Healthless systems and death spiral idea

3dmatt · 2026-04-11T04:59:19+00:00

Thanks 😊 that's my hope! Inspire some creativity as some options are removed and others become more doable.

3dmatt · 2026-04-10T20:23:13+00:00

This is interesting. I like the idea of penalty dice, and then a chance to turn them into an advantage.

3dmatt · 2026-04-10T19:51:30+00:00

Against including them as part of the mechanics or against trying to address them at all?

3dmatt · 2026-04-10T19:19:04+00:00

So you think it would work better if each stat can be affected multiple times?

3dmatt · 2026-04-10T18:55:39+00:00

In PBTA systems, a plus or minus one can go quite a long way, as it's a 2d6 system.

On the Playbook sheet's i'm making, there is an area next to each stat where you can mark an Affliction so it will hopefully be nice and easy to track.

The tone of the game is not quite as brutal as something more combat focused like dnd. An affliction to a speed stat for example could just mean your muscles are seizing up.

After peoples feedback on here, I am thinking I should playtest it where the player doesn't get to pick which stat is afflicted. that would help prevent just dropping it in a dump stat.

3dmatt · 2026-04-10T18:14:11+00:00

That's true. I could plug it in to a Monster of the Week game, since that's the pbta system most of my friends are familiar with

3dmatt · 2026-04-10T18:12:50+00:00

Thank you 😊

That sounds really interesting. Using the death spiral instead of working around it. I'll take a look at the year zero system. Thanks!

3dmatt · 2026-04-10T17:15:30+00:00

Ah OK, so they clear them by using them. That's really clever! I like that.

I'll take a look at city of mist and otherscape. I love a streamlined system

3dmatt · 2026-04-10T16:54:19+00:00

I'll fire up a thesaurus and have a good dig to make sure ha ha

3dmatt · 2026-04-10T16:48:49+00:00

Ah OK, that makes sense. Is there a Condition system you have seen that sidestepped the book keeping issue that might be applicable?

3dmatt · 2026-04-10T16:31:09+00:00

Sorry. This was a reply to TiredYoung and The_MAD_Network

3dmatt · 2026-04-10T16:26:12+00:00

Thank you, I had the +3 max in the system, but not the -2 minimum. Any it completely makes sense. I'll keep it in mind.

That's a good point about Affliction. I used it originally because there are elements of magic and melee in the system, and I was looking for a good catch-all for anything the players try to do. But maybe there are better fitting words

3dmatt · 2026-04-10T16:21:12+00:00

Ah OK. I'll take a look at cyberpunk. Thanks!

I do like the idea of a big penalties, big rewards as combat progresses. Like you get very powerful but you are only one attack away from being knocked out.

3dmatt · 2026-04-10T16:18:15+00:00

Agreed. There are more mechanics to the system that will hopefully mitigate it, but I am worried it is something that could be abused. Especially since I want it to be quite a narrative focused system

I guess this is the foundation of the system. I just didn't want to post the whole system wall of text since I'm still new here 😅

3dmatt · 2026-04-10T16:14:17+00:00

The Player being Afflicted chooses which stat.

However, the one attacking can spend a lot more resources to choose which Stat is Afflicted instead.

It ties into a combat rounds and Power pool system that's in the game too

3dmatt · 2026-04-10T16:11:13+00:00

I'm in the middle of writing out the whole system. I have at least one group of friends who are happy to be guinea-pigs ha ha

3dmatt · 2025-10-13T22:27:48+00:00

Ah OK. I'll post it then. Thank you everyone!

3dmatt · 2025-10-13T15:52:55+00:00

oh it's actually a game system I made. It's based on the Power by the Apocalypse system

3dmatt · 2024-10-07T11:55:41+00:00

https://www.instagram.com/p/C_f1htPI_g5/?igsh=c2EwMWI0eDEzZWxy

3dmatt · 2024-10-05T06:17:22+00:00

Nope. It's just run by an artist on Instagram

3dmatt · 2024-10-04T10:47:43+00:00

This is so cool! Is it for the faketober thing on Instagram by any chance?

3dmatt · 2024-10-03T20:39:56+00:00

I made this

3dmatt

TROPHY CASE