rpg

3210 readers

11 users here now

This community is for meaningful discussions of tabletop/pen & paper RPGs

Rules (wip):

Do not distribute pirate content
Do not incite arguments/flamewars/gatekeeping.
Do not submit video game content unless the game is based on a tabletop RPG property and is newsworthy.
Image and video links MUST be TTRPG related and should be shared as self posts/text with context or discussion unless they fall under our specific case rules.
Do not submit posts looking for players, groups or games.
Do not advertise for livestreams
Limit Self-promotions. Active members may promote their own content once per week. Crowdfunding posts are limited to one announcement and one reminder across all users.
Comment respectfully. Refrain from personal attacks and discriminatory (racist, homophobic, transphobic, etc.) comments. Comments deemed abusive may be removed by moderators.
No Zak S content.
Off-Topic: Book trade, Boardgames, wargames, video games are generally off-topic.

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

Chronomutants devlog: Forging Onward From the Dark (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

2 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Crosspost from Reddit RPGdesign

Today I planned on writing about the cost of unique design (my game is pretty unintuitive in a lot of ways, because it's different) but figured out I couldn't really talk about how I made all those weird decisions until I talked about where/why I ended up with the core resolution mechanic I did. That is how I ended up with a very unique and therefore not very intuitive game.

Chronomutants has been many years in the making. Started with me hacking the hell out of Gamma World 7e back in 2010, circling back around to that system in 2018 and producing a lot of homebrew for it, becoming fully disillusioned with DnD (and other d20 games) by 2020, failing at hacking Gamma World into other systems from up until 2021, building a Forged in the Dark version, and then giving that up for a unique system based on me not remembering correctly how Warhammer Fantasy worked.

Here is the blog where I talk about my dissatisfaction with hacking leading me to a custom system locked behind proprietary dice (bad for sharing the game).

What the blog is kind of secretly about is about my choice to make the best playing game that meets my goals/needs being at odds with making something that I can share with strangers. My idiosyncratic design is one thing, actual hurdles are probably a bridge too far. It's a really big ask to get anyone to play a homemade game, it's a much bigger ask to get someone to use custom dice to do so.

Unfortunate, because it plays great, and is really weird and funny.

This kind of stuff gets into art for arts sake vs marketability (I'm not even selling anything). Anybody here have any stories or experience with choosing the best playing mechanics over more popular ones?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I know a lot of grogs are gonna get salty about this but using dice apps is fine especially for things like fantasy flight dice. And there are people on Etsy selling knockoffs. So you shouldn't feel bad about publishing a game using those dice. Let's be real, most of the market is people who won't play anything unless it says 5e on it

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Indeed there are free web-based rollers, a discord-bot, a free app, and even a free 1st party Fantasy Flight app. Still get a lot of eyerolling at the dice.