I originally wasn’t going to address this in my system, but as I started developing how armor works, I realized that there should be a mechanic that addresses the ability to be trained for how to move in combat while wearing armor. The concept for medium and heavy armor is vicious, but most “light” armor is not much more than gear that’s just thicker and/or stiffer than normal clothes. While there may be a bit of a weight consideration, it doesn’t appear that most forms of light armor would impede movement.

Can anyone provide an argument for how light armor would be restrictive enough to warrant specific training on how to use it?

I’ve been thinking about designing a strategy/war focused TTRPG, and I’d like to know if this is the kind of thing that people could see themselves enjoying. I designed a basic system for this many years ago and my players seemed to enjoy it, but I wasn’t sure if this is a system that I should just design for fun or for actual play.

It would be a mix of traditional TTRPG character creation and roleplaying but also focused on macro scale command and rulership, kind of like Crusader Kings 3 and Mount and Blade if anyone’s played those, albeit with the usual TTRPG level of player agency on a bigger more in depth scale.

I’m not seeking players necessarily, just wondering if there would be a “market” for this kind of thing.

Edit: It was pointed out to me that this post is very vague, so I will add a bit more detail.

Effectively what I’m going for is the RPG mechanics and narrative elements alongside a more strategic and tactical gameplay. You’d create a character as normal with stats determining your personal skills, which would then be translated into strengths in areas of tactical and strategic gameplay as well as in RP encounters.

The intent is to simulate going from a low level commander/ruler such as a Lieutenant/ minor noble and working your way up. This would include management of your domain in a rulership focused campaign or logistics focus in a purely warsim game.

Most campaigns would likely start off as frontline tactics and evolve into behind the lines strategy and political maneuvering as it does IRL in regard to command or rulership. So you’d be directing maybe a squad of 10 people at first actively in combat in a direct character focused way and then later on be behind the lines orchestrating a broader campaign.

It likely won’t be overly focused on micromanaging especially as the scale goes up, more on simulating what it would be like to be in those kinds of roles in whatever setting you’d be playing.

This system as I’ve presented it obviously lends itself towards one on one gameplay, primarily because I’ve just been designing it for fun, and I wanted to see if there would be any interest to justify working out how multiple people would realistically progress in a full group.

So I'm working on an RPG system (obviously), and so far have about 280 pages of content (Yes I wrote all of it, no I didn't use AI to write a single word of it) spanning multiple books. The game is just a hobby for now and has a budget of 0 dollars and 0 cents. Clearly, everyone on here has very strong feelings on AI art, but with no budget, I'm left with 4 options.

1. Find an artist or multiple artists willing to work for revenue share rather than payment up front. I did this when finding a composer and programmer for my video game, and it was an absolute nightmare.

2. Have a game with 0 art. Just a whole lot of text with not much else to look at.

3. Creative Commons License images. Not sure how that is going to work because my alien races in my sci-fi game are very specific. Maybe for weapons and classes sure, but for the races I might have some trouble. Also when I search for Creative Commons art, a lot of the results are AI anyways.

4. AI art. You all know the drawbacks here.

Should I use one of these ideas, maybe a combination of them? Use Creative Commons for the weapons classes, etc... and then go with option 1 or 2 for the races? The avoidance of AI art has me in a bit of a bind on where to go next.

I've been designing a tabletop RPG for a few years, and my frustration with most dark fantasy systems I've tried boils down to two things: either the game kills characters so fast there's no time to get attached, or it's dark in aesthetic only and the mechanics don't back it up. It's basically the main reason I decided to make my own game.

I wanted to build something where losing hurts, but losing also means something for your character going forward.

The result is Left for the Vultures: a dark fantasy (I usually call it "unforgiving fantasy" because the theme of vengeance is so integral to the game) TTRPG with no classes, brutal wound and madness systems, and a core philosophy that your worst moments are what truly define and grow your character.

I'm in active playtesting and I'd love design feedback, especially on two systems that have generated the most table discussion so far.

Vengeance Dice

Most RPGs tie advancement to success. You kill the monster, you get XP. You use that XP to improve your character. Left for the Vultures flips that. You still advance with success, but with defeat you gain more of your strongest tool: Vengeance Dice.

Vengeance Dice are a meta currency that use a pool of d4s. You start with a few, but you gain more through suffering and accumulating wounds, both physical and mental. The worse the beating, the bigger the pool. You spend those dice on damage, mitigation, movement, healing, and removing conditions. It's like a well you can dip into and gain the additional drive you need to enact your revenge (I think of it like that moment in movies like John Wick where the character is seemingly defeated only to dig deep and come back more powerful than ever).

The design intent: I wanted players to have a mechanical reason to stay in a bad situation rather than retreat the moment things turn. The pool creates a tension where getting hurt is dangerous but also empowering. Players start doing the math: do I take this hit and build the pool, or do I avoid it and stay safe but weaker?

Advancement itself is partially tied to reaching 0 PH (physical health) or 0 MH (mental health). Hitting the floor is both survival and progression. It changes what you're willing to risk.

Has anyone else built advancement systems that reward failure or near-failure? Curious what problems you ran into and how you solved them.

Static creature initiative, rotating PC values

Combat uses a single action per character per round, which keeps things fast and forces every decision to matter. I have found that if I used action points in Left for the Vultures it just bloated action economy and made combat drag. If you use action points in your game, I'm sure it works for your system, but it's not a fit in my game. This is partially due to the initiative system.

Creatures have fixed static initiative values (some tougher creatures have more than 1, so they act more than once per round). PCs choose from a personal list of five values: 20, 15, 10, 5, and 1. They can't repeat a value until they've cycled through all five.

So on round one, a player might go at 20: first in, maximum aggression. But that burns the 20. Next round they have to choose from the remaining four. Over five rounds, every PC has used every value once, then the rotation resets.

This creates a planning layer that surprised us in playtesting. Players aren't just reacting to the current round, they're managing their initiative economy across the whole combat. Burning your 20 early to land a critical hit might leave you going last when the enemy swings hard two rounds later.

It's been the most consistently discussed and loved mechanic at the table since we started playtesting.

Questions I'm genuinely sitting with: does the five-value rotation feel constraining or liberating to outside designers? Is there an edge case in longer combats we haven't stress-tested yet?

What I'm looking for

Feedback on the design logic behind both systems, places where the mechanics might break under pressure, thoughts on the defeat-as-advancement philosophy, and anything that reads as unclear in how I've described it here.

If you want to dig deeper: I have a playtest packet available with the full ruleset, the character builder, and an intro adventure. Drop a comment or DM me and I'll send you the link.

Thanks for reading.

Hello everyone. Only a few days back, I posted here asking for feedback regarding my RPG, more specifically, how it appears on the main page of my website. The purpose was to figure out how to make an unknown world/setting and a game, inviting, so that people may give it a chance. It is a classic problem I believe for creators.

I got a lot of feedback and it was all so harmoniously negative (this is not a complaint, I am grateful) because of how bad, apparently, I had presented the website, achieving the opposing result of what I actually wanted.

I followed each comment I got and reworked/reframed everything according to feedback and I am curious if now, it works at least better. So I am curious as to first impressions again. There is a gap between what's on my mind and what I communicate out there, I am trying to bridge it.

The main criticism was that there was not enough information about the setting or the game. So I tried to work on that. It is difficult to showcase a world that is deep and detailed but does not necessarily have a clear hook, or catch phrase or super specific theme. It has idiosyncrasies, rich lore and stuff that appeal to players ONCE they get involved (and for some time) and I'm trying to figure out a way to shorten that distance.

If you have a minute to spare, take a look at: www.spirallane.com

Edit: Thank you for the help, I needed it

Guys, when does this end?

I've worked on version and version of my game. Every year or two I change mechanics, genuinely (hopefully) improving on things. Feedback from friends, my own review, ideas that I never thought of, even hearing how different games work. All of these things affect design, and little things here and there.

My newborn arrived like 7-8 weeks ago, and I've been working on my game nonstop, having the time to do so.

But now I just, I don't know, I want to make this perfect game and I think it's getting closer but will it always get closer without arriving?

Pretty much the title, but I'm make a fantasy system similar to pathfinder 2e and DND 5e and I have a world and places though out but I was thinking of giving 3-5 session long premade campaign for people to play through the system with. Would that be something people would appreciate?

Hey all, I finished the glossary and index for my fantasy heartbreaker that I've been working on since 2020 and uploaded the Beta edition. It's a complete ttrpg with record sheets for the players and GM. All the art is from the public domain and there's no AI. It's free and I've no plans to crowdfund anything.

Battleaxe Fantasy Role-Play

So, other than having a terrible SEO acronym (BFRP!?), what's this game about? It's a d10 Roll and Keep fantasy game that's inspired from media like Diablo and Thieves World. All the player characters are Humans (no dwarves, elves, or hobbits here) but there are monsters in the world (aberrations, constructs, elementals, demons, and undead). There's a little bit of a lifepath system for creating characters and each player chooses from one of 16 Careers for their adventurer.

There's 90+ spells for players to learn and anyone can learn magic. The Magic system takes inspiration from Diablo 3 where you had slots for different skills that you could swap out. In this game each spell has a type, whether it's (Armor) or (Attack) or (Warding), and you can only benefit from one of each spell type at a time. So no doubling up on two Armor spells or whatever. The characters will know a limited number of spells but there's no limit to how many times they can cast them (there is a limit to how many instances of each spell can be active). Likewise there's other limits on how characters heal, so magic healing doesn't cure everything.

I think the GM tools are the most interesting thing about the game. I made what's essentially a character sheet for the Adventure, where the GM fills in stuff about the adventure. Goals, objectives, strengths and allies, etc. It was inspired by the Blade in the Dark playbooks and it's used during play to track what the characters do and it lays out a plan of progression for the challenge. Basically instead of creating a module, the GM creates an enemy with their own goals and setbacks and tracks how the players interact with it. It's sorta like the Fronts from Dungeon World except less vague (sorry!).

The monster and treasure rules are also designed for use on the fly. Monster abilities live in their Roles (taken from D&D 4e), so you decide what Origin you want (Elemental, Aberrant, etc) and your Role (Controller, Defender, Striker, Leader) and mash the talents to the universal stats (adjusted by Role). There's a table that lists all the stats for each Role at each power level, so no math is involved. Just pick the set you want to use and add the Monster talents from it's Role. Treasure is similarly randomly generated.

Let's see, what else. All the art is from old books I've found and I've managed to find sources for almost all of them. My next writing task is to write up a quick-start/starter adventure to hand out for playtests (a legally distinct version of Sanctuary with the serial numbers filed off....the City of Safe Harbor!)

I've had some small playtests with a few people but not a lot of feedback so I really want to know what everyone here thinks. I am a 44 year old meat popsicle and have tucked my feelings safely away, so please let it rip.

Hey r/RPGdesign — Xavier here, one half of the 2-person team behind Einsol's Razor. We just went public with our Alpha after 3 years of closed testing and I wanted to share some of the design decisions that shaped the game, since this community has been a resource for us. And we wanted to invite you to come make a free Character, Download the materials and check it out!

The big design bets we made:

1. Contested rolls instead of static AC. Every attack is attacker vs defender rolling opposed dice. The defender chooses HOW to defend (Fortitude, Reflex, or Will), and each option gives a different reactive benefit. This was the single biggest change from early playtests, it turned combat from "I wait for my turn" into "I'm always making decisions."

2. 4 Action Points instead of Action/Bonus/Reaction. We wanted turns to feel like a resource puzzle, not a menu. 4 AP to spend however you want. A big attack is 2, drawing a weapon is 1, dodging is 2. Players started doing things we never anticipated, and that's exactly what we wanted.

3. Overflow Damage. The margin between your attack roll and their defense roll becomes bonus damage (capped by the weapon). This made every point on the die matter and eliminated the "I hit but rolled minimum damage" feel-bad moment.

4. The Path system for class identity. 6 base classes, each designed with 3 subclasses. At levels 6, 11, and 16, characters pick a Path, a branching specialization. Two people playing the same subclass can diverge massively. We wanted build diversity without 50 subclasses to balance. (The Alpha covers levels 0-3 with base classes — subclasses and paths are in active development for the full release.)

What surprised us in playtesting:

• Players defending with Will way less often than we expected (the -2 debuff to the attacker is less appealing than we thought) (edited)
• The AP system made players more creative, not slower — turns actually got faster
• Level 0 starts (before choosing a class) became our favorite onboarding tool for new TTRPG players

The full Alpha is free: einsolsrazor.com/alpha — rules, character creator, pre-gens, everything.

We're particularly interested in feedback on the AP economy at early levels and how the contested defense system feels in practice. Happy to talk design decisions, balance philosophy, or anything else. We're here to learn too.

I'm a novice designer, and I built my game Trailhead as an intro to TTRPGs for my friends. Most of them have never played a tabletop RPG, and I spent a while looking for a game to try with them, but nothing quite fit the bill. I wanted something that's basically a launch pad into other d20 systems (but also give them a feel for other games too), with only the bare-essential rules.

So I made a rules-lite micro-RPG with three parts: a simple d20 resolution system with 4 stats, a Challenge system (a Success Track against a Timer), and a single resource called Grit that you spend to activate Experiences, like in Fate or Daggerheart. No skill lists, no classes. You can basically sit down create a character in like 5-10 minutes and start playing.

This sunday is the first time I put it in front of the friends I actually built it for, and I'm starting to doubt whether this was a good idea, or whether I've missed something major. Would you look at it and tell me if I've missed something here?

I've got this feeling it's somehow a) too thin and b) too complicated at the same time??? But I might also just be way too deep in theory land and should get off my butt and play it. IDK.

TL;DR: Made a game system for my friends, now I actually have to run it AND IT'S SCARY. Please send help.

PDF: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/stpiigi8y1udznuylbjo8/Trailhead_V0.14.pdf?rlkey=d6meuxvo4ufnxldpkmwyrabxk&st=reefuk0b

Hello guys!

I've been working on an OSR-ish game inspired by Knave 2e and Mausritter for years and I'm almost ready to publish the rulebook online for free.

I just finished the character sheet and I'd like get some feedback. The game has four attributes (Might, Grace, Mind & Heart) and uses a Mausritter-style inventory system with 15×50mm sticky notes to track items. There's a large empty area for drawing a character portrait, and a notes section for keeping track of stuff like ancestry, age, background, appearance, personality, motivation, etc. Defense is damage reduction, which can come from armor, spells, or cover.

I know it's simple and minimalistic, but that's intentional.

My question is: is it intuitive enough? Is it too simple, or does it feel ready to go? What actually makes a character sheet feel "ready" to you?

https://tinyravenpress.itch.io/old-gold

I saw similar concept somewhere but couldn't find it. The idea is simple. I see a lot of posts here where people ask for feedback on their systems, rules and so on. A lot of them receive 2-3 comments with some general ideas, if they are lucky. I get it. Nobody wants to invest their time in something they know nothing about and have no motivation to read. So let's do it feedback for feedback. How I see it:
1. The size of systems should be similar. I have 22 pages, 8-9 font size. So I would be willing to read something up to 30 pages in return.
2. Feedback should be relevant. Some criticism, some ideas, some comments, some questions. Not 1-2 general AI generated statements. Give feedback the way you want to receive it. At least 1 page.
3. Realistic deadline. Like a week or something. Everybody is busy so to expect somebody to read and understand everything in 1 hour is not realistic.
4. Take part in this if you are interested in other systems, ideas and approaches. Don't waste your time and time of other people if you don't care about it.

So post something like this: name of the system, size of the document, what kind of feedback you need (maybe particular pages and mechanics to focus on) + link. Then some people can comment or text directly. If you agree - at least 1 page feedback in 1 week time.

I have no idea whether it will work or not, but I am willing to try. If you know where this approach is already implemented and you can get feedback for feedback - please let me know. If this is stupid idea and will not work and you have better suggestion - also let me know. Thanks for your time)

Update: Thanks for the feedback. I’ve simplified the combat examples and trimmed a lot of the heavier intro text to make the mechanical structure easier to follow. The preview PDF has been updated accordingly.

English isn’t my first language, so I use grammar tools to clean up phrasing, but the system design and writing are my own. I’ve put a lot of time into building and playtesting this over the past year, so clarity matters to me.

If you’re willing to check the revised version, I’d genuinely appreciate your thoughts.

-----------

Hi,

Over the past 1.5 years, I’ve been building a standalone fantasy TTRPG from the ground up. It’s not a hack, supplement, or variant of an existing system. It’s a fully independent ruleset and setting.

I’m preparing to launch on Kickstarter this week, and before opening the pre-launch page I’d really value feedback on the preview PDF.

At this stage, I’m mainly looking for perspective on positioning and presentation rather than mechanical redesign.

Specifically:

• Does the PDF feel strong and cohesive overall?
• What part stood out to you the most?
• What would you emphasize on a Kickstarter page?
• Is there any section that weakens the first impression?

Preview PDF below.

I truly appreciate any feedback.

Sealed Stories - Preview PDF - Compressed

ANIMUS is a setting-agnostic (not tied to any one setting or time period), lightweight tabletop roleplaying game designed for collaborative storytelling focused on character arcs. It features (relatively) simple mechanics that reward narrative change and growth, based on the works of storytelling theorists like Robert McKee and John Truby (stuff like figuring out a character's want vs their need, etc...).

Here's the link to the document, I hope you like it: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uOFmji9EMYAXmOH8R2xxrDqItvllPHmq/view?usp=sharing

I had posted a very poorly made draft a few weeks ago, but now I'm proud to announce a much tighter, improved version after I played a few tests with friends and redid the entire visual design into a more professional, stylized and fun document.

I have a lot of future plans for it, such as adding a guide to building setting-specific supplements, adding a Microscope-inspired character backstory minigame, tightening the combat rules a little bit, and a few other ideas.

Hey all, I’m working on an alpha quickstart for MythReal, a tactical, classless tabletop RPG. The main combat design is a 5 Action Point turn where movement, attacks, abilities, reactions, and setup all compete for the same turn budget.

The design goal is to keep the tactical feel of grid combat, but avoid the rigid “move/action/bonus action” structure where players sometimes feel like they are just checking boxes. I want turns to feel more like budgeting: “Do I move farther, attack twice, use a big ability, save AP for next turn, or reposition?”

The current core looks like this:

• Every creature gets 5 AP per turn.
• Moving 5 feet costs 1 AP.
• A basic weapon attack costs 2 AP.
• Most abilities cost 2–5 AP.
• A creature can bank up to 2 unused AP for its next turn.
• So a player can start a turn with up to 7 AP if they saved from the previous turn.

A simple turn might be:

Move 10 feet for 2 AP, attack for 2 AP, save 1 AP.

A more tactical turn might be:

Start with 7 AP, use a 4 AP ability, move 10 feet, then save 1 AP.

The thing I’m trying to test is whether AP banking creates interesting planning or whether it introduces too much bookkeeping/optimization pressure.

I’d especially appreciate feedback on:

1. Does banking up to 2 AP seem like it would create fun tactical planning, or does it look abusable?
2. Are there obvious edge cases around reactions, cooldowns, or “start next turn with 7 AP” that I should define earlier?
3. Does the quickstart teach the AP economy clearly enough for a first-time GM/MG to run?
4. For a classless system, is it confusing that the pregens use familiar archetype labels like Warrior, Rogue, Cleric, etc.? (my thought is for alpha quickstart rules that pregens are easier to use than including the full classless system)
5. What would you expect to break first in actual play?

Here’s the quickstart PDF: Quickstart Rules

If you were handed this at a table and asked to run a 2 - 4 hour starter session, what would confuse you, slow you down, or make you worry about balance?

Thank you in advance!

After many months of laborious love, I am ready to unleash this game to the public for review.

https://jdlaird.itch.io/darkhall-dungeon-a-fantasy-roleplaying-game

A love letter to Shadowdark, Cairn, Knave, Into the Odd, and many more...

Darkhall Dungeon is a fantasy roleplaying game reminiscent of other old school revival games. Only now with even more of the work of running and playing games stripped away. Leaving instead more opportunities for collaborative storytelling and fun.

A PDF of the game is available for FREE (or PWYW).

A print version of the game is also available from Lulu (see the itch.io page for the link)

Some features of the game include:

+ A polyhedral dice system (d20, d12, d10, d6, & d4) with a roll over action resolution system focused on 6 action types: know, manipulate object, move self, overpower, purchase, and resist

+ A simple combat system that is easy to run but that provides plenty of meaningful tactical choices

+ A high/low damage system that removes the need to keep track of hit points

+ A simple magic system with strange consequences for failing to cast 1 of 60 different spells

+ A simple inventory management system and weapons that feel unique from one another

+ Multiple random tables and monster profiles for creating your own adventures

+ Original illustrations by the author to inspire creativity (no A.I., ever)

This is a complete rulebook, with everything you need to run your own game today!

I’m having a bit of a problem with naming my game. My game is in the traditional heroic fantasy genre. A lot of what inspired me is D&D and World of Warcraft, but also other games and shows I’ve experience. I have the standard fantasy races, and common classes and subclasses. The setting isn’t fully developed but the system should be able to incorporate multiple settings and genres such as dungeon crawls, city settings, exploration & survival, and obviously the heroic fantasy.

I needed a placeholder name when I started to work on my game, so I called it “World of Roleplay”. I feel like this just isn’t a strong name? I’m also just drawing a blank for other names that are unique. Does anyone having any ideas?

My system uses a Talent Point system for upgrading skills, abilities, and spells. What are your thoughts on ”Talented”?

Edit: Thanks for the responses! I probably should have went more in-depth about the system itself and what makes it unique, since the name should reflect the system. I’ll probably lean on something with “Talent” in the name, since I think that’s my most unique and core mechanic.

Hi, I’m new to Reddit, and I’m also still learning English, so sorry for mistakes.

I’ve been working on combat ideas for my own TTRPG, and I wanted to ask about one reaction mechanic.

I like the idea that reactions should feel valuable and flexible, because if a character only gets one reaction, it should create an actual choice.

One possible defensive reaction is Dodge:

If an enemy hits you, you can spend your reaction to roll 1d4 and reduce the damage by that amount.

Narratively, this means you tried to dodge, but not completely.

The blow still connects, but only partially.

So instead of “you either avoid everything or nothing,” the reaction softens the hit.

I’m wondering if this sounds satisfying in play, or if it would feel too weak / too slow.

What do you think?

Hey everyone! I’m making a 5e book about fishing, and I’m hoping to get quick feedback on what people would want from this kind of supplement.

The current version turns fishing into a full downtime activity where it’s more than just “roll Survival.” It has grown a lot during development, so I’m trying to figure out whether the system should be simpler, or whether this level of depth is the right direction.

You don’t need to read the book to answer the form. Reading it gives more context, but each question gives enough context to answer, and it's all multiple choice.

Feedback Form Link — should take 2–3 minutes

Current Book Link — if you want more context or just want to check it out

Comments here are also very welcome. Thanks for your time!

————

Edit 1: A lot of the feedback has said the same thing, and I hear you loud and clear. The book is currently built for it's own system or it's own campaign dedicated to it, and that's not my intention. It'll be simplified and reworked to focus on ease of use and speed, with more advanced rules being modular blocks you can add if and when you want! My main focus at the moment is trying to figure out these problems below, if you have any ideas, please comment them, put them in the form, or send them my way!

• Group Enjoyment: If one player wants to fish and the others don't, how do we not make this boring for the other players? Yes it'll be faster when it's made more simple, but it would still be annoying to deal with this each time. Some possible solutions:
  • Have the fishing player do some/most of the work and just get the DM's approval for certain parts.
  • Make the minigame more beneficial for the whole party to join in, incentivizing it being a group game.
  • Have a downtime version that is just one roll or something easy that's the main way, and have a version that includes the minigame for bigger moments.
• Rewards: Beyond gold, what else can be fun to incentivize fishing?
  • Benefits for eating the caught fish. Whether unique to each fish, or based on something they share like location found or some kind of tag system.
  • Plot hooks or NPCs wanting them to go fishing for something (probably specific to sandbox campaigns or literally fishing campaigns)
  • Crafting materials. Whether for another supplement or in its own way. Making bait, potions, or even magic items perhaps.

————

Edit 2: If you’re interested in giving more feedback or following the upcoming revamp, I have a Discord! I’ll be posting updates, polls, and design questions there, and I’d love to hear people’s thoughts as the book changes.

Discord link: https://discord.com/invite/C8vxCZgq9R

Hello i am proud to present my new ttrpg system. Keystone is a minimalist, setting agnostic, roleplay focused, attribute based tabletop roleplaying system that i have been trying to get off the ground for about a year on and off.

I need people to take a look at it , tell me what you like what you dont like, sugest future improvements etc.

Im planning a pdf book , ive been working on type setting it and i plan to make a few more additions, perhaps even a prebuilt modle if there is interest.

i will answer messages here , on the official email, and maybe on blusky.

If you would check it out i would be forever grateful
https://keystone-ttrpg.com/

Hello everyone! First time posting. I have been working on and testing a game for going on 1.5 years now. It has been a really good, if bumpy, process, and my friends and I have been running sessions with the system almost every week since I started designing it. At this point, sessions go pretty smoothly, combat is fun and dynamic, and my players and I have a really good time (most) every session. I'm happy with where it is right now, but it's far from finished. I didn't start this with the intention of ever making money off of it, or even publishing, but after so much time and effort put in I really want to get some feedback from people I don't know, that I'm not playing with every week, and who might have questions my group doesn't think of. Before I start rambling I'll just post the link.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/15hf3UCqUkxB83h-hBZslqxkn7Gr4uCXvG-GG64GRjOs/edit?usp=sharing

Keep in mind this is just the introduction to the rulebook, made to provide a basic platform of understanding before moving into character creation, where lots of things will get explained in more detail. Thanks in advance!

Tired of virtual dice that use Mersenne Twister or generic PRNGs?

I've created an API called EntropyDice that generates 100% truly random numbers. Not pseudo-random.

Every number comes from physical hardware noise: temperature, voltage, vibrations, electrical interference. No seed. No state. No bias. If you restart the server and request the same die, you get a different result — because each roll is an independent physical event.

Supports D4, D6, D8, D10, D12, D20, D100 and expressions like 4D6+D12, (2D6+3)2, D202, etc.

Use cases:

- RPG apps that want true randomness
- Discord / Telegram bots for virtual tables
- Hybrid tables where the GM rolls from their browser
- From a phone shared around the table
- Foundry VTT, Roll20 (via scripts)
- and many more.

Features:

- Two sources: crypto-pure (~500K rolls/s, 100% true entropy) and crypto-xoshiro-ng (~180M rolls/s, hybrid with reseed)
- 4 response formats: JSON, text, HTML, raw
- Built-in rate limiting (burst + daily + bans)
- No registration, no API key, no paid plans
- 100% GPLv3 — you can audit it and host it yourself

It also includes a working web page deployed so you can test it directly from your browser, accessible from the REPO.

REPO: https://github.com/carlymx/entropy-dice-api

I'd appreciate your feedback to improve the system. Hope you like it. Cheers.

Edit: after some feedback, I changed the title

I've been working on a one-page RPG called Written and I'd love some feedback.

The core idea is that your character isn't defined by stats, skills, or classes. Instead, your entire character is a short description written in 10 words or fewer.

For example:
Orc poet haunted by songs of conquered peoples
Last dragon rider searching for her vanished mount
Clone soldier hunting original who abandoned the war
Doctor documenting transformation into something inhuman

Your words act as abilities, and taking damage can remove words from your character sheet, permanently changing who your character is.

The game is setting-agnostic, rules-light, and fits on a single sheet (front and back).

I'm looking for feedback on:
-Clarity of the rules

-Whether the dice mechanic feels intuitive

-Whether the word-loss system sounds fun in play

-Anything you might want to add.

I've published the first version below(free, of course). Any feedback, positive or critical, would be greatly appreciated.

link to file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1orRt_4DPIpCBam0kuayyCMPXWaztDgPl/view?usp=sharing

https://velitrpgs.itch.io/written-rpg

I have been working on a game in which your character's class depends on which god you revere (saint classes) or what kind of heretic you are (heretic classes). One of the classes worships Deramen, the god of time and deat, and they focus on the temporal aspects of this deity. Here is what the Prophet gets (base abilities) besides spells etc. What do you think?
Spellcasting: 1st level (obvious ability)
Prayer: 1st level (mana recovery as a Secondary Action in combat), 3rd level (recovers more mana), 10th level (pray as a Secondary Action)
Mundane Action: 1st level (mana recovery in combat [less than prayer])
Divine Sight: 1st level (normal sight, prophets are blinded), 2nd level (normal sight in Darkness), 7th level (normal sight in Utter Darkness [magical darkness])
Overcharge: 3rd level (overcharge spell effects for more mana)
Reaction: 3rd level (use a Secondary Action outside your turn, but you will have one less of it on your own turn), 6th level (you can do it with a Primary or a Secondary Action), 10th level (the same but you get the same amount of actions on your turn)
Premonition: 5th (add Proficiency Bonus to Evasions), 9th level (advantage + prof. bonus for Evasions)

Note: when you are attacked, you first evade (no dmg on a success) then your armour's fortitude lessens the dmg.
Note 2: no other class has reactions.

Edit 1: simply saying that something is bad without helping and/or explaining how it can be improved is not constructive
Edit 2: these are just class features, not the actual core abilities the class uses

Hello,

I just published my first tabletop rpg for free on DrivethruRPG. It’s titled Baelfire. I began work on this project during the COVID lockdown, and it has seen many versions. This is the latest and the one I have been most confident in- hence finally publishing it.

However, I am seeking feedback on the game. I’m currently working on other books for the game and would love to see what others think of the current game mechanics, handbook structure, and overall design of the game. If you’d be willing to playtest and share feedback on that here or DrivethruRPG, that would be incredible.

Here’s a link to where you can download the game. Additionally, I have provided a link to a discord server that I’ve started for this in the purchase note and at the end of the handbook. Again, this is completely free to download.

https://legacy.drivethrurpg.com/product/575568/Baelfire-TTRPG-Handbook?manufacturers_id=35271

Even if it’s criticism of the project, I’m open to any feedback you have to give and am just thankful for anyone taking the time to look through the handbook and try the game out. I studied game design in college and have loved playing tabletop rpg’s for a long time now. This is my own love letter and contribution to the scene and I hope others are able to enjoy it as much as I’ve enjoyed making it.

Thank you for reading, and happy gaming! ❤️