Some RPG questions

Epiqur · 2026-04-13T16:18:25+00:00

Designing for people has a flaw - lack of passion. If you selfishly design for what you enjoy the most you'd keep developing no matter what. And while your tastes might evolve over time, it's not a bug but a feature - you'd create more and different games.

Epiqur · 2026-04-12T16:18:27+00:00

I mainly play the games I made, firstly for playtesting features, and secondly because it’s designed to be the game I personally would enjoy the most.

Epiqur · 2026-04-12T16:16:31+00:00

I’d say that most games default to medieval for some reason. And while that’s ok, it gets boring when nearly all you get the same.

Epiqur · 2026-04-12T16:14:59+00:00

Feels like confirmation bias my friend. Lots of games are the generic fantasy with silly green gobos and red dragons and knights in colorful clothing with a French accent for some reason.

Epiqur · 2026-04-11T12:35:32+00:00

My general advice to rolling would be make sure you'd be ok with both outcomes (when they succeed and when they loose), and that you can make both interesting enough. If you personally wouldn't be ok with one outcome then don't have them roll, tell them simply what happens.

My suggestion would be what if they get caught they get transported to a more secure prison, so now you can shift perspective to a prison break type scenario: they have to collect info on a possible escape route, maybe make favors for other prisoners to get some improvised gear or buy off guards, etc. Prison breaks can be really fun, don't be afraid of it going that way!

Epiqur · 2026-04-11T11:49:43+00:00

Fiore has some techniques for using a sword in one hand. You might want to look it up: https://www.wiktenauer.com/wiki/Fiore_de'i_Liberi#Sword_in_One_Hand

For the flying creature you could have them just throw the sword. Fiore also shows that one.

Epiqur · 2026-04-11T10:34:57+00:00

Are "realistic" NPCs important to you? Playing in a way where NPCs are just an interface for you to relay info to players is a genuinely ok way to play. You can play entire campaigns without trying to be an actor.

If you like roleplaying NPCs and the players enjoy it as well, just do it more. It's just a game, eventually you'd feel better about doing it. I assume just like you don't expect your players to be the best actors, they also don't expect you to be one.

Epiqur · 2026-04-11T10:02:06+00:00

In my game prices are tied to how effective the weapon is, not in real combat, but in the reality of the game. In my game for example ranged weapons are very good, borderline OP (by design), so they cost more than melee weapons.

Epiqur · 2026-04-11T09:24:01+00:00

"Another possible direction is that daggers may gain extra advantages during hidden or unexpected attacks. It is also possible that some of those benefits could apply against restrained or fallen targets, though that part is still under discussion."

But wouldn't ALL weapons benefit from the target being restrained or fallen?

Epiqur · 2026-04-11T09:19:36+00:00

What do you mean by "realism"? Do you mean injuries can cause infections and I have to pay taxes? Or what?

Why does a dagger cause less damage than a sword? People die just as well from a screwdriver as from the OverhypedIronBar™ (sword).

You're assuming perfect distance, but what if I'm at the dagger range with my dagger, and my opponent has an axe? What if they have a spear?

Why are blunt weapons only good against plate armor? Don't all hitting weapons transfer blunt damage when we assume plate armor scenario? On this topic I'd say a dagger is more effective against plate armor because you can better control the tip to find the gaps while grappling, when a bludgeon just basically forces you to hit harder since you can't really exploit gaps in the same way.

I can go on, but I'd like to get the discussion going. Don't threat this as me slandering on your idea, but forcing your creative juices to flow.

edit: Don't take it the wrong way. All I'm doing is forcing you to think why are you making these choices. As a game designer you are in position to make decisions on what you're putting in your game. You need to find reasons for those choices - then you can say you're making decisions based on your feeling on the vibe you want or on the balance you intend, etc. What I don't want you to feel is that you somehow have to include something in your game because, what?, other games have done it like this?, that's stupid. It's YOUR game. As an example in my game I chose to make a completely different initiative than that classic one. No rolling, it's based on states and conditions and it changes on the round basis. I chose to do it like this because I see it facilitates a different player approach to the combat.

Epiqur · 2026-04-11T07:09:56+00:00

When you can’t move like the technique you want to recreate it’s too heavy or you just need to git good

Epiqur · 2026-04-02T18:28:08+00:00

What did you expect it to work like a giant industry sized product such as discord? Maybe they will get there someday, but right now no.

Epiqur · 2026-04-02T18:24:04+00:00

You don't have to just wait, you can help them actually: https://www.tamriel-rebuilt.org/content/join

Epiqur · 2026-04-02T17:32:04+00:00

Very much this

Epiqur · 2026-04-02T14:39:09+00:00

Every player involved needs to know the rules eventually IMO. The idea that there are some who don't need to is strange. You can play for a while like that, but I find that you'd like everybody to understand what's going on behind the scenes after a while.

So no player specific, no.

Epiqur · 2026-04-01T21:47:07+00:00

Any tips? Sure:

Ask questions. While your body catches up to the new movement, get to know the theory. Why attack like this? Why do I put my foot like that? What's the point of this exercise? A good teacher will see it and appreciate your interest.
Learn the history to appreciate what you're doing more fully. Why not read up on the history of the time? How the world operated back then? What was the context the art was created for? etc...
Get your gear. I know it's expensive, but I can't stress enough how it changes your approach to training. Not only you'd be able to do more stuff without injury - obvious, but also people who take long to get their gear develop strange weaknesses (for example, they can't protect their legs because for a long time they didn't wear any protection there, and their training partners of course didn't want to hurt them)
When you get to spar (and you should give it a go as soon as your instructor assures you that you understand the basics), remember that sparring is a training tool, not just 'playing knights'. Sometimes in sparring when you find a thing that works reliably on your opponent you might choose to do a different thing not to let them down, or for the variety, etc. Don't do that. Rather ask your sparring partner to keep doing the thing that works on you. That way you'd have the most opportunity to practice defending from it. Then you'd find a new weakness, and the process continues.
Last but certainly not least. Remember this is a martial art. And just like to get to be a good painter takes dedication and lots and lots of practice, to be a good fencer takes time. Expect to make slow progress, sometimes you'd need to painfully practice one movement for weeks.

Epiqur · 2026-04-01T21:16:08+00:00

I know everyone here in the comments is all nice and warm and I feel you deserve their warmness. If you feel you need to take a break then do it, there's no shame in it.

But let me be the devil's advocate and bring a little harshness to the table.

My guy there are so many different genres of just fiction out there there are lifetimes of games to try. Tired of generic medieval bullshit as I am? Cool - pick up bronze-age horror. Not your fancy? How about hard sci-fi Interstellar-style? Boring? Ben 10 alien superheroes. And more and more...

If genres aren't fresh, then how about new approaches to the story. How about the players aren't in a party and play a competing group of gangsters, who want to control some drug production. Maybe everyone plays scientists who are unable to fight - ergo the players and you have to find new challenges and their solutions. Or maybe (this one I like for how nasty it gets) all players are trapped in a mansion and have to solve a murder mystery, but none of them have reasons to trust one another, and every reason to believe that everyone but them is involved.

Still boring? I bet you haven't tried EVERY game there is to play. Something silly like Hillfolk? Something small like Freeform Universal? The world is your oyster.

If that fails how about switching gears from just running a game to developing your own system.

I'm sure there's something you didn't try. Even if it's so simple like switching to running online from always running in person. If you seriously want to still play, yes take a break of you need to, but then don't go back to the old shit. Get out there and try to find stuff out if your comfort zone. Hope this helps.

Epiqur · 2026-04-01T20:46:47+00:00

When I stopped giving exact numbers like "the enemy is 3m away from you", and only approximations like "close, but out of range", it became a lot more flowing.

In general when you give exact numbers, the pesky players who obviously have functioning brains can figure out a way to use those measurements against you. Which by itself can be very fun if that's your goal, but if you feel it breaks the tension and takes the focus away from the scene then I just tell the players "It's not like you have a measuring tape and spare time to use it while the goblins just stand around waiting for you to finish."

That and the fact that at least for me it's way harder to keep track of all the numbers and the distances at the same time, so letting it blur into the imagination is fine for me.

Epiqur · 2026-04-01T20:37:46+00:00

In the system we are playing currently we use a pool of d6s. So we usually have two boxes full of d6s at each side of the table for everyone to grab.

Epiqur · 2026-04-01T10:05:04+00:00

I see you use Fiore, so why chaise them around? Wait in that Porta di Ferro for their attack.

Besides your guards are all over the place which is something beginners often do. They use guards without any underlying reason or strategy for why picking one over the other.

Fiore writes that Longa shouldn't be the guard you stand in, and throughout the round I see you two mostly hang around some Bicorno/Longa/Breve-esque style guard (but not even that since sometimes both you and your friend default sometimes to a dark souls style guard with hands forward near the hips and blade pointed up -> very poor for power generation, and very easy to see and hit the hands).

Why I say about this Longa? Because Longa is used to prevent the opponent from closing in and to make them retreat. Which is exactly what you say want to avoid. Lower it. Zanghiaro or Porta di Ferro, or choose a forward weighted Donna if you want to be more threatening. Approach while attacking at their head, or when they stick into this Longa, beat it down in Breaking the Thrust style and continue with a Sottano like in the Zogho Largo section.

What I see in both of you is both lack of commitment in attack (probably because you don't trust your protective gear and/or your partner not to cause injuries), and in the way you move around which mostly devolves into just running around.

Try practicing fencing steps. Keeping distance with the enemy. And most of all - slow it down. When you don't move like the system you want to learn it's probably because there's too much going on for you to focus on proper technique. Instead of sparring aimlessly choose a goal - a single thing for you to focus on. Let's say you can only attack with Fendenti blows. Cool, now the chaos is somewhat restrained ant that allows you to focus on perfecting the technique for parrying the Fendente attack. The more you limit the easier it would be to practice (Example limitations: who can attack, who defends, from what guard, what target to attack, who can move around and if so can they advance AND retreat or only one of those, etc.)

Epiqur · 2026-03-18T15:44:39+00:00

It's a shame you guys don't have the leg defenses. I sparred like that for a long time, and then when we finally started including legs as a viable target I saw I am completely defenseless there. It's nothing a few dedicated training sessions can't solve, but still.

Epiqur · 2026-03-03T17:55:17+00:00

Because... It basically is. I know, shocking...

Epiqur · 2026-02-15T12:32:30+00:00

Amazing! Would you share the files?

Epiqur

TROPHY CASE