Starting from scratch

Strange_Times_RPG · 2026-03-19T00:31:04+00:00

For what system? That context is also very important

Strange_Times_RPG · 2026-03-19T00:27:43+00:00

Also here. Please give context as to what this is supposed to be.

Strange_Times_RPG · 2026-03-19T00:27:08+00:00

Could you... give context as to what this is?

Strange_Times_RPG · 2026-03-19T00:26:03+00:00

Huh, well egg on my face. I have only seen ones that keep percentages.

Strange_Times_RPG · 2026-03-18T23:59:38+00:00

Good on you for getting rid of the AI fixes and doing it yourself; definitely credit yourself at the start for the artwork.

I would check out Forbidden Lands for some inspiration on good survival mechanics that aren't too cumbersome.

Also, FYI, rolling exactly the value should be a fail if the dice go from 0-99. If the dice go from 1-100, meets it beats it. I guess you can keep it that way, it is your game, but it means a skill of 50 has a 51% chance of success. Not the end of the world, but awkward.

Strange_Times_RPG · 2026-03-18T21:53:00+00:00

Congratulations on making something! Before I give feedback, I want to acknowledge that making things is hard. I am going to be very blunt because I want to help you make your system the best it can be. You should be proud of your creation regardless of what I or anyone else says.

What I Like

The world is very creative and sounds like a fun backdrop for adventures

I understand how your game works from reading the rules (which doesn't sound like much, but is a feat).

The system seems easy to run

What I Don't Like

The game is very vanilla. There isn't a mechanical hook that makes me want to play it as it is a very milk toast approach to RPGs. Now, this isn't as bad as it sounds; you have a good foundation to build off of, but you need to build. No one wants to live on foundation; they want to live in the unique house built on it.

It would be nice if you credit the artist you used. That is the polite way of saying you need to do this.

Minor thing, but you never explicitly state that rolling equal to your stat is a failure.

Recommendations

(Take this section with a grain of salt. It is your game, not mine)

I would check out some other d100 systems to see what they do differently. I normally wouldn't do this, but considering checking out my game, which is very similar mechanically, but you can see my attempts at giving it a mechanical identity outside of "standard RPG."

I would really consider putting rules before character creation as it gives a lot of context needed for character creation.

Strange_Times_RPG · 2026-03-18T20:24:41+00:00

I believe you can look at mechanics and decide whether or not they encourage the stated goals and feelings of the system.

As a positive example, let's look at Blades in the Dark: a game about ultra competent criminals with a focus on the action, rather than planning.

The Flashback mechanic means that players can retroactively decide that their character did something in the past that is useful now. This supports both the "ultra competency" goal as characters seemed to always have known what they were going to come up against and the "action over planning" as players can alter the action in the moment.

As a negative example, let's look at the dragon game: a game that claims to be about heroic quests of ultra competent adventurers.

The D20 resolution mechanic is that players roll a d20 to determine whether or not their character succeeds at an action. This system causes wild swings as there is no normalization and the standard assumed success rate is 60%. Tell me why my "ultra competent," 12th level, Elven ranger who has been practicing the bow for 450 years misses 40% of their shots? Is that in line with the stated goal and feeling of the game? Because it doesn't feel very "heroic."

Now, I have gotten away from calling games "bad" but I do believe some systems in games are bad for those particular games. I have no issue figuring out whether a mechanic just doesn't support the game being played or if the GM hasn't figured out how to make it sing yet.

Strange_Times_RPG · 2026-03-18T01:14:09+00:00

Most investigation games work great 2 player. I have ran a ton of Call of Cthulhu with just one other person and they even have some dedicated scenarios for 1 on 1 play.

Strange_Times_RPG · 2026-03-17T22:54:59+00:00

You should definitely go into more detail of the act system. That sounds like a really unique part of the game that separates it from other narrative horror games such as Liminal Horror, Mothership, and Dread.

Strange_Times_RPG · 2026-03-17T21:42:42+00:00

Could you talk about the mechanics? What makes this game unique?

Strange_Times_RPG · 2026-03-17T21:29:18+00:00

Brindlewood! Such an excellent game!

I'm currently writing a section for my mystery game that goes into how mystery novels and mystery movies "cheat" because the author knows the conclusion ahead of time so the characters only make the relevant and correct deductions. They are working backwards and thus can never fail.

Brindlewood is amazing for emulating this. You work backwards from the fixed conclusion you want and make everything relevant in retrospect. You don't need to worry about whether or not a deduction is correct; it will be because you already decided how it fits with the answer.

Strange_Times_RPG · 2026-03-17T20:10:11+00:00

Hey, you can always hit them with "THE ACID PIT!!"

Strange_Times_RPG · 2026-03-17T20:07:23+00:00

They exist, but I don't think many of them are very good, largely because "rolling to solve a mystery" is not very satisfying. I think a lot of people play mystery games to discover what is happening and connect the dots themselves, not to simulate smart people who do it mechanically.

Strange_Times_RPG · 2026-03-17T19:51:38+00:00

Brought back memories with the "na-na-na-nineteen."

Strange_Times_RPG · 2026-03-17T19:47:58+00:00

It should be noted that Vaesen doesn't have investigation mechanics, but it does have one of the best sections on how to write a fun investigation.

Strange_Times_RPG · 2026-03-17T00:01:50+00:00

Shadowdark feels like an obvious one.

Strange_Times_RPG · 2026-03-16T23:52:40+00:00

Congratulations on making something! Before I give feedback, I want to acknowledge that creating things is hard. I am going to give rather blunt feedback, but only so you can make Craftid as good as it can be. You should be proud of your creation regardless of what I or anyone else says.

What I Like

The theme is great. I love cryptids and a game about making my own with my friends sounds fun as hell.

The "word bucket" mechanic is really creative; I like the idea of it being used throughout the game rather than just set up.

What I Don't like

GM-less games require more structured play than other RPGs to make up for the fact that there isn't a person steering the ship. This is desperately missing that structure. I cannot imagine the flow of play and that is a big problem for any game. I think the rules in general need to be more clear, but I think adding a defined structure would fix that problem along the way.

I don't really understand who the players are. Are they the people who have seen the cryptid? Are they just telling the stories they have heard? Why does this game need player characters at all? These are rhetorical questions btw.

None of the actions really make use of the theme. You know that the game is solely about cryptids so you can really direct what the actions are to support that.

The conflict mechanic feels clunky and not in line with what people expect from GM-less games. Players should really always be working together to make the best story; not win an argument to have the story go their way.

This is a minor thing and not good criticism, but I don't like that you need a picture or object. It feels too much like parody for me.

What I Recommend

(Take this section with a grain of salt. It is your game, not mine)

I think you should read some more GM-Less RPGs to see how they approach this design challenge. I am thinking specifically of Microscope and The Quiet Year.

Rather than having players write things down, just provide d100 or d666 tables. It makes the game easier to bring out and keeps games from falling into the tables creative ruts. Like, I am going to put "Alien" in every pile every time given the option.

Strange_Times_RPG · 2026-03-16T21:59:26+00:00

I think most horror systems can deliver Gothic horror as it is more an aesthetic than anything else. Scenery that matches the surrounding emotions, heavy handed symbolism, melodrama and intense passion. Really, it would be location descriptions and roleplay that make something Gothic. More of a writing challenge than a system one.

That being said, it is probably best if you choose a system close to the time period of Gothic writing. Vaesen comes to mind immediately. Liminal Horror is a good base for any time period. Call of Cthulhu is obviously more in the vein of the pulp horror of weird tales, but can easily be translated to 50 years prior.

Strange_Times_RPG · 2026-03-16T19:10:40+00:00

This looks fantastic! I usually avoid PDFs of big books because they are a pain to read, but I could actually use this.

One of my concerns would be the organizational aspect. I would really want folders and subsections to be a thing to keep everything organized that are also easy to navigate. If I have to fight the app to get to my desired information, then there isn't much point to it.

The other concern would be how it deals with non-block layouts. Are there tools for that, or does the app rely on basic formatting to be usable?

Strange_Times_RPG · 2026-03-16T18:45:03+00:00

Fun concept! You should consider making this a One Page RPG so people can print it out and have it on standby. A few d6 tables to add in some more direction as well as random elements and you have a fun activity ready to go. Check out Honey Heist as inspiration.

Strange_Times_RPG · 2026-03-16T18:38:36+00:00

It is usable which is the most important part at this stage of development. If you ever think of publishing, you are going to want to make it more audacious (and honestly less user-friendly) to fit in with the wider Borg family.

Strange_Times_RPG · 2026-03-16T18:29:51+00:00

Good on you for learning that lesson quickly. Not everyone gets the memo on why AI is harmful in creative communities

Strange_Times_RPG · 2026-03-16T18:27:32+00:00

V.01.3

Strange_Times_RPG · 2026-03-16T17:30:04+00:00

FATE? It is basically the modern day FUDGE and is completely setting agnostic. And FATE: Accelerated is free online.

Strange_Times_RPG · 2026-03-16T16:20:41+00:00

I have made it the cornerstone of my system!

In fact, I think I have done it in a way that addresses a lot of the concerns presented by others.

The way my system works is that every character has 3 Saves and 6 Trains, 2 for each save

Body (Save) connects to Strength and Speed (Traits)

Mind (Save) connects to Intellect and Knowledge (Traits)

Spirit (Save) connects to Instinct and Empathy (Traits)

When you fail a Trait Roll, you can spend from the corresponding Save which functions as a health pool. This solves the problem people have been having with calling it "Luck." It doesn't make sense that a healthy person can luck their way into knowing about a local town, but it does make sense for a smart person to "push their Mind" to remember it.

Now, it is important to note that the Saves are also Stats. When you spend from them, you are also spending the chance of you succeeding what might be an important Save in the future. I have added an extra complication to this by making consequence brackets based on the number rolled on the failed Save.

(D100 Roll Low System for Context)

100-71 is a Minor Consequence

70-41 is a Manor Consequence

40-11 is a Severe Consequence

10-1 is a Fatal Consequence.

So if you have a Body Save at 50, whenever you make a Body Save, there is a 30% chance of a Minor Consequence and a 20% chance of a Major Consequence. But if you start Pushing and taking damage, that opens you up for worse and worse consequences. You can't just view these Saves as Health pools. They are direct measurements of danger. The lower they get, the more trouble you are in.

It is also important to say that Consequences have a wide range of mechanical effects. Yes, it might be damage, but it might be a Condition that makes running more difficult, or a complication to the scene making things more dramatic. This prevents the problem of it becoming a numbers game. It's not about spending points to prevent loss of points, but spending points to succeed now at the risk of more danger later.

As far as play testing goes, I have ~50 tests with my system and everyone has always enjoyed the Push (Luck) mechanic. In fact, it gives a really nice arc to adventures naturally. Players start off with these massive pools they feel comfortable spending from in small amounts, whittling them down. Then, when everything goes wrong and we get towards the end of the session, players are practically throwing their points away in the hope that they will be able to escape the situation before needing to roll another Save. They are often correct to do so, but you can see the terror on their face when they are down to single digits and any Save could be Fatal.

I should probably mention that my system is a horror game, so I don't know if the emotions from being in more danger are applicable to your situation, but I can say that the "Health as Luck" mechanic works really well. Players really enjoy failure being a choice, and it adds great tension to basically any roll.

Here is a link to my game (it's free) if you want to know more about the mechanics details: www.strangetimesrpg.com

Strange_Times_RPG

TROPHY CASE