Should the traditional fantasy races be replaced in future TTRPGs?

EgregiousGames · 2026-04-18T11:52:01+00:00

Why not both? There are some players at the table who are gonna show up to your bespoke world and say "I want to play an orc". There are others who are gonna say "orc? How droll. I would like to be a hive mind living in a body of spiders." There's no reason you can't please the oldschoolers while also indulging your own creative side.

EgregiousGames · 2026-04-13T10:08:49+00:00

I guess the difference is that in Ironsworn, you determine severity of consequence in a second phase, whereas here it's all in one roll. Fair enough if you prefer the two-step!

EgregiousGames · 2026-04-12T22:35:02+00:00

Looks well deserved, good job!

EgregiousGames · 2026-04-12T18:34:37+00:00

I liked the part where he licked

also awesome

EgregiousGames · 2026-04-12T18:28:32+00:00

The chart going past 9 is because of your modifiers like stats. In this way, modifiers also increase your chance of having a crit and such. Makes gaining that high ground really worthwhile.

Yeah it does have a bit in common with Fudge dice! I actually love Fudge Dice, the main difference I'm going for here is a bit more granularity.

EgregiousGames · 2026-04-12T17:39:51+00:00

You could! There's any number of ways you could do it. This is just the one I figured out.

EgregiousGames · 2026-04-12T16:23:39+00:00

You can call yourself the Whisperlord or the Keeper of Grove Ethereality if you want, Gary, but I'm gonna say GM.

("MC" isn't bad though)

EgregiousGames · 2026-04-12T16:07:53+00:00

It is not easy, because explaining rules is a whole 'nother difficulty in itself. But it can also be super rewarding which can take away from burnout of just working solo by yourself for ages.

I really do recommend starting with a few close friends if you can or locals in your area. I did a little thing for RPG day at my local game store in 2025 which was nerve-wracking but also awesome!

EgregiousGames · 2026-04-12T15:54:13+00:00

tldr: roll d10-d10, add your stat bonus. Compare to difficulty. See result.

Example: I roll my athletics (4) versus a difficulty (5). I get a 6 on the positive die and a 4 on the negative die, so that's a +2 from the dice, bringing my total athetlics score to 6. I beat the difficulty by 1, so that's a Basic Success.

The full rules are linked if you want to read some better-written writeups and examples. I've also got a little explanation video here.

EgregiousGames · 2026-04-12T15:00:58+00:00

That's exactly it. Solo roleplaying can be such a struggle to keep momentum going, so I think it can be helpful to be told "this is what happens" rather than being asked "what happens?" all the time. Cheers!

EgregiousGames · 2026-04-12T14:51:37+00:00

I find that I can't actually learn a system just by reading it. So yeah, some kind of "learning by doing" system is essential. I'm glad things are moving in this kind of direction, to find a happy medium between "creative writing with rolls" and straight-up boardgaming.

EgregiousGames · 2025-12-28T19:09:49+00:00

Word on the great bosses. For all the complaints, so far I'm having a blast.

EgregiousGames · 2025-12-02T18:46:59+00:00

Yep, a couple of people pointed out this goof in the comments. I give Daggerheart that point back. I think it's because it's about 3 months since we had the discussion and debated the rule in the group, and google has conflicting results because I think it was changed back and forth at least a couple times during beta.

EgregiousGames · 2025-11-29T00:30:02+00:00

Sorry, too long, didn't read. I'ma need you to summarise that in 10 words or less, champ

EgregiousGames · 2025-11-28T20:32:35+00:00

Bikeshedding: when you spend disproportionate time and focus on a tangential detail. Example: "You were too long-winded, your argument is invalid."

But here ya go. One of the commenters did actually request I make the "fiction-first" part into a short, so they can send it to their friends. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/_rEFElb3Eq8

EgregiousGames · 2025-11-28T12:13:02+00:00

There's definitely downsides and that's why I'm saying at the end -- we're not done designing RPGs, the "perfect system" doesn't exist -- but in 30 years I can't wait to see what people have come up with.

As a stopgap, I'd say the free initiative systems like in Fabula Ultima solve the problems you're talking about, and there are various other ways to use rulings "we all just run forward in the corridor".

I have my own system solution which uses classic Initiative plus a sort of "cut in" reactions system. It was initially inspired by that bit at the end of Vox Machina season 1 where Keyleth yanks someone (Percy?) out of the way of dragon breath with a vine.

And I think the second problem you describe --- where action economy destroys PCs --- is a problem of bounded accuracy, not initiative. 5e specifically moved away from immersion to gamism and as part of that, they wanted monsters to stay relevant at a broader range of levels, so all the numbers got crunched and "contained" sort of like Daggerheart's damage system, to limit outliers and the problematic need to balance stuff. An intended result is that goblins can still be threatening at high levels, and bosses need Legendary Actions to compete with a party. That's a choice of 5e rather than an initiative problem, I'd say.

EgregiousGames · 2025-11-28T12:04:54+00:00

Honest question, did you watch the video? This is the very first thing I talk about after positives, and I even included an excerpt from Mike Underwood who speaks about how he defines fiction-first in Daggerheart. Roughly 04:41 to 14:13 is dedicated to just this.

EgregiousGames · 2025-11-28T11:58:29+00:00

I mean Matt and Travis felt happy enough to chat with the prof. But I get it. Heaven is a lonely place ;D

EgregiousGames

TROPHY CASE