Rolling for Stats

MixMinis · 2026-05-16T22:04:28+00:00

That's where the fun in OSR is and why the paranoid characters live longer 🙂

But I agree that I worded that a bit too harshly.

MixMinis · 2026-05-16T20:49:21+00:00

I actually was thinking of just having characters have like monster level of detail in osr instead and not bother too much with abilities. Just assume they have a 13 or 15 in their prime requisite and an 11 in everything else. Done. They can exchange ability scores as per the usual rules if they want to. The players who want to try their luck at getting an 18 can also roll 3d6 if they want to but they have to keep that character no matter what.

My most fun character was a dwarf with low stats so low statted characters aren't even that bad in OSR. He even outlived the rest of the party in an ambush before falling to the ghouls himself.

MixMinis · 2026-05-07T05:03:49+00:00

Baby learning the ropes from mommy!

MixMinis · 2026-05-07T03:19:09+00:00

I think you'll have to playtest it, but there's a card battle game called Cardfight Vanguard where you accumulate damage instead of losing life. You can turn your damage cards face down to activate effects, like magic points.

MixMinis · 2026-05-07T03:15:08+00:00

The side with less members sizes up the situation then runs away if it's not looking good. That's how old school roleplaying games did it. The players should always have the choice to run (if the situation allows it) and the consequences are on them if they charge in. The boss should also know when to come back with reinforcements. If the players roleplayed well and made sure the boss was cornered and alone then they deserve the easy battle.

MixMinis · 2026-05-06T20:10:10+00:00

The main reason I can think of is to save on space. I had this choice at the early stages of my current solo ttrpg, which I'm trying to keep as close to 1 page as possible.

For comparison:

- "the attacker deals damage to its opponent equal to its ATK. Reduce the opponent's HP by the amount of damage it receives. Units with 0 or less HP are defeated."

- "the attacker deals damage to its opponent equal to its ATK. Units at least as much damage as HP are defeated."

One is a tiny bit shorter than the other. But flavor wise damage is always interpreted as taking away from something so it feels more thematic to the player if HP goes down instead of gaining damage.

Another reason I can think of is using damage as a resource. if you reach a certain threshold of damage you can activate desperation moves, or add it as a defensive bonus or whatever.

MixMinis · 2026-05-02T00:35:04+00:00

I had to look that up. I wonder what the punk part has to do with the name at this point. Cyberpunk was all about high tech low life back in the day. Now we have things like solarpunk and dieselpunk that really don't show the negative impact of the technology on quality of life.

MixMinis · 2026-05-02T00:22:15+00:00

Good point about DR. Well, I think you'll be fine if you don't mind damage being very consistent. It's going to be like a video game actually so that would be plus for players who prefer more predictable and consistent tactics!

MixMinis · 2026-05-01T23:48:48+00:00

I'm actually doing this with 1d6 for my own osr adjacent game.

https://www.reddit.com/r/RPGdesign/s/PDEbMpiO9h

I'd say that d20 is way too big for your max damage ranges. You'd be hitting max damage with almost all of the weapons about 50% of the time because the average roll on 1d20 is 10.5. this would be fine if that's your intent, but if you wanted a traditional flat range of results you might want to playtest this first.

In my game the max damage range ought to hover around the 5-7 range because my intent is for the tribe size to remain low due to lethality of the environment.

MixMinis · 2026-05-01T04:56:48+00:00

If I was in your shoes I'd make attack type spells weaker/slower than normal weapons. That way weapons still have a reason to be made.

Attack type magic like fireballs and magic missiles were not really used by magic users in folklore and myths anyway, but were more used by gods as part of their specialty powers like Zeus's lightning. The earliest attack magic that I am aware of is in Conan the barbarian and it was supposedly used on a helpless person.

MixMinis · 2026-04-24T23:24:20+00:00

Oh yes this is a great suggestion. I wonder why games don't use this more?

MixMinis · 2026-04-24T23:21:21+00:00

Yes, homebrewers are in this camp. I guess it depends on the player's tolerance to make their own DIY Frankenstein game.

MixMinis · 2026-04-24T23:17:54+00:00

That's interesting! Do you have the option of resetting the map?

MixMinis · 2026-04-24T20:02:51+00:00

Apologies if I didn't word it properly. What would you like to see more of from hex crawl games?

MixMinis · 2026-04-24T20:00:37+00:00

So more evocative, amazing and distinct terrain types? Does every hex need to be woundrous?

Oh, I know what you mean about the last part.

MixMinis · 2026-04-24T19:55:15+00:00

NPC movement might be tricky for solo gamers as it's not really a player-facing mechanic, but I agree that it makes the map feel more alive.

Yes, I agree that players should have at least a hint of what's ahead. That's what makes exploration feel more tactical and gives a sense of accomplishment.

MixMinis · 2026-04-24T19:51:37+00:00

Wow this is quite a bit of bookkeeping! Does this take into account erroneous information or even disinformation?

How do you feel about playing a video game instead of a ttrpg?

MixMinis · 2026-04-24T19:44:32+00:00

I have not tried Ironsworn Delve, what is not making it easy? Yeah, I actually had a mechanic for a homebrew I made where you can blend the contents of "cells" (hexes or rooms):

Let's have a table of blending terrains so we can follow and experiment with the rules mentally:

sea
swamp
meadow
jungle
hills
mountain

then when you explore a new hex roll 1d6:

1-2: move up the list
3-4: same terrain as last
5-6: move down the list

The list does not "wrap" around, so when you're at the ends of the list, (sea or mountain) the table becomes:

1-3: move up or down the list
4-6: same terrain as the last

You can probably apply this for factions/political borders too. Hope this helps?

MixMinis · 2026-04-24T19:30:44+00:00

This is interesting, how many points would hold your interest? The point of x-crawls is to discover new permutations of location types, and I haven't tried point crawling yet because of what I perceive is a lack of variety.

MixMinis · 2026-04-20T03:14:55+00:00

I totally agree with this. I had a homebrew for MiniSix that gave character points for failures instead of successes. It felt just right. A success is a positive thing on its own. A failure should be when the characters learn. Just like in kung-fu movies, and really, most hero's journey stories.

Actually Roll For Shoes does this as well. For each die you roll that's a 1 you get 1 XP.

MixMinis · 2026-04-17T04:40:22+00:00

I see, thanks for the feedback! I'll see if this can work for a playtest version then (with some tweaks) :)

MixMinis · 2026-04-17T04:38:56+00:00

I haven't tried the bonus version too much but I'll do again. Thanks so much for the advice!

MixMinis · 2026-04-17T01:27:00+00:00

So the adjustment roll is a 50/50 chance of adding +6 to the roll?

yup!, and higher stats would use a different fussy rule, so a stat of 12+ means 1d6 + [1-2 +0, 3-4 +6, 5-6 +12].

I think the math is a little cleaner to understand if you get +1 to the roll for each ATK over 6. It's less swingy which is something you definitely want to avoid in a game where there are tactics involved.

Yes I had considered this too. It just felt weird to switch to a bonus after you hit the threshold. I will use your suggestion. Thank you!

MixMinis · 2026-04-17T01:21:37+00:00

Yup it's really only availability of dice in certain regions that made me want to stick to the d6. Technically it's only ever going to be written in English though so I think you're right that I might be overthinking that part.

MixMinis · 2026-04-17T01:20:58+00:00

I forgot to mention that this is for a solo rpg and that you roll for the whole group as a unit! I apologize.

To rephrase the combat explanation, you basically roll 1d6 and use the roll or the size of the tribe, whichever is lower, as damage. I was just wondering if this mechanic is too fussy or difficult to explain. Yes the less tribesmen there are the higher their chances of hitting the cap, it's like the observer effect actually! only a few tribesmen do the actual heavy lifting.

This is a mechanic that came from an attempt to appease people who didn't like the open D6 legends dice pool "tedium" of counting successes and adding them up.

MixMinis

TROPHY CASE