r/RPGcreation

Without further context, would you imagine most people investing in a new game would prefer:

A) More character options in the core book & a free solo play supplement document?

B) Solo play rules in the core book & a free character options supplement document?

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Hi! I’ve been working on a new RPG system( yes, like everyone does at least once in life) and I'm wanting some feedback.

The theme is focused on caravan travelling to an unexplored, ecosystem with paranormal hints of and interacting with creatures and habitats.

The tone leans more toward narrative, survival and collaborative discovery than traditional combat-focused fantasy. A big part of the experience is traveling through living environments, learning how different regions and creatures work, and slowly upgrading the caravan and group over time.

I’m starting to gather outside feedback before playtesting, so I’d really like to know what people naturally expect or would want from a game like this.

What kinds of things would catch your attention first?

What usually makes exploration fun for you in RPGs — or what makes it get repetitive fast?

And if you were playing something like this, what kinds of moments would you hope to experience?

Any thoughts, ideas, or even first impressions are super welcome

Hi! I'm developing Deadbeat, a TTRPG where you play as a musicaly powered undead soldier that uses their superhuman abilities to destroy enemies and look cool doing it. I am recording devlogs to mainly document my progress as I develop the game and hopefully other people find interesting.

That's it, I just want to make something cool and neat that I enjoy and maybe other people might enjoy it as well.

I'm slowly creating my system since 2024,and I have a doubt.

The regular character in my rpg system has around 18-23 HP at level 0 (dunno why).

Is 1d10 balanced enough for a punch?

Hey!

What do you think about this: in my battle shonen rules-light TTRPG, characters don't have traditional attributes like strength or agility (I like them btw). Instead, only your “Power Level” matters for every check. For regular tests (like jumping a big or climbing a wet cathedral), you can use your Specialties for a massive bonus. 

The core mechanic is: Roll 2d12 and add your Power Level. If the result reaches or beats the TN (Target Number), you succeed. Modifiers from Talents, Techniques, or Combat Maneuvers can also apply. 

A Critical Hit happens when your total result is at least 10 points higher than the TN. You can even get multiple criticals for every additional 10 points over the TN. 

I know it’s not the newest concept in the world, but it works really cinematically for me. Just like my fixed 1 point damage system.

What are your thoughts?

UPDATE:
Thanks to your feedback, I’ve changed “Level” to “Power Level”. It’s much more accurate for the system and the genre. Thanks, everyone!

This is a fan project — non-commercial, unaffiliated with Lucasfilm.

Been working on SWURPG for a few months and wanted to share the design center and the tradeoffs in case anyone here is sitting with similar problems.

The starting problem:

Star Wars Saga Edition is, in my view, the most versatile Star Wars TTRPG ever published — the species roster, the equipment depth, the way it handles Force users, real character math under the hood. But it's also dense enough that I couldn't get groups to commit to learning it. D&D 5e is the opposite: streamlined and approachable, but most Star Wars 5e hacks lose the Star Wars-ness in translation.

The bet I made: granular options don't slow play down if the action system is fast. Keep Saga's depth (94 playable species with real mechanical tradeoffs, 21 classes and subclasses, full Force-user mechanics, granular equipment), strip the resolution layer down to 5e's bones (1 Action / 1 Bonus / 1 Reaction, advantage/disadvantage, d20 + modifier vs DC).

What actually shipped:

• Interactive character builder — web-based, no signup. Builds L1–L20 characters with all derived stats, Force powers, equipment, ASI choices. Export to PDF, JSON, or cloud-save. This was harder to ship than the rulebook and it's the part that most differentiates the project from typical fan TTRPGs.
• 62-page core rulebook PDF — print-ready, free. Also lives as MDX on the site.
• Beginner adventure (3 hours, 6 pre-built characters), 63 Force powers, equipment catalogs, monster bestiary across factions.

Tradeoffs I'm still sitting with:

1. Force-power balance. Players gravitate toward the same handful of powers. Not sure yet whether that's "those are obviously good" or my Force-Point cost model is wrong. I went with FP-as-resource (refreshes on long rest) instead of spell slots — simpler to track but harder to balance against martial classes.
2. Subclass timing. Subclass picks happen at L3. By L11 players don't always feel attached to the choice, even after seeing the options at L3. Open question whether subclass features should unfold more gradually.
3. Starship combat as a separate mode. I've shipped chassis + weapons + a starship-builder, but starship play feels different enough from ground combat that I'm not confident the same action economy scales. Currently shipping it as optional rather than core.

If you want to poke at the actual artifact:

• Character builder — try a Force-user and a non-Force class and see if the math feels right.
• Comparison pages — side-by-side with D&D 5e, Saga Edition, and FFG's narrative-dice line. I've tried to be fair to all three; if I've mischaracterized one, please tell me.

Genuinely interested in design anti-patterns you see, or whether the "Saga depth + 5e action economy" combination actually lands for your groups. Community + feedback in the Discord (footer link).

I am very much a noob in this game and just got an artists to quote me book art work (full for covers, line drawings inside) it came in at approx. $14K USD.

My budget is such i need crowd funding which i will set at the 14K quoted.

Now my questions:

1. I assume I simply quote the quote to justify the amount.

2. Kick-starters require the participants to receive something for their participation. At first I thought that would be the actual Gamebook (PDF or Hard), which means The kickstarter then morphs into something different. Right? But if I run a crowd funder that is for a artwork book only is that good enough, or should it be for the game book, thus upping the goal amount?

All advice on this subject most welcome.

My passion project — a TTRPG setting, loosely system-agnostic but with a specific ruleset license in mind — has me stuck on a question I can't shake: how do people actually use these things?

Last night I needed to look up a rule and just Ctrl-F'd the PDF. It worked. But it made me wonder if I'm fooling myself about what "a book" even means in this hobby anymore.

I've been writing in Obsidian, which naturally breaks everything into linked, navigable chunks. It's been great for the writing process. But when it comes to the idea of finalizing and publishing — I'm now bumping into a question: is the traditional format (prose, in a specific order, on pages) actually the best way to present and sell this kind of work? Or are we mostly just making PDFs shaped like books out of habit?

I love the idea of a book. The pages, the concreteness, the art, the physical limits that force good editing. I grew up with them — literally, that's all there was when I started playing TTRPGs. But I'm increasingly unsure they're the right answer for how people actually sit down and run a game.

Has anyone thought seriously about this? Is there anything on the market that handles it meaningfully differently? I'm especially curious whether a more wiki-style or hyperlinked approach has worked for anyone, and what the tradeoffs looked like in practice.

Another article by Horia? So soon? Well, I guess we are spoiled.

This time something that in retrospective sits somewhat closer to home than I anticipated when he first sent me the draft for editing. Some musings on creating your own system, the challenges and process of doing that.

To be more precise, in Horia's case, we are talking about trying to create a generic version of oWoD's Storyteller system for a cyberpunk game.

And before you say it, we're well aware of The Future World of Darkness, but sometimes Eris hits you with that sweet creative chaos and you have to ride the wave and build your own stuff.

I am genuinely curious to see if you tried anything similar to this, if you tried making your own system and how that whole endeavor went. Till next time, remember, ride that wave!

# Introduction:

Hi! Longtime lurker, first time poster, with 26 years of being forever-DM across multiple groups, and a solo-player for about 6 months now. Well met, everybody!

# Context:

About a year ago, I was talking some smack about D&D to my current players about how WotC wildly over-complicates what should be a very simple premise of a game. Everyone old enough to remember THAC0 should have a good, hearty chuckle to know that I was talking about 2014-5e, not 3.5e, not 2e, not Chainmail, to these sweet summer-children. And, I agree with you, but my point stands. Unless you want a physics simulator with magic, specifically, maybe there are simpler choices out there for collabo-narrative games.

Anyway, I decided to put my money where my mouth was. I originally meant to handle it in 5 pages, and this is 33 including the ToC and cover page, so I failed the challenge of my shit-talk, but I ended up with a fully baked system for solo players and groups alike. I do plan on sharing with the multiplayer ttrpg subreddits, but I wanna hear from my solo compatriots here first, because that's how I'm playing it right now myself.

# Elevator Pitch:

It's called *Chance of Success*, and it's setting agnostic, fiction-first, and intended to be easy to learn and easier to play.

* Skills and Talents are d100 roll-low, making your character's skill score your literal *Chance of Success* at the task. Yes, that is where the name comes from and it *is* that intuitive to play.

* It's not just pass or fail binary: there's Skill Mastery, and it's as intuitive as Easy (Apprentice) / Medium (Journeyman) / Hard (Master) - and it determine the quality of the output of the Skill Check as well as the difficulty of the attempt.

* **Combat** and **Social Conflict** are handled with the same mechanics and they are intended to be fast - characters only have 5 HP (= 5L of blood), 5 SP (Stamina; non-lethal damage, energy), and 5 RP (Resolve; social damage or standing).

# Relatable Anecdote:

I'm currently playing two solo campaigns in this system to playtest it so I can say affirmatively that it's out-of-the-box compliant with both Mythic GME and the Juice Oracle. I know they're system agnostic themselves, but their being based on d10s and d100s, the game-feel is *very* cohesive, and that's what I mean here. Their game-feel in tandem is really smooth. It feels to me, the author, like it was intentional and it was not.

# Call to Action:

I'd really appreciate it if you took some time to play my game, so here I am passing it around the internet for free. I'd love your feedback, good, bad, and ugly. I intend to publish this, so if you provide your feedback on this post in a reasonable amount of time, of course, I'll include your username as a formal playtester in the credits. Or DM me your feedback with the name you'd prefer to be listed as, whatever you fancy.

Sincerely, I just really appreciate you even reading this post, let alone trying my game out.

And don't hesitate to reach out with questions. I'm not terminally online, I coach rec soccer and have a day job, but I can absolutely answer technical/mechanical questions as I check in.

# Some Timeline Stuff:

Beta window closes 31 August 2026. Obviously feel free to keep playing the beta version, but I'll close the feedback window in August.

It's a Google Drive Link to a pdf file, feel to copy/download it and give it a whirl: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CKvXUUbSuuSouKy7V6w31RV8Z2aocD2m/view?usp=sharing\](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CKvXUUbSuuSouKy7V6w31RV8Z2aocD2m/view?usp=sharing)

PS, if you know any illustrators that might be interested in the project, tell them to DM me. Serious prospects only, please.

EDIT: huh, looks like this wasn't very well received. Dunno what's up but sorry about that!

Hello I run an RPG book club over at r/myrpg, and I'm putting together a charity RPG itch.io bundle with donations going to DOTS RPG project, a charity that foster's accessibility in role-playing games through various projects including creating and distributing Braille based dice.

The idea is not only is this a chance to support a charity, but boost all the projects participating in the bundle by creating a collection of oft overlooked games!

Submissions are open till May 22 (not a lot of time left now 😬 sorry I'm posting here a bit late) and the pay what you want bundle will launch on June 24.

All projects including work in progress and free games are welcome, but no more than two submissions per creator, and some may be removed If there is a major flaw in mechanics or many flaws in terms of presentation. This will be based on my opinion, and thus pretty subjective, but I think a more limited bundle with a bit of quality control just in case could make people more willing to check out a indie/amateur that also contains developing projects. This means if your project is paid, I need to be sent a free copy to look it over once you submit.

The overall number of submissions may be limited as well, as I'm hoping a midsized bundle full of unique creative independent projects that have been vetted to ensure they are reasonably understandable when reading through stands the biggest chance of the submissions in the bundle actually being played.

After submissions close Each submission must be approved by the creator in order to transfer to the bundle so please provide a way of contacting you if you do not check your itch.io associated email frequently. Here is a link to the jam https://itch.io/jam/myrpg-bookclub-jam 

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, and please keep an eye out for the bundle when it launches on the 24th! Even if you don't plan to submit or donate, there are a lot of really cool games that I personally recommend to pick up and play, all with creators that would be ecstatic to have more game masters and or players!