Looking back at the Life Paths

One of the biggest issues I regularly face with game design is the idea of keeping people interested in what I've been doing, even though the design process is slow and interspersed between the regular activities of daily life.

I've been working on the idea of refining the life path system, since I wrote about it in mid-June... on and off, an hour or so here and there every day or two...so maybe a dozen hours in total. Developing a structure, coming up with ideas to populate the tables, crowdsourcing ideas on various social media platforms, getting frustrated when only a couple of people respond, redeveloping structures based on new ideas... then looking back at that post from June and seeing that the structure has basically moved full circle, but maybe been refined a bit.

Still not happy to publicly show what that bit of the game is like, but we're moving closer?

Still, in the purposes of showing where things seem to be heading at this time, he's a list of the general life events I'm trying to work into the system...

Ideas for random events in the past

-             You join a cult (or someone you have a relationship with joins a cult)

-             There is a spirit storm.

-             You receive a prediction from a dust prophet.

-             You are a part of a raid on a settlement (were you in the settlement, or the raiders?)

-             A family member (or someone you have a close relationship with) dies.

-             A disease sweeps through the area.

-             Contact with travelling traders (nomads, skyfarers, neo-tribals?)

-             You moved from one settlement to another (or became a traveller).

-             You gained a piece of technology from the old times.

-             You gained a piece of experimental technology from a tinkerer/scavenger.

-             You became a parent (either a child of your own, or adopting an orphan).

-             You have a dream that has continued to haunt you.

-             You gain acknowledgement or even acceptance among another community.

-             You develop a new relationship with someone.

-             Your community celebrates a milestone (a decade, 25 years, 50 years… not more)

-             The community has lost its source of power, food, or water.

-             Mutations run rampant through the community.

-             Bushfire, Flood, Tornado/Cyclone, or Earthquake.

-             The leader of the local community dies, leading to a period of instability.

-             A number of good seasons lead to a period of prosperity for the community.

-             You find a mentor or teacher.

-             You make an enemy from someone.

-             A former enemy turns into a friend, or a friend becomes an enemy.

-             Dreams and nightmares start coming to life in the area.

-             People in the settlement have started going missing.

-             A nearby settlement has vanished without a trace.

-             A dark mist enshrouded the settlement for a few years, and contact with the outside world was lost.