TTRPG design

[totel]

hi! i saw some other topics which are similar, but not what i'm looking for. this topic is for all TTRPG enthusiasts and designers to come together and chat. 

do you work on TTRPGs? do you play TTRPGs? what project are you currently working on? do you participate in TTRPG jams?

personally, i love making solo RPGs the most, usually card based. :) i have itchio if you want to check out what i've made so far!

there's also an eternal ttrpg jam which i'm trying to do. didn't manage last month though i had a cool idea, but this month i'm making something cooler. it's going to be exploration adventure and use tarot cards. :]

anyway! what kind of stuff do you like to work on? have you published a ttrpg before? 

[Dan Q]

I've been doing some preliminary work on a setting for a Forged in the Dark-powered RPG with an alternate-history-present cyberpunk feel. In a world in which Cold War tensions expanded into an increasingly culturally-fractured world, hyperconservative nations seek to control the flow of information with locked-down "country-wide" Internets and dramatically limited access to cellular data systems. It's a world of mostly wired network connections and censored international communications, but where technologies that support defence and surveillance are supercharged, although sometimes restricted: VR, drones, and satellites are real and widespread, but networks are dramatically more point-to-point and the use of technology is artificially stunted by the laws of your socially right-leaning government.

On the fringes of this world, hacker subcultures work to liberate data, bridge communications, expose censorship, steal infotech, and fight for progressive values. Working with illegally-unlocked hardware or repurposed state-owned kit, player characters perform heists spanning both cyberspace and the real world, fighting oppressive regimes and standing up for the disenfranchised... and, perhaps, making themselves rich along the way.

I've got some modifications to FitD mechanics to shift into a present-day dystopian cyberpunk feel, but I'm trying to retain the magic of "cut to the next impactful scene" that the system lends to e.g. Slugblaster.

Influences include Sneakers (among other films), The Man in the High Castle, Steve Jackson's Hacker, Neuromancer obviously, and of course the real-world increasing efforts to enforce control over the Internet by nation-states.

[Dan Q]

it's going to be exploration adventure and use tarot cards. :]

You familiar with Everway? If not, you might like a look: it uses an alternate-universe tarot-like deck as its resolution mechanic in a way that I love!

[totel]

You familiar with Everway? If not, you might like a look: it uses an alternate-universe tarot-like deck as its resolution mechanic in a way that I love!

never heard of it before! i mostly dabble in indie solo rpgs, i enjoy stuff i can simply download from itchio and play with a standard poker deck or tarot cards, since i live in balkans and shipping of actual game packs tends to be pretty expensive. 

i'll  check it out though, maybe it gives me some good ideas! i'm sure internet has more information on it.

there was a game where i wanted to make a full deck for it, but it'd take finances and my country isnn't eligible for kickstarter stuff. u_u i did put that project on the shelf for now though, focusing more on stuff that can just be played easily. :>

also your game sounds really interesting! i like the way it draws inspiration from IRL need to control the web (something pretty scary, actually). i'm not so much into cyberpunk as i'm into fantasy sci-fi (i love stuff like star wars and i looove writing space operas ) but the game sounds great, i'd def play it! what mechanics are you utilizing, dice, cards? how many players, does it need a GM?

in general, i think that it's important to give indie projects a try, i'm sick of DND being everywhere! 

[Dan Q]

also your game sounds really interesting! i like the way it draws inspiration from IRL need to control the web (something pretty scary, actually). i'm not so much into cyberpunk as i'm into fantasy sci-fi (i love stuff like star wars and i looove writing space operas ) but the game sounds great, i'd def play it! what mechanics are you utilizing, dice, cards? how many players, does it need a GM?

Core engine is Forged in the Dark, so: characters have different actions as characteristics each with a value of 0 (default) to 4. Action resolution involves rolling that-number-of-D6s (if it's 0, you roll two but take the lower value), plus an extra D6 for each of (a) assistance from a friend or (b) taking stress. 1-3 = fail (press on at greater risk, withdraw, or take harm depending on the characteristics of the challenge: I've got a grid thingy), 4-5 succeed at a cost (reduced effect, harm, future risk), 6 = succeed, double-6 = succeed with bonus/increased effect. All rolls are by PCs (NPCs don't roll; their resolution comes from player rolls).

The engine was originally invented for a game called Blades in the Dark (which I've got, but I've never played!) but because it's got an open SRD the bones of it have been used for other things: it's geared towards fast-paced, cut-to-the-action and work-out-the-details-later, players-contributing-as-storytellers, everything-feels-risky games.

No hard limits on player count, but a GM's probably essential.

My favourite GM-less TTRPG, BTW, is Dialect by Thorny Games. Mindblowing beer-and-pretzels/single-session gaming with a variety of possible themes, about how an isolated subculture develops their own language and slang and how that eventually becomes lost and dies. I've laughed and I've cried every damn time I've played that game, no matter what the theme! It probably plays well solo, too, if you're willing to put the effort into writing "scripts" for your characters!