- Isn’t this where we came in?
- A technical work in progress!
- Numenera Solo Play Project (and how it’s about more than solo play)
- The Solo Actual Play
- The Infinite Future
Isn’t this where we came in?
Nearly two and a half years after its last video, The Infinite Construct returns with a new video and the start of a new series! Haven’t seen it yet? Check it out:
Bringing the channel back up to speed has been both a logistical and creative process. But it’s also been an incredible opportunity to return to the project and return to my favorite tabletop roleplaying game, Numenera.
But as you may recall, earlier in the year when I announced the channel’s “imminent” return (following a false start or two in late 2022 and 2023), it was my hope to expand the channel to other games. That’s still in the cards, but it’s gonna take a while for me to get there. In general, expect a slower output for now as I take on new challenges. Speaking of which, let’s go over the state of the channel now and where things might go in the near future.
A technical work in progress!
Reigniting the channel wasn’t easy.
On top of navigating the Level 10 task difficulty of a thing called “Life,” The Infinite Construct has also faced some technical challenges after I dealt with not one, but two substantial computer crashes and an external hard drive failure. This chaos, combined with other challenges, made it difficult to figure out when and how the channel would get back on track (and it sadly wrecked projects like Polarity).
Miraculously, there wasn’t as much data loss as I feared. But my old work flow (some of which included previous attempts to restart the channel in 2022 and 2023) was nearly decimated. Also, I’m a touch out of practice when it comes to producing this material.
When I announced the return of the channel in January 2024, I had ambitiously creative hopes for a more substantial reformatting. This created, as it always does when I engage in creative work, a bit of a Black Lodge-esque nightmare of indecision, drowned by perfectionism (and if you think this is bad for my gaming content, you should see how it causes endless havoc for my musical endeavors!).
Would I continue the same format as before? Would I change things up? Get on camera more? Would I use the same opening for each video and the same music?
Some of these questions are still unanswered. Actually, almost all of them are. It felt safe to return to the channel as many remember it, but I’m interested in exploring new formats and new directions for the channel. So expect some new stuff as things pick up speed once again.
Make no mistake about it, provided there are no new crises, The Infinite Construct has returned with the intention of sticking around in this space. But where as the channel was a little random before in terms of what material I produced, the near future is more project-focused.
What do I mean by that? Previously, whenever I’d make a video, it came out of random inspiration. I’d get an idea for a mechanic that could use clarification. I’d get inspired by re-reading a passage in a rulebook. I’d throw together a script, write some music, select some pretty art, and throw together a video. It definitely saw a regular output of content, but it came with challenges: One of which put me on a path that I knew would lead to burnout. I’m eager to avoid such an outcome.
A more sustainable Infinite Construct, in my estimation, is one that focuses on concrete projects that explore specific concepts thoroughly, where there’s a plan I can stick to and return to on a roughly weekly/bi-weekly format. So let’s talk about the first, and newest one: The Numenera Solo Actual Play Project.
Numenera Solo Play Project (and how it’s about more than solo play)
I’ll come up with a more interesting project name in the future, but as you can likely tell from the first new video, the channel is currently focused on exploring how to run a Numenera game on your own, without a group of people.
From that video, it’ll become apparent pretty quickly that while the topic of solo play is center here, we’re not just transplanting the Numenera setting into some kind of GM-emulation system nor am I interested in homebrewing the Cypher System to be a solo system.
Games designed for solo play are neat. And I’m sure I’ll have to bend a rule here and there to make this work. But this project is about playing with the actual text of the Numenera books themselves, without racing off to find alternatives. Take the new video for example: While I offer up some theoretical ways of taking a game meant for multiple people and playing it as an individual, the video still ends up with a narrative-based character creation process that’d be pitch perfect for playing with a group of people.
As the series continues, you’ll see more of this. While I’m talking about solo play, it applies to playing Numenera in the end, and that’s on your own or with other people.
But since we’re focused on playing as just a single person, we have more time to dive into rules, more time to sketch out the lore and consider ways to use it to our advantage. It’s my hope that you’ll come to see that these methods are about making the most out of TTRPG books than they are about kit-bashing and house-ruling an existing system to be a different kind of game entirely (though props to those who love doing that!).
Sometimes I think I’ve learned the most from TTRPG books when I’ve taken the time to sit down and run concepts on my own. Sometimes it’s from running a simulation of an upcoming fight I’m planning in my house games (where I still manage to underestimate how brutal my players can be toward bosses omg), other times it’s a practice of laying out a handful of scenarios for where a session could go, referencing existing character strengths and weaknesses to see what will be interesting, what will be challenging.
That’s where the genesis of this idea came from. While all this strategy and planning was in service of a night with friends and some dice, it was also fun on its own. I came to see it as a kind of gaming onto itself. And while it’s by no means a replacement for playing with folks, spending time with these books, dice, and my own imagination has always been enjoyable–especially when I’m feeling a little introverted or have an active home game caught in some scheduling Tetris.
To be clear, GMs might benefit the most from this new series because many of us, whether we do it ahead of a session or in the middle of it, engage in some kind of planning and strategy, a lot of “what if” and “let’s see what happens” guesswork. But the thoroughness of exploring character creation and time well spent on narrative concepts, I think, benefits all styles of play.
So with the character video out of the way, what’s next? As I said in its conclusion, I’m going to be talking about the Ninth World setting in the next entry.
Following a video on the setting, the third one will explore the Cypher System more directly, with considerations for how to run the game on my own and some practical “order of operations” for starting off scenes. Again, while this will focus on a solo play style, all of this should translate over very well to playing with a group (especially for GMs).
There’ll be a couple of more videos following that. At least one will be an in-depth exploration of the party with a specific focus on each character’s stats and abilities. Following that, we’ll get into seeing this campaign in action!
The Solo Actual Play
The videos you’ll see in the “Building a Solo Numenera Campaign” are literally a documentation of my process for sketching out a game to run. And I’ll be running it on the channel!
The format of that, however, is a little up in the air. In 2022, I shifted from live-streaming games to pre-recording them. I find live-streaming stressful in a way that outpaces the thrill of doing something live. As I discovered with pre-recorded actual plays, removing the stress of broadcasting to an audience meant I could more directly enjoy the game first, then document and produce it as entertainment second.
But a solo actual play as I’m doing it, I think, is a bit different. And it might be of benefit for folks to see how the game is played in real time, not just content that’s been framed and pruned for a piece of entertainment. Also, the entertainment value of roleplay between multiple people won’t be present. So right now, I’m leaning more toward live-streaming the game.
Of course, live-streaming still gives me anxiety. Things can go wrong! And the thought of that takes me out of the game. There’s also the pressure of responding to commenters live, something that also takes me out of the game.
The length of the series, whether it’s pre-recorded or not, and more are all things I’m considering for what I hope will be an entertaining look into a fun way to enjoy the rulebooks of the Cypher System and Numenera, with little-to-no house rules. I want folks to be able to check out how the game runs here and get inspired about running their own games, whether that’s solo or with other people.
But okay. I’ve talked about the resurrection of the channel. I’ve talked about the current series and the upcoming actual play project. But is there more?
The Infinite Future
In my personal documents, I’ve had a folder titled “The Infinite Future” for a long time. And it’s filled with all sorts of ambitions for where this channel and brand can go. If you happened to have been a Patron of The Infinite Construct’s shortly-lived Patreon in 2022, you got a sneak peak at what some of that was. If you’ve played in some of the one-shots I’ve run on the Cypher Unlimited Discord a couple of years ago, you might’ve heard me talk about them as well.
Those were some rocky times where I endeavored to juggle far too much at once. It didn’t pan out the way I’d hoped, but things feel more promising now than they did before. Plus, having a more structured plan, with a concrete, project-oriented focus for the channel means that I can plan ahead more effectively. So yeah, all of that stuff I was talking about in those private blog posts…they’re still in play. 😉
But as I’ve said, I want The Infinite Construct to be sustainable and adaptable to whatever life throws at me. And I have a lot of ambitions for its future.
What does that “Future” entail?
Well, as I mentioned earlier, there are some other game systems I want to explore on the channel. The first of those is Pathfinder–which is the current system I run for my home game. Pathfinder holds a special place for me as I quickly shifted to it from D&D when I got into the hobby. 1st edition Pathfinder, in fact, was my main game for some time and I adored it. It took me a little while to adapt to the changes of 2nd edition, but now having run a home game for more than a year, I’m happy to say that this is a great system that’s more malleable and fun to run than you might think it is (especially if you’re a Cypher head). But don’t expect tips from me you can take your local Pathfinder Society Organized Play games, even when I’m not house-ruling, I’m often on the hunt for interesting ways to use existing mechanics in unconventional ways.
And as for projects that fall outside of my coverage and exploration of existing published games…well, I have a few things that have been sitting on the backburner that, it’s my hope, viewers of the Infinite Construct will enjoy once these ideas are ready to get some of their own attention. I’ll say nothing more about that. That said, you might want to just be safe and keep your televisions turned off and stock up on some old cassette tapes.
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I’m so excited to be back in the saddle with The Infinite Construct. The time off has given me some great perspective for where it can go in the future. I’ve toyed around with catchphrases and mission statements for The Infinite Construct over the years. The one I always return to is “Roleplaying in Worlds Beyond.” That “Beyond” is obviously a reference to my favorite RPG, but it’s also about roleplaying beyond the standard medieval fantasy settings we’re so used to. It’s about roleplaying beyond the standard expectations of dungeon crawls, and min-maxing tendencies that are oh so common. It’s about roleplaying who your character is, not just what they are in a math equation with terms like “tank” and “healer.” It’s about story, emotion, experience.
The Infinite Construct is invested in the beauty of analog gaming, the endless depths of creative and collaborative storytelling, and worlds beyond where we expect an RPG to take us.
So welcome back to The Infinite Construct and get ready for The Infinite Future.
~ Claire
THE INFINITE CONSTRUCT 