As we finally come to the close of our 3-year long D&D campaign, my friends and I are excited to try something new. I am lucky to have this group of pals, who have been pushing me to finish Bug & Claw so we can play together. While I thought the alpha would be completed […]
As mentioned in devlog #45 about Wisps, technologically and biologically influenced mutation and infection affect all arthropods–and some other creatures– differently. An order, family, genus, or species may branch off into several different new varieties. Titans are arthropods that, on the outside, resemble their original ancestors, except they are much bigger. Much, much bigger. Ancient […]
Technologically and biologically influenced mutation and infection affect all arthropods–and some other creatures– differently. An order, family, genus, or species may branch off into several different new varieties. This is exactly what happened with the portion of the Lepidoptera order (the order of winged insects that includes butterflies and moths). Many a lepidopteran descendant walks […]
Bug & Claw is special to me– a world I have thought about for years and something I want to have fun working on in subsequent editions and supplements for years to come. I've talked a bit before about how I want to be the best game designer I can be and how part of […]
Exploring a simplified range-based combat system I've been toying with different range systems to help simplify combat. I like OSR combat but don't necessarily want the crunchy gameplay a grid requires. I've toyed with some formats akin to a Witcher-style Gwent grid to be a facsimile for range and still maintain some of the fun […]
In D20 games, like Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition, when in a battle, play is generally determined with characters travelling around on a grid, turns among themselves and opponents determined by rolled initiative ratings. Battles can sometimes last an entire play session. Some people like this. While I do like a D20 system, I am […]
I recently tested some of the Bug & Claw character-creation methods on some friends and colleagues. I did so knowing they weren't used to OSR games where you quickly roll up a character. I wanted to see some of the common barriers for them getting into an OSR game or something other than D&D 5E. […]
In my last post of descriptive adjectives I recommended this site to help with adjectives. Well, I found another! Anywho, when you start your adventure, your clothing is _____. You'll have to tell the rest of us why it's like that. Feel free to use this for your other OSR games.
I'm still deciding whether to separate groups of arthropods and create a "playbook" style for different creatures. Crabs, isopods, and beetles are the more dominant species in Bug & Claw, and a playbook style may help specialize certain tables for each. That being said, I've been creating a great many tables like these that will […]
Infection and resonance are two concepts that effect most things in Bug & Claw. Every Bug-kin has a crystal in their head. Over time, collaborating with others through arduous scenarios and encountering other strange, crystalline structures can increase the "resonance" of their crystal. Meanwhile, seeking rare ancient treasures in irradiated or chemical-doused lands and battling […]
