Game Design General - /gdg/

>>49437899
Bonus question:
>Who has read more than 5 games before starting to make their own DnD clone?

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Anyone else obsessed with messing around with dice mechanics on anydice to find the perfect curve for your game?

I'm kinda losing my religion right now with mine. Its a dice pool system, counting dice past a target number as successes, and I was pretty happy with where I got it. But after some playtesting I've become unsatisfied with the small range of viable difficulties is allows for and the need to keep pools small for practicality. Furthermore, reading up on systems like ORE and Legends of the Wulin has made me feel like I'm settling for far less than I should for a dice mechanic. Simple pass/fail rolls don't contribute as much to game-play as alternative possibly could.

Does anyone else know any odd dice mechanics to look at for inspiration?

>>49437943
Probably to this day I have only read 5 systems through before making my own mishmash of several systems with some unique mechanics.

I have some steep problems, but it's not because of my system. It's because of playtesting. I can't playtest properly because I stress about GMing too much. I can barely GM once a week and even then I'm exhausted.

I even made my own system compatible with my own GMing style to ease the burden of the GM and thus, mine. But then my playtester asked for maps and I'm fucking stuck in a rut. I can't make maps for the life of me.

Instead I'm downloading pro architecture programs to try to create a wireframe of one locale that I want to be perfect... Which isn't even in the setting I'm GMing currently!

>>49437943
I started my project without having really grasped that many systems, and while it never was really a dnd clone it certainly suffered from a lot of non-optimal assumptions about the way a game should be built. Over the years I've been working on Mortal Core, however, my understanding of varied systems has increased massively and I constantly find myself reworking the most basic parts of the system. See >>49438036

>>49437943
Me. Reading helped realise that I ultimately didn't want a D&D clone, but it also crippled my drive to make the game after seeing so many different ideas.

>>49438036
Legends of the Wulin has a really cool dice mechanic and I want to steal it but I have no fucking clue how to calculate its probabilities, especially with secondary sets for bonus actions and the ability to opt for single-die results if you want to boost your bonus action.

Maybe instead of making a new system I should just take an editing knife to LotW and make a comprehensible PDF version. I've always been better at editing than actually making content.

>>49438036
Odd dice mechanics?

Don't rest your head has a decent one, where there are multiple colors of dice used, and the color that had the highest die (usually a six) dominates that action.

Inspired by that (I'm throwing this from the fly), you could do a 2dX system with a white die and a black die. If both dice go over the DC, you succeed without a sweat. If only black or white is over the DC, something relevant to that die happens, such as mental strain or the like.

But that's just an example.

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Do you guys design for the fun of designing or do you aim to comerciallize your game?
I reluctant to invest myself in designing a game if there is no interest.

>>49438401
Its mostly a hobby, but one that I look to commercialize. Used to homebrew shit for shits and giggles, but realized I really enjoyed it, so thought "Why not?"

>>49438401
I design hoping that someone will play it and be just as stoked about it as I am, if it happened to be cool enough to commercialize then that would be neat. But it isn't really what I'm aiming for.

>>49438327
I've thought about a lot of interesting systems that would use unique dice or even an abacus, but ultimately I don't want to go with anything that would require players to have special materials on hand just to play the game.

The best unique, odd idea I've had so far involved playing cards (originally tarot cards, but I abandoned that line of thought due to the above reason), but unfortunately playing cards don't really fit the flavor of a space opera game, and further having to shuffle and deal the deck constantly would take forever compared to die rolls.

>>49438899
Space western game, then?

>>49438401
Designing games is an addiction to me, but I plan to utilize this addiction by putting it on sale, and using my experience on this game design front to forge a path to a more alive venue - the video game market. Designing games, while somewhat different on the programming platform, is still at the heart of what I plan to do.

Though, given the option, I would probably enjoy designing tabletop games more full-day, but video games are pretty damn neat, too.

>>49438899
All that would require is some way to divide the dice. They can be two different colors, they can be determined by which one is closer to GM, by anything, really. If the rules say "use two different colors of dice", it does not mean that any other way of divvying up the dice are not valid.

But I digress. Another one I just came up could be "aiming" with the 2dX. If you aim high only the higher die is counted, and if you aim low, the lower die is counted. Why would they aim low, then? Rolling 1 could simply be a bad roll, but 6 could do something nasty to your character, like being a self-destructive success. Something nasty enough that aiming high is a serious risk. Rolling boxcars (double 6) could seriously be dangerous to the character, albeit being a crit, and snake eyes (double 1) would be a critical fail.

I'm just throwing ideas around, don't mind me.

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I'm trying to figure out how to change this clusterfuck into something more usable as a board game. The idea is base building, and completing missions to grow your base. I want it to be a cooperative board game, though I may be able to manage it as a single player RPG.

For a while, I'd ditched this whole thing and started with a new theme of running guilds (the fantasy version of a PMC), with more focus on a cooperapetative aspect. Players would work together to keep the game from ending early, but only one of them could win. Ultimately I decided to go full co-op and go back to the original theme, since I really wanted the focus to be on building a base. I may go back and add a competitive mode where each player/team is building their own base, but that's later on the table.

Current ideas are taking inspirations from:
-- Dead of Winter
-- Eldritch Horror
-- Pathfinder Adventure Card Game
-- XCOM the board game
-- Magic: the Gathering (though maybe less so moving back to the original theme)
-- And of course MGS Portable Ops through Phantom Pain.

>>49438401
A lot of people homebrew for their group, and want to release it to the public (for free) so that it gets more use. Other people tend to want to release it to the public for PWYW or a bit of dosh so that they can at least get a bit of spending cash for their hard work.

But frankly you'll never see anyone in these threads get super successful, even if some people do hope to one day do kickstarters.

So I've been thinking about game scenarios. Right now, the system I have is players roll for a main objective they all share, standard wargame set-ups; kill the enemy, capture the flag, king of the hill, etc. And then there's secondary that are for each player, things that award less VPs for completing; nominate a model as a champion that scores points, score points for models that get across the board, etc.

The system I have for the secondaries is you generate a pool and players take turns picking from them. But another one I've thought is players roll for a few of them, 3 or 4, and choose 2 in secret. So your opponent has an idea of what your plan may be, but its still an unknown. Thoughts?

>>49439861
The setting, which is actually more important to me than the mechanics due to writing projects I'm working on in parallel, is post-singularity space opera where the descendants of the tiny fraction of humans who turned down apotheosis-through-technological-singularity live in a rather optimistic post-apocalyptic scifi setting in which "human nature" is a force of physics as real as gravity due to the latent, passive presence of the omnipotent ascended humans, generally manifesting as a bending of reality towards storylogic, archetypes, and various empathic conventions. I'm calling it Mortal Core (by the way I'm probably going to be a frequent poster around here, how should I go about adding MC to the project list in the OP?)

I liked playing cards because they could not only give out numerical data for the normal uses (drawing 1-10 + assigned values with extra mechanics like extra draws for face cards would basically be the same as rolling dice for those results) but would also assign a value to HOW the action occurs, colored by suits (because storylogic is effectively manipulable magic in-setting, archetypal descriptors are in-game mechanics, such as good, evil, grit, appeal, reason, or enigma. Suits could show how the fight was progressing aesthetically, so that players could react accordingly for maximum benefit). But ultimately the flavor of playing cards just doesn't mesh well in my opinion, plus the time problem with shuffling and so forth.

>>49439972
Good points. I'll put more thought into how I might intuitively divide dice without muddying up the math too much.

>>49440218
What kind of story does this game tell? Or is it just meant to build a certain type of setting for a story told through a different format?

>>49438401
Commercial. Website going up by the end of the year.

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>>49440354
>What kind of story does this game tell? Or is it just meant to build a certain type of setting for a story told through a different format?
It's going to be a board game about building and maintaining a Metal Gear Solid style mercenary company.

>>49439972
how many people even work full-time in pen & paper? the WOTC guys, surely. also, FFG. who else?

>>49440613
I doubt even most WotC or Paizo people are full time. There are likely many who are, but most are probably freelance.

>>49440663
they even hire guys, just for doing icons on magic cards:
http://company.wizards.com/about/careers/graphic-designer-rd-job-renton-wa-us?careers-view=1

>>49437943

Depending on how you define a game, I've read five systems just counting various editions of D&D. If we count very short indie games, I've read five systems whose wordcount comes in under the 5e core books even if you don't count the Monster Manual.

>>49440613

Getting a standard full-time job pen&paper is extremely unlikely, but getting a decent Patreon going based on pen&paper products might be doable.

>>49437943

Well, here's the list of games I have *played* or *run*:
All editions of D&D (including BECMI and OD&D)
Muliple retro-clones (inluding Dark Dungeons, Adventure Conquerer King, and Lamentations of the Flame Princess)
Call of Cthulhu
GURPS
Hollow Earth Expedition
Werewolf: the Awakening
Vampire: the Masquerade
Marvel Heroic Roleplaying
The One Ring
Warhammer Fantasy 3rd Edition
Star Wars: Edge of the Empire
Star Wars d20
Iron Kingdoms
Legend of the Nine Rings (forgot the edition)
Dragon Age
Death Watch
Dark Heresy
Rogue Trader
Night's Black Agents
Unknown Armies
Apocalypse World
Dungeon World
Dogs in the Vineyard
Traveller
Shadowrun 4E
Eclipse Phase
Nova Praxis
Diaspora
Burning Wheel
Mouse Guard
Microscope
Ghost/Echo
Happy Birthday Robot
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: and Other Strangeness

There's probably even a few I've played that I've forgotten.

As for games I've only *read*...

Everyone is John
Noumemon
Sorcerer
3:16
Lasers & Feelings
Savage Worlds
The Riddle of Steel
Big Eyes Small Mouth
Rifts
Wild Talents
Stormbringer
Elric!
Rune Quest
Don't Rest Your Head
Poison'd

I've also read fragmentary translations of:
Nechronica
Night Wizard
One Way Heroics
Tokyo Nova
Log Horizon
Alshard
Kancolle rpg
Meikyuu Kingdom

My ultimate goal is to play 100 different roleplaying games in my life time. I'm not sure whether editions and retro-clones should count towards that.

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Didn't get any (You)s last thread so I'll try again. Anybody got ideas to fill in the blanks here? Making a JRPG inspired TTRPG and can't figure out the job combos struck out in pic related.

When I posted the original job roster here a few weeks ago, people didn't like that two jobs always made the same advanced job regardless of which was the major and which was minor. I also wanted Monk to have special jobs and didn't feel it would be right for only one major job to have unique advanced jobs, but now I feel like I'm out of design space for two of the most iconic jobs.

Any ideas?

>>49443537
Here's a few suggestions:

>Witch-Hammerer
White Mage + Warrior
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malleus_Maleficarum

Basically anti-black-magic white-mages modeled on Matthew Hopkins the witchfinder general, except that they literally wield hammers. Maybe they get a 'Turn' (as in Turn Undead) ability.

>Artist
White Mage + Red Mage
Creates paintings.

>Gambler
Black Mage + Red Mage
Plays slot machines for random spell effects

>Necromancer
Black Mage + White Mage

>Summoner
White Mage + Black Mage

>Dragon-Mage
Black Mage + Monk
Transforms into a dragon

>Psion
White Mage + Monk
Uses psychic powers

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I made a thing a while back and I don't think I ever put it here. To copy from the 1d4 summary:

Once, a long time ago, /tg/ decided to have a gigantic argument about the correct amount of difficulty for an rpg. Many opinions were posted. At the climax of the thread, anon suggested that a different anon who preferred difficulty below maximum play the following:

>Princess Pillowfighter the RPG. Nobody dies, everybody wins, and you get to eat pudding.

And then a third person thought that was a great idea and made it.

To add to the 1d4 summary: It's a low combat no death rpg. The core conflict resolution mechanic is secretly bidding social capital points or confidence/willpower points, depending on the situation.

Any critique is helpful, even format stuff.

>>49443537
Knight vs. Swordmaster
Viking vs. Pirate
Ninja vs. Blackbelt
Ranger vs. Beastmaster

What are the differences between these?

>>49443996

Now, just for fun, I want to imagine how psionic classes would fit into this. (Not a suggestion, just musing.)

>Psion
Base class

>Psi-Blade
Psion + Warrior
Energy Sword

>Nomad
Psion + Thief
Teleportation

>Egoist
Psion + Monk
Self-healing, self-buffing

>Medium
Psion + White Mage
Spiritual visions

>Fire-Starter
Psion + Black Mage
Pyrokinesis

>Esper
Psion + Psion
Telepathy

>>49443996
These are all very good ideas, thank you!

>>49444222
Knight is a typical, well, knight class. He wears heavy armor, focuses on sword and shield and his abilities revolve around protecting others. Swordmaster is a lightly-armored samurai whose Bushido techniques revolve around counter attacks against opponents. The difference is between intercepting attacks against others vs harsh reprisal of attacks on yourself.

Viking is about wrecking your opponents with no holds barred gambles, while pirate is all about "turn the blade" feats of panache. The difference is between hulk smash and being rewarded for avoiding damage.

Ninja is a stealth class who Ninjutsu techniques befuddle opponents, while Blackbelt is Monk^2, switching between different styles. The difference is between stealth and confrontation.

Ranger is a traditional archer who emphasizes skill with ranged weapons, while Beastmaster is a wilderness survival expert. The difference is between an English longbowman and Grizzly Adams (PBUH).

I should note that each job is just a skill, five passive traits and a single command with five abilities. As characters master different jobs, they can mix and match which traits they use and which secondary command they have equipped.

>>49444222
I forgot to mention, if you've played Bravely Default/Bravely Second, that's kind of my model for class design. Mix and match passive traits as you level up and pick a command set from any job you've unlocked.

I've pared it down because this is going to be a pretty rules medium game (I think I could run a basic one shot with the ~15 pages I have so far if I wrote up some job content). I want to keep it pretty simple but still have room for growth. I think it will be comparable to Dungeon World in complexity.

Also nice dubtrips.

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>>4944353
These are fun to make. :)

Here's my own interpretation.

New game designer here. I'm trying to create a system inspired by heists, robberies and capers from the 70s to today. I'm taking inspiration from media like Lupin III, The Italian Job, GTA V, Resevoir Dogs, the Thief games, Casino Royale, Payday: the Heist, the Oceans 11 trilogy, and more. Games can range from one-off stick-ups to elaborate heists, involving weeks of planning and preparation, and involve planting backdoors, disabling security systems, rigging explosives and making off with millions, if not billions, and laughing all the way to the safehouse.

The problem, though, is it feels less like a homebrew and more like a cannibalized GURPS re-hash. I'm only familliar with a few RPing systems, namely Pathfinder, D&D 4th and GURPS. What can I do to make it feel unique? What tips & ideas can you tell me to make this as great as it can be?

>>49445407
Look into Shadowrun.

Shadowrun is pretty shit, but it's completely built around heists.

Frankly, it's just a dungeon crawl where the players know the traps in advance and the trouble isn't dealing with them as they stumble into them, but planning and preparing for them.

You can also look into the Leverage RPG.

Here's an idea:

In a game where psychic powers matter, there are five disciplines of psionics each corresponding to one of the five suits of a Zener deck (yellow circle, red cross, blue waves, black square, green star).

Characters gain psychic powers through catalyst crystals. A catalyst may be charged as psi-gamma or psi-kappa. It takes four catalyst crystals to 'activate' a level of psychic ability. The type of power gained from this activation is determined by the ratio of psi-gamma to psi-kappa catalysts used.

>Clairsentience
4:0 activation
Red Cross

>Telepathy
3:1 activation
Blue Waves

>Psychometabolism
2:2 activation
Yellow Circle

>Psychoportation
1:3 activation
Green Star

>Telekinesis
0:4 activation
Black Square

>>49445407

You 'aren't doing anything wrong, that's just what happens when you design a system for a genre which does not emphasize system.

>>49445407
>>49445656

Mechanics wise,

Okay so there should be 3 kinds of enemies for your purpose. Those who are clueless, those who smell something fishy, and those who know what is up.

In a lot of situations clueless enemies don't even get checks to notice things. If every enemy was clueless then the PCs could get away with anything.

Enemies who smell something fishy are trouble. They ask questions, they look around, they get to make search checks for shit. Being suspicious is conditional; a guard who has a run-in with one PC will always be suspicious when they see that PC, but if a different PC is working them over they basically count as clueless.
Sometimes suspicious people can be placated and made clueless again. E.x, the guard becomes suspicous when you can't find your fake i.d. (because a real guard accidentally picked it up thinking it was theirs, and your buddy is chasing them down to pick their pocket, but in the meantime you have to stall). While he's in suspicious mode there's a danger that he'll go through your suitcase or ask what's in the car or otherwise foil the whole plan, but once you show him what he wants or otherwise think your way out of the situation he'll probably go back to clueless.
If word gets out that someone is trying to rob the place tonight, then everyone they meet is suspicious, towards everyone, all the time. But they won't be the day before or the day after.

People who know whats up are big trouble and are basically a potential TPK. Unless you bribe them, or blackmail them, or they want in on your scam and you need to find a way to get rid of them at the last second, or you manage to act first and convince their boss that they are liars and that they have it out for you, or so on and so forth.

Basically you should track the suspicious-level of all the NPCs, and a lot of the tension and excitement revolves around changes in suspicion level.

>>49445407
Let me re-iterate some problems I've got right now:
>balancing the weapons so they all are usable without any being too OP over similar ones
>having an interesting way to procure weapons, tools, intel and armor while leaving room to restrict certain things
>having a full list of clothing & armor to allow any scenario to be manageable
>determining which skills are UP, OP, broken, unusable or perfect
>choosing a dice system (i've got 2d10 for general rolls and a d6 for special rolls)
>determining variables for certain things (weather, money avail. to steal, security, etc) to facilitate easier GMing
>allowing the GM to be a GMPC without affecting the game

>>49445664
>>49445442
Thanks for the help, lads

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I love the designs for the battlesuits in Battletech; pic related.

I also love Battletech rules, they're so damn good and easy once you get the hang of them. They really emphasize the individuality of each unit, sort of how each unit is like its own character.

So I'm inspired to try to write scifi again, and I want it to mainly focus on power armor. So I decided if I put creative energies into a skirmish game it'll help flesh things out.

I want to make a game system that focuses on:

>Customizing units
handled partially like 40k and partially like Battletech, you'd be able to make your own suits from scratch and/or buy upgrades for them.

>dynamic combat
Like how battletech does it. multiple weapons, all with strengths and weaknesses/pros and cons shooting at the same time, melee, ect. Probably be akin to RPG combat since we're dealing with small teams of power armored individuals.

any recommendations of games I should check out that are like this?

>>49445664

So in essence it's:
Doesn't think that anything is going on
Is trying to find out what's going on
Knows what's going on

Your worst fear is that success/failure feels binary: Everything is going fine, and then someone fails a check or makes a bad decision, and now that heist is ruined. No fun. What you want is shades of gray, "This is bad news but we can still save the heist", so that things can get tense and complicated. That's where the fun is.

A lot of your game wants to live in the planning phase. Off the cuff, I'd say that if a 4 hour session was 1 heist, I would do 2 hours of planning and setup and then 2 hours for the heist. But expect the unexpected because sometimes your players will argue about a plan for 6 hours (my attitude is that this is a good thing, at least until the point where you see some players getting bored, then you need to hurry the rest of them along towards a decision).

The opposition should have multiple chances to discover the heist during the planning phase. Sometimes none of them will pick up on anything, and the PCs can go into a situation where everyone is clueless. Ideally this doesn't guarantee success, but it's like going into a dungeon with max hitpoints, you have more room to make mistakes or get unlucky.

Sometimes there are people on the inside who know your whole plan, and your only chance of success is some tenuous social engineering scheme to keep them quiet.

Sometimes it's just that one security guard who has seen the whole party, and he's REALLY out to get you because Vinny slept with his sister, but you can use that to your advantage if you're clever.

And of course sometimes you get there and you find your mole tied to a chair with no fingernails and he's like "Sorry I told them everything" and your heist is now an escape.
Unless the mole didn't know your real plan and him divulging the plan was part of the plan.

>>49445747

Why do you need a table of weapons?

>>49445861
I like variety, you can rob someone much easier if you have a gun pointed at them, law enforcement would be useless, and it wouldn't be fun if there weren't any weapons.

Unless you're talking about why there would be different versions of weapons, in which case: I like variety, some skills revolve around weapon types (revolvers, SMGs, impromptu weapons, etc.), and it's better to still have a choice of weaponry on a limited budget.

>>49437943
I read 3.5 and 4e before trying to make my own LoL clone. After going through a lot of early changes, its become one of my main projects and has zero resemblance to my original inspiration.

>>49438401
I design for the fun and experience, but would easily take the better ideas and commercialize them.

>>49445407
the first question for any designer is: is this a game on its own or is it merely a campaign setting? if it's the latter, it still can work as indie game if it has custom-tailored mechanics.

>>49445442
>Shadowrun is pretty shit
dumb

>but it's completely built around heists.
true. so the advice to look into shadowrun is valid. specifically look into adventures cemtered on infiltrating security, op.

>>49445407
also note how shadowrun isn't just heists. look into shadowrun and the way the job of infiltration of corporate buildings is framed.

>>49445798
You got 40k and Battletech down. Others I'd suggest are Heavy Gear Blitz, Horizon Wars and Infinity. /awg/ has tons of various rulesets to browse and draw inspiration from, even things that aren't strictly sci-fi could be useful for ideas.

>>49446128
It's got unique stats, items and dice systems, so I think it qualifies as a game.

>>49446157
Yeah, I'm looking at Warmachine now, but I'll check those ones out too. Thanks!

>>49438326
>>49438327
I had an idea that somewhat combines these two aspects.

LotW heavily features the chinese elements. Dice colors could correspond with each of the 5 elements.
There could be a community pool of dice which players use to perform actions.

One idea is to have players add dice to the community pool (based on player stats, the form of action they're taking, etc) and then roll the whole pool. The quality of the result is determined by what shows up from each color (success based, element totals, w/e).

The other idea is that players instead take away from the community pool when performing an action. Other things will add to the pool so it isn't a finite resource, but the key will be to balance the resources of the pool to keep group harmony, both in and out of game.

>>49446168
that was not my point. the question is: should a prospective gm need learn your ruleset to play it oooooooor would it better work as a campaign setting for GURPS/Savage Worlds/FATE/whatever?

>>49446224
I intend for it to have it's own campaigns, so a GM would need to learn the ruleset. I'm still not completely finished, so I could adapt the stats and items to another game to ease learning it.

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>>49437943
I've played in more than 5 systems and it spurred me to ad hoc a system. Right now it's in alpha and that is why I come to you.

Several months ago I was in a thread for another game (can't remember what) and I and some other people started spitballing ideas for a "cutesy anime fantasy RPG" that is classless and uses 5 ability stats and ability "powers" tied to those stats. Thing is I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm basically an Arneson seeking my Gygax (I have a shit ton of ideas but I'm horrible at translating those to rules).

>>49438401
I plan to upload the stuff to Drive-Thru as a "pay as you want" eventually.

>>49446171

This is a vague idea but it sounds very very cool if it was executed well. One of those cases where you have a good thematic premise expressed in a visual/tactile way.

I'm working on an inside-out 3e clone, where the rules on the player's side are completely different and a lot simpler, but it lines up numerically such that you can use 3e monsters and adventures without any changes. Has this been done before?

>>49447001
It has been done a thousand times.

>>49447001
It's been done before but by all means, do so. Every time someone does so they introduce new ideas and new concepts that often inspire others.

Writing down my system nao.
Guys, I need a good alternative name for Critical Succcess. Any suggestions?

>>49447238
How about Extreme Success?

Sorry, busy trying to design my own setting right now and I'm a little out of it at the moment

>>49447238
Failure To Suck

>>49447238
Thematize it. For instance, Shadowrun's critical failure is a Glitch

>>49447010
>>49447065

Thank you, but does anyone have links, or names that I could google? All I've seen are alternate player's handbooks, where they have new classes and races but character building and advancement work the same way. My goal is that I'll have a stack of trait cards and you pick 3 of them and you've got a 1st-level character.

How do you implement your starting money? Do you leave it to the players to decide, or put it on a dice roll?

>>49447552
I don't particularly care for D&D so I can only name MicroliteD20 as the only complete one I know of, but somebody that likes D&D could probably name 20.

http://microlite20.net/

>>49447567
depends what role money plays in your game
some games just accumulate currency as part of play
Others give items an acquisition availability to represent expense and rarity. Representations of wealth would primarily modify that subsystem.

>>49443537
I think it'd help a lot if you provided some basic descriptions of what each class is intended to do as a major job and minor job, and some basic information about what the classes you already have do.

>>49447266
Hmmm.. Crucial Success?

>>49447273
Critical Failure seems to be easier, I call it Fumble (an industry standard).

>>49447273
Dammit, anon, this isn't about your experiences with your ef-girlfriend. :^)

>>49447238
I second >>49447277. Savage Worlds calls them Raises, Dark Heresy has Righteous Fury, In Nomine has Divine/Infernal intervention (which can be critical successes or failures depending on if you're on the same team), and so on. What's your setting?

How many are too many types of ammo? I started a thread on /k/ for choosing ammo types and it boiled down to 7 different kinds for around 20 different weapons. Is that too much for a modern setting?

And on the topic of bullets, would it be better to have different bullet types deal damage, instead of relying on the type of gun?

>>49448239
How crunchy is your game, and how much importance do you want to put on ammo scarcity? If it's not terribly important, or if it's a game with a lighter set of mechanics, then there's no real point to that level of detail.

>>49448192
Dark Fantasy.

>>49448458
Fated success?

>>49448239
Damage should be ammo based, yes, but most guns can only fire one kind of ammo so the distinction may be unnecissary unless you plan to specialize ammo with modifiers like armor peircing or hollow point or so on.

>>49448665
I was thinking of ammo-based damage because multiple guns can fire the same ammo but have different firing modes or effective ranges, like 9mm SMGs and handguns.

>>49448703
Work out a combat system first, ammo last, or you're going to spend a big amount of time just listing types.

Don't procrastinate on base combat mechanics by inventing/listing ammo types and barrel harmonics. If your base's shit, no amount of ammo flavor is gonna save it.

>>49448458
Triumph, Victory, Masterstroke

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>>49447800
Sure thing. First, each character picks a major job. Like in Dungeon World, no two characters can have the same major job and they can never change their major job. They will always have access to their major job's skills and command, but are not forced to use its traits.

Warriors focus on direct martial prowess using the [FORCE] approach and their Warfare command to get up close and personal.

Thieves prefer the [GUILE] approach and using their Thievery command to keep opponents off balance.

Monks use both [FORCE] and [GUILE] with their Martial Arts command to create combos of punches and kicks, weaving in and out of combat to keep their combo counter going.

White Mages use [PASSION] to fuel their White Magic command, casting support spells such as Heal and Cure.

Black Mages use [LOGIC] to cast Black Magic spells, dealing elemental damage.

Red Mages can use [PASSION] and [LOGIC] in tandem to create minor healing and support effects using Red Magic, and can take extra actions by alternating between the two.

When a character masters their major job, they can take a minor job as well, gaining that job's skill and, as they level the job up, access to its traits as well. Minor jobs can be changed at any time.

Upon mastering their minor job, they gain access to that combination's advanced job. Advanced jobs grant another skill, new traits and another set of commands.

>>49444139
Did people not read this because it didn't look like a .pdf or because it is pure faggotry? I can deal with the second.

>>49452059
No one looked at it because no one ever really gives advice or feedback here.
(I'm no different)

>>49452059
Honestly, didn't know it was a PDF. Seen the cover before and just assumed it was a pic. But that's my fault for not reading the filename.

I suck with RPGs, though

>>49452158
I'd complain but I didn't help anyone else out either, so. I agreed with several things that were posted and got ready to post a few comments, but someone had already posted them.

>>49443537
You're making a Final Fantasy TTRPG, then? Literally every job I see on that list is from a FF game except for yokai

Might be neat

>>49452941
Yep, tonally it's inspired by the JRPGs I played when I was younger - FFIII and FFVI in particular. I also took elements from Fire Emblem, another series I love. I've also been playing Bravely Second, and that has had a big impact on class design, and I'm reading Ryuutama and other JTRpGs lately.

All those jobs are taken from Final Fantasy, even Yokai. It's a new job that appears in Bravely Second, but I'll be changing up how it in particular works: it's a riff on Summoner from the game's not!Japan, and guess what it summons? The seven deadly sins and vanilla Summoner unlocks Amaterasu.

>>49453806
Bravely is its own series

>>49454091
Technically yes, but the job is on the Final Fantasy wiki. I don't think it's a stretch to say Bravely is a FF spinoff/spiritual successor.

>>49454284
Split more hairs, buddy.

>>49454373
Y-you too

What's a better way to set stats for character creation: point-buy or dice systems? Is it better to have scaling linear or logarithmic?

>>49454984
Depends on the setting

>>49455021
I'd clarify that as: Depends on the experience you're trying to evoke with your system.

>>49455085
What's the main difference? Difficulty?

>>49455109
DnD doesn't care whether you choose pointbuy or roll, so they provide both. But, some systems do care, or they might go for a third option. One of my projects has people receive an array of stats depending on their profession. You don't get to choose a different array. However, you do get to add stat points as you level, and your array will increase as you level also. At level 1 two "warriors" will practically be the same stat-wise, but by level 20 they could be extremely different. What style you choose all depends on what your system is designed to express.

The second question is answered similarly. If you want characters to invest in "lines" and get more powerful by mastering those lines, then an exponential growth would fit well. If you want people to pick and choose at their leisure, then perhaps a linear system would be good. It all depends on what you want your system to encourage players to do.

I want to make a game about being a Lord, Duke, Count, King, or really any kind of Ruler. It would be focused on spending resources to hopefully gain more, such as wealth, favors, and military strength, while also dealing with court intrigue, plotting, and handling the day to day of ruling. My only problem is that my entire knowledge base for this subject comes from Crusader Kings 2. What books should I read to make a system for it that doesn't suck?

>>49455109
More or less, D&D's the only one with rolling stats.
In ye olden days, a character doesn't last long; so the rolling's expendable. Now, RPGs are more story-based and characters will stick around, meaning badly rolled characters are consistently worse than other characters.
If you're going for an OSR feel, keep the rolling. If your system's going to have "permanent" characters, a stat array is a much better and balanced choice (even if it's a bit bland).

My personal shitty hack for a gauntlet megadungeon game is that everyone rolls stats:
>Best rolled gains loincloth and rusty dagger
>Mediocre rolled gains a weapon choice
>Worst rolled gains a weapon and armor choice

Every levelup, every non-max-stat character increases his stat by 1; and max-stat character(s) gains some gold to compensate. Eventually, every character will have max stats if they survive long enough, and if a max-stat guy gains extra gold that can be used to repair/buy/enchant gear.

From a game design standpoint, how would magically powered steampunkesque mechanisms (automatons, airships, etc) effect the rules and economy of a world?

>>49456260
If magic exists there would be no industrial revolution. Why make an engine for anything when you can magic the same effects; that is unless magic requires an associated magical fuel in which case it'd be the same but with a focus on that fuel over coal.

Whatever powered the machines and how it was acquired would govern the entire economy

>>49450464

Instead of Dungeon World, have you considered using SRS from FEAR for more of a JRPG feel? Or maybe a fusion of PbtA and SRS?

File: 1400230289106.pdf (1B, 486x500px)

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>>49456260
this pdf is a decent start

>>49457066
Oh I'm not really "using" PbtA as a basis for the rules, I'm just aiming for about that level of complexity and as an example of games where everyone has a unique class.

I'm definitely interested in JTRPG recommendations though. I'm taking notes on Ryuutama now and I'll put SRS next on the list.

First mockuop of the game if anyone wants to add ideas or critique.

http://pastebin.com/fmfyPSuc

File: FEAR System.pdf (1B, 486x500px)

1B, 486x500px

>>49458447

I hope this helps.

>>49459289
This does help, thank you! Funny enough, my game is also divided into scenes. I'm thinking a lot about whether or not to have "scene players" or stars though.

>>49458714
Sorry anon. Looked over it but I've got a splitting headache rn.

If you want an example of a good modern day system look up Ops and Tactics. It's like a more complex D20 Modern from what I've heard.

I'm designing a homebrew with a skill list which includes characteristics as skills - I don't like systems which add skills and attributes (or modifiers) so I'm designing a system which treats all skills and characteristics the same.

I was initially planning on just having a single skill list which would include all items - such as Combat, Piloting, Strength, Athletics, Willpower etc (actual names to be decided).

But I have a question - should I split the complete skill list in Skills and Aspects or keep it as one list?

Skills are all things that you have been trained to do, so not everyone would have these. Examples could include piloting, computing, combat, athletics.

Aspects are all natural characteristics which everyone has and can do, if at just a basic level. An aspect would be Awareness, Strength, Willpower.
Aspects can not substitute for skills except in about one case - Athletics (which is running, jumping, swimming, throwing and climbing) which can all be done by a normal person.

The only real advantage is that skills have no default value, you have to learn them, so no skill, no ability. But aspects all have a default level so that everyone would be able to do them at a basic level, and you could also lower your default to make yourself worse than the average person. I'll be using a points-based system so that people could make themselves weaker or less fit than the average person in order to raise something else if they desired.

Thoughts?

>>49455880
>>49455109

A middle road is to deal stats with cards. To use this method with D&D you would have 18 cards, each card having a number between 1 and 6, and you would deal them into 6 piles of 3 to generate stats. This still isn't QUITE balanced because someone who draws min-maxed stats is better off than someone who draws balanced stats, at least i D&D (it's possible to design a game where this isn't the case).

I'm working on a skirmish scale small arms combat system and I was trying to play with the idea of mixing the to hit roll and rounds on target into one roll. Instead of say rolling 12 dice and seeing if each hits and where it hits I was working on it so that there's a point where you hit your target but the more successful the roll, the more rounds hit the target if your ROF allows it.

I'm using a d20 so far for the system, and let's say that at medium range and normal circumstances there's a base 50/50 to hit. My initial idea was that from a modified roll of 10 - -1, rounds on target would string from 1 - 12, all basically a hit and getting a result higher than your weapons ROF does nothing past that point.

Obviously though there's a huge probability issue with this and the alternatives are to use a lot of charts.

Any one have any ideas or know of other mechanics that work out well?

>>49462361
What's your problem with the probability, and can it be fixed by using a smaller die for to-hit rolls?

Ideally you set the system up so that you can say "3 over target = 3 hits" (or 3 additional hits), as modified by the rate-of-fire cap.

>>49463084
We'll imagine you fire 3 shots, each of them have a 50% to hit. Well that's a 50 for one round, 25 for two, and 12.5 for three. I'm sure I'm using the wrong probability but the general idea is there. However with the idea that extra rounds equal to successes past the hit mark means each extra round only needs an extra 5% of success to hit which doesn't sound right. That would make it 50 to hit with one, 45 with two and 40 with one.

But maybe that's okay?

>>49438036
It might help to start with your goals and find a mechanic that fits, rather than looking at a catalogue of mechanics and wondering which one is generically best.

Also I'm going to make this hard for you by pointing out that playing cards can do a lot and have been woefully underutilized. If you're just looking for a gimmick, there are worse places to start.

>>49445407
If it were me?

Lifepath character generation that builds relationships. Not just between party members and other party members, but between party members and heist targets. There are various "mole" options in terms of backstory.

Task resolution should be card based. Roll over the difficulty of the task, and under your skill/tools. Failure has different results depending on which way you fail. Maybe look to *world game "moves" to codify the details here. Players have hands and play one card per "roll." So does the GM. Usually hand size is constant, but damage (or some other stress) might knock it down leaving the party progressively less control over outcomes.

This creates a bit of a paranoid metagame where you could shoot yourself and your party in the foot deliberately, but might have plausible deniability. Maybe you just didn't have a good card.

Just spitballing.

For you? Read more games. Look outside your chosen genre of game for mechanical inspiration. Look to your fictional source material. Set goals. Assess whether your mechanics meet your goals.

I decided to finally sit down and write my system and I'm about a third of the way in and I've hit a road block. I absolutely need grid based tactical movement, but the game isn't only going to only have 2d movement and in my tests tracking all the 3d grid stuff is getting really difficult. Anyone know any system that does grid based tactical movement with a lot of 3d maneuvering which isn't a slog?

>>49464422
If ever there were a game where card based gameplay was fitting, it would be that.

I may brew something up myself...

>>49464422
>>49464619
If you're interested in cards, you can also go with a no-hand card passing system. GM draws (n+1) cards from the deck and passes them through (n) players who each discard until you reach a result. Has greater anonymity for your mole, greater opportunity for the mole to fuck with the roll, but might get too finicky in determining passing order (AFAIK first person has more power than last person in the pass order).

>>49462361
I have a possible solution in that the steps of success are based on the unit training level.

In an automatic burst of fire, an elite unit will succeed in having more rounds on target by each point of success on a roll, while a regular unit will need 3 for each success, maxing out at 7 with the best possible roll. An untrained unit would be every five steps and would max out at 4 rounds on target.

>>49462361
An idea, instead of looking at it as combining all the to hit into one die, how about the combined hits in damage? Since this is all abstraction, the idea of more hits = more damage, you can play with the idea of it increasing your chance to do damage, instead of just generating more hits. I'd need more context, but on a basic level, you could have each weapon have a stat that says "For ever X over the required To Hit you rolled on your D20, add +1 to your damage roll".

Malifaux uses a similar idea, where how much higher you beat your opponent on the to hit increases your chances of doing more damage on its 3 number track profile each weapon has.

>>49437899

Asking for strategy games, not RPGs:

I'm scribbling together some notes for a computer TBS, and it's predominatnly going to feature feudal styles of governance (you can change around government types, but it's not easy), and short of hiring mercenaries (expensive) or just conscripting people (get shitty troops, bad morale, and cuts a lot into your workforce) you have to rely on what your vassals can provide, which necessarily means that you don't have a lot of control over what shows up.

Essentially, I want it to be, you issue a call to arms, and depending on your wealth, population, infrastructure, and loyalty levels, you get more/less/better worse troops, instead of something like RTW where you sit down and go " I want to build 3 archers and 2 cavalry units"

Are there any existing games which have systems like this that I could look at for some guidance? The only one I can think of offhand is Imperium Romanum 2, and even that's an optional rule and works from a very limited countersheet, essentially just restricting what units (out of pre-existing ones) you can raise in what provinces.

>>49454984

You could mix them, if your system works with it. Dragonquest has a neat little system where you roll 1d100 at start, which gives you both a number of points overall and the max you can put into a given stat. The more you have of one, the less you have of the other. So depending on what you roll, you can get someone who is really specialized in one or two things, or someone who is generally good at a lot of things, but not both.

I've never seen another system that quite worked like that, and it's neat.

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>>49450464 here, whipped this up in Illustrator last night as a proof of concept. I still need to refine the gradients, resize the crystals and cut the outlines instead of just using stroke. I'm also thinking of getting rid of the lines, italicizing the text and interspersing it with the crystals so it looks like they're wrapped around the letters. Ultimately I want to use hand drawn crystals, but this was just a quick visualization.

>>49466589

Looks cool.

Don't get too hung up on the graphic design though until you are on your third draft though.

How far along are you on your game, anyway?

>>49467425
I have about 15 pages, and this covers all of the core mechanics (except specific jobs) without examples. This would be enough for me to run a game if I prepped some job info first.

I was writing one page a day for awhile, but lately I've been doing more research into other games. This gives me time to think about my game's core mechanic, which I'm still shaky on.

Thoughts on mechanics like The One Ring's Corruption, whereby players can lose control of their characters and become enemies of the party?

My game has something similar, but it's expressly laid out that corrupted characters don't necessarily become violent enemies of the party - they've simply lost hope in the party's ability to complete the quest and no longer have any drive to fight on. If the rest of the party can find them, talk them down or, if it comes to it, beat some sense into them, they'll come around.

What I'm struggling with is balancing this kind of narrative turn against heavy handed GMing. What is the corrupted character's player going to do for the rest of the scene?

Any good systems where health = morale and 0 HP = you must surrender, flee, commit seppuku, etc.?

>>49471407
Dogs in the Vineyard is kind of like that. You don't have HP per se, but roll a number of dice based on your stats to be your "HP" for that fight. You then use these dice to raise and see in a game of dice poker. When you run low on dice and can no longer see your opponent's raise, you can either lose the conflict (and the stakes) or escalate to violence, giving you a new roll of stats to play poker with.

Basically, running out of "HP" dice to wager doesn't necessarily mean you die or fall unconscious, but you lose the stakes. In a verbal argument, maybe your at a loss for words; in a test of skill like a horse race, maybe you just can't keep up. In a fist fight or fun fight, your character may decide that taking more harm isn't worth the stakes and give up.

>>49471498
You take Fallout based on how much dice were ultimately thrown. It's possible--hard, but possible--to get the "you lose the game" option. You can basically be talked to death.

But more likely you go off into the sunset, never to be seen or heard from again.

>>49445407 here, just finished the 2nd update of the rules posted on >>49458714

>>49468034

If in doubt, keep it simple! I think 2d6 + modifiers vs. target number will work just fine for the kind of game you are making. Try not to overthink it.

>>49437943
Its actually a better version of FATAL with 80% less magical realm
I need to make it into a PDF at some point.

>>49472424
Fug, didn't post link

http://pastebin.com/qFct7yCy

>>49438401
Just to give me something to do until im tired enough to fall asleep, im this anon by the way.
>>49472561
Ive gotten pretty far surprisingly.

>>49472495
My mechanic is actually pretty similar. The GM gives you a target number between 1 and 6 by subtracting the character's skill from the default challenge of an obstacle. 1 is a cakewalk, 6 is a tough sell, and 7+ means you'll need help.

You roll 2d6, both different colors. One is the success die, the other is the opportunity die. If a die rolls equal to or greater than the target number, it's a hit; less and it's a miss.

A hit on the success die means the character succeeds; their intentions are realized. A miss means they failed to do what they set out for.

A hit on the opportunity die gives you a positive circumstance, like not alerting a guard; a miss is a negative circumstance, like alerting more guards.

Instead of numerical modifiers, you get bonus dice. These are a third color and can be swapped in for the main two. Extra hits on these magnify the effect, but misses don't count. If you're rolling for a 7+, bonus hits each add 1 to your success die, then spill over to your opportunity die.

My biggest problem is that it's not exactly difficult. a level 6 challenge being a pretty generous 16% chance of success.

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This looks like a good place for this question.

I'm having a bit of trouble with my game mechanic.
>tabletop
>using dice pools

The range of dice allowed in a pool is between 1 and 7 six-sided dice. I've come up with a challenge system in which certain tasks or events have a challenge value (CV). Say the CV for hacking a computer is 3. This means that players must roll 3 successes using the dice in their dice pool in order to hack the computer. In my system a success is a result of 5, a fail is a result of 1, and a critical success (this counts as two successes) is a 6. Each results of 1 takes away a single success result. Results of 2, 3, or 4 are neutral and offer no consequences good or bad. So if you have 7d6 in your dice pool, and you roll it and get results of 2, 2, 5, 6, 4, 1, 5 this means you passed and successfully hack the computer.

My question is, what would be an appropriate number of Challenge Values in order to ensure a fair system? I was thinking of CVs 1-5.

What do you guys think?

>>49438401
I had a whiff of inspiration one day, created a very basic mechanic with a shoddy story. Played with friends to test the mechanic, and they enjoyed it. Going on a full year now and I'm still working on the damned thing. 30 pages of just outline shit on a Word document. I keep running into problems with my core mechanic.

>>49473268
It seems too easy to me; there's a greater margin of success than failure, and the margin of neutrality is too big. Rolling an average 6d6 would mean a net gain of 1 success. I'd use 10-sided die and scale the rolls to accomodate them. 8, 9, and 10s would be successes, 1, 2, and 3s would be failures, and the rest would be neutral

>>49473340
What's the problem?

Whats the downsides and upsides of spamming the 'advantage/disadvantage' mechanic from DND5?

^^^^I mean as a designer putting advantage into the game a lot.

>>49473714
>>49473720
The upside is metatactical depth. The system gains a lot of choices that can be made on a meta level about the actions in combat.

But that is also a downside, because it enforces metagaming, to play, instead of in character, the most efficient way. Unless you give characteristic advantage (as in, playing like the character would act, but that can get iffy) , when on the other hand you enforce a mechanical viewpoint on the character.

If you mean getting multiple advantages or disadvantaged during a single roll, same applies as with systems with several static bonuses: it becomes increasingly easy to forget some modifiers the character has, leading to inoptimal play.

>>49473268
>>49473635
Its not necessarily too easy. From my napkin math , each die is worth 0.33 Successes. You should expect to use 3 dice to guarantee 1 success. With a TN of 5, even 7 dice is only 2.33 successes. You'd need to be decently lucky to achieve TN 5 with max dice. There's probably one more level of probability that needs to be mathed out to see the probabilities really clearly, but I wouldn't be opposed to seeing it range from 1-5. TN 5 is technically doable with only 3 dice, but its something around a 5%? chance to do. With 7 dice it would be far easier, but that probability is what I don't know, so I can't help any further.

What are good free actions that aren't exploitable?

>>49473648

It's >>49473268, I can't seem to find a decent mechanic using D6s in dice pools.

>>49471407
Fate

>>49475475
What's your setting?

>>49477142
1970's reality. No magic or anything like it.

>>49477180
Reloading a weapon is always a good free, or half, action. As a half action it seems better, but if you're using free actions to reload, put a mechanic for jamming. This will stop them from exploiting it. Of course this will only apply to small weapons that would be easy to reload.

Dodging is a good free action. This helps if you have a character that is about to bite it, but has no actions left. With dodging as a free action, it gives them a chance to escape to fight again.

Dropping an item. Just letting go of it and letting it hit the ground.

Making an observation during conflict. Like spot checks, or perception rolls.

>>49473268
>>49473635
>>49474279
What if I also mentioned that you can combine dice pools to help with harder CVs?

So if a character has a dice pool of 5 and another dice pool of 7, they can use 12 dice for a challenge. Or if two or more characters want to help each other, then they all roll their dice pools and use that collectively.

I need help with this system i am creating, the main mechanic is a dice pool of six sided die, stats+skill > DC, ignore 1 and 6 explode, there are 6 stats(Agility, Strength, Character, Intelligence,Acumen,Luck) at character creation you can distribute 20 dice, minimum of 1 and maximum of 5, then you have the skills and this is where i find the problem, i don't want the game to be bloated with lots and lots of dice, i want a smaller pool, so i considered this options:

if you roll more than 5 dice, all extra dice are counted as a "+3", the only problem with this is that it will become harder to fail, dont know if the game would become easier.

any ideas?

>>49479752
+3 is worse than another d6. The average result of a d6 is 3.5, plus they explode on 6 in your system. Youll thus have a natural dropoff at >5dice, whether this is "too easy" is contextual.

>>49480119
Difficulties are like this
Very Easy 2-5
Easy 6-10
Medium 11-15
Hard 16-20
Very Hard 21-30
Heroic 31+

the thing is that i like my dice pools small

>>49480275
I don't know if you care but we've gotta keep this thread alive somehow; players don't like large dice pools, you'd be surprised how many people have difficulty adding a string of numbers together in there head.

Which would you guys prefer for a card-based resolution mechanic? Standard 52-card deck? Or tarot cards?

If I go with tarot cards, the major arcana cards will be considered dead cards in your hand for purposes of tests, but are discarded as a cost for spells (you pass tests by playing two matching cards from your hand and adding the values plus bonuses against a difficulty rating).

A standard 52-card deck is easier to obtain and has fewer widgets to mess around with, but maybe also a less design space and less flavor/conceptual space.

What do you think?

>>49483320
This is something I've been thinking about lately myself.

Tarot cards definitely have more flavor, but unless you're custom printing them that flavor may not be congruent with your game.

A standard deck is more sterile and much, much more common. I think that alone justifies its use. I also think that, depending on how your game is setup, it doesn't have drastically less design space.

>>49483468

It's pretty cheap to get custom cards printed through DriveThruRPG and things like that. That isn't an issue.

>>49483019
i want my players to stop being retards so it will work they trust me, as far i have seen this alternatives

-You only have skills, every skill starts with 2d6
-after 5d6 all other dice count as +3
-skills count as flat +1,+2,+3, etc..

more ideas?

>>49483320
Most people have normal playing cards in their house. The few that don't can get them easily at the local dollar store or whatever.

Most people do not own Tarot cards and are probably not willing to go to the weird hangouts where they could acquire Tarot cards.

BUUUUUUT the mechanics seem more in tune with using tarot cards. Maybe provide a PDF of some that can be printed for players who don't wanna schelp out to the local witchcraft store and suffer being in a witchcraft store among fat SJW wiccans to acquire tarot cards.

Or, better yet, base the rules around using a shuffled 52-card deck with meanings for the various suits or face cards or whatever (or with cards removed, even) AND provide a PDF of more stylized cards that may be used if a gm so chooses. That way, you accomodate both the lazy/shy who don't wanna get Tarot cards while also promoting the sorts of Dank Style that might make your game a little more popular or unique.

>>49483496
I think in the world of indie games, it is an issue. If you have name recognition then you can get away with something like Invisible Sun, but if you're a no-name every dollar added makes it a harder sell. If you're not doing something wildly innovative, it probably won't catch on.

>>49483864
>>49483540

Well, I like the printable card suggestion, as well as the optional major arcana suggestion.

I'll mull it over.

>>49483540
>and are probably not willing to go to the weird hangouts where they could acquire Tarot cards.
You can buy tarot cards at Barnes & Noble or sometimes literally Wal-Mart. They can also buy them online.

>>49480275
I'm actually having this same issue with my system. It seems like my dice pools are too large. (15 dice at once seems ridiculous). I can't pin down how to make the dice pools smaller without making the system too hard, or scaling down my difficulties without making the system too easy.

>>49484879
^^^I figured coming up with a way to make the neutral dice provide something other than just being neutral. However providing bonuses make it seem wayyyyy too easy.

>>49484702
They can also just play a different game that doesn't require they go buy tarot cards

>>49484879
>15
Literally how? The most I've ever considered doing is 8d10 for character creation, and that's because the rolls determine more than stats. Everything else is 2d10

>>49484947
Or the GM provides the deck

>>49484968
>Or the GM provides the deck
still requires they go buy something they might not have had before -- a very simple roadblock that could turn a lot of people off from trying the game. Same reason home editions of lightgun games and DDR don't take off.

>>49484980
They can be printed. Just treat them as a supplemental material like custom character sheets or item cards

>>49484968
Well, I started by doing whatever you stat value is equals your dice pool. The highest a stat could be was 15...so..you got 15 dice. I immediately realized that was a mistake.

Now I do your stat divided by 2 equals your dice pool. Round down to nearest whole number. So all dice pools are now 7, with some being 10 based on racial traits. Only one stat can have a dice pool that equals 10 as well. So..

This led me to try and find a challenge rating that you had to match or go above in order to succeed. The highest I could think of without screwing people was 5. With seven dice, you need at least 5 of them to roll a 5 or 6 in order to succeed. If you roll a 1 then it subtracts from your successes by 1.

Maybe I should do a success based in degrees? Like if you roll a number of successes within the number determines how well you succeeded?

>>49485021
>They can be printed.
Not everyone has the right kind of printer to handle card stock. Not everyone is willing to get a hold of one.

Why can you not understand that peripherals make a game have a barrier to entry that not everyone is willing to overcome? Are you planning to use D30s and Scopa cards for your system too?

>>49485082
>card stock
Oh geez

>>49485117
P A P E R

J A M S

>>49485128
Photo paper.

Depending on the brand it's almost as sturdy as card stock. The smallest packs are 25 sheets which is more than enough to print an entire deck, or multiple copies of the arcana. If you print them the size of regular playing cards you can even print the suit cards and the card backs.

At most it's a one-time 7 dollar expense, which is less expensive than fancy dice.

If you don't have a printer that can handle photo paper you either go to your friend's house and use their printer or go to your local library. 10 cents per page.

Or you can spend literally 10 dollars to buy yourself a tarot deck, which can be used for actual cards games and not just fortunetelling.

You're a tabletop player. Get creative.

>>49484879
Why not both?

>>49485252
I tried.

This >>49485072 happened.

>>49485072
2d10 lets you roll from 0-99 on both skill checks and challenge ratings. Lots of room for subtlety, varying degrees of success and failure, progression ramps, and all that crunchy stuff

>>49485235
>everyone has a photo printer
>everyone has photo paper lying around
You're really not getting it, are you? It's extra effort (and money) to play a game that might not be any good. Most prospective players will not consider it worth it, and will not play his homebrew because it needs extra bits they don't already have.

If he's selling it online and the materials are included, sure, good, great. Plenty of games have bits that they need. But those games come with those bits. But this is not looking to be one of those games.

>>49485372
Literally just download a tarot card app. They're free.

>s-some people don't have smartphones

Use images online and have players note them as needed

>what if they don't have paper
>or hands to write
>or what if the GM doesn't have internet access a laptop

Get. Creative.

>>49485372
I'd also like to point out that I've lived in Korea for over five years (and I'm moving back).
It's insanely cheap to get cards printed out over there. People love their business cards over here. But if you ask the ajossi at the print shop to print out cards for a card game, he'll do it for similar rates. Good cardstock, too.

In the hypothetical event that I were doing a Kickstarter thing, I'd run the whole thing out of Seoul.
It's much cheaper to get things printed in Korea.
It's cheaper to ship things abroad from Korea than it is to ship things abroad from the USA.
And if I need to get miniatures made, it's easier to get in contact with a Chinese manufacturer from Korea than it is from the states.

>>49485413
>Literally just download a tarot card app.
His design called for bidding and picking up tarot cards into a hand, and each player doing this independently. A "tarot card app" isn't gong to do that.

>>49485462
That's not true in north america though, card printing places are uncommon and places that print business cards here don't print much else

it's still MISSING THE FUCKING POINT THAT ITS EXTRA EFFORT FOR PROSPECTIVE PLAYERS THAT A LOT OF THEM ARE NOT GOING TO BOTHER WITH FOR SOME TWO-BIT HOMEBREW FROM 4CHAN

>>49485486
Calm yourself, my excitable friend.

Anyway, I'm designing a niche thing for a niche audience. That's all any of us are doing, really.

So I'll design for a particular niche of hardcore gamers that happen to either own tarot cards, or have the means to print out tarot cards.

>>49485486
Tarot apps can handle card spreads of up to 78 cards, along with custom spreads.

Make a pile for each player and have them choose cards from them to bid and redeal them as needed.

Why are you getting so worked up about this?

>>49485534
>Why are you getting so worked up
Because you're not fucking listening, you yankee cunt. Fucking typical american, totally unable to get the point of anything without a KnowYourMeme page about it. Kill your fucking self.

>>49485682
Chill out, my Canadian friend to the North.

If people cannot or will not buy tarot decks, print out tarot decks either at home or from a print shop, or use a phone app, then I can provide rules for adapting the game to a standard 52-card deck.
I want to use the major arcana for spells, and because I like the aesthetic. If you take spells out of the game, and you don't care about the aesthetic, then you can use a standard deck of playing cards.

>>49485682
Oh, that's why

Got it

>>49485755
Split them into suits

Spades Ace-5 are the arcana 1-5
Hearts A-5 are arcana 6-10
Clubs A-5 are arcana 11-15
Diamonds A-5 are arcana 16-20
Black Jack is arcana 0
Red Jack is arcana 21

EZPZ no credit needed

>>49485812
See, that may get a bit confusing.

>The GM deals everybody a hand of four cards at the beginning of play.
>When the GM tells you to make a test, play two or more cards from your hand of matching suit or rank (pair of hearts, pair of 5's, etc.)
>Major arcana are dead cards for purposes of tests, but are there to be discarded as a cost to use spells

See, if we are shuffling additional cards into the deck to proxy as major arcana, it might result in frequent misplays as players misidentify major arcana as minor arcana and vise versa.

Now, what I could do instead is require that players discard *face cards* as a cost to use spells. That then would introduce a new layer of decision making without requiring dead cards in anybody's hand.

>>49485908
I misread your starting post. My apologies.

Your idea is sound.

>>49485979

Don't be sorry.
It lead me to a potentially good idea.

Face cards are valued at +10 to your test, keeping two-card tests within a more manageable 2-20 range.
Face cards, however, can be discarded as a cost to cast spells. So you have to make a choice between testing high and using magic.

Adds a bit of a different dynamic.

>>49486074
Keep us updated

I'd like to see it turn up in a pdf share thread or something someday

What's a good way to implement & incentivise betrayal and being a mole with a recurring game? I don't want to reward the mole, but I want to make sure they have a motive to stay IC.

>>49487710
Also it's a team-based game, with characters hopefully lasting around 10 sessions.

Something sad about people just regurgitating the "dice pool" meme now. No originality.

>>49488089
We want dice pools with a twist

>>49483540
Both books a million and barns&nobel sell tarrot cards
Just find the occult/spiritual/ghost story section

>>49455805
This sounds like the weeb game Long Live the Queen.

What would be the probability curves for a 2d6 system with advantage/disadvantage like D&D 5th?

>>49488089
>meme
This word has lost all meaning.

>>49491010
http://anydice.com/program/8cc0

That site in general is very helpful for figuring out dice probabilities.

>>49492305
I got it on my own but thank you.

>>49446171
>There could be a community pool of dice which players use to perform actions.
That's a good idea

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What makes a game 'fast paced' in your opinion, and how to achieve that?

>>49493824
Fast paced for me is how quick the resolution is, leaving the play time to desicion making, not how it happens.

>>49493824
Trns not bogged down with lots actions of stuff. Simple combat decided in a handful of turns.

>How to achieve that?
I'm trying to merge & limit actions during in my game, and keep combat brutally crunchy (health averages 20 points where weapons do up to 2d10+modifier damage).

Another idea for basic resolution
2d6 > DC , ignore ones and 6 explode, there is advantage and disadvantage, you lose or add an extra d6

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>>49495103
It sounds like you are just fishing for random ideas with this.

http://anydice.com/program/9722

Your 2d6 exploding, ignore 1s is basically the same thing as 2(1d5+1) just to make things simpler. The 2d6 has a most common value at 7 but an average at nearly 10, thanks to how regularly dice will explode.

1d6 exploding, ignore 1s gives an equal chance to 2, 3, 4, and 5, with an average around 5.

3d6 exploding, ignore 1s gives 10-11 as the most common number and with an average of around 15.

In other words: the most common numbers rolled are still the same. Adding or removing a single die results in a +5 or -5 change in the expected average value.

>>49493824
Having the actions resolved quickly. Even 3.5 could be played blisteringly fast if players knew all the requirements for their actions before they did them. Problem was, the common style of play didn't lend itself to do that, and so the turns slogged on.

Some people try to get around this by simplifying options so there isn't too much to think through. Some add time limits to how much preparation time you might have. Some try to get the whole situation (i.e. combat) over as quickly as possible. There's probably some more that I can't think of, but there are ways to help encourage players to play faster.

Would you rather have a system where you roll your dice as challenges come up, or a system where you roll all your dice at the start of a confrontation and use them as you see fit?

>>49496979
The latter sounds more exciting

>>49497010
I agree, but I'll have to figure out how to make it fail forward. I hate it when failing the roll means nothing happens, and I think having a random, decoupled chance of a positive/negative circumstance really helps move the narrative and keeps things exciting.

This is also a no GM roll system. Right now monsters/NPC statblocks just have a challenge rating and a number of HP - to attack them or dodge their attacks is the same number (unless they have a "twist"), and succeeding at attacks depletes their HP.

The thing is, PCs are limited by the number of "AP" they have, which is also their HP. AP is spent to attack, defend, etc and is also used up when failing to defend.

If I have the PCs roll all their AP at the start, spend it as they encounter challenges and lose it as they fail defense rolls, I need to find a way to make NPCs similarly limited. I fear that making them work the same (AP = HP) would mean too much bookkeeping for the GM and lead to too long fights.

>>49493824
Less rolling, less math.

The pace is settled from how long it takes from someone saying a thing to calculating, rolling and resolving the thing, basically.

If you need to check multiple modifiers and check some tables etc, the game can usually be said to be a slow-paced one, and if it's basically say the thing, roll the thing, immediate reaction, it's a fast-paced one.

And this excludes special cases such as criticals and fumbles.

This also means that a seasoned GM can basically make any game fast-paced due to knowing the ruleset well enough. So a game cannot really be inherently fast-paced, unless we start to measure averages.

>>49496979
The latter sounds interesting, to say the least.

>>49497413
The NPC case could be fixed by giving the opponents AP according to the GROUP rather than individual, and as singular opponents are defeated (when thematically appropriate basically), the total diminishes by the divisor.

You could also just build the NPC:s to have static hit-amount -points, meaning x character needs to take X hits to go down, unless thematically appropriate before that. You can also make the thematical appropriateness either obsolete or key; if an opponent is struck down from a high platform, if they haven't taken enough hits they grab a hold of the ledge, or opponents cannot be taken down unless explicitly stated how they are defeated (such as struck down from a ledge, finished off with a big attack, taken down without anyone noticing etc)

I really like the system, all in all. It has potential to give some really interesting choices, as the amount the players can do is always at the tip of their fingers.

Failing forward, though... Then you should take into account WHAT the characters are doing. Challenge ratings can go up or down depending on how interesting or logical the action / plan is. If someone fails on plan A, it should affect plan B, either positively or negatively.

That's just and idea though.

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Hey guys, I'm making an RPG in gamemaker studio.

I was just wondering if making alternate descriptions of situations depending on the character's alignment is a good idea.

For example
>law character
"The gauntlet looks like a powerful artifact, but putting it on might result in an unexpectedly long journey and alternation of fate. Just looking at its devilish shape sends a chill down your spine."

>chaos character
"The gauntlet looks like a powerful artifact. Its wild energy catches your eye and makes you shiver. Perhaps putting it on might grant you a couple of benefits worth the seemingly unreasonable price."

Keep in mind, english isn't my native language so it might sound absolutely shit. I'm just asking if the general idea is good.

>>49498250
Do you want to do this with every single instance that comes up? Because that is basically what you would need to do.

You might also want to make the descriptions a bit more general, and/or a bit more inclined towards how a character would feel. For example.

>Law character
"The gauntlet looks like a powerful artifact, with gemstones and sharpened blades made for causing painful wounds. Handling it fills you with a sense of uneasy."

>Chaotic character
"The gauntlet looks like a powerful artifact, with gemstones and sharpened blades made for causing painful wounds. You feel the distinct desire, in the back of your head, to test how effective it truly is."

This could work especially well if the same descriptions could apply to other magical equipment, such as cursed weapons. Does your chaotic character feel the desire to put on the gauntlet because it is a Chaos gauntlet, and so will work well for them? Or do they feel the desire because the weapon is cursed, and will hurt them? Conversely, a lawful character might feel a repulsion because the item is not unlawful, or perhaps because the item is designed to be undesirable to everyone as a way of protecting it.

Found this, might help people with what works & what doesn't

http://rpg-design-patterns.speedykitty.com/doku.php

>>49498357
>Do you want to do this with every single instance that comes up?

Nope, only with a couple of situations, such as finding important items or talking with particular NPCs. I have a lot of free time and writing alternate versions of these short descriptions will probably take less time than drawing and coloring the backgrounds and character portraits.

This gauntlet is a cursed item, but it's found randomly (or so it seems). I think that an average person would consider it just a new piece of equipment and I'm sure that many people would fall for it.

Grabbing the item contributes to getting one of the chaos endings, so I want to show the people with law characters that grabbing it isn't really a good idea. Players with chaos characters, on the other hand, will probably be satisfied with the consequences.

So, basically, this
>Does your chaotic character feel the desire to put on the gauntlet because it is a Chaos gauntlet, and so will work well for them?

8.5" x 11" or 6" x 9"?

>>49498250
It might be better to separate descriptions and feelings

>description
"The gauntlet looks like a powerful artifact..."

>law character's feelings
"...and sends a chill down your spine as you examine the menacing engravings."

>chaos character's feelings
"...and one you'd be proud to wreak havok with."

The upside to this is that similar feelings about objects removes duplicate descriptions, and makes it easier to write.
>>49498858
Printer paper's easier to get, but 6x9 can be cut from printer paper. It's your choice.

>>49498887
Oh shit, I haven't thought about that. Thanks anon.

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Hey /tg/, I'm trying to homebrew a system for sci-fi combat. Currently most humans will have around 10-11 HP total and rifles deal 1d8 damage on a hit, does that sound ok or should it be tweaked? HP won't increase every level, but I think having armour and shields will help once the players get them.

>>49498987
Really depends on how lethal you want your game in particular to be. At that rate a human can survive as few as two bullets or as many as 11; they'll probably take about three or four. If that's the level of lethality you want, go for it.

Is this list of cars too much or too redundant? I want there to be variety, but not at the expense of needlesness and redundancy.

http://pastebin.com/CuE3ndjQ

>>49438401
Stay unprofessional, you get shit if you try to cater to a demographic instead of doing something you want to play yourself, and the latter might be something people are willing to throw money at. If a thing you do is good, put it out as a PWYW. Hell, do a print run if feeling bold.

These guys have the right idea:
>>49438503
>>49439972
>>49440218

>>49498987
>>49499016

Depends, how is armour supposed to work? Soaks damage taken / makes it harder to have a hit follow through / fuck with the damage dice / other? Reducing damage rolled is fundamentally different from, say, d20-type-AC approach when crunching the numbers.

Initiative resolution with chits - a threat or a possibility?

To be a bit more precise - instead of rolling and fumbling around with a notepad or something, have tokens in a bag and draw the player/character/critter that goes next (numbered for NPCs?) and put them to the side once they've had their actions. Once the bag is empty, the round is finished, dump the tokens back in and repeat until done.

Pro: facilitating random order for each round without bookkeeping shenanigans.
hit/miss: no information on the turn order for any of the parties involved, more chaos in short-term tactics.
Con: no simple way to use adjustments for the "roll".

>>49499305

Armour absorbs the damage for X amount of times damage is taken. E.g. 2 | 4 armour reduces damage taken by 2 for 4 times damage is taken.

>>49498987
>>49499016
>>49499665

Like said, depends on the lethality you want out of the system - I'd be completely fine with the possibility of dropping dead from the first rifle slug if not wearing proper armour, so a 2d6 as damage would probably be what I'd use to start playtesting with - there's a small chance of killing pretty much anyone, but it's not terribly likely. The damage averages at near the original max value though, and drops the expected shots to kill to two or three, but the actual play-situation can be fixed by encouraging the use of proper armour. Folding it and running seems like a good idea, if one survives getting shot they probably don't want to get shot again.

Open-ended damage dice might work as well, if a flattening curve is more to your liking than a bell.

Naked dudes in sci-fi should be made of plasticine IMO, but YMMV.

What's a general guideline you follow when making a homebrew? What are the most important rules and systems?

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>a game where players can dictate how long combat will last (ie "This combat will last one roll; whichever side wins this role will have won the battle.")
>a game where combat ends after a set number of rounds and whoever has done the most damage wins (ie "It's the fifth and final round of combat and the monsters have done 2 more damage than the players - can they pull ahead?")
Which do you prefer?

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>>49501268
both sound boring IMO.

The first one is a coin toss with no thought behind it, and the second one is just a slugfest.

Not a fan of either dude

>>49501328
Would you say a game where the goal is to deplete one side's HP is a slugfest?

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>>49501369
Yes.

Not all fights are to the death, and one can win his battles through clever use of the environment or other influencing factors.

>>49501385
Then how would you handle conflict?

In the game I'm thinking of, the stakes would be set out beforehand ala Dogs in the Vineyard - so it's not necessarily a duel to the death or even a violent conflict, and NPCs or players could always forfeit if the stakes aren't worth the risk.

>>49501416
Not him, but either the classical way (set HP, lose it all & you're KO/dead) or, if it's for show, until the viewing audience is satiated.

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>>49501416
The same way conflict has always been handled: until one side gives up.

Enemies that DONT give up are truly something to be feared, because they take the conflict farther than it needs to go

>Kingdom Death: Monster + Monster Hunter
Good idea?
Too much alike?
Has it already been done?

>>49503038
Double bump

Remember in an earlier thread, people were asking about Richard Garfield's Characteristics of Games. It's a really indepth book on game design
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B94q3z-ahSlVNTc3UTd3TkU5dnc/view?usp=drive_web

>>49501416
Obviously not that anon, but my system has something like that, but not quite.

Any time you take wounding damage (this can be social or mental damage in addition of physical) you roll your passive stat against the amount of wounds you have. If you roll same or lower, you have to exit conflict. How long you take with it and how you exit is up to you, but it must be appropriate for the type and amount of wounds you have.

This means that in theory, the first attack in the combat can be the one that ends it, and even with one wound, you can be out. Of course, if you take one physical damage, that does not mean that you die or lose consciousness, it just means you got somehow immobilized.

>>49485908
>air of hearts, pair of 5's, etc.)
>>Major arcana are dead cards for purposes of tests, but are there to be discarded as a cost to use spells
>>49483320
>>49483540
>>49485235

No need to print cardstock, opaque sleeves and standard deck/trash-MtG cards/pretty much anything of that size, and bog-standard office paper can be used to make a deck of cards.

If you're getting serious with this, doing a print run of an official custom deck might be worth it, since it allows for game specific art or explanations of rules in the cards themselves (see: Hounds of the Sea has a custom oracle deck with the table results right in the cards, I think Protocol System and A Quit Year might've at least planned something similar, would work for iaWA or the like as well). Making a proxy deck without shit lying around is roughly the same amount of monies as buying a funky deck fresh off print, so the pimped-out run would be desirable for people who like the game.

If it's based of a tarot/standard deck, it can also be used as both/the latter for other purposes. Get dank and thematically appropriate art.

My game's run into a problem. Should I:

>Keep it the way it is, in it's very narrow scope
>Make it more open, but at the expense of diluting the main focus of the game

>>49464570
Same here boyo, I'm writing an airship combat game with complex boarding maneuvers, it's a bitch to track relative distance of 2 craft, and what y axis level their on. Shitsux, haven't found a good solution yet (bundling software with my game to track it is the best idea ive had yet :D)

So I guess let's talk about that. How do you folks feel about a game coming with a free app store download of a calculator app for your game (or something more relevant if you're not making an airship combat sim). Obviously it's better to have no required software or extra tools, but if it's simple and quick and free is it such a bad idea?

>>49504595
Usually if you want to make bigger-scope games, that should be the intent from the beginning.

I say go for narrow scope, due to that. If you start bloating the game for the sake of making it bigger, the end product is going to be messy. If the game originally had a narrow vision, there is usually a reason for it. For example, if there are a certain kind of superhumans in the setting, if someone makes a character that is not said type of superhuman, do they have any chance of being relevant?

Pamp

For ease of comprehension, lets say Im thinking of a system which uses a cardgame style "mana" system, where your stats and the envirnment determine how much of each of 6 types of "mana" you have at any given moment to spend on various actions, like using magic or enhancing rolls. Im having a hard time deciding how to give the players their options for spending "mana" on.

My ideal scenario would be thay every player has access to every option in the game at all times, and is only limited by whay kinds and quantities of mana their character can feasibility generate, but this thrusts a huge burden of knowledge on every player, requiring each of them to memorize the equivalent of a dnd spell list, or worse yet and far more likely, constantly pause the game to review that list.

Another option is to make the game class based, with options being thematically categorizes into small clusters thrown into a class each. But I dislike class systems for all the normal reasons.

I could have options be bought point-buy individually, so players can just pick the ones they want consistant access to and stick with them, like build-a-class, but this lends itself quickly to ivory tower design with inevitable trap options and broken builds, and pressure on the players to handle that while also trying to satisfy their character image.

I could do what actual cardgames do and just give the players a small bumber of options randomly or semirandomly generated, but this feels too gamey.

Finally, i could abstract all the options away, and just say "x mana does x kind of things, the GM decides how much you must spend to accomplish a goal you name, and of what kind" but thay has obvious problems as well.

Typing on my phone so sorry if this comes out a bit sloppy, but id appreciate any insight or opinions.

>>49504595
Keep it narrow. Trying to make the game into something it was not built for just ends in tears. Look at 40k Apocalypse.

So I made a game system a while ago (back when I was in high school) and now looking back I want to fix it (the weapons were all really OP I believe). How would you guys adjust it?

https://docs.google.com/document/d/13PAM8iJH4A_jX9J6vJmto_8InK4jCRVj99kJvDwLNxo/edit?usp=sharing

Did OREhammer, 40k conversion to ORE, ever get anywhere? I'm thinking of picking it up though I'm sure if Reign or Wild Talents would work better to base it off of.

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>>49504506
I wouldn't even need to hire an illustrator. I am an illustrator, and I've been wanting to do my own custom tarot deck anyway.

A few other things I want to do with the cards:

>Random Character Generation
I want players to be able to generate characters randomly simply by drawing cards from the deck.
I'm stealing a page out of JRPG's by allowing characters to have up to three character classes plus up to three "dark gifts".
Each player simply draws three cards from the deck. They draw again for each major arcana card they draw. If they end up with more than three major arcana cards, they discard down to three.
Minor arcana cards determine your class, and major arcana cards determine your dark gifts.
Add up ability adjustments from each of your classes and dark gifts to determine your base ability scores then allocate points as desired.
Select skills from your class skill lists or from the general skill list.

I like random character generation.
It speeds up character creation by taking analysis paralysis out of the equation, and it helps to prevent character optimization.
More experienced groups can, of course, have the option to select classes and dark gifts as desired.

>Scenario Generation
GM's can use tarot deck spreads as random seeds to generate adventures and encounters.

>>49504620
Any app should only be for convenience sake, that is, I should be able to do everything without the app (in case I don't iPlone or Android or such)

>>49504620
You might take a look at Flying Mice Games. They have a small handful of aerial and space combat focused games published IIRC and the movement systems have received some praise in reviews. Not my thing though, so I can't really go very in depth on how they work in play.

I need an opinion on something.

I want to have 13 classes in my game.
Each class grants a +2 bonus to two of the six ability scores, except for one that gives a +1 bonus to all six ability scores (comes with a small drawback).
Now, if each class gives a +2 to two different ability scores then there are fifteen possible combinations. I only have enough room for twelve of those combinations. I have to drop three.

Which combinations should I drop?

I should mention that there are five combat abilities derived from your six basic abilities.

[(STR+CON)/2] = Fortitude
[(DEX+INT)/2] = Reflex
[(WIS+CHA)/2] = Will
[(STR+DEX+WIS)/2] = Physical Attack
[(CON+INT+CHA)/2] = Magic Attack

So the combinations can be broken up into the following groupings:

>Physical Attack Focus
STR/DEX
STR/WIS
DEX/WIS

>Magic Attack Focus
CON/INT
CON/CHA
INT/CHA

>Defense Focus
STR/CON (Fortitude)
INT/DEX (Reflex)
WIS/CHA (Will)

>Unfocused
STR/INT
CON/DEX
INT/WIS
DEX/CHA
STR/CHA
CON/WIS

I was thinking that if anything, I should drop three combinations from the unfocused group.

What say you?

>>49511951
I want 13 because it makes it easy to generate characters randomly using a 52 card deck of playing cards. Each rank (A, 2-9, JQK) corresponds to a class. You draw three cards and each card drawn represents one rank in that class.
I like this setup because it is simple.

>>49511951
Dropping three from the Unfocused group does sound best. The only alternative I can think of is to switch the +1 class to instead let them pick two ability score which gain +2. Steps on the toes of the other a bit but I've always like the opportunity for 'custom' classes.

>>49512110

Alternatively, the 13th class could also get a +0 to all abilities, but have a starting class feature that grants them floating ability bonuses in limited combinations.

>Broken
Bricolage Starting Class Feature
Benefit: When you gain this feature, select two 'pieces' from the following list, and gain their ability bonuses (you may select the same shard twice):
+Clock Pieces (+1 Str, +1 Int)
+Driftwood Pieces (+1 Con, +1 Dex)
+Glass Pieces (+1 Int, +1 Wis)
+Doll Pieces (+1 Dex, +1 Cha)
+Armor Pieces (+1 Str, +1 Cha)
+Stone Pieces (+1 Con, +1 Wis)

>>49512311
If I consolidate all the unfocused pairings into the 'Bricolage' class (all these names are tentative placeholders btw, even the ability score names) then I could cut the class roster down to just 10. Or I could use the remaining three slots to explore some other areas of design space.

Is having perks & quirks (permanent boosts and detriments taken at level up) a good replacement for classes? What are the drawbacks?

>>49512311
I like the bricolage idea. What if at a certain level (near endgame, most likely) you could create an object or device to boost the stats its respective pieces make? Like a clock set in stone, or a masterwork spyglass?

>>49512609
That is a great idea!
Could be a fun higher level feature.
I was also thinking the bricolage could get some kind of dilettante feature giving them a non-starting feature from another class.
Very much a custom class.

As for your question:
>Is having perks & quirks (permanent boosts and detriments taken at level up) a good replacement for classes? What are the drawbacks?

I would have to know more to give you a definite answer. Are you talking about something along the lines of Fallout?
Fallout doesn't have classes, but it does have a level system and the option to take feats and distribute skill points as you gain levels. It works fine for Fallout.
I guess the drawback would be a certain lack of strong archetypes and conceptual coherence among characters, and increased complexity (I.E. slower) character creation.

Brainstorming classes..

>Martial
Veteran (STR/WIS) [Support]
Swordsman (STR/DEX) [Defense]
Scout (DEX/WIS) [Control]

>Caster
Bard (CON/CHA) [Support]
Puppeteer (CON/INT) [Defense]
Magician (INT/CHA) [Control]

>Apostle (?)
??? (WIS/CHA) [Support]
Berserker (STR/CON) [Defense]
??? (INT/DEX) [Control]

>Oddity
Bricolage (Variable) [Variable]
Undead (???) [???]

Are there already any trading card games that use a cost reduction mechanic where costs can go negative and thus let you GAIN resources?

>>49512713
Yeah, kinda like fallout, but you only take them at character creation. A character would have 2-6 of each, and they would affect checks and difficulty of rolls. Their level however would derive from their attributes, like speed and endurance.

>>49512967
I would have to see it in action, but it sounds interesting.
Could you post an example for us?

>>49512943
Not that I am aware of.

>>49512933
Priest or something similar for WIS/CHA
Illusionist (the street magic kind) or something similar for INT/DEX

>>49512996
Some perks include:
Lockpicker: bonus to opening manual & tech locks
I Know a Guy: reduced cost for black market items
Dead Eye: bonus to ranged weapon checks
Big Guy: bonus to strength and endurance

Some quirks include:
Druggie: addicted to a player-selected herb
Lustful: detriment to interaction checks against characters of the opposite checks
Prime target: player is targeted by hostile NPCs first
Tongue tied: detriment to speech and intimidation checks

>>49513210
What I might recommend is grouping your perks into categories like:
>Combat Perks
>Support Perks
>Utility Perks

Then encourage (but don't require) players to select one perk from each category for balanced characters that can contribute to a variety of situations.

Also, are all your perks and quirks going to be equally weighted? I mean, is every perk going to be balanced with every other? Or are you going to do some kind of point-buy thing?

>>49513055
Good idea.

I think Apostle is the wrong word for this group of classes.
I am drawing inspiration from Berserk, but the egg things should be 'dark gifts' rather than class features.

>>49513576
I also see that you have Swordsman listed as defense even though it doesn't raise CON. Is there a reason for that?

>>49513576
I intend to have a large list of perks & quirks, and hope to keep them fairly balanced with one another. I don't have number values decided for anything yet, and I need a lot of rules and items to add before I can focus on that.

>>49513893
Forced symmetry, and a placeholder name.

Also, maybe I should elaborate on the roles a bit.

>Support
Group healing, group buffing, and improved action economy

>Control
Ranged area attacks, group debuffing, and action denial

>Defense
Self-healing, self-buffing, melee area attacks, single-target debuffing, and action denial

Everyone deals damage.

Different classes sharing a role might specialize in a particular area of that role.

But it's still a work in progress.

>>49514048
That clears it up a lot.

You may not need to change the name; the description of the job can illustrate why Swordsman is a defense class.

Best alternative to hit points?

>>49514326
>>49512933

To elaborate on the system a bit more:
You get thee skill selections at character creation, chosen from among your class skill lists or from the general skill list.
Each class has one starting skill; these are compulsory selections.
Classes may also have free skills. You gain free skills automatically when you take a rank in a class, and they don't count against your skill selection slots.

>Veteran
STR +2, WIS +2
Starting Skill: War Cry (Allies in your aura gain temporary hit points)

>Swordsman
STR +2, DEX +2
Starting Skill: Stalwart (Enemies in your aura take a penalty and trigger your opportunity attack when they attack your allies)

>Scout
DEX +2, WIS +2
Starting Skill: Hook Line (Drive 'spikes' into your surroundings, creating spaces that impede enemy movement while increasing your own movement)

>Bard
CON +2, CHA +2
Starting Skill: Inspire (Allies in your aura increase their maximum hand size)

>Puppeteer
CON +2, INT +2
Starting Skill: Marionette (Summon a construct creature that protects you and your allies)

>Magician
INT +2, CHA +2
Starting Skill: Spirit Stones (Place spirit stones on the battlefield that block enemy line of sight and explode on contact)

>Priest
WIS +2, CHA +2
Starting Skill: Miracle (Heal one ally)

>Berserker
STR +2, CON +2
Starting Skill: Delayed Damage (Damage you would take from attacks fills up a delayed damage pool. Subtract the damage from your HP when the delayed damage pool empties at the end of your next turn.)

>Shadow
INT +2, DEX +2
Starting Skill: Void (Create zones of darkness that block enemy line of sight, and can be used for teleportation)

>Bricolage
Starting Skill: Broken (Select two pieces and gain their ability bonuses)


Additional class skills usually build on the classes starting skill either augmenting the effect or adding new uses.

>>49514564
>>49498424 defines wound tables and trauma gagues as more complex alternatives to the simple hit point system.

>>49514564
My game has a stamina system. You spend stamina to take actions and failing defense rolls damages your stamina.

When a point of stamina is spent, it becomes a point of stress. Every five stress becomes an injury, and taking too many injuries forces you to leave the confrontation.

The good news is, you can also spend stress just like you spend stamina, if you're in a pinch. The bad news is, it then becomes corruption. And if your corruption gets too high, you lose hope in your party and quest and flee until the other characters can talk you down.

Luckily roleplaying with your party can improve your bonds and reduce your corruption, and your stress becomes stamina again after a good rest. Injuries, however, require treatment to heal.

Finished the most recent draft of the rules so far. I could really use some feedback and help on things I'm missing to make it playable.

http://pastebin.com/8H5v6btZ

>>49515363
I'm going to be honest, my man: I'd be more inclined to read if you pasted this into Word/Drive, exported to PDF with a decent font and posted it here instead of using pastebin.

>>49515363
Looking at it right now.

Some more information about the game's reward mechanisms would be great. Like how many points you are supposed to award for specific crimes.

I'm very happy with progress on my document. I don't agree with how most people format their handbooks, and my approach has made it just more enjoyable to write and read

Did a gamejam today.

Built a game in 24 hours from concept to prototype.

I'm going to test it next week.

The theme I chose was a game where you can still win if you lose.

Dice mechanic that gives unskilled characters a small chance to succed high didifficulty?

>>49517215
And how is that?

>>49519729
exploding die

Is there some sort of guide about creating magic systems?

What are some opinions on a system where you have a pool of dice between 3d6 and 7d6. You do not add the results, just take face value of the dice (Think Shadowrun).

5 are +1
6 are +2
1 are -1
All others (2, 3, 4) are neutral.
Start at 0 and do the math.

Using this mechanic you must have a result between 2 and 7 to pass. Any result less than 2 is a fail, any result larger than 7 is a critical.

This applies to skill checks.

Combat is pretty much Shadowrun. You have to get more 5 and less 1 than your opponent.

>>49523000
It could work, but I wonder how fast it would be.

Do you guys like this mechanic?
1d10+attribute+skill > Dc

10 explode and you ignore 1

>>49523000
I've tested a very early version of this where 1's are failures, 5's and 6's pass. It went fairly smooth. Problem was I had huge as shit dice pools, like 8+ per character. It got way too ridiculous way too fast.

I haven't tested this system specifically, but with a max of 7 dice, I think it could go pretty quickly. As far as standard tabletops go.

The saving grace I think is not using the calculations part for combat. Combat is just
>Character rolls
>Enemy rolls
>Who has more 5 compared to 1?

>>49523000
So if I'm reading it right, its a 5 is a success, a 6 is two, and a 1 is -1 success, and you 2+ to pass, 7+ is a critical, correct?

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>>49522286

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>>49523300

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>>49523318

>>49523290
You win.

>>49523300
You were given the double dubs and still you fucked it up.
Onto something else. I watched two hours of D. Vincent Baker talking about game design, and I happen to be in a receptive mode, I had three lightning strike revelations in a row, still a little woozy from the information burst.

So, here's the deal.

My system is a double-stat-dice system (Like Ryuutama or Savage worlds (to a lesser extent) and [Lightning strike 1]:
What if instead of using the sum of the two dice, both dice are considered separately. The individual target numbers are of course half of the total TN, and the exchange between these numbers makes up the actual outcome: Rolling 2 on agility and 6 on strength is a different story from rolling 2 on strength and 6 on agility. The flavor of the action changes drastically, such as a tackle turning to a trip.

Then I went to get some groceries because I have not eaten properly due to mental problems and obsession, and struck by [Lightning Strike 2]: A spendable pool of action points, which can, in higher amounts, basically change the situation the game is in. Such as having items you never mentioned buying, like a sudden taser in your pocket.

This was followed by a recoil of that: Add the last point to crits, but it didn't work out perfectly, due to it being way more potent with social or mental stats than physical.

Then, while trying to buy groceries, [Lightning Strike 3]: My system has characteristic system, like traits in The One Ring, where you can get a static bonus on a roll if that trait is fitting to the roll.

My idea is an evolution of that and combination of the second strike: Rather than being a static bonus when appropriate, the player has a pool of points they can use to "activate" a characteristic, either before or after rolling the dice. If the dice go under the TN but the characteristic raises the roll over, the character will have some detriment due to being able to manage the roll only by the characteristic alone.

>>49523499
These all happened within a span of about half an hour, so my brain basically overloaded and is still recovering. Gotta write these down proper so I don't forget these strikes.

These changes really turn my system upside down, even though mechanics-wise there is little to no change whatsoever.

>>49523499
>>49523541
>sudden taser in your pocket

Reminds of that game where if you truly believe it, things happen. So like you run past a toy store while running from bad people shooting you. You find yourself in need of a gun. You smash the toy store window. You believe that a toymaker shoved a gun inside the teddy bear you grabbed. Guess what fucker? Now there's a gun in that teddy bear.

Now if enough people believe that something you want to happen wouldn't be feasible, then you roll against universal karma and if you fail, so does your spell.

Can't remember what that game is called though.

>>49523054

See >>49523253 Accidentally quoted the wrong post.

>>49523499
That second idea reminds me of a 007 board game I read about. It used these things called 'plot points' that autmatically crit a roll. Some rolls would have someone or something that's gone unnoticed by Bond appear when he needs them.

>>49523164
Why ignore 1? Just curious.

>>49523860
Funny, that kind of game actually is in the backburner of my head. Though the abilities in it are more varied than just that, they players are basically reality warpers, and instead of a regular map the players would have a time map with junctions. They can jump to different junctions and even go to situations where a single roll went differently. In the game, there is 1/1000 chance you roll a crit (The character power level is Reality Warper, so crits are HUGE), so you can basically jump to a timeline where you actually critted.

>>49523900
Something like that, yeah. Sounds neat.

By the way, now that I added CP (Characteristic points) as a metacurrency, do you think that having two metacurrencies (CP and Luck points) is too much?

Luck is used for straight-up rerolls or to replace any stat, where as CP can give +2 or +4 to an action after rolling (though it gives them that much mental damage).

I could theoretically cut Luck, but I adore luckster-type characters and want them to be viable, that being my reason for keeping it.

>>49525308
I guess it would come down to how they are earned? If one is rarer or hard to get, then I can see using both.

>>49523934
Something like "luck left you so you only have yourself"

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do you guys ever look at your stuff and say "what the fuck am i doing"

>>49525670
Yeah, but that happens with most things in my life. I tend to get over it and keep going.

Is a d6 only system viable? Will it help if it's for a newbie friendly game or it doesn't really matter?

>>49525732
every system is as viable as you make it regardless of what tools you use

>>49525468
As is, both are recovered at the beginning of the session, but is ultimately Luck is stronger (but more expensive to obtain exp-wise). Luck points are once-in-a-session thing, they cannot be recovered. The maximum of luck is 8, which is not only ludicrous but also requires either sacrificing all experience high starting points.

CP can be earned during play by taking -2s or -4s to rolls. What I was thinking for the alternative was to not make them recover between sessions, so that the players are basically forced to take gambles with -2s or -4s in rolls to recover them.

Basically: Luck = Careful player's option, CP = reckless player's option.

>>49525670
Visual style and simplicity is on point, but maybe you could use that fourth trait block for additional notes if you have no idea for the character. You got conjuration, do you have space for ability / spell lists?

>>49525732
d6-only systems are like any other. There's nothing special about them, really, other than approachability in the sense that everyone has some. But same could be said about systems that use playing cards (rare as they might be).

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>>49525808
shit i'm not gonna translate the whole thing

i have the whole sheet "done" and kinda edit it from time to time as i bring up new shit and reverse-engineer most stuff, i'm just having some issues with coming up with decent Traits or expanding/simplifying the whole thing

traits are supposed to be like "general knowledge in the field of x" and then you got more finely-tuned specializations (say, the Maces and Hammers specialization in Melee), it became a clusterfuck the moment i started but might as well go balls in before nuking it

with that in mind is there anything listed in >>49525670 that you guys think should be included and isn't or something that's included and doesn't really have a place?

I'm trying to come up with a name for my DnD but with furries game but I'm getting nowhere. How do you guys do it?

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>>49525935
First I gotta say that damn, that's a nice-looking piece, really on point. Much better than my current one ;DDD >pic related. At least you got the visuals down to the T. What program did you use?

About the layout and stuff... I can't read Spanish, so I gotta use translator...

It seems kinda wholesome, so it's kinda hard to say what it's lacking. It seems you just went balls-in to designing the sheet before actually knowing what was gonna end up there. Admitteldly, so have I, many times.

I really can't help you with that too much, the last bit is just kind of elusive. Unless you have some luck-system or something that could take up that space (even though that would probably require some rearrangement), I can't really put my finger on what to put there.

The last set of skills... Hmmm....

You don't seem to have perception there, unless you use a raw reaction roll or something for that.

Actually, now that I've looked at it, maybe you could make it another column for utility traits?

There's always some that would be useful, such as perception, stealth, resistance or smth, because your system seems to be low on those... Unless they're pure attribute rolls or smth.

>>49526119
Dungeons and Degenerates

>>49526146
Hey thanks, I actually have your charsheet saved for reference/inspiration purposes because it's really neat, or at least I think i recognize it

Most of those are raw attribute rolls - stealth was actually a separate trait but apparently most people prefer it to be a part of Survival

Actually yes, the sheet started out before the system itself and I'm kinda winging it because i'm a piece of shit but hey, as long as it works, right? I'll probably drop that method on the next build if this one doesn't work though

>>49526154
>not Dugeons and Dragon-dildos

>>49526249
I depends, really, on the platform you've made it with. I made mine with Indesign, meaning that any parts can be modified, and because they are vectors, there will be no stretch marks whatsoever.

I started doing mine, too, in a too early version. I originally planned it to be one-page-sheet, but hell no did that become too little. It was pretty to look at, but the text was too little to live with. I decided to stretch it to two pages, and ta-da, I was given a lot of space to build it again.

Your sheet doesn't look too busy yet though, so turning to two pages is probably unnecessary. Unless, of course, it is very small when printed. Hell, you're having problems filling one page!

You don't seem to have a place for credits..? Or I'm blind and can't read Spanish for shit, which I can't. Of course, that ain't a big enough thing to warrant a major change, but...

Hell, I'm kind of out of ideas. I guess your game is some sort of scifi-magic sort of deal? At least the aesthetic implies tacticool elements. Might be good to know what you're looking at to give perspective...

But this thread will probably die before I can reply again. I need to sleep, it's almost 2 am and I gotta go to uni come morn.