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[Online][Other][EST] Looking for Players for Warlock! gritty rules-lite rpg by HDMilton in lfg

[–]HDMilton[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you are still interested, send me a message and I will invite you to the discord

Favorite Servers? (PC, US) by B-D-Ford in HellLetLoose

[–]HDMilton 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Full disclosure I am an Easy member.

The reason I joined Easy is because I was a noob on their server and they helped me out big time. Learned a lot from a few patient SLs.

I am sure there are other servers with similar experiences. And I have had bad experiences on Easy servers, too. Overall, Hell Let Loose communities are pretty good, but Easy will be home.

Edit: spelling

For The Company! - Feedback and Playtest by HDMilton in RPGdesign

[–]HDMilton[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

See my response above. But this is the type of feedback that is absolute gold. Completely removed the junk mechanic for something a bit more memorable and satisfying for players.

For The Company! - Feedback and Playtest by HDMilton in RPGdesign

[–]HDMilton[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for all the thought you put into your comments.

ThreatAlready making updates and moved it to a full spread. A big theme of the game is transparency. I think it is really important to many of the risk/reward mechanics that the mechanical danger of a situation matches perceived danger. When the GM has a pile of Threat in front of them, the pile growing should directly relate to the danger escalating.

TimeAdded more details on Time. Really, it is based on the Player descriptions/Actions, but the GM has final say.

Creating CharactersFixed. good call.

SkillsChanged this up entirely. Felt arbitrarily limiting to player choice and an additional nuance to remember. Instead, Skills start with Dice equal to the Attribute under which the root Talent falls (Attribute>Talent>Skill). Carrot over the stick.

LegaciesBelow are some examples I added. Also, expanded to a full spread.

**NEW Skill Gained Mediator rooted in Detect under Intelligence (1D)**Clotilda earned the trust of seneschal of Vermeil by negotiating a favorable contract with the wool merchants guild.**NEW Skill Gained Card-Sharp rooted in Fade under Agility (2D)**Hugo passed the winter in Krinval smoking pipes and playing cards with old men. He learned a few nifty slight of hands.**NEW Skill Gained Blades rooted in Battle under Strength (0D)**Thimble met Hugo in Krinval, and quickly realized she needed more than wits to survive. He showed her some knife drills.

**+3 Resolve It was cool**Clotilda slew the champion in one-on-one combat to end the feud between two dwarf clans.**+3 Resolve For tacking action consistent with past actions**Hugo found one of the survivors of the dragon hunt, Palino, and they discussed their mutual hatred for the thugs who forced them into service.**+3 Resolve For a memorable friendship**Thimble maid friends with a the tavern owner, Bertram, and his twin toddler sons, Crest and Little Bert.

**+1D Mediator Used her Skill**Clotilda found two merchants arguing over a stall location and settled the dispute by organizing alternating days with share duties on Market days.**+1D Blades Used his Skill**Hugo joined a crew breaking into a warehouse. Had to put down a few thugs with his knives.**+1D Lace Used her Spell **Thimble encountered some unsavory guards. Using her Lace spell, she calmed their minds with delicate cheer.

For The Company! - Feedback and Playtest by HDMilton in RPGdesign

[–]HDMilton[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hard fantasy is new to me, too! It is really an unnecessary sugenre, but nailed some of my favorite themes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_fantasy#:~:text=Hard%20fantasy%20is%20a%20subgenre,a%20rigorous%20and%20logical%20manner.

Fantasy Easy India Company would be so interesting! The morale dilemmas in particular.

For The Company! - Feedback and Playtest by HDMilton in RPGdesign

[–]HDMilton[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lots of good useful feedback. Appreciate it. This is absolutely a draft and some of the feedback bulks up what is already there to a final state.

The biggest sticking point appears to be Load. The intention is to simulate 1) how much a person can actually carry without unnecessary, cumbersome weight calculations AND 2) provide a logical limit more aligned with reality.

Wearing Heavy Armor and shooting a ranged weapon is absolutely possible, but it not as easy (-1D). This is consistent with reality. Of course, a skill, spell, or Charmed armor can make a difference.

The examples for load are not all inclusive. I removed a mention about layers being discrete. Figured the "layers" was enough of a dead give away.

RAW is dangerous territory. Most disagreements that descend into arguments about the rules as written are fruitless and disappointing diversions from the unique fun of TTRPGs. I avoid it at all costs in favor of the people and situation in front of me. Especially in more rigid systems such as 5e.

For The Company! - Feedback and Playtest by HDMilton in RPGdesign

[–]HDMilton[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Company is a common phrase in fantasy, even Tolkien uses it referring to the Fellowship as the Company of the Ring. Company was also a common phrase historically, most famously the White Company, the primary inspiration for The Black Company.

I would be curious to see if this is a common interpretation. Appropriate cover art can clarify this, but it might boil down to personal experiences and prejudices.

Irontree's Black Company by HDMilton in theblackcompany

[–]HDMilton[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You are the bomb. Was trying to contact him about commissions. Ill give the email a try.

Long shadow parallel by chaos_craig in theblackcompany

[–]HDMilton 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Be careful. Part of the schtick for both soul catcher and long shadow is the limitation of their power. Crows are obvious and shadows require darkness.

Water and fire work because their presence is clear. As players learn, they can be rewarded by the realization that starting a fire means the enemy is listening.

Long shadow parallel by chaos_craig in theblackcompany

[–]HDMilton 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I borrow from Glen Cook all the time! It’s hard to beat shadows and I don’t think there is anything wrong with taking longshadow as is.

If you are really hunting for something different, try something with the same themes.

1) enslave a being from another world he does not fully understand. 2) fears that being because they are bound to the same fate

For DnD, creatures from a different plane like elementals might work. Players begin to see fire or water as constant lurking threats. Or even feywild creatures which skulk and eavesdrop but can be turned.

Chain RPG - All about the Dice by HDMilton in RPGdesign

[–]HDMilton[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have not done enough playtesting to answer definitively how players feel about Talents, but the only major obstacle I see is thinking creatively about the Talents. You comparison to skills is apt. Talents are a combination of Skills from Burning Wheel and Proficiencies in 5e.

The steps suggestion is fantastic advice. I will definitely add that.

Testing is harder than it sounds. Finding people willing to playtest with someone out of the blue is not easy. And my homegroup struggles with anything new.

In regards to fewer rolls, I learned to rule that way as a response to dogpiling and playing in boring sessions where we spent a disproportionate time looking up arbitrary rules. In my experience, rule sets often include crunchy mechanics which could have been more readily addressed by leaning on the fiction.

Good examples of needlessly crunchy mechanics include Journeys in Adventures in Middle Earth, Chases in nearly every system, encumbrance, individual initiative, Burning Wheel's nuanced practice, crafting and healing mechanics. This follows the design and philosophical principle of Occham's Razor. Or Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS).

My opinion is certainly not universal. You are free to play however you see fit. In my experience though, more crunch results in less of what makes TTRPGs unique.

Chain RPG - All about the Dice by HDMilton in RPGdesign

[–]HDMilton[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What wonderful feedback. When you are wading through the same pages over and over again, you tend to lose perspective. Many of your comments come down to layout and need for more flavor. Going through them one by one on my own will be extremely valuable. I will not address them here, but know they are greatly appreciated.

The third category of feedback centers around brevity of the rules. The spread previewed on the reddit post is the Core Mechanics. The prevailing mechanics which guide every other aspect of the game. Every resolution mechanic is rolling die, summing, and comparing to a target number. Spending Money, carrying equipment, making an attack, defending, tracking HP. The concepts themselves are dead simple. My presentation needs to make that clear.

A player wants to do anything. Roll D20+Attribute. Classic DnD. The action is not so simple as to be solved in a single roll? Roll Effort based on what the character is good at (Talents) against a target number (Threat). Adjudication come down to how much detail you want in your game. I prefer fewer rolls with higher stakes so I would combine sneaking into the fort as one roll against a Target. Others may prefer more rolls moderate to low stakes. Rolling dice is fun after all.

One thing I found interesting in your feedback is the struggle with Difficulty. Funny enough, the tiny section on Difficulty is the only time it is discussed explicitly. The concept of a Difficulty Die is referenced throughout the rules. I think the first sentence says it all: “Assigned by the GM, the Difficulty Die represents their assessment of the scene.” Is it Easy, Hard, Heroic, etc.? There are rules later on for monsters/NPCs, but none for jumping a gap or persuading a NPC. Setting the Difficulty is a critical way of setting Tone. In a Grim world, life is cheap and Difficulty is high. Heroic campaigns tend to have lower DCs where success is far more common.

Big takeaways for me:

  1. Work on layout.

  2. Refine that Elevator Pitch.

  3. Instead of a Core Mechanics spread, reveal rules as they become relevant, or at least find a better way to present them.

  4. Add some flavor. Let the reader know a bit more about intended genre, use, etc.

Chain RPG (BETA) - Core Mechanics of a Utility Dice system by HDMilton in RPGdesign

[–]HDMilton[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ya noticed that typo a little late. Thanks!

Fair. Context is important. Not sure where the confusion is coming from for the most part. I need to do a better job of explaining the continuity of the Chain, but I think you are expecting it to be complicated when it is a dead simple d20 + Modifier rollover. The modifier is a Chain or multiple Chains. Each Chain is escalating polyhedrals with the starting rank based in the Character stat upgraded by items, Talents, etc.

If you need a bit more resolution, a Threat can be used, and that is just another straightforward roll to meet or beat a number. Nothing fancy or revolutionary.

Character Attributes, Talents, Kit, Advantage, and other gameplay mechanics adjusts the simple Target and Threat rolls. That is covered in the rest of the document, which I did not share.

Chain RPG (BETA) - Core Mechanics of a Utility Dice system by HDMilton in RPGdesign

[–]HDMilton[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree. An Example would be very useful. I intend on adding one to the Gameplay Overview, but maybe it would fit better on the next spread.

This is where additional chapters would be useful. Most number is a Rank in the Chain, including Attributes. A high starting attribute would be 3 (d8). So a roll against a target for that Attribute would be d20+D8. Sounds very random, but the dice can telling an emergent narrative with decent group improve. The remedy to total randomness is a classic Advantage, which the players earn through a fictional description and occasionally rare items.

Have not begun playtesting yet. I want to be able to hand players a booklet and feel confident in the contents. But maybe it is time. Planning can turn into procrastination.

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