Game Design General /gdg/

No wonder I couldn't find the a thread for last couple of weeks, some numpty branded them /hbg/. Sheesh.

So homebrew has been rolled into /GDG/? I can dig it, like the OP image too.

Gonna repost my original question and polls.
>Armour/weapons/items/magic define the setting but at the same time the setting defines those too. Where would you start? Build a setting and incorporate appropriate items and wares, or build a list of wares and define the setting around them?

Right now I haven't given much thought to setting/mood, but over last night I had some ideas come to me that'd be sort of Malifaux-like in a weird sort of amalgamation of themes. I'll be finalising some of the notes I have on that setting idea to dump here for C&C.
Some Polls if you could
>Setting
https://strawpoll.com/9c846ee
>Tech Level
https://strawpoll.com/dwcx5r5

Thanks in advance

>>52761329
It has been /gdg/ for years. I have no idea where this /hbg/ stuff came from.

>>52761408
My bad. I wasn't aware. Only recently started posting as I saw /hbg/ pop up and thought it'd be a good way to track my thoughts as I'm forever jumping across infinitely expandly notebooks due to my inability to keep to just one.

>>52761329
>Medieval Low Magic Fantasy
>Magi-Tech
Hm, that would be an interesting combination, actually. Artifact weapons of a bygone era in an otherwise miserable middle-age setting... That's the shit that gets my dick hard.

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R8 my card designs, /gdg/.

Centre is my main project 'Immorta: Card Duels', which you've all commented on many times (and helped to shape). Before I get lambasted yes, the white bar needs addressing; it's a temporary addition I added to help separate card strength from condition. When I have the time I might replace it with some sword elements.

Left is a little side-project I started this long weekend while I wait for more art for my primary game. It's an attempt to make a fun 'micro-TCG' from free resources - every element on that card (and the other 76 cards) is free domain. The 'micro-TCG' design goal here is to create a game with depth which can be played off the back of buying a single 18-card booster. No one's ever really done that before, and I'm not sure if that's because it's not fun, or if it's because it's a terrible business model. I guess I'll find out!

Right is a long-suffering project of mine to create a strategic deck-building card game based around the concept of the eighteenth century fiscal-military state. I just now got the cards looking nice, so maybe I'll do some work on that after the Immorta kickstarter. Still trying to work out if I want to do real-world factions, or generic not-factions... each comes with its advantages and disadvantages. Thoughts on that particular conundrum?

>>52762716
I'm going to wait til I get home so I can see them better, so bump to keep the thread alive.

>>52762716
>Still trying to work out if I want to do real-world factions, or generic not-factions... each comes with its advantages and disadvantages.
What are the advantages/disadvantages? i sometimes think about this when creating fantasy settings, but because it's fantasy i think it's easy to get a free pass on creating "Not-place."

>>52762716
1. clean and simple. it's just mtg, so you can't go wrong. is your title text centered correctly? it looks off to me.

2. i like this one the least sorry. it's the floating indistinct boxes that bother me, i think. i don't really understand why you'd do it that way. why is the important info not part of the frame leaving the picture separate? it's just a mess desu. consider revising it to be more like design number one.

3. i actually really like this one. it's both clean and flavorful. i even like the way the elements flow over the the card and into the black border, it gives the card an interesing profile.

all in all not bad efforts for a garage developed. 6.5/10.

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>>52763706
Looking forward to your feedback. Alas, it's a poorly compressed jpg, but it gives an idea.

>>52764165
When you use a real world faction you attract people who admire that real world faction. If I added Prussia as a faction, history buffs who like Prussia will be more inclined to come to the game in order to play their favourite faction. But this is a double-edged sword: if I get Prussia wrong, or give it a flavour that doesn't gel with real world Prussia, those same people will tear me apart. At least if I choose to give 'not-Prussia' the best navy in the game, I can defend myself by saying "Yeah, I know Prussia didn't have a great navy, but this isn't Prussia, this is Silessa, lead by king Freddie The Large, and they *do* have a great navy."

Having a real faction locks you into constraints even while it attracts players, having a generic faction gives you freedom, but you have to work harder to get fans. That's how I see it, anyway.

>>52764250
The text is off centre, but it is centred if you cover up the circle on the end showing the cost. Perhaps it's not the best compromise.

That's such a damning critique that I'm not sure how to approach it. Pic related was my inspiration, I liked the 'full art' look, and wanted to emulate it. Maybe I'll encase some of those text boxes in line borders when I get home, see if that's cleaner. Otherwise maybe a complete redesign is in order. Thanks for the notes.

Thanks. This one came together pretty easily, too. Sometimes inspiration just strikes.

>>52762716
The biggest thing for me on the Immorta card is the borders of the boxes where the information is. I'm okay with the blurring effect, but its just a little too soft in that example.

I like the the right one, nothing too much to say about it. Only comment is to think about adding a border around the art for more important cards, like a portrait frame around historical figures.

The left one is meh to me. Nothing wrong, clean, simple, but that's it. Doesn't 'wow' me.

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>>52765178
That's a good idea re: putting a fancy portrait frame around important characters. Old Washington in that example image could do with one. Thanks. I agree, too, that the left card is pretty bland. might be worth zizzing it up, even if it is just for a free domain side-project. No half-assing it.

Speaking to the main attraction, I've taken yours and the other anon's critique into consideration (without completely tearing the design up). Here they are: no blur, and less blur. Also added some sword graphics. Am I going in the right direction?

>>52765986
Looking at them, I'm going to go with the border. I like that level of blur, but it feels like for another game, like a horror based one. So it stands out against the rest of the card design.

>>52766430
Yeah, I like it too. Also I can jigger the border colour to reinforce the bronze/silver/gold motif of different cards, which, as pointed out in a previous thread, can be confusing (especially between bronze and gold). Thanks for your observations, my man.

Maybe homebrew general was a better denomination. at least those threads got more than twenty posts before dying.

>>52768605
Maybe add both tags to the op? /hbg/ and /gdg/?

>>52761408
Not years, but its been /gdg/ for awhile. /hbg/ was long before /gdg/, but they're the same thread.

d% makes a great one roll mechanic:

% to hit (71%, for example)
inverse % (71 becomes 17) for the hit location
plus % (so 71 becomes 7+1 = 8) is damage
minus (module) % (so 71 becomes 7-1 = 6. 17 also would become 6) is X
x% (so 71 is 7*1 = 7) is Y

Cooking in my game is a system of recipes that call for general ingredients (i.e. 2 units of meat, 1 units of herbs would equal some kind of fine meat if the difficulty check was passed)

i currently have divided ingredients into:
Meats
Fruits
Vegetables
Grains
Herbs
Other (truly weird shit)

is there anything i'm missing? it's meant to be simple but not too simple. What categories would you add?

>>52772482
Mushrooms
Dairy
Nuts
Fish

>>52772694
Thanks anon

>>52762383
Breath of the Wild is pretty popular right now

>>52770764
I remember when it was decided to be renamed /gdg/. It was mostly because there was little in-system homebrewing, and we wanted to let potential designers know that new systems were welcomed.

>>52768605
Its always going to have a short lifespan. Game design, homebrewing or building a system from scratch, is an extremely niche subject, and a lengthy process. Most people will have something they are working on and won't be back until a week or 2 for any kind of update on their progress.

>>52764882
>>52765986
Part of the appeal of full art is being able to, well, see the art. You can also see that in the starwars example, the information and art are clearly distinct. Consider opening up more space for the art, or otherwise focusing more on the text. In either case make sure everything is distinct. Smaller text is fine as long as its legible.

bump

How much math do the players of your game have to do for each turn?

in mine, too much (but most of it is being handled via excel spreadsheet). it's very "tabletop MMO" which I personally enjoy but it results in me having to develop a UI in the form of character sheets

>>52776169
I try to lower the math needed during gametime, or at least have it be simple and streamlined. More intense math should hopefully be done during downtime, as I do have some involved math for spell crafting. Its elementary level, but it encourages a lot of fiddling which obviously wouldn't be good during combat or something.

>>52776169
No more than basic arithmetic. Worse is single digit division rounding down.

>>52777013
How many operations per turn, generally? (if you had to estimate in about 3 seconds)

>>52778283
That's why the math is simple. Its a wargame, so each action is a few rolls with modifiers. The most complex part is when rolling off to hit, you divide the difference of the rolls to determine how many extra hits you get.

>>52775073
Hm, good point. Maybe I need to zoom out on the character a bit.

>>52776169
In my opinion the sweet spot for arithmetic is: complicated enough that it takes a few seconds to do in your head, not so complicated that people need to bring a calculator or begin using their fingers. There's an anticipation that comes with a few seconds delay on knowing the result, enough time for a person to see the dice roll, to register the result, to feel uncertainty in their gut, and then experience the satisfaction of succeeding (or the chagrin of failing). Resolving a conflict is like a small journey you take your player on, and getting the balance between a short jaunt and an exhausting hike is the most important part.

That being said, the threshold for exhausting hike is audience dependent. The arithmetic in a game for children and the arithmetic in a game for the math club will be kilometres apart. So above all else know your audience.

I'm getting closer and closer to getting the core of my system up and running. But I can't decide which genre I should develop into first.

I was thinking post-WWI Bloodborne stealth.

>>52779726
It wasn't Hitler that spurred the Germans into WWII, it was the Cthulhu werewolves.

>>52779726
If you're looking for saleability, the first two genres you'll want to adapt to are Sword and Sorcery, and Not-Firefly. Hit the two big player bases first, then expend out into the more interesting fields.

If you're just looking for self/hobby, go with whatever your heart desires. I don't know what Bloodborne is, but the interwar period is very interesting and somewhat undertapped. The 20s mark the last great surge of mainstream spiritualism, and I've felt it could do with more exploration.

>>52780126
Bloodbourne was a game by the guys that did Demon/Dark Souls about a Victorian style world of werewolf hunters and infected blood from moon gods.

>>52779966
I don't plan to set it in our world specifically. I want to take some liberties with technology and culture, ala Dishonored.

>>52780126
>>52780172
Moreover, Bloodborne is a sort of reverse Catholicism wherein humans, try as they might, cannot ascend to the godly realm - not by spiritual rites, academic learning or biological experimentation.

I want to make a game about doubting your reality and that doubt being reflected in the people around you. Are the PCs legitimately insane? Everyone else seems to think so, but the abilities they have been cursed with DO work. How much of it is a lie? How well can they hide it?

>>52781174
>I want to make a game about doubting your reality and that doubt being reflected in the people around you. Are the PCs legitimately insane? Everyone else seems to think so, but the abilities they have been cursed with DO work. How much of it is a lie? How well can they hide it?
Have you ever played 'Paranoia' ? Some great approaches to that sort of thing.

>>52772694
>>52772482
What about hings like honey or syrups? Alcohol is often used in cooking as well.

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I need some critique on my combat system. Is it too complex? Or should I add more depth?
Thank you my ever-loving chums.

>>52782497
The flowchart makes it seem complex, but it seems actually pretty simple. You could build on it with different weapon effects (ie bludgeoning-type weapons dealing higher Pain for less actual Damage, thus being more likely to incapacitate without actually dropping them to 0HP, piercing weapons ignoring a limited amount of armour while dealing less Pain and thus being less likely to incapacitate enemies early)

I assume the idea is for this to be fairly lethal, seeing as even failed attacks can deal damage, and primarily martial-based (low magic?)

>>52782470
fuck

so my crafting system at present is meant to be "modular" (i'm tired i can't think of the better word) in that instead of calling for "2 units of boar meat" it calls for "2 meat" and that each different type of meat can have varying benefits (i.e. boar meat and turkey meat are both filling but turkey increases fatigue slightly)

but many of the other "professions" that use similar modular methods have hybrid systems so i might just make certain "specialty" items unique--or "other"

i.e. Honey is an "Other" item that is called for in Honeyed X or something

sorrry if none of this makes sense

>>52782577
It's meant to be brutal combat for players without proper equipment.

>low magic?
Magic is almost unheard of, only existing in ancient, dead languages that most people can't read. So yes.

>>52782776
Neat. That's my jam, so colour me interested - what's your dice mechanic?

>>52782627
Recipes may call for generic or non-generic materials, probably list its effects on the ingredient if you're going that deep with it. ie, on the entry for Honey state that you can make Honey-grilled Meat using Honey and any meat, which has some extra benefit on top of regular grilled meat. Of course, I think this is too much crunch for a regular tabletop game - specific crafting like that would generally require too much inventory management and thus be something you do when you want a specific thing, like a local guy wants you to make him something with some strange esoteric ingredient, rather than the day-to-day state of affairs being looking for interesting single items. Unless crafting is the focus of the game.

>>52782867
Yeah, that's more or less the format

I.E.
Recipe: Grilled Meat
2x Meat
-1 Hunger (+ Ingredients)

if you use Meat Y, which reduces hunger by 1 and fatigue by 1, for both slots you get -3 hunger and -2 fatigue

listed in inventory as Grilled Meat (-3 Hunger -2 Fatigue)

idk if it's too much crunch, haven't tested those mechanics yet (i just have combat "down" and in a nice weekly test, more or less just started on the other mechanics)

the specific ingredients would come into play on certain recipes, of which there would be few

i.e. Honey Grilled Meat
2x Meat 1x Honey
y benefit z results etc etc

The same as above but with the caveat you need honey

>>52782944
(crafting is not the focus of the game, the format i was talking about refers to the top of ur post, tired etc)

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>>52782867
I plan on using a D21 system. Roll 4d6-4 giving you results between 0 and 20 with a smooth bell-curve.

This game is still entirely in alpha and a=has not been tested. I need all feedback and suggestions I can get.

>>52782959
While the probabilities may be fine, I think that might be a little unintuitive - a piece of extraneous (if simple) arithmetic on every roll will likely bog down play. You could just as easily use results from 4-24 instead and adjust the written numbers, resulting in the same probabilities but a more intuitive but less tidy system. That being said, I think chasing a statistically smooth system rather than one that's satisfying and fun to play with is a mistake - people have fun with shit systems all the time, and I think having a good system is definitely secondary to having a good group. Depends if that's what you're after, or if it's a pet project built for the satisfaction found personally in building the game that works how you want it to work.

>>52782944
Yeah, that's basically how it should work IMO. Don't stress too much about categorizing every ingredient - where an ingredient doesn't fit a generic descriptor, don't list one. Alternately, approach it from the other direction - rather than categories full of ingredients, have ingredients with keywords. Any type of meat obviously has the "meat" keyword, and where a recipe asks for "Any meat" you can use anything with the "meat" keyword. You could even add "meat" to larger mushrooms, since that's a somewhat common substitution, and if it can't be that you'd also have "plant" on the mushrooms and specify "Any non-plant meat" in the recipe. For Honey, you'd have "sweetener, tenderizer, fermentable" - and recipes may call for sweeteners, or tenderizers, or fermentables. That's even MORE crunchy, though, and is outright co-opted from an old videogame project of mine - but it's food for thought (ha ha ha)

>>52782959
>Roll 4d6-4 giving you results between 0 and 20 with a smooth bell-curve.
I think this is a good system. Pursuant to my earlier comments regarding anticipation, 4d6-4 is a simple bit of arithmetic which has the necessary one second delay between reading the result and realising that you succeeded to reward anticipation and be fun. Plus rolling a handful of d6's is inherently satisfying.

>>52782497
1. Label the steps with some numbers or letters or something to make it easier to refer to them.
2. Bundle together the target's armour-save and pain-threshold-save roll into one. You already have critical successes and failures, so an idea would be to make that roll modified by the damage taken (in comparison to the health and with some extra mod for the critical attacks), then go incapacitated if it doesn't succeed (in case of a critical attack, if it doesn't critically succeed).

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What do you think of this approach, /gdg/? I like the idea of having stats and narrative in the same block as a sort of presentation card for the characters, but some people prefer to keep mechanics and fluff separate - while others think that it's a great reminder of the fact that you're playing a character and not a spreadsheet.

I like it, but i'd love to hear as many opinions as I can about this kind of thing.

>>52784609
I like it, for the very reasons you laid out: that it keeps the stats and the narrative shell around the stats firmly connected. However, I've never played many RPG's, and my experiences largely revolve around a single, epic three year campaign in FATE, so I'm prone to preferring narrative to rollplay.

Where do players record their equipment, spells and the like? On a separate sheet, or is that not an issue in your system?

>>52784609
If it can fit on one sheet, then you better put it on one sheet. Immersion aside, it's better to have it all in one so you don't have to keep track of multiple bits of paper. Simple logic

Which idea would you like to see as a backdrop to an rpg? My partner and I are spit balling some ideas for an original game for our friend group

>Everything has a spirit a'la shinto/shamanism, and some modern people can access them (WoD meets Mushishi for feeling)

>All major civilization around 0 B.C. are vaulted up with Atlantean technology

>>52784676
>>52784676
In the current layout, there's two pages (front and back) that take care of the things you use actively (weapons, skills, knowledge, status) and the back which has either passive or more specific things that dont come up as often (abilities, stock inventory, gadgets, vehicles and mounts, etc)

I should be able to keep most of the important bits on one sheet, which is partially why i wanted the character's narrative aspect laid out in the main face. The other reason is that I made my stats too small after changing them because they took too much space and then I didn't know where to fit them

>>52784847
It's all in one neat package, then? That's pretty sweet. I also like the style of the layouts, feels both modern and generic, so as not to be out of place running it in any setting. Nice work.

What is the line for 'intellectual property'?

Say an internet reviewer made a simple throwaway line while talking about a game that inspired a game you wanted to make and pitch to a friend who owns a small games company. Basically

>"This game sucked. It'd be so much better if it was about XYZ..."

And then they never mention it again. Where would I look to find more about this sort of situation, legally speaking?

>>52784910
from a lawyer

>>52784910
Your example is too vague to give a meaningful answer to, but generally speaking, someone can't claim ownership over the broad strokes of an 'idea' - rather, before they can claim ownership, they have to produce specific material related to their idea. Even then, the parts that they 'own' and the parts that others can copy are very specific. You can create a setting which is in effect identical to Ravenloft, but as long as you call it Crowattic and don't steal any of the specific characters, you aren't violating their intellectual property.

So if you heard someone make a throwaway comment, and you thought: "Hey, that idea is awesome, I might take that and make something of it!" You're totally in the clear.

>>52783160
I'm warming up to the idea of tags, but I think 90% of items should still only have 1 "tag"

I'll need to think on this for a while, and the system I have for herbs/potions--at the moment there are 4 main herb groups that produce 4 main potions, but every other potion is made by a unique herb--available only in certain regions or at a very steep markup from "import traders" (no idea what the final, setting-appropriate name will be)

What I'm considering is expanding the"families" system so every named herb is just a family + a grade (a potency value) but making certain families limited (ie you still might not be able to find them on your continent)

it's all so very tiresome

Is your system built for a specific setting, vice versa, or are they completely unrelated?

>>52787365
A mix of both. I try to keep things in flavor with the setting, but sometimes a mechanic doesn't feel right with the current setting, so I tweak the setting to fit it in.

>>52762383
listen to >>52773833
Breath of the Wild is right up your alley.

>>52786130
Consider having at least one descriptor tag (meat, fruit, vegetable) and one effect tag (hot, cold, stamina, w/e its supposed to be). That's enough to both differentiate the items and keep the potential combinations interesting.

>>52792938
By effect tag, do you mean effect on the meal or effect as in my system?

If the second, I think that'd simplify the system a lot without sacrificing any depth. For example, very unit of food of one descriptor type (meat, etc.) might have a standard effect, but certain ones will have the tag "Filling 2" where they reduce hunger levels by 2 points or some such

>>52793320
either really. You already have the one tag that determines what kind of food something is. The second determines what that does in relation to others of its own kind.

“Shot One” - WW2 Styled Tabletop RPG

Shot One is a squad-level tabletop RPG that puts you in the role of a downed paratrooper squad shot down in enemy lines or cut off from the rest of your platoon. With limited ammunition, rations, and enemy soldiers all around, you must use your wits, cunning, and nerves of cold steel to survive. Shot One's gameplay is designed for quick one-shots, but can easily be converted into whole tours of duty.

-Gameplay-

Shot One is best played with a battlemap. Squads progress start their tours of duty cut off from a main fighting force in Not-Europe against the Not-Nazis (Or Not-Allies, if you're into that sort of shit). The mission may vary with each game you play, but with a oneshot in mind, an easy mission goal would be to destroy a Not-Nazi MacGuffin such as a radio tower or regroup with the rest of the platoon while making your way through a Not-European town/city/countryside taken over by the Not-Nazis (Or Not-Allies).

The game uses simplified d4 and a minimum of die rolls to facilitate faster, lethal combat. HP and stats are intentionally kept low, with the bulk of die rolls being d100s for determining hit locations. The game rewards planning, correctly assessing the skills and capabilities of your team, scavenging for weapons and items to use, and knowing when to fight or retreat.

The strength of a squad can not depend on one supersoldier. With suppression, cover, destructible environments, differing marksmanship skills, differing equipment that can be modified with battlefield implements, players that can take more than a few actions per turn and assist their squadmates, and players that can perceive the environment and learn the enemy better than their squadmates, squads face an enemy more numerous than they are and just as cunning as they are. Awell-rounded team is required to come out alive.

However, the game is not limited to combat. Subterfuge, disguise, and sabotage are all possible, if difficult.

>>52793629

CHARACTER CREATION -

Character creation is simple.

d4 system, roll 1d4 to determine your starting stats. There are 3 main stats: Endurance, Marksmanship, and Wits.


-The Stats-
ENDURANCE
Governs HP, Carry Limit, Fatigue, number of actions per round (minimum of 1)-

Endurance is unique in that each character starts with 1 ENDURANCE guaranteed before die rolls.

HP is calculated simply by Endurance +2

Carry limit is Endurance x 10 + 60 lbs

Fatigue is Endurance +4. Fatigue is reduced by 1 for every action you spend that causes fatigue. Not all actions cause fatigue. It is important that fatigue is accumulated during your turn, but only added and takes effect after your turn ends. When fatigue reaches 0, you start to use up HP for actions until you take a Full Rest (Use all actions available to rest), or use one of your actions to regain 2 Fatigue. Fatigue affects your ability to avoid incoming fire.

Actions per round – You get number of actions equal to your endurance per turn.

Actions include but are not limited to:

Spending 1 action to move 5 squares
Reloading a weapon one step
Fire a weapon
Fire an automatic weapon
Rest to restore additional fatigue. Does not increase fatigue.
Reduce recoil by 2. Does not increase fatigue.
Use initiative to gain information. Does not increase fatigue.
Add to marksmanship bonus +2 once only for one turn.
Add to initiative bonus +1 for 1st actions pent, then +2 for 2nd action and so on. Does not increase fatigue.
Regain health +1 for every 2 endurance spent. Does not increase fatigue.
Traverse abnormal terrain (ladders, prone, rubble)
Change weapon
Special combat manuevers as stated by player.
Change stance. Does not increase fatigue.
Assist another squadmate in an action that can be assisted, such as a heavy MG reload. Does not increase fatigue.

Actions may have intended or unintended effects such as increased dodging shots, increased concealment, increased accuracy, etc.

>>52793651

MARKSMANSHIP
Governs Melee Damage, Firearm Accuracy, Loading Speed, reduces aiming difficulty (aiming for specific parts of the body, normally it's:

Melee damage is Marksmanship + 1, and is normally done only in close range unless a bayonet is used. It can be modified by weapon type such as bayonet (+2 to melee damage) and by location and movement. Opposing melee attacks can be contested and parried by a successful Initiative roll. Rifles can be used but do not give additional melee damage without a bayonet.

Melee success is determined by:
Marksmanship + Endurance vs. Initiative + Marksmanship. Circumstantial factors may afford +d4 to either side.

Firearm accuracy is a factor of marksmanship, weapon type, and recoil versus target cover bonus, initiative, and fatigue.

Hits are determined by:

Marksmanship + Effective Range accuracy - recoil > Cover bonus + initiative – fatigue.

Firearms will never hit an enemy or player behind full hard cover.

Damage is based on firearm type and location assigned randomly as per the rule of nines. In low cover, you can not be hit in the legs. In full cover, you can not be hit at all.

>>52793667
Recoil is generated every time a weapon is fired. Each recoil point temporarily reduces your marksmanship by 1 for the next time you fire your weapon, then by 2, then by 3 for semi automatic fire.

Example: John “Snake” Biggs has Endurance 4 and Marksmanship 3. He fires his M1 Garand for his first action at a target within his weapon's effective range of 30 squares and gains 1 point of recoil. For this step, he has:
Marksmanship (3) + Effective Range Rifle Weapon Type (3) – Recoil (0) = 6

His enemy has:
Cover bonus for low cover (2) + Intiative (3) + Fatigue (0) = 5

John's Firearm Accuracy score is higher or equal to the enemey's score and thus hits the target. Hit location and full damage is dealt as per the random d100 and weapon/ammo type. John gains 1 fatigue because he spent an action.

He uses his second action, and fire his M1 Garand again with minus 1 recoil.
Marksmanship 3 + Effective Range Rifle Weapon Type (3) – Recoil (1) = 5

Enemy:
Cover Bonus for low cover (2) + Initiative (2) + Fatigue (0) = 5
John's Firearm Accuracy score is lower and misses the target. No damage is dealt, but the subsequent firing causes John to gain an additional 2 recoil for the second shot for a total of 3 recoil, and his fatigue is now 2. The enemy is considered suppressed since their initiative is 2, and they were shot at 2 times.

John uses his 3rd action to reduce his recoil by two, bringing it down to one. His fatigue is still at 2.
John uses his 4th and final action to rest and reduce his fatigue to zero. His turn ends.

Even if a shot misses or has absolutely no chance of hitting an opponent, it still counts towards suppression.

>>52793694
Automatic fire allows you multiple attempts to fire per attack at the cost of multiple points of recoil and more bullets per firing.

Example: Bolt Action Tiger fires his Thompson as his first action on automatic fire at a target within his effective range, 100m (10 squares). He has an Endurance of 3, Marksmanship 4. For this step, he has:
Marksmanship (4) + SMG Effective Range (2) – Recoil (0) = 6

The enemy:
Low cover (2) + Initiative (2) + fatigue (0) = 5

He repeats this step 3 times for the Thompson's x3 Automatic Bonus for a total of 3 confirmed hits in one step. Automatic fire with the Thompson uses 5 bullets for each step. Automatic fire gives Bolt 4 ponts of recoil for the first attack, and the opponent and surrounding enemies gains 3 points of suppression from the Thompson's x3 automatic bonus. The opponent is suppressed because his initiative is 2, and he was shot at 3 times.

His second action is used to reduce recoil by 2, bringing his recoil to 2.

His third and last action with an Endurance of 3 is used to fire in automatic fire once again.

Marksmanship (4) + SMG effective range (2) – Recoil (2) = 4
Enemy:
low cover (2) + initiative (2) + fatigue (0) = 2

The step is repeated, and the shots do not hit because Bolt's score is less than the enemy's. He gains another 4 points of recoil for a total of 6 recoil. This recoil carries over to his next turn. However, the opponent gains 3 points of suppression from his Thompson and is suppressed further along with the surrounding enemies. It will take longer for them to regain their composure under fire.

Bolt's fatigue is now 3, and he takes -3 to avoid getting hit until he can rest. He better be sure his teammates are ready to cover him!

Loading Speed – each weapon has a loading speed., which determines the amount of actions required to reload. Loading speed requirements are reduced by Marksmanship by 1 step for each point of Marksmanship to a minimum of 1 step.

Pistol – 1-2 loading speed
SMG – 3-4
Rifle – 3-4
Anti-Material – 5

Example: Jack has a Marksmanship of 4. He needs to reload his empty M1 Garand. At marksmanship 4, he has mastered many firearms and is able to load the M1 Garand in 1 action.

Jill is a fresh recruit that just barely understood the basics of her rifle. With a marksmanship of 2, she needs to spend at least 2 turns and 3 actions to reload her M1 Garand.

Aimed Shots – By spending an additional action, you may determine which part of a visible enemy's body you are aiming for. This carries over until you use an action to make an aimed shot, take any other action that isn't an aimed shot, or are shot at, and you gain fatigue as normal.

By spending an additional action once per turn, you may gain +2 marksmanship for that round in order to hit the target area specified by aimed shot. You gain fatigue as normal.

>>52793759
NITIATIVE – Governs Intuition (more info about enemy troops and their intentions), Battle Sense (more info about the battlefield and environment including cover and concealment), Supression Resistance, and avoiding shots.

Use an action for Intuition to gain information on troop numbers, organization, location, and behavior. The higher the initiative, the more information.

Use an action for Battle Sense for information regarding the surrounding environment. Be creative.

Suppression resistance is the amount of times you can be fired upon before you are suppressed. When you are suppressed, you can not move normally, fire your weapon, or rest your fatigue. You may throw grenades as normally, speak to teammates, and crawl, however. Actions you may be able to take depend on the situation.

Initiative is the main stat used to avoid shots. You can spend an action to increase your initiative by +1, and an additional to increase your initiative by +3 until next turn.

And “SPECIAL TRAIT”, which is determined by the player. Can be an item or small unique buff.

Examples include:

Reducing recoil gained by – 1 for the first attack action in semiautomatic or automatic fire
Movement speed of 7 squares instead of 5
Extensive knowledge of Not-Nazi troop strategy
A Not-Allies' weapon chambered and modified to accept Not-Nazi ammunition.
Extra helmet
Drum Magazine x1
Suppression resistance doubled
Increased effective range of SMG
Equipment -

Many equipment found fall into these categories. Some are unique.

Firearms

[Name]
[Type]
[Magazine Size]
[Ammo Type] (Country) (Weapon type)
[Effective Range] (In squares)
[Range Bonus] Typically +3 within range bonus for rifles, +2 for SMGs
[Reload Speed] 1-6 steps
[Fire Modes]
[Automatic Fire Bonus]
[Weight]

Uniform/Clothes
[Country]
[Quality]
[Rank]

Magazines
Clips
Ammunition
Helmet
Boots
Gloves

Etc. More to follow, but this is all of the basics of the game I have, tailormade for a quick game.What do you think?

>>52784781
Second one sounds better.

How "done" does a game have to be before playtesting can begin? How long did it take you to reach that stage?

I've been working on my game for a couple years now, but I only write when I'm inspired and I often rip out chunks of what I had previously written. Looking at my early drafts, I feel like I've already made a way better game that gets far, far closer to my ideal. That being said, I still only have the intro chapter (which covers core concepts and mechanics), character creation and how to play/GM chapters in a state that I think would be "playable" - and I still make frequent changes.

Where do you draw the line?

>>52795260
It could be rare or even blue for all that matters. As soon as you have a mechanic you should playtest it, both alone and as a part of the whole.

>>52795260
As soon as the rules are written, you can start play testing. If something goes wrong, note it down, finish the session, and work on fixing that issue in the interim between now and your next game. Wash, rinse, repeat.

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Is there any good examples of combat through magical "dancing"?

I've been influenced by fighting of benders in Avatar and alchemists in FMA to come up with something similar.

I was thinking if elements are needed or should i stick with just forces (push, pull, etc).

What I'm hoping it's too have a system where a player can combine a force and a punch/kick, plus whatever else that works (a sweeping wave attack, a focused column, etc)

>>52795974
D&D 4e. You can only dance if you have room to dance. It only matters to dance if the room is not a white featureless room.

In 4e the PC could "dance" to get behind the enemy for a sneak attack, or to shove it into a pit. Look specially into the Monks (PHB3) powers that allows for both a move action and an attack action.

So I've had an RPG idea floating around in my head, and I think I've come up with a resolution mechanic for it, but I wanted to hear people's thoughts on how good an idea it is.
Basic premise is: Risk resolution with a dice pool.
The idea is a kind of dice pool. Every action roll is opposed by some form of reaction roll, which may be an opponent trying to duck for cover or gravity pulling down on you when you make a difficult jump. The actor rolls a number of dice equal to their associated skill, adding their stat to every result. The reactor does the same, using the associated skill and stat for their reaction. In the case of non-living reactors, such as gravity, I'm honestly not sure, potentially just setting a set number of "hits" needed and a target number.
After dice are rolled, the actor and reactor "line up" their results, lowest to highest. If one actor rolls more dice, the actor who rolled less simply compares their lowest die to all the overflow dice. Every time the actor scores higher than the reactor, they score a "hit". The number of "hits" determines the degree of success. For example, an actor firing a handgun at a reactor would roll Handguns, adding... lets say Ballistic Skill to the results, and the reactor chooses to dodge, so rolls Dodge, adding Agility. Every "hit" the actor scores might add 1 damage to his attack.
Sound good? Too complicated? Can I simplify it at all, or should I just scrap it?

>>52795337
>If something goes wrong, note it down, finish the session

Something I've found valuable for revising your rulebook itself is when something like this comes up and the group doesn't know what to do or doesn't understand what they should do, ask them what they think they should do based on what the rules say. Lets you know specifically where you went a little wrong and what specifically you're correcting against.

>>52796346
What are the advantages of this system over, say, the actor rolling against a fixed integer? If the 'gravity' (difficulty) of jumping from rooftop to rooftop is 4d6, and the actor rolls 6d6, what makes rolling two dice pools more effective than than having the difficulty of jumping from rooftop to rooftop be 13 and have the actor roll 6d6 against it? Even if the dice pool gives you the ability to add more dice for difficulty, that can be done as simply by increasing the integer.

It sounds interesting, but I'm having trouble grasping why it would be advantageous to use opposed dice pools over the more usual method.

>>52796652
Yeah, I wasn't sure how it'd work for non-combat things. The system originally came from a wargame I wrote rules for a couple years ago for kicks, and it worked pretty well, but I can see how for at least some things simply rolling against an integer would be better.

I enjoy dice pools, especially since I like throwing a lot of dice (it has a lot more 'impact' for me, I guess), I was simply trying to think of something different than say, Shadowrun. (I will admit part of it has to do with simply wanting to do something 'different' for the sake of it)

>>52796722
As a system it really shines in opposed combat, which is why I can see it working for a wargame. Any RPG system could be two-tiered, with fixed integers outside combat and an opposed dicepool minigame in combat.

>>52797017
Okay, I can run with that idea. Outside of combat was the part I really wasn't sure about, since I've had experience that it works in a combat setting.

Thanks for the help

>>52796722
Some other things to consider.

You could keep opposed rolls and lower the size of the pools. One of my projects uses opposed d20 rolls with results based on the difference of those rolls. The smaller amount of dice allows the opposed roll to provide additional variance than just a single roll against a target number. Having larger pools of 6d6 provides plenty of its own variance, so opposed pools as you described wouldn't be as necessary.

Another way of doing it would be to look at Dogs in the Vineyard. They have a mechanic where you keep bidding and escalating until one side stops, and then rolls are made. For your specific idea, you could have a system where you bid and escalate dice in your pool. Once used, they go into a separate pile, so you can only bid as many as you have. You could keep your risk-style resolution while also having various mechanics, like ways to gain dice, minimum pool sizes, and limits on spending.

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Hello /gdg/ it's been a while. This is mainly to drop off the newerish rulebook of Heroes Valor and Mead, and to ask three questions.

1. I took out weapons and armor, and I'm going to add it to the alternate rules, they didn't quite work the way I wanted them to, but eh. My question is replacing weapons with a "Technique" skill be slightly better? You define it, and if you can justify it, you get more dice. Ye? or Nay?

2. Been hitting combat over the head yet again, my question is for a game designed to be a one-size-fits all, is a crunchy combat system or a more narrative one a better fit. It's currently fairly narrative, but I feel it's to narrative if you catch my drift.

3. Any settings/books/movies you want made in this system, I'm trying out my chops on making things for the system to better facilitate the "Play Anything" idea. Go nuts, I like ideas.

Also, a while ago somebody asked me for a Vampire Hunter D-esque setting, I'll be replying to myself with that pdf, sorry for the delay anon, life sucks.

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>>52797791
The Not!Vampire Hunter D thing.

Had to create a basic setting because I don't know Vampire Hunter D to well, but you can easily change anything you need to.

>>52795260
As soon as you have something stable enough to actually string along a scenario.

>>52795260
You want to playtest early and often. If you put together too much before playtesting, you may find that you have to scrap or revamp large portions of your rules, that you may have spend months on.

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Hey /gdg/ this is my first time posting in here but I finally remembered I had this on here and figured it'd be good to post.

A month or two back we had a 24 hour game design thread, and I typed up roughly 2/3rds of an rpg based on "racism, mediterranean eruope, cards" before I passed out and missed the deadline, then forgot about it. I found it again the other day and tried to think up some ideas for the unfinished bits, but am lacking in inspiration at the moment.

Ideally, I wanted this whole thing to be a comfy as fuck game about being fantasy gypsies, but it's pretty unfinished.

What do you think about it? Any suggestions?

>get excited to try out a new mechanic
>realize it actually sucks

What's yours, /gdg/?

>>52802719
Being able to determine that a mechanic is flawed without having to go through playtesting is a good thing though.

>>52802719
>think up setting idea for game
>start to flesh it up
>think it sucks/corny/cliche/dumb
>scrunch up and throw away
>repeat ad nauseam

>>52803267
However, I do think I'm onto something at least half way decent. Combing a few details from the others I liked. The mechanics also need tweaking. I need to run a bunch of simulated fights with someone(s) to test it. The long and short is how often can an action fail before it feels boring/a slugfest. Example; with a D10 roll under system, how often is too often to fail? Things like zombies or simpletons obvious should have 2-3s for stats, but the average human? 4-5? 5 solid? The problem with starting them at 5 means most stats will have an upper limit of 8-9 depending, so there's little room for campaign growth. I've got plans in the work to make levelling up and campaign a little more interactive and flavourful than mordheim but still, it's bugging me and I can't seem to convince myself to "cross those bridges when we get there"

Also, thank you so much to those who voted on the polls, and I'm gonna shill them again for any who haven't yet. Your opinion is very much appreciated. See here >>52761329

So, I'm having problems

Right now in my ttrpg i need to focus on adventure mechanics

But i just can't, it doesnt come anywhere as natural as combat

Does anyone have an example of a good format for describing towns, wildernesses, etc? i need inspiration

>>52803665
Describing? In what sense? Like just listing descriptions?

>>52803727
-description of environnement

>towns/cities
-points of interest
-vendors
-info on laws, potential encounters/events
-maybe even a few example plot hooks

>wilderness
-points of interest
-description of terrain for purposes of travel time/difficulty
-events (weather)/encounters that mighthappen

i have a rudimentary system for a portion of them but i just always have this fear im missing sonth

>>52803842
I would throw in little cultural tidbits for the towns/cities as well. Superstitions and traditions go a long way to give places personality and feel.

>>52803842
>settlements
Local events (weekly/seasonal/annual)
People of interest (local drug lord/mayor/etc)
Rumours
Weather patterns/seasons
Culture/disposition

>wilderness
Fauna/flora
Natural Resources
Seasons
Foot Traffic
Security/safety (eg are their patrols)
Oddities (no sounds of wildlife, stillness in the air, a feeling of cold, etc)

Those are just some off the top of my head. I hope that's what you meant

>>52803920
these are great for description (like really good) and i think im gonna make a list including these to include in the description

>>52804405
How would you represent things such as dense brush or ruined roads in gameplay terms?

>>52805443
I would probably go with a minor movement penalty/obstruction (If you moved 30 feet a turn ,you now move 25 or 20) but with a chance of tripping or other such problems if players try to sprint through it.

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>backwards engineer shitty mechanics out of what i can slap into the character sheet
>pull numbers out of my ass
>nothing makes sense
>wtf i hate game design now
>repeat

I had an idea for a d% system where for any skill check you have the skill challenge level, which is the minimum roll required to pass, and your maximum ability, which you need to roll under to succeed. So you basically have to roll d% and get between two values to pass. Do you guys reckon this might be too difficult/constraining in practice? Also considering a similar mechanic on a bell curve like 5d20, but not that retarded.

>>52771743
I'm interested, but what do you mean by hit location? Also I'm assuming X and Y are just things you haven't thought of yet?

>>52808898
That's pretty much exactly what I'm using right now, except that anything below the minimum is a success that brings forth a negative consequence despite passing - i.e. "The lock you were picking opens with a click, and the door opens, but it makes a loud creak once you open it." (read: some guards hear them in the distance)

Anyone here play print-and-plays? Anyone ever design one?

>>52808898
that's fucking genius and i'm exceptionally tempted to steal it

I've really struggled with implementing a good damage system in my game. I want it to be more narrative based, simple and rules light but not too deadly. Here's what I've got so far:

>When a protagonist fails a risk to avoid danger and cannot sacrifice any armor, they take a wound. Unless a danger is truly overwhelming, protagonists typically only take one wound per failed risk. Wounds are harmful, negative details that describe how the protagonist was injured. As a protagonist accumulates wounds, these details become increasingly dire; a protagonists' first wound may be [bumped and bruised], while their fourth may be [broken arm]. In general, protagonists can recover from two wounds after a scene ends, but anything more substantial requires medical treatment.

>Protagonists can withstand a number of wounds equal to their Rank plus four (thus five to start); this is called their threshold. When a protagonist takes another wound beyond their threshold, they instead gain the [helpless] detail and can no longer participate in the scene without assistance. They may be knocked unconscious or otherwise incapacitated. Protagonists that take two wounds beyond their threshold gain the [dead] detail.

But I feel like that's a little too complex, or at least I've spent too many words explaining it. I also feel it might be too deadly, but keep in mind the odds are usually in the protagonists' favor for most rolls.

>>52809119
Fuck that's a good idea, thanks. However, I suggest a slight amendment.

Considering your skill score to be the best you can possibly achieve, and the DC as what you need to (at least) achieve right now, I think of the value of the roll itself as what you are able to do right now. So I'd say rolling under the DC should always be a fail, but rolling above both the DC and your skill represents a success, but you don't really know what you're doing.

To be honest, I don't think it makes mechanical difference, but its more intuitive imo.

>>52809569
I'm not sure if it's exactly what you're looking for, but Paranoia has a simple descriptive damage system. Damage is categorised something like:

Snafued -> Scratched -> Wounded -> Bloody -> Lt. Dan -> Obliterated (Dead)

And you just progress up the scale. Weapons deal different levels of damage, for example a laser pistol puts you immediately on Wounded if you're hit with one, and you're below Wounded. If you're already above Wounded, nothing happens. If you're on Wounded, you progress 1 onto Bloody. At least I think that's how it works.

I'm also considering a mechanic where players record their achievements in their own words. PCs "level up" based on narrative accomplishments and get a new skill whenever they reach these milestones. I think it would be cool for players to create a history for their character and show how they grew from it. Something like this:

>1
>Ran the merchant baron out of town.
>Learned to vanish from sight.
>2
>Protected the McCoy farm from bandits.
>Mastered the blade.
>3
>Negotiated trade deal with Arkansia.
>Survival expert.

Stuff like that. What did you do? What have you learned while doing it? Instead of just leveling up in a class and incrementing numbers and gaining predefined features, actually making use of your time between milestones to get what you want.

>>52809651
I might just go with something like that, thank you!

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>>52809572
Came up with more details:

You need to roll above Difficulty and below Skill in general. Rolling exactly your skill means you're performing optimal, so it improves your outcome. "Above Diff" includes rolling exactly Difficulty, which doesn't matter unless DOUBLE CRIT.

See image for graphical representation of possible scenarios. Seems complex but fun.

>Roll: Outcome
Description
>Example

>Above Diff / Below Skill: Success

You achieve the goal you set out to do.

>"I did it!"

>Above Diff / Exactly Skill: Critical Success
You're working at the peak of your ability and manage to achieve more than your goal.
>While studying a magical artefact, you discover the initials of your old tutor, perhaps he can tell you what you need to know...

>Above Diff / Above Skill: Improvised Success

You're out of your league and you know it, but you still manage to come up with a solution on the fly. However, your success comes with a drawback.
>You manage to pick the door open, but the guards on the other side heard your hairpin rattling in the lock and prepare an ambush.

>Below Diff / Below Skill: Failure
You attempt the task but fail. This may incur additional failure penalties.
>While attempting to disarm a trapped chest, you accidentally trigger it just as you lean in for a closer look.

>Below Diff / Exactly Skill: Controlled Failure
You decide this task is out of your league after a quick appraisal. You do not incur additional failure penalties.
>"Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure the pentagram has to be drawn with chalk - I'm not sure crayon will do. Call off the summoning."

>Below Diff / Above Skill: Critical Failure
You shouldn't have even tried.
>Rocks fall, you die.

>Exactly Diff / Exactly Skill: DOUBLE CRIT
By Lord, you're a lucky fuck. You score a critical success and [additional benefit ex. an action point].

In addition, rolling minimum = crit fail, max = crit success.

>>52809167
Like print-and-play card games? I've played a few. In a marathon 7 hour graphic design I finished an 83 card set for one last night, too... Just waiting for godeckyourself to come back so I can upload it.

One thing I've noticed: you need to approach them with an LCG mindset, rather than a CCG mindset. Since artificial rarity can't be employed as a balance mechanic, you either need to create an artificial rarity in-game (only one Platium card per deck) or balance everything right out of the gate.

>>52803267
Yyyyup...

Its an annoying process.

>>52803320
Bump for opinions on this.

>>52816411
I tend to use 50% success as the basis for my math. I adjust it up or down, depending on overall number of rolls, actions, and models.

>>52816411
>>52816526
What's statistically 50% doesn't feel like 50%. Studies have found that around 66% is what feels like 50%, so that's something to consider.

I personally look at multiple comparisons. Min/Min, Min/Max (and Max/Min), Max/Max, and Avg/Avg. If any part doesn't feel good then I adjust the numbers and scaling until I hit the mark.

Well for combat it's a compared value roll so a skill of 3v3 is he same as 7v7 with a roll of 5< needed. So the base mechanics will be fine no matter what, I'm just thinking of attribute tests with roll unders needed for stats as low as 3. I'll run with it as is for now, as I'm almost ready for play testing. But I think it should be fine as I'm trying to simulate Mordheim's feeling of not everything always works, and things are very lethal when they do.

>>52816568
I should be clearer. I use 50% as the base for calculating each mechanic. Most tend to work out lower, actually. For example, I have a system that uses slightly better than 50% on the average roll, but its countered by the opponent having a 50% chance to add to the difficulty of the test. So the math works out to less.

An older example that influences my work is the old Warhammer system. The average statline has 50% on each roll, but has multiple rolls and works off of multiple dice. You can get away with a low margin of success if you make it feel like the chances are higher than they really are.

I've been developing an rpg during my commutes to and from work, and I've even gotten a first playable playtest out of it. I'm having a hard time finding the right way to handle a dice system.

This RPG uses stamina pools to gauge a players action economy, and they can spend as much or as little as they want each turn, and may spend some out of turn for dodging or AoO's, only regenerating some stamina back on their next turn, and being out of stamina significantly reduces your defense.

The game uses entirely d6s/d3s, and I want to make the dice rolling quick, easy, and let the player feel powerful and gauge the power of their attacks.

I figured taking a page from the GoT rpg could work, using the "selective dice pool" type system (roll x keep y) and I figure I'll fit that into my stamina concept.


How do you guys feel about a combat (and non combat) roll system with a dice pool that works as such:


Pay a flat amount of stamina to activate or perform an ability or attack

You may pay x additional stamina to exert yourself
Roll x + y dice (additional stamina spent + ranks in said skill)
Keep dice equal to the dominant attribute for said check (STR for an attack)


A simple example would be:

I roll to hit an enemy skeleton with my mace
I have 3 strength

Mace attack costs 3 stamina base
I push an extra 2 stamina
I have 2 ranks in maces

I roll 4d6 and keep 3, hopefully scoring a hit.

I'm very critical of my own systems and want other people's input on how they think this system would flow and if it could be fun to play with, and relatively balanced.

>>52816526
>>52816568
D&D 4e, in its Introduction to D&D books said that they aimed to 66% base hit chance and monsters dieing with 3 to 4 hits.

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Well what are you waitinf for /gdg/? Get on it!

>>52819397
Money first

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Can I get some feedback on this? I'm trying to make it a bit easier to read, and I could use some example ideas for the mashup worlds at the end.
I'm also not sure if my Talent system is a fun idea or just unnecessarily vague and convoluted.

>>52819397
what would you say the difference between gumption, chutzpah, and moxy is?

>>52819512
Gumption is your grit; ability to grit your teeth and push through something
Chutzpah is your confidence; how others perciveve you as a person
Moxy is your wit; how silver your tongue is

>>52819556
see, I feel like they all mean the same thing: grit, balls, guts. You'd have to find some very subtle differences between them to make them decent stats.
By your argument, you're just rebranding normal stats: Gumption is Constitution/Endurance, Chutzpah is Charisma, Moxie is Intelligence/Charisma. None of which really encompass the meaning of the terms.
You could argue that "a certain je ne sais quoi" would be Luck.

>>52819665
i think part of the joke is that they're all subsets of charisma or a person's personality/attitude

i'd personally love to see this stat system in a comedic film noir detective game, kinda like Problem Sleuth or something

>>52819397
Aren't these the stats of the Frasier PnP?

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finally got around to translating the sheet
I dunno why i kept making them in spanish when all my design discussion groups are english and my testers know english perfectly

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hahaha what the fuck am i doing

What do you guys do when you must write a long as fuck list of powers? What do you do to keep your wording consistent? What about rule changes that force you to rewrite the powers, and what keeps you motivated to do it?

I'm working in the conceptual stages of my first project, need an opinion.

Would a system where your ability to avoid attacks(a la Armor Class) is based on Agility, and having armor function as a damage reduction modifier when you receive hits.This way a more agility based character is less likely to be hit, but takes harder damage when hit, and a strength and fortitude based character will be able to wear heavier, and better armor on top of having more hp, but being more likely to take hits from having less agility. In my head this sounds good, but in practice it might not be fun and too video-gamey, and agility could be a little OP. Anyone know of any systems that function this way?

>>52826165
Yeah, D&D. Why do you think your AC gets a DEX modifier, but not a CON one?

>>52825033
I don't make "power" lists of a very large magnitude.
However, do I like to keep things formatted like the D&D 4E handbook does (attached image for reference).
The sentence structure doesn't need to be overly consistent--just keep it terse and direct.

>>52823793
I know where you're going with this, and I recommend quantifying actions using a low-granularity action point system.

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>>52826586
ahem, attached image

So fellas, I'm going to take up some advice from playtesters and make a simpler version of the game for first-time players to get used to the mechanics of it.

But then this feels like now I'm balancing for *two* games. You guys have any experience in doing something like this?

>>52826586
>I don't make "power" lists of a very large magnitude.
Is it because you haven't had the need to, or because of some other reason?

>The sentence structure doesn't need to be overly consistent--just keep it terse and direct.
Thank you, maybe I should stop being so perfectionist.

>>52826664
Do you format that by hand, one by one, or do you use a specific technique to format it like that?

>>52826708
Not being perfectionistic will save you from a lot of grief. Moving forward gets projects done, regardless how you feel about that one detail you feel bad about.
And if you knew me more fully, you'd consider this a contradictory nugget of advice given how I self-criticize my work too much.

Anyway, the power list I'm making is around 2 example Stunts per Skill. The list is not meant to be comprehensive because I'm just making a Fate Core module with some inventory and Conflict rules. Players are encouraged to build their own Stunts so my list need not be comprehensive.
That formatting you see is just cropped from D&D's 4th Edition. I like the alternating gradient background per subsection, and do this in LibreOffice Draw, of all programs (then import the object into LO Writer).

>>52826675
What playtesters say isn't what you should do, but what playtesters say should inform what you should do.

>>52826836
>Not being perfectionistic will save you from a lot of grief. Moving forward gets projects done, regardless how you feel about that one detail you feel bad about.
>And if you knew me more fully, you'd consider this a contradictory nugget of advice given how I self-criticize my work too much.
I understand you so well, maybe I should take your advice precisely because of that, so that the project gets done.

>Anyway, the power list I'm making is around 2 example Stunts per Skill. The list is not meant to be comprehensive because I'm just making a Fate Core module with some inventory and Conflict rules. Players are encouraged to build their own Stunts so my list need not be comprehensive.
Speaking of similarities, Fate Core here too. I just need to get a huge setting specific list done, but it's so huge of a task I wish there was an easier way to do it.

>That formatting you see is just cropped from D&D's 4th Edition. I like the alternating gradient background per subsection, and do this in LibreOffice Draw, of all programs (then import the object into LO Writer).
Oh what I meant is, for your own formattings, despite if it looks like the pic or not, do you do it by hand or do you have a technique or something, so as to do it more easily?

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>>52826885
I guess my exact "power block" procedure is to build a template in LO Draw first. I then edit the objects (title, body text, colors, etc.) and save them to file or copy the grouped object. Keeping a template file handy is so useful. So, maybe this is a rather manual procedure, but it works consistently because I've used the OpenOffice suite for so long.

>>52826675
Firstly, I think it's fair to say that a lot of TTRPGs require multiple sessions to honestly comprehend the use of the rules. These games, along with some board games, are just too big to absorb in the few hours of a session despite reading ahead. Learning through reading works for some things but learning through doing is magnitudes more powerful.
Take any lessons you get from the "Game Lite" and consider integrating them into "Game Deluxe". Chances are, the discrepancies will surface in both variants. Most importantly, listen to >>52826882. You alone must arbitrate design decisions from the data you have.

>>52827102
>I guess my exact "power block" procedure is to build a template in LO Draw first. I then edit the objects (title, body text, colors, etc.) and save them to file or copy the grouped object. Keeping a template file handy is so useful. So, maybe this is a rather manual procedure, but it works consistently because I've used the OpenOffice suite for so long.
I should see what you can do with Draw more. Thank you, this seems interesting!

>>52826675
If you are making a simpler version to help learn the full game, don't simplify. Just cut down the extra rules they need to learn. Limit what they can do. That way everything they learn still applies, and it doesn't feel like they have to learn two games.

>>52821656
I like it. Reminds me a little of the DH character sheet, but much cleaner.

>>52810535
I really like this idea. It sounds like it would be similar to Traveller's Tales in that the players would work with the GM to define the extent and numerical values of the ability/skill learned.

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>bump into the first character sheet I made for skyresh, which was the thing that kickstarted and shaped the project in the first place because i was just fucking around with illustrator
>>haha what a fucking treasure, it's all a mess
>check the date
>two months from now it's gonna be two years since i started with it
>almost two years and i don't even have something playable because since i've been going on and off about it a lot of progress had to be rewritten from the ground up to the point that it's almost not the same project at this point

that's... kinda depressing

>>52829348
I started my main project in 2011 and now I have to re-write it from memory because of computer failure.

>>52829348
It's a race of endurance, not of speed. Getting there eventually nets you the same prize as getting there fast. Enjoy the process, Guy!

Bamppu

>>52826882
>>52827102
>>52828852

Wisdom. Thankyou all, your good advice will not be in vain.

>>52821656
I like it.

https://www.leddit.com/r/RPGdesign/comments/66ccb9/mechanics_weal_woe_barebones_mechanics/

Anyone want to prove any thoughts on this? Obvsly will need to change Leddit to an R.

bamp

>>52834898
If you can't be bothered copy+pasting it, I can't be bothered navigating to another site to read it.
before you copy it over, I just want to mention that I probably won't read it either way.

>>52834898
I would recommend making two colors of dice a requirement and cutting the idea of having two different people roll the dice. This is just going to draw out every roll and make your game feel clunky.

Furthermore, look at this simulation of your core mechanic:

http://anydice.com/program/b6b4

This means players have an 55% chance of achieving their intent with no consequences in a normal roll and at minimum a 33% chance of success without consequence. I think this will lead to stale gameplay without tension, very little consequence to drive the game forward and disincentivizes adding woe dice to work quickly or quietly because you are already pretty likely to succeed without the consequences of "taking too long" or "getting caught". 55% may seem on the money but keep in mind players will more than likely have the skills and talents to bump that up.

It also kind of invalidates skills and talents because the margin of success is so high that you have little use for them.

>If your skill ranks are somehow higher than your total weal dice, you don't gain any additional benefit.

This especially can leave players not caring about skills depending on how they advance.

Talents are good but might encourage players to build very narrow characters depending on how the game plays out. I think if players are allowed to make characters very good at one thing they will think it's awesome to be "the guy" but eventually get bored. I would take math out of the talents entirely and use only the third type you listed, because these encourage players to do new behaviors instead of finding ways to overlap their math bonuses.

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I just found out how great word's quick styles are for formatting shit on the fly - now that I've set the styles I'll use throughout my manual I think I'm good to go and can start writing whatever I have.

Woo!

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>>52839845
Really enjoying this formatting!
Very eye-catching and dynamic even without any color.

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>>52839845
>>52840930
Just realized i uploaded the wrong one

Eh either works

Which would you prefer:

>two settings, one sci-fi and one fantasy, that are wildly different
>two settings, one sci-fi and one fantasy, that are basically mirrors of each other (ie robots become golems, aliens become monsters, etc)

>>52843958
This looks pretty cool, man, keep it up!

>>52844118
I personally like to see as great a range of monsters as possible for refluffing and guidance on making my own. Mirroring is certainly easier, but if you aren't upfront about it, players that notice it will feel cheated. If you were to mirror, I'd put both names at the top of the statblock to make it clear its just a refluff.

>>52844286
I should have been more specific, I mean as two totally different settings in different books. Not statblocks or anything like that.

Think how 40K basically mirrors WHF.

>>52809569
Here's the revised version I've been working on but I still feel it might be a little too complex.

>When a protagonist fails a risk to avoid danger and cannot sacrifice any armor, they take a wound. Wounds are harmful, negative details that describe how the protagonist was injured. Protagonist suffer five stages of wounds:

>Light wounds are small, easily-healed wounds like [scraped knee] or [bruised ego].
>Medium wounds require medical treatment but are not life-threatening, like [head gash] or [traumatized].
>Dire wounds are life-threatening injuries that severely impact a protagonist, such as [bullet-riddled] or [internal bleeding].
>Helpless wounds render the protagonist truly helpless and unable to act, such as [unconscious] or [coma].
>[Dead] is the final wound and should need no explanation.

>If a protagonist takes one wound of any tier, the next wound they take goes to the next tier down. Light wounds are the exception. Protagonists can withstand a number of light wounds equal to their Rank, and recover from all light wounds at the end of a scene; anything more substantial requires medical treatment.

>For example, a standard gun has the [dire wounding] detail. The first time a protagonist fails a risk to avoid being shot, they suffer a dire wound, such as [bullet-riddled]. While a baseball bat has the [medium wounding] tag, because the protagonist has already suffered one dire wound, failing a risk to avoid being hit by the baseball will cause them to suffer a helpless wound such as [unconscious]; had the protagonist avoided being shot, they would have merely suffered the medium wound [head gash].

>>52782497
What is the purpose of the "pain threshold save"? It seems strange that both successes and critical successes both fold into it.

>>52845641
It creates situations where it's uncertain if a wound will actually remove a combatant, which will encourage players to either play reactively or make better plans rather than the half-assed tactical gameplay you get from systems where it's reasonably certain when your target will be disabled. I assume it's also using relatively constant damage, but that's just an assumption.

>>52782497
While in digital paper looks concise and logical, on the table would be a big fuckup. A few problems:

Potential Perpetual one turn combat.
>Player Attack Declared
>Roll to hit
>Crit Fail
>Enemy Attack action
>Roll to hit
>Crit Fail
>Player Attack action
>etc etc
Eventually will be resolved, but this drags the game down.

Potential Slug combat.
>Player Attack roll
>Enemy check table, attack success
>Enemy roll armour,fails (HP 20)
>Player Roll damage (11)
>Enemy roll pain save
>Enemy check table, save success
>ENEMY WHOLE TURN
>Player Attack roll
>Enemy check table, attack success
>Enemy roll armour,fails (HP 11)
>Player Roll damage (6)
>Enemy roll pain save
>Enemy check table, save success
>ENEMY WHOLE TURN
>The same happens after player rolls 4 on damage and last 1 on damage

This uberdrags the game down, and that is just one combat one on one worse case scenario. This WILL happen more often than not.

Naked Generals, Kings and lvl20 ArmorMasters
>Hiding Armour resolution with chance to get damage, under Reflex with chance of no damage
Assuming armour encumbers Ref, it will be more cost efficient to just boost Ref.
There is no point of boosting Armour that will take your Ref down, even considering that Armour resolution could be made in situations when Ref doesn't apply like sleeping, that would be (like in most rules heavy games) the exception, not the norm. The norm is usually open combat.

Hope this helps somehow, as I love rules heavy games with my whole heart but they tend to fall on themselves

>>52846423
Fucked up my math as Enemy in the Slug combat would have 8HP not 11HP, but you can see that the example still could be applied on 5 damage, and later having 3HP on a 2Dmg hit.

That's FOUR rolls to determinate ONE turn, and that's a lot because you can speed up to do the Attack+Dmg roll and the Armour+save roll and you still have to compare a lot of numbers (Attack to Ref,Armour to attack, Damage to HP pool, Pain Save to itself/damage)
I wouln't say that's "math heavy" but "math dragging"

>>52843958
Noice. And that's a Word pre-gen, you say? Maybe I shouldn't completely dismiss Word in favour of OpenOffice...

>>52847421
Yeah, you can set the quick styles yourself from scratch or edit the default ones, I tried doing both in the text and the table ones and they're pretty easy to use, looks pretty good with almost no effort other than setting styles yourself

before beddy bump

I'm working on a rough mockup of an rpg/wargame hybrid. In it the players control teams of combatants that compete in a massive world wide tournament held by the gods. The focus of the game is on the fights, but in between them there is limited roleplaying with other teams, merchants, spectators and the like. They also have to maintain their combatants, budget, equipment, sponsorships, etc. And of course anything that happens during a fight carries over to the next.

Anyways, I'm here looking for anyone that has experience playing an rpg/wargame hybrid type game. I haven't actually played anything like it myself and from what I can tell they seem pretty rare. A major problem I'm having with is coming up with a way to properly implement having several players. As it is now it really only seems like there can be 2, one player and one GM. Adding any more players to it and I'm running into the issue of how to manage them. Since fights are generally supposed to be one team versus another, if all the players have their own team then many of them will be sitting out a lot of the time. I thought of just splitting the team between the players and that could work for 2 or possibly 3 players, but any more than that and I fear it would get boring for the players as the game is currently being designed with having 1 player control 1 team. Anything less than that begins to limit strategy and decision making.

I don't know what to do and I would rather not change what I have already as I'm quite happy with it. Any input and ideas you guys have is appreciated.

I'm going to sleep now, I'll probably be back in 12-14 hours to follow up with any replies.

I have a balancing idea I'd like to hear some feedback on.

In a system where you spend xp to improve character, either with versatility (new things, fx learning to pick locks) or power (bigger numbers on existing abilities).

The idea is to implement a new number to track, not an ingame number, more like total xp, unspent and spent xp; the new number is xp balance.
>XP Balance
When you spend xp on power add it to balance and when you spend xp on versatility subtract from balance.

The idea is to keep balance as close to zero, thereby 'forcing' people to diversify their xp expenditure. It will 'work against' power games such that they dont gain much larger numbers than other party members. It will prevent one-trick-ponies. It will pull on skill monkeys to make them keep up. The idea is to not widen the power gap too much within the group.

How does this idea sound to /tg/? A bad idea, just let pcs do whatever? It's what have always been missing?

>system wide implementation consequences
To implement this one have to declare what counts as versatility and as power, but that should be really simple. A harder thing to do, will be making enough versatility to buy, but a new spell or form of attack can provide that. Doable, but requires some work.

>>52849993
Check out an old GW 'narrative skirmish game' called 'Inquisitor' - it involved multiple people fighting each other with a GM overseeing the conflict/guiding it. You might be able to draw some inspiration from it.

>>52850400
Understandable so far

Is it forced on the player to have a 0 balance, as a rule?

>>52850953
I dont know how hard it should be enforced. For example in Dark Heresy and the like, it could be "Can maximum have plus or minus 600" (roughly 2-3 talents/skills) or it could be strongly enforced as "If you have plus you HAVE to buy minus, and vice versa". So there's possibility for leeway, and I think that's fine, even a good idea.

It probably wont line up with cost so you always buy yourself to zero. The way I expect it to work is you have your numbers, 300 unspent xp (just got some from playing), have your balance, say +400. With a limit of +/- 600, you cant throw all the 300 xp into plus (power), you gotta buy for at least 50 xp worth of versatility (which gives minus for the balance). In DH you cant find anything for 50 IIRC, but let's pretend you spend those 50 xp on versatility and balance goes down to 350. Now you can spend your remaining unspent 250 xp on power, raising the balance to the limit of 600. Next time you gain and spend xp, you have to buy versatility. Likewise, staying in the same system, the psyker just want more and more psychic powers - this is new abilities, therefore marked as versatility. He might be having 'issues' with wanting to buy power (bigger stats/skills). This 'xp balance' rule will force him to buy some skills so he doesnt fall behind assassin that just want to increased ballistics skill. The assassin might have to begin buying talents that lets him make tricks shots.

So usage-wise, this xp balance only comes up when you are spending xp.

Not yet

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My checks use these Knowledge categories alongside basic stats (Vigor, Dexterity, Mind, Spirit)

Where should Sneak befall? Survival? Does that sound right?

Also, does anything here seem out of place or missing? I can explain if you don't get one, but I'm not gonna dump every description right now.

>>52853540
>Where should Sneak befall?
Survival seems right. Could also go under 'athletics' if you needed to balance the categories a little more.

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So far so good I guess
How many times am I going to modify this text

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>>52853540

>>52851178
I also imagined landing on 0 directly would mean making weird character choices.
The costs are very variable so of course this makes the interval bounds for XP balance a realistic solution.
However, I have this feeling players would ride the upper or lower limits to push their power or skillset as much as possible. You'll have people coasting on -600 or +600 very often if they just can't abandon min-max mentality. (I don't know what 600 XP buys yet so I won't assume this is a "large" power gap.)

>>52853540
Err sorry, forgot to comment on this in >>52855962

"Survival" is a very solid skillset descriptor, so this sounds great.
It can cover both stealth and the ability to notice danger.
Sneaking around is very much like taking hits--being tough and being stealthy will ensure your survival.

When you split "technology" from "mechanisms", is this, respectively, a "scientist" and "technician" kind of deal?
Meaning, the technology skill works like lore whereas the mechanisms skill is for getting things repaired/defused/etc.?

>>52856079
the separation of technology and mechanisms is set by the level of advancement of the gadgets themselves - things like a hardlight screen or robotic parts and their insides would befall on technology, while booby traps, locks, contraptions and more "traditional" deals would befall on mechanisms

they may overlap a bit in some specific situations but the introduced technology and the world's original mechanical advancements up to that point function differently enough to keep them separated

d% systems tend to be terribly done since they are way too likely to fail.

Look at 40k RPG's where as a chargen character you're likely to fail 60% of the time on most tests. That's way too high of a failure chance, unlike the Call of Cthulhu d% system. In that system you can be extremely likely to pass most tests.

Still, dice pool based systems give the best results due to the fact that you're way less likely to fail at something you're skilled at.

>>52856477
It's one of the things i'm looking at right now for my system since it's a d% roll-under too and i've noticed that pattern as well, but i have one big issue with dice pool system and it's that they never offer a level of customization that i'm comfortable with because in order to have sizable dice pools they always butcher the progression and make giant leaps for skills to be 3-5 levels of expertise that can be reached very easily, and if you want to have more granular skill levels or don't concern yourself with "sizable dice pools" you get shit like shadowrun in which you need 3kg of d6, specific rules that address 20+ dice pools or using apps rather than dice to tank the system's carelessness with big numbers

If there was a way to make dice pools a decent size while still being able to have a sense of real progression that doesn't go from 0 to 100 in 3 sessions i'd be really happy with dice pools in general because i love them

what would you suggest to tackle the d%'s issue?

>>52856873
I haven't figured out at all how to fix d% systems besides CoC solution. in 40k RPG's, you have 1 being the lowest possible and 99 being a greater demon. CoC says fuck that and makes 1 to 100 the human scale, with 100 being the absolute human limit. That way monsters can go well above 100 and aren't subject to failure in something they should in fact fail.
Now you can easily see why this is so much better because you have more RESOLUTION. That's the term you're looking for by the way, it's how much of change you can in increases of skill.

That said, you can easily get around the resolution problem for a dice pool by increasing the size of the pool and decreasing the target number (the number that counts as a success). Personally, I prefer d10's so each shifting of the target number gives a 10% increase to the average number of successes. So a target number of 6 gives 50% chance of success per die, so your average success per roll is the dice pool times the chance of success per die. So with a target number of 6 and 10 dice, you're going to get about 5 successes on average.

With numbers in mind, you can easily set a sense of scale. You should basically set the upper and lower bounds for humans, and tune it for supernatural beings. Least that's what I do for my games. Personally I think players prefer a degrees of success system over a pass/fail system, nothing kills your motivation to play like CONSTANTLY FAILING.

>>52857008
I did forget an alternative to the d%, which is the d10x system that Gygax made for Cyborg Commando. Basically you roll 2d10 and multiple the results. It gives a curve for results that averages around 30. Thus if you increase skill over time, you get diminishing returns in terms of results; going from 30 to 31 gives more than 31 to 32.

>>52857046
That's an interesting system.

So, I started coming up with a rather rules lite system for home games. Most of the current work is on the system where the players give the DM world facts to interpret, so you spend the first session getting the players invested in the world. But that's not important here.
The system is built from various pieces of RPGs that I've collected, in combination with the random tables in my head that my grognard father passed onto me. So far, I'm using only a d20, roll over for skills, combat is looking like it will be skill based. Damage is probably going to be contested rolls with the toughness mechanic from Mutants and Masterminds. I'm looking at capping maximum bonuses at about +7 to +10 to keep rolls simple.
Since the players are involved in giving the DM world facts, that extends to characters: pick three descriptors, actions that fall under any of those descriptors get +3 (maybe +4) bonus to the roll, or they allow you to take that particular action in exchange for a lower bonus. Then you get the skill pyramid from Fate, capped at +3, with a single -1 for flavor, plus a "special" unique to your character at +5 (maybe +4?). Yes, name your skills, DM fiat applies.
I'm currently not sure how to do race, possibly a max of three abilities or bonus +1 skills?
Ideas, feedback, insults?

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>>52861751
I'm not a fan of D20s as a rule but the -1 skill bonus is intriguing as a kind of skill-trouble-thing

Descriptors are really handy mechanics so I suggest you hold onto those in any way you can

>>52862204
I was thinking about moving over to 3d6 roll over for the bell curve, but I unfortunately did not memorize the probability tables for that. I just went with what my players knew best, which is the d20 difficulty tables.
I love descriptors, but I might add a mechanic to define the tasks that descriptor is best for/good at. That does open up more descriptor options, but I do want to discourage the approach-style descriptors you see in fate accelerated.

>>52862204
There's nothing inherently wrong with d20 as a mechanic, just the ways you use it.

Alright
so

How many social skills is sufficient to cover the ways people communicate?

1 skill could do the job--but does this lose too much detail/difference between characters?

>>52866308
Two, maybe? Is there a major facet of social interaction that can't be slotted under intimidating/convincing? Threats are intimidation, seduction is convincing, orders are intimidation, argument is convincing, bargaining is a little of both. I'm a big fan of rules-light, so I'd go for two, but there's plenty of room for more.

>>52761302
>not writing "game design" into your catalog search

>>52855962

They could perhaps get bonus XP based on how close to zero they are? Give them the ability to max out what they want at a small handicap to their advancement?

>>52866605
Why have tags if you're going to disregard them?

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>>52866519
Interesting

I also went the route of 2, after way too much deliberation.
However, I slice it up into a kind of push and pull. The logic here being that in some situations a character is less subtle and will try to coerce directly. Meanwhile, in others, a character is more subtle and might try to tease information or implant an idea through a more empathetic approach.

What I'd really find useful about social subsystems is for different characters to have different resistances to the different techniques. People already do this through narrative--you wouldn't try intimidation on a lord unless you were prepared for retaliation from his guard.

>>52761302
It was hbg until like a year ago, i guess people just didnt get the memo

Is it possible to count duplicates in anydice?
Say I want to roll d6 an arbitrary number of times and count how many time a number is repeated for the number that is repeated the most times.
I guess something similar to ORE with d6 being the dice size?
Looking at anydice documenation it only explains how to count rolls that roll on a static number.

>>52868559
I believe the logic here would need to be something like...
Count each die outcome (1 thru 6, in your case). Then, you'd compare each quantity of each count through conditional statements and output the largest.

>>52782497
>>52846423

I have taken all of this into account, but realize this. I'm using a system that rolls 4d6-4 rather than a simple d20. What this means is (because of math and stuff) you have a 0.08% chance of getting a critical hit/fail (that's about 1 in 1230) so the chances of this happening twice in sequence is astronomically low.

I may even extend critical hit/fail to rolls of 18 and 19/2 and 1.

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>>52855174
It looks nice. I read through some of the lore you have there, it seems pretty cool. I know this is just a draft, but I would be remiss if I didn't point out that almost every sentence in there is a run-on nightmare. Consider revising for brevity and clarity.

>>52870139
I'm currently working on that because i'm aware it's pretty bad - it's text i've edited and used for like two years now and i've never gotten around to fixing it

I tried yesterday but i'm having a very hard time translating my concepts into solid ideas and my solid ideas into paragraphs

How do you guys deal with writer's block?

>>52866308
To be honest, I think d&d's intimidate, bluff and diplomacy cover most of what we do, but I'd add in something like charm/flattery/seduce.

>>52870251
>dealing with writer's block
I have only one way: delete it all, and start again.

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I'm building a setting, and I would like some input on it. Questions, remarks, things you (dis)like, general advice, etc. would help me greatly. Details are still fuzzy but the core of what I want is already decided.

The goal is to create a Robert E. Howard-like semi-historical world. High on realism, and with a curious mix of low and high magic (will make sense later).
This can take either the shape of straight up doing some alt-history Earth, an altered Earth like R. E. Howard used for Conan, or a new world that resembles our Earth like they use for Warhammer Fantasy. Still on the fence for that.
What is decided however is that this world is populated by humans and various hominids that take on the roles of elves, dwarves, gnomes, goblins, ogres, etc.

Now the big linchpin that hopefully will make the setting stand out is how magic works.
You begin by performing a culturally agnostic ritual next to a doorway. Can be an actual door. Can be a cave entrance. Since it's culturally agnostic, anyone can do it, from an ordained priest, to a hermetic monk, or a medicine man. Pass through the doorway and you will enter a strange psychosomatic infinite dungeon. Your thoughts influence it subtly. Filled with monsters and magical artifacts. You can bring magic back to Earth if you can return home, and if you do things right, you can even use it as a portal to other places on Earth.

My main problem is that I'm unsure how to tackle things like religions. I decided to date the discovery of the spirit realm in the neolithic, which means that all religions developed "on top" of this ritual, instead of the religions existing before this ritual was discovered.

I can go full crystal dragon Jesus, but I'd like to keep it somewhat recognizable as our Earth, even if I've introduced many things early in history that the butterfly effect is too big.

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I'm putting together a rules-lite tabletop RPG where the players play a gang of kids that get thrown into a supernatural plot in the 80's. Think Stranger Things, Monster Squad, Stephen King's IT, etc... Maybe with a little Lovecraft thrown in.

I don't have much yet, because I am spending a lot of time on the aesthetics, but I'd love some feedback on what I do have.

Pic attached is the character sheet, and the next post will show the list of Hobbies, of which players get to choose 2 for their character.

What do you think? What can I improve?

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>>52871757
And this is the list of Hobbies.

I am in fact trying to spend a lot of time on the aesthetics, BUT, I don't have an artistic bone in my body, so keep that in mind with your critique.

>>52871757
>>52871788
I like the layout.

>>52871813
Thanks anon! Do you see anything that can be improved?

>>52871897
Alas, I don't really play RPGs, so I'm not qualified to speak to much other than the design elements of them in these threads.

How do hobbies work, though? You pick two at the start, and you get the positives/negatives related as permanent modifiers? Maybe each could have a passive ability as well, which the player can trigger in specific situations. Like:

"Animals"
Play 1, Talk 1
"He has such a way with animals, they just seem to love him..."

My limited experience is with FATE, though, so I'm comfortable tagging something like that to get around a vicious guard dog. I don't know.

Actually, what is the system? Roll a d6 and hope to hit a threshold number?

>>52872080
It's a dice pool, so whatever the score is after the Hobbies modifiers, the player would roll that many dice (6 sided). 5s and 6s are successes and difficulty is calibrated by the GM be requiring a certain number of successes.

So, if I have a Fight score of 6, and I go up against a semi-difficult monster or something, and then GM says that I need 2 successes, then 2 of my 6 dice needs to be 5 or 6 (some of the "Favorite Things" can also make a character able to succeed on 4 as well).

Each of the Hobbies do indeed have passive effects, but they are situational. It's a great idea to list an example though, I'm gonna do that.

>>52872207
Oh yeah, that seems pretty solid. There's something special about rolling a handful of dice. I hope you keep updating the threads as you develop this.

>>52872332
Yeah, I definitely will.

And fully agreed about rolling a handful of dice. That's kinda what I was going for by choosing dice pool as the resolution - dropping an atom bomb of dice kinda gives you that youthful fun type feeling, IMO.

>>52813470
Does anyone have a link to the LCG cardmaking tools? I can't find it in the links at the top.

>>52872396
StrangeEons? I've used it to put together cards for X-wind before.

>>52873397
Is StrangeEons designed to make cards for existing games only?
I'd imagine if I'm making my own layout, I may as well use vector-graphic editing software of some kind.

Is this system too clunky? When rolling it out myself it seemed kind of fun.
>Player has STAT, which determines how many TIMES they can roll
>When a player rolls, they can roll any number of additional d6 they want
>If single, they have +1 to successes. You need x number off successes to do an action successfully.
>If a player rolls two of a kind ( i.e. two 3's ), it does not count as a success and there is a additional drawback to the action regardless if you succeed in the end. In the case of successes it would be "Yes you do thing, BUT..." and in the case of a failure it's "You fail to do thing AND..."
>If a player rolls three of a kind ( i.e. three 5's ) the action automatically fails on top of any additional penalties from doubles rolled with it.
>If a player rolls again after rolling two of a kind, and the do not gain another two or three of a kind the penalty is removed.

I like it but that's because I'm biased. Someone skilled at the action can roll multiple small batches to insure they succeed without a penalty and someone unskilled can roll a bunch of dice so they can still succeed but they are more likely to eat penalties.

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Hello /gdg/. I was working with a couple of you in the previous /hbg/ threads on a new system bringing Monster Hunter to table top (Link here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1C23SntKllqCK7U0tUd2aNy0KGrMoUtCt9qyguZ3ePns/edit?usp=sharing). To bring others up to speed on what I've been up to I may have to post quite a bit, so I think I'll just post the link and if anyone really needs context on a thing they can ask and I can give more specific answers.

I am currently working on explaining how Opposed checks work on my doc, and then will be moving on to consumable items and then movement and stamina.

One thing that I have been trying to think of a way to implement is Sharpness. In the Monster Hunter games, weapons have a certain number of hits in them before degrading to a lower sharpness level, causing their weapon to deal less damage. Players need to put away their weapon and sharpen to keep their weapon in top shape during the fight. In a tabletop setting, I feel like this mechanic would boil down to a lot of mindless keeping track of numbers on a weapon for each player and would really not feel very fun. So my question here I guess is how could this mechanic be implemented in a good way, or should it simply be left out?

>>52876697
Have each weapon have a roll for what it needs to keep the current level of sharpness if they roll a specific thing on the roll? Like a fumble roll.

Another idea is to turn sharpness and whetstones into a limited use buff, instead of a base part of the system. Keeping track of how many charges you have left isn't a huge amount of bookkeeping, so long as you only have a few to track.

>>52876697
Weapons have a durability score that is reduced by the enemy armor with each hit? So hitting a stone wall (DR: 10) reduces 10 of durability, and after half is gone the weapon becomes worse?

For non-D6, non-D20 dice, how many is too many for a single roll?

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So, I made a thing. I still need to add a section for utility items like healing, but it has everything else that it needs to be playable. Has lots of monster races.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1TEuWEAxxOiNeo1uabzMrRVyeGkNIK0K9yfB_Nun6S0o

>>52879713
So I took some time to look through your doc and hot damn do you have a lot here. I read the first couple of pages and found it rather difficult to read organization-wise, and it was *very* wordy. try to cut the fat from your descriptions to make getting to the important bits that much easier for your players, making your game that much easier to grasp.

>>52879713
Oh also I would highly recommend a table of contents so that people can jump to the parts they need/want to read.

>>52883234
Yeah, I plan on condensing it.

>>52883260
Does the google doc outline not work?

>>52883385
Oh geez yeah I guess that would help

durr

>>52761184
>http://1d4chan.org/
cancer

>>52883385
Here's an example of how what you've written could be condensed:

(Before)
Strength
>Strength (STR) is a measure of your character’s ability to lift, carry, or otherwise exert force on heavy objects. When using melee weapons, it also represents your ability to use the weapon effectively and secure a hit. Furthermore, it represents how hard you can swing the weapon and ultimately how much damage it can deal. How exactly Strength influences your melee attacks can vary depending on your equipment, but as a general rule, your attacks will tend to go as such:
> First, you roll to attack and add the value of your Strength to the combined values of the Action Dice you rolled. This is your Accuracy. If it is greater than or equal to the enemy’s Armor and Evasion Dice rolls, you hit and deal damage equal to your Damage Bonus (half your Strength) plus the base damage of the weapon.

(After)
Strength
>Strength (STR) is a measure of your character’s ability to lift, carry, or otherwise exert force on heavy objects. When using melee weapons, it also represents your ability to use the weapon accuracy and damage.

The second bit you have should be under a different section describing Combat in general, instead of having the description of combat underneath strength and Dexterity separately.

>>52873932
If you have the know-how, StrangeEon can be used to create your own game elements, but it's probably just as easy to do them in GIMP/Photoshop. Once I have the template set up I can power through a card every three-five minutes in GIMP... StrangeEon might shave a minute off that time, but there's hours of hassle-work configuring it first.

>>52883718
I hadn't actually gotten around to filling in the dedicated combat section. I wrote it as I was coming up with it, so it's all in one place. I will try to split it up though, to make it more readable. Thanks!

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>>52876697
>Sharpness
Going the DitV route, a weapon could have a base number of dice you roll (3d8) and then as it gets dulled, some of those dice go downwards. So after a fight 3d8 becomes 2d8+1d6, then 2d8+1d4, then 1d8+1d6+1d4, then 1d8+2d4 etc... it sounds a bit complicated, but the process could be easily tracked by moving dice around on a 'weapon' sheet, like in my shittily drawn example. This weapon is fully sharpened, so you take the top three dice (all d8's) and you roll.

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>>52884064
But here's a weapon that has been through the wars. Now the top die in every category is of a different value, representing its increasing dullness. Without looking at the curve, the threshold for removing a die (going down a die size) could be rolling five or more on an attack. After an attack is resolved, the largest die to roll five or more on an attack is removed, so if you roll 2d8+1d6, and you get 3,3,6 respectively, you do 12 damage, and then the d6 becomes a d4 for future rolls (until you sharpen). That way, a fully sharpened weapon will deal the most damage, but lose its edge quickly, while a completely dull weapon can still be used, but its output is bad.

Something to consider. I don't know much about Monster Hunter, or how large weapons figure in it, but to me this seems like a nice system for tracking 'sharpness' in a game where weapons are a central point.

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>>52884064
I already have a mechanic in place in my system which would make degrading a weapon easy enough. my main problem is Keeping track of *when* the weapon is dulled.

An idea I'm having right now is that when a character hits an Armored zone (in my system damage is split into Armored/Regular/Weak zones) they need to roll a 1d10, dulling when they roll a 1. after each time they avoid dulling the chance to dull goes up by 1.

This idea would keep to my current rolling system, my only question is if its a good way to simulate or not.

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>>52884240
There's even room for enchantments...

>>52884336
Good, cause this idea has really grown on me and it's fast approaching donut steel territory.

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I'm trying to abstract ballistics armor in a basic but at least marginally accurate way.
There's a couple of options I have so far.
A) Have an armor damage reduction that is maximized at first but drop incrementally after successful attacks, even if the armor would have neutralized the damage done.
(This seems rather dramatic but instead of just reflecting the armor losing integrity, this shows how the armor-bearer is getting weaker after suffering the successive concussion of rounds.)
B) Piece up the armor into consumable slots--one used up per successful attack. They detract damage done but thus exhaust after 1-3 hits, or however many slots are provided by the armor.
(For a Fate module, this will be the most contiguous option. However, it also feels rather "mecha".)

>>52883850
Thankee sai, for saving me some trouble

>>52879405
4d4 and 4d10 feel fine enough. 5+ d8s or d12 might be about where it gets tedious in one way or another.

>>52884064
>>52884240
>>52884387
Its already steeled.

>>52885839
Then it's a race to the prototyping stage!

>>52885059
I don't know if you've mentioned it already, but do you have a hit location system?
Ceramic ballistic armor is made up of multiple plates that can each stop one bullet, so getting hit in the same spot would provide total and then no protection. Kevlar could provide lower DR, better for slower moving bullets like from a handgun and can last for 1-3 bullets in a given area (unlike ceramic armor where the entire plate is dusts upon impact). Combat would then be about breaking down armor to hit unprotected areas, like playing darts where you want to hit another dart.

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>>52886327
Hmmmmm
So far. there's no human body analog/model of what slot affects what part of the anatomy in this module. In default Fate Core, the recipient of damage/shifts can select how they receive their shifts/damage (using whichever Stress boxes were available, or none of them).

In terms of making different mechanics for aramids and ceramics, I'd like to think the general consequence is the same; no armor is very good in the vicinity previously damaged (ignoring steel, maybe graphene?). To me, that's probably sufficient so I don't have to make more mechanics. Perhaps, to represent "heavy" armor, it'll be explained as ceramic and "medium" or lesser armors with the aramids.

Thanks for the armor insight. I might integrate a Stunt where the more accurate weaponry can take better advantage of previously damaged armor slots.

>>52873397
Thank you, based anon.

>>52886950
If you have different ammo types, each armor type could have a different niche. Ceramics prevent all damage once, kevlar provides limited DR for low speed rounds, while metal plates provide diminishing DR for all rounds other than piercing. Kevlar and Metal would still impart blunt force damage, but you'd have choices of lighter fabric, heavy metal plates, or medium ceramic that each provide a slightly different style of protection.

Armor could have two attributes: DR and degredation. DR is the max amount of damage you can reduce, while Degredation is the total amount the armor can defend. Each time you use your armor's DR you reduce that DR amount from the degredation. Kevlar could have DR 3 Deg. 9, Ceramic could have DR 10 Deg. 10, and Metal could have DR 6 Deg. 15. Assuming damage ranges from 1-10, that would give each armor a niche. Degredation could also happen from "used" armor, so while brand new kevlar might be 3/9, old kevlar might be 3/7. I don't know how literally that would translate to Fate but that would be a simple, relatively accurate model.

Why almost no one deals with social like they deal with combat? Arguments, counter arguments, willpower... Is there a system that truly deals with a battle of wits like a battle itself?

>>52890046
Diaspora (FATE) does. It even has a map you move minis around as you beat your opponent into submission with your wordplay and quips.

>>52890046
Generally you want to keep mechanics out and very far away from what would befall onto roleplaying if you want to have something worthwhile, because if you start making mechanics to replace or that are directly involved with the roleplaying aspect of the game, might as well play a videogame at that point

>>52890358
This fall on the classic "socially awkard nerd wants to play 20 charisma Bard" conundrum.

>>52890512
socially awkward nerd should man the fuck up or play something else then, "roll for charisma" is enough of a crutch already

who the fuck gets into a hobby that demands a certain level of creativity, improv and social interaction and tries to shape it around their retardation?

don't ruin your game for everyone to cater who people who shouldn't be here in the first place, anon

>>52890046
>>52890598
I feel one of the better ways to incorporate social encounters into games is to make them opposed checks, with players getting bonuses for actual good reasoning/arguments/intimidation RP. better yet, in some situations you could have these checks be more than just one opposed, and have players do something like a best of 3 or even 5, needing different arguments to counter NPCs.

>>52885780
That's what I'm thinking. Back to the drawing board, then.

>>52892048
This is close to the truth: >>52890358
It's cool to have mechanics for the special occasions, but most of the time you should just stay away from it.

>>52890512
>>52890598
As I already said, I kind of agree with you, but one point to be taken is that players are NOT their characters, to solve this I usually let my players ask anything they want about the situation to get a hint on how to proceed, but the thing is they get only what they ask for.

Also,how do you feel about digital tools for TTRPG? I'm thinking about developing an APP to help me and my players keep track of everything instead of relying on physical trackers

How much "advice" should you include in playtests? My game is kind of a mix of PbtA, BW and FATE, and I took a lot of "this is how you play" and "this is how you GM" advice from these. Should I include it in the playtests? Obviously I know how to GM it, but what about players?

>>52899257
>Also,how do you feel about digital tools for TTRPG? I'm thinking about developing an APP to help me and my players keep track of everything instead of relying on physical trackers

modernizing things doesn't hurt, me and my group generally have an app or a page on our phones to check shit on the fly if needed, and we use a shadowrun dice roller because we don't have enough d6

then again, if you modernize it too much you may as well be playing vidya instead - physical tools are essential to the feel of the hobby

>>52899275
Depends on what level of playtesting you're at. If its still barebones, testing rule concepts, I feel letting the players know how the rule should feel or work is okay. If its more advanced than that, but you're still involved, I wouldn't say anything, but ask for feedback when something comes up. Shape your advice around that. If its a blind test, where you give your rules to a group and let them test it without you, use the advice to point out areas that should feel or play this way and make sure you get feedback on the players not only on the rules, but also the advice given so you can make sure it is clear.

>>52890598
>"You want to play a Barbarian with 18STR? Let's see you deadlift."
>"You want to play a Ranger with 16DEX? Let's see you juggle these five balls."
>"You want to play a character with 20WIS? Come on, you should know better than that..."
Are you beginning to see why you're wrong?

>>52899275
Do playtests in which you are the GM, the sole expert of the game, teaching players all the rules in your own words. Use these tests to determine how enjoyable the game is, if the mechanics work, etc. Repeat this until you have a good system.

Then give your handbook to someone who has never played before, and let them GM a game, with you as a player. You'll also need at least one player who hasn't played before. Don't say any of the rules while playing, and don't allow those who have played before to do so either. How well the rules are kept to will generally indicate how well the handbook was written.

>>52902408
No, I don't. I'm asking you to play your character - you don't need to be a weightlifter, a juggler or a wise old chinese man in order to play one, and you don't need to be a charismatic man in order to play one either, but a certain level of acting is needed to roleplay, because you're playing a role. You're trying to compare mechanics that serve as a crutch to represent something that would not make sense to represent into the game with what is essentially narrative, something you should be keeping up with in the first place since you agreed to play a roleplaying game - read: a cooperative narrative experience. Mechanize the narrative and you have a pen and paper videogame.

>>52890302
Should probably read that PDF...

>>52902931
Roleplaying's definition can be challenged if you consider the way [some] people meticulously craft characters in vidya games, through equipage, traits, and especially appearance. They definitely have a design goal in mind and a person they want to bring to life.
By extension of this, some don't roleplay in the theatrical sense very well but they are dumbfoundingly proficient at animating a character in the text-only realm.

You are definitely right in that a roleplaying game should require roleplay, it's just that I think roleplay isn't always delivered the same way. And it can't be denied that a good actor makes the game much more fun.
However, I would want the charisma-like stat in a game to permit a player to describe what they'd like to say, but not the words explicitly. Just as a fighter will describe the attack but not actually commit it.
If you let acting skill singly dictate the outcome, the best actor in the room wins. You may as well discard the social stats at that point.

>>52902931
I think I can still see the goalposts all the way off in the distance there, so I'll try it again.

No one is saying that you shouldn't have to roleplay in a roleplaying game: I'm not saying that, the guy you initially replied to isn't saying that, the guy asking for social combat rules isn't saying that. What I'm saying is that a person's ability to be charismatic should not have an impact on their ability to play a charismatic character, and that in-game social interactions can be expressed through mechanics as well as through role-playing.

And just to head off the 'pen and paper videogame' boogeyman reply, no one is saying that you should all sit around rolling dice mechanically whilst saying not one word to each other. Even in a system where social rules have been heavily prescribed, the onus is still on players to describe their actions, and on the GM to describe the consequences of their actions. Unlike a video-game, where you're locked in to a single narrative of another person's choosing, a role-playing game has total freedom, and that is the real strength of the role-playing game over the video-game.

I mean, both video-games and role-playing games are exercises in escapism, aren't they? The only difference is that the former forces you to escape into someone else's world, and the latter allows you to escape into your own world. So if someone physically weak wants to play a strong-man, why shouldn't the mechanics allow for that? And if someone with a stutter who is bad at improv wants to play a suave leader, why shouldn't the mechanics allow for that Stutterer might (and should be encouraged to) try to improv a speech before rolling to see if it worked, or he might describe what his character does before rolling, but should the hard barrier between playing a cool bard and party face really be a meta-aspect like a person's ability to portray that character? No.

And to keep this on topic: failing to account for all of this is bad game design.

>>52887852
This is some really thorough insight into a modern armor system.

Unfortunately, the numbers and granularity is most likely just too high for Fate Core to handle.
Thanks a ton, bud. I'll keep it in mind for someone who might be engineering a modern setting game.

>>52871757
>>52871788
I really like aesthetic and idea behind this. Looks like it would be a lot of fun if done right. I'm excited to see more progress and if it ever gets to the point a full rulebook so I can play

>>52899257
Becoming dependent on software is not at fun as I imagined
My oldest ruleset practically depended on it to even have semi-playable sessions. This wasn't a good sign; it meant the game wasn't tabletop-ready and could probably be made without these assisting apps (as fun as they were to make).

>>52903800
I'm sure something could still work, but I'm not familiar with Fate at all.

Trying to cut down on the number of dice, I've gone back to my idea of rolling off instead of dice pools.

The current iteration I'm tooling with removes the Attack and Defense stats from effecting how many dice you roll. Instead, attack and defense rolls are limited to 3 dice standard, choose the highest. Attack and Defense now add to your roll, to add a little granularity and to avoid the over swinginess the older system had.

I'm still working on how damage is done. I've got 3 ideas, so far. First is simple, and not really my favorite, which is the weapon's stats give a number of dice to roll against the target's armor and each successful roll does a point of damage.

The second is the RoF idea I purposed a few threads back; a hit does one damage roll and then you take the difference between the rolls and divide by the weapon's RoF to determine how many extra hits you get. The addition to a static increase to rolls makes this a bit more attractive.

The last idea is one damage roll, and you divide the roll total by the armor of the target, they suffer one point of damage for each full armor value, i.e. a weapon with Power 3 rolls a D12+3, rolling a '9', giving '12' total, and is compared to a target with armor 5. The target takes 2 points of damage.

I'm not 100% sure how I'm leaning with this system, biggest things so far is thinking that the Attack value should be higher base than the Defense, since A. there's modifiers to the rolls like range and cover for ranged attacks, and B. in melee, targets attack back by making an attack roll. I'm also leaning towards the third option for the damage.

bamo

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Anyone else backing this?

dont worry if you're not, I'll totally upload the PDF of the game design books here when it's complete

>>52908492
I can't imagine what might be different than resources we already have.

>>52906808
I think it definitely can be adapted if I can translate the spread vs. absorption qualities to different arrangements/quantities of Stress boxes.

>>52903976
Thanks senpai, I will definitely keep updating these threads if I can find them. Do people regularly check the projects list in the OP? How do I go about putting stuff on there?

>>52909153
After it's funded you won't need to imagine!

>>52908492
I looked it up and honestly dont really understand how its worth getting? The essays are nice but would be better released as a stand-alone book, and the resources kind of limit you to whatever kind of games could be made from them.

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For anyone interested in giving feedback on the Black Age, how do you feel about people acting simultaneously? I want to move away from the turn based style since it's unrealistic and slow. My idea is to have a turn consist of "ticks" where everyone at the table acts at once. Every tick of the clock a person or creature can either move 5 feet or take an action. That being said a person can only move up to their max speed and take one action in a round (not including an AoO). Does this make sense? Is it shit? What other ways of doing simultaneous turns have you seen?

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>>52913702
for this I just want people to act at the same time. so in a duel, on tick one of the turn, the two combatants make their choice. Jack wants to fight and Sam wants to move. We'll say that actions 'resolve' before movement because moving 5 feet take a bit. So Jack attacks, using his one action. Sam is free to dodge or block, and he chooses to dodge. He succeeds and ends up 5 feet away from Jack. (Does the reacting like that count as his use of this tick? Should he still get him move? Would he get his move if he didn't try to dodge or block?) Those are their positions on the second tick. Now jack and sam both want to move, so they do. Jack is chasing after sam. On the third tick...

and so on, until they run out of movement and have used their action. I don't feel like decision making would take very long. In something turn based a lot more happens than really should in the course of "6 seconds". In my head people declare what they do on a tick pretty quick in reaction to what's happening. Especially when their actions are done with. It's just moving at that point unless they provoke an AoO

whoopsie, did a derp. Time for a new tripcode.

>>52913702
>>52913735
If you aren't doing rounds and turns, consider looking into a Continuous Initiative mechanic. Continuous Initiative gives each action a cost in "ticks". A universal tick counter determines when actions take place and for how long. You've got the casting time and duration baked right into the mechanic.

So example: Player A queues an attack for 5ap. Player B queues a block for 3ap and Player C queues a move action for 6ap. Once the counter hits 3, Player B's Block starts and lasts for 5 ticks. At tick 5, Player A's attack is blocked by Player B, but Player C gets hit because they haven't fully moved yet. Player A queues another attack for 5ap, Player B queues another block action for 3ap, and Player C queues a spell for 5ap. When the counter reaches 10, Player A attacks Player B since his move hasn't started yet while Player C is out of range. At tick 11, Player C casts their spell which hits Player A but is blocked by Player B.

>>52918550
likewise my dude

>>52913535
Oh yeah absolutely. I only backed it for $8.00 to get the digital book of essays.

>>52921038
That may be worth doing, but since you're going to be uploading the PDF's maybe I'll just wait on that ;)

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>>52913735
>>52913702
I would suggest taking a look at Mazes and Minotaurs, which I think has a very similar combat system to what you are describing.

I have been personally working on a system even MORE similar to this, but I'm going to force you to look at my doc to see it because I'm an asshole.

>>52900418
>>check shit on the fly
mostly this, but I will be using it to keep track of shit too.
>>52905627
Yeah, I was a bit afraid of that at first, but my game seems a lot heavier on the setup and this is the major reason why I'm starting to build this

http://timetorally.co.nf/
looks like trash and it is not working yet, but it's something o/ (considering I've made this from scratch)

I'm so proud of this thread right now.

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>>52923970
best goddamn general

>>52923970
The best of the best

So will the thread restart on Saturday?

>>52924395
May actually be dead by then, at this rate.

I'm trying to create my own cyberpunk card game and so far my biggest issue coming up with unique gameplay that doesn't feel overly complicated or too similar to other card games. I have a long way to go before anything really gets going but anyone got any unique core mechanics for a card game?

so has anyone from /gdg/ ever actually published a game?

>>52925340
Publish? No, but, I did play the game with friends and things seemed alright.

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How much do you need to include in a new system for people to use it?

>Character creation
>Stat management
>Combat rules
>Inventory rules

Is that already more than necessary?

>>52925340
A few anons months and years ago have.
Ops and Tactics and Knights and Knaves come to mind and I know a third anon put their stuff on RPG Drivethru

>>52925340
Yes, but it got slammed in art test, so I pulled it. Spoiled millennials and their need for flashy graphics, why back in my day...

I just started the process of rebooting with new graphics, but now the publisher (POD, mind you) is incorrectly hitting me with trademark infringement. I can see why a lot of people opt just to keep their work between themselves and friends.

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>>52925593
just imho, but we already have a near infinite number of OSR games that do literally only the four things you mentioned, so i think the question shouldn't be so much "what is the bare minimum i can write to make a game" but "what can i write that will make something unique", or even "what will be necessary for the next gen of ttrpgs".
i think what you have is good, but you're also going to need to have skills and likely a section on social interaction. but it depends on the game, of course.

>>52925942
Oh. I asked because I naturally just don't know where to stop, I keep coming up with more systems for everything...

I have a world generation system w/ built in navigation guidelines, a deep social interaction system that tracks reputation and visual bias, a unique magic system, and lots more

The problem is that it never feels finished... Even when I go far beyond what's usually available.

>>52926106
oh also. i guess its just done when its done. how many pages are you at right now?

>>52793651
>>52793667
>>52793694
>>52793738
>>52793759
>>52793811

Could you put all this into a pdf or something?

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>>52923970

Hey everyone! I have not posted here in months.

In my scifi system I made a build-a-gun system where you add parts to increase it's stats.

Anyway, I made a chart like those CYOA things and I'd like you guys to work through it and see what what you guys make. It's a really basic design but I would like to know what you all think.

>>52926451

Sorry, I should add that the basic format for the system is basically damage is 1d10+10 for guns, range, then payload. The system here works in just adding the factors together with barrel parts being range, trigger parts being damage, and magazines being payload. I tried making the parts so that the price would add up to what a complete weapon would be priced at with a low grade firearm being very cheap but a bigger or complex one being more expensive.

>>52926187
I couldn't give you a page number. I have about 5 notebooks filled with brainstorming and iterations, and about 50 computer pages written out including lore and world building.

The reason I came here to ask is because I fear writing it all out would actually turn people off. I'm trying to save myself writing out endless stuff if people only want a little at first and then I could add the "extra" systems later...?

>>52926451
I'm no expert on guns but even I know that the rifle doesn't matter nearly as much as the ammunition when it comes to damage. The gun structure is mostly to be able to handle the force of the ammunition and control rate of fire.

Alright /gdg/, I need some help. I'm rewriting a game I used to have on a broken hard drive. I had weapon creation rules which I'm currently working on, but I don't remember how I had it formatted. The basic idea is that you'd combine at least a [Handle] and a [Head] to create whatever weapon you want. Example: Small Haft + Heavy Blade = Axe. Large Hilt + Large Blade = Greatsword. Staff + Small Blade = Spear, etc. All the properties of the weapons are contained in the tags that create it like Damage, Damage type (Slashing Bludgeon, Piercing), and special properties (Reach, Armor Penetration, etc).

I mainly don't know how to format all of these things. Should I list things like Small Hilt, Large Hilt, Small Sword Blade, Large Axe Blade? Or, should I just list basic things like Haft, Hilt, Blade and have a separate list of Large, Small, Straight, Curved, Heavy that individually might apply to items on the other list?

So Option 1 would be just like the example above. Option 2 would be more like:
Haft[Large] + Macehead[Large, Chain, Heavy] for a Great Flail or Staff + Blade[Heavy, Large] Blade[Small, Straight] for a Halberd

>>52928040
Do you aim for complexity? The best way IMHO to deal with this is going simple, so a player can use a Haft and a Blade and call it whatever fits better his character theme.

>>52928317
Slightly abstract is exactly what I'm aiming for. It doesn't matter to me or the game whether you call your sword a Cutlass, Saber, Scimitar, or whatever. But, all of those things will be longer, curved blades on 1 handed hilts and deal slashing damage. Contrast that to a Longsword, Arming Sword, or Bastard Sword which is a just a longer, straight blade on a 1 handed hilt. Ideally you'll be able to create nigh any weapon you want, the tags just determine how the weapon acts mechanically. This way I can support a weapon list the size of dnd 3.5 without having to have a weapon table the size of 3.5.

The question is more about formatting than anything. I'm not sure what form of presentation would be the easiest to parse.

>>52926934
>I'm no expert on guns but even I know that the rifle doesn't matter nearly as much as the ammunition when it comes to damage. The gun structure is mostly to be able to handle the force of the ammunition and control rate of fire.

Flechettes are rail gun ammo, it's all explained in the main book.

>>52928040

I'd go with latter, I did a system like this for>>52926451 and it's kinda worked out.

>>52928513
One table for each option? You can't have both a hilt and a haft in a weapon, so the player chooses one from the handle table, and the blade from the offensive factor table.

You could even allow for a weapon with no offensive factor, only a handle (basically a quarterstaff with a long shaft) or no handle and only offensive factor (a dart may be considered to be only a pointy needle).

>>52928773
I'm starting to lean towards that. I feel like it would end up being more flexible and smaller than the first option.

>>52929505
That's the idea. One Handle, one Head. There would be certain cases like you mentioned where a QStaff wouldn't have a head or a Dart wouldn't have a handle that affects things mechanically.

I'm just trying to figure out whether I should call the pieces like "Large Curved Blade", or if I should go Blade[Large, Curved]. I need to make multiple tables whichever I choose, but I will makes things easier to decide beforehand. I'm weighing the organization needed from me, and how easily a player can understand the system as a whole.

>>52929665
I prefer Blade, Large instead of Large Blade. You will organize the table alphabetically so if I want to make a sword I'll look at B first before making it large.

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>>52871757
>>52871788
holy shit this is amazing man!

>>52929665
What you'll probably want is the damage type first, so I'd argue for the Blade [Modifier] setup.

This is assuming, mechanically, the type of damage is the most important instead of the handle/auxiliary features.

>>52926934
>The reason I came here to ask is because I fear writing it all out would actually turn people off. I'm trying to save myself writing out endless stuff if people only want a little at first and then I could add the "extra" systems later...?
well on the one hand i understand your point. on the other hand, it might end up being way shorter than you think to actually write the rules down once you start doing it.