The E-hack

Ever almost release a game and then someone makes a hack of it?

Yeah, same.

This blew my mind.

A student of mine on Outschool shared this with me. She sent a game and adventure and tables all in a Google doc. Her excitement about the game got me excited. Another student in the same section declare he too was going to make his own game. What a great way to start a class and session!

Named after her, I present to you: the E-hack.

It start with characters, many from Adventure Hour! directly, but hey, what’s this? An adventurer starter package?

Desert fairy

• Lizard’s-tongue scroll
• Water satchel (20)
• Wings
• Crystal

Yes, yes, yes. Desert and fairy! Normally (read also: stereotypically) those two concepts are separated from each other. Let ’em mix up!

And this is also how I suggest people start hacking the game. You know, in that game that hasn’t released yet. SHE READS MINDS (turns out, there’s a potion for that, stay tuned).

There’s also a note here:

Warrior: This is not an option. Warriors are loyal fighters and if you play D and D then I hope you aren’t a loyal fighter.

Banning certain types of characters already?! Excellent! Just add ‘gnome’ to the list and you got a deal!

Then, the adventure.

Here’s the map:

Here is the list of contents, following the numbers on the map:

1. The three great pyramids are greatly feared by the Egyptians. Inside the two end pyramids there are coffins, but the coffins are empty except for a solid gold crown and the middle one contains an Evil Cat-man that has one potion and one scroll and can read minds.
2. The Egyptian town has a Potions store, Antiques store, Blacksmith, and Restaurant. It also has a Great Castle where inside the King is very sick.
3. Here there is a black cat guarding the sign. He is actually more of a guide than a guard. The sign has two arrows pointing in different directions. One arrow says Pyramids and the other says Town.
4. This is where the game begins. From here you can see the sign (#3) and next to you is an Oasis.
5. This is a camel trading station where you buy camels, sell camels, and trade things for camels.
6. This is a graveyard with zombies in coffins instead of gravestones. Each zombie has a potion with it.

There’s so much here. Potent lists, good practice of giving information and choices (see #4), expensive buys. It also lists problems (sick King in #2, Evil Cat-man in #1) without giving away solutions. It’s all ripe for adventuring!

Then she makes a table that just puts everyone to shame. They’re for potions and all use a d6.

1: Element forms

1. Waterform potion/scroll 
2. Fireform potion/scroll
3. Windform potion/scroll 
4. Rockform potion/scroll 
5. Iceform potion/scroll 
6. Smokeform potion/scroll 

2: Animal parts

1. TrunkFace potion/scroll 
2. Tigerclaw potion/scroll 
3. Eaglewing potion/scroll 
4. Snake Tongue potion/scroll 
5. Owleye potion/scroll 
6. Kangarooleg potion/scroll 

3: Internal 

1. Sleeping potion/scroll 
2. Night Vision potion/scroll 
3. Invisibility potion/scroll 
4. Mind Reading potion/scroll 
5. Strength potion/scroll 
6. Speed potion/scroll 

4: Weather

1. Bladestorm potion/scroll 
2. Acid Rain potion/scroll 
3. Thunder potion/scroll 
4. Firestorm potion/scroll
5. Waterstorm potion/scroll 
6. Lightning potion/scroll 

5: Animal communication 

1. Jackrabbit’s-tongue potion/scroll 
2. Snake’s-tongue potion/scroll 
3. Camel’s-tongue potion/scroll 
4. Wolf’s-tongue potion/scroll 
5. Cat’s-tongue potion/scroll 
6. Lizard’s-tongue potion/scroll 

6: Plants 

1. Cactus-form potion/scroll 
2. Palm Tree-form potion/scroll 
3. Coral-form potion/scroll 
4. Oak Tree-form potion/scroll 
5. Fern-form potion/scroll 
6. Grass-form potion/scroll

What a great sense of categorization!

Cactus-form potion/scroll is the MVP. 🙂

Anyways, all super cool stuff. I’m thrilled she shared it. What a neat project!

And, uh,

what have YOU been making lately? 😛

These kids shame us all with their intuition and ingenuity…