>>46689349
Old Thread: >>46503012

New links:
http://www.gatekeepergaming.com/article-6-how-to-get-minis-made/
https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/838422/mass-production-custom-made-miniatures

File: dragon_forest_04_15.pdf (1 B, 486x500) Image search: [Google]

1 B, 486x500

[DRAGON FOREST]

It's getting there.
To do list:
Fill in the remaining classes
Fill in the remaining dark gifts
Alchemical items, including potions and ammunition
Scrolls
Light sources under equipment
"Home" (stronghold building and domain management)
GM section

Should I include GM stuff as a section in the back of the book? Or split the game into a player's handbook and a GM's handbook?

Thanks!

File: Hellhound_BdGvd_muraljpg.jpg (37 KB, 500x281) Image search: [Google]

37 KB, 500x281

Neat, a design thread. I think this question goes here.
Does anybody have experience building games based on ongoing film series or TV shows? I've got one in my head recently and I figure it would be easier to make it than try to forget about it, but I'm not really sure how to deal with the ongoing nature of it. I figure /tg/ knows.
Do I base it off of canon as it's known now, leave the rules open-ended to account for future episodes, make up the specifics of rules that the show glosses over, or what? I'm not used to having to wait for more material to design with.

>>46689394
Thanks!

>>46689417
To answer some questions asked of me from that thread:

>46651354
>You changed the name? Not feeling too great about this
It was pointed out to me that 'Sword Fury' sounded more like a wuxia title. Doesn't quite fit the tone I'm going for.

>46651920
>Why the cards?
I like having player accessories like that at the table to streamline the game experience. But that might not be the best way to present the information in the book. Instead I will make a separate document with all the skills in card format.

>46654944
>I like what you're going for with the graphic design (something about the new title page reminds me of Dark Souls), but something about the body typography scale just seems a little off - too much leading.

Thanks! I went in and redid everything. Garamond 12 point with a 16 point leading.

>>46689486
What would the show or game be that you're basing this system on?

>>46689519
In my case, it's Teen Wolf. A crappy MTV drama based on the old movie. I wanted to make a game where the only consistent way to succeed is to trust someone in your game group implicitly, and that's most of what the show is about. The picture is a shot from the show.
I think the same question could be asked about any game based on a show, though. Teen Wolf just has some specific examples of mechanically important questions that were just never answered in canon.

>>46689486

Look to games that are already based on TV shows. This is something that Cortex Plus handles really nicely. Check out the following games when you get the chance:
>Smallville Roleplaying Game
>Leverage: the Roleplaying Game
>Firefly Roleplaying Game

Is anybody designing any cyberpunk games?

>>46689764

Yes, that's my other project. Haven't shared that with /tg/ as much though.

>>46689594
This looks really neat, but I don't think it solves my problem. Cortex Plus Drama looks like the closest thing to it, I suppose.
I can make mechanics for what to roll and when, but I'm not sure how to deal with the changing rules of the show itself. Smallville RP and Firefly RP were both made near or after the end of the show's production, so they didn't have to deal with this much, if at all.

>>46689486
Tenra Bansho Zero is episodic, look there for some inspiration.

>>46689417
I'd also like to cut this document down to just 108 pages (because 108 is an auspicious number.) Any suggestions as to what I should cut, consolidate, or move to the GM book if I choose to make one?

File: cryptokismet.png (122 KB, 794x1123) Image search: [Google]

122 KB, 794x1123

Anyone played both Fate and Numenera\Cypher? How's this make you feel?

>>46689764
I kind of am but it's still pretty embryonic and not "pure" cyberpunk.

>>46690592
Confused with how edge and effort would work, mostly.

>>46691914
Not that guy but I'm guessing it would let you up the dice on your trait. Then again, it's been awhile since I read the FATE rules.

I want to run an idea by you guys:

What would you think about a game where the rules into a master game book, and a number of little class booklets.
This assumes that the game has a significant amount of material for each character class, and complex enough rules that handouts are necessary. A class booklet in this case would consist of about 20 pages or so of fluff, skills, and quickstart rules.
Thoughts?

>>46693460
That seems like a decent way to write a set of rules for an RPG, I guess. Seems like it comes down to formatting more than actual game design.

>>46693460
I don't see a problem with it but I would seriously question anyone who wanted me to play a game and handed me 20 pages for one class. That would probably send most people packing on instinct until it's explained to be mostly fluff and supplements.

People see choosing a class as a real commitment for a few important reasons and don't want to blunder into it without a good idea of their options. 20 pages per class is a lot to ask.

>>46693460
I think I would prefer that as a combined class book, if it doesn't all fit into one book.

>>46693704
>>46693668
>>46693717

Got it.

So far, at 12 point font on A4 paper, it looks like each of my 12 classes is going to take up 3 pages of space in my rule book. That will include rules, and illustration, and half a page of fluff for each class. So that's about 36 pages of the rulebook devoted to the classes and their skills. And I'd really rather not have fewer than 12 classes (for purposes of symmetry, if nothing else. And also variety. And an excuse to roll a d12.)

What I might do, instead, is follow up my game's core book with supplemental booklets for each character class. What do you guys think about that?

>>46693460
>>46693911
If you can trim it down to 5 pages, maybe 8 max it'd be swell, assuming it's mostly a quick reference booklet and doesn't replace reading the master book. You shouldn't use booklets as a way to make creating characters easier, but as a way to quickly "get" the class and for rules checking during play.

Open question: how important are dice? Atleast to your enjoyment of a game. My combat system is getting pretty deadly, and I hate to leave the combat up to dice rolls, atleast for the main combat options. Certain attacks of opportunity and other skills might still require dice rolls, but for the main stay attacks I hate to leave the players personal success up to chance. So as to not make it to easy/hard, I plan on having the NPC's make rolls against the PCs, but would you all not have fun if you didn't roll any dice for damage or to hit?

>>46693937
That could work!

I may be getting a bit ahead of myself, but what would you think about including 'kits' or 'subclasses' in those booklets, much like the Complete Class Handbooks (Complete Fighter Handbook, Complete Thief Handbook etc.) for 2nd edition D&D? I understand 5th edition does something similar.

Would you say a stronghold system belongs in a "rules-medium" game? I want to keep player progress in check without getting bogged down in numbers and math.

I thought I might make stronghold creation and management similar to character creation/progression with different stats, feats and XP awards.

>>46694219
I don't mind not rolling damage but I think the game might be boring without rolling to hit. If there isn't some variance in whether or not you hit the enemy it will just be a slog. Players might as well say, "Okay, assume I just attack for however many rounds it takes my damage to kill him."

>>46694325
Personally I prefer classless systems with non-linear progression but when I do play class systems I really appreciate that extra layer of options. You might like FFG SW and its various subclasses.

>>46694219
I would want to roll at least once in my turn, assuming I am attacking.

>>46694356
Hopefully the goal is to kill within the first 1 or 2 attacks depending on the combat choices you take, so you wouldn't be mindlessy hacking turn after turn. Would this balance the lack of rolling? If the goal is to make a miss tied to a failure of thought, it makes more sense not to have a roll right? Maybe the lack of to hit or damage roll can be made up with an efficacy roll, such as "after a hit, roll a die. Depending on the roll, you may have anywhere from half damage, to severence of a limb"

>>46694546
>If the goal is to make a miss tied to a failure of thought
So like rock paper scissors, or...?

>>46694563
People keep likening it to rock paper scissors, but if feel like that's much to random. My combat checks as is are
1: is the enemy within my weapons range
2:will my strike hit one of there defenses
3:is the enemy faster then me, and if so are they in a position to dodge/position a shield
If the attack passes these checks, then the strike goes through and damage is dealt.

>>46693460
Have you ever played a Powered By The Apocalypse game? Kinda similar thing with their 'Playbooks'

Hey,

I've got a question; I'm designing a game solo but I'm much more of a "Fluff and Narrative" guy and I was wondering.

Which dice system is better for a dark Victorian-esque meat-grinder kind of campaign?

>>46694835

A couple of times! I played a Dungeon World one shot one time, and Apocalypse World another time.
The only thing keeping me from doing the same exact thing in my game is formatting. Classes in my game have a lot of more complicated effects since my game has a more tactical focus, while Apocalypse World has a lot of more simple effects like "+1 Hot". So my character classes don't fit neatly onto one page.

>>46694954
How many pages are they? Approximately that is

>>46695052

So far, each class writeup needs at least the following:
>Heading and basic information (quarter page)
>Starting skills (quarter page)
>Illustration (half page)
>Fluff (half page)
>9 class skills (page and a half)
Three pages total.

Characters get one skill every time they gain a level, level caps at 6, and single-classed characters start with 4 class skills, so it looks like 9 is going to be the bare minimum number of skills every class needs plus starting skills.
Skills in this game are kind of like powers in 4E D&D.

>>46694895

Can't tell you much without knowing more about the rest of the game.
2d6 is always a good choice though.

File: mantis-steel.png (259 KB, 1024x768) Image search: [Google]

259 KB, 1024x768

Been working on my game for several years now, off and on (and occasionally from the ground up after becoming dissatisfied). Noticed these threads a while ago and have been lurking for a while, picking up general game design advice and theory, but it never really occurred to me to participate. But suddenly it has, and you'll likely be seeing me around.

Anyway, my project is called Mortal Core. To be brief, it is a system made specifically for a unique setting; A post-singularity science-"fantasy" deal where "apotheosized" human minds have omnipresent omnipotence, changing the rules of reality for the mortals who decided, for whatever reason, no to join them (and of course their descendants, as the focus of the setting is centuries after the actual event). The "gods" do not interfere with humans directly, but their presence has warped reality to function in-line with human intuition. Which is all basically fluff for saying the setting runs on in-universe story logic, to be perhaps overly concise.

Anyway, I've divided "narrative stats" which represent how "the narrative" sees a character, thus altering what they are capable of, into; Good, Evil, Grit, Appeal, Reason, and Enigma; which I feel covers the bases.

The real problem I'm having, and have had for forever, is regular stats. There just seem to be an infinite number of ways to divide things a person can be talented/bad at and of all the many parts of the system, the array of non-narrative stats has been the thing reworked most.
>How do you guys decide on the stats for your game.

The dice mechanic has seen extensive play-testing, but I've never been completely confident, what are your thoughts on this?
>Roll Xd12, X=stat+bonuses(often narrative stat). 10, 11, and 12 = success. 11= 1 reroll, 12= 2. If you have expertise (training in whatever you are doing, which ranks 1-5) you may count results equal to are lesser than your expertise rank as successes, if you do so, you may not use any rerolls from 11 or 12s.

>>46694895
Not sure what you mean by Victorianesque meatgrinder. Could you give some examples of media with that theme?

>>46695589
First thing that comes to mind is Darkest Dungeon but other media like Van Helsing, Grim Dawn etc

>>46695696
>>46695589
To further my point;

I would very much like attrition to be a theme, the fact that an adventurers life isnt all sunshine and lollipops but more like a dangerous slog for people who have no other choice

I know I've asked this before, but if any of you guys could do me a favor and try your hand at my game's character creation, I would greatly appreciate it.
File is the black-covered pdf titled [Dragon Forest] toward the top of the page.
I'm looking for the following:
How long does it take you to create a character?
Was any part confusing?
and
Besides the parts that are obviously unfinished (certain classes, dark gifts, etc.) is there anything you would like to see added or cut?

Thanks!

>>46695829
Have you ever played Torchbearer?

>>46695558
In my system I am going to have the regular 6 stats, maybe less, but each stat means something to each player. For instance, if a character is tasked with breaking down a door, sure they might be able to brute force it open with strength, but if the character might realistically have some knowledge of physics, they could apply a point of intelligence through the use of levers, and similarly a street thief may have done some b&e in his time and so would have the same knowledge, except through the wisdom stat. A fighter may get strength bonuses to damage, and a lean fencer may get it through Dex etc.

>>46695854
I havent, does it do what I'm thinking? Think there is room for two?

>>46695939

Torchbearer is a dungeon-crawl game inspired by the grind of oldschool D&D, but it uses the Burning Wheel system. I highly recommend it.

>>46695858
So you're saying the guiding principle is what stats are necessary to offer mechanical definition to the fantasies you predict the game will be used to emulate? With the actual mechanical function of those stats being more fluid and overall less important.

Yeah, I can get behind that. Thought about it before but reading it repeated helps some.

>>46694742
RPS is not random, it's a game of trying to predict what your opponent will pick. It's like babby chess.

>>46695831
I'll do it, but do you have a character sheet I can print out to keep track of things?

Hey /gdg/, I have to ask something important about a magic system.

Basically I'm doing something where you get a number of points that you can use to 'loadout' your magical stuff. Taking things along like spell scrolls, magic items, minions, etc. All take up points.

However I was thinking of a sort of auto-balancing mechanic or some kind of optional thing you can do, where each point of 'loadout' you don't take with you can instead be used on spontaneous magical spells and/or magic resistance. That way some people could choose to spend all points to loadout, others will want to not spend a single point so they get full spontaneous power, and then there will be many who wish for a balance.

What do you think about this? Is it interesting from a design or gameplay perspective?

>>46696676

I'm afraid not. But I will start working on one this weekend!

>>46696775
I think it could be interesting but depends on the rest of your system surrounding this single mechanic and would require careful balancing.

>>46696615

Rock Paper Scissors is literally the poster boy for "organic randomness".

>>46696907
Maybe if you're a noob.

>>46696794
Here's my attempt:
>Primary class: Automaton
>Secondary class: Sentinel
>Starting skills:

Problem:
>Each class has one or two starting skills. You
gain all starting skills for both of your classes.
If you are single-classed, you may gain one
additional skill from your class skill list and
count it as a starting skill.
>You gain two skills of your choice from your
primary class skill list, and one skill of your
choice from your secondary class skill list. If
you are single-classed, that is a total of three
skills from your class skill list.
>You may take classes from the general skill list
instead of from your class skill lists.

So do I get four skills (two from each class) or three skills (two skills of my choice from my primary class skill list and one skill from my secondary class skill list)?

>>46697323
Thanks!

Okay, so here's another way of putting it:

>Dual-Classed Character
+All starting skills for both classes
+Two skills from your primary class
+One skill from your secondary class

>Single-Classed Character
+All starting skills for your class
+Four skills from your class

I'll be sure to work on that section this weekend.

File: This fucking Wizard.jpg (156 KB, 1224x814) Image search: [Google]

156 KB, 1224x814

>>46696852

It's hard to say exactly, but the idea is that loadout spells could be more powerful and specific, but have more limitations.
Example of loadout abilites;
>Cost one- Single use spell (scroll or item form)
>Cost one- minor power (growing claws at will, see in the dark, etc)
>Cost one- minor minion (glowing wisps, rat companion, etc.)

These are what you can spend the points on normally. But the more flexible and limited abilities are available through spontaneous magic, which is a lot like traditional witchcraft.
>Perform ritual to gain luck until dawn or dusk (spontaneous bonus points refresh at these times) Adds +1 to saves or relevant rolls
>Create a spooky minor effect, such as the sound of footprints or cold spots, can scare people maybe
>Hex someone so they have a negative modifier to a roll?
>Change the world in some way, such as making an object much heavier so its hard to carry, or making a goat's lactate blood instead of milk?

Weird shit like this, I'm just not exactly sure how I want it to be balanced, but I like the idea. The spontaneous magic even fits non-educated magic users, like witches or hedge mages, better where as the more loadout-based stuff is used a lot more by educated wizards and sorcerers who would have access to those sorts of things.

File: Renaissance Core (Rough Draft v0.01).pdf (1 B, 486x500) Image search: [Google]

1 B, 486x500

So here's my updated PDF.

Changelog:
>Added mechanics regarding failures and critical successes
>removed some of the wording

>>46697816

Is this a generic system? Or did you have a setting you intended this to be used for?

>>46699768
Generic system, though I am planning to add a few settings to it.

>Feudal Japan setting to be included with Core, hence the reference to Musashi
>Post Apocalyptic Setting where the players are zombies sailing and trying to survive shark infested waters
>North Pole, Christmas themed setting
>A setting where it's a mix between Shakespeare and Aesop
>Ye Olde Medieval Setting

>>46696105
If still around, yeah that's the idea. Mostly the stats are there to give the characters some form of number to look at, as a representation of what they want in their character. Then it's a matter of whether or not they can make it make sense to you, so it's not just power gaming.

Is this the wrong place to talk about a TCG I'm thinking about making?

I'm having trouble deciding on stats for my system. Four or three? I for sure have violence, intrigue and skill (basically your knowledge of your selected skills and general learning ability). I also have stealth split off as its own skill, but I don't know if it's worth it. What do you think?

>>46700251
Is Stealth as important to gameplay as Violence, Intrigue, and Skill are?

File: VeeraRPG.pdf (1 B, 486x500) Image search: [Google]

1 B, 486x500

Veera is a fantasy RPG I'm making that aims for tactical gameplay, encouraging taking risks and an action-movie like feel. It's less than 20 pages, with plenty of whitespace and reasonably large fonts.

Here is the brief features/goals list:

> Uses 1d12 and d6 dice pool that is easy to read and not too slow to resolve.
> Cinematic Pulpy feel, where characters can use their motivations as justification to shrug off blows
> Character creation that is clean and flexible. I have gone through char creation with people in under 15 mins.
> Characters that grow and change through intense experiences.
> Tactical gameplay without tracking tons of rules. (Med-crunch)
> Overflow damage and risk dice that drive tension and encourages taking risks
> "hits" as a stunt mechanic to power character abilities.
> All characters have internal supernatural power. Some characters might cast spells, while other characters can manipulate the odds or improve their skills.

The system core is pretty close to done, and I would love feedback. Am I living up to my goals so far?

>>46700629
I admit a lot of the tactical stuff would be in the classes/abilities, but the core should at least have a fair bit of mechanical possibility, and guidelines for where im going.

>>46700500
I can't decide! It's a more or less generic system (though I'm attaching it to my homebrew, of course) so it's hard to dictate that.

Mechanically, violence and intrigue mirror one another (ala the Song of Ice and Fire RPG) and are equally important, while skill is more about using your professional skills (hacking, medical, repairing, research, survivalism, etc). A lot of games fold stealth into skills, but I feel like these are the four main avenues of solving a problem and I'm not sure if I should fold two together, if that makes sense.

>>46696775
Maybe make spontaneous magic somewhat risky? So it's tradeoff between safe casting and risky flexible spells?

So /gdg/, I've got a mechanic for martials I'm considering adding.

The premise is, [Attack] based players use Martial Dice similar to the mechanic introduced in the DnD 5th playtest. Those dice represent both extra damage (for having high [Attack], and also are a resource used for extra actions.

What I'm wondering, is whether I should add in a "Duel" mechanic, A combatant issues a Challange, which is accepted or rejected. This mechanic takes your entire action, spending your Martial Dice on extra damage. You roll against your opponent, no modifiers. Whomever rolls higher gets an auto-hit auto-crit. Combatants not in the duel cannot harm or affect those within the duel.

What I'm wondering,is if this kind of idea sounds fine from a conceptual level. Or, do mid-battle duels sound like they could be fun? I've also been thinking of potential consequences to rejecting a Duel, but that obviously hinges on if they're included at all.

>>46700716
You're going to have to have a long, deep consultation with yourself.

Ultimately its your thoughts and implementation. If you think there are 4 main avenues to solve a problem, then support 4 different options. If there are not, then don't. If Stealth isn't good enough to be its own, yet you still need a 4th option, then you'll need to do some digging to figure out what is separate enough from the others to stand alone.

File: creation1.pdf (1 B, 486x500) Image search: [Google]

1 B, 486x500

Rolled 4, 4, 4 = 12 (3d6)

This is the roughest of drafts of my character creation idea. You choose (or roll for) a very broad background, motive and specialty. I also want to add flaws down the road.

Your background determines your baseline stats and gives you a perk. Motive gives bonus stats and specialty gives a bonus perk.

Background is a general category of your character's life up to this point. Their motive is what motivates them to do what they do. Specialty is their role within the party.

A recurring issue of mine has been that, like so many others, I really like roll and keep.

However, I haven't yet been able to think of a compelling or interesting way to implement a good roll and keep mechanic for firearms. I suppose, to be clear, literally copying L5R skill tests for this would be a terrible idea on multiple levels.

Keep in mind I'm looking for something that would mechanically distinguish between say, a shotgun and an assault rifle and a grenade launcher, not so much between two different assault rifles. I'm not that ambitious, or that much of a milsperg.

>>46691914
>>46692260
Edge is a flat +1 when rolling on that skill, Effort you can spend stress up to your Effort score for +2s. Edge can't exceed Effort.

>>46700780
Sounds good if you want a heroic, almost wuxia, feel to things. Everyone in a battle honouring the 1v1 duel works for honourable opponents but doesn't mesh with scrupless monsters or men, and for a gritty live-or-death combat there's no rules. So depends what feel you're going for.

>>46700889
>>46700716
I hate stats+skills, it strictly regulates skills to be of secondary importance. Have just one or the other, makes chargen easier and resolution mechanics simpler.

>>46700629
You should playtest. Make a 1-page rules reference for your players first though. And a character sheet.

The terminology you use is a bit inconsistent, e.g. wounds vs consequence. I'm not sure why you have so much more Spirit than the other stats, you usually don't need that much metagame currency.

You might want to read some design blog posts of other people who've done Fate and Powered by the Apocalypse games, since you're obviously drawing a lot from them.

>>46700647
You could think about having a bunch of guidelines/templates for build-your-own talents, as your system doesn't seem like it needs classes at all. But that's just me hating class-based systems.

>>46694742
You can fluff it up all you want but if the process of combat is:

1. Choose an attack in secret
2. Simultaneously reveal choices
3. Compare choices to see who wins

Then at its very basics it's RPS. Don't go thinking it's a bad thing either, the RPS base has been for plenty of games, fluffed differently to give it a unique feel.

>Fury of Dracula: Compare symbols, same symbol then Dracula's attack cancelled. Hunter weapons have 3+ symbols on cards, but Dracula's only has one.
>Wings of War/Glory: Simultaneously reveal maneuver cards. Move around according to cards. Might not seem like an RPS thing, but consider a situation where one maneuver lets you gain an advantage or lets you shoot the opponent.

>>46700230
I've seen some posted before.

>>46701568
>I hate stats+skills, it strictly regulates skills to be of secondary importance. Have just one or the other, makes chargen easier and resolution mechanics simpler.
Oh, it works like 5E where your "skill" stat represents your proficiency in all of your skills (this is a classless point buy system and you simply purchase training in skills). This way you never worry about skill points and don't have tons of niche skills but can't be good at everything with just one stat ("Yeah I'm a pro at everything").

>>46701568
Thanks for the feedback. I do need to tighten up my wording a fair bit. The idea was that wounds/stress were HP, while consequences were additional costs on a check.

So far as spirit, the idea is that it isn't really a metagame resource. The tentative world concept I'm going for is that all characters can access an inner reserve of magic and use it for things. So a mage would spend spirit to cast, while a warrior would spend spirit to improve their physical capabilities to a supernatural degree.

I've read a fair few of the blog posts and stuff. I'm definitely going for fewer narrative mechanics than either though. Probably going to remove flags or make them optional as a result. I was surprised to hear I was drawing from apocalypse world though. Curious as why.

>>46701568
Duel anon here. That's something I was looking for. I actually got the idea while sitting in the shower, and Kingdom Hearts 2 came to mind. The Samurai Nobodies engage in just this kind of event. Additionally, it seemed like the Samurai 3.5 class wanted to do this also.

I wanted the Duel mechanic to invoke some of that feeling. Perhaps I can just fluff it as time-slowing down to make sure it doesn't leave the boundaries of the turn. I was looking for something to take advantage of Mark or Challenge mechanics as seen in DnD 4th. With that in mind, I think what I'm going to do is have that Duel/Challenge mechanic become a desired option for Defender style characters. Refusing a challenge will likely impose penalties on actions not directed at the issuer, while accepting the challenge means the issuer better be ready to back their challenge up. It even has potential to work with ranged weapons, and so I'll have to look into if that's a desired interaction or not.

>>46700716
Wouldn't stealth be under intrigue if intrigue mirrors violence? If you need a mirror for skills you could always have something that doesn't require knowledge in a skill to be able to do, like talent or luck.

File: mnlkb_original.png (997 KB, 858x1030) Image search: [Google]

997 KB, 858x1030

On ascale from "Autism" to "That GM", how bad is my idea?
>primitive d6 rules for bashin' stuff
>a bit less primitive d20 rules for social encounters
>somewhat complex d100 rules for magic

File: 1460529419492.gif (646 KB, 512x481) Image search: [Google]

646 KB, 512x481

>ask a question
>thread goes down to the page 8
>mfw

>>46705430
Separate systems all over the place is usually not a very good way to go. It's confusing and clunky. Also, is your intention to make combat the least important part of the game? If you intentionally make it simplistic and emphasize everything else over it, fighting things will probably not be a thing that the game should focus on.

Not saying that de-emphasized combat is a bad thing, mind. I'm just saying that doing that would have such a consequence.

>>46701380
I want to help but I don't know enough about roll and keep. Mind expanding a bit on it, as well as what you want your firearms mechanics to do?

>>46706600
No, combat is still a thing. The system itself is intended to be fairly simplistic.
Fightin' d6 is "roll to hit, roll to dodge, compare, roll damage"
Social d20 is "roll above difficulty"
Magic d100 is "roll somewhere near the target number with a risk of fuck-up"
I want to depict somehow that magic is difficult for characters... and I chose to make it difficult for players, hue hue. Of course it's not as fucked up as F.A.T.A.L., just with slightly bigger amount of text to fend off brainless ebins

Aside from the game's rules, what do you look for in a game's game mastering section, /gdg/?

>>46706812
That's going to be a clusterfuck.

>>46700780

>You roll against your opponent, no modifiers. Whomever rolls higher gets an auto-hit auto-crit.

This is a HORRIBLE fucking idea. First of all a random number generator is not a game. Secondly, that's a recipe for dead PCs.


>I've also been thinking of potential consequences to rejecting a Duel

You hook a duel system into your combat engine via a morale system.

>>46689516
Not the last guy, but Dragon Forest sounds like a pre-teen JRPG. Fury, as in the beginning, is still the best I've seen.

>>46707592

Fury may very well be a more compelling name than Dragon Forest, but is it a more compelling name that fits the game I'm actually making?
I only chose Fury as a tentative name early on because it sounds similar to 4E, which is what I'm loosely basing my game on.
'Forest' also sounds similar to 4E a little bit. The word forest contains more of an air of mystery, so I'm leaning towards that.

>>46692260
Wow. It's been /very/ long since you read FATE rules.

>>46701568
Just to cover bases, are you using FATE dice? Because +2 is bloody huge. It's the amount of an aspect, which costs a date point, which you start with 3 of.

>>46707862
From the angle of films like 'There Will Be Blood', yeah, I think Fury's a better fit. As far as 'Forest' containing an air of mystery, well, that's probably not something I see you swinging on, but that's basically lazy writer speak for 'spooky place' in children's fairy tales.

>>46706812
Actuactualactualy those dice are equivalent if you have the average fighting task be 3 in 6 and the average social task be 10 in 20 and the average magic task be 50 in 100.

Which is to say, use the same dice for different systems and tweak the modifiers instead, you fuckwit.

>>46706899
Stop name fagging, I've got something to say on the subject but won't because you're a fucking attention whore. I'd critique youre system too. If you weren't a namefag.

>>46707873
Yes using Fate dice. Notably you can't use your own Aspects for a +2, only for rerolls (and Compels). Environmental and NPC aspects you can still invoke for +2.
The notion is to discourage relying on your own Aspects in favour of Enviro Aspects and making it cost you something to use Skills. Edge costs 3, Effort costs 1. Point buy your character with 15. Skill list around 18, group deicdes the available skills based on the genre.

>>46706899
Information about what the game is trying to achieve and advice on playing to the games strengths.

So many rpgs just go for "oh, you can do anything you want!" when they're clearly pretty shit for certain types of campaigns.

>>46705430
That's barely an idea, you've just picked 3 dice.

I will say that calling one aspect of the game primitive and another complex before you even nail down some rules doesn't sound very appealing.

>>46708580
Your core resolution mechanic sets the tone for the entire game. If you say "it doesn't matter that much, there's a ton of special rules depending on what situation you use it in" that says something too.

I agree, to be explicit

Do you think a CCG where players play with their hands revealed could work? How would you go about achieving this?

>want to make a board game
>know part of it is having your game ripped apart by playtesters
>have low self esteem and know I would take it personally, cry a lot, and probably scrap the game
Feels bad.

>>46709349
Probably make it a lot more about strategy and bluffing than it is about hidden information. Stuff like "he could maybe play card A and B, but he may play card C too..." and the guy actually plays card D to do something silly. The hard part would be making the cards be about flexibility and not stick to a single strategy, which can be pretty hard.

Alternatively, all cards in everyone's hands are played simultaneously with priority on each card. Could be very much luck of the draw though.

>>46709582
Better to regret trying than to regret not trying.

How much information is needed to convey a game setting? Is a game with several settings that are all connected by a shared theme something that would work?

>>46710171
I'm struggling with this as well. I really don't want to overload the players and take the mystery out of the world. I want it to be up to the GM what lies in the mists, within reason.

As hackneyed as it has become, I was really inspired by Dark Souls in this regard. It really invites you to fill in the blanks and draw in your own ideas and sensibilities.

>"Yes, it's true: a land shrouded by mists, forgotten even by those who live there. Don't you remember?"

>>46710233
Thing is, though. If someone is buying a game setting, they WANT you to tell them what a world has in it. Sure, it's good to leave room for the GM to actually build his campaign there (so you don't end up like *some* settings that are so fucking full of shit that you have to actively start retconning some of it out if you want your players to actually do anything), and of course you should have some leeway that makes the reader's imagination start turning, but if you're doing a setting, you should probably do a setting.

It's possible to do too much, but it's also possible to do too little. That being said, there's a difference between how much you tell about the setting, and how much you talk about the setting. A lot of RPG material is really wordy and verbose when concise would work much better.

>>46710406
Maybe I'll do it like so:

>here are the baseline facts, having the players work out of this is a voyage of discovery
>here is what is initially hidden from them; feel free to insert your own ideas here, but never reveal too much to the players
>for example, here's how I envisioned it and filled it up, but please feel free to change things for your game

>>46709940
>Better to regret trying than to regret not trying.
I agree. Just not looking forward to feeling like a total failure in every aspect of my being because a few strangers think my game has room for improvement.

>>46710599
If you post your game here, I promise not to be too harsh.

>tfw I still haven't posted my game here
>tfw I still haven't made anything to post

Where do you even START making a board game? How do you decide on a core mechanic?

>>46710665
Still in the brainstorming phase.

>>46710685

Isn't that kind of like asking where do you even start writing a book? I.E you should have inspiration and ideas about what you want to do, then find the best way to do it.

This might be an unsatisfying answer, but I don't think these things work by trying to "decide" the core. You need to have inspiration and vision. If you don't have any, you should probably look at other board games, play them, get a good feel for them and see if this brings up any new thoughts or ideas. Then start building on that.

>>46710599
Look at it this way - Nobody gets it right the first time. Or the second time. Sometimes not even the third time.

A few strangers providing feedback can help you improve what you're working on...unless what you're working on is only for yourself.

I presume you're working on this game not only for yourself, but for the enjoyment of others. In that case, finding out what other people think is important. Just don't take comments personally.

Plus, hate to say this without seeing what you've done so far, but whatever you've worked on probably has room for improvement. Accept that, and look for ways to improve - through the eyes and opinions of others. :)

>>46710779
Intellectually, I understand that. I just have some personal issues. Nothing to worry about.

>>46710811
I personally understand those issues. Heck, I constantly procrastinate and delay actually putting my mechanics properly to paper, partly because I don't want some random stranger telling me how it sucks and could be better.

Thing is, one only gets better by doing, failing, and improving. Either way, if you've tried what you're working on, and you at least find it fun, then that's what matters most.

>>46710685
If you do not have mechanics in mind, start with deciding what kind of game you wish to make. Theme and genre help to dictate the mechanics.

What do you think of the idea of a tabletop grid-based strategy game with combat mechanics inspired by the rock-paper-scissors mechanic in Fire Emblem?

>>46711696
Might be cool but it would take a lot of effort to balance mechanics simple enough to not bog down play in such a complex environment.

File: oldsoul.jpg (29 KB, 420x279) Image search: [Google]

29 KB, 420x279

>>46689417
This is a deeply intriguing project. The style and tone of the presentation alone make me want to try the system out. Kudos.

I'm currently reading the classes, but I've got to get going for an event fairly soon so I won't be able to do this >>46695831 until later.

Also, ignore the guy telling you to stop using a tripcode. It's not like you're needlessly name-dropping your system in every one of your posts, and you have obviously important questions to ask. Plus the human element of being able to "follow" your design process is neat.

I had a thought for a wrestling themed ECG, but I should probably finish one of my current projects first.

>Futuristic military card game
>Tile/card laying city builder

>>46709706
There's already an ORE Mecha book on DriveThruRPG, but I don't really like it since it's more for Super Robot games than anything else, and is more inspired by Wild Talents than REIGN.

I'm not in a position to be able to review this for at least a couple of days, but if you stick around until Monday I can probably give this a read-over.

I've been mulling this over:

>characters have three stats ranging from 1 to 10
>they pick at least one trait for each stat
>each trait contains a few broad actions they can take on certain dice rolls (ie on an odd number, you can...)
>players roll a number of dice equal to their stat
>can select any action of that trait that corresponds to any of the numbers they rolled
>higher stat means rolling more dice
>rolling more dice means more options for what to do on your turn

What do you think?

>>46689349
What's the best way to procedurally generate a world and NPCs as you play, in case your imagination runs dry?

>>46716185
Stutter for a bit, cough, tell the players you have to use the bathroom and use your phone to make a thread on /tg/ begging for help.

>>46716258
WELL HERE I AM?

>>46706953
Remember its only a small aspect of martial combat as a whole.

You mentioned it would work better with a morale system. What style did you have in mind?

Also, if the mechanic must be kept and a morale system could not be used, what would be the best way to implement? Should modifiers interact, or perhaps something else might affect the outcome?

>>46716161
So, are there more than 3 total stats and you just pick 3?

Are traits arbitrary or pre-genned?

Do the numbers on the dice have any significance? Or like, suppose I roll 3d6 and get 1,2, and 5. Do I assign the 5 to the action I want most likely to succeed and the 1 to the action I least want to succeed?

>>46716274
WORLD: The Vikings invented guns and blew the skraelings to kingdom fuck, conquering Canada 1000 years early and going on to pillage Earth. The year is 1983 and a ragtag group of lowlifes from the oppressed non-Nordic slave caste run through the slums of New Oslo, the information they carry of vital importance to the rebellion.

NPC: A talking fox whose favorite food is goose eggs.

>>46716185
Roll tables generally seem to work out the easiest.

Its something I've considered incorporating within my system itself. As a GM even I like to be surprised during play (and not just by my players), so something largely procedurally generated with a few notable set-pieces appeals to me.

>>46716407
>vikings
but how did you know I love vikings?

>>46716407
>NPC
That sounds like a Beatrix Potter story.

Found it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_Jemima_Puddle-Duck

Its close enough. Now I want to make a system I could gear towards kids based on these stories. There was some crazy stuff that went on.

>>46716349
There are only three, and every character has all three.

I haven't decided if traits should be arbitrary. I think it would be asking a lot of players to create balanced traits, so I suppose they would have to pre-genned. This would be for a classless point buy system - essentially you would have three little classes to combine and can purchase more later.

The numbers you roll are only significant as individual options for your one action per turn. Suppose you face a STR test and roll 3d6 and get a 1, 2 and 5. You chose "Bruiser" as your STR trait, so your options are as follows:

>Shoulder Check: On any odd number, you can attempt to bowl your opponent over.
>Punch in the Guy: On a 3, 4 or 5 you may attempt to land a brutal punch in your opponent's vitals.
>Headbutt: On a 6, you can attempt to headbutt your opponent, stunning them.

You choose shoulder check, and because you rolled at least one die higher than your opponent's challenge rating (or maybe just higher than a three, I haven't decided on a success mechanic), your foe is toppled over.

Am I even making sense at this point? I have a headache.

>>46716185
Play REIGN, where doing so is extremely fast and easy because of the streamlined random character generation tables. You can literally roll up an entire character's history and stat block in less than 2 minutes.

>>46716563
It just seems like an unfinished thought. Not just in deciding if traits are arbitrary, but that it just doesn't feel like a solid idea yet.

>>46716786
I agree, that's why I posted here to see if anyone had any input or had seen similar things.

>>46715387
This one is supposed to be more along the lines of Battletech, and is scraped together from various bits of O.R.E books.

Looking forward to what you have to say!

>>46717030
I mean, its not fully formed enough for even here. Rule of thumb is the more there is to an idea, the more and generally better feedback you can get. Its difficult to get directed feedback when people have to ask so many questions just to try and understand the prompt.

I got my game going along well. Got some rough drafts for domain management and mass combat rules, now I just gotta stat some things out and work out rules for a handful of things. Still not certain what to name the damn thing.

http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=60466479437147926044

>>46720163
Quick formating stuff while I skimmed it, some of the listed Skills and Backgrounds aren't capitalized like the rest, and I'd indent away from the black lines in the Feats section, to make it easier to read.

As for a name, from skimming it, I'd suggest playing up adventurers and adventuring in the name.

>>46721395
Thank ya. Any other formatting stuff you noticed?

>>46721758
Not that I saw, but I'm also falling asleep in my chair right now, so not the definitive on editing.

>>46700629

I like overflow. It's a cool concept!

>>46716439
Who doesn't love vikings?

>>46727395
The English?

File: dragon_forest_04_16.pdf (1 B, 486x500) Image search: [Google]

1 B, 486x500

>>46713250
Thank you so much!

>>46696676

I've attached a slightly updated version. This one has, among other things, a prototype character sheet at the very back.

Any tips on making a game from scratch considering the following aspects:

>Intended to be a one-shot or "round"-based (not a campaign)
>Pen & Paper, 3-4 players, 1 DM
>Visual elements of miniatures (DnD minis, chess pieces, coins + stuff)
>Focus on strategy and progression (in the session), DM can fluff stuff freely
>Rules-lite and fun

I'm thinking of some skirmish-type game using a bunch of minis. The DM would create scenarios for the players who control a squad of dnd creatures or other minis. There would have to be ways of diversifying the units to make them interesting. One tweest that adds strategy to it could be that unit-ownership doesn't exist, and thereby the DM and players could take control of whatever they want - giving them special effects and whatnot. Although, this would mean that win conditions can't be "destroy all enemy creatures".

Any ideas or advice?

>>46728733
A stripped down 4E where you play as the monsters keeping the adventurers off your dungeon lawn could be fun. Maybe there's a limited number of monsters handled ala Powered by the Apocalypse playbooks, and every session the players choose a new fighter while the GM sends in new adventurers.

Do you think one person is enough for a basic playtest of a pretty rules light system? Not for balancing, just the mechanics.

I'm worried it will be too small a sample size but my fiance is really the only person I regularly have on hand to indulge my crackpot ramblings.

>>46730149
Maybe for initial playtesting, or for testing some specific parts of your system for such as character creation.
At some point though, you are really want to try for a blind playtest; get a bunch of people who no nothing about your game, and have them test the game without you present to explain things. Then listen to their feedback.

>>46730149
For proof of concept testing, yeah, that should be enough.

File: question.jpg (192 KB, 1000x1000) Image search: [Google]

192 KB, 1000x1000

This will probably sound retarded as fuck, but does anyone have a step-by-step guide on how to organize shit in to a real system?

>>46712290
Yeah, I have some ideas. Inventory will be small (each unit will basically be able to carry two things in inventory plus an equipped weapon). The goal is to have a game that's fairly streamlined for what it does, which hopefully will be suitable for tournament play. I may even designan electronic board such that the movement and stats of real pieces can be viewed on a computer, thus allowing people to watch a board game as if it were an esport.

I know being ambitious can be dangerous but fuck it, this is a long-term project I'm working on in my limited free time while I finish grad school. If I don't dream big I'll decide it's not worth it halfway through.

>>46689782


I'm working on a cyberpunk-ish game that should be out next month.

>>46693460

My first edit had 20 pages per race in a sci fi game. No one wanted to read all of that just to play. I had to cut it down to 4 pages and even then most people wanted a single page. People really into a particular race will want to read the 20 pages but just to get started think much smaller.

File: 2ndEdCaptionBot01.jpg (116 KB, 691x657) Image search: [Google]

116 KB, 691x657

Let's say I'm writing a simple homebrew RPG.

Die roll plus modifiers (ability mod and skill mod) versus target number for task resolution.

If the target numbers in combat are to be passive values linked to the opponent character's relevant ability and skill, what would be a fair way of handling this?

There's no die roll for passive values, so do I just give everyone across the board a bonus to their passive values that's equal to the average of the die roll.

What if the die roll is variable? I was thinking of giving players the option to use bonus dice from a limited but regenerating pool when performing actions.

How are my lizard folk?

CW is carry weight, max load for an over the head lift is *3 of it

SP is speed

Human average is 50-50-5-20
Mog-Hes-Li/La (Lizard-Folk)

Li 1.3m HP:40 MP:70 SP:6 CW:10kg
Armored Soul | You gain Resist 1 Magical Damage

La 1.9m HP: 70 MP:0 SP:4 CW: 35kg
Armored Scales | You gain Resist 1 Physical Damage

Both the Li and La branches of the Lizard Folk share an ability
Regenerative Blood | While injured you gain Regen 3, You can also regenerate arms, legs and tails(possibly other appendages) at the rate of 1CM per 5 days until fully regrown.

>>46734907
Assuming you're using a d20 for the core resolution, I'd just have passive values be 10 + Ability and Mods. If you're using another die type, though, I'd just put the base value for passives at [number of faces] / 2, so 5 for d10, as an example.

>>46736623
What system?

>>46739145
Making an RPG system

>>46739174
Lack of context of the rules makes it hard to comment on them, sorry.

>>46740845
Meant more just the basic idea, system is far from finished, even in it's 4th revision, still can't decide between a currency or wealth based system, though I'll probably stick to currency

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-JeQd4atb7vd3pzdVBiTGhnR0k/view?usp=sharing

File: Bleak.pdf (1 B, 486x500) Image search: [Google]

1 B, 486x500

So I made system for playing supernaturals that is kinda akin to Blade, Underworld, and I, Frankenstein. It's still very much a work in progress, but I thought you guys might care for a look.

Question: I want to put in the work (and money) for a professionally laid-out book with quality artwork and materials for my system, then sell it or maybe Kickstart it.

The problem is, it's very rules lite. We're talking less than 50 pages, including all the "if you've never played an RPG before..." stuff. No one will pay for that, right? The main draw, from my perspective, is it's a universal system and comes with two fleshed out homebrew settings that have been well received by friends, colleagues, testers and even /tg/. So you get a little variety right off the bat, and I'm thinking if adding a third!

Would people unironically pay for that? If not, I will literally put in the time, effort and money anyway and just print them for myself, I just wanted to share without taking a loss.

>>46741858
People will pay for it, but they won't pay a lot.

>>46741934
Nice. I don't really have to worry about money so I'm fine with not turning any profit whatsoever.

>>46741858
People might pay a dollar for an E-Book

An Editor is expensive though, same with the artist putting it all together

>>46741858
Maybe have a free-with-print or PWYW distribution for the digital PDF?

>>46741858
I think if you go <$15-$20 it'll do well on kickstarter, IF there's a good hook to the game AND enough hype is generated. The hardest thing is when no ones knows about it and the system doesn't seem interesting to play, then you're just relying on the users who browse Kickstarter randomly pledging on your game. Same thing with selling directly, you need to spread knowledge about it before selling it.

>>46742013
Like I said, I make more than enough money to pay for this (I don't have kids).

>>46742040
Yeah, good thinking. I was planning to give a free PDF with the physical book anyway since it costs literally nothing. PWYW for digital only is a good compromise.

>>46742064
I haven't looked into printing too much, but I will literally sell it for the cost of manufacturing plus shipping. Right now I'm focused on more playtesting, more editing and tightening up the graphics on level 3 a bit.

Then it will be time to shill.

>>46742310
$5+ PWYW on somewhere you can combine shipping on other products is pretty reasonable for a comfy 50-page system. I regularly pad out orders on DTRPG with other random stuff I don't necessarily *want* but that interests me anyway, because I think that the best thing you can do as a designer is read more of other people's work. Better even than actually working on anything, apparently.

Im making an odd mix of a tactical actiony game with narative character creation. I wanted feedback about one of the mechanics. You can 'mark' traits you have to give you boosts in clutch situations. Here are the options so far:

Push the Limit: Double the traits bonuses for this check.
Shrug off: Mark an appropriate trait, turn a hit from lethal damage to nonlethal OR reduce damage by a traits value. (Think of that moment where a beat down hero thinks of their loved one they are saving and keeps on fighting)

Do these seem decent?

I have many ideas bubbling around in my head, but I always run into a problem of having no idea what to make FIRST for any RPG system. How do you guys go about it?

>>46745674
The first thing I look at is dice mechanics, since that's at the core of the players' interaction with the system. Next to that, anything the players touch or control directly.

>>46744515
So it's basically your luck/fate/edge mechanic. What's more important is how often you expect them to be used, whether they're intended to be used actively or reactively, and how players are rewarded for spending vs saving. It depends on whether your system sees a lot of push and pull or is lopsided in its encounters.

Do you think a table top wargame could word with 0 randomness?

Just 100% recourse management and choices.

>>46745924
It's been attempted, but it takes a lot of fun out of the game, and is harder to balance.

Generally speaking I think the best way for ANY game is

>think about how to support the central aesthetic your going for with appropriate mechanics
>conflict resolution mechanic
>mechanics that surround it
>any other lesser core mechanics
>bang out just the minimal amount of the little fiddly detail rules to make it playable
>TESTTESTTESTTESTTEST
>repeat entire list

File: Chaos Warriors10.jpg (161 KB, 1455x1195) Image search: [Google]

161 KB, 1455x1195

>>46745978
>>46745674
Meant for u bb

>>46740967
>currency or wealth based system
For a non native English speaker, what is the difference?

File: MiniGods for GM threads.pdf (1 B, 486x500) Image search: [Google]

1 B, 486x500

Can anyone r8? I'm doing some finishing touches and would like to use it to run a game pretty soon.

>>46746554
I think he means counting individual coins or using an abstract system for player finances.

>>46746691
Got it, thanks!
Was wondering how bad my English was.

>>46746554
>>46746691
Ya that

Basically keeping track of gold

or like Rich person can buy whatever the fuck they want each month, so they'd be like Tier 5

Adventuring Party would probably start at Tier 2, basic stuff monthly I guess, I don't know

wealth seems to simplify things, but it's a pain in the ass to come up with, balance for, ect.

Also seems weird, like You kill the dragon, you're now all rich for like 6 months or something

seems better just to dump a million gold on them or something

>>46745674
I look for something I absolutely CAN work on first. Something I can accomplish right that instant. Then, I'll determine what might take longer either from a time or design standpoint.

>>46746783
I'd think using the abstract wealth system lets you basically work with much smaller currency units.

File: no-name.jpg (65 KB, 372x520) Image search: [Google]

65 KB, 372x520

Would you play a game based on Junji Ito's horror?

>>46747650
A good rule of thumb to keep in mind is that there will always be people willing to play a game based on a popular property, provided the game is mechanically decent.

It irks me when I'm asked to provide an opinion on a game based on just a theme.

>>46717215

Sweet! Looking at it now,

>>46717215
>>46709706

The first thing I'd suggest is dropping the LAR/HAR system from Wild Talents and embracing how REIGN handles Armor, where you just have an Armor Rating that reduces the damage you take by 1SK for each AR you have. It's just easier to deal with, trust me.

Your description of Spray also isn't quite accurate. You're correct that you add the weapon's Spray rating to the dice pool, but more importantly Spray lets you use every Set that you roll. What you have kind of says that, but it's not expressing exactly how devastating powerful Spray can be.

You're a little inconsistent in your description of Minions and Unworthy Opponents, in that you jump between those terms. Just pick one (Minions, probably).

I personally think your Skill List is bloated. How does Freerunning work such that it wouldn't be covered by Athletics, Climbing and Acrobatics? I doubt you need Scrutiny AND Appraisal, and Eerie doesn't seem like it's necessary in a Battletech game.

Mind always has a lot of potential skills but some of the ones you chose to explicitly include seem unnecessary. Four distinct Fill in the Blank skills? Both Programming AND Hacking? Medicine, First Aid AND Surgery? You really could cut this list down by a third and still have a working system.

For Command, you've got quite a lot of redundancy here too. Leadership and Inspiration are basically the same thing in either Wild Talents or REIGN. I doubt Training and Psychology would necessarily come into focus during a game either.


Advantages next.

File: 1460748558915.jpg (39 KB, 690x610) Image search: [Google]

39 KB, 690x610

Hi.

So I'm looking to run my own d20 type adventure game, but I absolutely hate the bloat present in 3.5 and Pathfinder even though those systems at their very core have what I want.

So I'm looking for a base that I can build off of.

Is there an extremely stripped down d20 system that can adhere to fantasy or modern stuff and has classes that aren't things like "Fighter, Wizard, Monk" ect?

Thank you

>>46749666
A lot of the Advantages you have are redundant. What's the difference between having the Aware Advantage and having another +1d in Sense? They cost the same and have the same effect.

Why would I take Animal Empathy for 2 Points when I can take another 1d in Animal Handling at character creation for 1 Point?

Combat Sense is extremely powerful; practically nothing in any ORE product gives a universal +1 Width for Speed without some kind of restriction.

There's already a Skill in your list for Directional Sense. It's called Direction.

Fit is the same as having +1d in Body

Good Hearing and Good Vision are just more expensive versions of having +1d in either of those skills. I think you get the point here so I'll stop citing these.

Pain Resistant should work, though I think it would be more accurate to say that the person can ignore the effects of having a location filled with Shock for a certain amount of time, since making such major reductions in damage like that would be kind of hard to deal with.

On that note: Tough and Pain Resistant cost the same amount, but Tough is waaaay more powerful because it negates Killing damage.

Disadvantages: I think you kind of missed the point of Problems from REIGN. Problems, more often than not, are issues for a character but assets for a Player because they allow the player to leverage spotlight time for his character and give XP in return; that's why they don't refund character points like most Flaws do in Merits and Flaws systems.

I'd also counsel against stuff like Lone Wolf, which only really serves to make life more difficult for the rest of the party instead of for your character.

Equipment sections look fine; looks like they're mostly taken from Wild Talents, which is good because I like WT's modern day gear systems, and added Wealth Costs, which is smart.

>>46749889
>>46709706

Confused about Character Creation; it looks like you have a mix of Wild Talents and REIGN here, but those don't really work well with each other actually. Also you've wildly undervalued Stats here; in both systems Stats are 5 points; 3 is too low.

Also, no MD? MD are kind of critical to the ORE.

For Vehicle combat, you've kind of fallen into the trap of a lot of mech games (cough cough Mekton cough cough) where you have one God Stat because all of the mech rolls rely on it. In a lot of games its Dexterity, here it's Coordination. Since this is a Mech Game, every character will want to prioritize Coordination over everything else, because that's the Do Cool Stuff Stat. One of the strengths, I find, with ORE is that all of the stats are pretty well balanced against each other, with no one Stat being the best.

For Vehicle Gear: Looks like you're missing point costs on a lot of these, and they aren't fully fleshed out. In particular, it looks like after Secure Communications a lot of the gear is mostly outlines without mechanical crunch behind them.

Again, your weapons list looks pretty good, though some clarification could be handy. What do SRM and LRM stand for? What's a Spreadfire Array?

>>46750086
>>46709706

This bit kind of threw me for a loop:

"Aircraft gain 1 HAR for every rating in size. Frames gain 1.5 HAR for every rating in size (rounded down).
Vehicles, such as tanks, gain 2 HAR for every rating in size. "

That kind of makes sense if you look at the game purely from the standpoint of humans vs tanks and whatever, but it means that a size 5 Tank has HAR10, which is roughly equivalent to the density of a neutron star, per Wild Talents. I'm assuming you realize how crazy that is and are presenting it as "you need to find some other way to destroy this juggernaut because your puny weapons cannot harm it."

It also means that vehicle weapons will always have very large amounts of Penetration on them; as long as you know that then it will work, but it will eventually get unwieldy.

MADNESS YES
(Not sure how accurate this is to Battletech but I love Nemesis's Madness system, so good on you for grabbing it).

I like how you linked each Madness track to a different Stat. Smart thinking! I actually like this section a lot. The main issue here is that it's jarring when fitted alongside the Battletech setting, which is why you have it as optional. What you could do if you wanted to make the rules fit more cleanly into the core is to make it less about "this is always about cosmic horror" and more about "War is Hell"

On the whole, despite my critiques, I actually like what you've put together. The main problem with the work is just that you're trying to add to much to it. The beauty of ORE is its simplicity; you can do a whole lot with relatively little. Moreover, each main piece of the ORE is based clearly around solid themes, eschewing whatever is unnecessary. Work on that; cut away everything that doesn't serve the purpose of "Battletech ORE" and double down on everything that does, and you'll have a fantastic product.

>>46727395
Saxons mostly

>>46749666
>>46749889
>>46750086
>>46750194
Many thanks, anon! I've been thinking about reworking the vehicle creation rules a bit by grabbing some stuff from Cthulhutech and hammering it til it fits. Thanks for also pointing out the character-oriented stuff. I'll be sure to clean that up soon.

>>46750437
No worries. ORE is my bread and butter so when I saw that posted I had to go in.

Like I said, despite my criticism I like what you've put together. You distilled the ORE mechanics down pretty well in the introductory sections, which I something that I didn't even feel like tackling when working on my own thing (which is a Space adventure supplement for REIGN).

If there's one thing that I really suggest figuring a way around it's working out a way to do piloting without relying 100% on Coordination. As I said, Dexterity being the God Stat in games like Mekton Zeta is like the #1 criticism.

The way that I'm doing it, since my HB is designed for combat in spacecraft, is giving characters a subset of Skills called Flight Skills: Pilot, Defense, Engineering, Operation (which is a general use skill that only goes up to 3d max) and Expert (which is a specific use skill). On top of that, a spacecraft has a number of Systems like Thrust, Maneuver, Weapons, Shields, etc with their 0d-5d pools, so to use one you roll Flight Skill + System. That way characters who aren't banking into Coordination can still be useful shipside because they have points in Pilot or Expert: Sensors.

How do I keep a d6 dice pool system from being too easy? I was thinking the player would roll a number of d6 equal to their stat from 1 to 5 and the GM would set a difficulty from 1 to 5. If you get even one die with a value higher than the target difficulty + 1, you pass! But this system means someone with just a 1 in a stat will have a 16% chance at succeeding at a legendary task while someone at max skill has a 60% chance. Is that a little too easy? Is that not enough growth?

>>46750771
Depends on how easy it is to get extra dice. I like using small numbers with each increment bringing huge jumps since it can make progression and investment more... uh, invested.

I've been experimenting with d6 a lot, myself, since I wanted to make something that a lot of people could play and d6 are super-common.

>>46750771
You can go the route of Simple D6 and require a degree of success rather than hitting a target number. This ensures players who are shit at something will almost never succeed (or cannot succeed) without divine intervention, and gives players who trained a skill an incentive to use it.

File: OREMechaQuickReference.pdf (1 B, 486x500) Image search: [Google]

1 B, 486x500

>>46750485
>You distilled the ORE mechanics down pretty well in the introductory sections

I made a TL:DR section for the impatient, but decided to split it off into a quick-reference deal.

And that's an interesting way of doing things. The first iteration of the rules had mechs with their own stats, which overrode the pilot's stats while it was being used. Got it to 4 stats, but it definitely felt like there should have been 2 more to mimic human characters more.

>>4674589

The game has a long and short rest system, and traits only unmark at a long rest. Each mark reduces a trait by 1 until its unmarked. However, you can mark a trait a number of times equal to its rating.

So it isn't expected to be used that often. However it can be used reactively after check. The idea is that players can use their traits and motivation to give them a boost in clutch situations. Players can pull a "I'm not going to die today" situation by marking appropriate traits.

File: Chevauchee Beta Rules v8.pdf (1 B, 486x500) Image search: [Google]

1 B, 486x500

Chevauchee is a medieval skirmish wargame that aims to be quick, lethal and cinematic. It's pretty rules-lite but it has a pretty deep RPG-esque character creation system.

>>46750771

Sounds a bit like old pre-4E Shadowrun.
Some possibilities:
Use a degree of success mechanic
Use a color-coded dice mechanic, like in Don't Rest Your Head
Use an 'effect' die mechanic where dice have to be dropped from the pool after rolling in order to determine damage and other effects.

I hate social networking sites, but I need to promote my game. What's the best social networking site for promoting one's roleplaying game?

>>46689349
How do I cope with enjoying game design but not actually playing?

>>46754709
Probably a mix of methods. Use Facebook for discovery and news reposts, maintain your own site for detailed information. Maybe run a Wordpress.

>>46754710
Get playtesters and have them storytime for you?

>>46749727

Can anyone help me with this?
Please?

>>46749727

Well, you might try some other editions of D&D. Perhaps 5E? Or even 1st edition D&D?

>>46754943
Yeah, I should definitely start a blog.
How about Twitter?

>>46758624
Twitter is a terrible social platform
It's good for lulz and things that need regular status updates, but a more involved project/product like your homebrew RPG would do better with a dedicated space that allows longer posts. Just my opinion.

>>46754710
Having playtesters storytime sessions has worked well for me. Also if you aren't there to explain things it works better as a critique of rule clarity.

>>46749727
4e

>>46758484
Do they exist? Probably
Do I know where they are? No

This is a perfect opportunity for you to create it yourself. Many, many people want to strip-down 3.5, but everyone want to do it differently. This is really what homebrewing is all about. You've already determined your target base, that's 3.5. Now you'll need to determine what is essential to your desired gameplay and what isn't. You don't need another base to start with.

>>46759623
>marketing a stripped-down modern fantasy version of 3.5 to 3.5 players
That'll end well

>>46759724
when has that stopped anyone?

>>46758709
Got it.
I was just looking at Twitter since I searched for the most popular social networking sites in Japan. I know my game isn't really all that "weeb", but what's a good platform that will help me to market to weebs?

>>46759845
I hate to say it, but... tumblr, if you specifically want the geek market.
Facebook for geeks with money.
But if you're reaching out to Japan specifically, you might try a Japan-proprietary site paired with Twitter, as I know there are a substantial number of creators sharing their work via Twitter.

>>46759904

Ugh. I'm not willing to whore myself out on Tumblr. I feel dirty enough just using facebook.

And I don't want to use forums like rpg.net because I don't want to deal with all the fucking drama that entails.

Maybe Google+?

>>46760125
Yeah, avoid special interest sites. They tend to be special.

I have no impression of the landscape in Google+. I thought the meme was that no one used it?

>>46760204

There is, evidently, a thriving gaming scene over there. A lot of people use Google hangouts for gaming online. I've used it myself in the past.

>>46760125
Tumblr, despite it's reputation for being a hovel for unsavory types, also is a very good platform for hobby/gaming blogs. Don't knock it, the various niche communities have little to no overlap with the less than desirable territory.

>>46762781
For now.

>>46762807
It's been this way for the life of the site, it seems like it will continue on this way.

When people talk about tumblr they're talking about a very specific echo chamber that has been quartered off from the rest of it.

>>46763019
Right, from a marketing standpoint Tumblr has gained some unfortunate connotations.
People will associate you with that echo chamber if you use it at all.
Just look at KillSixBillionDemons guy.

>>46758624
>>46758709
I think Twitter is pretty good for networking though, especially if you use the proper hashtags and stuff to target your particular niche. It'd be pretty good to use it to follow major RPG/board game reviewers, and update it with any posts you have on your main site.

>>46763101
In my experience, there's social justice "problematic" types even in areas like the anime sub community, but it's not all bad (though this was a couple years back when Kill La Kill was brand new).

I'm mostly there for the porn nowadays, but I'm subscribed to a couple RPG Moments-type blogs as well and they're pretty okay, so it's possible that the RPG sub community there is mostly free from all the social justice nonsense.

That said, all the major social networks have strong regressive echo chambers, so unfortunately you probably will still have some run ins from time to time no matter where you go.

>>46763444
This seems like pretty good advice too to be honest.

I'm torn between two task resolution/die mechanics for a little homebrew RPG I'm planning.

A: 3d6 plus straight bonuses/bonus dice versus a target number or opposed roll. The margin between your result and the target can result in different degrees of success or failure.

B: d6 dice pool. The ability that is linked to a skill is ranked from 2 (Expert) to 7 (Crippled). Your skill rank determines the size of the dice pool for that particular skill. In order to resolve a challenge or task, you roll the dice pool for the relevant skill and check how many dice are equal or higher to the relevant ability. Every die that beats the target adds an additional degree of success. In opposed rolls, you subtract the opponents' successes from yours.

The rub:
A seems like a pretty common way of handling things. There's a healthy bit of mental arithmetic involved, that shouldn't be an issue. I'm just not sure what range of ability modifiers and what rate at which players increase their skill ranks would be challenging at the start, provide incentive to want to keep playing and improving, AND allow for a sufficient amount of play before a character becomes impractically strong.

B is pretty straightforward. Roll the dice and pick out your successes, no real arithmetic involved. Players get this tangible representation of their degree of success that they can compare to opponents. The spread of target numbers from 2-7 doesn't leave much room for improvement, though. I could switch to other dice, but I had originally settled on d6s because they're much easier to get a hold of than polyhedrals.

>>46767161
The nice thing with B is that you don't need to switch other dice. The best part of a dice pool is that the individual doesn't matter, so keeping it simple is fine. Using a D8 over a D6 doesn't matter.

For A, the big thing I'd keep in mind is that modifier heavy can break it a lot easier than B. Bonus dice to the pool makes it better, but there's still the need to roll so many successes, while adding a flat number to a total subtracts more from the weight of the die roll, the more you add.

>>46767312
What options do I have for making non-opposed tasks more challenging? Would it be cheap to randomly decide that a certain task is more challenging, requiring 2 successes? Am I simply pulling a target number out of my ass at that point, like I'd be doing with method A? Or would it be fair enough?

>>46767390
Yup, static obstacles can have static thresholds. Extremely difficult obstacles will have their own dice pools as an opposed test. So on and so forth.

>>46767729
Thanks for the input. I'm growing really partial to option B now.

I was thinking of giving different weapons a set amount of damage per die, to eliminate additional rolling for damage in combat and speed things up.

Maybe add some special effects on odd numbers of success dice, like a form of criticals.

It might be nice to have a little extra pool of dice that may be freely allocated to any roll, which refills after extended period of sleep. Maybe I could consider it a measurement of fatigue. Expend 1 die from said pool after every 8 hours of general activity, that sort of thing.

I'm still just brainstorming at this point.

>>46754709
Find or create a site that allows you to make long-form posts for updates, and preferably that lets you reliably serve files from it. Your own site is probably best for that - run Wordpress on it or something. Medium might be viable for your posts, I don't think it deals with hosting your files but it's a pleasant interface for both composing and reading the posts.
Then use social media to put out word when you have news. Buffer is a service that lets you post the same thing to multiple services at once, use something like that. Actually disseminating information via social media is incredibly difficult, because for some reason the Facebook interface just kills people's attention spans, so just use it to crosslink your articles. If it pops up, opening a link is zero investment, and then they'll read it at their leisure rather than feeling pressured to read it immediately and that they don't have time.
As a bonus to running your own site, you can probably monetize it via advertising, but that's a whole other bag of worms and definitely not enough to be considered a revenue stream (especially due to target audience generally including people with adblockers). You might get a free coffee out of it now and then, and drinking that while remembering it was paid for by interest in your work is a really, really great feeling.

Taking a quick look, Medium does let you use custom domains, and you could easily just get some cheap hosting pointed to a subdomain to serve your PDFs from. Might take an afternoon to research and setup if you've never worked with this stuff before and cost you like $50 a year or so, depending on the domain and hosting services.

>>46754943
This guy more or less has the right of it but I can't post sub-1500 char posts

Anyone has the last version of Lost Source?

File: CHARACTER SHEET (BETA).pdf (1 B, 486x500) Image search: [Google]

1 B, 486x500

Been a while since I was able to post any work in this thread, but today I sat down and hammered out a first draft of a character sheet for my ORE Space Adventure game.

The big empty box on the first page under Xenotype is meant to house your wound sillouette, which is where you track damage. By default there's a humanoid one in both REIGN and Wild Talents, but I'm waffling between leaving it blank so that you can sketch out any alien's sillouette, or for the default human using a version of the human body used on the Voyager II plate, which seems thematically appropriate.

File: SideshowAddon.pdf (1 B, 486x500) Image search: [Google]

1 B, 486x500

Not a system by itself, rather it's an addon to other systems. Basically, it's a short ruleset on trading the traditional tactical top-down for something more like Paper Mario or Darkest Dungeon. The aim is to do away with the setup time and tablespace that the traditional way takes to set up, while trying to maintain strategic gameplay.

Any feedback is of course welcome, and I'm presently looking at two things in particular:
>In my struggle to keep it short, I'm worried some of my explanations are either worded poorly or lack detail. Do you feel you understood everything fine?
>Did I miss anything?

Question about FATE dice.
I'm building a simple system and want to use FATE dice for the main mechanic - no problems there. In Fate they always roll 4 dice. My system has ratings 1-6 with 3 being average. I was thinking of rolling an amount of dice equalling your rating, with a maximum of 4. So an average person would roll 3 dice, a trainee (rating 2) would roll 2 dice and an expert (rating 6) would roll 4 dice.

Would this work do you think?
It gives a chance for everyone to be successful unless you're really bad and your opponent is really good.

>>46774001
Keep in mind that when it comes to Fate dice, having more or less dice doesn't change the average roll. So a guy rolling 2 dice vs a guy rolling 4 dice are going to have the same average roll. The only difference is that the 4-dice guy can potentially roll higher or lower than the 2-dice guy possibly can (6.71% chance on each end). If you want to use Fate dice and have stats influence them, you have to have them alter the average result somehow.

>>46774200
Brilliant, thanks for this. I shall give it further thought...

Should I begin the horrible process of renaming shit in 5e for a modern setting or would d20 modern be acceptable

File: VeeraWoundSystem (1).pdf (1 B, 486x500) Image search: [Google]

1 B, 486x500

Thoughts on this damage system? Wanted to push taking risks, and make it so you don't always know how far you can go. It also makes it so you only advance traits if you push your luck and take risks.

>>46774338
Need some context on the worth of "an" advantage die, but otherwise kinda neat (e.g. are checks one die, effectively being a reroll, or four dice, being a small bonus?). I'd be worried that, the way it's written now, it's a binary on/off bonus. So between two combatants, once one runs out of temp hp, that person pretty much has a numerical advantage. But then as more damage is inflicted, the risk increases without increasing the reward. So the deal just gets more raw as more damage is taken, rather than getting more desperately hail-mary.

Or maybe that's the design choice you've made on purpose, and you want the worth to diminish. It's just a bit of funky numbers at the point where it switches on. Just saying what I see. Also, love the formatting.

Finally, minor typo in the Overflow paragraph.
>However, if they take more damage,hey will need to make an additional check.

>>46775609
I believe advantage refers to the D&D 5e "roll 2 keep 1" advantage.

>>46775609
The current system uses 1d10+ d6 modifier dice. On any d6, 1s 2s and 3s are counted normally, sixes do effects and everything else is ignored. Advantage dice are white, risk dice are red and setback dice are black.

Statistically speaking, it's a +1 bonus, and an increased chance of success without cost. I might increase it by one for each check passed, or add additional increments. However, for now, the other thing is that abilities tie into overflow. For example, one of the sample abilities gives you extra advantage dice on all mental and social checks so long as you are in physical overflow.

>>46776053
Is it +1D6, or +D6 extra dice to the roll?

>>46778370
+1d6

>>46778442
Okay, that's a lot more manageable than D6 dice like I was reading it.

>>46774281
Neither
Use a percentile system, it has closer connotations to modern times in that the math feels more like statistics; and d20 has very strong ties (in most people's minds, I mean) to fantasy games, and consequently results in the playing of the game in a fantasy mindset. Also, almost all fun in d20-system systems comes from classes, since gear granularity is so low. How can you run a modern-style consumerist nightmare game with low gear granularity? You just can't represent planned obsolescence and incremental upgrades with a range of 1-20.
I can't recommend a system, as I don't know any good percentile systems. I had some short notes on one I was writing for myself, but I don't know where they went because the potential players I had for Burglars: The Heistening disappeared.

>>46773761
The big problem I can see arising from this is that parties with more than two characters that use melee will end up being shafted.

I think a better solution would be to require such a character to have enough movement to reach slot 1 on the enemy (at least) and then maybe to have enough movement left after to return to their original position.

>>46689349
Double or triple columns?

>>46783435
Depends on how much text you have.

How would you handle locational damage and limb conditions without having to use a locations chart? I want to add mechanics regarding lost limbs and some locational modifiers but at the same time i don't want to inflate the rules too much

>>46784051
You're assuming you want to track HP damage to individual limbs?

normally I'd bump with something productive, but I can't at this moment

>>46787440

Why don't you just reply to some of the loner posts in the thread?

>>46784051
IMHO, using a fairly straightforward hit location chart is the least rules-heavy way of implementing this. No fussing with several rules and conditions, just a single roll and a single chart. Easy.

>>46787605
It was on page 10, and I'd like to put some thought into say. I didn't think I could either come up with a useful question or a good response without the thread dying. Also, I need to sleep soon because I have to get up soon, so its more like a good-night bump more than anything.

If it isn't dead or reached post limit by the time I 'm free, I'll save a loner.

>>46784051
Custom dice. No, really, that's the only worthwhile way that isn't a chart, dice with pictures on them representing what you would have on the other side of the chart.

Realistically you don't need a big, complex chart, and within the bounds of regular play most players should memorize a ten location chart by session three or so.

>>46784051
Location charts aren't necessarily all that bulky. Or rather, they're only as bulky as you make them. I use hit locations built on a single d8. 1 side for head, near arm, near leg, far arm, far leg each, and 3 for torso. It makes it incredibly simple to associate a given number for a given location.

As far as limb/location conditions, I actually really like 4e's Bloodied concept. I only ever have to worry about 3 options, Healthy, Injured (with a relevant penalty associated, like less speed for leg injury, or lower accuracy for arms), and Broken. Then, I can have some effects happen depending on the status of the location without going too crazy. It makes it easy to remember things like you can only sever limbs that are broken, or daze effects happen when you have an injured head.

Its really only as complicated as you make it. Nobody said you can't have a simple look-up table. If you're dead set on not using certain things though, it's probably still possible, but likely much more difficult to come up with sufficient solutions.

Any good advice for designing a mini-wargame? I see these skirmish threads on tg sometimes and figure it could be fun to try something like that with my usual gaming group but I wouldn't know where to start.

>>46789604
Any reason to not try an already existing wargame? There's plenty of hex-and-chits titles you could play instead of making one from scratch, only problem being most are usually for 2p.

So i'm using a system of d20 rollunder for conflict resolution
HP is handled where in damage is accrued as Fatigue, and after a certain point enemies will start rolling to take you down

Originally it was that at 10 Fatigue the enemy would start rolling d20 under to take you down but a 50/50 chance seems too harsh.

Anyway i can re-jig the numbers and how they relate to make it a bit easier on my players?

>>46789894
Uh... increase the level of fatigue required for takedowns? Seems pretty straightforward, to be honest.