Archives for March 2021

What’s next in my quixotic quest for data? I’ve put together a list of the data I want to record and analyse. I’ve also put together a checklist of the things I’ll need to run the D&D campaign that will actually be generating all that beautiful data. Now I need to start operationalising this bad boy.

First up, how am I actually going to export the data from all the sources I’ve identified? I’d rather not be messing around with data scraping, so would prefer (where possible) any tools I use to natively export to convenient file formats.

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Gideon over at the Awesome Lies Blog has published a most intriguing piece on the origins of tabletop role-playing games. What really caught my eye, however, was a comment he left below the post (emphasis mine):

“I see three main strands to the development of RPGs. First, gamebooks. Branching-path books began in education with the TutorText series (1957 on), but moved into entertainment with Lucky Les (1967), State of Emergency (1969) and the Tracker series (1972 on). Second, wargames. Dave Arneson’s Blackmoor dungeon campaigns began in 1971-1972, and original D&D was published in 1974. Third, computer adventure games. The first, Will Crowther’s original Colossal Cave Adventure, was written in 1975-1977.

The three stands interacted. Gamebooks acquired dice mechanics from D&D in the Fighting Fantasy series (1982 on). Crowther’s adventure game was explicitly inspired by D&D, but later computer adventures were much closer to gamebooks.

These interactions in my opinion led to different attitudes to role-playing over time. In the 1970s gamers were perhaps more likely to come to RPGs from wargames, and so tactical and competitive styles of play were more popular. By the 1980s, players were coming from gamebooks and computer adventure games, which encouraged a more narrative style.

Of course, there were endogenous changes that drove stylistic evolution, as well. Call of Cthulhu (1981) was revolutionary, but I have seen nothing to suggest it arose from anywhere other than RPGs themselves.”

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Onwards! I’ve already blogged about some of the data I want to record in my upcoming D&D campaign. Today I want to write a bit about the nuts and bolts of the campaign itself.

I’m taking inspiration from roguelikes and retro video games. I’ve definitely got games like Dwarf Fortress adventure mode and the Ultima series in mind as I put this campaign together, and I’d like the focus to be on emergent sandbox play, resource management, and exploration. I’m also taking inspiration from classic play-generated documents like The Rythlondar Chronicles and the Play-Generated Maps and Documents Archive.

To that end, here’s a campaign checklist I’ve put together:

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Right, I’m putting together an old-school D&D campaign. I’ve already said I’m interested in exploring data visualisation and D&D, but in order to actually visualise data I’m going to need a campaign to generate the bloody data in the first place.

I’m still finding my way in the world of data, so this campaign is partly a way for me to learn through play. I want to explore tools such as AI and machine learning, Python scripting, automatic transcription, qualitative data analysis software, virtual tabletops, wikis, yadda yadda. The geekiest toys I can find, basically.

I’ll need to capture and store my campaign’s data in a systematic manner, thinking carefully about how I actually want to exploit the data in a useful way that enriches the campaign.

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