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From the people making tabletop RPGs: rough ideas, questions for other designers, design notes, postmortems, how-tos, the occasional essay, and updates from the projects being made here. Short is fine.
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46 updates
Okkam Designer · update to Okkam: Revised Edition1 like
Hey, y'all! I'm Skip. I wrote a game called OK RPG! a few years back. I also wrote Okkam and ran a successful Kickstarter for it last year. We made block-printed physical zines, custom dice, character pads, and screen-printed patches. My…
CaptainP Designer · update to D20 Dungeon2 likes
Welcome and thank you for stopping by the world of D20 Dungeon.\ \ I've been developing this Solo TTRPG Dungeon Crawler by myself for the past 7 or 8 months and am very excited to finally see who else might enjoy it.\ \ As it stands, D20 is…
Anon Designer · update to Integral (placeholder)
AI will not be making the mechanics or the final rulebook. The extent to what I'll use it for hasn't been decided beyond that. Despite all the hype, AI is only as good as an unpaid intern. Gathering research and stuff that would take hours…
Anon Designer · update to Integral (placeholder)1 comment
The design phase is almost done, so most of the rules and mechanics are in place, though they might be revised or replaced during playtest. Integral, as it is now, is a build your own experience system that has rules, tools, and mechanics…
Aaron Designer · update to Soul Light1 like3 comments
Hello again! I'm getting quite close to having all the base systems of the game written out, and I think I will be putting together a playtest document for levels 1-3 next after this post, so apologies if the next post doesn't come for a…
Aaron Designer · update to Soul Light2 likes
Hi all, I mentioned Essence Combos kinda in a one-off sentence in my first discussion about combat without really describing them, and that's because I thought they deserved their own post since that post was getting long. I mentioned in…
kurt Designer · update to Factions & Feuds1 like6 comments
I'm currently working through an edit/proofreading pass and playtesting at Gamehole Con this weekend. Once that is complete, the player's guide will be ready for your review and feedback.
kurt Designer · update to Factions & Feuds1 like
Factions & Feuds originated from my distraction and obsession during the Covid-19 lockdown: megagames. Megagames are large-scale simulations that combine elements of role-playing games, tabletop games, and wargames. These games can involve…
Aaron Designer · update to Soul Light3 likes1 comment
I've sort of mentioned various parts of the combat rules here and there in my other posts, but I wanted to cover some other parts of the game before I got into something as meaty as combat. As I have mentioned before, Soul Light is intended…
Christopher Hogrefe Designer · update to Aetherworlds1 like
Hello again! Things are pretty stressful at the moment, and I am working on redoing some of the core rules for a potential playtest, so I don’t have to much to show just yet. Instead, I thought I would start what I imagine will be a series…
Aaron Designer · update to Soul Light2 likes5 comments
Hello all! I have realized that I have kinda glossed over how my game really works fundamentally, and I wanted to sort of dig deeper into the philosophy behind how the system works and why I made it that way. I have done a ton of math (I am…
Aaron Designer · update to Soul Light
Crafting is always one of the most difficult concepts to approach from pretty much all sides in a tabletop RPG. For the GMs, you have to hope and pray that the subsystem within the game you're playing has some semblance of balance, and it's…
Aaron Designer · update to Soul Light1 like
Next up, Diplomacy! I have also had issues with how social interactions work in trad ttrpgs, and many other systems just kinda "accept defeat" and either just let the players hash things out in-character with little to no mechanics and let…
Mirko Founder · update to Tagline RPG
The previous post discussed traits and tags, the main things that make up a player character and, in the case of tags, much of the game. In this post, I'll cover the two remaining things: talents and troubles. While less prominent than the…
Aaron Designer · update to Soul Light1 like3 comments
Hello all! I am Aaron, normally known as Draedis in online spaces. I have been working on a new system for the better part of 2 years now, and after a lot of internal designing and showing it to friends, I want to start more publicly…
Dee McKinney Designer · update to Project Psyche
Playtest call openTwo playtest opportunties
Hi, everyone! I've posted 2 playtest opportunities (Same adventure) for November 13 and November 15. Please join me. :)
tactics Designer · update to For the King!2 likes1 comment
After a few tries, this is the shortest version of "how to start the game." You are playing For the King! A tabletop RPG set in an alternate high medieval history shaped by divine gifts and monstrous disasters. To make a character, roll…
Mirko Founder · update to Tagline RPG1 like6 comments
Traits and tags are at the heart of Tagline, so I want to briefly describe how they work and why I went with this design. Traits The game went through many iterations over the years - at least in my head, before I wrote anything down…
Gods of Aumin Designer · update to Gods of Aumin Classless TTRPG2 likes
I am currently working on the core rulebook for my Gods of Aumin Classless TTRPG. The core rulebook has already been written, but I am in the process of editing and formatting the book for publication on Amazon. I plan on having the core…
Christopher Hogrefe Designer · update to Aetherworlds1 like1 comment
Hello RPGLab! I added my project here on a whim after seeing the reddit post. Better to just go and try things rather than deliberating about them, right? The website looks like a good start, and I would love to see more people jump on…
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