r/ttrpgdesign

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I’m rebuilding my little system from the group up right now and trying to pin down some core elements/ ideas. I want the game to play as a gritty, lower health game with supernatural elements and spooky monsters. A basic outline of my idea is as follows:

Players are students at a boarding school a couple months after a supernatural event drew monsters from the earth and filled the air with poisonous gas. Survivors stay inside and underground to avoid danger but they are never truly safe. Among the survivors are individuals who have “strong souls” ( their class and the ability to commune with and understand the supernatural) and have gained otherworldly powers. Gameplay will consist of surviving and exploring the monster overrun school, interacting with other groups of survivors, killing monsters, and communing with deities (or killing them) to strengthen your “soul”. Players are working to figure out how it happened, why it happened, and if they can return everything to normal.

My little ordeal is that i’ve got two ideas that I probably could figure out on my own but i’d like some advice on obvious problems or recommendations. (I’ll be using 5e stats during explanation to keep it simple). My two ideas are pretty much just two different ways to implement “perks”

1. Stat Increment Bonuses

When a character reaches specific increments in a stat they’ll get to pick from a couple minor bonuses. Ex. character has 13 Str which means they get one extra inventory slot or get an increase to pushing and grappling (just an example i’ll figure out the bonuses when the time comes). When they hit 15, they’ll get something, and when they hit 18 they’ll get another.

2. Virtue and Vices

During character creation players can choose “virtues” and “vices” (positive and negative bonuses) split between major and minor. If they pick a major virtue they’ll have to pick a major vice and same with minor. They’ll choose a set amount of both major and minor OR i’ll make it a point system kinda like project zomboid (each positive bonus has a positive point value and each negative bonus has a negative point value. You can pick as many positive as you want but will have to take as many negative bonuses to make them them equal zero
ex. 1
Major Virtue: +5 health
Major Vice: -1 dexterity

Ex. 2 (zomboid)

Virtue with point value 4
————-
Vice with point value -1
Vice with point value -1
Vice with point value -1
Vice with point value -1
———
total points = 0✅

Everything is up in the air and i’m still figuring stuff out
by the minute. Any advice on the whole “perk” fiasco is appreciated- I would like to include them to give people a more specialized core character but I might just end up tying “perks” to class progression (spend a resource to advance a class specific skill tree)

I made this Vermis-inspired TTRPG. I haven't included the third book in it yet, but it has most of the content from the first two books. Feel free to check it out and give me some criticism.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1K_rTFDSQJm8ffk9MfD1zmjAjc702-z1D?usp=drive_link

Mainly i need too add new classes.

In a lot of contemporary crunchy games, leveling up also levels up the difficulty of the combat and noncombat challenges you face.

I understand the thrill of “number go up.”

But you quickly discover you’re graduating from goblins to orcs and orcs to ogres and ogres to giants and so forth. You still beat five of them in three rounds and lose 20% of your HP.

Your 75% chance to pick a rusty village bandit lock at level 2 is no different from the 75% chance you have to pick an enchanted gnomish clockwork lock at level 16.

But there’s a lot of effort required to create 400 pages of feats, class abilities, maneuvers, spells, and stuff to facilitate 20 level ups (or whatever the game has). So there’s got to be a good reason for doing all that work.(1)

Designers working on systems with levels — what’s your reason for including them? What benefit do they provide that’s worth all that work?

Designers working on systems with advancement, but not levels — what’s your reason for including advancement rules?

Designers working on games without advancement at all — what is that doing for your game?

(1) I wrote a whole blog post about some of the benefits of level / CR systems, so I’m not ignorant here. You don’t have to explain to me what D&D players get out of it. I just want to hear a diverse group of opinions and design goals for advancement systems from a diverse group of designers!

After a lot of pain I managed to turn a nice pdf I had into a book looking thingie, I like it a lot mainly because I got carpal tunnel doing all the drawings. It is a light hearted TTRPG that takes place during the prohibition(Dates are hilariously off but I will ignore that and say it's my head cannon) here it is tell me what you think about it.

Hi everyone, it's my first time posting here (so hopefully this is ok). I am in the early stages of designing a TTRPG and was hoping to get some feedback.

Design Goals

I want to deal a lot with feelings of guilt, lost ideals, and whether ends justify means. The engine revolves around holding two things in tension:

A) You can defeat the vampire but it means you will lose many of those you hold most dear and your core ideals.

B) You can keep those you care about safe, but at the cost of betraying your fellow hunters, and failing to rid the land of the vampire.

Mechanics

Relative minimalist mechanics that focus on player interactions with each other within a structured framework. The game has a GM and around 4 players and revolves around players writing letters to each other, and playing out scenes (alone with the GM).

Background

At the centre of the room is a map of the Hunter's homeland, with 5 locations (e.g. the Old Mill on top of the hill; the Church on the edge of town). Each of these has a preset "cast" of characters (e.g. the Stone family, Edric (the father) a stout-man with a loud, hearty-laugh, Jack (the son), a small, timid boy of about 12).

The Hunters once came from this land, they were a part of this community, but have been gone for many years.

Setup

Each player receives a pregenerated character with a short description of who they are, what their role was in the community, their relation to other hunters and why they left.

Each player must write the following:

• Memory: a fond memory you have of one of the locations/characters, (e.g. I remember when Jack was little, I used to look after him when the family went to the market. I'd pretend to be a terrifying monster, and he'd pretend to hunt me) - Each player writes for 2 locations. [The idea here is to try and create an emotional connection to each part of the community].
• Secret: Each of the Hunters is (in some small part) responsible for the arrival of the Vampire to these lands. Why? - Each player creates for the player to their right. [The aim here is to seed each player with some guilt that will eventually come to the fore].
• Ideals: Each player writes three ideals (things they will not do). Write one for yourself, and one for each of your neighbours. (e.g. I will never raise my hand against the helpless; I would sooner die than serve the Dark Lord. [The idea here is to later provide some accusatory material]

The game uses a candle as a timer (mark the candle with black lines at set intervals, e.g. 3cm, 6cm). These are "marks".

Playing the Game

The game will run uninterrupted over the course of c. 2 hours (marked by the burning of a single tall candle). During that time there will be two "modes" each player can engage in (Correspondence and The Hunt).

Each of these is played out in separate rooms. The Correspondence room is lit by the candle, and players may not talk in this room. The Hunt room is pitch black (and players who enter it may talk).

Correspondence

Each player is provided an ink pot, quill, envelopes, parchment, wax, a seal, and a melting cup. Players may use these to write letters to each other.

The Vampire (GM) may also write letters to players during this period, offering to keep those they love safe. This may correspond to either another Hunter or to a Location (and its cast). The deal will have a cost (misleading the other players about where Trail goes). If a player agrees to the deal they must mislead players about where the trail leads (even if they find it). However, the next Hunt scene played at the location they protected, the Hunter can roll using the Vampire's dice (see below) or if they protected a specific Hunter, the next Hunt scene that Hunter is in. [The point of the correspondence is to help them get into character, to provide those moments of discovery/dread after a player comes back from the Hunt, to give players these feelings of guilt as they have to decide what matters more to them, i.e. The Hunt or the other characters, to play out these lies, secrets, broken ideals.].

When the candle burns down to a "mark" the GM asks a player to point at a location on the map. That player and the GM will then go to the Hunt room, to play out a scene there alone. There will be 10 scenes total

The Hunt

For each location there is a set of prompt cards, the prompt card the GM draws depends on the current "Peril" of that location. Each prompt card contains the following:

Peril: Depending on the Peril level this prompt was drawn for, the scene discovered will be worse (see below).

Discover: A brief description of what the player discovers at that scene (adapted by the GM to focus on things that player cares about), e.g. a low peril might be (the inhabitants with their shutters drawn, sheep's blood on the doors) or a high peril would be a scene of devastation (but it is up to the GM which characters/elements they apply that to). Keep in mind that the location (and its cast) are described on the map.

Choices: The idea here is to hint at something darker under the surface of each location, and push the players to break their ideals to discover it (this should be decided by the GM as they play out the scene). For instance, if they have: I will never hurt those weaker than me, the GM could say that they find a small girl with bite marks on her neck who the others say is bewitched, surely she knows something about the vampire, but refuses to tell.

Revisit: If the location has already been visited by that player (or another) any interaction they had with that location should be reflected there).

Trail: This should be a clue towards a next location (i.e. where the players will be pointed to go if they succeed in investigating the scene). It should be somewhat vague (so that it could point in several directions, but will increase the chances the players go to the right one).

When the player arrives at the scene they play it out with the GM. The GM sets the scene, and plays the characters in it. Presenting dangers (depending on the Peril) and choices.

Rolls

• Each time the Hunter wants to find out information, or each time they are trying to avoid (or keep another character) from danger. They roll the Hunter pool (starting at 10D6). A scene ends when the hunter has discovered the trail (or when they refuse to go further and choose to end the scene). Each time a scene ends you move one dice to the Vampire's pool.
• Each time a Hunter rolls, they remove every roll of 1 from their pool (and set it aside for the rest of the scene). If they have a number of sixes greater than the Vampire they find out what they want or save who they want from danger. If not, they don't, and the scene immediately ends and they add one Peril to their hunter and to that location. If they manage to find the Trail before this happens the scene ends and they and they increase the "Tracked" marker by one. If the current Hunt scene was played at the location on the prompt card for the previous location (i.e. they followed the trail correctly and were not misled), the Tracked marker increases by two instead.
• When a Hunter increases their Peril they are provided a prompt (from the GM) of what happened to them. They are in some way injured or hurt (and can let other players know this). If it reaches the end of the Track, then they will die during the Confrontation.
• If the Hunter breaks their ideal (or if someone did a Deal with the Vampire). Then instead of rolling with the Hunter's dice they may choose to roll with the Vampire dice pool (and do not lose one's for that roll). If they break an ideal they must add "Unless...", i.e. "I will never hurt the weak, unless they are corrupted by the strong".

The Confrontation

After the 10 scenes have been played, and the candle is out we play "the Confrontation". Any players who maxxed out their Peril die during this confrontation. The Vampire gloats of the decimation of any locations that maxxed out their Peril. If the "Tracked" marker is high enough then the Hunters kill the vampire. If not, then any players who made a deal with the Vampire must cross the room to stand beside him, as they are bitten on the neck, and turned. They then flee with him into the night.

At the end of the game, each player then reads out their Ideals (with the modifications they made from breaking them).

Influences

The game is inspired by games like Ten Candles and Alice is Missing, in that it is meant to evoke an emotional response, have a relatively serious tone, and keep players on a tense, immersive journey. Another key influence is the idea of clear, informed choices (i.e. that players enjoy games more if they know clearly the different directions they can head and this has a meaningful impact), and there are some light social deduction elements.

Issues

I am concerned that the Setup is too diffuse, there are too many elements and realistically they won't be brought into play. Crucially, I worry that the "setup" elements are not what the core engine is focused around, and so maybe won't form a good centre for communication, i.e. communication will revolve largely around 1) what each player discovers at each location. 2) what is happening to players. But the objects of these (the denizens/players) are more diffuse than in a game like Alice, and this will detract from the core tension.

I also think compared to Alice it lacks the "central mystery" that keeps the players engaged, and may struggle to ratchet tension (though this largely depends on how well written the prompt cards are). However, I think that tacking on external systems will likely just make this issue worse.

Most of the exact numbers (locations, time, dice) are just examples and will be subject to change. Also, I'm not at all attached to the dice mechanics, if anyone has any better ideas of how to work this. In general I like the idea of draining from one pool to the next (ratcheting tension) and betrayal/breaking ideals giving you access to the other pool.

Feedback

I'd be really curious to hear any feedback anyone has. As I said, this is my first time designing a TTRPG, and I can tell in some places it's not very tight. It's hard for me to tell if the mechanics serve the emotional core of the game well enough, i.e. if they will make the players actually feel for the NPCs or each other. Anyway, if you made it this far, I owe you much gratitude 😄 Thanks for taking a look.

I'm making a bendy and the ink machine inspired dnd campaign I'm using base dnd for stats as well as select classes and select weapons. However I want to homebrew 3 classes and a race, this would be my first ever homebrew class/race. I've been trying to rack my brain for ideas since the start of the year and only have what I want them to be (reporter, Animator, repairman, and a toon race) I'm tempted to just look through and see if anyone has made any similar classes/races but any ideas would be well appreciated and more then likely implemented

ive already decided against a lot of names, i prefer single word names. i didnt like "the ocean plane" or similar things like that. i want something thats... cooler?

heres some examples of what i mean from other planes.

Orange or a "chaos plane" - Helion.

Red or a "fire plane" - Crucible.

Green or "life plane" - Verdance.

you see what i mean? i want something that feels fantastical, that i can use for water/ice. ive been wracking my brain for a while but havent figured it out.

This is what I have so far and am working on refining some things before settling on how features work and how to design missions, etc. I wanted the game to feel fast paced though. Also would love questions Incase there's anything that's not clear

SPY OR DIE: OPERATIONAL MANUAL

Welcome to SPY OR DIE. You are a professional operative. This game is about tension, precision, and surviving the impossible.

I. THE CORE ENGINE

The dice do not just calculate math; they direct the action in this thrilling game of espionage.

1. THE TALENT/SKILL SYSTEM

In this game, your skill is measured by Dice. Instead of adding small numbers, your talent determines how many sides your dice have.

The Rule of Dice: A bigger die is better but what determines your die is the value of that talent with values of 1 to 5 you get dice with sides D4's (Smallest/Weakest) →→ D6 →→ D8 →→ D10 →→ D12 (Largest/Strongest)

Talents: These are your natural abilities (Leverage, Finesse, Composure and Subterfuge).

Skills: These are things you’ve trained in (e.g., Close Quarters Combat, Marksmanship, Driving, Hacking).

Leverage(LEV): Physical power and intimidation - Skills:CQC, Brute Force, Intensity - Fighting in small rooms, hitting people hard and scaring people into submission

Finesse (FIN): Speed, accuracy, and grace - Skills: Marksmanship, Stealth, Agility - Using guns, hiding from guards, dodging traps or dancing

Composure (COMP): Mental toughness and willpower - Skills: Toughness, Discipline, Driving - Taking a hit, following orders and knowing vehicles

Subterfuge (SUB): Trickery and being sneaky - Skills: Infiltration, Hacking, Deception - Planning, computers and gadgets and lying

2. Character Creation Depending on the type of Spy you are you may be at the start of your career or have a few missions under your belt and that means having a head start experience wise. Depending on whether you're a rookie, experienced agent or a legend in the world of espionage your talents might differ and have more unique traits that have helped you get the job done. Investing points in your different talents will increase the size of your dice for those specific talent checks and skill checks that belong to that talent stat.

Spy Career Rookie: 10 Talent Points | 1 Archetypes
Experienced: 12 Talent Points | 3 Archetypes
Legend: 14 Talent Points | 5 Archetypes

3. Health & Adrenaline  Health (HP): This is your life bar. If it hits 0, your character is dead. You get 3 as a rookie, 4 as experienced and 5 as a legend.
   Injury Track: If you take a hit, you might get a "Condition". Track wounds that cause persistent effects like Bleeding or Wounded.
   Adrenaline: This is your "cool factor." Spend to Reroll, Negate Negative results, or trigger specialized combat maneuvers. Everyone can spend Adrenaline to increase the results of their dice rolls by that amount.

"Flow" (The Super State): If you roll the highest number possible on a die (like rolling a 12 on a 12-sided die), you are in a "Flow" state. You get to roll that die again and add the new number to your total! You are performing perfectly and get 3 Adrenaline tokens once per check which you can use during or after this roll even on the new die rolled after entering the flow state. You can also increase the value of your die when rolling checks to its max value causing it to explode and enter the "flow" state this way. You can continue investing Adrenaline even after entering the flow state as long as you have Adrenaline to spend and can explode your other dice including the reroll as long as you have adrenaline to spare but don't get the free 3 Adrenaline from entering the flow state as you're already in it during the check. You start every mission with 3 Adrenaline.

If defending cannot die from this attack even if them succeeding would kill you but you suffer a random condition. You also can not enter the "flow" state rolling max value on a die used by an item, gadget or weapon you are not proficient in.

II. THE ACTION: Fighting & Skill Checks

When you try to do something difficult (like picking a lock or shooting a guard), the Game Master (GM) compares your total to the enemy's total. The Talent die chosen is very much decided by the GM or "The Director" but your skill die is decided by you the player if you can convincingly explain why it should be used for the scenario. An example being is if you're using a gun you might be asked to roll Finesse but depending on whether you're surrounded by a group of enemies you could try and roll CQC, or if you're planning an assassination you could make a case for rolling Marksmanship or Stealth. These skill choices matter because the spy you create might be uniquely capable at certain skills which we will get to in the traits and perks section. Another aspect of this game is during combat if you have a weapon it will give you a bonus to your roll depending at how good you are at using it.

Formula: (Your Total) - (Enemy's Total) = The Result

Your Total: Talent Die + Skill Die + (Weapon/Bonus)

Enemy's Total: Talent Die + Skill Die + (Weapon/Armor Bonus) or Mission Difficulty die + Scenario/Threat Difficulty Die + Heat Level

Set the Mission Difficulty Die (MDD)

Easy:d4

Medium: d6

Difficult: d8

Hard: d10

Intense: d12

Impossible:d20

Set the Scenario Die (SD)

Easy:d4

Medium: d6

Difficult: d8

Hard: d10

Intense: d12

Impossible:d20

Set the Threat Die (TD)

1 Enemy: d4

2-3 Enemies: d6

4-6 Enemies: d8

7-9 Enemies: d10

10-12 Enemies:d12

13+ Enemies:d20

Heat Level: A mission starts at a Heat of 0 and maxes out at 5 due to repeated failures and bad decisions. Heat determines the minimum value that the GM/Director's dice value can be. As an example with a heat level of 3 he rolls two d6 and gets 5 and 1, because of the current heat level the check to beat becomes 8 instead of 6.

Proficiency: Melee: Proficient = +Weapon Die; Unproficient = Replace Weapon Die with d4. Ranged: Proficient = +Weapon Die; Unproficient = Roll +Weapon Die with Disadvantage.

The Outcome (The Result): Once you subtract the enemy's number from yours, look at this list to see what happens depending combat and non combat scenarios:

SINGLE COMBAT

\+6 or higher: Finishing Blow. You crush them! (3 Damage + 2 extra effects + 2 Adrenaline) OR Spend 3 Adrenaline to end fight,

\+4 to +5: Critical Hit. A massive strike! (2 Damage + 1 extra effect + 1 Adrenaline).

\+2 to +3: Effective Strike. You landed a good hit. (1 Damage + 1 Adrenaline).

0 to +1: Stalemate. A wash. No damage, but you gain 1 Adrenaline for trying.

\-1 to -2: Defensive Success. The enemy blocked you. They gain 1 Adrenaline.

\-3 to -4: Tactical Displace. They pushed you back. They gain 2 Adrenaline and rolls next attack at Advantage.

\-5 or lower: Total Failure. You missed completely! The defender gets to move out of range/ reposition to escape or gain 3 Adrenaline.

MULTIPLE OPPONENTS COMBAT

\+7 or higher: Killed at least 4 enemies and gained 4 Adrenaline and are able to end combat or change engagement(e.g. ranged to close quarters)

\+5 or +6 (The Showstopper): You perform a cinematic move! You neutralize (Stun/Knockdown) all enemies in the immediate engagement and gain 2 Adrenaline.

\+3 to +4 (The Multi-Strike): You strike with precision. You hit two enemies (1 damage each) or stun one and hit another. Gain 1 Adrenaline.

\+1 to +2 (The Precision Hit): You hit one enemy for 1 damage. Gain 1 Adrenaline.

0 (The Stalemate): No damage, but you gain 1 Adrenaline for holding the line.

Negative Result (The Overwhelmed): You don't die! You simply lose your momentum. You gain +1 Heat and the enemies gain Advantage on their next attack against you.

NON-COMBAT

\+6 or higher: Masterstroke Goal achieved perfectly and Gain all possible intel of the current scenario and 3 Adrenaline

\+4 to +5: Clean Success Goal achieved and Gain 1 to 2 pieces of intel plus possible clue to help moving forward and gain 1 Adrenaline

\+2 to +3: Success Goal achieved and Gain 1 Adrenaline

0 to +1: Complicated Goal achieved but with a cost you Gain 1 Adrenaline and +1 Heat as you may have drawn attention.

\-1 to -3: Setback Goal failed. Gain +1 Heat and failed to gather intel.

\-4 to -6: Compromised Goal failed. Gain +2 Heat. Location revealed/Guards alerted.

\-7 or lower: Total Disaster Goal failed. Gain max Heat.

Hi,

I'm starting to see a bit of a raising of RolePlay as therapy or safe space for social practice for neuro divergence players.

What is the best ttrpg game design pillars for that ? DnD ? OSR ? DC20 ? Rules Lite ?

Not sure if this is the best sub to ask ?