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lyonna-r-knight · 20 days ago

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Exploration in Lost World

I'm fucking back~! Where did I go? What was I doing? Well, the short answer is I got stuck on this part. I wanted more that just "roll and use bets to find stuff" and I did technically do that. Took me months to figure this out, and it seems at least reasonably functional while making scouting focused players important for a team!

Exploration

Whether or not you plan to make your players track food and weather for travel purposes, whenever venturing into the unknown you are Exploring. While exploring, players roll against the [DANGER] rating of an area to try and find what they’re looking for over finding an obstacle.

Things players are looking for should normally be broken up into sections they have to explore in order to progress.

These ideas will be explained below.

[DANGER]

When traveling in different areas there are different names for [DANGER] based on where you are exploring which slightly change the challenges you are likely to face. [DANGER] ratings are represented by a number between 1 and 3 which represent the number of bets necessary to find what’s necessary to move on to the next exploration section.

[WILDERNESS] represents exploration in nature, be it roads between settlements, overgrown forests, open plains, or stunning mesas.

A rating of 1 means there are signs of civilization where you are. You are either just outside a city or are along a road or similar path.

A rating of 2 means you are at the boundary of civilization and true wilderness. Cairns and other markers may occasionally point ways, but civilization is distant.

A rating of 3 is pure wilderness. This is where you forge your own path into untravelled depths filled with the most dangerous animals and monsters.

Threats in the wilderness consist of animals which get more dangerous from 1-3, plant effects such as hallucinations or poison which get more dangerous from 1-3,bandits which grow more dangerous from 1-2 and disappear at 3, terrain blockages which get more difficult from 1-3, and monsters which get more dangerous from 1-3.

[UNDERWORLD] represents exploration in civilization, be it back allies, hidden lairs, or fortified palaces. As long as you are in a town, nomad camp, or settlement this is the danger you use.

A rating of 1 means that you are exploring mostly public spaces that are out of the public eye such as dark taverns or back alleys.

A rating of 2 means that you are entering into unfortified private property such as abandoned houses, shady warehouses, or civilian private residences and backrooms.

A rating of 3 means fortified private property such as Noble Houses, Military Fortifications, and Secret Criminal Fortifications.

Threats in the underworld consist of tame animals which are static and only exist from 1-2, traps which get more dangerous from 2-3 and don’t exist at 1, basic criminals which get more dangerous from 1-2 and disappear at 3, criminal guards which get more dangerous from 1-3, and masterminds which appear only at 3.

[RUIN] represents dungeons and other lost areas of civilization, be they abandoned towns, overrun castles, or ancient bunkers. Ratings of Ruins are equal to the Wilderness rating they are found in.

Threats in ruins consist of animals which get more dangerous from 1-3, traps which get more dangerous from 1-3, bandits which get more dangerous from 1-3, monsters which get more dangerous from 1-3, plant effects which get more dangerous from 1-3, and collapse of terrain which gets more dangerous from 1-3.

[UNKNOWN] represents investigating Artifice Ruins such as crashed space ships, space ports, star empire fortresses, and tech vaults.

A rating of 1 means these Artifice Ruins are severely decayed and depleted, having been picked over many times before.

A rating of 2 means these Artifice Ruins have some decay, and have been accessed before but not thoroughly looted.

A rating of 3 means a near pristine Artifice Ruin you are the first to find and attempt to loot.

Threats in an Artifice Ruin include monsters which get stronger from 1-3, traps which get stronger from 1-3, mechanical defenders which get stronger from 1-3, warlords which exist only in tier 1, and archaic defenders which get stronger from 1-3

Sections

Sectioning exploration serves two purposes. First it makes players who take a scout role a moment to shine and take center stage! Secondly, it makes the time your players take to explore and the things they find matter. If you reduce finding the dungeon or artifact they players are looking for to a single roll you rob the Lost World of its danger and the players of the thrill of scraping by to obtain it.

So how should you divide up your exploration and how many sections should you have? Well, you should divide up each adventure by what I’ll call Zone of [DANGER]. If you players need to travel from [UNDERWORLD] 1 to [WILDERNESS] 1, to [RUIN] 1 that’s three different zones where you should have multiple sections of exploration. There isn’t any number I can give you for “guaranteed fun story” but my advice is that higher rated areas should have shorter sections unless they are a climax of the adventure (climax isn’t necessarily final). You should also heavily consider exit exploration section as getting back out of a dungeon can be as difficult as getting in sometimes. Final verdict: Put more exploration sections in Zones of [DANGER] where players have the most to gain in profit or story.

What to do When Explorers Fail

When someone fails to succeed on a roll to explore they suffer some kind of danger. A threat of an attack or outright attack, an obstacle either physical or social or other appropriate complication to the player’s journey. They then have to find a way past this problem before they can attempt the check to explore and find what they are looking for (a way to move forward or a specific item). Once they get past the problem, they roll again and hope to succeed.

The Rank of the [DANGER] the players are exploring in should affect how dangerous the problem is. Higher ranked [DANGER] means more dangerous and difficult problems or multiple lower level problems.

The final thing you should do is mark how much time getting past the problem took. That’s important for things like supplies and resting. If players feel they cannot pass a problem or want to run away from danger they are free to move back to familiar territory and pick a new path.

Rewarding Explorer Successes

When players succeed on an exploration roll, even if they bid nothing they should get more than just progress. There should be some kind of boon along with progress to lighten their journey. Unlike problems, the level of benefit for simply succeeding a roll gets worse the higher the [DANGER]. If they want the good stuff, they can use the Discover Secret Maneuver to find better benefits. Higher risk, better reward and all that.

What Skills Should Explorers Use?

When actively traveling and not attempting to beat a time limit or overcome a problem caused by a failure the lead explorer should roll Search or Survival depending on what kind of [DANGER] they are in. [WILDERNESS] exploration uses Survival most of the time, [RUIN] or [UNKNOWN] frequently use Search, and [UNDERWORLD] uses a mix of Search and Stealth depending on if they are allowed in an area. Athletics is used whenever players have to explore fast, racing to beat a time limit.

Example of Exploration Play

Mortaghh is the group scout and wants to take a shortcut to a large trade settlement through a [WILDERNESS] 3 area. The Ref says that this exploration has 2 separate sections to get through. Mortaghh is ready to give this a good shot.

For the first roll, Mortaghh is confident that he will succeed and bets 4 dice to activate the Discover Secret Maneuver as well as pass the Exploration Roll. He rolls Survival which he has 5 in and fails. Mortaghh’s group is beset by a creature known as Devil Shrike. This dangerous fight drains the health and energy of the team, and then Mortaghh gets to roll again.

This second time Mortaghh decides to play it safe and roll with only 3 bets so that he’s more likely to succeed. He rolls Survival with 2 dice and succeeds! Luckily, the group finds the pack of another explorer now long dead, which happens to have some healing herbs and bandages to help the team recover.

On the third and final roll Mortaghh makes, he feels that he has proven his might to the gods with his trials and rolls Survival with 4 bets again. Succeeding this time, Mortaghh gets to use the Discover Secret Maneuver and choose a second reward for passing the exploration role! The Ref gives the team a safe camping spot to rest and Mortaghh chooses to find the entrance to a safer path back for when the group makes the return trip.

#ttrpg dev #ttrpg #indie ttrpg #ttrpg design #lost world

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lyonna-r-knight · 3 months ago

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Social Actions in Lost World

This section of the book I just finished WASN'T EVEN IN THE FIRST MECHANICAL DRAFT. I thought I had my core mechanical framework done! Then I started writing Maneuvers because you gotta fill in those so people can do things in the game and I realized suddenly that I lacked the framework to actually make these feel as consistent and focused as I wanted. So I spend the rest of that morning writing the core mechanics out and then proceeded to write a bunch of examples which I only finished up today.

Here is the section in full. It's long. I hope you like Tomag and Marda, they compliment each other in ones consistency of personality and the others lack of consistency.

Social

Social actions and combat are a bit different than regular combat and are designed to give weight to social interactions and characters’ beliefs and feelings.

Social Actions

Social actions are likely to be one of the greater sources of Normal Rolls in the game. If you are not speaking against a belief someone has, or vying to be the one listened to when many people offer their perspective, Social Actions only need a Normal Roll.

By themselves, Social Actions only happen briefly. If you try and convince someone with a strong Belief to let you do something against that Belief or Emotion with a Persuasion roll, then they’ll let you but nothing else will change about their Beliefs or Emotions without Maneuvers to change those beliefs. That said, significant events can and should change people’s Beliefs or Emotions without rolls, but a player has no input over how an NPC is swayed without Maneuvers to change them themselves.

Beliefs

Beliefs are something that is listed on a character’s sheet with a strength rated from 1 to 5. Beliefs are never about people, but are typically abstract ideals a character holds. These can be things like “Loyalty is the most important thing 3” or “Only the strong and clever survive 5”.

The rating of a Belief acts as its dice pool for social rolls to alter it. These pools are unique in that they cannot spend dice for bets, as they are a passive thing rather than an action a character is taking. These ratings can be brought down or raised with the Instill Belief Maneuver, by a maximum of 1 rank per Social Action. Beliefs at rank 5 can be used to stop people from being persuaded or having contradictory Beliefs instilled, as they go against the core of a character’s worldview. These ratings only come into play when someone is saying something against a Belief.

Emotions

Emotions are things people have towards other people or organizations, mechanically speaking. If someone has an opinion on a philosophy or concept, it’s a Belief (above). Emotions are also rated from 1 to 5 and are written as such: “My wife (Love) 5” or (The Royal Guard (Hate) 3”.

Just like Beliefs, the rating on an emotion acts as a dice pool for the Emotion opposing Social Actions that would change them. These pools also may not spend dice for Bets as they are passive. These ratings may also only be brought down or raised 1 rank at a time per Social Action and use the “Inspire Emotion” Maneuver to do so. Emotions at rank 5 can be used to stop people from being persuaded, but does not stop contradictory Emotions from being inspired. These ratings only come into play when someone is saying something against an Emotion.

When Emotions and Beliefs Interact

Sometimes Emotions and Beliefs will either align or contradict. When this happens what do we do? If the Beliefs (or Belief and Emotion, or Emotions) align then you give them a 1 die bonus to rolls per aligning Belief or Emotion relevant to the situation.

When they contradict, you instead subtract the lower ranked of the two Beliefs and use the new value as the dice pool to resist Social Actions. If more than 2 Beliefs and Emotions contradict, you choose the two highest for this particular situation and turn all relevant Emotions and Beliefs to the new value. Supporting Beliefs and Emotions in this already messy situation should give the regular positive bonus to the effective ranks of the Beliefs and Emotions. Character’s shouldn’t get bad enough to have multiple supporting Beliefs and Emotions on both sides of a conflict like this, but it may happen.

Leveraging Beliefs and Emotions

When a player is taking a social action that aligns with someone’s Beliefs or Emotions a player should get a dice bonus of half the belief rounded down. Additional supporting Beliefs or Emotions should give the regular +1 die per extra supporting Belief/Emotion, and contradicting Beliefs/Emotions alter the supporting Belief/Emotion the same way as regular contradicting Beliefs/Emotions for the purpose of calculating the dice bonus granted by a taking action that aligns with a Belief/Emotion.

If a Belief or Emotion at 5 is contradicted and reduced below 5 then it can no longer be used to resist contradicting Beliefs or to automatically reject opposing persuasions.

Examples

Basic Social Action

Tomag wants to convince Marda to give him some of her fruit. Marda does not have any Beliefs or Emotions related to this so Tomag just makes a Normal Roll using Persuasion to convince Marda to hand him some fruit. This only accomplishes the immediate goal and has no lasting effect on Marda beyond her having less fruit.

Basic Social Action with Maneuver

Tomag again wants Marda to give him some of her fruit. Marda again does not have any Beliefs or Emotions related to this, but Tomag wants to make it easier to get Marda to give him fruit in the future. Tomag can use this opportunity to use the Instill Belief Maneuver to instill the belief, “We survive better together” in her to make sharing food easier in the future. By spending the bet and rolling a success Tomag instills the Belief “We survive better together 1” in Marda.

Basic Social Action with Supporting Belief/Emotion

Tomag is still getting his daily fruit allotment from Marda sharing with him, and has taken the time to raise the Belief “We survive better together” from 1 to 4. When he attempts a Normal Persuade Roll on Marda to get her to share her fruit with him, he now rolls with 2 extra dice, raising his pool from 5 to 7.

If Tomag had instead inspired emotions, such as “Tomag (Love) 4” or “Tomag (Pity) 4” it would work the same way as above.

Basic Social Action with Contesting Belief/Emotion

Tomag once again approaches Marda to get her to share some fruit, but unbeknownst to him, something has changed her Belief from “We survive better together 4” to “I am better off surviving on my own 3”. Now, when Tomag rolls his dice, he makes a contested roll against the Belief. Marda rolls 3 dice and Tomag rolls his regular 5 dice pool in a Contested Roll.

If it was Marda’s Emotion of “Tomag (Love) 4” that instead became “Tomag (Mistrust) 3” it would work the same as above.

Basic Social Action against a max rank Opposing Belief/Emotion

Tomag is still getting fruit from Marda, but Marda has finally had enough of Tomag bumming fruit off of her. Marda now has the Belief “I must not share with anyone 5”. Tomag may try to convince her all he wants, but she may simply ignore him since her belief of not sharing is now maxed out. Tomag will have to take the time to lower the Belief and then try convincing her. It may take a long time or a protracted argument to bring her around again.

Similarly with Emotions, if Marda has “Tomag (Hate) 5” and he asks her for something, she’ll tell him no and no honeyed words or silver tongue will help him convince her. He’ll have to lower that emotion and maybe even change it.

Basic Social Action with Opposing Interacting Beliefs/Emotions

Tomag once again goes to Marda for fruit, hoping to gain some. Marda still has the Belief “I must not share my fruit with anyone 5”, but now has the conflicting Emotion of “Love Tomag 3” as well. This Belief and Emotion interact by opposing each other. While “I must not share my fruit with anyone” is at 5, it is reduced by “Love Tomag” which is at 3. You subtract the smaller Belief or Emotion from the larger one to get the new rating of 2, meaning that Marda cannot reject the persuasion as going against her Belief, and only has a dice pool of 2 dice to resist the persuasion.

These things work the same with Belief and Belief or Emotion and Emotion pairings as well!

Basic Social Action with Supporting Interacting Beliefs/Emotions

Tomag has gone to Marda for yet more fruit. What is he planning with all this fruit? Doesn’t matter. Marda now has the relevant Belief of “I must help Tomag at all costs 5” and the Emotion of “Love (Tomag) 5”. In this instance, the result is that Tomag counts one of the two of these as a Belief/Emotion of 6 for the purpose of counting his dice bonus, meaning he gets 3 whole extra dice. He’s going to have a pool of 8 dice to convince her with a Normal Roll since there are no opposing beliefs.

Again, Emotion and Emotion or Belief and Belief interactions work the same.

Basic Social Action with Multiple Interacting Beliefs/Emotions That Both Support and Contradict Each Other

Tomag needs more fruit from Marda. This might be learned helplessness at this point. Marda has 4 relevant Emotions and Beliefs. First is “Love (Tomag) 5”, second is “I should not help others survive 4”, the third is “Distrust (Tomag) 2”, and last is “The weak should perish 1”. With these various interacting Beliefs and Emotions we are going to have to do some math.

“I should not help others survive 4” and “Love (Tomag) 5” are the two highest, so they will be out competitors in the arena of modification. “I should not help others survive 4” is supported by “Distrust (Tomag) 2” in this instance not because they are related but because “Distrust (Tomag)” goes against “Love (Tomag)”. Meanwhile, “The weak should perish” supports “I should not help others survive” directly. We end with a total of “I should not help others survive 6” raised by two with two supporting Beliefs/Emotions and “Love (Tomag) 5” supported by nothing. Subtracting 5 from 6 we wind up also subtracting 5 from all relevant Beliefs/Emotions for any related social actions.

The final totals are “I should not help others survive 1”, “Love (Tomag) 0”, “Distrust (Tomag) 0”, and “The weak should perish 0”. Note that there are no negative modifiers here, instead the other Belief and Emotions are just reduced to 0. Any social actions taken on those particular Beliefs/Emotions are now simply Normal Rolls while they are modified by this particular interaction. If the interactions change they go back to their original values. As you can see this kind of situation is very messy and hopefully players and npcs don’t have to put up with this level of mess in their Emotions and Beliefs. One final thing, should multiple relevant Emotions and Beliefs have the same level, such as three Emotions that support each other and are rated at 5, just pick your favorite to be the leader.

Basic Social Interaction with a Leveraged Belief/Emotion

Tomag seeks fruit from Marda, as is his way. Marda has the Belief of “I should help others survive 4” this time. As usual, Tomag gains 2 bonus dice to his dice pool giving him 4. Since there are no opposing Beliefs/Emotions, this should be a Normal Roll, but Tomag wants to raise that Belief to its final rank. This means that the roll is contested, and Tomag spends dice on bets before his roll to use the Maneuver “Inspire Belief” which he must declare before his roll. This is because he must roll against the dice pool of “I should help others survive 4” to raise the Belief to 5.

The end result of this results in a strange situation, where the roll to persuade Marda is a normal roll, but successes are counted ONLY for the purpose of modifying the Belief. As long as Tomag gets 1 success he gets the fruit from Marda, but he can get the fruit and not raise her Belief because he did not get enough successes to beat her beliefs roll.

With the end of these examples comes the end of the saga of Tomag, Marda, and Marda’s many fruits.

Now I'm off to rewrite some Maneuvers that had their functions changed because of this section.

#ttrpg dev #ttrpg #ttrpg design #indie ttrpg #lost world

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lyonna-r-knight · 3 months ago

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Betting takes place before someone rolls, because it directly affects the dice pool you have to roll. If a player has 5 dice normally, and then bets away 3 dice, they'd only have 2 dice to roll. Its called a "bet" because you are gambling away your odds of success in exchange for the opportunity to do something, namely Maneuvers but other designers may put in other things, beyond what your roll might normally do.

Changing the word to spend probably wouldn't change much, but I prefer the word "bet" based on how contested rolls in this system are designed to work. A pair of characters both "bet" away dice from their pool and therefore chance to succeed in order to do more than the default of their roll, but Contested Rolls specifically only care about successes, so by betting you make it less likely that you will win. That said, they way I intend to use the engine myself means that sometimes it may be desired or necessary to use bets to accomplish something in a contested roll. Players who prefer to play it safe may still win Bets to spend on Maneuvers by having more successes in a contested roll.

Also, now that I think about it Bet is better because it is able to be used as a unit of measurement and is shorter than writing "spent dice". Bets also typically have to be declared before you do something in real life, like horse racing. You don't get to put money down after you see what horse wins, what the dice roll, what the cards are, or what number the ball lands on.

That said, I'll take a look at the SRD and see if I can make the language more clear. And if you want to change the thing to be spent extra successes or bet after you roll that's your choice. I can't stop you. TLDR: You bet dice before you roll, you lose a bet by rolling fewer successes in a contested roll or scoring no successes on other rolls, the bet is the number of dice you've sacrificed from your dice pool before rolling.

I've been sick the past few days, it's sucked in a lot of ways and was probably one of the most intense experiences of suffering I've ever had for a minor problem. Recently though I've gotten some meds that make me feel much better! Not good enough to work, but good enough to sit and write this out! I present to you Attack Dice Engine SRD 2e or Alternate if you prefer that title. Does it invalidate the original? No! Is it compatible with the original? Kinda. Does it do anything you couldn't in the original? Not really! This is an alternate core dice system, a retooled and kind of replaced Effects system, and a couple of new expanded systems along with thoughts on how you can tweak or work with these systems to help you make a game!

And best of all? Its free! Why not give it a read, or just download it and say you'll read it? I won't know the fucking difference. If you do make a game with this though, you should let me know about it! I'd like to hear how my engine is being used and tweaked!

#ttrpg #indie ttrpg #srd

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lyonna-r-knight · 4 months ago

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Setbacks in Lost World

I just got done writing up the Setback section in Lost World! Setbacks are a way to give mechanical weight and rewards to role play in Lost World. Here is the write up I did on them in the game!

Setbacks

Setbacks are a kind of mechanically rewarded role play that allow players to get experience for roleplaying their characters. The idea is that if you say a character is scared, but they don’t act like it, it’s kind of toothless. This way, when you say someone is scared, you give them a mechanical way and a reward to express that!

There are two types of Setback: Temporary and Constant. Temporary Setbacks have a fixed maximum time they can last and are designed to be easy to get rid of. Constant Setbacks are designed to be something long lasting that allows you to repeatedly suffer the effects of for experience. They can be removed with difficulty.

Example Temporary Setback:

God-Touched

You have been granted the power and orders of a god, and must execute them.

You gain 2 dice on actions that align with this god’s will, whether something directly told to you or their general tenets. You also suffer a 2 dice penalty on all acts that defy the god’s will.

Completion: Perform the task given, or if one was not given, uphold a major tenant of the god’s beliefs with your actions.

Possible Sources: Prayers for guidance, incurring godly wrath, certain enemies.

Duration: 1 week

Breaking Down the Example Temporary Setback

First up we have a name for the Setback, this can be modified to list a source. For instance in the example we could say: God-Touched (Lurella) so that you know what god touched you.

Second we have italicized context providing text. In this example it tells you a god has given you an order and you have to do what they say. It may say other things, but not mechanically oriented things.

Third we have a plain text mechanical explanation of what the Setback does. This example one grants you bonuses to actions that aid the god’s goals and penalties to ones that don’t. This means if you like the god it’s actually helping! If on the other hand an enemy hits you with this, or a god curses you with it then you are going to be taking the penalties until you do what they want.

Fourth we have the Completion Condition, this section tells you how to gain the experience and way to remove the Setback. In the example we see that the way to get rid of this and get experience is to do what the god told you, or generally uphold their principles with your actions. Bow your head or suffer the consequences, the god will even make you better at bowing. How kind.

Fifth we see the possible sources that such a Setback comes from. Not all Setbacks have very specific ones. Some just come from bets or failures on rolls. In the example we see that it comes from praying to a god for guidance, making a god mad, and some enemies may inflict it. This means if you want to obtain or avoid the Setback, it's good to know where it comes from.

Finally we have the Duration. Temporary Setbacks make sense when they are relevant. If you got spooked by a goblin 20 years ago when it jumped out at you and yelled, that probably isn’t still affecting you. So, the Duration limits how long you suffer any penalties and can gain experience from the Setback. In the example, after a week the Setback fades and you can no longer gain experience by performing the Completion Condition.

Example Constant Setback

Oathbound

You are bound by an oath you have sworn to act a certain way. Should you break this oath there will be grave consequences.

When attempting to compel you to action in the name of your oath others gain a 2 dice bonus to rolls.

Experience Condition: Put yourself in danger or otherwise suffer for the purpose of upholding your Oath.

End Condition: Break your oath, be freed from your oath, reach the end condition of your oath.

Possible Sources: Making promises, magical enforcement, joining organizations

Breaking Down the Example Constant Setback

Again, we start with the name, which can be modified for the purpose of what the Setback relates to. For instance, if you were to have 3 instances of this example Setback you might need to know to whom you’d sworn an oath and what the conditions were. This Setback is called Oathbound and you could put in parentheses (Mom) if you swore an oath to your mother.

Second there is the italicized text. It again tells you what the Setback is about, in this case an oath you have sworn to something or someone. It also tells you there will be negative consequences if you break it. It is advised to put any details about the condition here such as what the actual words and details of your oath are in this example.

Third we have the mechanical text, which may or may not be necessary. Some Setbacks don’t mechanically affect a character except for their completion or experience conditions. In this example, people calling on your oath to make you act gain bonus dice to those actions. It is still up to the player if ignoring these people is what they will do, but the people persuading you may have an easier time inflicting Maneuvers or Setbacks on you with those extra dice.

Fourth is something new and unique to Constant Setbacks, the Experience Condition. This is the way that a player can get Experience from their Constant Setback without completing it like Temporary Setbacks. In the example the player must go out of their way to suffer or be in danger for their oath. This could be getting into an avoidable fight, backing out of a romantic encounter because duty calls, or getting involved with people you don’t like to help your allies. The point for this Setback is that your oath makes life harder for your character because it restricts them.

Fifth we have a function that is similar to Duration in Temporary Setbacks, the End Condition. Constant Setbacks aren’t necessarily permanent, and can come to an end under certain circumstances. A physical dependence on a substance can be waited out, magic may heal significant wounds, and in the example’s case you may come to the end of or forsake your oath. When these conditions are met the Setback ends and the player receives 1 experience as if they had met the Experience Condition.

Finally we have the Possible Sources once again, giving players and referees a sense of when it makes sense to apply the setback. For instance, it doesn’t make much sense to apply Oathbound to someone who just left an organization! It does make sense to apply it to someone who swears an oath to join an order of knights though! The possible sources aren’t a complete list, but should cover most cases.

#ttrpg dev #ttrpg #indie ttrpg #ttrpg design #lost world

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lyonna-r-knight · 4 months ago

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Lost World Feats!

Wanna see an example of Lost World's Feats? Literally the example Feat? One you can't take and exists just to be a funny example? Of course you do.

Example Feat:

Has Blood (3 or 5)

Requirements: Oxygen Dependent 2, Vascular System, Athleticism +3

Your character has blood in their body that helps provide oxygen to muscles so that you can move.

Your character can breathe in oxygen atmospheres and use that to power most of their physical actions. You are immune to Oxygen as a poison and don’t need special equipment to breathe while in Oxygen. You also gain a bonus die to Athletics checks taken in Oxygen atmospheres. At Level 3 this ability does not help you regulate your temperature. At level 5 you can use your blood to regulate your temperature making you immune to Minor Heat and Minor Cold environmental effects.

Drawback: Blood is a useful bodily fluid but is necessary for you to survive. If you lose too much (about half) you will start to die and must make checks to stay awake even if the rest of your body is fine. If you lose 2/3rds you die immediately even if you have no other damage.

Breaking Down the Example Feat

Starting off we have a name, to identify the Feat. It’s called “Has Blood”. Next to that we see the levels of the Feat, it is available at levels 3 and 5. If a player wanted to buy this Feat they need to spend enough experience on it to get to level 3 at once. Then, if they want to upgrade it further they need to pay enough experience to get from level 3 to 5 to obtain the upgrade.

Next we have the Requirements section, that lists anything you need to have before you are eligible to buy any levels in the Feat. We can see that this Feat requires the Oxygen Dependent Feat at level 2, the Vascular System Feat at any level, and the Athleticism skill at +3. If a player lacks these requirements they cannot buy the Feat even if the have the Experience to do so

Third we have italicized example text. This text gives narrative context to how the Feat works. We can see that having this Feat means a character has blood flowing through their body allowing them to better use the oxygen they are dependent on.

Fourth we have the mechanical description of the Feat. This feat grants you many different benefits such as breathing in Oxygen, immunity to Oxygen poisoning, and a bonus die to Athletics skill checks of all kinds while in an Oxygen atmosphere! We then see that the levels grant some restrictions based on what level the Feat is at. Level 3 just grants you the base, but level 5 also grants you immunity to Minor Heat and Minor Cold environmental effects!

Finally we have a Drawback, not all Feats have them but some do. A drawback is a mechanical negative to the Feat to balance or bring narrative weaknesses a mechanical expression. For instance, now that you have this blood, you’re dependent on it to live! If you lose too much you now risk death where you might otherwise not have.

Imagine actually having to fucking take this. I probably can't design that game where i'm at now.

#ttrpg dev #ttrpg #indie ttrpg #ttrpg design #Lost World

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lyonna-r-knight · 4 months ago

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Lost World Posting Time

So, now that the new Attack Dice SRD is out it's time to actually talk about the game that the SRD was MADE FOR! And that game is Lost World.

Lost World is a not quite sci-fi not quite fantasy game I'm working on because the Warhammer RPGs and universe vex and fascinate me equally. After running some Dark Heresy 2e I kind of decided that the system wasn't for me, but really wanted to run a game set on a world in between Feral and Feudal. For those not in the know, Feral worlds are worlds settled by humanity that have regressed to about the Bronze Age at best and the Stone Age most commonly.

They occasionally have remnants of the advance tech that brought them to the planet, such as high tech mono-weapons, power weapons in warhammer, guns of both the powder and laz variety. Some even export things to the space empire that rules them, even if that's just bodies.

So they have tech but don't know how it works at all, so its basically magic to them. And that's kind of both funny and cool in setting. Grog the hunter has a magic sword that never dulls and that's just a regular officer sword to some captain in the army 2000 years ago. So Grog is sick shit in his tribe as a hunter but some flak armored soldier from a planet that only exists to grow corn can take a normal gun and shoot this skilled hunter and be declared a witch. And that sounds like a setting ripe for adventure and stories.

That said I don't want to touch Warhammer again. Just prefer other systems, and I don't want to put in the work to modify the system I had in mind for the game. For licensing reasons, and because I had another idea to make Lost World its own game. So instead of that I sat down, thought about what I wanted to do the game on, and started merging GrimBlade which I hack a lot and some aspects of Attack Dice 1e to wind up with Attack Dice 2e.

So now I'm writing Lost World a game about being the technologically regressed descendants of a once advanced space empire who live among the ruins of your ancestors glory and fight a hostile planet! Politics, Exploration, Big Monsters, "Magic", "Enchanted" Weapons! This game will have those things!

Why tell you this? Especially when we at Stranded Publishing almost exclusively stealth release our shit? Because I'm writing something funny and I want to share! So I'm getting the word out rather than talking about a release once and then going silent!

Welcome to Lost World, a Sci-Fi rpg masquerading as a Fantasy one.

#ttrpg dev #ttrpg #indie ttrpg #ttrpg design #Lost World

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lyonna-r-knight · 4 months ago

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#ttrpg dev #ttrpg #indie ttrpg #ttrpg community #ttrpg design #srd

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lyonna-r-knight · 4 months ago

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test 2

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lyonna-r-knight · 4 months ago

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Hello all, disregard this unless you like the time and game. Running a link test.

Night City 2045 - [LGBT+ Friendly] [Beginner Friendly] Pitch: In the wake of the 4th Corporate War there is something thought lost. A chance for freedom, a chance to live your own life. If you want that freedom, you have to take it for yourself from the ruins of the greatest city ever built. Night City, the city were dreams turn to reality.

In the time of the RED, Night City is on the mend. Large portions of the city are ruins owned by gangs. It's anyone's game as long as you have the team and the skills to take what you need. Push out the gangs, steal from the corps, and become the rich. So many established powers are vulnerable to a power grab.

Night City 2045 is a player driven Cyberpunk RED campaign where players will build a life for themselves in a half functional Night City. Players will be encouraged to make their own goals in a vibrant sandbox. The game will allow all official Cyberpunk content except for Elflines Online.

Price: 30$/Session When: Wednesdays at Style: Discord Voice and Foundry Sheets System: Cyberpunk RED Seats: 4/6 Link: https://startplaying.games/adventure/cm6hnv6qk004b134spdrz0al3

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lyonna-r-knight · 6 months ago

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Mysterious and Exciting Fauna

As diverse as the biomes of the world, the fauna represent many unique and exciting methods of survival within the world! This document seeks to examine some of the most interesting cases of these creatures. While all creatures here are considered fauna, they are not all naturally occurring. As such, readers are encouraged to not question the more fantastical elements of the animals described here.

In the jungles that cover most of the world hide many strange and magnificent creatures. None are so at home than the Corandar False Trees! These massive tree shaped animals stand straight and rigid as they sleep with their scales taking on the appearance of bark. They can sleep for years at a time, often doing so to slow the digestion of whatever prey they’ve eaten. When they move the False Trees go from rigid to a more snake-like movement. They hunt by luring large creatures to their base and then whip their tail down upon the victim to crack their skull open and kill them.

Occupying the same environment are the Leaping Lizards. Found in the jungles across the world these creatures kill more travelers than any other. With sharp claws that let them climb trees and light but durable bones these lizards are an ambush predator. Staying still in their lairs in tree tops the Leaping Lizard will wait for prey to wander beneath them. When this happens the lizard will jump down on top of their prey. Their prey is simultaneously ripped into with claws, bitten with venomous fangs, and hit by the power of a 140-230 kg lizard crashing into them from a great height. Their venom is a paralytic that often stops the heart of their victims. This tactic is not their only one though, as the lizards also have a horizontal leap of approximately 7 meters on the ground. With additional elevation they can jump 20 meters.

Moving on to less mundane biomes we have the Sand Skaters of the desert. Found near the Shattered Obelisk, these animals feed on mages and other sources of magic. Though they can eat meat, they prefer to consume crystals or those who have a high capacity to channel magic. They have special organs designed to convert this magic into organic matter that they digest. Sand Skaters can move at exceptional speeds that allow them to outpace even the fastest horses. The best way to handle them is to have the very food that attracts them to throw in the opposite direction of your travels, as they will always take the bait. Attempts to tame the creature never work. Some people speculate that they are intelligent animals.

Also living within the deserts of the world are Sand Rats. These creatures were once misclassified as a type of elemental entity, until one was killed. These rodents can use sand to take on any shape that they’ve seen, including its magical properties. The rat itself is only the size of a person’s hand, but they can manipulate sand to take on the size of an elephant. Their penchant for burying themselves in the sand and carnivorous nature make them often terrifying sudden problems. Many caravans have been traveling only to suddenly be chased by some monster they’ve never seen made out of sand. The fact that the rats can mimic creatures otherwise unseen by any people has raised worrying questions about where the rats find these shapes.

In the hottest locations of the world dwell the creatures most capable of harnessing its power. In volcanic badlands fly the Firebird, a creature that pushes the bounds of durability. Nesting on the edges of magma pools or the highest peaks of volcanoes, the Firebird needs magma to survive. They will dive into the magma pools to coat themselves and then fly out, appearing to be made of flames. They do this so that they can dive onto and burn their prey alive. The Firebird has sharp talons and a beak that can break the obsidian and volcanic rock that forms around their prey. They then carry off the precooked corpse to dine upon. The Firebird is one of the only wild animals that preferes cooked meat to raw. They also tend to hunt outside their weight class, as the magma will often disable or kill creatures larger than the birds themselves.

Another terrifying animal of the volcanic badlands are the Rock Throwers. A thick hided animal with a second mouth and stomach explicitly for cooling magma and hardening it into rocks. The second stomach leads to the bowl shaped tail which can throw the formed rocks. Despite being large and having the capacity to kill any creature their size with their rocks, these animals are quite peaceful. They roam in pods of 6-13 members, and only attack if something comes too close to them. They eat plants which grow in abundance outside the badlands, but with their greatest defense coming from the magma pools they travel back and forth between the two environments.

#world52 #worldbuilding #ttrpg #lore

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lyonna-r-knight · 6 months ago

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Nomadic Peoples

While the great Nation Cities are the only unmoving civilizations they are not the only civilizations in the world. Many millions of people thrive in the world while living a nomadic lifestyle. Outnumbering the populace of the Nation Cities by a narrow margin, nomads live fulfilling and happy lives.

Nomadic groups vary in size based on a number of factors. Some groups number in the hundreds of thousands while some are just a single wanderer. Factors that encourage this are the biome, wildlife, magical threats, and what people want. Some nomadic people hold a shared identity while breaking into smaller travel groups that rarely meet. The diversity of the nomads is incredibly high, especially since many people only join for a short time.

How nomads regard the Nation Cities depends on the city and nomads. Some cities trade with nomads or employ them for work needed outside the city. Others ban nomads from their site and have militaries dedicated to firing on any nomad they can see. Some Nomads and Nation Cities have never had contact with any iteration of the other, though this is rare.

From this point on we will discuss the various types of nomadic groups and give some notable examples of each type.

Seasonal Nomads are nomads who travel to different locations based on some environmental factor which changes at reliable times. It can be the actual seasons, animal activity, multi-year magical cycles, or changes in the landscape. These groups tend to have some kind of permanent structures they modify or maintain to inhabit in their chosen locations. They are also the easiest to locate due to their constant schedules.

The People Lost in Flux are one example who follow a multi-year schedule due to a magical storm that has a mobile safe pocket. The storm, called Flux by its residents, has several locations where its eye will come to rest for 4 year periods of time. Outside of these times the eye travels without rest, forcing The People Lost in Flux to follow its wanderings through dangerous warped landscapes. Tragically, the Eye never touches the wall of the storm so the People can never leave. They live their entire lives at the will of the storm, occasionally finding lost wanderers to join their ranks.

A near match for the predictability of seasonal nomads are the Merchant Nomads. Mostly sponsored by the Nation City of Culathin, though plenty exist outside of its sphere of control, Merchant Nomads are those who survive by hauling and trading goods. Some have regular routes they follow and others simply go where the trade takes them.

The Sea Tamers are an entirely nautical merchant nomad group. Their fleet travels in a large group hauling large amounts of cargo to various coastal locations. They only disembark when bringing cargo onto or off of their ships. When a delivery destination can’t be reached they will often call upon another merchant nomad group to handle the last part of the delivery. Due to the size of their fleet they do not take on small deliveries, unless one of their new captains needs to prove themselves.

Divided Nomads are made up of small groups who share a cultural identity of some form. They may stick to one territory or travel the entire world independently. Their shared identity may cause them to meet up at regular intervals or they may simply cross paths by chance. It heavily depends on what binds their identity together.

The Guild of Monster Specialists is a Divided Nomad group focused on the cataloguing and study of various monsters in the world. They gather knowledge to keep people safe and because they enjoy it. Teams range from as few as 1 person to as many as 20. Every 5 years, teams that can make it will gather at an underground fortress that remains abandoned the rest of the time with data, samples, and sometimes live specimens. The Guild of Monster Specialists then proceed to share their findings over the time they’ve been away. Due to the long distances they travel, some groups only show up every 10, 15, or even 35 years.

Solo Nomads are those who travel alone for one reason or another. Exiles, warriors, mages, hermits, and people who just prefer solitude all fit into this category. Such travelers are oftentimes only allowed to do so by some extraordinary skill they have. Surviving the world beyond city walls is difficult, and while it is true that smaller groups move faster there is undeniable safety in numbers.

The Sword Sage is one Solo Nomad who has, if records are to be believed, existed for a total of 1000 years. Such claims are often scoffed at, as such a lifespan is unheard of. Despite this a figure matching descriptions can be found in records spanning the last millennium in different parts of the world. The name comes from the fact that the individual carries a large number of swords, between 10 and 50, along with them. Often this individual gives no identifying name to themselves, and is referred to as the Sword Sage by witnesses afterwards. During their appearances they exclusively hunt some kind of large creature. Whether it is the same one every time is also debated.

Last are the Wandering Nomads. While such a name may seem redundant, this is to denote the fact that these nomads have no territory or specific destination. They travel to survive and do not settle down for very long in any one place. They may stick to one continent or travel the entire world. This group makes up the largest population of nomads in the world, with varying peoples and goals.

The Skimandi are a group of Wandering Nomads who have at one point been to every part of the world. They have a religion which calls them to travel and find god, which fuels their wanderings. The Skimandi stay together rather than separate so that if god is found they may all gain their reward. What reward is granted and any description of god is unfortunately not clearly outlined in the religion. Having gone everywhere over their existence they now travel to find what they missed. Some fear that a group may have broken off and accidentally found god before the others, damning the Skimandi to eternal wandering.

#world52 #ttrpg dev #ttrpg #lore #worldbuilding #i was late the last couple weeks #so i'm doing them now

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lyonna-r-knight · 6 months ago

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The Great Nation Cities

There is a particular quirk of civilizations across the world in their shape and structure which is universal. This quirk is the fact that all nations are themselves a giant city. These nation cities have no outlying farms or villages, no tributary settlements or colonies. Instead, each nation is a single, dense city which all have varying circumferences ranging from 60 km to 136 km.

The construction of these cities is a demonstration of expert logistical planning. The various neighborhoods of each city are circular areas constructed in a 5 mile radius around a centralized vertical farm complex which provides much of the food necessary for the diet of the residents. The unclaimed space between these circular neighborhoods are constructed into storage spaces, public parks, government offices, or quarries depending on what the area needs.

While farms provide the various necessary dietary needs of the citizenry not everyone likes a vegetarian lifestyle. Without room for livestock, meat is a rare and expensive delicacy mostly enjoyed by those wealthy enough to sponsor hunters or import salted meat. For the rest of the residents of a city they must find it from the creatures that live in the city alongside them. Rats, squirrels, pigeons, racoons, and other small scavengers are commonly hunted and consumed for their meat.

Water is a natural concern of these city nations for hydration, cleaning, and irrigation. While each city has a different central water feature they must build around, some common practices are observable. The main city water intake is heavily protected to ensure it is clean. Natural wells into underground water are also protected in a similar fashion so that they may provide drinking water. Irrigation channels are constructed to the many neighborhoods of the city from the water source, most easily done when a nation builds itself around a river, into artificial wells. These artificial wells provide water for crops, drinking, and sanitation. Sanitation is often carried out in publicly constructed buildings where the water is put into sewers which run to the outside of the city where the wastewater is dumped.

To aid in the density of the cities, most buildings are a minimum of 4 stories in height and contain a large variety of different purposes within the same building. Some are singular purpose structures, most commonly residences or government structures. One common building for each nation is some kind of fortress. Combining an aspect of government and military work castles serve as both defence and policing structures in one. Some buildings have multiple businesses or a mixture of businesses and residences in them. It’s not uncommon for storehouses to have living quarters for a family or two so that they can maintain the structure.

The external walls of the City Nations are often 5 meters thick and 15 meters in height. These walls keep out the wilderness which causes the formation of these giant nation states as well as any potential invasion force. The strong defenses are as potent as they are expensive and make significant expansion rare and costly. They also make invasion or war a waste of resources, causing war to become a form of game played between nobles where they skirmish with small, elite forces and gamble on the outcome.

Among the City Nations there are 5 which stand out for their historical impact on the world.

Behatin, the Golden Light is the largest exporter of precious metals and is constructed around a rich mountain range. The mines are dangerous and full of strange creatures which often try to invade the city.

Culathin of the Mirror Sea is one of the few City Nations to maintain a large trade network with other cities. Other nations may export goods, but they often do so through Culathin.

Makaad the Oasis is the largest and most renowned nation city near the Shattered Obelisk and makes great profit by producing goods needed for expeditions to the location. They also tax magecraft and charge mages an additional entry fee to enter their city.

Kaladar the Lamplighted Nation is the seat of authority for one of the largest religions in the world. Pilgrims come to pray in the city's shrines and temples while missions are sent out to convert the unbelieving. It is the only city which has only one religion, though most cities have a state sponsored religion.

Eght the Lost City is not famous for what it offers to the world, but for what it takes away. Once a city known for its crafts and riches, it is the only City Nation to be destroyed entirely. The source of the disaster is unknown but conspiracy theories and guesses run wild among historical scholars.

#ttrpg dev #world52 #lore

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lyonna-r-knight · 6 months ago

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The Shattered Obelisk of the Resurrected City of Kemtah'pen

Sitting in a recreation of one of the founding cities of the world is the oldest magical structure in the world. The Shattered Obelisk of Kemptah’pen is estimated to have originally stood at 150 meters, but now stands between 232 and 237 depending on the day of the week. The intact part of the Obelisk stands 20 meters high, the damaged bits extend to an additional 52.3 meters at which point the Obelisk’s structure becomes discontiguous. The remaining length of the Obelisk is floating chunks ranging from 10 meters in one direction to .5 meters in one direction. These chunks float in the sky and do not fall or wear from weather, mortal efforts, or time itself.

The Obelisk draws attention from historians, magical scholars, architects, archeologists, and rich individuals with nothing but time. The draw has been so great that the resurrected city of Kemtah’pen was formed to cater to these individuals. Studies on the Obelisk and culture of the city is an ongoing endeavor as it reveals little about itself. Expeditions of enthusiasts and their mercenaries turn up some magical lore or historical knowledge, but not much. The most noteworthy discovery was a way to create miniatures of the Obelisk that were shattered in a similar fashion and whose floating pieces were synced to its own. The item was popular for 46 years until its creator died without passing on the secret of how to make the item, and it became a closely guarded collectors item.

Whatever magic is involved with the Obelisk is still active not only inside of it but around it as well. Within a kilometer radius around the Obelisk is the source of the epithet “Resurrected City”. Here, ghostly shells cover ruins and reanimated or ghostly denizens walk the street. Travels into the Resurrected Quarter are risky, but not guaranteed to be full of danger. The undead residents are on some occasions both able and willing to communicate with intruders, but all are subject to seemingly random bouts of madness or violence. The cause of this is the second most studied thing next to the magic that caused the resurrection. Third most studied is the language, but this is an area of few inroads as the written language does not seem to match the spoken one, and those few resurrected who do speak with mortals are unwilling to teach.

Inside the Obelisk is an impossible sprawling maze of structure that is ill understood. It is considered larger on the inside than outside, but some expeditions claim that locations correspond correctly to vertical space too closely for there to be a difference of dimensions, floating included. While this strange interior vexes researchers it delights mercenaries and enthusiasts as they attempt to loot, traverse, and survive the many magical dangers within. Filled with creatures, traps, spells, and spirits alike, the interior of the Obelisk offers physical treasures, secrets of magic, unique alchemical reagents, and valuable knowledge.

The discovery of the Obelisk and the Resurrected City is a matter of some mystery. The Obelisk can be seen for some distance, but there are no signs of civilizations within physical sight of it. What civilizations exist just outside of its gaze simply regarded the area as untraversable and unlivable. Both Nomadic and Static groups agreed that there was simply nothing there.

The actual first recorded sighting of the Obelisk was by ill fated merchant Mitzellanar of Bashtasood, who famously could not read maps, tell his left from his right, or east from west. As a result, he ventured into the area with a caravan of entirely foreign origin. Being quite lost they wound up finding the Obelisk and heading to it so that it might serve as a landmark for their travels. When Mitzellanar reemerged into populated lands he had stories of a ruined city and mysterious shattered Obelisk.

No one believed him at first, and this is where another odd property of the Obelisk was discovered. People who had lived in the area for a certain number of generations, estimated to be between 22 and 36 based on unknown factors, could not see the Obelisk or the city. They may see the parts built by mortal hands just fine now, but to them the Resurrected Quarter and the Obelisk itself do not exist. They can stand inside its space and see or feel nothing, as those that lead them disappear from sight.

The final easily witnessed mystery of the Obelisk is that when going inside the ghostly buildings of the Resurrected Quarter, if one gazes out a window they see the area as it was when it stood, with the Obelisk glowing but unshattered. Despite pleas, bribes, threats, all manner of persuasions the denizens can offer no explanation. They do not even seem to understand the questions asked at them.

The one thing the resurrected do speak of is the resurrection of their city. They had resided in slumber until the 15th expedition to the Obelisk brought the mage Caliamorezd. Caliamorezd, being an expert in time magic and curious about the properties of the Obelisk, sought to divine its temporal properties. What he hoped to learn is unknown, perhaps the rates or correlations of the floating chunks, how old it was, or even simply if it could be used as a sundial. Whatever it was he sought to learn, instead when he gazed upon the Obelisk he was quickly disappeared. In his place a great clamour happened and the Resurrected Quarter appeared instead. What people had set up permanent residence in the area quickly investigated, and banned time magic of all kinds from the area.

#world52 #worldbuilding #lore

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