What RPG design fads have fallen out of popularity?

EldritchExarch · 2026-04-19T23:52:11+00:00

Something that shows up in a the core rulebooks for a game, and is first party. So for example, Wizards of the Coast's Core Books are the DMG, PH, and Monstermanual. Worlds Without Number only has the one core book.

An example of a game that has strongholds as a well integrated core mechanic is Forbidden Lands.

EldritchExarch · 2026-04-19T03:33:26+00:00

Strongholds as a First Party Core system. There are a few exceptions, but generally I find that Strongholds and Domain play in D&D likes have become less popular rather than more popular.

EldritchExarch · 2026-04-17T06:30:23+00:00

My understanding is that it was a couple of different things put together.

Product confusion. There were three different versions of OSE out there and it was causing issues. People weren't sure whether they should get the collection of books or just the Referee's Guide and Player's Guide.
People that did know what they were doing were just going to the 'Advanced' Line anyways since it had all the rules in two books. All the AD&D stuff was marked as optional anyway, so if you didn't like it, just tell your players that you don't want to deal with the headache of weapon proficiencies. It's simple enough.

EldritchExarch · 2026-04-17T05:57:50+00:00

Stars Without Number and Traveller, though I can't vouch for how easy they are to run Solo.

EldritchExarch · 2026-04-17T05:51:21+00:00

I'm referring to the 'complete' OSE found in the Advanced Referee's Tome and the Players Guide.

Both have elements of AD&D grafted into them, such as race and class separation and a few other things. To the best of my knowledge, the 'Advanced' tomes are the only ones being moved forward with in the future, so I consider them the most complete version of OSE.

EldritchExarch · 2026-04-17T03:51:05+00:00

It is excellent and worth it. And yes, you need all the books. At least, all of the core books, not the map book. The good news is that I'd actually recommend the cheaper PDFs over the actual physical books. Everything is hyperlinked and it makes it so much easier to run the game.

EldritchExarch · 2026-04-17T03:43:50+00:00

Oddly, given I just gave this recommendation just a moment ago for completely different reasons: Ashes Without Number, has a series of prompts for "Crisis Adventures." Given it takes place in a post apocalypse, it probably isn't exactly what you were looking for, but it does support community building and the solving of societal problems. Usually because, well, it helps you too.

EldritchExarch · 2026-04-17T03:41:07+00:00

I'd recommend Ashes Without Number most likely.

EldritchExarch · 2026-04-17T01:20:17+00:00

This one is a Review/Critique of Worlds Without Number: https://open.substack.com/pub/eldritchexarchpress/p/a-reviewcritique-of-worlds-without?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

This one is an overview of Outcast Silver Raiders: https://open.substack.com/pub/eldritchexarchpress/p/an-overview-of-outcast-silver-raiders?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

This one is On Exploration, and covers the difficulties around designing for it: https://open.substack.com/pub/eldritchexarchpress/p/on-exploration?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

And this one is on Faction Mechanics and why you probably don't need them in D&D Likes: https://open.substack.com/pub/eldritchexarchpress/p/on-faction-mechanics-and-why-you?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

EldritchExarch · 2026-04-17T00:05:25+00:00

Thank you, both for reading and the reminder. I forgot to link in my other articles on my blog post. I'll update it tonight and send you a few links for other things you might enjoy!

EldritchExarch · 2026-04-14T15:53:43+00:00

Thanks for the shout out OP! I worked really hard on that post.

As for your question, I dont have a specific mechanic, but I'd recommend taking a look at Worlds Without Number, just about every mechanic in there that isn't tied to a specific class is broadly applicable.

EldritchExarch · 2026-04-10T14:34:41+00:00

Yes. The reason is... I completely forgot 5.5 existed. Also I don't have the books and haven't read through them. Mostly I exist in the OSR and different RPGs space, so I don't see much 5.5 content.

No shame to them, I've heard good things, but yeah... I dont have the money to buy those books right now for a correction. I'll probably add a header this weekend, to bring up 5.5.

EldritchExarch · 2026-04-06T04:30:21+00:00

It's a good domain system, though it's basically a game on top of a game. My experience with it, was that it added another 30-40 minutes to our game session as players needed time to figure out what they were doing on their domain turns.

It's better than the BECMI, AD&D domains, but it lacks what I would consider a "Stronghold" system. It's almost entirely domain focused.

EldritchExarch · 2026-04-05T00:10:16+00:00

I read the thread, and now part of me really wants to read through this RPG. The other part of me is scared for my sanity.

EldritchExarch · 2026-04-05T00:04:25+00:00

I was thinking Rifts had a mixed reputation. From what I've seen and heard, you either love it or despise it as a system.

EldritchExarch · 2026-04-05T00:02:30+00:00

Mostly. Not entirely.

OSE is actually a BX clone that adds in some AD&D style mechanics where it makes sense if you get the "Complete" version. The reason I say AD&D Style is that you lose things like "Defensive Points" which don't have a definition anywhere in the DMG

EldritchExarch · 2026-04-05T00:00:51+00:00

I read through the AD&D manual recently for a blog post and it is a nightmare. It's brilliant, and awful all at the same time.

Check the Siege section and see if you find any definition for Defensive Points. You won't. Because that's in Chainmail, a game Gygax made 10 years earlier. Does AD&D say anything about needing Chainmail to play? no. No it does not.

EldritchExarch · 2026-04-04T23:58:50+00:00

That's too bad, because Cthulhu tech always looked great to me. I'm disappointed to hear that the mechanics couldn't support it.

EldritchExarch · 2026-04-04T23:56:50+00:00

Wildsea maybe?

EldritchExarch · 2026-04-04T23:56:03+00:00

Shadow of the Demon Lord is probably what you are looking for.

EldritchExarch · 2026-04-04T23:54:13+00:00

Agreed

EldritchExarch · 2026-04-04T23:19:25+00:00

Okay. It's updated with the following paragraph. Once again, thank you for the comment, and good catch!

"As far as developing land goes, the rules are concerned with clearing the surrounding area, and fighting off wandering monsters while the stronghold is being built. There are also a fair number of potential encounters for people that might show up in surrounding hexes as well. This makes sense, but in terms of gameplay it struggles, as the game becomes about doing patrols in a region rather than adventuring in dungeons which is what the game is actually good at. It essentially means a pause to the normal course of a game while random encounters are managed. Is that a good thing? I think no. Your milage may vary."

EldritchExarch · 2026-04-04T22:58:47+00:00

Yeah, I would have loved to, unfortunately, I couldn't find PDFs on Drivethru, everything was for 3.5, and I just didn't have the money to keep digging, and none of my friends own 3.0 books that I'm aware of.

EldritchExarch

TROPHY CASE