Thread 96433220

What are you working on right now?
Any issues? Lacking inspiration? Smashing your head against a creative wall? Or just having a hard time getting all these pages done?

>Resources for the aspiring developer
>https://anydice.com/ (A fantastic resource for checking probabilities)
>https://miro.com/ (A online whiteboard with tools to help organize yourself)
>https://www.notion.so/ (Similar to the above, but in a bit cleaner format for those who work in larger teams)
>https://rolz.org/ (Impromptu playtesting at its finest)
>https://www.youtube.com/user/georgephillies/playlists (Game Design Lectures)

I need to come up with a name for my LLC

Nice, I was looking for this thread. Its taken me a minute to make the updates from the feedback I got from the last thread.

https://wolffguy.itch.io/bannerfell

this is the most recent deck I made

>>96433220 (OP)
I'm struggling with adding a differentiation between armor piercing and damage on weapons in WEG d6. Mostly because I want it to be based on strength/physique but also have piercing attacks have low damage and high AP. The best way to implement it seems to be adding an AP roll vs armor but I'm loathe going from 2 (hit, damage) to 3 (hit, ap, damage) rolls on attack.

Maybe I can use MoS on the attack roll for that multiplied by weapon modifier.

Lurking

>>96438460
Nice looking cards anon, good job

d6 Pokemon Anon here. About to head to bed but I almost have Pokemon creation rules done. Then, I can get back to coming up with trainer classes.

>>96433220 (OP)
Been working on a whole new system for roughly 2 weeks. Having a ton of fun, more fun than Ive had with a project in a long time. Still havent finished the combat system though, and need to figure out how I scale up damage to larger enemies without having to rely on HP.

Still poking away at the rulebook

working against the clock to finish the rules and prototypes for the contest I want to enter
I should be able to have everything ready before the October 29
or at least I hope so

>>96433220 (OP)
Still just crunching away on my Xianxia TTRPG.

One more profession/crafting subclass and then I'm done with that. Then it's to GM advice and Appendix stuff.

>>96433220 (OP)
Array of champions anon. After numerous rewrites and full on deletion/restarts i finally have the direction down for my setting book. Cutting the original scope (lore encyclopedia that was a huge ass tome approaching 500k words) into a condensed setting primer of 20-30k words of stuff that is exclusively meant to be leveraged by the GM for their games. Should be done and released in a couple weeks alongside the latest update for the core rules, bestiary and GM books.

So much wasted time but im thinking of salvaging the old stuff by incorporating it into prewritten adventures and expanding the setting slowly through those.

>>96446790
I'm not a professional, but that looks real messy, not in a good way either. Especially the glossary, break it into columns for increased readability.

>>96447490
Cool, what's the contest? Best of luck btw

>>96449083
It does need some cleaning up. The biggest thing for me was getting all the rules down in a non boring plaintext format. Agree the glossary needs work

Anyone got material on game design? Books etc
My game has a simple concept, but I would like to be well informed before jumping into development in proper. Thanks.

>>96450218
There isn't many, most are descriptive rather than informative and all of them are bad. If you aren't worried about self-induced brain damage: "GNS by Ron Edwards" and "Robin D. Laws' Player Types and Laws of Good Gamemastering" are the conclusion of competing theories popular in the 90-00's that were thoroughly debunked by a study commissioned by WotC and the field never recovered.

>>96450218
Board Game Design Lab podcast, best part about it is the interviews with actual game makers

>>96450912
You shouldn't take anything said on that podcast seriously, a vast majority of his guests have made more money running kickstarter scams and selling courses on how to run said kickstarter scam than designing actual games.

>>96450218
There isn't any and you shouldn't follow any books on development. All you need to do is build up a sense for how games function:
Go run games in a multitude of systems. Then work on a concept, set goals for a system. Then throw together whatever you want in whatever order comes naturally, and try to do it in a short timespan so your attention doesn't wander.
Behold, you'll (probably) make garbage. But you'll have garbage you understand the design of, can iterate on, and eventually make into not-crap.

>>96451168
Okay but a lot of his interviews are with actual game designers. Don't go in to it with kickstarter scam mindset and you won't take that from the show

>>96449457
>https://ascensio.cat/concurs-ciutat-de-granollers/

>>96450218
>I would like to be well informed before jumping into development
Then you'll never start. There will always be something else to read or look up.
Read games and think about them. Also, importantly, play them. Design new scenarios and tweak the rules. Make homebrew content. Mash two games together.
Even learning programming requires more practise than reading, and that's highly technical and backed by a lot of well understood theory.

MY GAME IS GONNA MAKE IT!!

>>96455069
WE ALL GONNA MAKE IT!!

I've received permission from the Cork Museum (and not the museum from Cork, Ireland) to create a game about the traditional production of cork stoppers!

things are looking fine!

>>96455278
Well, that's certainly niche

>>96455756
I'll take that over nothing

>>96450582
>>96450912
>>96451337
>>96453361
Disappointing to hear there's no books generally considered worthwhile, I like to read up on topics.

>>96447490
>https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kqkjdXE4NC8eprDZKL-zJytUfRrosFgo/view?usp=sharing
it's finished! it's DONE!!
I'll not add anything else! no sir!!

now I must finish the last two decks, and it will be ready to send to the contest

>>96455278
>a game about the traditional production of cork stoppers!
I will now subscribe to your blog.

>>96457602
I'll keep you updated, as always
my current goal is to finish >>96457055
but once that's done, I'll be able to begin with that silly little project

I have some ideas already
like, I want it to be a deck-building game
players will begin with a small number of resources, which they will spend to buy new workers to add to their factory (deck)
each kind of worker will have different abilities, so players are encouraged to acquire different workers for their decks
also, the victory points should be cork stoppers, which I think is a cute idea

bump

Is it okay to use AI yet?

>>96455278
Dammit, that is hot

>>96462352
At least use models trained on fantasy and rpg illustrators instead of this shit.

>>96462352
No. AI makes you look like a lazy faggot, even amateurish art shows effort in trying to produce something sincerely and not just trying to get it done quickly.

>>96462352
I use AI generated images ONLY as placeholders
regardless of what >>96462436 says, I believe it gives the project a more finished look
if/when the moment to publish the game arrives, I'll employ actual artists

>>96438786
It's really ham fisted but you could always just give AP weapons a damage bonus against "heavy" targets.

>>96462436
I only hear this argument from people whose idea of creativity is taking something original and "subverting" it into saying "actually all the good stuff is bad".

>>96462538
nobody gives a shit, and most people can't actually tell what's AI and what isn't, especially if you just pass over it in photoshop unless you are writing terrible facebook slop prompts. If you give the prompt style suggestions like the medium you want it to emulate most of the most fervent anti-AI people literally can't tell the difference. I know because I run a successful porn patreon/twitter/bsky that is entirely AI, and half of my followers are people who think I'm an above average doujin artist. You have to remember most people who say how good they are at telling what's AI and what isn't just feel good that they are able to detect really obvious stuff.

>>96465011
I'm not saying this as a gloat either, I have some very prolific followers that complain about AI very publicly and still retweet my prompts. The fear around AI isn't from productive people.

>>96438460
>deck 3 out of 4
now only the blue deck remains
and I have no idea how to approach it

>>96465011
>You have to remember most people who say how good they are at telling what's AI and what isn't just feel good that they are able to detect really obvious stuff.
Actually they're worse at detecting AI art than people who use AI art regularly, or even people who don't give a shit kek

4XPAXAnon here, last two playtests were with a lighter crowd, and everyone had a great time with it. I need to formalize the rulebook now. The core rules are set in stone, but actually articulating it is really hard.

Is there any rpg already that makes non-combat, non Magical abilities somewhat useful?

basically a fantasy Game where You can start being just a random man with maybe a job and thats it. I want to do something like that, and have some work done, but Id like to copy what i can

>>96462352
The modern internet zeitgeist is that AI art turns you evil and poopybadpoop and also literally ripping organs out of artists' chests, so... no. Even if they're retards, they're retards who'll badmouth your work and keep you from getting more people interested in your stuff.

Technically speaking, it was never not okay. Practically speaking, the benefits it'd get you isn't worth the cancellation. At least if you intend on selling it. If you're just making something for your friend group, nobody gives a shit.

>>96465026
I forgot the Gray deck

also, bump

What would you is too many rules or mechanics to add to a game before it goes from rules light to rules heavy? I recently discovered a simple d6 game that I enjoy but it doesn't have much in the way of abilities or skills for the characters to choose from during the session. Its mostly a roll attribute plus modifier style game.

>>96470710
finally!
all decks done
let's see how they play

>>96471012
Once you start having to make the distinction between 'general rules vs specific rules' then I'd say it starts to become rules heavy. As in, if you have a rule that works generally across the system, but then find yourself writing in edge cases in which different rules apply.

>>96471012
When I'm utilising a derived number with another derived number for instance calculating a offensive bonus to compare against a defensive bonus.

>>96471012
Depends on the conventions of the genre/most direct comparison to your game.

>>96438460
>>96465026
>>96470710
>>96471281
I should check for spelling mistakes before printing
I've spotted several already

bump

I know no one really cares about core mechanics cause they don't make a game.
But mine is based around d10s.

You roll 2d10+adds, mostly just skills, against target number. 12 is the default since an 11 average would fail thus meaning that first +1 in a skill makes the most difference in making you succeed. I don't like it cause it's kinda inelegant. Before I was using 2d8 (average 9) against average TN of 10, which was the same, but a more elegant base TN (nice round number) but smaller number range.

The second part of this is the damage mechanic. You roll 1 to 3 d10s, depending on weapon used, and each one that rolls equal to or higher than their Armor scores 1 Wound. Unarmored is 6, light/medium/heavy are 7,8 and 9, and 10 is reserved for truly impenetrable legendary monsters (because it's twice as good as even heavy armor).

So a guy with a greatsword hitting a guy in chainmail (Armor 8) would roll 3d10, getting say 3 7 and 9. The 9 would deal 1 wound, the other two would do nothing.

Most enemies would only have 1 wound. Characters start with between 3 and 6 they can take before going down. The point here is low-bookkeeping without sacrificing more in-depth encounters. Might allow 2 wounds for "mook" types instead of 1, so they can be "wounded" which is pretty easy to track.

This is for a game that is going to be focused on domain-level play, but also in depth alchemy systems, rune magic systems, and lots more. So it's important to be able to handle mass combat but also be able to have a good system for high-health enemies.

I had the same thing with 2d8s system but it was harder to have "room" for all the armor types when Unarmored was 4 and then 5-7 were for the 3 levels of armor.

So essentially I liked the 2d8+adds better for a resolution mechanic. But I liked 2d10 better for the damage mechanic.
And I want this game to only use one type of die if possible. Dunno if anyone actually cares about that though.

>>96481234
Consider the D10s to be 0 indexed, ie the 0s are actually 0s not 10.

>>96481234
Why not use the same roll type for both Affect and Effect rolls?
As in either both 2d10+X vs TN or both Xd10 vs TN to generate successes.

Guys I have an idea for a game, but I don't know how to compartmentalize and structure my thoughts into a cohesive, readable and interesting manner.
How am I supposed to take my thoughts, test them, and structure them?
Not even trolling btw. Send help.

>>96481683
You put them to paper, then leave it for a week, come back, read it, blanch in horror, rewrite, repeat.

>>96481683
Start by setting up some general concept pools; i.e. all movement rules go here, all ranged interactions go here. Then just write down everything that comes to mind as you think about the game. When you go and try out the ideas, you can then start cutting out the ideas that you don't use or don't work, and start moving it into a structure that makes sense to read and follow.

>>96481683
If you already have friends who play run it for them, that will show you what needs explaining and how

>>96481874
>>96481895
>>96482181
Are there any tools (preferably free) I should be taking advantage of to help leverage my creative brain into the practical working spectrum?

>>96481234
>I know no one really cares about core mechanics cause they don't make a game.
Do people really believe this? Core mechanics determine almost everything a game is capable of.

>>96481683
Determine what you're trying to create and represent with whatever rules you're putting together. Consider what game feel it should impart as a consequence, and consider how you want it to look in practice. Write those thoughts down. Then break down every part of that process step by step, and try to get it done as fast as possible.

After you've finished and have something, test it out, and you'll find the flaws (Your results will vary; Maybe it doesn't feel right and you need to restructure things entirely, or it'll work but clearly be incomplete). Worst case scenario, you figure out something that doesn't work and maybe why it didn't work. Best case scenario, you made something that feels right and just needs refinement.

>>96482259
You want it to remain simple and in an easily modifiable format. Even a .txt will work, but I'd recommend google docs or word or something to that effect. Just remember to make backups and save constantly, I've lost a fuckton of work before due to stupid and easily avoidable mistakes like not doing that.

>>96465026
>>96470710
>>96471281
how does the game play

I’m working on a simulationist solo roll-and-write involving city exploration, and the biggest hurdle I’m stuck on is how to handle procedural city generation where the player can still sensibly find resource buildings in a somewhat logical way. Right now I’ve got a table that has different tiers of resource buildings per column, that shifts one column to the right every time they find a building of that tier, but if feels very programmatic and gamified (e.g. the player will always find a fire station before they find medkits, in each suburb). Can someone give me ideas for how else I could approach this?

>>96483139
the most direct comparison is, of course, Magic the Gathering
but it has some major differences that I hope makes it unique enough to stand out on its own

you’re constantly managing scarce resources
Magic has persistent mana: once lands are played, they’re reusable
in my game you are either discarding cards for Rank, sacrificing domains for advantage, and deciding whether to keep or spend your limited hand. every choice feels like a gamble, and because cards cycle back into the deck, your actions have consequences for the whole game rather than one-offs
because you sacrifice your resource-generators often, this makes every payment a high-stakes decision
so, instead of “curve out and stabilize,” you’re constantly burning your foundation for temporary leverage.

in Magic, your deck is only a hidden library, separate from the battlefield
in my game, the deck is also where minions emerge from and return to
their Agility stat decides how deep into the deck they’re placed, and combat often sends them back instead of to a graveyard
this creates a sense that the deck itself is "alive" and not just a resource pile, but an arena of movement

in Magic, players start with 20 life and are chipped away as they take damage
in my game, you start at zero Morale and must climb upwards through Rally and Bolster
losing Morale feels more catastrophic because one hit at early in the game may make you lose
winning feels precarious because your gain is only half of what the opponent lost
this "swing economy" makes games volatile and much shorter

I believe these are the key elements of my game
it's highly replayable and games are quick and explosive

>>96484431
Here’s my current table revision.

>>96482824
I'm gonna make it this time, I can feel it.

>>96447490
>>96453096
the game has been submitted!

as the old Romans used to say
>Alea Iacta Est

>>96488013
Well done anon, good luck.

>>96488013
Good luck.

>>96481540
Interesting idea. I don't know if players would handle it well though.

>>96481667
Because then I have to have a different way for damage rolls to deal multiple wounds and it becomes more difficult to balance. But maybe not, and that's something I really should consider.

>>96482758
I've just seen a lot of people obsessing over core mechanics of their game, but the game itself has nothing that actually makes me want to play it. And other people say the same sort of thing. Like, yeah, you balanced the math perfectly and it's very fast and smooth to resolve things, but I also have no reason to play this system over something else.

>>96433220 (OP)
>Primrose
>workin' on
Adventure, one shot thingy for the back of the book
>issues
I have been DMing for 10+ years and I've never ran an adventure nor have I even read that many. I did an ounce of research on how others design their adventures but I still feel very wary of what Im putting to print.

So far I think I've done an okay job. I did design it to be more replayable since theres some random components that dictate the events of the oneshot.

>>96433220 (OP)
Playtesting session today - useful information gained but left feeling uneasy.

I'm plagued by thoughts of "Why would somebody play this over X other game?" and general lack of confidence in the system. I could be stuck in an test->feedback->design loop forever, or keep restarting whenever I lose confidence in a particular project - I've done that before - I want to push this one over the finish line so I can say I finished it, even if it may be garbage.

A few years ago I wished I had infinite time and playtesters to explore a bunch of different ideas. Now I'm infested with self doubt and I don't think I have the sauce to make anything good.

>>96481683
>How do I structure my thoughts?
Write them down. Start with brainstorms of concepts. Then fill out with enough detail that it resembles a barebones rulebook. The goal is to have the game mechanics clearly defined on paper - writing them down will force you to clarify what is floating in your brain.

It helps to open up the rulebooks of other games you play for inspiration on how established authors lay out ideas and format things.

>How do I test my thoughts?
Once you have some barebones rules you can play against yourself in little vignettes to see if the basics work. Once you think things are somewhat functional, try to rope in some playtesters. Teach them the game, play a little bit, then ask them questions for feedback.
Did they understand the rules?
Did the gameplay match your desired thematic feel?
Were game decisions interesting?
Was it fun?

Frenopolis (original OP image) handles card effect assignment via the relationship between the physical game board and the color pie.

See these posts which describe the relationship between Chess and Frenopolis (in terms of number of squares and square colors):
>>96450892
>>96451669

After you see the relationship between a chess board and a Frenopolis board, you can strictly define the color pie in terms of board movements (like chess pieces):
>>96450656
>>96450886

Picrel is what I physically used to do effect assignment in Frenopolis. Because the color pie is defined in relationship to the board, every single board movement was serialized, printed out, and then distributed once to each of the card types.

The card images and effects are printed, cut, and stuck to a board with poster puddy.

Being able to view it all at once in your hand helps a lot for assigning the best fitting effects to card images.

Then you just have to pair card names with effect serial numbers in a spread sheet.

This is also how the images were assigned their color.

>>96491406
for example, picrel is every single Violet vector (movements between Air and Fire element). These were cut out, and assigned once to each of the 3 Violet card type.

So for every color, there is exactly 3 instances of any given board movement across a section of a color pie.

>>96490974
>Because then I have to have a different way for damage rolls to deal multiple wounds and it becomes more difficult to balance. But maybe not, and that's something I really should consider.
Standard for a single roll vs TN (in this case 2d10) is to use margin of success to determine things like amount of wounds and so on.
For dicepool style rolls you just count successes as normal.

>>96433220 (OP)
I sometimes look at these threads and see all the complex mechanical frameworks people come up with, and I wonder if that's what's needed to be successful these days.

>>96491665
true. but then damage would have to be capped by huge modifiers in a range of 20 numbers, instead of maxed by the number of damage dice rolled. I suppose that is more realistic though. Even a goblin's dagger could rip a terrible mortal wound in an ogre if rightly placed..

>>96491972
No. What's needed to be successful is to be a D&D clone written by a popular YouTuber and have a flashy Kickstarter and low-info normgroids who will think any mechanic that is different from D&D is mind-blowingly original. It's fucking sad really but it's how things are.

>>96491221
Alright I'm gonna put this into practice and see what I can come up with.

Here's my game idea. It's nothing fancy, but I think it has legs.
https://files.catbox.moe/ppmyvi.pdf

>>96495381
You're still a bit away from even your first draft, but some changes you can make now is tightening up your language.
>using 'Small' twice to describe the in-game conflict within the first sentence
>if the process of determining success of both shooting and melee is the same, you can combine it into one sentence.
>to determine whether an attack hits their target (either shooting or melee)... ect ect.
I like that you used actual photos of models. I would also consider uploading these rules to a drive/mega - it just means that if you can update your rules without constantly reuploading to catbox with a different link.

>>96495728
Thank you for your input anon, I can already see how your pointers will tighten up the final product. I'll keep this in mind in the future.

>>96495381
Opened it and immediately saw 40k mechanics. Never closed a doc faster.

>>96495799
Nice contribution.

>>96493367
>this new RPG has the DEADLIEST combat!
>its 5e but they removed death saving throws, added hit locations and injuries.

>This RPG will test your characters in a hardcore survival simulation!
>its 5e but youre required to keep track of rations even more

>This low-fantasy RPG is just like game of thrones!
>its just 5e with less classes

>>96495998
that's been a chunk of the market since 3e. I'm sorry you had to find out a quarter of a century late.

>>96496056
I'm mocking modern YouTube tabletop content, not the notion that d20 system slop exists. You sound like a sour puss.

>>96495816
Thanks, sorry that your game looks like 40gay.

>>96496937
>>96495799
>strength and toughness
>d6 dice pool
>40k mechanics
Nta but you are profoundly retarded if you consider these as '40k mechanics'.

>>96497148
Buddy the first table on it is lifted straight from 40k.

bump