader, for following me on this journey. I can’t wait to show you more of these projects, and I want to thank you so much for playing, buying, talking about Block, Dodge, Parry.
Finally, what additions would you like to see?
Leave a Reply