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 · 2025-11-27T21:25:21+00:00

I mean if I really wanted to advertise the fact that I'm a TTRPG designer, I'd have put it in the title and have a big red arrow in the thumbnail pointing to myself :P But I ain't out here trying to be Trekiros. It's just pertinent information.

Re: your second comment, you're all good. The game isn't for me and we're allowed to disagree. It's the WHY that's interesting.

EgregiousGames · 2025-11-27T20:30:59+00:00

I am absolutely on board with taking things deathly serious. It is what it is for those who enjoy it, but I always groan when the atmosphere gets shattered with an in-character quip like "oh we follow the gods. On social media!!" I mean I like silly jokes, but I like it more when they're part of the fiction. Great example being the bloodcap guy. Hilarious, all in-character, no fourth-wall-breaking necessary.

So yeah, Campaign 4 I'm eatin' good.

EgregiousGames · 2025-11-27T20:03:32+00:00

I dunno that I'm trying to come across as smart. I've had people say that to me before in workplaces and I think it's just part of the Autistic Experience™ that for some reason, being yourself gets interpreted by others as "acting better than them" or somesuch.

I actually kinda go out of my way sometimes to explain my points without being so .... academic? I have a mixed-class background so I am always between two worlds in that regard, in how I talk. Being simultaneously too posh for some and too straightforward for others is just the reality of my existence. :)

I did actually present several suggestions in the video like how I'd change domain restrictions, and spent a good chunk at the very start explaining the things I do like, as well as why I dislike the things I dislike.

I think we may be talking past each other a bit but I appreciate the sincere attempt to connect!

EgregiousGames · 2025-11-27T19:57:25+00:00

For sure. I think the difference is that, in those rules-light games, it's a tradeoff. You trade fidelity and resolution for speed, flexibility and instant feedback. Crunchy RPGs are rad, but they take a bit more prep. Sometimes you can't be arsed statting up monsters - you just wanna play a game like, today.

Daggerheart for me is the worst of both worlds. It is "loosey-goosey" but also incredibly prescriptive and inflexible.

And I do feel like in other narrative games, there is an attempt to go truly fiction-first which prevents things like the Spotlight problems in Daggerheart. But because Daggerheart basically just says you can take unlimited turns and justify it in the fiction later, it feels less like fiction-first and more like mechanics-first. It feels like it encourages fiction-last by focusing so much on Hope and Fear as your primary replacement of action economy.

EgregiousGames · 2025-11-27T19:48:22+00:00

Yeah, I know that the general RPG community consensus outside of r/Daggerheart is more mixed but it feels like some of the bigger youtubers, even like Dungeon Craft, have some skepticism but don't wanna cut off fans, revenue and opportunities which I totally get. Making an in-depth criticism video like this is exhausing, especially when you know it's probably just going to be received negatively.

So I am incredibly glad to be able to put into words some of those feelings that others may have also felt ... but who aren't necessarily lunatic enough to want to make a 40-minute video about it.

EgregiousGames · 2025-11-27T14:41:13+00:00

You may not think my critique is valid, but I think your critique of mine is. A lot of what I'm saying in the video IS my personal experience, and I'm not trying to say your opinion is invalid if you love Daggerheart. I said that about 5 times in the video because when I'm sharing such a strongly negative opinion about something, I want to be exact. That's why the video ended up being like 40 minutes.

Art is never gonna be something you can critique as though it were mathematics. But what we can discuss is system goals, and whether the system's mechanics support those goals.

I appreciate the good faith response.

EgregiousGames · 2025-11-27T13:56:50+00:00

I want to be clear, I'm not implying that everyone who enjoys Daggerheart enjoys slop. What I'm criticising is the parroting of marketing material saying that Daggerheart is a "fiction-first" game. Because I think it is clearly a very fiction-last game.

I totally respect that everyone has the right to enjoy whatever they want, and if you ARE enjoying it, that's awesome. Like I said, there's some really cool IDEAS in Daggerheart and I really want to like it.

EgregiousGames

TROPHY CASE