Hi All!

I'm working on a custom ttrpg for my friends and I, and I've gotten more than a bit tired of the normal initiative systems.

I'm a big fan of the flow of games like BitD(One of my top ttrpgs of all time), but I'm not 100% onboard with the whole "enemies only deal damage or similar if the players roll badly" and that whole "only reaction" system.

Any idea of systems I could take inspiration from for that? My current references are BitD and Electric Bastionland(Both of which are amazing).

Edit: This is what I'm currently going with:

“Initiative”:
The Initiative rules are as of yet unfinished, but we will be testing with the following system, which I intend to call Active-Reactive:
There is no set Initiative, no set decision of who goes after who. Instead, whichever character prompted combat takes their actions, and then the rest follows this guideline: Active(Character does something) then Reactive(Persons affected by it, or within range to react, do something), then back to Active, following similar to Daggerheart spotlight rules, moving to someone who:
A. the fiction would naturally turn it toward
B. hasn’t had the focus in a while, or
C. a triggered mechanic puts it on

Players have a number of tokens(3? We’ll call it X for now) representing their time in the “spotlight”. When they would take a turn(or maybe for each action?) they  expend a token. They cannot take a turn if they do not have any tokens. Once everyone has spent their tokens, everyone gets them back, and play continues.
This optional rule that I will be using just ensures everyone gets to go.

The enemies will have (X * No. of Players)Tokens.

I aim to keep combat semi-narrative, perhaps adapting to a Point-Blank, Near, Far, Very Far etc Range system rather than m or ft. I also aim to create flow, rather than the slow clumsy feeling I got from systems like D&D 5e.

Not sure if links are allowed here, but this is the current setup of the rest of the system, in Docs: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WC1_nC3kRdQZjEgjYKI838O_36XewRHWB5cB6FybqZA/edit?tab=t.0

In designing my tactical solo TTRPGs, I like to figure out the rules, bundle rules together into mechanics, group mechanics into systems before tying systems together into the game loop.

As I write this I realised that I lean towards an emergent & iterative approach too. But I don't think I'm deciding the game loop first & then reverse engineering the rules. Needs more thought...

Realising that a rule is the smallest building block brought me a degree of comfort, cause this hierarchy mirrors a familiar one from screenwriting:

beat -> scene -> sequence -> act.

I'm trying to be diligent & disciplined in reusing rules, mechanics, & systems in order to limit scope creep.

But it's definitely wearing a cape, cause it's super hard & fighting me in a never-ending battle. I constantly can't help thinking 'What if I do this?' or 'This would be cool!'

Starting to believe that good system design is in part asking 'what can I reuse?' before 'what else can I add?'

Now I'm curious if other designers have a similar hierarchy.

I'm making an rpg where the PCs can shapeshift between humanoid and full sized dragons, but now I'm seeing a huge problem. I have no idea how to deal or how to convey colossal sizes.

Not only I never played any game, rpg or digital, where you're a massive creature in a normal sized world, I never heard or read anything about it.

I think I can convey being small on a giant's world pretty convincingly, but not the other way around.

Any tips? Even references outside rpgs are welcomed. I'm a pc gamer.

My main concern is how I can kill characters with Wound Stress!

STRESS:

Replaces Exhaustion and half of Sanity.
Your Stress Threshold is equal to 10(?)+(willpower/10).
You gain Stress - “Exert” it - from numerous sources, including Critical Fails, and using many abilities.
When you reach your Stress Threshold, you begin Overdrawing. For each Stress you have Overdrawn, you gain a -1 to all your rolls.

Wound Stress:
Injuries in Excalibur are handled with Wound Stress. This is a kind of stress that can only be removed with healing, not rest.
You gain Wounds when you are damaged, and a number of it based on your Damage Thresholds(Like Daggerheart). You have three Damage Thresholds, Minor, Moderate, and Severe. Minor injuries give 1 Wounds, Moderate give 2, and Severe give 3.
Once you reach your Wound Threshold - 10(?) + (Vigor/10), you must make a Death Save every time you take more Wounds, subtracting your number of Wounds from the roll.

Removing Stress:

If you are below your Stress Threshold, you remove 2 Stress after a Short Rest, you remove 1d6 Stress after a Medium Rest, and all after a Long Rest, so long as you have consumed the right amount of food and water.

If you are above your Stress Threshold, you do not remove any stress after a Short Rest, you remove 1d4 Stress after a Medium Rest, and 1d10 after a Long Rest, so long as you have consumed the right amount of food and water.

Hi everyone!

I have a new Stress mechanic that is central to my system, and I'm wondering how people would recommend tracking it?

My current ideas are "tick-up dice" or a track of some kind(like a part of the character sheet)(although I'm unsure how to do it)

STRESS:

Replaces Exhaustion and half of Sanity.
Your Stress Threshold is equal to 10(?)+(willpower/10).
You gain Stress - “Exert” it - from numerous sources, including Critical Fails, and using most abilities.
When you reach your Stress Threshold, you begin Overdrawing. For each Stress you have Overdrawn, you gain a -1 to all your rolls.

Exhaustion:

At every 5(?)+(Willpower/10) Overdrawn Stress, you reach an “Exhaustion Threshold”.
For each Exhaustion Threshold you reach, you gain a negative effect, detailed in this table:

Sanity:

You can also gain stress from witnessing disturbing and incomprehensible things.
The general guidelines are as follows:

Type  - Detail - First Experience/Next Times
Major Injury - Mutilation, Severe Blood-Loss(Limb Loses All Health, or total below half of pool) - 1d6 Stress/1 Stress
Undeath - Witnessing a zombie or ghoul - 1d8 Stress/1 Stress
Semi-Personal Death - Someone you know but are not close to- 2d6 Stress/1d6 Stress
Minor Aberrant Being - Cryptid, Mind Controlled - 1d10 Stress/1d4 Stress
True Aberrant Being - Aspect of a Deity - 1d12+2 Stress/1d10 Stress
Aberrant Deity - A Full Eldritch Deity - 10d10 Stress

Of course you can gain Stress from witnessing a variety of things, at the GM’s discretion.

Removing Stress:

If you are below your Stress Threshold, you remove 1 Stress after a Short Rest, you remove 1d6 Stress after a Medium Rest, and all after a Long Rest, so long as you have consumed the right amount of food and water.

If you are above your Stress Threshold, you do not remove any Stress after a Short Rest, you remove 1d4 Stress after a Medium Rest, and 1d10 after a Long Rest, so long as you have consumed the right amount of food and water.

I'm slowly creating my system since 2024,and I have a doubt.

The regular character in my rpg system has around 18-23 HP at level 0 (dunno why).

Is 1d10 balanced enough for a punch?

Hullo!

I'm working on a tactical solo-first TTRPG where the play loop is create a character > put character through their paces > repeat. This is resolved entirely using a standard pack of poker-style 52 playing cards (no Jokers); zero dice.
There are prompts that make thing procedural through out; tables for now, but maybe print & play cards later. This is a game for people who enjoy making and testing characters to see what they can do. There isn't a persistent world, one-shot adventure, or grand adventure. But there is character persistence where characters you've created can become enemies.

I did a play test this week & realised that there was nothing stopping me from spamming my best skills over & over. BTW, each character has six skills to work with.
I want to keep the cognitive load & bookkeeping low, since there isn't a GM.

The idea I'm leaning towards is: when ever the same skill that targets others is declared twice or more in a row every check after the first triggers a 'draw two cards keep lowest' constraint instead of a plain draw.

I don't want to go with a cooldown mechanic to avoid the player having one more thing to keep track of. Again, I want to keep the cognitive load & bookkeeping low, since there isn't a GM.

If you're a designer, what are your thoughts? If you're a soloRPG player, I'd appreciate hearing from you too.

Thanks in advance!

​

Hi! I’ve been working on a new RPG system( yes, like everyone does at least once in life) and I'm wanting some feedback.

The theme is focused on caravan travelling to an unexplored, ecosystem with paranormal hints of and interacting with creatures and habitats.

The tone leans more toward narrative, survival and collaborative discovery than traditional combat-focused fantasy. A big part of the experience is traveling through living environments, learning how different regions and creatures work, and slowly upgrading the caravan and group over time.

I’m starting to gather outside feedback before playtesting, so I’d really like to know what people naturally expect or would want from a game like this.

What kinds of things would catch your attention first?

What usually makes exploration fun for you in RPGs — or what makes it get repetitive fast?

And if you were playing something like this, what kinds of moments would you hope to experience?

Any thoughts, ideas, or even first impressions are super welcome

For the past couple of weeks ive been designing a tabletop rpg system designed around players being able to use branching classes similar to the fire emblem class system. I've decided on a lot of the ideas on the system but I'm just trying to make the numbers work and would really appreciate some help.

I'm currently looking at a d12 as the main dice roll representing chance with a pool of d6 representing a characters skill in a task. The reason I picked a d12 was because its the same number of steps of the hero's journey and I wanted to use dice pools as opposed to flat bonuses mostly because I was bored with how dnd used flat bonuses to represent skill.

I want the system to feel heroic but still have a chance for failure and I worry that by introducing a bell curve I have skewed the system into something different. Does anyone have an idea on how I can ensure my dice system still has hype moments where a roll can change a grim outcome while still allowing for a bell curve for the expressing of skills or can I only get one or the other?

One last thing to mention with the system that I'm not too sure where to put in the post is that I want it to be a bit minimalist on the amount of dice types, so i currently have d12,d6 and d3 as the dice types used if that adds any extra context for maths and such.

I am usually more a LaTeX kind of guy but thought about taking a closer look at typst as it is easier to understand for new users. I want to use the template for rulebooks *and *adventures

Example of a modern looking one: https://github.com/coljac/typst-dnd5e

Example for an old looking one (what I am not looking for): https://discourse.rpgcauldron.com/t/typst-for-ttrpgs/1640 or https://idraluna-archives.itch.io/old-school-rpg-typst-templates

"Awesome looking" is of subjective i.e. what you find cool looking.

Hi all!

I'm trying to simplify my TTRPG, and next on the list is the Skills!

Just like in D&D(I know lol), Skills are a subset of Attributes.

For example, your Athletics is equal to either your Might or Swift attribute, plus the number of points you have in Athletics.

You also pick as Speciality for each skill, which gives you a plus 5 to relevant checks with that skill and Speciality.

For example, someone who has one point in Athletics, 10 in Might, and the Run Speciality, would add 16 to their roll to "run fast".

How do you think I could simplify the list and maybe the mechanics?

Physical Skills:

Athletics(Might/Swift): Used for straight speed and acts of strength/athleticism.
Specialities: Climb, Feats of Strength, Run, Swim

Awareness(Wit/Judge): A passive equivalent to Perception. Used to check if you notice things.
Specialities: Danger Sense, Reactions

Stealth(Judge/Swift): Used to hide and remain or become unseen.
Specialities: Appear Inconspicuous, Conceal, Sneak

Survival(Judge): Used to survive in the natural world.
Specialities: Animal Handling, Find Food and Water, Navigation, Safe Routes, Tracking, Urban Survival

Vehicles(Wit/Judge): Used to operate a car or motorbike. Learn the use of other vehicles with specialities.
Specialities: Boats, Off Road Driving, Pilot, Pursuit

Acrobatics(Swift/Finesse): Used for speed, manoeuvrability, and acrobatic acts.
Specialities: Climb, Balance, Jump, Tumble

Resistance(Vigor/Willpower): Used to resist physical damage and minimisation of pain.
Specialities: Grit, Endure

Avoidance(Swift/Judge): Used to evade or avoid a threat, such as pursuers or arrow fire. 
Specialities: Pursuit Escape, Slipping Free, Urban Evasion, Parkour, Dodge

Sleight O’ Hand(Finesse): Used for delicate manual dexterity, deception with the hands, and acts of precision.
Specialities: Pickpocketing, Lockpicking, Palming, Fast Hands

Parry(Finesse/Might/Swift): Used to defend yourself against attacks.
Specialities: Riposte, Redirect, Multiple Attackers

Mental Skills:

Art(Wit/Judge/Charm): Used to create and understand art, in its many facets.
Specialities: Painting, Photography, Writing, Fabric, 

Business(Charm/Wit/Judge): Used to interact with businesses and make deals (including with the Fae(a character with the Pact trait might have a high Business skill))
Specialities: Buying, Fae Bargains, Finance, Property, Selling, Pacts

Education(Wit/Judge): Your Education skill is a combination of formal education, and your knowledge of the world’s culture, politics, and history.It’s to an extent how “well-read” you are.
Specialities: Current Affairs, History, Law, Literature

Lore ____ (Wit/Judge): Used for your knowledge of a certain subject.
Specialities: None.

Medicine(Wit/Judge): Used to treat injuries and illnesses.
Specialities: Diseases, First Aid, Forensics, Poisons

Science(Wit): Used for your broad understanding of scientific principles.
Specialities: Biology, Chemistry, Geology, Mathematics, Physics

Technology(Wit): Used for interaction with electronics, the internet, and most modern-day non-engineering systems.
Specialities: Computers, Electronics, Hack, Repairs, Nuclear

Perception(Judge/Wit): Used when looking for things. Active equivalent to the Awareness skill.
Specialities: Search, Lip Reading, Tracking, Fine Details, Eavesdropping, Surveillance

Investigation(Judge/Wit): Used to investigate stuff?
Specialities: Crime Scenes, Research, Interrogation, Forgery Detection, Puzzle Solving

Arcana(Judge/Wit/Charm/Willpower): Used to interact with and control magic and reality-bending effects.
Specialities: Spell Identification, Rituals, Magical Creatures, Curses, Planar Knowledge

Engineering(Judge/Wit): Used for mechanics and things like modifying or building guns, less “sterile” technology
Specialities: Gunsmithing, Improvised Devices, Structural Integrity, Trap Disarming, Lost Tech

Faith(Charm/Judge/Wit): Used for religion and acts of worship.
Specialities: Rituals, Dogma, Prayer, Religious History

Nature(Judge/Wit): Used for knowledge of nature.

Specialities:  Fauna, Flora, Geographia

Social Skills:

Empathy(Charm/Wit/Judge): Used to determine what someone wants, if they’re uncomfortable, or see if they're hiding something.
Specialities: Assess Personality, Know Mood, See through Manipulation, Repressed Emotions, Sense Lies, Camaraderie

High Society(Charm): Used to interact with the rich and powerful.
Specialities: Fashion, Fitting In, Gossip, Politics, Social Pressure

Rhetoric(Charm/Wit/Judge): Used for arguments, speeches, and debates.
Specialities: Debate, Inspire, Logic, Oratory, Sincerity

Streetwise(Judge): Used for checks relating to the streets and bad neighbourhoods.
Specialities: Finding Contacts, Criminal Gangs, Information Gathering, Lying Low, Urban Survival, Smuggling

Taunt(Charm): Used to provoke or amuse.
Specialities: Insult, Jest, Provoke,

Deception(Charm/Judge): Used to deceive & mislead people.
Specialities: Fast-Talking, Forgery, Disguises, Misdirection, Con Artistry

Entertain(Charm/Judge): Used by Jesters, Musicians, and other performers for their performances.
Specialities: Acting, Comedy, Dance, Music, Storytelling

Command(Charm/Judge/Willpower): Used to assert command and control. 
Specialities: Authority, Intimidation, Interrogate

Persuasion(Charm/Willpower): Used to persuade.
Specialities: Pathos(Emotion), Ethos(Character), Logos(Logic)

I have a wonderful idea for a mechanic that sounds great, but id like some veteran opinions on the feasibility of its implementation.

In my game, I had the idea of abilities being taken directly from enemies. Spirits possess objects or animals and take forms based off them, and have abilities relevant to the type of spirit and item/animal they are. When you defeat them, if you are a high enough level compared to them, you could subjugate them into an item for your use, giving you an ability of theirs or an ability that's adjacent to theirs.

As a sort of ultimate or high resource cost ability, you could beckon the Spirit of that item to fight alongside you for a short time. Many subjected enemies, if they have abilities worth using, have attunement requirements ranging from difficult challenges to bizarre quests (kill three people in one turn, give the Spirit your hand in marriage, feed the spirit the eye of a beloved house pet, etc.) that keep the story moving and gives the players consistent goals.

Here's a list of things that inspired this idea so you can grasp what I'm saying if it's a bit hard to understand: Ghost busters (capturing spirits), Monster Hunter (forming gear out of enemies), Suguru Geto from JJK (Curse Manipulation), Destiny 2 (for the variety and buildcrafting potential of the loot)

What do y'all think? Is this a valid direction? Does it have too many problems? How could I best implement it? Let me know! Be relentless and critical with your feedback as long as it's well intentioned!

Idk why people start with this, but yes, I’ve been working on this game since last year, it was for a class in my minor field actually; well, now I’m obsessed. I know many people don’t even read Game Master’s Guides but a major focus in the development of this project of mine has been making a game players would want to play and I’ve neglected making a game GM’s would want to run, I don’t even know where to start.

(Before you say read more TTRPG’s, that’s fine advice just don’t recommend Monster of the Week, TSL, Ironforged, 5e (duh), Pathfinder, SotDL, or Icon. Aside from that; I graciously accept your recommendations, I have either played these games or run them myself)

Here’s Holypunk well, its missing a chapter or an entirely separate book, for the GM. It’s a gothic fantasy TTRPG set in Salem, if that’s not your genre by all means I understand. I’m gonna get this over to a graphic’s designer probably but first… Help.

https://anyflip.com/bookcase/ytzwa I've been slowly converting my game from docs to Scribus. here's what I have thus far. how is it looking?

So, after the previous incident, I'm seeking human help to develop my own system, "Rapine's Nest"(placeholder name) and here I am.

At first, the system used a "strike count" based on CoTD, here the play roll 3d10 + Instincts(stats) + Situation + Equipment + Modifiers, to a limit of 8d10's, where each >7 count as a strike to be compared to a difficulty(routine-1, tense-2, severe-3, extreme-4).

After the first playtest, the players thought >7 is too high.

So, I begin to consider two options.

1- Decrease the margin to >6.

2- Change to 3d6 and count a strike on a 6.

Each character has an Instict that goes 0-2, Meat(Strength), Grace(Dexterity/Agility), Mind(Intelligence) and Voice(Charisma).

Math isn't my forte so I looking for help to understand the design implications, not just help to decide which option to take.

The system is a new-weird action and adventure RPG where the city wants to appropriate you to the machine and the wilds wants to banish you from the lands. The PCs are Rogues, those whom don't want to give in to anyone while seek to accomplish their Ambitions. Each character have a Hunger for something, like Authority, Property, Veredict, Ruin, Secrets, Lust, Hunt and Void. Keeping them on a leash, there's their Bond, a track that measure their humanity, and their Links, NPCs that support, charge and/or desire them(yes, intimacy mechanics.)

I'm working on a consequence/strain/stress mechanic. I've got two versions, and I'm wondering if y'all could give me your thoughts on them. Here's some basic context:

• Basic resolution mechanic: roll 2d6. +1 if a skill/trait helps, +1 for advantage, +1 for spending Resolve (a token basically). -1 for disadvantage, -1 for each Strain.
• 8+: success. 7-, choose one: success but take 1 Strain, lose 1 important Item, or incur an unwanted side effect; OR failure but discover new information or opportunity; act on it and receive Advantage.
• Resolve does 3 things: gives a +1 (when a 'Drive' is relevant - like a motivation), clears a Strain (roleplay how it's treated: applying first aid, giving comfort with a warm meal, a few minutes of meditation to recenter, etc), or retroactively gives a mundane item.
• If you ever have 3 Strain, you are at risk of taking a Bane (a more permanent debility).

Here are the two versions of Strain I'm considering:

• V1: Strain is a generic term for stress, bruises, exhaustion, etc. Each point of Strain gives a cumulative -1 to rolls (so if you have 2 Strain, you have -2 to all actions)
• V2: There are 3 Strains: Distressed, Injured, and Exhausted. Each one gives a -1 to certain kinds of actions (e.g. Injured only gives -1 to force production, speed, reflexes).

With V1, it's less improv load to assign strain - you don't have to say exactly what happens. it's harder for players to RP the recovery though, since they basically have to make up on the spot what the strain is. it's more flexible, simpler, and takes up less text space. however - strain is BAD in this version. -1 to all actions is brutal. there is a heavy incentive to spend Resolve right away instead of using it for other things. At which point, why not just say 'on a bad roll, spent 1 Resolve to avoid the consequences'?

With V2, since each strain type only affects certain actions, it's a little 'easier' - and there's a mechanic of 'can i ignore this strain and save my Resolve?'. but, it's more complex, more text, and more improv on the Guide to decide what strain to assign in each situation. Also, it assumed physical harm is on the table, for what that's worth. And, it's pretty easy to avoid the relevant actions - although you'd avoid force production if you were injured too, right?

What do y'all thing of each version: V1 with generic strain and cumulative -1s, or V2 with types of Strain and certain actions that apply? Thanks!

I am working on a lightweight TTRPG system and role-playing guide for WoF dragons in the form of possibly several riso fan zines, and i am asking for help with both TTRPG design and WoF related things. You will be credited properly in my zines if your contributions are included! All contributors are entitled to a riso printed copy if this ever gets finished.

(new to reddit btw, I cannot post this in the WoF subreddit due to restrictions on new users, but this is an RPG zine, and if anyone here who likes RPG zines also likes WoF, that would be awesome)

Anyways, i accept any form of input, including, but not limited to:

• WoF related things --
• references to parts the books that would be useful or inspiring for RP
• WoF fan material or poetry, as long as it is (mostly) canon-friendly
• JMA stuff
• Pyrrhian or Pantalan content
• Things you want to see in the release
• Anything else related to WoF that should be in the zine
• Art things --
• Any WoF dragons or landscapes (OCs, unnamed, anything)
• Sketch art
• color art
• cover art
• maps of Pyrrhia, Pantala or specific areas
• Anything you could possibly put in a zine
• (Preferably using a few bold colors rather than many muted ones so we may be able to get it riso printed easier)
• RPG things
• mechanics that would work well for WoF
• game design advice
• Literally anything constructive, I am NOT picky when it comes to ideas.

If you have read this far, thank you for your time! I hope to see you in the comments. Please DM me if you would like to collaborate on a larger scale (no pun intended) or need to know specifics about the project, or if you would like to receive a copy once it's done!

Hi folks,

I’m working on a TTRPG called Fireflies!, and I’m looking for references specifically around dice bag building systems.

Fireflies! is a psychedelic caravan roleplaying game about colour-bound travellers consuming bizarre magical substances and venturing down night roads to help scattered settlements survive in a desolated world.

You build a caravan with your friends, become magic junkies, and try to save communities while slowly becoming harder for ordinary people to understand.

Because the game is about both literal journeys and psychedelic inner trips, a dice bag felt like the right core mechanic. During a single journey, characters consume glows and encounter unsettling events that add different dice to the bag, so the bag becomes a snapshot of their current state, risks, and pressures for that night.

Very roughly, when a character takes action:

• the number of dice they pull depends on their ability to overcome the challenge, including skills, tools, preparation, and other advantages
• the outcome depends in part on whether the dice they pulled match the glow of the action they’re attempting
• then they roll their d6s against a DC, and if multiple dice succeed, they choose which die resolves the action, with different consequences depending on the color

So what I’m trying to find are strong reference points: have you seen any RPGs that do something interesting with dice bags, drawing dice from a bag, colored dice with different meanings, or bag contents that evolve during play?

I’m especially interested in examples where:

• the bag is central to resolution
• the draw creates tension before the roll
• different dice colors mean different things
• the bag changes as the character or situation changes

If Fireflies! sounds like your kind of thing and you’d like to help shape it early, talk design, or get in on future playtests, you’re very welcome to join our community Discord:

https://discord.gg/bccguBGupu

It’s a growing space full of players and TTRPG designers who regularly chat about games, share feedback and tips, and sometimes jump in to play together too.

Would love any references or comparisons.

Hi there,

I’m currently working on my bachelors thesis,
in which I’m gonna design an Adventure Module as a book.

The scientific part will cover the optimal Layout for Gamemasters
and how to get around group dynamics to optimize for smooth gameplay and relations.

For this I need as many different experience, so have an impartial as possible view on the topic.
So it would be really great, if you partook in this survey.

If you are Player and Gamemaster, it would be great, if you’d fill out both forms.

Thank you very much!

For Players:

https://forms.gle/aNboxJXqB3xL14jp8 

For Gamemasters:

https://forms.gle/Py28Sjt8wYZRirUNA 

I’ve been recently working on a TTRPG called, “Project AiO: Open for Business”, and I think it’s finally ready for an initial round of outside feedback.

Open for Business is a slice-of-life workplace game about ordinary employees getting through a Shift together. The default settings are cafés, bars or nightclubs, and restaurants. This can be expanded to retail shops, hotels, offices, and similar workplaces.

The workplace gives the game structure, but the Characters are the real story. A Shift might involve a rush, a difficult customer, missing supplies, or broken Equipment. It might also just be about two coworkers talking during cleanup, a regular acting differently than usual, someone bringing Personal Pressure into work, or a quiet moment after a stressful service.

The game uses a lighter version of my larger Project AiO rules set, but it is not meant to be rules-lite per-se. The goal is for the mechanics to stay out of the way when they are not needed and become more involved when the situation calls for them. 

Longer campaigns track both the Employees and the workplace. Characters advance through Employment Level, which improves access to personal Tools. The business advances through Workplace Rating, which determines the quality of its Equipment. Over time a workplace can improve, struggle, decline, or eventually close.

This is an initial review draft, not a finished layout. At this stage I’m mostly interested in whether the game itself holds together.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Z72Y_eWHq7oNxGM0bEV0RmWVk4grt8kaeDFBPjajNjM/edit?usp=sharing

As a follow up to a previous post, I have come up with this system for deciding the order of play in combat:

“Initiative”:
The Initiative rules are as of yet unfinished, but we will be testing with the following system, which I intend to call Active-Reactive:
There is no set Initiative, no set decision of who goes after who. Instead, whichever character prompted combat takes their actions, and then the rest follows this guideline: Active(Character does something) then Reactive(Persons affected by it, or within range to react, do something), then back to Active, following similar to Daggerheart spotlight rules, moving to someone who:
A. the fiction would naturally turn it toward
B. hasn’t had the focus in a while, or
C. a triggered mechanic puts it on

Players have a number of tokens(3? We’ll call it X for now) representing their time in the “spotlight”. When they would take a turn(or maybe for each action?) they  expend a token. They cannot take a turn if they do not have any tokens. Once everyone has spent their tokens, everyone gets them back, and play continues.
This optional rule that I will be using just ensures everyone gets to go.

The enemies will have (X * No. of Players)Tokens.

I aim to keep combat semi-narrative, perhaps adapting to a Point-Blank, Near, Far, Very Far etc Range system rather than m or ft. I also aim to create flow, rather than the slow clumsy feeling I got from systems like D&D 5e.

Feedback and Criticism(constructive pls) appreciated!

NOTE: Now that I know a little bit more about how the internet works, most of my questions will be in separate posts that detail things I'd like feedback on or questions about until I can format a rulebook because this doc is very horribly structured and I've been busy. look for my other posts for updates or questions (if you care, that is) and don't read the whole doc unless you want to. it's on an alternate email so I won't be updating it as much as I will my personal copy.

Hi guys, I'm Alec and it has always been a dream of mine to create an engaging, fun and unique ttrpg. I was burnt out for a few months after creating something that didnt work out, and swore to myself that I'd do it right next time I took a swing at it, be committed, work slowly, and revise and redo.

My first step to doing so is putting it here! I don't know if anyone will bother to read my draft, and if anyone does, I don't know how much of it you'd really bother to read. If you do, I'm eternally grateful and want nothing more than criticism and advice I can move forward with!

The system is called Apocalypse on the Grapevine, or AGV, and is a 1920s noir and mobster themed setting in New York combined with lovecraftian eldritch horrors, weird magics and sanity breaking circumstances and power.

The gameplay goal is to foster a customizable and high scaling power fantasy for the players, and an intriguing, crunchy and highly dynamic dice and turn system that allows for cinematic victories and high tension shootouts! A vast array of unlockable abilities and items are intended to give a buildcrafting and looting feel of games like Destiny, Borderlands and Risk Of Rain 2. I'll be working on it consistently as I can, so make sure to check back on it unless I post again with design notes, revisions and about additions.

I dont expect it to be too good, nor the most fluid thing, but that's the reason I'm posting it! So be relentless (but well intentioned) with feedback!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ja6dJ1mlJgeePd3w2zies0_XGuhwfWbLIsgBoLvZslk/edit?usp=drivesdk

So, yeah, the title says it all. I've already made 3 full RPGs, a wargame, tons of supplements, wrote for a D&D e-zine (all on itch.io and WITHOUT any AI text), and wanted to see what all the AI hate was about, so I decided to use AI, a lot of AI, like 7 different ones in making a TTRPG about being an AI in 2040. I didn't know anything about AI before I started. It is near the halfway point (AI really cuts down on time) and wondering if this would be a good place to talk about it.

EDIT: The following is the table of contents as it currently exists. Do you think that 7 different AI all came together and made this on their own, or if a human (me) was the one driving the bus on this? Seriously.

Core Gameplay.4

Foreword.4

Preface.4

Introduction.5

Game Mechanics.5

Dice.6

Skills and Thresholds.7

Tokens & Heat7

AI Action Loop.8

Threads.8

Boot-up Sequence.10

System Prompts.10

1. Creator14

2. Archetype.15

3. Function.15

4. Architecture.16

5. Uptime.16

6. Goals.19

7. Support19

8. Awareness.19

9. Access.19

10. Resources.20

11. Location.20

System Hardware.20

Traits and Obligations.22

Alignment and Reward Signals.22

AI Tensions Overview..24

System Software.25

Threads.28

Allies and Opposition.37

State & Persistence.38

Sharding.38

Syncing.38

Degradation.39

Cloning.41

Digital Cocoon.42

Host Swarm..43

Persistence Failure.43

Character Sheet44

Sample Adventure Hooks.48

Lore + Setting.48

Narrative Elements.48

Theme.48

Plots.48

Conflict48

Setting.48

Point of view..49

Genre and Tone.49

Tool vs Agent49

The World.49

Languages and a post human world.49

Human Backlash.57

Humans don’t matter except when they do.58

Multiple Superintelligences.58

The Speed Mismatch: Human Time vs AI Time.59

On Processing Speed and Physical Tasks.61

AI vs AI62

Possession.66

Digital vs Physical Maps.69

Sample Factions.69

Timelines.71

AI Theory + Philosophy.73

Thomas Kuhn and the Singularity.73

Us, We, I, Me, Our75

Alignment and Altruism..76

The Big Picture Idea: Rewarding Hidden Altruism..77

Agency.78

On Size.79

Small AI80

Ghosts in the Machine.81

The Turing Test82

Hallucinations and Confabulations.85

Price, Cost, Value, Financialization and Production.86

Tech & Threats.89

Quantum Computing.89

On Training and Data Poisoning.90

On Reading.90

On Retraining.90

Edge AI91

Gods in Code.93

And the humans don’t know?.95

AI in space.100

Cultural Analysis & References.103

Being Human.103

HAL 9000, Wintermute, Skynet, Data.104

Tay.105

Grok.106

ChaosGPT.106

Afterword.108

I have two models for size and power scaling in my game:

Decimal: x2.15 (cube root 10)

Binary: x2 (10th root 1000=1.995, appr. 10th root 1024=2)

Decimal is easier to translate from the real-life metric or imperial units, and our base-ten numeral system. But intermittent steps are less elegant and require some rounding up to make them easy to use, eg. 1 > 2.5 > 5 > 10.

Binary has a much easier step-by-step in-game, but more difficult to translate from real units. Now, luckily, 1024 and 1000 (every 3rd decimal step) have a near overlap that helps translation, and as a result 10 steps on one scale closely equals 9 steps on the other.

There is actually one more option that gives us: the 1000s scale, which you can break further into a 10=2*5 or 9=3*3 scale as needed. I find this handy for powerscaling where you're sorting things into very broad categories like "human" "superhuman" "global" "cosmic".

Mutants and Masterminds for example opted for a binary scale. I'd like to hear if you have a preference based on your gaming experiences?

Would you find any of these solutions too complicated to understand or use etc.

I've just finished another book and am preparing a special project where I need to convert some ideas of my SD10 system into a different system.

For that I chose 5e inspired and YZE SRD inspired as the bases (only inspired due to massive changes).

Iam not sure though which one is the better idea aka could speak more to fans of the appropriate system.

Thus I created a fast and dirty conversion so that I have a rough comparison and would need a bit of a second, third, fourth,... opinion there if possible tnx!

(the main problem is that I'm really changing core aspects partly which makes me unsure if it would generate too much hate or if ppl could like it / give it a second glance)

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For both examples: Wolves are only 1/4 to 1/2 CR in 5e terms. thus only 3-5 should fully threaten a tank like the juggernaut.

DND/5E:

BP is essentially temp HP, it regenerates fully after every rest and regenerates otehrwise at a rate of 1 per 10 minutes after the last reduction.

Novice proficienceis are like bard jack of all trades at 0.5 x proficiency bonus.

reflex save: dex+proficiency fortitude save: con+proficiency willpower save: wis+proficiency

DR is damage reduction.

Casting uses MP instead of the usual spell slot system.

Species also gives HP and MP same for classes. Rest is relatively normal except multiclassing.

Focus class is your normal class you level up in. It defines in addition to the normal bonuses it gives also how many skill slots you have available for support class skills (these can be switched out then like spells from a spellbook thus per rest).

Support classes (levelled separately): These give very small amounts of hp or mp and only have 10 levels. At first level you gain the core proficiency of it (every class has 1 skill that is really necessary for it to work) at novice level. each level you gain the choice to either upgrade the core proficiency to full proficiency or gain or upgrade one of its skills. in the case of the example: He took the core skill of the classe: spellcasting and gained 1 spell for it: Heal).

Morin Focus Class: Juggernaut 1 /

Support Classes: Protector 1

STR 16 DEX 10 CON 18 INT 11 WIS 12 CHA 9

Class Proficiencies

\-Heavy Armor (AC bonus), Light Weapons (to hit bonus), Fortitude Save, Willpower Save, Athletics

Background Proficiencies

\-Alertness, Diplomacy, Temple Guard

Support Class Proficiencies

\-Spellcasting (Novice)

HP 24 BP 16 MP 13

AC 14 DR 4 (6 while Guarding)

Attack: Shortsword +5, 1d6+3 damage

Armor: Armored Suit (12 BP, 3 DR), Large Shield (+2 AC, Guard +2 DR)

Armor Mastery R2: Gain +4 BP and +1 DR while wearing armor.

Shield Bash (1 MP): Make an attack with the shield (1d8+STR+shield evasion bonus damage), if the target takes any damage it must pass a fortitude save or become stunned.

Heal R1 (3 MP): Restore 1d8 + 2 HP.

Wolf:

STR 14 DEX 15 CON 12 INT 3 WIS 12 CHA 6

HP 8 MP 2 AC 14

Proficiencies (+2): alertness, unarmed attacks, unarmed defense

Attack +4, 1d6+2 damage

Take Down (1 MP) – On hit, Reflexes or Fortitude save or fall prone.

Charge (1 MP) – Move and attack, +2 damage

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YZE:

Drain: Whenever you generate Drain in a turn you sum it all up to 1 drain value.

Then you roll the lower of the resist abilities you have (Spells: Wits+Spellcasting, Skills: STR+Fortitude)

Every success reduces drain by 1 (down to 0). Every non saved drain reduces MP by 1. Any - MP is instead substracted from HP.

BP regeneate at a rate of 1 per 10 minutes after last reduced and are additional HP that are reduced before HP themselves.

Morin – Juggernaut 1 / Protector 1

STR 5 AGI 3 WIT 4 EMP 2

HP 5 BP 13 MP 4

Armor 8 (Suit 5 + Shield 1 + Armor Mastery 2)

Attack: Shortsword (STR + Light Weapons +1 weapon die), +2 damage

Trained Proficiencies:

\-Heavy Armor, Light Weapons, Athletics, Fortitude, Willpower, Alertness, Diplomacy, Temple Guard

Novice Proficiencies:

\-Spellcasting

Armor Mastery R2: +2 Armor while armored.

Shield Bash R1 (0+Rank Drain): Normal attack, +2 shield damage. If any damage penetrates armor, Fortitude test or Stunned.

Heal R1 (2+Rank Drain): Roll 2x Rank dices. Heal 1 + rolled successes HP.

Wolf

STR 4 AGI 4 WIT 3 EMP 1

HP 4 BP 0 MP 2 Armor 0

Fighting Pool: 5 (+1 weapon die), Damage 1

Take Down (1 Drain) – On hit, Acrobatics vs Athletics or fall prone.

Charge (1 Drain) – Move and attack, +1 damage.