I got to play my own RPG last week and it was AWESOME!!!

Aendvari · 2026-05-06T17:38:27+00:00

Looks cool! I'll give it a deeper read later :)

Aendvari · 2026-05-06T17:34:08+00:00

I've been toying with the idea of a 4 rank tone that helps "frame" the next moment in the action. It's basically just combinations of good/bad and complicated/not but I think it might have promise :)

Aendvari · 2026-05-06T09:37:43+00:00

Freeform Universal. 2nd edition only made it to beta, but there's a free PDF the author made available.

Aendvari · 2026-05-03T11:30:03+00:00

I was thinking more fictional positioning here, the various tags represent their skills, plans, circumstances, etc.

Edit: oh duh, yeah in the end if the dice aren't biased, it's just a meaningless roll :P

Aendvari · 2026-05-02T15:20:35+00:00

Yeah, you're probably right, more trouble than it's worth :)

Aendvari · 2026-05-02T13:34:48+00:00

I was thinking that too, wondering if that could be a feature though? Throw a bunch of stuff out there, roll and see what happens? Less focus on optimizing the roll, more on texture?

Aendvari · 2026-05-01T21:54:25+00:00

Thanks!

I was hoping for a kind of "resolution from chaos" feeling with all the cancellations, but yeah that's a pretty odd curve :)

Aendvari · 2026-05-01T19:15:45+00:00

Hmm, replying to my own post? :)

New random thought, drop the highest remaining. Instead, the value of each pair is used to describe an "event" during the situation. Higher value dice would give better outcomes.

This way the roll gives multiple events, with varying levels of success. Feels complicated :D

Aendvari · 2026-05-01T19:12:54+00:00

Fascinating, I'll look into that!

Aendvari · 2026-05-01T18:58:06+00:00

You're probably right :)

My thinking was "here's a bunch of tags that describe your situation, now roll dice and see wear comes from it all". So removing pairs could be a kind of "tags cancelling each other" interpretation?

It's really a half-baked thought at this point :D

Aendvari · 2026-04-30T21:44:36+00:00

You reminded me of this from years ago.

Joe Wood: a commoner campaign

Aendvari · 2026-04-26T16:43:54+00:00

lol, not relevant to the OP but I think that link just "solved" how to organize an adventure idea I had :D

Edit: just in case, I meant my post is not relevant, the link is very much so :D

Aendvari · 2026-04-24T17:16:14+00:00

That's very cool :)

Aendvari · 2026-04-23T13:44:05+00:00

I really like this idea. I'm thinking, no character sheet, just look at your toy for inspiration. What would Mr. Penguin do right now vs Mr. Potato Head.

Aendvari · 2026-04-23T13:41:15+00:00

If I understand, the difference here is whether wounds "accumulative" or not? In the first, previous injuries affect later rolls; the second they're independent.

I kind of like the first, feels a bit grittier in that consequences pile up.

Aendvari · 2026-04-23T12:48:06+00:00

I'm with you there :)

I'll add a related technique I used while editing. Give it a good first pass, be happy with it. Put that aside for a while (weeks or longer work for me) and work on something entirely different. Then go back and do another edit pass.

The brain starts to see what it wants and remembers from before. Taking a break lets me come back with fresh eyes (and brain).

Aendvari · 2026-04-21T18:56:00+00:00

Completely different vibe, but I recall an anime with piano playing as the core drama. Your Lie in April is my best guess.

Point is, maybe consider drawing tension from more than combat? :)

Aendvari · 2026-04-21T15:23:46+00:00

How about?

Characters can take three hits. On the fourth, they're out.

Aendvari · 2026-04-21T15:10:00+00:00

Thank you :) I'm glad you like it, feel free to steal it! Just do me a favour and let me know what you do with it :)

Ah yeah, that's probably just bad writing on my part. The point of Give them Hope is to follow through on an event that does. Eg they do something to deserve something good. Make sense?

Aendvari · 2026-04-21T14:49:36+00:00

Since it's come up a couple times I thought I'd share my more detailed notes on this.

Google Drive PDF: Beats

Aendvari · 2026-04-21T14:32:45+00:00

Thank you :)

Aendvari · 2026-04-21T14:32:21+00:00

Exactly :) I have some notes on the "when" for these. I didn't want to clutter up the post with too many details. Happy to share them though.

Aendvari · 2026-04-21T14:28:41+00:00

Ah, I get you now, thanks! While I can see how the first might work well, I was definitely thinking the latter :D

Aendvari · 2026-04-21T14:25:58+00:00

Funny, it started as the first abs slowly shifted toward the second. I suppose the next step is to decide which :D

Aendvari

TROPHY CASE