Im currently back to working on my system and I've been having a heck of a time feeling motivated. Right now Im doing monster design and Im not sure if its the fact that I need to just brute force it or if monster design is not "fun" if that makes sense or if its that Im working on the "boring" monsters so there isnt a lot of cool abilities to work on.

After several months I have... 1 npc statblock. I want to turn it over to you all to see if this looks like something you would be interested in using. My game is a crunchy d20 dark fantasy about hunting monsters. GM's are expected to prepare fights well in advance. The idea is that Players should investigate prior to actually going to fight monsters rather than just charging in and killing everything that moves. As a result I wanted to give GMs the ability to make unique and interesting monsters that have interesting mechanics that depend on the story as opposed to the story to fit around the mechanics.

Link to Example statblock and rules

Hi everyone! I really need your ttrpg wisdom to help me out!

I am almost finished with my space opera game. I am doing some polishing for the manuscript with my editor.

I have a QuickStart guide I’ve been using for playtesting and I’m pretty happy with the feedback. It has cool stock art and a basic layout I did myself.

I would like to get in touch with the game engine’s publisher to see if they are interested in publishing, but I know that’s super rare in the industry.

I was thinking about publicly relishing the guide for free, build a community and then make a kickstarter. But the game is really rules light, so it’s almost the whole game. Should I wait for the final manuscript and get in touch with the publisher? Another path?

So.. I don’t really know what to do. What would you recommend?

Edit: I still need to do the final layout and I would like to have cool graphic and layout design and commissioned art. I have 15 years in video game development, but this industry is still a mystery to me.

Meaning, what would need to be changed to make it work on a character that is persistent.

Also how could you tie it into weapons and armor?

Edit- just to be clear. I mean in a solo ttrpg, but also non solo.

The General Question

In a game where you have multiple actions each turn, what are the pros and cons and what vibe does it get across if the if each action can be used for anything (similar to PF2e's any 3 actions per turn) or if the two actions come from different lists (similar to D&D5e's bonus and standard actions)?

Specifics to my Game

In my game player characters all have two actions, an Inhale Action and an Exhale action. The names come from the fiction, and it's also part of the fiction that normal people only get one of these but the characters are special.

Currently, the rules are written so that both actions are the same, you can use either to do anything. Previously, I had it written so that this followed the fiction a little more closely and you had to spend different resources on one action vs the other but you could still either to do anything. However this restriction ended up mostly being ignored in playtesting and even when it wasn't it was just unnecessary friction. So the restriction was removed and the actions are now exactly the same.

However, I keep coming back to wanting to make the actions different somehow because it fits the fiction slightly better. What this would look like is basically there are a list of inhale Actions that are things like Aim, Move, Hide, Rest, or Start Casting. Things that mostly help you recover, allocate resources, or set your self up for something. They mostly don't require rolling. Then you have an Exhale Action that is something like Attack or Finish Casting. This action is where you execute whatever your first action set you up for and is usually a full roll against someone's defenses.

Anyway what vibes do the two systems get across differently? Do you see it as better to allow more flexibility or to be less flexible but fit the fiction better?

I don't want to get too far into details because I will legitimately rant for hours, but the basics of it is this: The system I'm designing is built around a pretty complex and modular "Limb" system, which aims to incorporate all body parts. Some races might have wings or tails, some might have multiple torsos, etc.

I'm having trouble deciding on what to call that particular segment of the torso. I've been going with Groin as I've worked, since it feels the most scientific I guess? Crotch sounds a bit lewd in my opinion, but it also is a bit more comfortable to say maybe? Groin is kind of a weird word, so I'm not sure if I want to use it. There's also Pelvis that I thought of, but didn't give too much thought to.

Hips are off the table, as they're considered part of the leg in terms of character building. More legs means more hips, more torsos does not. Just wondering what yall think is the best word to use here, I know it's a minor issue, but it's really bothering me!

As you know I am independently developing this game, doing everything myself.

So on top of:

drawing, pencil drawings + inking: characters, items, spells, recipes, feats, skills and so on, icons, tokens etc into a coherent style

editing the said drawings into convincing manual and adventure pages, into useful cards and pawns and tokens for the tabletop version

setting up rules, testing them

developing a background lore, that means general take on the world, events, characters and their variables inside the culture and times,

and an exciting story to jump into, tightly related to the lore,

even writing lyrics and convincing short stories,

ONE HAS TO DO PROMO! by himself...

..............................

I have to die to level up, I guess...

https://preview.redd.it/sv1luwmhy10e1.png?width=3228&format=png&auto=webp&s=bc475589a1fdd7c942e8054bb08e87b99639674c

https://linktr.ee/ziragg

I made some travel and survival rules. Here are the design goals:

• Crunchy
• Interesting decision making
• Make the players a little scared of long wilderness trips
• Not unbearably complicated (I'm worried about this one)

I've thrown together some travel and survival rules for the fantasy TTRPG I'm developing (Heart Rush). This is completely untested material, but I'd love to hear people's thoughts. (Also, obviously feel free to steal any of this stuff for your own rules :) ).

Here's the pdf:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tXd4lK-OvLtt9i4in2X7sLe6HQzKwL3o/view?usp=share_link

My Core Rules are done - and I'm currently deciding on which foes to include in the core book or which to add to the second book (which I plan to release at the same time).

The second book will primarily foes, starships, and additional mecha/weapon/armor/item options - for weapons/armor mostly the niche and/or special rules ones. (effectively removing them made the core rules a bit simpler)

Anyway - to sum up, I'm wanting to add a wide smattering of foes from a few different factions - trimmed down a bit to take up less space. But then it'll be weird IMO that the more basic troops are missing from the Threat Guide to the Galaxy book where those factions have a bunch more foes listed.

Would it be weird (or feel cheap) if I had those same dozen-ish pages of basic foes listed again - only with additional details of tactics & likely encounters etc.?

Does anyone know, or has worked on, a more "realistic" version of initiative? Instead of the standard consecutive turn sequence , I.e. Player 1 has a turn, player 2 has a turn, NPC 1 has a turn, Player 3 has a turn, ect

Its clearly the most efficient (got to be the most common too), but I've been considering alternatives and wondering if it already exists in a better format.

The goal would be to avoid the idea of the player with the lowest initiative looking like they are standing around while everyone does their thing, or the person with the highest initiative waiting for everyone else to finish doing something after they have already done something.

My rough idea would be something along the lines of; Lower initiative scores count down, announcing what their character will attempt to do on their turn based on the current circumstances. For example the hero gets a low initiative, announcing what they want to do first, "I want to run up and hit the goblin with my sword".

Higher initiatives decide what their characters are doing last, but get to perform their action first. For example, the Goblin got a high initiative, "Seeing you run at me with a sword,I decide to run away".

As the turns are simultaneous, the hero runs at the goblin who promptly runs away. Every players turn is executed at exactly the same time for a round.

Thoughts, criticism, improvements? I can think of a bunch of flaws already, not least stemming from my example of it turning into an endless combat of chasing and running away. Also if there are lots of players and npcs, recording what everyone is going to be doing could be tricky as you'd have to remember what everyone declared they were going to do.

I still feel like there is something here though, maybe not in the form I've pitched. Would love some thoughts.

I'm checking my system for comprehensiveness, so give me some rollable situations, as generic or specific as you like. I'll start: intimidating a street thug into divulging information.

Hey everyone! My game is set in a gritty world of high-stakes horror and investigation, where players face both supernatural and human threats.

To keep the intensity of horror and investigations, I made the design choice to encourage theater-of-the-mind combat rather than using hexes or grids. However, I quickly ran into the challenge of managing movement, distance, and positioning in a way that’s both fluid and tactically interesting. My solution is a phased combat system with unique mechanics for each stage of the encounter, which I hope balances immersion and strategic depth.

Combat Phases Overview:

• Ambush Strikes: Attackers surprise defenders, who can’t react or use cover. A successful ambush can give attackers an early advantage, setting the tone for the encounter.
• Opening Volleys: This phase focuses on ranged attacks, where combatants use bows, crossbows, thrown weapons, potions, or spells to strike enemies at a distance. It’s triggered when enemies are outside melee range, with both sides closing the distance while exchanging attacks. Those who advance make ranged attacks with Disadvantage. Those who hold their position often gain significant AC from cover.
• Melee Combat: In close quarters, players choose stances (Aggressive, Balanced, Defensive) that affect their AC and available actions. Stances let players decide between going all-in on offense or adopting a more cautious, defensive approach.

The goal is to create a cinematic, engaging flow where players make strategic choices at each stage. I’ve linked the full combat chapter below for anyone interested in seeing the phases in context.

1. Do you think a phased structure like this feels intuitive for theater-of-the-mind combat while offering interesting tactical choices?
2. As a GM, would you find similar phases and mechanics manageable to run in real-time if good examples are given in the rulebook?
3. Any other thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks so much for your time!

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1uUtAn5lgZC7xxFfzHqAOBXgXcEPHxT4A?usp=drive_link

Question is in the title. What do you think of games that have a mechanical distinction of males and females?

In Hell's Reborn, thanks to the many feedbacks, has two main ways to develop the character magical power, such as the river, for which you commit an something such as an injury (immagine the health system like the one of World of Darkness), skill dices, attributes, Sin magic or free will (points the master can use to control your character), or the already mentioned seven Sins magic, where Synchrony (the value of blending and blurring between body and soul) is the difficulty reduction (the value you reduce the difficulty the dice needs to equal or surpass to get a success for the d8 skill dices).

Rivers and Sins have a domain of action, which means the general influence you have on the world inside and around yourself.

Context: You play as a damned soul who crawled back from the evil afterlife, who recently regained his memories and started reforming his damned form (other templates for characters in development).

Hello! I've been working on a system of my own lately to play with my table. We really love the game Masks: A New Generation. As a result, we've been drawn to other PbTA games because "if it's anything like Masks, it is probably good!"

We love high fantasy, but prefer more rp heavy systems, so we tried Dungeon World in hopes that it would combine the gameplay of Masks with the fantasy genre. It was... okay, but at the end of the day it wasn't the experience we were hoping for. So this is when I decided to make my own system!

The system heavily looks to Masks for inspiration, but obviously with a lot of reworking to suit the setting. It's going well, but there's one thing I've had difficulty including: a death system.

To those not familiar with Masks, it essentially doesn't have death at all, or even HP. The closest thing is that when you mark more than 5 conditions you "remove yourself" via passing out/running away. It's super cool and fits the genre very well. But in fantasy, the threat of death is more important. Adventurers are often risking their lives in deadly encounters. I want to include death in my system, but DON'T want to include HP.

My immediate thought (and the one I think I will go with) is to take the "remove yourself" after taking 6 conditions and replace that with essentially "make death saving throws".

But In 5e, the death save mechanic is a really strong part of the system. It includes real risk, but also takes long enough to give the healer a chance to swoop in and save the day. But it's hard to adapt into PbTA because it does not have turn-based combat and instead goes for a loose, fiction heavy approach. My other option was to basically steal the "Last Breath" move from Dungeon World, but that mechanic is BRUTAL. It reduces the "death save" down to a single, flat roll of 2d6. It would be 10x more brutal in a system without HP, essentially dooming players after a maximum of 6 hits. So it definitely isn't a good option.

So, that's where I am now. How could I make a death system that would gel well with what I have? I'd love suggestions please! Thank you so much.

Several people here expressed interest in reviewing and playtesting my game. I know this is a minor project, but still, my self-imposed deadline has come and gone, so I figured I would communicate my new timeline.

I initially thought I would be able to posted by now, but school and some development complications—especially school—have slowed down my progress. My current tentative date for my 'beta launch' is January 15.

I'll still have some work to do on the bestiary, formatting, and a few other things, but it should be playable by then. Thanks to everyone who has expressed interest and engaged in my posts!

I've been ruminating on this for a while. I've seen some old posts on the Barotrauma subreddit with a similar subject, but didn't get too much of an answer.

For those unfamiliar, Barotrauma is a multiplayer game where you are a member of a submarine crew in the ocean on Europa, a moon of Jupiter. I recommend looking at the steam store page or watching some game play. I really want to capture that feeling of Thalassophobia, general horror, gritty survival, and of course plenty of roleplay and a little bit of survival/crafting.

What system would you use? Or at least, what parts of what systems? It'll probably end up being a lot of homebrew.

I'm not worried about lore, I want things to run mechanically similar to the video game, while still feeling like a TTRPG. I can figure out my own lore, and use the game as inspiration.

I heard somebody say using The Expanse TTRPG. I've thought about the Star Wars 5e game a bit... but these don't take into account being underwater as opposed to being in space.

I'll probably want to run this on something like Roll20 or Forge VTT. Getting that 2D side view would be cool, but not a necessity, I'm not as worried about the map making, though. That'll come later.

Just trying to brainstorm, any input is welcome.

Thanks.

Heart Rush is a crunchy, fantasy TTRPG ruleset. And it does combat really well.

Here's how it compares to the "average" fantasy RPG:

• Crunchy. There aren’t tons of tables, and the math isn’t too bad, but this is far from “rules-lite”.
• It’s grittier and more simulationist. Healing is slow, and fighting is dangerous. You probably won't die, but it’ll feel like you’re going to.
• Each round of combat is unique. The core mechanics of combat discourage being predictable. This is a cornerstone of the Heart Rush rules.
• Fast, tactical combat. Seriously. You’ve got lots of important decisions to make each round, and it doesn’t slow down the game since everyone’s making decisions in parallel.
• Highly cooperative. Each class is designed to be played with the other classes, and will be best at allowing the other classes to shine. Everyone feels special.
• You’ll feel heroic eventually, but not for a while. And when you do, it’s mainly because you’ve done really difficult things, not because you have heroic abilities.
• Constant leveling. You don't have to wait for the level up—spend XP on a variety of stuff at different costs to improve your character. 
• Wild character design. A barbarian wizard, ninja detective, or fire-bender assassin are all totally viable builds. 
• Extremely flexible trait system. Plain English descriptions of your character result in mechanical bonuses and concrete hooks that drive the story forward.
• Hyper-flexible elemental magic. You can be an air-bender and can do all the things you should be able to do as an air-bender. And it's not tied to anything else, so you can tack that onto whatever type of build you want.
• Fail-forward mechanics. The story won’t always grind to a halt on failures.

I don't think I'll ever finish my system, but I've done more mechanical and visual overhauls that I think make the content much more digestible. If you're interested in checking it out, download it here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/171s7LM3sigYAWPpgieAfsCQDa_h3sJtO/view?usp=share_link

If you have feedback, I'd love to hear it. I'm not planning on selling this book for money, but I am interested in being able to send it to strangers and have them able to pick up the rules and understand how to play. Also, if you have feedback on mechanics, complexities, or whatever else, I'm all ears. It's been play tested for the last five years by multiple GMs in multiple groups and they all seem to prefer running it to any alternatives, but they also don't have many systems to compare it to so I take that with a big grain of salt.

Thank you all, love this community :)

edit: Oh, forgot to mention—everything past page 120ish is very work in progress. Kinda just a workspace for rules that aren't quite good enough to go in, but are getting there.

I'm currently working on a d20 based fantasy western game that's been through a few iterations. I have played a few TTRPGs and the one I mainly play is D&D. One thing that bothers me about 5e specifically, and about other games like Deadlands, is the existence of overarching ability scores like Dexterity etc, because in my mind just because you're good at deception (i.e. have proficiency) that doesn't mean you should also be more skilled than your avwerage person at performance, just because you have a good charisma score. i know it's just a game, and it's part of the design, but I want my game to have individual skills/abilities/traits whatever, that players can put points into to specialise their characters

Anyway, that's not that important to this post but wanted to give some context. I also don't want to have classe4s, but still want there to be abilities and magic systems, which will be tied to these abilities.

With that said, I have come up with this intitial list of abilities/skills which I think adhere to the tone/idea behind the game. I was looking for advice on if these skills feel too broad/should be separated out, and/or if you can think of any additional abilities/skills that should be added to this list.

Shooting

Brawling

Thievery

Speech

Riding

Knowledge

Intuition

Magic

Occult

Faith

Endurance

Observation

Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy Oct. 17th 2024 Free Itch.io Beta

Hey, my team has been working on this for a long time, ran a pretty successful kickstarter this year, and has just released a free playable public beta for our TTRPG. I'm looking for feedback on general mechanics and maybe more specificly the clarity of the rulebook in explaining those mechanics. This game does a lot of things pretty differently and while most players take to them really well once they understand them, we have had trouble getting the rules text to override the average players pre-assumptions about how TTRPGs are played, particularl if they come from D&D5e or PbtA games.

Under ideal conditions, you always hit. If the target is unobscured, in good weather, not moving, not heavily armored, and within good range, you automatically hit.

Should there be any difficulty, each modifier incurs a -1/12 penalty to your chance to hit. Is the target firing back? Roll 2+ to hit. Is he using automatic suppressive fire? Roll 3+. Are you also inexperienced with your firearm? Roll 4+. Is the target too close or too far? Roll 5+. Are you poisoned, wounded, drunk, or concussed? Roll a point higher for each condition. Is the target moving? Is the target behind partial cover? Is it too windy or rainy? You get the idea. Just roll a d12 if there's any complication. If there are too many or too severe complications, it may not be possible to make a shot using these rules alone (special Sharpshooter class mechanics change this).

If you have any ranks or points in a Firearm/Violence/Dexterity skill, that rank is the minimum value you can roll plus 1. This means you automatically succeed on easier shots. For example, a rank of 3 means you automatically succeed on rolls requiring a 4+ or less.

If you guys really like this, I might follow it up with a lethal firearm damage mechanic afterwards.

https://bofuri.fandom.com/wiki/NewWorld_Online#Mechanics

So in this series players can acquire skills in a various amount of ways. One is the standerd train skill to get better at said skill.

Others are meeting certain requirements or beating various challenges. The main character for instance gets a whole bunch of unique skills but using various unconventional methods to beat various bosses and enemies.

How would you best translate something like this to a tabletop rpg style design? One idea I had was a list of standerd skills, and possibly a secondary list of skills that you wouldn't normally be able to acquire that the GM could reward players with depending on how they play during that particular session.

Or some kind of build a skill system where players can pick and choose traits to make some kind of unique skill for instance.

My game is all about being historically accurate, while still being fun. It takes place in our world in the Early Medieval period. However, I have swapped out certain people and cultures with fantasy ones. For example, Germanic people are all Dwarves, they don't act like your classical dwarves but like the Germanic people of the time. Overall, most people are still human. A big aspect of my game is everything magical or divine people think or thought worked actually does. I am trying to be respectful as I can as this now puts me in treacherous waters. Crystal healing holds magical properties that can remove exhaustion, increase Stamina and even grant HP. All the Gods are granting divine powers to their Clerics. However, this is no God of light or God of Peace, it instead is actual religions of the time. I am going deep into each religion as not to offend or misrepresent the faith as there are many who still belief in some of these faiths, including myself.

Each Cleric would choose their religion then take upon themselves the Tenants/Covenants associated with that faith. This puts penalties for being a Cleric, but they are slightly more powerful than your standard Hero. Some of the Tenant/Covenants even grant additional bonuses if followed.

Does this seem Blasphemous or offensive? I think this is a great Idea but was told it could be offensive to people who believe in the particular religion.

Examples Below

Christian Covenants 

Covenant of Tithing 

• Requirements: Contribute 10% of your earnings or resources each month to the church, religious institutions, or approved charitable organizations. This is purely money gained, assets and items do not count unless they are sold.  
• Disobedience: If the tithe is not paid within the month, the Cleric loses their Daily Prayer ability for 30 days. If not paid but the Tithe is set aside, God will know the intent and not take the abilities away. 
• Repentance Steps:  
  1. Acknowledge the lapse and commit to meeting the tithing requirement going forward. 
  2. No back pay is required; once the tithe is paid for the next month, the Cleric’s prayer ability is restored. 

Covenant of Integrity 

• Requirements: Maintain honesty and integrity in all dealings. Avoid lying, deceit, or unethical actions. If the Game Master calls for a deception check you have broken the covenant.  
• Disobedience: Engaging in deceitful or unethical behavior results in a temporary loss of divine powers until the next morning after your daily prayer.  
• Repentance Steps: 
  1. Acknowledge the lie or unethical action, and work to make amends for any harm caused. 

Covenant of Chastity (Celibacy) 

• Requirements: The Cleric must remain chaste and avoid any romantic or sexual relationships, upholding personal purity in all aspects of life. 
• Disobedience: If the covenant is broken the Cleric will no longer gain the blessing of this covenant until repentance.  
• Repentance Steps: 
  1. Confess the transgression to a Christian Priest. 
  2. After confession is completed, the Blessing is be restored. 
• Blessing of the Covenant: All Willpower checks are done with an advantage 

Islamic Covenants 

Covenant of Salah 

• Requirements: The Cleric must perform Salah (the five daily prayers) throughout the day. Each prayer lasts 10 minutes and grants the Cleric mana equal to Level x 2 after completion. Note: A Cleric receives up to their 5 prayers at sunrise that they can use during the day. 
• Disobedience: No Mana will be gained.  
• Repentance Steps: The Cleric simply resumes the practice of Salah to gain the mana again. 

Covenant of Sawm (Fasting) 

• Requirements: The Cleric must observe the fasting period during the month of Ramadan, abstaining from food, drink, and other earthly pleasures from dawn to sunset. During this time, the Cleric has Advantage on all Willpower Checks but their Combat attribute is 0 while fasting.  
• Disobedience: Failure to observe the fast results in Salah prayers gain ½ mana for the rest of the day and the following day.  
• Repentance Steps:  
  1. Resume the fast on the following day to gain full strength of your Salah back.  

Covenant of Pilgrimage (Hajj) 

• Requirements: At least once in their lifetime, the Cleric must undertake the pilgrimage to Mecca (or the designated pilgrimage site in the world). The pilgrimage lasts several days, during which the Cleric’s devotion and commitment are tested. After completing the pilgrimage, the Cleric gains The Blessing of the Pilgrim, which grants a +1 bonus to two Attribute scores for a period of one year. 
• Disobedience: N/A – No penalty for failure to undertake the pilgrimage, but the Blessing of the Pilgrim is not received until the pilgrimage is completed. 
• Repentance Steps: Simply complete the pilgrimage to receive the Blessing and Attribute bonuses. 
• Blessing of the Covenant: +1 to two Attribute scores of the Cleric’s choice for one year after completing the pilgrimage. 
  • At higher levels, some Islamic Cleric abilities may require that the pilgrimage be completed before they can be unlocked or used. 

So the first real drafting of the game is finished. I was considering if I wanted to try to sell it or something, but for now I'm just happy it's ready for formatting and clean-up.

Legacy is a Super Future Sci-Fi, Dice-Free tabletop game that uses fractions. Combat is highly tactical, and rather than rolling to hit, you have a pool of dodges that you can use each turn to avoid damage, but the kicker is some attacks require multiple dodges to avoid so you have to balance them.

The focus of the game is freedom. You can design just about any type of character imaginable, and create nearly any kind of special abilities thanks to a very robust list of Base Traits and Special Attacks. While Base traits build to the core of your character, and you never get more than 1-3, you gain new specials every 5th level, allowing you to round out your abilities with ease.

There is no level cap, no stat caps. Your Limits are the ones you impose on yourself. However friendly fire does exist, so it is imperative that you watch out for your allies before nuking the battlefield.

Legacy has a unique gameplay loop, where faster allies can be considered "dodge breakers" wiping out enemy dodges (and sometimes also finishing them off outright), and slower characters are health and DR droppers, killing off enemies that become vulnerable from losing their dodges. It creates a teamwork loop as well, as there is no "round" mechanic. Everything simply works off the turn rotation: Cooldowns, dodge refreshes, upkeep abilities all happen on your turn, and the round is never considered.

All of these things combined allows legacy to be a Roleplay heavy game. Stats and skills aren't meant for advancing the plot in most cases, or for convincing someone to do something. These things are rather meant to clear challenges and push your character to greater heights in combat, allowing the role play to be smooth and flowing, not interrupted by skill checks.

Legacy Rules

Edit: clarified the state of the game. Remember kids, just because it's playable, doesn't mean it's readable.

Howdy, so I'm quite interested in creating my own TTRPG system for fun and scratched together a 'brief' overview (cough...) that outlines roughly how I'm planning the game.

Since I lack experience, I thought it best to post here for some insights on any glaring issues that need to be fixed before starting work on the numbers. (Posting before bedtime, so I won't respond for 8 or 9 hours)

The world and system are heavily inspired (or copied lol) from Xianxia and Xuanhuan (see here for a brief overview: https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-Wuxia-Xianxia-and-Xuanhuan )

It's not exactly party based, I'm considering adding in back-stabbing elements like murder and stealing party loot to add some distrust between players, but that's a thought for another time.

Gameplay leans towards narrative based slice of life with adventure, politics and intrigue between global super powers thrown in for the lols.

Slice of life segments might include chilling in your sect to farm herbs and create pills using alchemy, finding a cutie to discuss the meaning of life and dual cultivate, taking on a master to learn skills or backstabbing your rival so there's less competition for resources. Will you choose to learn an instrument? Or would you rather go outside and play murder hobo as the leader of a gang of bandits?

Players can use their professions to earn money or gain reputation, so there's no need to fight, however you might not have a choice if you wantonly flash your wealth around.

Combat turns are super quick, with actions taken via a single D20 roll and somewhat balanced between same level combatants (sublevels play a role, but aren't the end all be all). When a higher level fights someone weaker, however, it's naturally unbalanced like crushing a bug...

Damage is fixed with excessive damage coming from crits or skill dmg modifiers and artefacts/weapons, though I'm still tossing up exactly how brutal to make it. Probably needs playtesting for the numbers, mostly I just want to see if there's nothing glaringly wrong.

Characters are basically super wizards mixed with warriors, so getting stabbed in the heart might not kill them and once they're strong enough, decapitation isn't a big deal, so combat needs to be punchy and dangerous, but also with some level of skilled back and forth.

::EDIT::

Changed:

- Added a todo list at bottom.

- Added a basic 'initiative' rule under combat, tweaked stats (perception or agi are added to initiative rolls), added combat breakthrough basic rule, cleaned up language on rolls to make it clearer (attacker VS defender rolls), removed agi doing attack speed as I'll add multiple attacks to Agi based cultivation techniques instead with some agi scaling.

- Added travel and currency sections.

- Spell / Technique levels added to 'levels' section.

-Explained char creation better such as rolling for the element of their mana (instead of just 'affinity' which is now a substat.)

-----

Character creation:

Each character starts out as a mortal, with main stats at 1/1/1 (Body/Mind/Soul).

They roll dice for the element of their mana affinity (ex: fire or water) and talent level which can be poor, low, average, high, divine. Talent can be changed through various methods, so a poor talent character can still become a god with enough luck and the balls to risk it for a biscuit.

Beauty/Charm is also rolled. Still need to determine exact style, maybe roll into reputation?

X amount of points are available for the player to buy a few 'talents' or 'traits' that steer their character onto the path they want. For ex: a high cost trait called 'Swordheart' might increase attack damage with swords, their talent with sword skills and also add some base points to Willpower. A low cost talent might provide a basic Alchemy inheritance passed down in your character's family clan.

Professions can be learned from the start or picked up later in the sect / organization / randomly at a road-side stall / from the tomb of a powerful cultivator / etc.

Levels:

Basic Xianxia fare; A total of 9 main levels, each with 4 sub-levels (Low / Mid / High / Peak).

Small power gains come from jumping up a sublevel based on your cultivation technique adding small amounts of base stats. Big gains come from a main level up (breakthrough) with amazing effects that distinguish you from mere mortals (telekinesis and sword flight for example).

At higher levels, you can do some crazy shit like throw an entire mountain at your enemy or fly off into space to fight aliens. At low levels it's much less crazy, but you can still fly around at high speed while shooting fireballs at people.

There aren't any classes, so you can learn anything as long as there's no elemental affinity requirement. You must have enough talent to learn solo or enough patience with someone to teach you.

Spells / Skills / Techniques / etc. are learned from masters or books or perhaps a random spark of insight gained from watching a thunderstorm (random roll based on talent stat). Maybe you gain a cultivation technique from the trial of a long-dead master, or work hard to earn your sect's exclusive technique.

Spell and technique quality: (lowest) Dirt / Human / Earth / Heaven (highest)

Character Stats:

Beauty or Charm stat: Each character has a beauty/charm stat that passively increases with each level up and can also be lowered due to injuries or curses etc. It has an effect on reputation gains / charm spells / intimidation rolls. Certain pills or spells can increase it or return it to baseline. Can also have a negative effect in some cases (a beauty with bad luck might get kidnapped by an old rogue...)

Reputation: Doing things in the world can increase this. Family background / Sect also plays a big role, will figure specifics out later. Has some effect on intimidation and other things of that suit.

Talent: Increases chances of breakthrough(?), increase insight gain, skill proficiency and speed of increasing your mana count while cultivating.

Three main character stats and their sub-stats:

The sum of all sub-stats equals the total main stat. Mind and Soul sub-stats probably need changing, I'm not sure if I should add 'talent' here, or keep it separate from the main 3 stats.

Body: Str (Melee dmg increase & parry) / Agi (initiative, dodge, footwork) / Resiliency (body defense) = Body stat total is the character's HP.

Mind: Int (Increases Profession / weapon skill / spell proficiency?) / Willpower (negative stat resistance + shield regen rate) / Attunement (Increases elemental damage and mana regen rate) = Mind stat total X2 is base mana count.

Soul: Perception (range and quality of far-sight + telekinesis, initiative roll) / Soul Power (Soul attack damage and casting status effects like charm spells or intimidation are influenced by this) / Soul Resistance (defense, but for the soul. Lowers damage taken to soul, can allow soul to exist outside the body for long periods of time like a ghost.)

Multiple attacks are now a feature of agi based cultivation techniques instead of agi based.

Level Difference Stat: Being one main level above your enemy adds +10 to your combat roll, +20 for 2 levels, etc (might need tweaking). Only comes into play when there's a level difference between characters, the purpose is to crush lower levels with absurd crit dmg. One level of difference might not be insurmountable if you have a good cultivation technique, skills and weapon, but a +2 level difference is an immediate retreat or certain death.

Stat Growth: A small amount of stats are added at each sub-level based on the cultivation technique, with a large amount added on every main level. Cultivation techniques add permanent stats (for ex: a body technique with low quality might add +2 to Str and +2 Resil on every sub-level, while a top level technique will add +6 to all body sub-stats and maybe extra benefits like faster health regen).

Giving some serious consideration to a 're-cultivate' feature for when you find a better technique. Maybe keep some stats but you have to start again?

Currency:

As expected, the currency is 'mana stones.'

There are three levels: small, medium and large. Perhaps a higher level and super rare CORE stone found only in mines?

100 small = 1 med / 100 med = 1 large / 1000 large = CORE (super rare, these can create a mana stone mine and are rarely sold!)

Before people say this is too much to carry, spatial artefacts are relatively common and small ones contain a meter cubed of space to store things. They're available for purchase in mortal cities, so each character will start out with one as their inventory.

Travel:

The most basic travel is footwork: Some are long-distance skills, while others are short distance for combat.

Sword flight: Use a skill (level 1) or basic telekinesis (lev 2) to float a sword / weapon. Expensive mana cost and relatively slow.

Teleport: Towns / Cities generally have a teleportation circle that allows you to teleport for a fee.

Taming / Renting a mount: You can tame a wild beast by beating it half to death and enslaving the soul (each profession will have their own method). Mounts can be rented from large towns, including flying mounts.

Artefact: Some higher level artefacts can be refined by players, or purchased. They can fly using player's mana, or use mana stones as fuel.

Combat:

Roll a D20 and +agi or +perception substats for initiative. The person with highest initiative calls their attack. They are the attacker, the enemy is the defender.

Attacks are a single head-to-head D20 roll with a stat bonus based on the type of attack (ex: melee attack = str or agi can add damage) VS the enemy who adds a defensive stat (str or agi for melee, will or soul resist for other skills). If there's a level difference, add extra stats.

If the attacking side rolls +10 higher than the defending side, the attack becomes a 2x damage critical hit. Crit damage doubles again with each consecutive +10 difference, leading to absurd crits that can turn weaker enemies into a blood mist. (Needs tweaking during a play-test.)

If both rolls are within 5 points of each other, the defender can choose to evade the damage (dodge / parry) or force a counter attack (wound for wound).

Damage is handled after the D20 rolls, currently thinking of fixed damage from cultivation technique + whatever stat governs the attack type (a spell gains attunement, melee gains str) and any fixed dmg from a weapon or artefact.

Skills/Techniques then add a dmg multiplier / make a double attack / cause splash damage / etc. at the cost of using up player's Mana.

Element types are either +50% or -50% damage done based on a rock/paper/scissors style.

Damage first hits the Mana Shield as true damage (plus or minus any modifiers) and once the shield's broken, dmg then hits the body (A percentage is negated by resilience and armour.)

It's entirely possible to do zero damage to a body cultivator who's wearing a quality armour, so players need other methods to hurt them like special skills, poison or armour piercing attacks that strike internal organs.

The Mana Shield is equivalent to half of character's total mana count as a baseline (maybe?) and to recharge it, the player must spend 1 mana for 2 points of shield as an on-going minor action which doesn't interrupt actions / turns. Regen is limited to X amount recovery per turn (Willpower Modifier).

If the player has enough insights and is at the peak of their sub or main level, they can attempt to breakthrough in combat assuming it's a balanced fight, or not an immediate crush. Chance will have a 20% reduction by default and can be a risky more, where a failure would likely lead to being beaten or killed miserably depending on the circumstances.

Wounds:

Small wounds don't affect combat, but they must be healed after battle with pills or cultivation or they risk growing worse.

Critical strikes can cause serious / internal wounds that affect combat. Serious wounds might be a severed limb or a stab through the heart, while internal wounds can disrupt mana use and deal true damage to the body.

Untreated wounds can become hidden wounds which prevent levelling until they're resolved using rare pills / medicines / techniques from a high level master or healer.

High level characters have strong passive healing, eventually reaching the level of regenerating from a drop of blood (assuming their soul's alive). If their body's destroyed, a strong enough soul can posses another NPC (bad karma) or reincarnate with intact memories to reroll their talent / beauty / traits while maintaining memories and starting again from the lowest levels of learned techniques / skills / etc.

OOC stat checks:

Perception checks are based on perception sub-stat, characters can 'see' a certain distance based on their soul stat, similar to remote viewing.

Players can sense the level of a weaker char, yet feel nothing when scanning someone stronger. Strong people might appear as mortals to the weaker party, but a strong soul stat might give the player a sense of unease when facing said high level.

Physical checks are based on D20 + Body sub-stats.

Intelligence and lore type checks etc are based on D20 + Mind sub-stats.

Negative Status checks are based on D20 + Willpower stat.

Soul control / possesion checks are D20 + Soul Resistence stat.

Professions have their own governing stats for any checks.

Level breakthroughs / crafting pills / refining an artefact all use a D100 % chance roll, based on proficiency and profession stats. For ex, when doing alchemy, the soul stat can increase chances along side proficiency/traits/talents. External things like a unique cauldron artefact can also play a role. For refining or dancing, body will increase chances of success, etc.)

Levelling up / Breakthroughs:

Insights are gathered by doing things, with the amount determined by players talent stat. They're used to level up proficiencies or the player's level. It's global exp, basically.

At higher levels, insights also level up a character's chosen 'laws' (the path the character walks to immortality such as dancing, sword intent, alchemy or maybe a custom path based on something the player chooses. Needs more work.)

To increase a sub-level requires a maxed out mana count (increased by cultivation, max based on sub level / level and cultivation technique.) Requires a small amount of insights. To break through into the next main level, you must be at the 'peak' sub level, have maxed out mana count and also spend a large amount of insights. Your breakthrough has a chance to fail and which can cause negative effects.

Sub levels are easy to break through, main levels are expensive and difficult.

Breakthroughs for main levels should be attempted in a safe place as interruptions can cause failure in the best case, insanity or death in the worst.

Todo:

- Profession System details and content.

- Tweak Mid-combat breakthrough (Added a basic rule to combat section, should I rethink current mechanics or keep it simple?)

- Rules for cultivation suppression / hiding it (make it a basic skill or add it as a basic part of the system?)

- Charm / Beauty - Perhaps roll into Rep stat?

- Work out multi-target rules for combat, can a player sprint full speed and slash through 5 guys with a single strike?

- Crits should knock back the target, sending them flying into a random mountain or break down trees, powerful attacks should cause splash damage (don't fight in mortal cities or you'll have super bad karma!)

- Start working on number ranges / how stats specifically interact with various abilities. (ie - the hard work)

Hey everyone! I'm exploring different ways to handle a d20 roll-under system and wanted to see which approach resonates with you. The goal is to keep things smooth to run but also embrace a bit of chaos and flexibility in results. I’d love to hear what you'd go with and why. Here are the options:

Option 1: Basic Roll-Under with Fixed Target Numbers (3-18) Standard system as written, with target numbers (TN) set from 3-18. Results are binary: success or failure, with criticals on 1 (critical success) and 20 (critical failure). The GM interprets failures to add nuance (e.g., “fail forward” or “succeed with a cost”) based on the scenario.

Option 2: Binary + Hard Rolls Just like Option 1, but introduces hard rolls, where you need to roll under half of the target number for a challenging success. Adds an extra layer for tougher situations while keeping overall structure the same.

Option 3: Target Numbers with Partial Success Range Target numbers are adjusted to 3-16, with a partial success range from 1-2 points above TN (e.g., if TN is 14, rolling 15-16 is a partial success with complication). Critical success range increases as character skill advances. This adds a built-in “gray area” for near-miss results, giving players more defined outcomes and risk.

Option 4: blackjack style with partial success. Skills range from 3-18, rolling under TN but as high as possible. Crits on TN and a scaling partial success on TN/4 i.e. 3 with a TN 12. This keeps the mentality of getting a bigger number is good and visible scaling but can be a bit more fiddly for new players.

Option 5: 2d20 for Dual Roll Interpretation Roll 2d20; both dice under TN = full success, one die under = partial success, neither under = failure. Advantage and disadvantage simplify: any advantage auto succeeds, any disadvantage auto fails. This option gives more consistent partials but changes probability and can add more unpredictability.

Please let me know what you think.

So, I've been working on a TTRPG for some time now, on and off. It's gone through a few variations and changes but I'm quite happy with its current form and have begun fleshing it out more

I don't expect abyone to read everything I've written for it. And it is far from complete. But any feedback on the game, design and presentation of the docs themselves, it's mechanics or ideas, the themes and lore and setting, or first thoughts of balance would be greatly appreciated

And if you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'll post the links below, all to Google Docs

Game Guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1o3H6xjudSLQnJYL45oJilbskK9PowAVp8yAIpEIpGdk/edit?usp=drivesdk This will include gow to play, how to create and progress a character, and some abbreviated parts of the database of lore

Database: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1r4-SJ5wfVAKZ2deFqBT-ov7WrzXHSjNh5a_kCRJfUVQ/edit?usp=drivesdk This is a compoliation kf alm tbe species, classes, spells, upgrades, equipment and status effects. It does not have enemy stat blocks, they will be in their own doc later, after I've settled on how I want to present them

Lore Book: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1c8dfMta5ex2eI1zZ2vFyr0ks15_Q3QVEuqn8wgaq8sQ/edit?usp=drivesdk Only just started this one. It is to include information on the setting and its people and history. Will include stories abd historic accounts, as well sone fables and myths from the various worlds

Character Sheet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1h1czd_zrC1xI-junN5H-06YyIufw_zjSduHOWnQlf1o/edit?usp=drivesdk Thinking of making some variations if players prefer dofferent layouts and designs

As someone who's played both "theatre of mind" and classic grid-based systems, I've been tinkering with a sort of middle-ground and I wanted some feedback.

Previously, I'd toyed with some other concepts like "regions" or "areas" that some systems use and tried to adapt that to a system I'm more familiar with, and works with my system.

I've seen some systems limit range to "near" and "far", but I wanted to divide it further and so I made a sort of circular grid though I'm definitely wary that I might be overcomplicating things.

To start with, the ranges are:

1. Melee/Adjacent

2. Close

3. Medium

4. Far

5. Very Far (basically anything past Far)

Originally, I used a simple chessboard to illustrate ranges in combat, with each square representing one range increment. If something was at "Close" range, it was one square away, "Medium" range was 2 squares away, etc. Like a very simplified grid system. The chessboard was a bit small and would easily get cluttered and confusing so I wanted to develop it further.

Recently I've been tinkering with my aforementioned circular grid that is the same idea with some changes:

1. "Melee range" would be the larger circle in the centre.

2. 4 Alternating colours make it easier to quickly check range.

3. The larger ranges have a larger size which feels more intuitive and should help to visualise how a fight can expand outwards.

4. Range can be measured to the central combat or measured around the circle to other characters at range. ie. A character at "Close" range to the melee (1 space away - straight) can also be "Medium" range from another ranged character (2 spaces away - curved). Anything in the same space is "Adjacent/Melee" range.

Concerns:

1. It's massively intimidating to understand the weird circle.

2. The colours might also make it more confusing.

3. People might prefer square grids to circles.

4. Only half of the circle is likely to be used in closer fights.

5. There's only space for one big "frontline" or melee fight.

Obviously I'd need to test it, but I'm wondering how it appears on first impression, and if there are any similar systems or issues I might have overlooked. Or things that should be added that might make it easier to quickly understand. For example, I haven't named/numbered the grid spaces because I don't know if that would make it even more confusing/intimidating...

I'm aware it might need to be a darling to kill, but I want to try something new and get some opinions on it and see what people think.

The block grid on the right is for melee combat but that's not important right now.

EDIT: It's a typical fantasy system so there's likely to be melee, and I have also made a far simpler slightly adapted grid system similar to the one on the right, so this is more about discussing this specific idea and the merits of a circular grid.

My game uses a dice pool where successes are set aside, and the rest of the dice can be rerolled until the player fails.

What this translates to in combat is that each dice roll is treated as a separate attack roll.

I like this because it unifies all my skill checks and allows players who are more skilled to do cool things while simultaneously simplifying combat.

However, on the flipside I am mourning my previous combat system because I thought it was more dynamic and interesting because each turn players were able to choose 10 seconds worth of actions to perform. Eg. I wish to grab a handful of sand and throw it in his eyes attack twice and dodge and deflect any incoming attacks. Ok its 2 seconds to get the sand and throw 1 second to draw your sword 2 seconds to make each attack and 3 seconds to dodge any incoming attacks. This was super flexible and interesting and allowed for very dynamic play, and even allowed me to incorporate in weapon speeds... However, if I am saying that the number of attacks you make is now based on how many times you are able to keep rolling successes than I don't see a way to save this.

Any thoughts? Or is this one of those instances where I should just kill my darlings. Thanks

I am writing a post apocalyptic ttrpg, and taking inspiration from some of my favorite media of the genre I want to add a weapon degradation system, that is to say weapons breaking down over time. So far I can only think of assigning an arbitrary point value to each weapon that reflects it's condition and decreases with use and time (after combat or a week of time maybe?) Is there any other system that has this, or does it in a more intuitive way?