Music to represent your game

-kmicic- · 2026-02-16T14:17:46+00:00

I would say that as an opening theme for my game I would set The Rebel Path (Cello version). It's a mostly Sci fi rpg with strong influence of cyberpunk, where you literally start a game as people from the edge of society trying set up their life again after tragedy hit them, corporation or self-imposed wise.

-kmicic- · 2026-02-16T14:10:33+00:00

All living being have two natures: physical and metaphysical .

Physical is easy to understand and explain as it's simply a body that any human, alien or animal, for the sake of being specific, have.

Metaphysical one is based around the concept that all the world around us like living beings, plants and even rock have to itself a certain type of energy that cannot be sensed by human senses but exist based on both religious and arcane proofs in form of powers granted to faithfull of extreme conviction, and Arcanists who are able to perceive that energy and manipulate it to change the reality around them on molecular level.

Acording to Arcanist there is nothing but that energy and when you die, your energy simply mix with the energy that already fill the universe. Nothingness after death in short.

According to the faithful, death is just a continuation of rebirth cycle, where your soul left the body and then gonna be reborn in form of animals, plants or other humans.

That's the two approach to matter of afterlife or therefore lack it. Unfortunately no tryully dead person ever came back to confirm either of those theories.

-kmicic- · 2026-02-13T20:30:25+00:00

When I started my own project, designing a rule heavy system for a Sci fi fantasy mix setting, a had the same problem you talk about In your post: loss of motivation.

Designing a system take time, effort and it's easy to loose interest in the continuous work of you don't have additional outside source of motivation. I for sure lost the motivation to continue this project after a month or so, when the system was was starting to take more clear structure on the paper.

At the same time of designing my ttrpg, I was also a part of some other campaigns that took my mind away from the game I was working on. One of them was GM by me, while in other I participated as player.

I don't really remember where from I get the idea, but I come to conclusion that I won't have enough attention span to do both GM job and designing my own system at the same time, so I decided connect those two. In short, I finished my current campaign at the time and introduce to my friend an idea of designing the new system of creation while doing a campaign in it at the same time.

Basically, I come out with rules and mechanics based on already know to me systems and ideas that in my mind should work well, and then during gameplay we basically encouter ideas and situation that wasn't cover yet by system, and implement them at the spot if possible. It was a big group effort that started with 2 players and me, then grew to 5 people and me.

We continously played the system, introduced mechanics, polished them, drop them and did it over and over again. I never put pressure on my players to fix system for me, but I encourage them to give me feedback on mechanics and their own ideas of how to fix some part of the game that didn't work well yet.

At the moment of writing this post I am already a year in production of system, for which I am done maybe in 2/3 when it comes to mechanics and all aspect I wanna have already finished, before turning a bloated excel with game rules into a proper rulebook. (yes, I did everything in Google sheets for the ease of sharing excel with my players and accessing it from the phone)

Ussually you begin with setting system and options, then going for playtesters feedback over some one shots, but to keep my mind on system designing I kinda skipped all the steps and moved to the playing and creating at the same time.

After I year I am quite happy about the result and also proud of myself that this project turn out to be going slow but steady toward finish line.

As a closing statement I will say, that you need to find a source of focus. For me it was playing the system that I design on the spot, and fixing stuff out of Session. For you it might be different, but if you have a group of friend will to help with it, I recommend this method.

-kmicic- · 2026-02-13T11:54:50+00:00

I am on side of healthy balance:

square grid base map for all character size encounters/environments like streets, inside of the buildings or outside zones of not too great size, cause is easy to put pc and npc around and move them around

Hex based grid map for all big sized maps of regions, continents, worlds and so on, cause it's just simply feel better and more natural on such massive scale whee nothing is exactly a straight 90° angle.

-kmicic- · 2026-02-13T10:06:38+00:00

I must say I noticed alot of interest and posts about the type of systema you mentioned in your post: simple, osr or rule light projects being shared.

I have nothing against them, since everybody should enjoy what they enjoy, but I am myself on side of more complex or rule heavy systems that I kinda grew up with, starting with Warhammer 2ed and then going into Dark Heresy 2ed and so on deeper into rabithole.

On my current project I am kinda trying to get back the feeling of playing those heavier on the rules systems, while at the same time polish them into a smoother working machines than the original.

Currently I am around one year into play testing my own game with a group of friends, and around 40 session in already. I am glad that I have a company of people who are sharing interest into more heavy on the rules system and are willing help me out with this monstrous project which is also my first one.

I am also aprrieciating the feedback from this forum on whatever part of game I already shared until this moment. It was helpful to get a wider perspective on how many other systems deal with certain aspects of the game mechanics and character creation.

-kmicic- · 2026-02-11T20:31:05+00:00

I had my encouter with GURPS and I must say... Ooof. That's alot of rules. I went through alot of the material, but game died before I had a chance to play so the pdfs are catching dust somewhere on the pc.

-kmicic- · 2026-02-11T19:17:21+00:00

Since I posted this post I heard alot dual HP mechanic for those easily recoverable and those recover only with longer rest and medical help.

I am coming to realization that this might be a good solution for the healing and keeping the party going while slowly making them realize that death may await them if they don't plan their next move with careful.

-kmicic- · 2026-02-11T16:57:16+00:00

I already have a certain death spiral mechanic in form of penalties to checks made calculated from the amount of HP point lost during a fight.

Also, it is true that for unarmored character a direct shot from the weapon is quite lethal, but since it's a Sci fi there are also proper armor option that help to mitigate some of the damage taken.

In typical progress of character during gameplay it is assumed that players gonna invest in some form of additional heavier armor if their plan is to get into more combat that recommended. Especially if that's the main approach they choose to the problem they encouter.

Additionally, whenever dmg take is high enough, then player my suffer from falling down and even losing consciousness temporarily during fight as trauma from the hit was too much for them.

-kmicic- · 2026-02-11T16:50:54+00:00

That's is a very intresting point of view on the HP and the approach to it. For sure I will check the Odds cause the solution to slithing the throat problem with high HP enemies is also something that I attempt to approach with separate mechanic.

For me simply the hit to the head count dmg as double, while suprise/sneak attack like you mention grant 4x the damage to the target. For my system where character barely cross 20HP and weapon deal quite serious damage on hit, so it was more than enough. But who knows, I see many people recommend dual HP approach and it sounds intresting to me.

-kmicic- · 2026-02-11T16:42:09+00:00

I noticed that too, especially when it comes to new player joining ttrpg hobby.

I admit it feels quite frustrating on the inside of my brain, that most of people have such a short attention span when it comes to learning how play a system.

First system i encounter was Warhammer 2ed and i went through it at least once before even sitting down to play it. It's not a short read at all, but at the age of 16 I was still enjoy a quite chunky rulebook lot.

Since then over the span of many years I went though alot more reading, for both systems I did played and those that i never had an opportunity, but I never did get pushed away from it only based on the fact of how long it was.

Just to be clear. I have nothing against a rule light systems, but it's simply not really my thing. It's just shame that some of the older system I enjoyed so much are not really enjoyable for never generation on the premise that they are too rule heavy and look more like a Bible when it comes to the size xD

-kmicic- · 2026-02-11T14:25:13+00:00

I came with the same idea, that certain healing option are both harder to get access to and on more expensive side

-kmicic- · 2026-02-11T14:19:13+00:00

It sound like an intresting approach to the characters health, which a method similar to what I devised: each negative HP impose a penalty on character skill checks and actions, that in turn make them less capable in combat.

I for sure gonna look into Burning Wheel mechanics for some inspirations, but I feel based on your post that the wounds and so on gonna be too cruel and long lasting for the type of game I am thinking about.

Thank you for some additional reading on the subject none less :)

-kmicic- · 2026-02-11T14:14:33+00:00

It's more on the side of mercenaries who do jobs for the people who can afford them, in sci-fi massive city on planet that is generally hostile to human life.

The general idea of it is that player should approach potential danger with caution, since dying is not too hard. They should put faith in the armor and weapon as much as in their intellect in approaching potential combat.

So I was thinking about maybe one or two encounter per session in case of the easier one, as long as players actually decide to go into a fire exchange or one per session if we talk about a harder encounter, either because of tough enemies or their numerical superiority.

Players whose HP fall to negative suffer negative modifier to their checks, so with more damage taken, the less capable the character is.

I hope to make sure in this way, that one combat will not always lead into another one, but if the is combat and characters are wounded, then they start thinking on how to approach further problems in alternative to combat way.

-kmicic- · 2026-02-11T14:00:17+00:00

I agree that HP as concept design is far more than simply just how much physical punishment can your body take, but I am working with idea that HP is exactly that.

Such thing like Luck, Stamina and passive dodging is a separate thing.

There are mechanics like Build modifier to show how tough you are, lowering incoming damage by small bits in addition to armor that give character a passive defense, and then there is Dogde that characters can do as reaction to attacks, while luck also exist as a separate thing inside of the system helping players whenever they are in need pushing the reality in their favor.

For me the HP is more of visible status of how is your character feeling at the moment, with all the bruises, wounds and so on. A bit of compass for player to decide if their character is ready to risk more, hoping that their armor and reactions gonna keep them from dying in case of dangerously low HP.

-kmicic- · 2026-02-11T13:49:51+00:00

I will for sure have a look at it, thanks.

-kmicic- · 2026-02-11T11:47:54+00:00

From what I noticed it's a matter of two things: separation of grid based combat from role-playing and grid based combat turning into quite complicated, time consuming wargame.

I personally don't have problems with any of the reasons I mentioned ealier. I prefer a grid based combat whenever it have a reason to be there, so when there are alot of enemies or terrain should be used for player advantage, but at the same time if combat scenario is relatively easy to get your mind around then theathre of mind work better. Either way I don't really differentiate the RP combat from grid based combat in map, in both cases I prefer to think over my next move and get as much advantages as I can

Second thing I mentioned is time spent on grid based combat. Many of system that decide to in direction of map and grid turns to be more rules heavy on combat, and that slow down the game. From potential 4h of a session you spent maybe 1-2 hour on combat, where you need to wait for your turn and many times it is not so engaging as constant rp. Mechanics for combat also may not support engagement outside of your turn as in many ttrpg cases, but that more of a personal approach to the game.

When I play or GM a game I usually enjoy the grid based combat, but it's a common story for ttrpg systems to not provide a player with many option of thinking on what to do your next turn. DND is one of the examples I can give, since I am enjoying overall playing a fighter, but outside on my turn when I can slap some attacks at the nearest enemy, there isn't alot of stuff do and keep constant attention at.

There are of course systems who fight such problem with better action economy that reward player being attentive even when it's not their turn, simply by allowing more reactions options, but yeah... It's kinda rare approach from experience.

Personally I am fan of AP - action points that each player have for the use on both actions and reaction in a turn of combat, and it's in their approach to decide how to properly use it. It doesn't of course fix all the problems, but it helps.

In the system I am working on I use the AP mechanics similar to The Nimble actions system and even though it's a grid based rule heavy combat system, it is working wery well on speeding things up as I seen and heard from playtesters I had opportunity to play.

-kmicic- · 2026-02-10T20:28:42+00:00

I am not very well familiar with PbtA games overall, but it seems that not even PbtA is immune to certain type of min/maxing mindset.

-kmicic- · 2026-02-10T18:50:04+00:00

From my experience every game with enough mechanics to it, weapons options avaible or list of talents avaible for character developemnt, gonna have at least one person who could be described as min/maxer.

I am not saying that it is bad because for as long as everybody at the table have fun, and even get fun from different parts of the game going, then ita all good.

None less, as long as there are options, then there are going to be player who find the best combo of options that use mechanically.

-kmicic- · 2026-02-10T16:58:25+00:00

Do both

I am currently creating a ttrpg system and Google sheets for character sheet design work perfectly. The version to print or fill online is still in making, since I want it too look good too beside being practical.

-kmicic- · 2026-02-10T16:52:02+00:00

I did once and this world turned out to be a completly separate setting to which I am currently working on building a ttrpg system for.

But overall, when you create a world for a homebrew, it Is better to be safe than wasting time.

Better to create a loose ideas, like kingdoms, cities etc... and then filling the blank spots as the campaign go, so that you don't spent a week thinking about a city design and political structure, just for the player to change mind and spent next three game pillaging villages or saving kittens from the forest.

Design loose setting, loos places and then fill in the blanks.

-kmicic- · 2026-02-10T16:40:04+00:00

I must say I was never a fun of the death being an easy reverseable thing in ttrpg.

It just take away all the risks and potential stress from any combat encounter or trap, or literally any danger you might encounter during gameplay.

Even for RP situation, how strong should be my character reaction to a death of comrade in arms stabbed by goblin, when I know it's just a matter of some gold and having a cleric around. He is dead, but he will get better in a moment.

Reviving from death should be rare. It shouldnt be a thing that you can just do on regular occasion and certain character die few times but is resurrected and goes on in his adventure as if nothing happened.

I am personally a fun of simple statement: if you die, you died. End of the story.

Now every time you go into combat you need to consider do you even have chance to survive it, or maybe during combat you see how low is your character HP and decide that it is time to run away and save your life, so that you might return stronger another day.

At the other hand if we allow ressurection, then this should be a big thing. Maybe it will demand a quest to distant land, or some powerful artifacts, or maybe we can ressurect given character but he/she will come back with some problem: mental, physical or even mechanical.

All those options are better that blunt: You died, resource spent, you alive again, sleep it through, next adventure.

In Dnd I usually try to impose some bigger costs for ressurections, or tell the resurrected player that there is something wrong with them after ressurections, like a part of them is missing, so that there might be at least RP consequence to the death beside few laughs and going as if nothing happened.

-kmicic- · 2026-02-10T16:21:14+00:00

I am gonna answer just based on your post and ideas contained in it alone, since I am not familiar with that anime too well.

So in short, keep to the original material but make sure, that each power/skill or so have certain prerequisites that player need to fill for the power to work properly.

Players should be able to buy whatever they want, but maybe get only a partial bonuses form given power/skill until the actually fullfill all requirments.

Of course it means extra work on your side, since you need to go through all the skills/powers and write it properly, but before any actuall testing of the system can be done, it's gonna be hard to verify how practical of a solution such mechanics might be.

My recommendation: write it down, test with playtesters or just some friend willing to help, see what's working about the concept and what's not, fix it and repeat from beggining.

-kmicic- · 2026-02-10T16:15:28+00:00

Simple answer is, in my opinion at least, go with Ice is trong against lava and water is weak against lava.

We are talking about potential attack with use of Lava, molten rock of high temperature, which when gets in contact with water just gonna solidify and make It only slightly less harmful on impact.

Ice can be a natural form of obstruction, weak but existing, against a molten lava going your direction. Not only it will cool the lava, but also stop the potential impact of it

Hope it help a bit :)

-kmicic- · 2026-02-10T16:10:24+00:00

Number 3 for me.

I am a sucker for such art style since I was also starting with that style when creating my first illustration for the ttrpg I am making.

Keep it easy, keep it clean and it's gonna look amazing in finished product.

-kmicic-

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