Questions tagged [game-design]
For questions about the design of RPGs themselves. Not for questions about homebrewing subsystems, rules, or house rules questions. More specific tags may apply—click “info” or “learn more…” for a guide.
243
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How do I develop a vehicle design system for a tabletop roleplaying game (examples include Traveller, Striker, and Fire Fusion& Steel)? [closed]
How do I develop a crunchy simulationist vehicle design system for a tabletop roleplaying game (examples include Traveller, Striker, and Fire Fusion& Steel)?
How do I develop a vehicle design ...
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3
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Benefits of PC attribute generation methods? (custom RPG)
I'm working on a pen and paper RPG of my own, and have hit a snag on determining stats for beginning player characters (such as Strength, Intelligence, Perception and the like); I'm not sure whether ...
- 3,851
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0
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What are the design differences between Pathfinder 2E and D&D 5E? [duplicate]
(I do not believe this is a duplicate of What are the major differences in style and system between D&D 5e and Pathfinder 2e? [duplicate] -- despite the similar name, the answer there just ...
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Does this trigger violate GM principles? Can it be fixed?
I have been working on homebrew class replacements for dungeon-world, and as part of this we have added "class triggers". Class triggers look like the compendium class triggers. However ...
- 4,287
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2
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How do I calculate probability for the dice mechanic in my custom indie ttrpg?
I am currently working on writing an indie TTRPG based on the "press your luck" style games instead of being based around miniature war games.
I am struggling to understand the probabilities ...
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6
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Is it possible for a single system to handle a huge range of different power levels?
I'm thinking about designing a game based on Shonen battle anime, and one of the aspects I'm having difficulty modelling is the range of power scales. The anime I'm referencing (Dragon Ball, Naruto, ...
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2
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How do I determine a baseline difficulty when converting a d100 system to a d20 system?
How do I mathematically determine a baseline difficulty number when converting a d100 "roll under" system to a d20 "roll over" system?
The Basic RP system (and variants) uses a ...
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3
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When I'm making a Powered-by-the-Apocalypse game, how do I pick good questions for moves like Read a Person?
The Apocalypse World RPG has the following move:
When you read a person in a charged interaction, roll +sharp. On a 10+,
hold 3. On a 7–9, hold 1. While you’re interacting with them, spend
your hold ...
- 2,313
8
votes
4
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How could I lower the rate of critical successes?
I'm trying to create my own RPG, to play with friends. To be honest, I never played published RPGs before, only home-brewed ones, but I don't feel like spending money on a thing that I may never use, ...
- 307
7
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1
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Easy Tracking of Sliding Ranges on Character Sheets
Background
I am making an RPG that uses poker/Yahtzee like hands from die rolls instead of the normal "dice+mods vs target number" paradigm for determining effects of character actions. Each ...
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How many rolls of a D20 would you expect to equal or beat (20 - number of tries)?
I have what is chiefly a probability / game-design query, but one with a clear RPG gaming purpose behind it.
Assume I have a check in some game system, using a single 20-sided dice, that requires ...
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1
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How to balance a one page RPG that has three scores? [closed]
I recently saw a great little one page RPG called Potatoes shared by Death by Badgers on twitter:
Potato, a one page RPG about being a halfling and trying to quietly enjoy your potatoes in a world ...
- 13.3k
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votes
2
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204
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How to make a good height and weight table? [closed]
I am wondering how I would make a good height and weight table that has balanced ranges across a range of around 6-8 feet. When I have tried making a table, it always ended up being too light for ...
2
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3
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What would be a good 'fantasy' disinfectant/antiseptic? Is it necessary? [closed]
I have been consuming a lot of LARP, bushcraft, and military survival content lately, but I've noticed something about material hygiene and cooking that's got me thinking about fantasy cooking/...
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3
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Where does the concept of "failing forward" come from in RPGs?
Listening to some old podcasts, I stumbled over the idea of "failing forward" mentioned in a March 2020 (in this interview) edition of Court Games (RPG). The game designer Max Brooke there ...
- 40k
2
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1
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Determining dice pools for given percent chances of numbers of successes
The Question
I'm working with my friend on a new (we think) dice system for a homebrew RPG (soon to hit the TTRPG world by storm, no doubt). A design goal is that players' statistical success rate at ...
- 41.7k
7
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2
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Adjust difficulty without affecting character's capacity, without adding steps to assess result, for a dice pool with unvariable target system
I'm searching for alternatives to adjust the difficulty for a count success system with a d6 or d10 dice pool, where characters' stats form the pool (ex: dext 3 + guile 3 = 6 dice pool).
The ways I do ...
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9
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1
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What information is available about the intended mathematics of D&D?
D&D 5e was heavily play-tested prior to its release. I have heard (but have not verified) that, at low levels, the hit rate of the attack rolls of PCs was intentionally optimized to be ...
- 2,437
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1
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Balancing a conflict resolution system favouring players picking a spread of skills and attributes in a challenge, while rewarding some over others?
Introduction
I'm hoping I can draw on the Game Designer experience of this stack to help be make a decision on a dice-based conflict resolution system I'm designing for an RPG that I've been ...
- 13.3k
29
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3
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Is there a citation for "D&D is not a physics simulation"?
In multiple questions that deal with how the rules lead to outcomes that differ from what one would expect from real-world physics, answers make the point that "D&D is not a physics ...
- 96.2k
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2
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What is a "Game Jam"?
If you've been in TRPG General Chat before, you may have seen BESW share a link to a "jam" on itch.io that's about tabletop games. Curious, I went to itch.io and there is a Game Jams tab ...
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Can I get some help on calculating damage per round in my homebrew, that mixes d20s and d6s?
I am tweaking my homebrew RPG and trying to determine various Damage Per Round through an Excel spreadsheet. Here are the details:
A single players always roll d20 system where 20 is a auto hit and 1 ...
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4
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2
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327
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How to resolve player confrontation without dice or stats?
I will be running a homebrew RPG.
It is going to be a mystery game played over Signal. One day in game will be played over three days in real life. Players are characters in a hotel, they find a ...
- 143
4
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1
answer
300
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Making a new TTPRPG with some mechanics borrowed from DnD5e and PF2e SRD
I am making a new TTPRPG for a non-English market. I use many class concepts and mechanics mainly from PF2e and DnD5e SRDs, but not their lore, world settings or named trademarks.
My questions are:
...
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First time Pathfinder GM and I want to make an animal companion one shot [closed]
This is an odd question, but I figured y'all could help me. I have been playing Pathfinder and DnD for years, but I have never created my own one shot. I am creating a high-level one shot for my ...
- 31
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Running a Low Magic RPG for beginners [closed]
I'm running a campaign for a small group of friends- we're inexperienced with tabletop RPGs. The campaign leans heavily on the story I've written and I wanted it to be more character driven than ...
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3
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Does this proposed move cross the line? And what does that mean for me?
I have a move I am working on for throwing improvised projectiles.
Lob
When you hurl an object at a foe from a distance, roll +DEX.
On a 10+, the object soars to its mark.
The enemy takes a Hit.
On a ...
- 4,287
11
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5
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618
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I need help with distance scaling in a homebrew RPG - from "your body" to "the whole planet" in 10 simple steps
Years ago, I developed and play tested a simple RPG system, in which magic-alike powers were driven by 2 parameters, namely Power and Precision.
With high precision and minimal power you could burn a ...
- 23.5k
4
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2
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1k
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Mana, Backlash and Slots: how to limit a magic system
Generally, I encountered three big systems for limiting the amount of magic that characters can wield at a given time in my RPG career. This is not to be confused with the number of spells a character ...
- 40k
22
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2
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2k
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Roll Xd6, keeping highest value and adding +1 for each duplicate of that value?
I'm making a card/dice game and I'm trying to set something up on Anydice to compare the odds of the dice rolls, but I'm having some trouble wrapping my mind around some of the language Anydice uses.
...
- 15k
8
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2
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What is the probability distribution for CthulhuTech rolls?
I've recently learnt about CthulhuTech, which has a unique dice pool system:
CthulhuTech uses a proprietary game system known as "Framewerk" that focuses on a dice pool system. An unusual ...
- 13.3k
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1
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When designing a medieval style Tabletop RPG, which style has proven more popular: historically accurate social views, or modern views? [closed]
In the wake of recent events, I've become honestly curious as to what sales figures and/or other social media metrics might reveal about our shifting views regarding what is or is not popular and ...
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4
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1
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Disadvantage/adversity dice pool mechanic that knocks dice greater than 1 out of the pool and adds 1s to it
I am working on a dice pool system for skills and actions to be used in a new system.
In this system, any rolls of 1 will negatively affect the outcome of resolving an action using a dice pool.
In ...
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3
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Dice rolling mechanic where modifiers have a predictable and consistent effect on difficulty
I am looking for a dice rolling mechanic that makes it such that increasing or decreasing a modifier on the roll has a constant multiplier effect on the probability of the outcome.
Say you have to ...
7
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8
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3k
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How to handle degrees of success in roll under systems
I'm working on an RPG system that uses 2d6 roll under Skill for resolutions. On paper this system looks really good so
far, but I have one major issue: Degrees of Success, especially when it comes to ...
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How would you create a frustrated Fire Wizard who wants to be a doctor but things tend to explode when he wants to heal them? [closed]
I'm considering a new character for a pirates-themed game of Pathfinder 2e. He was born in an island full of inhabitants with inherent healing magical habilities and in which offensive magic is looked ...
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1
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458
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How to create dice rolls for multi-attacks in a custom tabletop RPG system
I'm working on a simple tabletop RPG based in a sci-fi universe. The rule set is very basic, since I'll be playing with players with little experience and general tabletop know-how.
Most of it appears ...
user440
2
votes
0
answers
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Choosing an experience point system for a new RPG [closed]
I am creating my own tabletop RPG and keep coming back to the question of fairly and easily distributing experience points. I have it narrowed down to two systems that I like, but would like the ...
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298
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What target numbers would be a certain level of difficulty under this system?
I’m writing a homebrew game system, and I found that I have an action resolution mechanic but not a good system for target numbers (I call them Success Thresholds, or STs, in this game, and from now ...
- 4,359
6
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2
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Mechanical tool for combat adjudication management
I'm working on my own homebrew RPG system which I want to keep light on rules. Therefore I add only rules when they are needed. One rule which I did not use was an implementation of "initiative&...
- 16.2k
5
votes
1
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Attack Range to Movement per Turn Ratio; Dunnigan's Ratio?
TL;DR
What is the less-obscure replacement to the term 'Dunnigan's Ratio' - the range of ratios of weapon ranges to typical distances moved in a single combat turn that produce tactically interesting ...
23
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4
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3k
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How does it affect the game if not everything speaks Common?
Going through the bestiary DBs, you find that of the monsters that speak a language, almost all speak Common as well. (Or have some form of telepathy or truespeech.)
From the data my friend gathered,...
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44
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16
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13k
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How do role-playing games avoid lame duck scenarios?
This is effectively the reverse of How can I end combat quickly when the outcome is inevitable?
Lame duck scenarios in game design occur when a player cannot win, but the game isn't over yet. They're ...
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32
votes
2
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5k
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Why is Armor Class called that way?
I want to teach the game to some new player, and while doing homemade character sheets, for simplicity, I wanted to use the term "Defense" instead of "Armor class" (which I found a bit unintuitive).
...
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153
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Pros and Cons of Different Action/Turn Frameworks [closed]
I would like to have a clearer understanding of the pros and cons of various frameworks of turn composition and action economies. That is, I would like to see the relative benefits and drawbacks of ...
6
votes
2
answers
585
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What magic item benefits are built into the expectation of the game?
I often read that magic item progression is built into the game's difficulty, and that it's important for PCs to keep up with the progression in order to not fall behind.
Exactly what progression is "...
- 4,395
6
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6
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Improving Lie Detection and Credibility Assessment Rules
Many systems have two or more skills/traits/other numeric values that can be pitted against each other in situations where side A tries to assess side B's credibility, where side B may or may not be ...
3
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1
answer
278
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Have PCs Historically Played Through More Campaigns Than is Currently Typical?
I'm relatively new to D&D, only having tabletop experience with 5e and a bit of 3.5, along with some scattered exposure to earlier editions through video games.
I've heard references to ...
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2
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1
answer
176
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Is players adversarial focus RPG even possible to execute? [closed]
I am new to the RPG community, when I am thinking of a adversarial relationship, I generally think of players co-operate to fight against GM controlled mobs in a campaign.
But talking about game ...
- 121
4
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1
answer
537
views
Has anyone done research on average RPG probabilities?
I've been looking at designing an RPG system lately and I'm currently considering where to set the "difficulty" of a roll at to get some satisfying results.
I'm wondering - has anyone researched some ...
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