#rpgdesign

[larrythedmguy]

https://larrythedmguy.com/blog/f/dungeon-and-dragons-trapper-ranger-subclass

Dive deep into the world of Dungeons and Dragons with the latest blog on the Trapper Ranger Subclass. Are you ready to take your gameplay to the next level? This subclass will have your enemies outwitted and trapped before they even realize what hit them. Inspired by legendary hunters and survivalists, the Trapper Ranger is for those who love strategy, stealth, and setting the perfect ambush.

In a world filled with dragons, dungeons, and danger, why not stand out with the power of traps and mastery of the wilderness? Whether you're new to D&D or a seasoned veteran, this blog post breaks down everything you need to know about the Trapper Ranger Subclass—perfect for those seeking an edge in their next campaign.

[apothecaryassistant]

Still working on Ill Winds. Mostly making it more lethal with an attempt to direct it more towards cooperation. Calling the newest iterations "Alaska Edition," as I'm trying the encapsulate that old story 'To Build a Fire,' if you remember that one.

Also working on renaming it Trade Winds or something, because Ill Winds sounds like a fart. Then again, maybe that'd just make Ill Winds the more memorable title...

[homebrewandhacking]

Worlds To-Go: The Elysians Kickstarter Pre-Launch

Worlds To-Go the Elysians. Get a lil micro setting that you can seamlessly insert into your games, or just grab the bits you want, as it's all modular and run! If you'd also rather be playing than prepping, this is for you! #a5e #LevelUpA5e #DnD

I’m delighted to announce the pre-launch for Worlds To-Go: The Elysians. Click through and sign up! So, as you know I love making Narrator’s lives easier. I wrote two books to let you customise your own stuff completely, but I was trying to get a game going using Level Up and I thought it unnecessarily hard. So my concept is to have a “microsetting” which is like a part of the world, rather than…

[penanddie]

Do you have go-to methods for story or character progression? Journal much? I’ve been exploring how solo games can feel deeper + wrote it up here: https://open.substack.com/pub/penanddie/p/story-and-character-development-in?utm_source=app-post-stats-page&r=wmq2i&utm_medium=ios

#SoloRPG #TTRPG #JournalingGames #IndieRPG #Storytelling #RPGDesign

[legionofmyth]

Traveller 2E: World & Universe Building

🚀 Ready to master the universe? Dive into our latest video where we explore the endless possibilities of world building and sector development in Traveller 2nd Edition by Mongoose Publishing. From crafting detailed star systems to designing intriguing planets, this guide is your first step towards creating unforgettable adventures. Don't miss out on becoming the ultimate space architect. #TravellerRPG #WorldBuilding #SpaceExploration #TabletopGaming #RPGDesign

Traveller Starter Set Traveller 2E Core Rulebook (2022 Update) Embark on an unparalleled journey through the cosmos with our latest deep dive into world building and sector development in Traveller 2nd Edition by Mongoose Publishing. In this video, we’ll guide you through the intricate process of crafting your own universes, ensuring every star system and planet holds a story waiting to be…

[sk3tchisworld]

Finding the Light

So far, I have enjoyed my time making Sleeping Willow, including the parts people say they hate the most. In this instance, I mean trimming the fat or for me, finding the spark of inspiration that started it all. I don't have enough time to embellish the details in this game. I have to be concise. Which did something wonderful.

It helped me focus on what I really wanted to experience.

I've spent enough time on r/RPGDesign and r/Solo_Roleplaying to see how people want so much and are trying to cram it all end and inevitably get tied up in their own ideas. So many stats, resources, and minuscule rules for uncommon or rare scenarios. But I do empathize with where it all stems from.

The Broken GM.

Like the forever GM, the broken GM has seen it all, but it snapped something in us. We've seen the strangest ideas that only humans can invent and make work. Well, they worked because there was no rule or reason it shouldn't work. While we knew the rule of cool, we were watching this one idea unravel our plans like a frayed tapestry in the hands of a toddler.

A harmless roadside encounter leads them to rescue and awaken a bunny. Now they must find the fabled Beast Folk village hidden in the fae wilds so it can be with more of its own kind. They'll never meet the Eldritch Dragon Lord at this rate! You lash out with riotous rebels, toppled towns, and doomed damsels all to urge them back to your story. They double down. This world is too unsafe for Bunster, their Bunny Knight, and they must ferry him to his people as soon as possible.

this totally didn't happen to me.

So, with our own games, we're fighting that one player, the slew of misadventures the party went on that threw off your entire scripted campaign. We're making the rule that keeps them on the tracks. Making the consequences for not following our story.

But.

We're also giving them the options we all sat around and brainstormed, homebrewed, and ultimately used to decimate the balance. The challenge went out of the window.

We're making the adventures that our favorite games just couldn't accommodate. Building our own castles in the sky and empires under the sea. We forget where we started and only see the next destination.

But when does it become too much? When do we look back at all we've made and say, "Oh wow. What was I even going for?"

That's trimming the fat. That 'Oh' moment. Not the AHAs. We have a thousand lightbulbs along the way, some even crossing old paths and making some ideas seem so much brighter, and more important. It's the 'Oh' when you can't find the way back to where it all began.

It's when you start turning off the black lights, LEDs, neons, and spotlights that you see the faded blinking one. Still there.

That is today for me. Trimming the fat. Turning off the bright flashing neon lights. Getting back to the spark.

[rpdeshaies]

Testing phase has begun...! #ttrpg #rpg #indiegame #rpgdesign #rpgdesigner #layout #design #ttrpgs https://www.instagram.com/p/Clq13Otu-2k/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[triptychgames]

The Big Four

I thought I'd kick of this inaugural blog post by talking about a design philosophy that I discovered (Adam Koebel is where first I learned about it) and am currently using to help shape what Fortunes & Frontiers will become.

The theory behind The Big Three Questions is something that was developed as a method for examining what the core elements of your game are while acting as a guide for keeping your designs inline with those elements throughout development. From what I have read, the concept was first talked about by Jared Sorenson and Luke Crane during design seminars they held at conventions. John Wick also appended an additional question to the mix that we will look at later. Asking yourself these questions can help you to look beyond any setting or mechanical noise to discover what your game is really about.

Today I am going to attempt to answer these questions about the game I am working on with hope that it can illustrate what I am trying to accomplish with the game and maybe even act as a tool to help you with your own designs. I will try to answer each of these questions as concisely as I can and then follow that up with a brief overview of what the question means and a few examples. The way I am presenting this is merely my interpretation of the idea and you can obviously retool this for your own needs.

Question 1 - What is your game about?

It is about feeling hopeless and desperate in a world that wants to break you and having enough courage and determination to do something about it.

Take note that nothing in that statement gives any indication of what setting the game takes place in or any of the mechanics or systems of the game. It merely sets up the notion that you are portraying a character who is fed up with the way things are and is ready to do whatever needs to be done to change it. Many people would initially think that a game is about its setting but what we are really seeking to understand is the idea or concept behind the game.

So, if we were having a discussion about Dungeons & Dragons and I were to ask you, "What is that game about?", you would probably scoff at me and explain that D&D is a game about brave adventurers in a fantasy world full of dragons and magic. Now, if we were talking about the setting, then you would be correct, but the question isn't asking about the setting or the characters...it asks what it is about. If you were to really pick it apart, D&D is about killing monsters, stealing their treasure, and becoming more powerful so that you can proceed to kill even bigger monsters and loot even more treasure.

Here are some more examples:

The Burning Wheel — It is about dynamic characters who are driven by their beliefs, instincts, and traits.

Blades in the Dark — It is about a group of scoundrels trying to build a criminal enterprise.

Question 2 - How does the game accomplish this?

The characters constantly face new threats and must push themselves to their limits and be willing to pay whatever cost necessary to overcome them.

We aren't necessarily looking for mechanics at this point. We are simply trying to understand how the game will allow the players to feel as if the answer to the first question is legit. Let's try to break this down even further—if the world that the characters are living in wants to break them, how do we simulate that? By always providing new or persistent threats and obstacles for them to overcome. They are always being tested and this can lead to feelings of hopelessness and desperation and forces them to push their limits and pay whatever cost needed to succeed.

Falling back on our Dungeons & Dragons example, you might say that the game accomplishes its core concept because the characters are given weapons and abilities that allow them to kill monsters and take their loot.

Once again, the two examples from the previous question:

The Burning Wheel — The Game Master is encouraged to create problems and challenges that test the beliefs and instincts of the characters which then fosters significant changes in their motivations.

Blades in the Dark — Players seek out opportunities that force them to take risks and put their characters into danger. Everything the characters do has consequences and shifts the balance of power in the city.

Question 3 - How does the game encourage or reward this behavior?

Players are rewarded for making desperate choices, overcoming obstacles with their specific abilities, acting on their beliefs, desires, or heritage, or when stress or trauma causes them to struggle.

The players are encouraged to push their characters to their limits to achieve their goals. These characters are desperate and should be willing to do whatever it takes to survive. They are hopeless and using their abilities to overcome struggles should be a beacon of hope—an indication that they can make a difference. Sometimes the choices characters make in desperation bring about more stress or harm. Players should be rewarded for their willingness to take action knowing there will likely be consequences.

This question seeks to understand why the players should care about the first two questions. Why should I care about my character feeling hopeless and desperate? Because you are rewarded for taking desperate action despite feeling like there is no hope.

Looking back to our Dungeons & Dragons example, we see that the players care about killing monsters and looting treasure because they are rewarded with better gear and more powerful abilities for doing so. If killing monsters didn't make the characters more powerful then why bother fighting them at all? This was especially true in old school D&D. Players earned way more XP for the treasure they looted than they did for killing things. This reward structure encouraged players to try and avoid fighting monsters because it was more profitable to avoid them and focus on looting.

The answers to the third question for our two examples:

The Burning Wheel — Players are rewarded for acting in accordance with or in opposition to their beliefs, instincts, and traits.

Blades in the Dark — Players are rewarded for making desperate choices, overcoming obstacles with their specific abilities, expressing their core values, or when vices or trauma causes them to struggle.

Notice how similar the answer for my game reflects the answers from these two examples?

Question Four - How can I make this fun for the players?

Even though the game is difficult by design, the players should always feel like they are in control of their character's destiny. In order to achieve this, players ALWAYS get to decide AND describe how they succeed AND how they fail and they should ALWAYS have the opportunity to resist the consequences of a failed roll.

Fortunes & Frontiers is a Forged in the Dark game. As such, it employs fictional positioning and the effect of an action is determined by how well you rolled against the determined position. If you fail or succeed with consequences, the GM will offer a number of different options based on the results of the action roll. You get to decide which option happens and you also have the opportunity to describe what happens to your character as a result. The Game Master never gets to force actions and consequences on the players' characters. Their job is to help with the narrative and provide opportunities for the characters to propel the story forward.

The inspiration for this occurred while watching John Wick talk about his game, Houses of the Blooded, in which he detailed how much he wanted to avoid what he called 'the whiff factor'. I don't recall the exact details of how he mechanized this concept, but it essentially boils down to giving players control over what happens to their character even when they fail. You set your character up for this big, pivotal moment and then the dice cause the whole experience to come crashing down because the roll failed. Using the above idea we can mitigate that feeling by allowing the player to decide and describe what happens even if their character failed in their actions.

In summary, Fortunes & Frontiers is a game about feeling hopeless and desperate in a world that wants to break you and having enough courage and determination to do something about it. The characters constantly face new threats and must push themselves to their limits and be willing to pay whatever cost necessary to overcome them. Players are rewarded for making desperate choices, overcoming obstacles with their specific abilities, acting on their beliefs, desires, or heritage, or when stress or trauma causes them to struggle. Even though the game is difficult by design, the players should always feel like they are in control of their character's destiny and they always get to decide and describe how they succeed and how they fail and always have the opportunity to resist the consequences of any roll.

I hope this was informative and gives you an idea of what the design goals are for this game. Please feel free to hit me up on Twitter if you have any questions or ideas that you'd like to share!

[badgerlordstudios]

I have been working on my OZ tabletop game rules and been doing up some of the race illustrations. This is for the Screcrow (construct) race. It is actually a redrawing of the original one I did many many years ago when I first made the game. I kept it pretty close to the original. The game is based off the books and is more of a sword and sorcery game, with steam tech elements. #wizardofoz #oz #marvelouslandofoz #returntooz #tabletop #tabletopgames #rpg #rpggames #tabletoprpg #rpgdesign #fantasyart #fantasy #scarecrow #pumpkin #pumpkinhead #art #illustration #gameart #artistsoninstagram #artistoninstagram #artistsofinstagram #instaart #instaartist #instaartwork #dnd #dungeonsanddragons #roleplayinggames #badgerlordstudios #newgame https://www.instagram.com/p/CAv0m0Jhyo1/?igshid=qhrcv8l5x8ye

[kelseycadaver]

Character design! #art #artistsoninstagram #sketch #sketchbook #characterdesign #rpgdesign #gamedesign #wip #workinprocess #illustration #charactersketch #drawing

[apothecaryassistant]

[escapeboxgames]

Hello #PavlovCorp Employees! Project Manager Palmer would like to remind everyone that their portions of the Top Secret Ogopogo project are due by midnight tonight! We look forward to seeing how they all come together later this week. #rpg #ttrpg #SuitedRPG #corporatelife #corporaterpg #tabletoprpg #tabletop #rpgdesign https://www.instagram.com/p/CM3qVs5B6cH/?igshid=ojp8iarrth65

[professortallguy]

4th Edition would still be popular today if only it had been branded “D&D Tactics”

To be sure, much of the hate on 4th edition today comes from people who have never even played it (Or never gave it a chance). When it came out, I believe that the huge and sudden shift in the ruleset is what made 4th edition unpopular and not anything in particular that was wrong with the system. I’ve been playing D&D since 1995, and I learned as a player and as a DM with AD&D(2nd edition). And one of the things I liked so much about D&D NEXT (the beta that became 5e) was how much it reminded me of the classic game I learned as a teen. But as I played more of 5th edition I burned out very quickly, because I found it boring as a player, and Tedious as a Dungeon Master. 

I miss how easy it was in 4th to prep for a pre-written adventure. In 5th, I feel like I may as well just write it all myself. I loved how monsters have dynamic combat choices too, not just move and attack. 4th Edition made so many great design choices, and recently I’ve seen other people starting to realize that.

But it’s NOT very much like D&D. 4th fixed the worst parts of D&D, but people hated it because those parts are iconic to D&D:-

Rules Lawyering- 

Min/maxing and unbalanced synergies- 

dull classes with few meaningful choices- 

dull monsters with 0 meaningful choices- 

Unrealistic skill checks

Unfair deaths

These problems were rampant in 3.5, and DMs like me were tired of it, and Wizards responded by fixing those problems with some very bold Design choices. The result was great, but didn’t feel very much like D&D. So I think the real issue was ultimately just about branding.  Wizards wanted to create a new product line and wanted it to drive the sales of miniatures to both players and dungeon masters, sold via booster packs similar to Magic, and they wanted to retain full rights to the system, instead of racing every other publisher to create new books and new settings. But what they should have done is make it a completely separate line. If that’s what they had done, we still could have gotten 5th edition in the early 2010s then today in 2020, we could be getting D&D Tactics 2nd edition, and they’d have an entire new revenue stream coming in.  (Wizards please hire me for Product Development. I’m still available)

[kirenshi]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by 🪐Space Prince Ren🌌 (@kirenshi)

Starting off the YOI upcoming spam with a cute lil #boomerang in #snowapp #anime #manga #cosplayer #cosplay #yurionice #YoI #yurionicecosplay #yoicosplay #yurikatsuki #katsukiyuri #yurikatsukicosplay #katsukiyuricosplay #rpgyuri #rpgyurionice #rpg #rpgdesign #rpgyuridesign #ice #skate #snow #gay #yaoi #icegays #icegayscosplay #lol #akumakon #akumakon2018

[thear-writes-blog]

Finally posted these four #dndhomebrew classes to my ko-fi! coming to reddit soon!


[chrisdillustration]

#gamesprite #design using interchangeable and #customizable #vector elements. #sprites #sprite #gamedesign #rpg #gaming #photoshop #adobephotoshop #sketch #characterdesign #anime #manga #animation #2dgames #drawing #rpgart #rpgdesign #chibi #kawaii