Hi y'all!

I am currently working on the GM's Guide for my game, Regular Volk. It's a German folklore inspired game, so I am trying to come up with a name for the world in which the game is set. Unfortunately, Cairn beat me to the punch (by a long shot) and named its setting the "Vald". Obviously, Vald would have been perfect for Regular Volk because of the V, but I don't care for stolen Valor. Anywayy... I was digging through the old high German dictionary for a while and came up with a few ideas. I came up with these ideas by either pulling directly from the dictionary or adapting a bit to fit English pronunciation a bit better. I'm trying to run the by this community, because while I speak German, I am writing for an English-Speaking audience, and the setting name needs to be intuitively understood.

Here are the options:

• Veldt (ger: Welt, eng: world)
• Veralt (ger: Welt, eng: world)
• Velda (ger: Wälder, eng: forests, but sounds similar to Welt also)
• Holt (ger: Holz, eng: holt/grove)
• Marka (ger: Gemarkung, eng: boundary/district)
• Haima (ger: Heim/Heimat, eng: home/homeland)

I have a slight leaning out of all of these options, but I am curious how these names are perceived by the community. Here is also the dictionary that I am using to brainstorm these ideas, if anyone is curious.

Hi all, I mentioned Essence Combos kinda in a one-off sentence in my first discussion about combat without really describing them, and that's because I thought they deserved their own post since that post was getting long. I mentioned in the post about Enchantments that the Vis Essences come in different kinds, and the main 8 Essence types have Complements and Interfering types as well. This is actually very important to this part of Essences and Abilities: Combos. Essentially, every Essence will have 2 Combos that it can perform, one for each Complement, and then Interfering Essence types can Counter each other. In order to enact a Combo, first one Player Character performs an Ability with one of the Essence type tags and succeeds on their roll. At that point, another Player Character can use an Ability that is a Reaction and has one of the Complement Essence types to the original triggering Ability, and if the the roll for that Ability also succeeds, it triggers a Essence Combo. There are 8 Essence Combos in total, and I hope it leads to some cool moments and pushes forward even more the whole "dynamic" style of combat that I am aiming for with the system! Here is one of those Combos explained in detail:

Ice + Electric: Galvanize

Being quickly cooled and then suddenly electrocuted leaves the target dazed and paralyzed for a moment. The target suffers Stunned 1 (Stunned X causes the creature to lose X AP at the start of their next turn).

Some Abilities will build off of the Combos a little bit, such as enhancing the effect (Maybe it applies Stun 2 instead in the case for Galvanize), increasing the duration of the effect, etc.

Here is the table of essences as well for convenience:

Countering

So the Complements enhance each other, what about Countering? Well, it works similarly. If a character uses an Ability that has an Essence trait, another character may use a Reaction-tagged ability with an Interfering Essence tag to attempt to Counter (if the triggering ability is Fire, then you must use Ice). The character countering must Flare to Counter, even if the Ability gains no benefit from Flaring, and the Ability's range much reach either the target of the Ability or the character using the Ability. The Countering character performs the roll for the Ability against the Vis Flavor Defense associated with the skill that the triggering character's Ability used. The triggering character gets a +2 or -2 for each effective Vis Flow tier their ability is above or below, respectively, the Countering ability. For example, if Krivesh uses a Fire trait ability on your ally where he rolled Power, and you have enough AP to use a Ice reaction Ability that rolls with Willpower, you roll Willpower versus Krivesh's Corpulence Defense. He used his Ability while in Vis Flow tier 2, and you used yours while at Vis Flow tier 1, but Flaring it increases the effective tier to 2, so no penalty or bonus is applied to Krivesh's Corpulence Defense. You succeed the roll, so you Counter his Ability and it fizzles. Then Krivesh's turn continues with his AP spent for that ability.

So I am wondering how people feel about this more interaction-oriented subsystem within combat, does it seem like it would promote more dynamic combat to you? Is it too confusing? Is there something I need to clarify for it to make sense (especially if you haven't seen my post about my general combat rules yet!)? Let me know!

Here is a question. I know the difference in diatribution between, lets say 4d10 and d10 × 4.

With the former the chances of rolling both 4 and 40 are negligable (0.01%) while in later both are solid 10%.

But that's on inidvidual rolls. Their averages are actually the same, so across the entire session, there shouldn't be mathematical difference (i am talking about damage, btw).

But have anyone actually tested it at the table. Rolling a single die and multiplying the result instead of rolling multiple dice. How does it feel?

What i am trying to solve (optional, for those who are interested)

I am drafting a d100 system, and i am huge fun of single roll resolution, even in combat. And so i wanted to use single digits die from d100 roll for damage calculation.

Simple, and it should work fine. The problem is that if i go with that, i kinda locked into 1d10 for damage (maybe plus some modifiers), but that's not exactly enough for me. I want to have the ability to have at least 3d10.

And that's where my question came from.

Thanks in advance (and if you know system that already do exactly that, please tell me🙏)

Hi everyone,

I was working on my RPG system, which is basically a “meridional” fantasy game and isn’t related to D&D. It’s also not “narrative-first,” so I had included a “loose end” mechanic and tried several approaches: first, it was one loose end per PC; then one per group. But no matter what I did, it just seemed like I was overburdening the GM, so I decided to remove the mechanic from the current version to prioritize the flow of the game.

Basically, it worked like this: something the PC or the group did could create a consequence that would remain “on hold” until triggered in the game, but there would be ways to avoid them, etc.

Do you have anything like this in your RPG? A loose end mechanic? How does it work? How did you manage to keep this from slowing down the game, especially by overburdening the GM?

I really thought it would be interesting, but then I realized I was struggling to force it into the game no matter what. I’m still a little disappointed by its failure, but also a little relieved because now the game flows better.

Thank you for your answers.

Actually, what i mean is I'm just about done!

Do you like Risk? Do you like D&D? Do you like helping a stranger on the internet? If yes to any of these, I ask for guidance!

Mid-time lurker and first time poster, I think I'm finally able to start putting my creations online, but i really don't know how to go about putting it out there for the masses. Other than posting here I guess.

I have a TTRPG engine and 4 settings i have been noodling on for like 20 years, but have not taken doing anything about it seriously until a couple weeks ago. So I'm asking for any and all helpful advice on moving forward on where I can start.

Thank you!

I am developing a class-less level-less skill-based game swordsandmagic.it

Last week, we were having a session 0 for a new group playtesting the game and we were creating characters. Some were veteran players, some new to rpgs.

It was chaos, and it all reduced to 'tell me what you want to do, and I'll help find the skills you want'.

Of course, how could I think that someone who doesn't know the game could ever be able to build a character in 10 minutes. You can do it if you:

1. know what you want to do
2. know where to find what you need.

That is never the case.

For this, poking around a little, I developed a system to create characters without having to know anything about the actual skills.

You just answer some questions, such as:

- What species you are

- how do you want to fight (or if you don't want to)

- If you fight, if you want to be melee, ranged, or whatever.

It asks you questions, and you follow a path right into an "Origin", where most skills are populated, but you still have some points left to put wherever you want.

You can improve some of the skills you already have, giving you an edge in something specific, or you can surf the skill catalog and pick some completely different skill.

I would be grateful if you could give it a look and try and create some character, and let me know how the experience feels.

YOU CAN FIND IT HERE:
>>> https://swordsandmagic.it/character-creator/ <<<

Any advice is welcome :)
Thanks a lot in advance

I've been working on Elderwyld, an old-school fantasy RPG built entirely around D6 dice pools.

I wanted a traditional, class-based game with D6 but with a quirk.

The system uses 5D6, with 6s representing successes and 1s introducing complications. Combat features class-specific Momentum mechanics, while nine playable Clans offer unique abilities through flexible Clan Tokens.

Rolling multiple 6s gives you access to follow-up actions which is fun at the table since each class can do different stuff.

Clan selection allows players to create a unique ability that follows the theme of the clan (the ability is agreed with the Keeper of course).

Elderwyld is now on Kickstarter pre-launch, and I'd love to hear what fellow designers think of the approach.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/spirallane/elderwyld

PS: I made sure to contact the mods before i posted, but it's been days without response so I hope this does not break any rules.

PS2: There is no AI in my game, all the fantastic art was made by a talented young man called Chui Wizard who specializes in OSR style, black and white art.

Hello everyone, I'm creating the TTRPG Born Without Talent, which is a class-based TTRPG meant for a traditional heroic medieval fantasy genre. I have 2.5 classes out of 6 who use spell casting. Here are some basics about the mechanics:

• Spells range from levels 1-10, and often cost an amount of mana equal to their spell level. (E.g., level 2 spell costs 2 mana to cast.)
• The mechanic Concentration allows a caster to keep a spell going into the next round, at a cost of mana at the end of the round. Concentration mana costs are usually the same as the base spell cost, but they can also have special rules. (E.g., Cast level 3 concentration spell costs 3 mana + 3 mana at the end of the round.)
  • Casters can usually have multiple concentration spells cast at the same time, but of course runs them out of mana.
• I use a d20 meet-or-beat system, including saving throws. There are no degrees of success, no chance for spell failure (but enemies can still resist!)
• Each player usually has 1 attack action, 1 utility action, and 1 movement action on their turn. Turns cycle through in initiative until the end of the round, and initiative is rolled for the next round.
• Spellcasters can often cast 2 spells (1 attack and 1 utility, or 2 utility) on their turn. There are some spells that can also be cast instead of movement actions, and also as reactions on other creatures' turns.
• Intelligence is a character attribute that corresponds heavily to spellcasting.
  • Character attributes should be similar to rolling 3d6.

The Talent System

One of the central mechanics of my system is talent points. Player characters start at level 1 with about 5-15 talent points (dependent on character creation). After every session, players should expect to gain 1 talent point. This gives players upgrades to look forward to after every session. Talent points can be spent on skills, class abilities, and spells. Things that can be upgraded may vary in talent point cost, but for spells, it costs 1 talent point to unlock a spell, and 1 talent point to further upgrade it. This means a level 1 spell firebolt can be upgraded to level 10 with a cost of 10 talent points, leading to a stronger spell version of firebolt (note that casting this at level 10 would mean that its mana cost also goes up to level 10).

When a character is made, they have access to their class's abilities (and spells), but those abilities may still be at rank 0 and have to be unlocked using the talent point system. Therefore, at level 1 a Mage character would have to use their talent points to unlock their first spells.

The Dilemma

At first, I had the Intelligence attribute correspond to mana, where mana = intelligence score x level (so at level 2, an Int of 13 = 26 mana). The Int method is good because high int leading to more mana/spell casting is good power fantasy for the player.

• Problem 1: The mana is just a bit too high. Even with being able to cast mana spells and concentration, spell casters almost never have to worry about their spell casting use. I want resource management to be a bit important, while still allowing spellcasters to feel like they can frequently cast their spells. It's a balancing act.
• Problem 2: I want equipment and treasure to be meaningful, where an item might give maximum mana, or mana reduction capabilities. If the mana is too high, the treasure feels weak.
• Problem 3: If int directly relates to mana, then why don't non spellcasters have mana? Even with the hard rule "only x classes can have mana", if a nonmagical class multi-classed into a spell casting class, then they may suddenly gain like 50+ mana. This feels strange. It feels like there is a stat a character has that they're not able to use.

So naturally, this leads to me giving mana based on the class x level. This is good because I can give a lower amount of mana to characters as well as keeping it balanced between players. I can balance the game around a level 3 caster always having X mana when I'm building encounters.

• Problem 1: This means there a feeling of sameness between characters. I want each character made to be unique and not just an expected template.
• Problem 2: The multi-class issue comes up where I'm not sure how I want to handle. What happens when two spellcasting classes are being multi-classed? While I could just have the rule that you take the higher mana cost, it's a bit needlessly complicated if you have 5 levels of the class with the lesser mana and 1 level of the class which has more mana. While this isn't a big issue, it starts to break one of my multi-classing hidden design choices where I want different class combinations to be interesting. I think putting two concepts that may be broken together is interesting, and having a specific rule that says "this doesn't work" is against one of my design pillars.

So where do I go now? Well I'm refocusing on the Talent system. I'm thinking about having mana purchasable by talent points. I'm thinking about having the talent point to mana conversion be different per spell casting class, but maybe that's a bad idea. The considerations I have to make are:

• What is the talent point to mana conversion? 1 to 5? 1 to 10? The good thing about this is I can play with it until I like the numbers.
• Should I put a cap on purchasable mana per level? Would a spell caster trade 1 spell for 5 mana? If so, I may have characters reaching the too much mana really quickly at the cost of spell utility.
• Should mana be purchasable by anyone at the same rate? I think it's a bit strange to have 3 classes all have the exact same mana ability that they can purchase from which are all called the same and give the same amount. This is partially why I'm leaning to have conversion rates be different among classes.

Anyways, thank you for reading if you got to this point. I'd like to hear your thoughts on my mana system or mana systems in general. Here's the very-unfinished website that holds my rules if you want to take a read through them. https://born-without-talent.web.app/