#true20

[tlaquetzqui]

Decided to do like True20, and use modifiers (Constitution-analogue, armor, other damage reductions), to a die-roll for how wounded you get, instead of hit points. Only I have you roll it after your attack hits, instead of it being a saving throw the target makes. (Also the modifier levels up with you, an optional rule in True20—I want to recreate a game like 1e Pathfinder, and that means high level characters are hard to really hurt.)

Might have to double check the math there; I’m modeling it on True20’s Toughness saves modified by an alternate rule in Pathfinder where casters rolled their targets’ saves for them, so players would feel more in control. Actually might have them roll to resist it when their characters get hit (all the things that up the target number of the damage check become bonuses to the soak one), so basically inflicting damage on enemies and soaking it when attacked are both in their hands. (The GM still rolls NPC attacks and their dodge roll when PCs attack, though.)

[fantasyfantasygames]

Unlimited Fantasy, Second Edition

Unlimited Fantasy Second Edition, Eternal Autumn Games, 2006

Back when I reviewed Monster Wrangler I mentioned a game with 150 classes. That game was the first edition of Unlimited Fantasy (UF), published in 1996. It was a slimmed-down D&D-alike (well, slimmer on rules anyway) that threw together all kinds of very interesting classes into some unfortunately ill-defined, overlapping, and occasionally unnecessary niches. The classes filled the whole scatter plot with Interesting-to-Boring on one axis and Overpowered-to-Counterproductive on the other.

I was going to write a review of UF, but it turns out that there's a 2nd edition that's much more interesting. In some ways it's a completely different game, because instead of being a D&D1e knockoff it's an alternative PHB along the lines of Arcana Evolved or True20. It streamlines the rules a little, which is good because it needs space for all 120 classes, most of which did not appear in the previous set.

So - d20 System, usual six stats, 20 levels, HP/AC/BAB/etc, you know the drill get to the interesting part - what are the classes? Here's a sample:

Acrobat

Anemone Warrior

Cat Priest

City Walker

Death Cultist

Detonator

End-Timer

Freedom Seeker

God-Throne

Indigo Magus

Mountain-at-Arms

Queen of Rats

Time Monk

Unattainable

Whisper Shadow

The biggest problem, of course, is analysis paralysis when making your character.

The class balance is surprisingly good. It's not like I played every class, but someone clearly has. It's honestly better than D&D3.5 - everything is the equivalent of Tier 2 or 3 in the classic tier list. However, a lot depends on the GM. If you're not playing a game that involves the Shadow Realm, playing a Blue Shadow Devil is not going to be very helpful. If you're outside the Ring Cities, there's no point in being a Ring Eminence Oracle, because your powers only work there. It helps that spell lists are much more focused.

The setting is detailed mostly through the classes themselves. It's a nigh-apocalyptic fantasy setting with smatterings of Victorian steampunk, Mad Max, and Shanara. If you're a GM who likes piecing together settings like a puzzle, or who's happy dropping a bunch of miscellaneous info into your own world, this will be fun. Someone looking for a detailed setting or NPCs who are more than a name and position will be disappointed.

The art is almost entirely class images. There's also the cover, an inner front cover, a back piece, and a few color plates in the center. No incidental art. The styles match well, but they're a bit more cartoonish and amateur than I enjoy.

If you can pick it up used, it's fun to read a few classes. Eternal Autumn Games shuttered their doors after printing this and getting curb-stomped by D&D4e a year and a half later.

[r-rook-studio]

OGL Bullshit

I'd been avoiding it because the last few weeks have been brutal, but have a few non-lawyerly notes on why I don't trust the new "playtest" OGL 1.2 bullshit and think others should hesitate as well.

I'd experimented with putting out 5e stuff this year, but I've already pulled it from DTRPG and will be pulling it from Itch on Feb. 1. I'm not going back to D&D 5e as a publisher, DM, or player, and will not be publishing anything under a Hasbro or WotC-controlled license going forward. I still plan to pull everything published under OGL 1.0a by the end of year to avoid yet more Hasbro shenanigans.

Hasbro's still engaged in a blatant attempt to squash non-WotC OGL game creators, even though they've benefited substantially from that market and recruited most of the full-time D&D team from. Mike Mearls created the OGL-based game Iron Heroes at Malhavoc. Jeremy Crawford co-created the original Blue Rose (the basis for True20) at Green Ronin. Greg Tito has a co-author credit on ACKS. F. Wesley Schneider worked on Pathfinder at Paizo.

While actual attorneys have done a good job on why the CC-BY material they're currently planning to release is bullshit, much of it isn't even original to WotC, who didn't create many of the more distinctive mechanics. For instance, the system now called advantage/disadvantage was a popular mechanic in d20-based fantasy games well before 5e, and appeared in Barbarians of Lemuria under those names way back in 2008.

"Hateful conduct" is a smokescreen. Hasbro execs and their chosen attorneys will be the ones determining what constitutes "hateful conduct" (according to the draft agreement, if I accept the agreement, I waive my right to legally challenge their decisions). If you think those execs and attorneys are going to care or enforce fairly without relentless, aggressive, and widespread pressure, I've got a collection of bridges to sell you.

I won't trust a megacorp with phrases like "obscene" or "illegal": we're living in a decade when drag performance and "flamboyant femininity" could get criminalized in some places and excellent anthologies like Honey & Hot Wax deemed obscene. "You should trust us," is what Hasbro will say. I can't and shouldn't. Even if I like, know, and support current WotC D&D Team, they're not the ones who are going to be making these decisions (they might not even be on WotC's D&D team when Hasbro's decide to threaten to enforce it). Remember how much both Hasbro and WotC have changed as an org since 1.0a went into effect in 2000. I may have met and liked WotC staffers, but they may not be there in 3 years (or even 1 year) and they're unlikely to have any real control over license enforcement even now.

Again, this is "why I'm ditching 5e and will be ditching all OGL 1 material." It's not legal advice, just how I'm making decisions.

[betabites]

So I saw KthuluX's timeline of D&D on reddit, and wanted to add Dragon magazine, because it was a favorite of mine, back when it existed. But Dragon (and Dungeon) is also where Paizo enters the picture, so then I had to add Pathfinder, and at that point, may as well put everything in, yeah?

My standards of notable retroclones were 'is it on the Wikipedia page?', with one exception: ORCUS, the first full 4E retroclone that I've seen. To my knowledge, several ORC projects are in development, but none have actually reached publication yet.

As another addendum, that 'd20 Boom' area is covering a whole lot of ground, including at least three distinct official Star Wars d20 systems published by WotC. There's honestly enough for wholly distinct timelines covering Star Wars (and Warhammer) RPGs, to say nothing of Mutants & Masterminds, True20, et al. I tried to stick strictly to retroclones, just for the sake of limiting scope.

[badgmproductions]

Let’s get historical.

[rpgcovers]

True20: Warrior's Handbook ~ Green Ronin Publishing (2008)

[mononcmarc]

Ce soir, je joue à #True20 en direct sur la chaîne de François Letarte. Xivi le kobold arrivera-t-il à créer une diversion suffisante pour sauver ses compagnons prisonniers des orcs? 😰 https://www.youtube.com/user/JdrD30 #JdR #RPG #YouTube (à Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec) https://www.instagram.com/p/B9VbtYvJ7-7/?igshid=1knrtgu6vwijp

[lherian]

It's morning dice time, and morning character time! (Dice from @jadegamingnews) #gdr #rpg #ork #gamemaster #chessex #random #randomgeneration #jadegamingnews #jadedice #geek #dungeonsanddragons #dungeonmaster #dndnext #d20system #dice #true20 #dadi #fantasy #gaming #gamers #rollforinitiative #gdrtales #d20 #roleplay #nerd #rollinitiative #charactersheet #oneshot #giocodiruolo #roleplaygame

[sprqpointintern]

Rules: make a new post, don't reblog, and tag some people you want to get to know better (tagged by @constant-sapphic-breakdown) thanks for the tag!

Favourite colour: Red

Currently reading: A lot of Supercorp fanfiction (I'm obsessed 😂)

Last song: Weird Leisure by Biffy Clyro

Last movie: River Runs Red

Sweet, savoury or spicy: Savoury

Three fave ships: Supercorp, Wildmoore and Blackbonnet

First ship: Cophine (Orphan Black my beloved!)

Currently working on: Finding the motivation to get back to work on my multi chapter fic. I haven't updated in so long 😬)

Comfort food: Lasagne, it's the best!

Favourite time of year: Definitely winter. It's Christmassy which I love and you can be all cosy when it gets cold.

Favourite fanfic: Poison-Mary by @stat19idkbub read it here, it's so good!

Happy Halloween by @mrs-bartowski Read it here, you'll love it!

And I’d Sing A Song, That’d Be Just Ours by @constant-sapphic-breakdown Read it here It's a perfect Supercorp au!

Greedy by @transparent-rationale Read it here, it's the killing eve fic you need in your life!

Challenge by @alinelovelace Read it here, it's a wonderful Supercorp fic!

Let Me Count The Ways by @inkedroplets Read it here, it's so so good!

(There's loads of other talented writers I wanted to mention but I had to stop somewhere lol)

Tagging: @alinelovelace @stat19idkbub @inkedroplets @missing-tony @mrs-bartowski @yvonkayvonki @trihkru @aphantacanta @dispositionn-for-waakeme-up @bike-messenger-behrad @nautica2 @mildinsanite @tipsy-midori1103 @my-dreams-come-true20 @myshipissyncing @mayalice18 @schwaywithme @the-demons-behind-your-smile @transparent-rationale and anyone else who wants to do it!

[prokopetz]

I’m new to running a campaign myself, but I was wondering if you had any recs for a ttrpg that has ways to support political drama in the game itself? My campaign is supposed to focus on a country during civil war and my PC’s have to navigate factions and houses for political gain alongside regular dnd gameplay.

If you’re interested in a game that has explicit mechanical support for Game of Thrones style politicking alongside more conventional sword and sorcery adventures, my usual recommendation would be Reign. The basic conceit is that the player character party – or Company, in the game’s jargon – is a political entity capable of acting on the scale of nations (albeit very small nations, when you’re just starting out!), and to this end, it includes what might be described as an economic combat system; unlike most examples of the type, it covers not only open warfare, but also more subtle forms of conflict, like using your nation’s art and culture to support allies and undermine enemies. Though strictly speaking it’s a system and setting in one, the publisher has also put out an abbreviated just-the-rules version that merely uses the game’s default setting for worked examples and such; that’s the one that’s linked above.

The big caveat is that Reign is a One-Roll Engine title, which may be quite the adjustment if you’re accustomed to D&D and its various imitators. Even the basic dice-rolling procedures are going to be pretty different from anything you’re familiar with, so there’s going to be a fair learning curve, which maybe isn’t the best choice for the first campaign you’ve ever run. That in mind, as an alternative suggestion for something more D&D-like you might also have a look at Blue Rose. It’s a True20 game (i.e., a heavily modified version of Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition) that draws its inspirations from 1980s romantic fantasy, so it’s considerably more optimistic in tone than the preceding rec, but political drama, that it’ll do!

[tlaquetzqui]

Possibly the stupidest reaction to the Wizards license shenanigans was the idiots who said “Oh now I hope people will look into all the other great RPGs”.

But…there aren’t any. The only other RPG system worthy of mention in the same breath as d20 without a sneer or at least an embarrassed laugh is Storyteller, and it’s not for remotely the same kind of game. Something like GURPS, BRP, or Megaversal is just “d20 but clunkier and nobody knows it”. Something like Fate or Amber Diceless not only has the “nobody knows it” issue but also is almost explicitly marketed to and made by douchebags who think they’re too good for d20.

I don’t want to play those games. I don’t even want to play 2e Pathfinder or 4e D&D. I want to play a system that marries detail with elegance, that’s not so concerned with “balance” that no class is really unique. And for that, something in the d20 family—Pathfinder for sword and sorcery, True20 for basically any other genre—has absolutely no competition.

Maybe Kobold Press’s thing they’re working on will do it, though since they seem to be touting it as for people who like 5e, I doubt I’ll get the detail without sacrificing elegance that draws me to Pathfinder 1e, and they’ll probably go the samey-samey route (goddamn wizards have the same attack progression as barbarians?!). Oh well. Guess I’ll have to do it myself.

[fantasyfantasygames]

Doorkickers

Doorkickers, Kevin "Spike" Boots, 2017

Doorkickers is a punk-ish dungeon crawler. It's not "dungeonpunk", as the modern D&D/Pathfinder aesthetic has been called. It's not all the way over in Sigmata/Misspent Youth territory. It's approximately as punk as Gutterpunk. Yes, I am the arbiter of what is punk now; come at me and my semicolons.

I started writing this review with a lot of that kind of comparison - not as complex as X but more than Y, not focused on money like A or fame like B, etc. - but that sort of approach robs Doorkickers of what it actually is. Here's the gist.

You are terminally pissed off people at the margins of society. People who are just barely better off than you have asked you to help. The default setup is that their friends or family have been kidnapped into the bowels of a nearby catacombs. The guards won't help, the authorities don't care, so they turn to the only people that the guards and the authorities won't touch: you.

The system is basically an OSR-ified version of True20. Classes are Marauder (fighter), Lurker (skill monkey) and Devil (caster), but with stronger niches. If you don't have a Marauder, do not attempt to maraud. It will not go well. Spells come with drawbacks, but there's no backfire roll until after the fight, when your massive built-up stash of chaotic power either subsides or explodes.

Monsters are entirely non-humanoid, and mostly non-sentient. Spike's take on the monster/person divide is pretty similar to my own - if you can have a conversation with it, it's a person. The monster art is great. The character art is not as great, because while the artist was awesome at drawing oozes and monsters made of chains and manacles, their grasp of human anatomy is lacking. The cover is done by a different artist, and it fucking rules - door blasting open in splinters, boot coming straight at your face, knives and talismans being brandished in the darkness behind the axe-wielding maniac in the foreground. Great stuff.

I say the game is punk-ish rather than punk because you never end up causing problems for the people whose fault this really is - the guards and their masters, those in power. The game could have done with a "second stage" where you bring the problem to the guilty. But you do play some pissed-off people putting it on the line to help others, and damn if that isn't a core piece of the punk ethos.

Spike self-published Doorkickers on Lulu for a while. Lulu does decent PoD, but you'll never see it in stores because their printing costs are too high. Still, the quality is good, so if you track one down they won't fall apart.

[vallonde-laid-bare]

Any tips on world building and adapting mechanics from other ttrpg systems (d20 and otherwise)?

"World Building" is an incredibly open-ended subject so I'm afraid I can really give any advice on it without either writing an essay or having a more specific question. I'll probably write a DM Tips post about it at some point, but I'd like to touch on your second question since I'm currently working on a hybrid D&D5e/SR5 system (that's shadowrun 5th edition for the uninitiated).

I think a good first step is to check to see if any of what you want to convert has been converted to True20/D&D3e/PF1e. D&D5e is foundationally very similar to these systems, so if you can find content made for them that will make the conversion to 5e all that much easier.

Beyond that, the next thing you'll need is system knowledge. The main things to keep in mind are balance and mechanics and without a fairly intimate knowledge of how the game is built and balanced you're going to end up spending more time creating a technically worse conversion. Pretty much everything in 5e is balanced around the 1-30 bounded accuracy scale, 1 being rote difficulty and 30 being practically impossible, so make sure you're familiar with it (which you probably should be if you're running games in 5e). Also, if there are mechanics or features in 5e that are close to what you want, don't be afraid to steal from them wholesale to use in what you're creating. You don't even have to change it (though more often than not you'll end up changing small things to make it fit) and you'll already have an idea of what tier of play it's balanced for since you'll have a reference point.

For something like an enemy, being familiar with the tiers of play in both systems helps with conversion. If you're attempting to convert an enemy from a system where the enemy is considered the Midway point between the lowest and highest difficulty monsters, you can look at similarly challenging monsters from 5e, in the CR 8-12 range, and have a pretty good idea of how much damage they should be doing each round, what their saves are, how much HP and AC they should have, ect. The same goes for weaker and stronger monsters, referencing in-engine mechanics to inform your decisions will help pre-balance your conversion.

I know this does a poor job actually going in-depth about the conversion process, but that would probably require some preparation and come out like an essay, so if you want more I'll definitely draft up a DM Tip to more fully delve into it. I hope this was helpful even if it is a little bare bones!

-VLB-

[baphall]

New Idea - Sky Island Saga

New Idea – Sky Island Saga

OK, so I know I said I was going back to work on old ideas, but this has been rattling around recently.

So, a thousand years ago a war between the gods of light and dark shattered a world, and now it exists only as islands drifting around on various levels. The upper levels still bathe in the brilliance of the gods of light, the lowest still inhabited by the gods of dark and their minions.

[leishmaniose]

Final Fantasy Tactics para 5ª Edição – Parte III

Final Fantasy Tactics para 5ª Edição – Parte III

Olá pessoas! Aqui é o Tio Lipe e bem-vindos novamente ao Santuário do Mestre. Continuando minha adaptação de Final Fantasy Tactics (FFT) para D&D 5ª Edição, hoje falarei sobre os jobs das personagens e suas habilidades. Só lembrando que quando uma informação dos livros for citada, ela será apresentada da seguinte forma: “sigla do livro, página específica” (PHD, p.xxx); seja ela do Player’s…