u/ThatOneCrazyWritter

Making a campaign set in an archipelago of 6 (previously 7) island that for some unknown reason that to "sail" through the ocean, where after the capital disappeared, a war started for 100 years. They are in a quick explanation of each island:

- The Vortex: Previously "Clear Skies Island", it sank into the ocean one day and left a gateway to the Underworld in it's place, pouring demons and momsters out of it.

- Capital Island: Capital of the Empire, when The Vortex opened, they island sailed into the horizon to be never seen for 100 years, only now returning.

- Dead Island: tried to rebel against the empire on the past, lost, became a social pariah and official cemetery of the empire. When the cataclysm happened, they used necromancy to gain a fighting chance, though they are more defensive and open to conversations.

- Frozen Sea Island: Previously "7 Waters Island", it's home of many arcane discoveries in the empire. When the cataclysm hit, an earthquake slit the island into many part, only surviving by freezing the entire place together. They now venture into the other islands in search of magic items to prosper their land.

- Iron Forge Island: Mainland of craftsman, blacksmiths and commerce guilds, a now half normal/half frozen volcanic island have a forceful occupation from the Frozen Sea Island over the crafting of magical items.

- Desolate Island: First Island to fall in the war for succession of the imperial throne. Know a place full of ruins, refugees, pirates, but also diplomats and aspiring adventurers as the island now serves as a neutral ground in the war.

- Monster Island: First island to be taken over by the monsters of The Vortex. So grand were the dangers that now most sane citizens live in the neighboring, smaller islands or in makeshift floating villages in the sea.

Now, after 100 years, the Emperor returns and announces a Grand Group Tournament with a yet to be disclosed prize. However, I still need to create factions to make each place feel more lived in.

The group will start and do its first main quest in the neutral grounds of the Desolate Island. Which factions from what I described could be a good fit in the isle and how many should I develop?

Edit:

In general, I plan on making factions on the following framework:

1. What they WANT (General + Specific)

2. What they DON'T WANT (General + Specific)

3. What is STOPPING them from getting what they want.

4. 1 to 3 Important NPCs (with Wants, Avoids, A Secret and A Inconsistency)

Looking for making a big campaign in the future, and I want to make it focused in a few things: Combat (specially beyond just "kill them all"), Social Bonds (giving mechanical rewards for good roleplay), Travel (going from one place to another while dealing with the dangers out there) and Downtime activities (crafting, starting big projects, searching for info, etc.)

Unfortunately, I'm not the biggest fan of the official rules for these aspects, specially Travel and Downtime.

I often have heard people dismissing D&D 4e by saying "its a MMO Tabletop RPG", a Videogame trying to be a TTRPG.

So I then bit the bullet and did a quick overlook through its pages, and I found some stuff that I can understand it turning people away:

• Mechanics with little flavor text
• Squares instead of Feets or Meters
• Classifications like "At-Will", "Per Encounter", "Daily" and other more gamey terms

But funnily enough, I also found some of these things in other games like 13th Age, so it isn't necessarily just a "Oops! Sorry, this will never happen again :3" and more so a "Its not everyones cup of tea, but other LOVE IT".

I for example, comming from a background of videogames & boardgames first, am very okay with most of these more gamefied mechanics, so long it makes for a good game, I'm okay! But even then, I prefer exact distances in Meters or abstract one like "Near/Far" or "behind the boulder/above the tree" over measuring everything in fictional quantities like Squares.

First of, I want to keep the conversation civil and not attack anyone. I truly belive that Ranger will always have a place in the gmae of D&D, be them a pastiche for Aragorn, The Witcher or Drizzt Do'Urden, or a more universal concept like "Beast Tamer", "Wandering Sentinel" or "Bushcrafting Woodsman".

The main problem I hear amongst Reddit about Rangers is a direct one: Since the so called "Exploration Pillar", specialy its rules for Overland Travel & Wilderness Survival, is very underdeveloped, Rangers lost the one place they are "meant to shine at", leaving them as a Rogue-y Fighter with Druid spells.

Not helped by all this, D&D has going deeper and deeper into its Combat roots in Wargaming, with the majority of not only rules but class design revolving around combat.

This is because different from other martial & halfcasting classes, to me at least, they lack a strong, unique and above all FUN set of features to call its own. For example:

• Barbarians obviously have Rage, one of the most iconic features in RPGs and pop culture, a big red button that instantly makes you stronger at a cost of upkeep and racionality. Not to mention stuff like Reckless Attack that also makes you stronger at a cost. This create the image of "Barbarian = Direct and simple big guy or gal of immense strength at the cost of a risk and reward system"
• Rogues has the also iconic Sneak Attack, where you deal extra damage with a single dinky attack to amounts that can even scare less experienced, Cunning Action is such good design many clamor for it to expand in some way to other martials in some way or form. Finally, Expertise was so loved it became the official term of double proficiency in 5.5e.
• Paladins have the simple but effective Divine Smite, Auras and Lay on Hands. One is a direct "spend a resource, more damage", the other is a passive effect of defense around him and the last is a pool of healing resources. An excellently done way to interpret a class that focus on "Attacc, Protecc, Heal Bacc"
• Monks has Martial Arts as it main claim to fame, allowing them to throw punches and kicks around to greater effect, but I also want to throw in one of the biggest glow ups in all of D&D 5.5e: Deflect Attacks & Deflect Energy make for a very fun & unique defensive ability that I would love to be even more developed even!
• Lastly, Fighter seems to not have much, since they are meant to be the "generic Warrior person", but when you stack together stuff like Action Surge, Second Wind, Indomitable & Many Extra Attacks, you have a class that turns the Mundane into near Supernatural. Using one action? Nah, I use two. Taking a breather? Nah, I heal myself. Failed a saving throw? Nuh uh, I didn't. One attack? Maybe two?? How about three or four!

Then when you look at Rangers... Favored Enemy is either "extra info about creatures" or "free Hunter's Mark", where one is unique but underbacked and the other is generic but functional. After that there are some upgrade for Favored Enemy that simply aren't enough to make it stand out and at worst teaches to use a mid option more often than players should.

Sure, Deft Explorer, Roving & Tireless are kinda interesting and fun, but damn they aren't enough to make a class. Expertise is good, but Rogues and Bards already has it. Extra speeds is nice, but not exciting. Tireless brings a lot of charm, but the class need a bit more to justify its existance.

And sure, they have spellcasting, but either they are mostly for out of combat or they don't mesh well with the rest of the class thanks to a high number of Concentrations & Saving Throw amongst its list.

So I ask: in a game mostly about fighting baddies because we are heroes from various backgrounds, WHAT SHOULD BE THE DEFINING FANTASY OF RANGERS IN COMBAT?

Outside it, we already know they are an expert explorer, but what about in combat? What should define the way Rangers fight against menaces?

In essence, to my view they are a few things in combat:

- Guerilla Specialists & Tacticians. They should use the terrain around them to their advantage in some way.

- Monster Hunters. They are the best at "killing the unkillable", in some way. They look into mighty monster of the wild threatening and its weak points and how to kill them.

When people say "Ranger", they think Aragorn, they think Witcher, some like me even think Ranger's Apprentice, Monster Hunter, Park Rangers & Military Rangers

The golden question still unanswered is: What it looks like to use "Creature & Terrain Specialist" as an effective tool kit to fight enemies?

I often find that I don't run or play in games that uses the exploration pillar of any kind, mostly just "let's look at a map and go there", only to basically be teleported there.

The reason? Me and my group find most of the book keeping necessary for such campaigns terribly boring and unengaging. We are okay with tracking ammunition and rations, but stuff like travel distance per day, getting lost, random encounters that mean nothing, carrying capacity in exact pounds and so on don't help in being fun.

To me, Travel would be better if they were divided not in exact hours, days & weeks, but in metrics like scenes, events & days.

I'm very attached to Ranger as a concept. I grew up reading the Ranger's Apprentice book series as a kid, Ghost Recon Future Soldier is the first 18+ gameplay my parents allowed me to buy and I fell in love with the concept, and finally Monster Hunter is one of my favorite game series of all times!

And when I first got the chance to play D&D in 2022, my first ever character was Faraghûl, a 14th Level (I entered in the middle of a long campaign) Swarmkeeper Reborn Ranger.

It was such a blast! Sure, I had a Horn of Valhalla + a Cape of Invisibility, but I still got to use many of the abilities of being a Ranger, like heightened Stealth, good weapon usage & decent spells. I even combined my Horn of Valhalla w/ Conjure Woodland Beings to call upon Pixies to turn all my Berserkers (which I decided where fans of the soccer team Palmeiras because haha funny) into flying killing machines against a mechanical dragon!

After that, I played with 2 other Rangers in some oneshots, one using the Alternative Ranger by u/LaserLlama (which I loved even more than my original Ranger even when it was only 5th level) and a 10th level Ranger/Hunter in another system called Tormenta20 (Brazilian 3.5e).

In truth, I dislike the 5e & 5.5e version of the class when it comes to its design and flavour, but I also never had a bad time playing as a Ranger in any game. Not even a Scout Rogue I played was better, and I often hear about it being a "better Ranger".

In specific, I love a few things about the Ranger class fantasy, specially in roleplaying:

• Being an Expert Hunter of Monsters & Guerrilla Tactician: Not to overwhelm enemies through brute strength of number of attack, but to impede them, exploit weaknesses and focus fire key targets or blast down weaker foes with AoEs. For this, Bow & Arrow are my weapons of choice for a Ranger.
• Surviving the Wilds and Guiding the Way: Tracking down foes, surviving the elements, taking advantage of the terrain and leading the path foward makes me feel that I'm pulling my weight on the team, while bringing me closer to the fantasy of the Apex Hunter & Scout.
• Wandering Alongside a Pet Companion: Be it my trusty swarm of shadowy birds, my scouting owl familiar or my mighty mount Tynnu the Horse, an animal companion is an important part of what makes a Ranger a Ranger to my experience, thanks to the influences of Tug, Palicos and even the Drone in Ghost Recon (not an animal, but passes the exact vibe of a scouting familiar).
• Always Having a Tool for Any Job: Damage? Ranged, melee, AoE and Focus Fire. Mobility? Pretty decent. Control? Not the best, but still leagues ahead of most martials. Healing? A few things here and there. Skills? Expertise. Spells? Halfcasting with some pretty good spells, specially for scouting and surviving. And so on and on. While not the best at anything, the can put their hands in any role and supplement it well.

When it comes to mechanics, while the official options are a bit of a let down to me, u/LaserLlama made me fell in love again with the concept + chaging games to Tormenta20 made me realise that its not that "Rangers shouldn't be their own class, just a subclass for Fighters", with the problem being that WotC just hasn't made them an amazing chassis yet.

While a more focused game is better, some times I do want a Medieval Knight, Saintly Cleric, Shogunate Samurai, English Gentleman Thief all together fighting the horde of Pirate Orcs with a mix of Viking iconography and Laser Weapons they got com a Cult of the Lovecraftian gods in the "Totally not Egypt" Egyptian Desert.

My only gripe is when it just falls into tropes, cliches and (worst of all) xenophobic steriotypes in a world where Medieval France & Industrial Germany & Anime Japan & The Wild West are kingdoms one next to the other.

I like when there is this weird mish-mash of concepts that have gotten the proper development to not just be a funny hat on a person but a complete, full culture that has an explanation to exist in the world.

For an example, I love game with hundreds of options available to players and DMs, specially feats/powers, mundane items and Monsters.

I'm also starting to like games with a higher level of deadliness, since that mean we need to think more carefully about actions.

HOWEVER, I game were death is easy and options are abudant seems like hell on earth to me.

Which are combos of things can make an amazing game become terrible very quickly?

Mechanically speaking:

• OVERALL THEME: If I where to explain "Ranger" in a simple phrase, what should it even be? If Paladins are "Holy Warriors", Monks are "Martial Artists", Wizards are "Studious Mages", what should describe a Ranger in a simple, effective way?

• DURING COMBAT: What should they be doing? Should they focus only on dealing damage to single targets and/or bundled-up groups, controlling terrain and/or enemies, supporting allies through cures and/or buffs, or even a mix of all the above? Should they be only Ranged, only Melee, a mix of both, dual wielding, sword as board, two-handing an axe, or what? Do they need anything beyond Extra Attack, or should they get a unique way of attacking or getting bonuses to their attacks?

• OUTSIDE COMBAT: What is their niche without violent means? "Nature & Exploration*" is a great start, but what does it even mean? Should they help with wilderness travel, general outdoors survival, animal handling, or what? And how should this work? Complex rules, simple advantage to specific rolls, Expertise?

• MAGIC: How magic should them be? Halfcasting, Mundande, Non-magical-but-still-not-normal like a Monk or Barbarian? If Halfcaster, is just that part that is magical about them, or does this seeps into the rest of the class? If Mundande or "Superhuman" even, do they get something to compensate the lost of magic?

• NICHE PROTECTION: What does they do that almost no one can do, like a Barbarian Rage, a Paladin Aura, Monk Martial Arts, Fighter Action Surge, Sorcerer Metamagic, etc.?

• ANIMAL COMPANIONS: Finally, what IS the Ranger relationship with Animal Companions? Should it just be optional, a feature on a On/Off switch or a permanent part of the class fantasy, always there?

For me, its hard to say what these answers even are, and nobody, not even WotC, seems to know the answer either, because that are so many different answers around that most don't agree with.

To me, at least, in D&D 5e/5.5e specifically (in other editions and systems, this would change most likely):

• MY OVERALL THEME: The discriptor would be "Druidic Warrior". Most will not agree with this, which does include me, but I truly believe it is what best fits in 5e/5.5e.

• MY DURING COMBAT: First, I woudl go with both melee and ranged, even if I would prefer a Ranged-only class for the Ranger, btu that's a personal preference. I think a mix of "Focus fire a single target with many attacks" & "Make terrain terrible to move through for enemies without penalties", be it because of slowing, restraining, damaging or something else more creative. They should be, first and foremost, Ambushers, Skirmishers and Masters of Guerrilla Tactics

• MY OUTSIDE COMBAT: Like I said, Nature & Exploration is the starting point. Favorite Terrain to me is a trap, however. In my mind, the should be baseline good or even great everywhere outside, and only then Favorite Terrain comes in and makes Rangers Impossibly Amazing in specific terrains. Most of all, they should be helping the party through travel, not only going on ahead and being a lone wolf.

• MY MAGIC: Outside D&D 5e, I would orefer them non-magical, but D&D is too High Magic to make it work to me without creating an entire new subsystem that would just go underdeveloped or fogotten with time, so Halfcaster it.

• MY NICHE PROTECTION: THIS, RIGHT HERE, is the core problem with Rangers to me, because no unique mechanic its entirely life in D&D seemed to have sticked the landing just right. My two cents? Give them a Favorite Enemy that mixes "I deal more damage with a special Mark" and "even if they are not around, I learned useful multi-faceted tactics that can be used anywhere" like ignoring part of a creature's AC thanks to your time studying Dragons. Make Natural Explorer a series of Invocation-like options that you pick to not only be better at certain exploring situations (like stealthing, climbing swimming) but also give part of these bonuses to their allies, like an experienced guide showing how things are done. Allow them to create a "Hunting Grounds" area in a point they can see that give bonuses to you and your allies or debuffs the enemies.

• MY ANIMAL COMPANIONS: My biggest and most controversial take, probably, will be to make Animal Companions part of the main class, but not an always active ability. First, give Rangers a few Wild Shapes (like the Paladin has Channel Divinity), but instead of becoming an animal, you use them in two ways: 1) you can some a familiar, which can become a bigger, stronger creature depending on subclass 2) you can enter a Transformation State based on subclass choice. Some subclasses would have bith options, but most would only have one or the other. Hunter? Transformarion. Beastmaster? Better animal. Gloomstalker? Transformarion. Swarmkeeper? Could go either way, be it a Swarm familiar or a "Swarmed" Transformation.

Do I think these options I presented are perfect and everyone would love them? Far from it, but I still want to understand what people really want of a Ranger, and for those who don't know I give them my ideas to a thought experiment.

Eu amo Tormenta20, ai decidi mestrar uma campanha bem longa com ele. Ainda nem tive a segunda sessão e já etsou querendo desistir.

Não é minha primeira campanha de T20 que mestro e começo a sucumbir ao peço da tarefa, ao ponto que eu nunca sequer finalizei uma campanha do jogo desde os 2-3 anos que comecei a jogar ele.

Porém, eu AMO jogar T20 como JOGADOR. Eu curto esses jogos cheios de regras e combinações diferentes de poderes para escolher.

O mesmo aconteceu comigo e D&D 5e, no entanto eu prefiro 5e menos do que T20.

As vezes eu me pergunto se eu me daria melhor mestrando um RPG com menos regras então, porém eu fico em dúvida pq pelo menos como Jogador, esses jogos me deixam muito entediado. Além disso, meu problema nem é tanto as regras serem pesadas (embora isso atrapalhe em T20 por exemplo para criar combates desafiadores para um grupo experiente em fazer builds quebradas), meu problema maior é que o processo de planejar sessão antecipadamente é muito complicado para mim.

Estou jogando Tormenta20 e decidi tentar criar minha primeira experiência Sandbox na campanha atual, mas estou um pouco nervoso sobre como conduzir isso.

Inicialmente, minha campanha seguia um formato mais linear e dirigido (Railroad), com um enredo mais direto, já que é o estilo que meus amigos preferem (no sentido de eu apresentar as opções A, B e C e, no final, todos acabarem se encontrando em D de qualquer forma; algo bem mais roteirizado).

No entanto, após conversar com meu grupo e consultar pessoas online, decidi criar um mini-Sandbox para o próximo arco da história. O resumo da trama é o seguinte:

– Um culto de Aharadak, liderados por um descendente de Thomas Lendilkar chamado Raoul Lendilkar, tomou completamente o controle de Bielefeld após formar também uma aliança com a Igreja de Kallyadranoch e Aslothia.

– O grupo, acompanhado por um pequeno contingente de sobreviventes e NPCs importantes, recebeu um prazo de 7 dias para deixar o reino antes que a carnificina começasse. Como o grupo ainda está no início da aventura (nível 4 de 20), eles decidiram seguir em direção aos Ermos Púrpuras, uma terra de ninguém habitada por tribos bárbaras nômades que possuem um histórico sangrento de conflitos contra Bielefeld.

– Os NPCs importantes do grupo de refugiados que o grupo de jogadores está liderando são: "um clérigo goblin de Hynnin, que quer provar que também pode ser heroico", "um guarda humano de baixo nível da capital de Roschfallen, que busca algo mais para sua vida", "uma sacerdotisa Hynne dLena, que está sucumbindo lentamente à corrupção da Tormenta" e "um ferreiro anão que foi banido de Doherimm".

Para a próxima sessão, planejei o primeiro cenário: um combate envolvendo quatro lados — quatro tribos bárbaras. São elas: os Gurka Kahn, humanos que lutam contra o deus Aharadak e sua corrupção; os Zallar, devotos de Aharadak parcialmente corrompidos; os Gahmoradd, um pequeno "reino" de orcs que vive nas profundezas das montanhas; e os Skagleg, uma tribo muito pequena de homens-lagarto escondida na floresta.

Os Gurka Kahn querem combater a corrupção de Aharadak e, ao mesmo tempo, preservar seu estilo de vida tradicional.

Os Zallar buscam apenas poder, fazendo isso ao espalhar a influência de seu deus maligno.

Os Gahmoradd querem se juntar ao Império Trollkyrka e, por isso, estão tentando provar seu valor como arautos da invasão do império.

Os Skagleg tentam sobreviver a ameaças de todos os lados após a propagação de boatos de que estariam roubando e devorando gado, embora não tenham qualquer participação nesses atos (que foram, na verdade, obra dos orcs de Gahmoradd).

O problema é que minha ideia original era fazer com que o grupo ajudasse uma das tribos, cumprisse uma missão para ela a fim de ganhar seu respeito e, finalmente, se tornasse aliado dela. No entanto, não sei como garantir que eles ESCOLHERÃO ALGUMA DELAS! Eles não sabem da existência dessas tribos nem conhecem suas histórias; além disso, suas missões principais são basicamente:

1. Encontrar um local seguro para estabelecer uma base para os refugiados.

2. Descobrir para onde o vilão principal levou a esposa de um dos jogadores.

3. Descobrir se uma das pessoas que auxiliam o vilão principal é, na verdade, o pai desaparecido de outro jogador — e por que ele está fazendo isso.

4. Descobrir uma maneira de libertar o reino de Bielefeld do domínio da Tormenta.

5. Uma missão secundária: um dos jogadores, devoto do Deus Menor dos Mercenários, quer acumular 1 milhão de peças de ouro em riqueza pura.

Minha ideia era que a tribo aliada não apenas oferecesse abrigo aos jogadores, mas também ajudasse a defender o local em troca de favores; no entanto, não sei como fazer isso sem forçar um enredo específico sobre os jogadores, já que nunca mestrei uma campanha sandbox antes.

Então, minha pergunta é: como faço para que os jogadores interajam com essas tribos? E ainda posso incluir aquele combate em que o grupo ajuda uma tribo em uma batalha campal, ou devo descartar essa ideia?

Estou jogando Tormenta20 e decidi tentar criar minha primeira experiência Sandbox na campanha atual, mas estou um pouco nervoso sobre como conduzir isso.

Inicialmente, minha campanha seguia um formato mais linear e dirigido (Railroad), com um enredo mais direto, já que é o estilo que meus amigos preferem (no sentido de eu apresentar as opções A, B e C e, no final, todos acabarem se encontrando em D de qualquer forma; algo bem mais roteirizado).

No entanto, após conversar com meu grupo e consultar pessoas online, decidi criar um mini-sandbox para o próximo arco da história. O resumo da trama é o seguinte:

– Um culto de Aharadak, o Deus da Corrupção, da Insanidade e da Antimagia, tomou completamente o controle de Bielefeld, o Reino dos Cavaleiros, formando também uma aliança com a Igreja de Kallyadranoch, o Deus dos Dragões, e com Aslothia, o Reino dos Mortos-Vivos.

– O grupo, acompanhado por um pequeno contingente de sobreviventes e NPCs importantes, recebeu um prazo de 7 dias para deixar o reino antes que a carnificina começasse. Como o grupo ainda está no início da aventura (nível 4 de 20), eles decidiram seguir em direção aos Ermos Púrpuras, uma terra de ninguém habitada por tribos bárbaras nômades que possuem um histórico sangrento de conflitos contra Bielefeld.

– Os NPCs importantes do grupo de refugiados que o grupo de jogadores está liderando são: "um clérigo goblin do Deus dos Ladrões, que quer provar que também pode ser heroico", "um guarda humano de baixo nível da capital, que busca algo mais para sua vida", "um sacerdote halfling da Deusa da Vida, que está sucumbindo lentamente à corrupção de Aharadak" e "um ferreiro anão que foi banido de Doherimm, o Reino Oculto dos Anões".

Para a próxima sessão, planejei o primeiro cenário: um combate envolvendo quatro lados — quatro tribos bárbaras. São elas: os Gurka Kahn, humanos que lutam contra o deus Aharadak e sua corrupção; os Zallar, devotos de Aharadak parcialmente corrompidos; os Gahmoradd, um pequeno "reino" de orcs que vive nas profundezas das montanhas; e os Skagleg, uma tribo muito pequena de homens-lagarto escondida na floresta.

Os Gurka Kahn querem combater a corrupção de Aharadak e, ao mesmo tempo, preservar seu estilo de vida tradicional.

Os Zallar buscam apenas poder, fazendo isso ao espalhar a influência de seu deus maligno.

Os Gahmoradd querem se juntar ao Império Trollkyrka — um estado escravagista oculto governado por Trolls Nobres — e, por isso, estão tentando provar seu valor como arautos da invasão do império.

Os Skagleg tentam sobreviver a ameaças de todos os lados após a propagação de boatos de que estariam roubando e devorando gado, embora não tenham qualquer participação nesses atos (que foram, na verdade, obra dos orcs de Gahmoradd).

O problema é que minha ideia original era fazer com que o grupo ajudasse uma das tribos, cumprisse uma missão para ela a fim de ganhar seu respeito e, finalmente, se tornasse aliado dela. No entanto, não sei como garantir que eles ESCOLHERÃO ALGUMA DELAS! Eles não sabem da existência dessas tribos nem conhecem suas histórias; além disso, suas missões principais são basicamente:

1. Encontrar um local seguro para estabelecer uma base para os refugiados.

2. Descobrir para onde o vilão principal levou a esposa de um dos jogadores.

3. Descobrir se uma das pessoas que auxiliam o vilão principal é, na verdade, o pai desaparecido de outro jogador — e por que ele está fazendo isso.

4. Descobrir uma maneira de libertar o reino de Bielefeld do domínio da Tormenta.

5. Uma missão secundária: um dos jogadores, devoto do Deus Menor dos Mercenários, quer acumular 1 milhão de peças de ouro em riqueza pura.

Minha ideia era que a tribo aliada não apenas oferecesse abrigo aos jogadores, mas também ajudasse a defender o local em troca de favores; no entanto, não sei como fazer isso sem forçar um enredo específico sobre os jogadores, já que nunca mestrei uma campanha sandbox antes.

Então, minha pergunta é: como faço para que os jogadores interajam com essas tribos? E ainda posso incluir aquele combate em que o grupo ajuda uma tribo em uma batalha campal, ou devo descartar essa ideia?

EDIT: Should have specified it better in the title, but I'm ask how to make oneshots and spread it across a sandbox, not how to make a Sandbox in a oneshot. Sorry, English is my second lanaguage

I decided to try and make my first sandbox moment in my current campaign, but I'm a bit nervous on how to go about it.

At first, my campaign is more railroaded with a more direct plot, since its the style my friends prefer playing with (in the sense of I say "there is A, B and C" and by the end everyone meets at D none the less, far more scripted).

However, talking with my group and asking people online, I decided to make a mini sandbox for the next arc of my story. The story resumed is as follows:

- A Cult of Aharadak, the God of Corruption, Insanity and Anti-Magic has completely taken over the Bielefeld, Kingdom of Chilvary and Knights, while also forming an alliance with the Church of Kally, the God of Dragons plus Aslothia, Kingdom of the Undead.

- The group plus a small group of survivors & important NPCs where given 7 days to leave the Kingdom before the carnage begins, since the group is still in the beginning of their adventure (Lv. 4 of 20), they decided to go towards The Purple Wilds, a no-man land of nomadic barbarian tribes with a bloody history against Bielefeld.

- The important NPCs of the refugee group the party are leading are "a goblin cleric of the God of Thieves, who wants to prove he can be heroic too", "a low level human guard from the capital who wants more for his live", "a halfling priest of the Goddess of Life, who is slowly succumbing to the corruption of Aharadak" and "a dwarve balcksmith who was banished from Doherimm, the Hidden Kingdom of Dwarves"

For the next session, I've planned the first scenario, being a 4-way combat between four barbarian tribes, being the GURKA KAHN, humans against the god Aharadak and its corruption; the ZALLAR, half-corrupted devotees of Aharadak; the GAHMORADD, a small orc "kingdom" leaving in the mountain undergrounds; and the SKAGLEG, a very small tribe of lizardfolk hiding through the forest.

The Gurka Kahn want to fight off the anti-magic corruption plus maintain the traditional style of life.

The Zallar simply want to gain power and do so by spreading the influence of their evil god.

The Gahmoradd want to join the Trollkyrka Empire, a hidden slave state run by Noble Trolls, so the are proving themselves as herald of their invasion.

The Skagleg are trying to survive from all sides after allegations of them stealing and eating cattle has spread, although they had no hand in such doings (that was actually the doing of the Orcs from Gahmoradd).

The problem is, my idea was for the group to help out one of the tribes and then do a mission for them to gain their respect and finally become allies. However, I don't know how to guarantee they will CHOOSE ANY OF THEM!

They don't know these tribes exist nor what their stories are, plus their main mission are mainly:

1. Find a place to make a safe base for the refugees

2. Find out where the main villain took the wife of one of the players

3. Discover if one of the people helping the main villain is in fact the missing father of another player and why is he doing so

4. Discover a way to free the kingdom of Bielefeld from The Scarlet Tempest taking over it

5. Minor one, but one of the player, devout of the Minor God of Mercenaries, wants to amass 1 million gold pieces in pure wealth

My idea was for the tirbe they ally with helping not only give the players a place to stay but also help defend it in exchange of favors, but I don't know how to do it without forcing a plot upon my players, since I've never done a Sandbox before.

So my question is: how to I make the players interact with these tribes? And can I still have this combate where the group helps one tribe in a all-out brawl, or should I scrap it?

Hello! I'm mostly curious asking this because its something I have trouble thinking about, specially when I see people saying "Ranger is just a Fighter in the woods".

I believe my main inspirations to what my ideal Ranger is are

1. Aragorn (of course), in the sense of a tactical leader guiding through the wilds, leading by example.

2. Ranger's Apprentice (what actually started my passion for the archetype), as an royal scout and hidden protector of the kingdom from outside threats. Also, horses are cool :)

3. Monster Hunter (what continued my passion), from the angle of a expert hunter of larger than life menaces and keeper of balance between nature and civilization. Also, cats are cool :)

4. Batman (even if he is more a Monk-Rogue-Artificer in reality), since he knows his "favorite terrain" (Gotham) like the back of his hand, always has a plan and if very knowledgeable of the weakpoints of his "favored foes" (dangerous supervillains)

5. Ghost Recon (yes, the near-future, Spec-Ops Shooter), because they encompass the whole deal of a Ranger to me: great stealth, expert combat prowess and tools for every job.

Yes, Drizzt and Aragon mostly fought with melee weapons.

Yes, neither of them had Animal Companions (Guenhwyvar, Drizzt's Panther, was a magic item).

However, does the Ranger have a strong identity today? If far from a weak class, in fact, it's pretty good in actual games, I can affirm after playing one as my very first character in D&D being a Reborn Swarmkeeper Ranger. But damn... I can't see its identity beyond "Fighter, Rogue and Druid bits and pieces".

Rangers are great and they deserve better. So, they should be:

- THE Ranged Martial Class: If Ranged Fighters are a machine gun, Rangers should be doing trickshots. Tripping, slowing down, binding, AoEs, ranged Opportunity Attacks, etc. If Paladins and Barbarians are mostly Melee locked, Rangers should be the opposite.

- THE Battlefield Tactics Martial Class: They should be Fantasy Spec-Ops. Scouting the land ahead and gaining near-supernatural bonuses to themselves and their allies, being the best in ambushes, making traps, etc. They should be "VIETNAM: THE CLASS".

- THE Pet Class: This will most likely be my most controversial take, I imagine. Just give every Ranger an Animal Companion or two (or three). It doesn't need to me a fighting beast, it could just be a riding horse, sniffing hound or scouting bird, you know, a mount or familiar. Then each subclass should then give new pets to work with.

- THE Wandering Leader Class: D&D 5e made Wilderness Exploration & Overworld Travel less important than in the past, but the Ranger shouldn't suffer because of this, nor just trivialize it by existing. They should not only know where to go, but also lead by example, setting a course for the group. If they succed in a test, the group can follow them right behind and gain a bonus to their own tries, be it scaling a mountain, moving through difficult terrain of being more stealthy.

- A Half-Druid?: My last hot tkae is that Rangers don't need to be Halfcasters, but I'm okay with them continue to be simply because Spells are too strong to just pass along, but I think Ranger really have the potential to be more than just a "Fighter Subclass with Druid Spells"

After testing multiple reactions in a class through LaserLlama's Savant, it was so fun that it got me thinking "why isn't this a thing in official D&D?". When thinking which classes could get multiple reactions, my first thought where the main DEX Martials: the Monk, the Ranger and the Rogue.

- Rogues: Getting the chance for multiple Sneak Attacks and Uncanny Dodges would help them out a lot in terms of strength to an already really fun class.

- Monks: Deflect Attacks makes for such a simple but fun gameplay that having it multiple times seems like a no brainer!

- Rangers: Okay... So there isn't really much synergy currently, but this got me thinking on ideas of new abilities to put since we are already talking about a Ranger rework. For example, maybe they would be the first class to get Ranged Opportunity Attacks, no strings attached. Seems like a fun idea!

- All of them: An idea then popped in my head: why not make this their signature feature, the same way Spellcatsing is to Casters, Extra Attack is to Martials and Expertise is to the specialists? If Rogues can't get Extra Attack, then why not give them Extra Reactions? And sure, give it to Monks and Rangers as well!

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Me and my group want to play a mecha game in the future. LANCER is our first choice, but being honest I'm looking for a lighter RPG at the moment.

While I prefer crunchier games over lighter ones (currently playing Daggerheart & Tormenta20, a Brazilian version of D&D 3.5e), I've been a bit burnout by too many rules.

With all that, which are good Rules Light Mecha TTRPGs? I'm looking for:

• At least a bit of customization that isn't overwhelming (no 100 pages to create the perfect robot, more like 1 to 5 pages and the rest is reflavoring).
• Fun combat, but not complex combat (Theater of the Mind is okay, no rules for complex stuff like flanking and exact distances is okay, but would still have at least one of two cooler things to do beside move & attack).
• Themed of stories told can be happier and adventurous or more dour and somber, but I won't lie I prefer a happier tone at the moment.

Aside that, I'm open for anything suggesteed.

EDIT: Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions! Upon deliberating, I think I'll take a look at:

1. Aether Nexus
2. The Mecha Hack
3. APOCALYPSE FRAME
4. Armor Astir: Advent
5. Salvege Union
6. Mecha & Monsters: Evolved
7. Battle Century G/Battle Century S
8. NOVA

Some of these weren't mentioned here in the commments, but seemed to fit what I was looking for. Again, thank you all for the suggestions!

PS.: Sorry if this is a repeat theme from a post from 10 day ago, I didn't find it before mkaing my own

I'm in the early concept phase of a RPG hobby project of mine, nothing serious at the moment, just hopes and dreams.

I decided that I want to make a RPG that uses Classes, since I like to fit inside a niche protected archetype in my games. Before deciding how to go with this class system (be it multiclass heavy, classes + subclasses, classes with fixed progression or many feat/talents/powers), I decided to abstract the hell out of these classes first to its very core.

The genre for this game would be a Science Fantasy, where Dragons and Mechas, Swords and Guns, exist at the same time without much problem, but leaning more on the Fantasy side.

For this, I decided to go aaaall the way back to the D&D White Books and its first core classes: Fighting-man, Magic-User and Cleric, while also adding the Thief that came a little bit after.

-Fighting-man (which I I'll just call Warriors) deal with problems through combat and violence;

-Magic-users (Which I will simply call Mages) deal with problems through, well, Magic;

-Thiefs (which I will call Rogues) deal with problems through natural skill and mastery of the mundane.

Clerics, by design, are a middle point between Warriors and Mages, have some of the fighting and defensive capabilities of the former with a dash of magic abilities from the latter.

Considering this, I left only Warriors, Mages and Rogues to form my triangle, while making a few additional changes:

1. Mages will be Scholars in this design experiment, since I want all classes to have some access to magic that fits their archetypes.

2. Warriors = Might & Combat, being a class of "physical aptitude"; Scholars = Cunning & Wisdom, being a class of "grand knowledge"; Rogues = Dexterity & Expertise, being a class of "focused specialization".

3. I'm testing also implementing sub classes based on 5 "sources of power": Mundane, Arcane, Divine, Primal and Occult, so each class should have an option that can fit inside sources.

After all this, I thought to my self "can I make classes that mix and match two of the 3 classes in this triangle, the same way Cleric is a mix of Mage & Warrior?". The main problem is trying to find concepts that fit inside these combos.

For example, at first I made the mix of Warrior-Rogue be a Slayer/Hunter/Ranger, but could really find a good niche for it outside "I love Rangers and want them in my game". Later with the addition of the "sources of power" concept, Rangers would better fit as a Primal Rogue in this system.

So now I'm back to the drawing board. Considering all this what would be good fits for:

- Warrior & Scholar?

- Scholar & Rogue?

- Rogue & Warrior?

EDIT 1: Upon some early consideration, 3 contenders seem to be pretty could ideas that not only make sense combined but also have a good niche for their own that doesn't step on others:

Warrior + Scholar = Tactician, being a class of "people control"

Scholar + Rogue = Inventor (maybe call it Talent to be more comprehensive), being a class of "outstanding breakthrough"

Rogue + Warrior = Outlander or Wanderer, being a class of "inventive discovery"

EDIT 2: With these 6 in place (Warrior, Outlander, Rogue, Talent, Scholar, Tactician), I could then proceed with ideas for the subclasses. For example:

MUNDANE = these 6 above

ARCANE = Speelblade/Belicist, Mystic, Trickster, Artificer, Wizard, Bard

DIVINE = Templar, Pilgrim, Inquisitor, Friar, Cleric, ???

PRIMAL = Warden/Green Knight, Hunter/Ranger, Shifter, ???, Druid, ???

OCCULT = Hexblade, Reaper, ???, Reanimator, Witch, Necromancer

These are just quick ideas, not set in stone. Do they make sense, or should I go after another thing?

For example, I truly believe that Paladin is the best designed class in the game when it comes to translating the archetype's fantasy into game mechanics.

Going deeper into why I believe so, the class has very simple to understand but greatly effective abilities:

- They have what I call the "Halfcasting Basic Kit", that being stuff like Weapon Mastery, Fighting Style, Extra Attack, Spells and as a bonus they get Channel Divinity

- Their first unique ability, Lay on Hands, is as simple as "BA to touch and heal"

- The second one, Divine Smite, though nerfed from 5e, still is a simple "BA from extra damage"

- The third with Aura of Protection is as simple as "You and allies close around have better saves" and is often considered one of the best abilities im the game still

- Then every one of these abilities games a pseudo-upgrade, like Abjure Foes, Aura of Courage, Radiant Strikes and Restoring Touch

- Even the subclasses have a good pattern of Extra Spells, Extra Uses for Channel Divinity, New Aura, Unique Thematic Ability and a Transformation Capstone. Some breaks this mold, but that isn't bad, just means more variety in design.

- And let's not forget its spells, with a good mix of Cleric spells for support of all type be it through new auras or touch effects, but also very fun and effective Paladin exclusive spells (I specially love the whole line of Smite spells, so much that I wish the Ranger had something similar with it's Hunter's Mark spell become q full line of Mark spell)

- And finally... Faithful Steed... Gonna be honest, its a good ability, but I don't know why they put it there. It DOES fit the fantasy of "Knight in Ahining Armor", but it feels disconnected from the rest of the class since nothing returns to it in the future, nothing build upon this base. Its just... There...

EDIT: Forgot to mention, but I also like that it has 1 clear weakness, being its lack of ranged option

EDIT 2: Some other classes I really like the design would be Rogues, Warlocks and a bit Fighter, Barbarian and Monk. My least favorite design-wise would be Rangers, Druids and Artificers. If they were done better, they would easily become my favorite classes since I love their classe fantasies but hate their design in 5.5e

EDIT 3: since I talked all this mechanic talk and didn't explain why they fit the fantasy, so here it is:

All the Paladins features help with it being a "Protector of the Weak" & "Zealous Warrior". Lay on Hands is basically being Jesus and curing with a touch of your fingers, Aura of Protection represents the rightous dignity of Paladin, so that its very own presence wards of bad things like fear or even explosions, Smite is holy fury in your hands, Channel Divinity is you clerical training and Weapon Mastery is your martial training. The Faithful Steed is super thematic with its only problem being a lack of interaction with the rest of its abilities, to me

Specially:

- Tales of the Valiant

- Draw Steel

- Daggerheart

- Pathfinder 2e REMASTER

- DC20

- Nimble RPG

- Level Up 5e

- Shadowdark (and OSR in general)

- Any others that I might forgot

Edit: for my own opinions.

Daggerheart has become my second favorite TTRPG at the moment. Its mix of lighter narrativistic & crunchy tactical gameplay is exactly what I was looking for.

I've tried Pathfinder 2e a few times as of now, though in very small doses. Its a bit too crunchy for my liking, though I love the design ideas of the game, even if it didn't click with me in practice.

Nimble... I had a bad time GMing it for the first time, since I decided to GM at the very last second, plus I found the starter adventure a bit ass. Love the general rules (specially on the GM side), but my players found the player side too light for our group tastes.

The rest I haven't tried yet, though I want to try out Tales of the Valiant, Draw Steel, Level Up 5e and any OSR/NSR like Shadowdark in the future.