Star Stone

Pen and paper role-playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons and Pathfinder have always suffered from the challenges of introducing new players to a complicated rule set. The Pathfinder Beginner Box is a starter set with a great ramp for beginners willing to read rulebooks. Players who do not read these rulebooks, however, still suffer from confusion and information overload.

Star Stone is a semester long student pitch team at the Entertainment Technology Center. We are creating a digital character sheet for the Pathfinder Beginner Box designed to simplify information, drive meaningful choice, and encourage new players to fully engage in role-play. This experience is delivered through mobile devices to augment the Beginner Box adventure materials.

Our vision is to create a better first 30 minutes of play after which brand new players should feel confident and interested in further exploration. The visuals focus on the actions of characters who are recognizable at a distance while leaving the emotions to the players. Our audio is designed to underlay dialog at the table while setting the mood and focusing players on the task at hand. All of this is wrapped in a synchronized application able to influence each other’s characters.

Project Instructors: Dave Culyba and Jessica Hammer

Project members:  Cewon Kim, Viviek Kotecha, Taku Nishino, Tim Rosko, Anthony Scott