Happy Friday, adventurer!

Yesterday was certainly a happy day for me.

It was my birthday!

Yeah, I know, we just celebrated my father's birthday.

In this family, we have to reach a consensus on everything.

I spent the day surrounded by people I love.

And that made me reflect on everything I've done in a year:

• Starting this newsletter.

• My first convention outside Spain.

• Oh! And beating Baldur's Gate III and ClairObscur: Expedition 33!

Extremely cool videogames

I'm not here to review these games.

We already talked about Baldur's Gate III and its creators a few weeks ago. If you want to find out some interesting facts about it, click here.

I don't think the French hit Expedition 33 needs any introduction, but just in case, here's a quick summary:

In this game, you cross an unknown continent to reach the Paintresse and prevent her from painting the death of your entire society.

The combat system is turn-based, Pokémon-style, but here you can dodge blows instead of just standing there watching yourself get beaten up.

The world and setting are wonderful, and artistically speaking...

I'm speechless, to be honest. It has a unique aesthetic in which every detail has been carefully crafted.

However, it's better if you discover that for yourself.

Today I'm here to talk to you about a mechanic from the game that you can use in your role-playing games.

The genius of Lumina

In this game, characters can equip pictos.

These are a kind of passive skill that changes your playing style.

For example: Regain health when dodging but take double damage.

Each character equips their own pictos.

So far, so good.

But there's a very interesting twist.

After four battles, that picto becomes a lumina, which means that now all characters can have it equipped at the same time.

This achieves two things in the game:

1. To get more luminas, you change your pictos every so often, trying out many different play styles in the early hours, helping you discover which one you prefer.

2. You organize your team (your party) around these luminas, so that they can compensate for the weaknesses and multiply the strengths of others.

So... How can this be applied to your role-playing games?

Aligning the party

Picture this:

One team member has a magical item.

It's a sword that increases their damage.

However, it halves their movement speed.

If they manage to defeat the boss while the player is wielding that weapon, everyone will enjoy that damage boost, regardless of the weapon they are wielding.

This provides a direct benefit to players, giving them a common goal.

But that's not all.

It also assigns roles within the team, increasing cooperation.

If that character can move less but hit harder, the other players can coordinate to make up for those shortcomings and multiply those benefits.

It's a good way to encourage cooperation among players who are more obsessed with combat or their stats, making them share a goal with the rest of the group.

Of course, this can be adapted to be more narrative-driven.

At a very basic level, it consists of creating situations that change a character's gameplay dynamics for a limited time but that, when overcome, benefit the whole group.

Videogames and TTRPGs

As you may have guessed, I like video games almost as much as role-playing games.

They are also an endless source of ideas.

That's why next week I'll be at BCN Game Fest (formerly IndieDevDay).

An event that celebrates video games and their creators.

(I'd like to take this opportunity to remind you that Saúl is a video game developer).

It will be held on the 10th, 11th, and 12th at La Farga in L'Hospitalet de Barcelona.

And since I know I'll be meeting lots of video game fans there, I'm doing something special.

Video game-inspired dice sets!

Would you like to see what the dice set for a specific video game looks like?

Let me know, and your wishes might come true!

Bountiful quests and successful rolls!

🦉 Irene the Wizard

🦃 Saul the Bard

P.S: Congratulations are welcome.

P.P.S: Is there a video game that has inspired you to play a role-playing game?