#ttrpg design tips

[legionofmyth]

Absolute Power: Why Every Hero Needs a Sidekick (or Two)

What’s a hero without allies? 🦸 Absolute Power lets you design companions and minions that bring your vision to life! From loyal sidekicks to powerful henchmen, these characters can elevate your story and change the game. Are you ready to build the ultimate team? 📺 Watch now! #AbsolutePowerRPG #TTRPG #SuperheroRPG #TabletopGaming #RPGCharacterCreation

Absolute Power: Book 1: System Absolute Power: Book 2: Essentials Tri-Stat Core Discover how companions and minions can shape your superhero’s story in Absolute Power by Dyskami Publishing Company! Learn how to create dynamic sidekicks and loyal minions to enhance your team’s abilities and bring your character’s vision to life. Absolute Power provides an innovative system for integrating…

[anim-ttrpgs]

"Kleptomaniac," investigator Trait from Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy. Every investigator has 3 to 6 Traits!

[dailyadventureprompts]

Drafting the Adventure: Dungeons Without Walls

I love the idea of dungeons, but there was a significant portion of my life as a DM where they didn’t feature in my games. While Pathfinder and 5e provided a great framework for character building and tactical skirmishes that I could build story on top of, neither was really great when it came time to detour into a  dungeon. My players tended to get confused when we headed out to plunder the local ruin or cave system, spending a lot more time figuring out where they were and what they should be doing than actually doing anything. 

The problem as it turned out was limited information.  I had a picture of the dungeon in my head/notes but I couldn’t telepathically infer that to the party, and the back and forth questions where they tried to orient themselves within my mental labyrinth ate up a lot of session time prevented us from attaining that snappy pace that every table needs to keep the players invested.

Recently though I had an epiphany about overhauling exploration in d&d, and wrote up a whole post detailing how you could build and run wilderness adventures the same way you could a heist or a murder mystery. Because I was already writing a series about dungeon design it didn’t take long for me to realize that this exploration overhaul was 100% applicable, and could solve a lot of the delay and confusion my players usually faced on their next trip underground.  Spoilers: it worked amazingly.

 The key to this overhaul was giving my players enough information to see the dungeon as a sort of abstract checklist, and then giving them the power to investigate and check things off that list in whatever order they wished, when they enter a new level of the dungeon they get a new checklist to fill out which still keeps that sense of exploration. Folk love checking things off lists, and I as a dungeonmaster love it when players engage with the content I’ve spent so much energy creating even if it’s only poking their head in the door to realize they want to run away as fast as possible. Likewise, designing the dungeon this way let me tackle much larger concepts without having to sweat the details of filling up every little room as I would have to in map-centric design.

To summarize my exploration mechanic as It applies to dungeons:

During Design: After you’ve got the dungeons’ major concept, you divide it into unique “zones” (essentially what might be levels in a regular dungeon) with an interconnected theme, mechanic, or threat.

Each zone has a number of points of interest, which can be anything from trails to follow, odd sights they might investigate, to full complexes of rooms that you’ve mapped out. You don’t need to map out the points of interest otherwise, they sort of float abstractly within the zone 

When players enter a zone, they become aware of its name and general descriptor, as well as how many total points of interest are in that zone. They also become aware of some points of interest immediately to serve as landmarks and give them a direction for their exploration, but most remain undiscovered until they venture off the path and start checking out their surroundings. Hidden among these points of interest are the doors that lead to zones deeper within the dungeon, encouraging the party to explore in order to progress.

During Play: When the players enter the dungeon, one player is appointed as the surveyor, who’s job it is to keep track of the zones, fill out that checklist, and check things off when the DM tells them that they’ve fully explored a point of interest.

Rather than needing to be aware of the exact room layout, the party just need to know what zone they’re in and what options are available to them, Because this information is delivered in the form of a checklist with empty spaces, the party know exactly how much of the dungeon they’ve explored, what’s left to explore, and when they’ve cleared out an area.

Lets take the image above as inspiration. Say the party is trying to make it up to the tower, you can easily see a progression of zones and maybe imagine a few to go alongside them:

Ruins & Foothills: The first area, filled with the remnants of an ancient civilization. Picked over by looters and now a home to all sorts of wildlife,

Mountainside: The obvious next goal, but locked off behind a challenging climb, Filled with hazards that threaten to knock the party back down to the foothills if they’re not careful

Caverns: Secret area accessible only if the party explore a cave on the mountainside, or make a beeline towards the old aqueduct landmark in the foothills, realizing it might be easier than the climb. 

Spire Foundations: The door connecting to the foothills is guarded by a complex puzzle and arcane ward, but the party might be able to sneak in through the caves where erosion has caused a breakthrough into the cellars.

Spire Peak: High among the clouds, the party’s prize is somewhere here.  Access to the upper sections of the tower are guarded by a territorial sphinx under arcane compulsion, though the party might just be able to skip that fight if they figure out the riddle to make the portal mirrors work in the foundations.

Trying to design all this by pencilling it in on a gridmap would take weeks, to say nothing of the headache it’d cause you trying to make things fit together and fill up empty space with content. Designing it first as a sequence of zones and then filling those out with interesting fights, puzzles, and encounters is the work of an afternoon or two. Likewise, its easy on your players: five zones with six to ten points of interest is far easier to tackle when you can make a checklist and see how much progress you’ve made, despite the fact that the area they’re exploring is quite vast. 

I hope you find this as useful as I have, and if you need a more concrete example of how it might work, don’t worry, I’ll have one of those for you in the coming days.

[pathesis]

Consider supporting me!

Hey Y'all! Things are really tight for my family right now and if anyone's for 1$ or some extra change lying around it would help me a bunch if you'd consider supporting me on Subscribestar

It's similar to Patreon but also allows for adult-themed content.

What can you expect? I share doodles, private art, and NSFW content, and subscribers get access to high-definition versions of full render images.

If you are someone who does NOT want to view nsfw content, don't worry. All SFW posts are tagged SFW and bundles have all nsfw art in it's own folder labeled NSFW so u can delete it without being forced to view it.

If you become a Gold member, you'll receive a bundle package at the end of each month containing ALL the art posted during that month.

Thanks for considering it!

[quicksilver-rain]

Local Goblin is terrible at posting finished commissions and allows a FULL YEAR to elapse before showing y'all this piece @/max.hearts on Instagram commissioned from me of their baby Finley—whomst I love—more news at eleven.

Anyways I love designing outfits. :)

[PLEASE CLICK TO ENLARGE, THERE'S SO MUCH DETAIL]

Deep Lore: All of the embroidery on Finley's outfit is referenced from traditional Japanese Sashiko techniques and patterns, except for the wispy clouds that connect the motifs and the star rays on their left leg. There are no patches because Sashiko acts as a reinforcement for the cloth on its own with the patches are placed beneath the garment.

The sleeves of Finley's jacket reference a technique called Boro, which is a type of Japanese quilting which uses Sashiko stitching to turn unusable scraps into larger fabric pieces for clothing, blankets, or larger pieces of reinforced cloth.

[smittendusky]

designing tabletop rpgs are so difficult

not only do you have to think of what aspects of storytelling you want to turn into gameplay but also to what degree, how heavy and extensive do you want the mechanics to be

[mystybelle]

agh jeez

making a pdf of a reality engine is like... Easier than creating a seed for a whole new world, but it is a lot of planning. I wanna go back to writing the actual rules again, that was more fun 💚T💜

[openstorygames]

On Editing and Ego

Nothing is quite as humbling (for a writer) as handing your work over to someone for feedback.

To be completely honest, that is a good 70% of the reason none of my novel drafts ever turned into anything readable. Even when I finished them, I wasn't brave enough to have them shredded by another's opinion.

In school, I excelled in language classes. I wasn't going to be the next great bilingual writer or anything, but languages click for me, so even when I wasn't working in English, I got decent at writing prose and even tried my hand at some poetry.

Writing in my first language (English) came to me like I'd come into the world doing it.

Like many students, I found myself in peer review groups quite often.

The trouble with being naturally talented at something is that you don't get challenged.

My teachers compared me to my classmates, and I was always towards the top of the curve. I was writing at or above the expected level, so that box got checked. No problems, no need to push.

My peers compared me to their own level of effort, to other students' skills. I got a few rude comments and some ribbing for being nerdy, but nothing to challenge my pride in my skill. That might have been good for my grades, but it was terrible for my ego (and my editing skills). I was so confident in my writing abilities that I rarely wrote more than a single draft. 'Editing' became proofreading. Checking for typos.

Of course, eventually you grow up. And in the broader world, there is always someone who is better, more skilled, or further along their path.

My writing hid for many years.

You know the great thing about games? They're only playable if the rules are readable.

This is doubly true for TTRPGs.

Guess how you discover if your game is playable.

That's right. Suddenly, I couldn't write off feedback.

Add that to the fact that game design is an entirely different medium than the typical school projects, and I found myself quite humbled.

I don't have editing skills.

I've got a degree in literature and nearly 2 decades of writing (if you count childhood attempts, which I do!) under my belt. But my editing skills are hardly better than when I was in middle school!

Fortunately, I've found a community that looks for the good and nudges me toward that. I have colleagues who are already learning my weak points and offer support and suggestions.

The lovely thing about learning as an adult is that we're all a little more mature about helping each other out (usually).

Doesn't ease the ego much, though.

I'm embarrassed to say I never really learned how to take that critique with grace. But I hope I'm getting there.

My ego still twinges when I'm reading feedback, but I'm able to read the genuine care that my community pours into my games, into my development as a designer.

I might be well-practiced at writing, but I'm still a beginner in this medium. And that's okay. I'm learning to be less full of myself, to ask more questions, and to take instruction.

Giving up the comfort of a puffed-up ego is the best way to move forward as an artist, but it's also a great way to be a considerate, compassionate human.

Join me in letting that ego go a little bit. Be a beginner! Try something new. Adapt your art to a slightly different medium. Take a class that sounds interesting but intimidating. Ask for feedback. Listen with open ears. Look with clear eyes.

[xinniazeos]

Xin's 3 Word Character Analysis

This is a simple way for me to study characters while setting up some sort of guide of what they are supposed to represent. It can be used for fiction writing or for playing the characters in RPGs. It's very simple really:

Take a character, any character.

Assign them 3 words that you would use to describe them. It can be any word. Noun, Verb, Adjective, etc... all it needs to be is 3 different words.

Explain individually, in detail, why you associate those words to that character.

That's it. It's that simple. Admittedly, the hard part of this method is choosing the words itself. Also, to keep in mind that the "3 words" the character represents would go unchanged. If its an ongoing story, it's fine if the words that define them changes. If anything, it adds on another layer of study as to why the words even changed.

The reason why it's only 3 words is that giving a character 1 word would make it feel one-dimensional, 2 would tend to fall into some sort of duality (which is a word you could apply in itself) and anything more than 3 feels excessive and looses the importance of keeping things simple.

[farraigeart]

late night easter drawing or something 🐇 he and his girl have a fun dynamic that most certainly reminds me of jessica and roger. big pretty lady and small silly guy, you understand

[seanpatrickcain]

❄️

❄️Share a piece of flavour text from a game you’re working on.

from ask game for ttrpg projects

i love this one:

I have no idea if it's going to survive -- it probably won't -- but right now this text appears on one of the first pages for the BEFORE THE START book.

I'm trying to explain how the player should feel empowered to take a look at the game's cards and decide how they want to use them. The book gives them lots of ways to play with them, but they probably have great ideas.

Q-tips aren't made for cleaning ears. But we figured out a great use for them. Q-tips discourage us from using them that way, but we can do what we want. Something like that. Still working it out.

-------

Ask me more ttrpg project questions!

[legionofmyth]

Absolute Power: Are Your Items Powerful Enough to Change the Game?

What’s a superhero without the perfect tools? 🛠️ Absolute Power’s item creation rules let you craft gear tied to attributes and skills that bring your character to life! Whether you’re designing a tech-savvy genius or a mystic warrior, this video will teach you how to balance creativity with gameplay. Ready to elevate your game? 📺 Watch now! #AbsolutePowerRPG #TTRPG #TabletopGaming #SuperheroRPG #RPGGearCreation

Absolute Power: Book 1: System Absolute Power: Book 2: Essentials Tri-Stat Core Discover how Absolute Power’s item creation rules let you forge the perfect tools for your superhero adventures! Learn how to craft iconic items tied to attributes and skills that bring your character’s powers to life. Absolute Power by Dyskami Publishing Company provides an innovative system for creating unique items…

[africanmorning]

Since learning Spanish, I put question marks at the beginning of questions I write in my notes now (sometimes inverted, sometimes not, depends on my mood).

Genuinely recommend. It visually sets your questions apart from the rest of your notes and makes them easier to find during review without using signifiers that would lump them in with important, non-question information (like all caps, underlining, or setting apart from the rest of the text).

As for what writing questions in your notes is good for, I use them as headings for information I am actively brainstorming in the moment (as opposed to information that's already decided/settled) and to quickly jot down stuff that I do need to figure out at some point, but I can't look into at the time of writing because it is too tangential.

[craigofinspiration]

Three Secret Questions for Combat Encounter Locations

When designing a combat encounter there are three questions you should add to your prep. The answers to these questions will help bring the backstory, current obstacles, and potential hazards into focus. What was it before? What is it now? What happens to it during the battle? The first question can provide a bit of backstory and context to the encounter area. What was this place before it…

[leftoblique]

This reminds me of one of my favorite moves in a Powered by the Apocalypse game.

In Monster of the Week, when one player character tries to convince another player character to do something, they roll 2D6+Charm. The other character can still do whatever they want (there's no mind control), but:

On a 10+, the other character gets XP if they do the thing and also a +1 bonus to do it.

On a 7-9, they just get XP if they do it.

On a 6 or less, they get XP if they don't do it.

In other words, if you fail to convince another player to do something (even if it's a really good idea), they're strongly incentivized to dash off headlong in the opposite direction. It's a beautiful way to create drama.

In general when I GM, I use a variation of the OP's strategy. Whenever a player makes an investigate/problem-solving/figure something out roll - and fails - one of my go-tos is "you're fairly certain the answer is [dangerously incorrect statement]".

inspired by the scariest words my dm has ever said to me and the subsequent coolest (AND SCARIEST) scene of my life

[cloudbewwies]

That one art hack I saw, Akskssk