u/Eternal_Play_Office

Hi All,

I want to pick the brains of dedicated CRPG players with this post.

I want my game to have the capacity for players to create their own campaigns and adventures on the base of my game engine, so am thinking of converting my own internal authoring tool into a player tool.

** Edit** - The game and a campaign content exists this is an addon that would allow player content (new campaigns) to be added.

Apart from the work involved I have some possible issues to resolve, but first let me try and describe the tool and how I would want it to operate.

It has 8 major tools:

• Map builder - Painting Biomes, roads, rivers and a few map symbols.
• Map overlay builder - Allows the map locations to be labelled, Modules placed and Lore popups to popup.
• Map random encounter painter - assign encounter tables to maps
• Creature Compendium - with 300+ prebuilt nasties and such. Includes Loot tables.
• Random Encounter Tables - Common, uncommon, rare, etc.
• Item List - All the weapons, armour, potions and stuff
• NPC list
• Modules (dungeons) list - New ones are build using their own sub-tool

What I want to give the players:

• The ability to create own regions, with maps, encounters, lore, et al.
• Can create own regional monsters or variants, but cant mod standard ones
• Can create own Items (I'm guessing will mostly be magical versions of standard), but cant mod standard ones.
• Can create NPCs for use in modules and/or encounters
• Can create Modules (dungeons) and place them on the map.

My issues/concerns/wonderings:

• I'm thinking each region has an astral gate in the middle that allows parties to travel to each??
• If a player wants to create a single one-shot module, will they just make a very small region or should I provide one (or more) shared regions that players could add too?
• Should I include a weather system? Its more work but players might want their regions to be more severe than my standard game one.
• Do I give the opportunity for talented authors to add to the game with their regions as paid DLCs (profits shared)?
• I'm assuming most regions would get published to a site I provide for download and addition via a import function in game. If so what level of oversight would be expected?
  • All verified and validated, or
  • Users risk (would a ranking system <1-5 Star rating> be required?)

Anyway just some thoughts of mine, looking forward to yours.

Cheers,

Simon.

I love game manuals. I think the last game I played that came with a proper one was Pillars of Eternity. Without a manual, I always feel like I’m flying blind when I first enter a game.

I used to read and reread manuals before I started playing, making sure I understood the systems and was properly prepared for what I was getting into. For me, that was part of the experience.

It’s in that spirit that I’m making the Early Access manual for Fantasy Classic: Dungeon Crawler freely available to anyone who wants it.

It’s 34 pages covering the game system, character creation, combat, magic, exploration, and the rules that underpin the game.

If you’re the sort of player who still likes to know how a game works before diving in, you can grab it here:

https://www.eternalplayoffice.com/dungeoncrawler

I love game manuals. I think the last game I played that came with a proper one was Pillars of Eternity. Without a manual, I always feel like I’m flying blind when I first enter a game.

I used to read and reread manuals before I started playing, making sure I understood the systems and was properly prepared for what I was getting into. For me, that was part of the experience.

It’s in that spirit that I’m making the Early Access manual for Fantasy Classic: Dungeon Crawler freely available to anyone who wants it.

It’s 34 pages covering the game system, character creation, combat, magic, exploration, and the rules that underpin the game.

If you’re the sort of player who still likes to know how a game works before diving in, you can grab it here:

https://www.eternalplayoffice.com/dungeoncrawler

Cheers,

Simon.

I’ve been working on Fantasy Classic: Dungeon Crawler, a tactical party-based CRPG inspired by the older dungeon crawlers and tabletop games I grew up with.

The basic idea is straightforward: create a group of inexperienced adventurers, equip them as well as you can afford, and send them into dangerous, hand-authored dungeons. Exploration is deliberately uncertain. Light matters, traps are dangerous, secret doors may remain undiscovered, resources are limited, and returning to town alive can be an achievement in itself.

Its mechanics are classless nor uses XP, rather progression is based on skill(s) use in meaningful situations.

Combat is turn-based and built around meaningful tactical choices rather than rapid ability cycling. Characters can commit their dice between attack and defence, use different stances, suffer fatigue and wounds, cast spells, use equipment from their belts, and develop through skills and perks.

Outside combat, the game includes dungeon exploration with "Text Box" style encounters, party decisions, skill challenges, spell preparation, physical and mental conditions, treasure, appraisal, merchants, temples, taverns, character development, revolving around content presented as Modules.

The goal is not to modernise away all the friction of classic RPGs. It is to keep the danger, uncertainty, preparation, and consequences while presenting them through a clearer interface and a consistent rules system. Hopefully a "SSI Gold Box" style game in a 1st edition Campaign tradition.

It will be released in early access, with an improvement roadmap, but I’d be interested to hear what players most miss from classic party-based dungeon crawlers, and which old conventions are better left in the past.

On the roadmap (maybe):

• Overland Travel and Exploration.
• "AI" auto combat.
• Thirst and Hunger Mechanics.
• Character portraits imports.
• Player Keep building, and
• A Module authoring system for building adventures to share in the community.

Please feel free to comment on the current roadmap, and offer suggestions for what's missing.

I found this really hard.

You have to love the Soviet ability to take the offcuts and make a damn fine stew.

As a kid I was addicted to the Wild Card books. And much to my delight I see there is a RPG set in the universe (https://www.wildcardsworld.com/comics-games/mutants-masterminds-rpg/), but I thought I should ask here is anyone has used it and give me a thumbs up or down. There is nothing worse than ruining those cherished childhood memories, as my purchase of the Blakes 7 box set taught me. :-)

Hi all,

My name is Simon, and I am the founder of Eternal Play Office, a small game design and publishing outfit currently developing a new tabletop roleplaying game called Fantasy Classic.

Firstly, this is my second Post on this matter, thank you to everyone who gave me feedback. It was precisely what was needed and greatly appreciated. On with the post.

I am looking for a small number of GMs to help playtest the game in its current Ashcan / Open Beta state.

Fantasy Classic is a d6-based old-school dungeon-crawling TTRPG with tactical combat, skill-based character growth, and a high-magic modular spell system. It is intended for groups that enjoy meaningful character progression, tactical positioning, dangerous magic, wounds, fatigue, and other effect, equipment wear, and careful adventuring choices.

As a playtest GM, you will receive the Ashcan version for free. In return, I ask that you run the game with your group and provide constructive feedback, via the r/FantasyClassic Reddit

Playtest participants will receive a free PDF (or highly discounted Hard) copy of the Version One Core Rulebook on release, as well as a mention in the credits as a Playtest GM. The number of credited playtest GMs will need to be practically limited, depending on participation, and I currently envisage around ten places.

This is not a fundraiser or Kickstarter. We will not solicit funding, nor will we retain or sell your personal information. The full beta version is free and available for download from the Eternal Play Office website. A paid $5 AU beta PDF is also available for those who wish to support the project voluntarily, but payment is not required to access the beta rules.

NO AI art has been used in the current version, and NO AI was used in the writing or rules design; all spelling errors and crimes against the English language are entirely my own.

About the game:

At the heart of Fantasy Classic is the Challenge mechanic. Players face Challenges from Lesser to Godlike, each tied to six-sided dice such as 1d6, 2d6, 3d6, and upward. Characters pit their Skills against these Challenges, improving through meaningful use, critical success, and hard-earned survival.

Characters are not locked into rigid classes. Instead, they grow through the Skills they use and the choices they make. A warrior becomes deadly by fighting. A thief becomes subtle by sneaking and trickery. A mage becomes powerful by mastering Schools and Mysteries of magic.

Combat is a crunchy tactical fantasy system built around d6 dice pools, segment timing, stance allocation, battlefield position, and layered defence. It will suit players who enjoy miniatures, tactical movement, equipment detail, and meaningful combat procedure.

The magic system is high-magic and modular. Magic is divided into Schools, and each School is further divided into Mysteries that must be unlocked separately. A caster’s spellcasting depends on their magical approach: Arcane through study, Divine through a god, Nature through harmony with the living world, and Sorcery through dangerous innate power.

Fantasy Classic also places weight on consequence. Wounds, Fatigue, Impeding and Enhancing Conditions, armour damage, dangerous spellcasting, alignment, and hard choices all matter. Players are expected to survive not only by having strong characters, but by using caution, preparation, teamwork, and good judgement.

If you are interested, please visit Eternal Play Office and download a copy of the Core Rules

https://www.eternalplayoffice.com

About me:

I am something of an old-timer in the hobby, having played AD&D, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Traveller, and a range of other games during the early to mid-1980s, before work and life took me across the globe.

Now, following a life-changing injury, I have found myself effectively retired back into the youthful enthusiasm that first drew me to tabletop roleplaying games. I am now wholeheartedly pursuing a long-held dream: to design the kind of fantasy roleplaying system I always wanted to play.

Cheers,
Simon