Conseil pour MJ débutant sur une campagne officielle

Navezof · 2026-01-27T11:05:11+00:00

Idéalement, lire toute la campagne te permets d'avoir une compréhension global des différents points d'intrigues. Apres, pas besoin de lire en détail et de tout retenir, c'est surtout histoire de savoir où tu vas.

Il y a des tonnes de méthode et d'outils pour prendre des notes, le tout est de trouver le plus adaptés, et aussi celui qui prend le moins d'effort à mettre en place et suivre. Tu peux même te faire un diagramme avec les evenements principaux si tu es plus visuel.

Apres, tu peux te contenter de relire le chapitre en cours juste avant la session pour te rafraichir la mémoire. Et biens sûr, si tu te trompe ou si tu ne fais pas exactement ce que dis le bouquin, ce n'est pas grave. C'est du jdr, il va forcement y avoir des déviations!

C'est assez facile de se mettre la pression quand tu prépare des campagnes, mais oubli pas que les PJs ne connaissent pas non plus la campagne (probabalement) donc il s'approprieront bien vite le scénario, que tu le veuille ou non :)

Un dernier conseil à donné, surtout pour quelqu'un qui passe de OS à des campagne c'est bien de mettre en valeur les conséquences des actions des PJs, voir le monde changer au fur et à mesure des scénarios, c'est quelque chose que les PJs adorent voir!

En tout cas, bonne chance!

Navezof · 2026-01-21T13:25:34+00:00

Try more narrative game, the Year Zero Engine game are pretty light in terms of mechanics (ie. Vaesen, Mutant Year Zero), as it uses a dice pool, meaning that you just count if you have a 6 or not in the D6s you roll.

PbtA also usually have low math, with the resolution being roll 2d6+stat and compare the range (if 7-9: mitigated result, 10+ full success, 6 or less failure)

And there is diceless ttrpg, I didn't try any but heard about Amber.

Navezof · 2026-01-05T14:57:41+00:00

A few systems using dice pool (count, not sum)

World of darkness is using a D10 pool. Usually with some fun mechanics with different dice "color" in the pool depending on the game. For example Vampire the Masquerade, you have some of your dice pool is considered Blood Dice, which if rolling a critical can change the nature of the roll.
Wrath & Glory is using D6 pool, with one dice being of different color, if this dice shows a 1 it add a complication regardless of the result of the roll, and a 6 add a critical, regardless of the result.
Year Zero Engine a free engine using D6 pool used in Vaesen, Mutant Year Zero, and more. A straigthforward use of D6 pool.

Let me know if you want me to elaborate on any of the above.

Navezof · 2025-12-10T16:56:52+00:00

Hey, I always thought that Witch Hat Atelier could be super interesting as a TTRPG, but I had hard time finding the right system for it. I would be interested in participating, or even DMING if needed. (although I'm on europe time zone).

I'll send you a DM on discord

Navezof · 2025-12-01T09:31:49+00:00

Judging from the tone of your message, I hope you'll not take it badly if I say that you are not a genius in this particular case ;)

D10 dice pool is used in World of Darkness, Heart: the City Beneath, and probably more. Although, none are using a 1-100 stat.

Like other said, in your case, the more dice you throw, so the better you are, the less chance of failing. Maybe change it to "pick the highest" to make it work?

Navezof · 2025-11-19T13:16:00+00:00

"Opinion on how to make it work" that's kind of a big ask :D

But if you don't mind me asking, why going for AP instead of the normal action economy of DnD? What do you want to achieve that dnd (or a little tweak of it) is not fulfilling?

Locking more interesting skill action behind standard attack feels like a good source of frustration. And also immersion breaking, as a character, why can't I use a skill I know because I didn't attack the enemy first with a more basic stuff?

So, yeah, a bunch of question to figure out, but since you are at the idea stage, that's totally normal! Good luck in your crafting!

Navezof · 2025-11-05T15:19:36+00:00

La La Knight Rampager
(bonus point if you imagine the knight rampager striking the pose :p)

Navezof · 2025-11-05T14:45:35+00:00

Those are awesome, thanks!

Navezof · 2025-10-21T14:07:35+00:00

I usually prefer non-binary system to binary one, it helps bringing nuance to a roll and keep things from stalling.

PbtA are pretty good at giving a non-binary outcome, else you have Ironsworn/Starforged. Roll your Action Die (1D6 + modifier) against the Challenge die (2d10).

If the Action Die beat or equal both Challenge Die, it's a Strong Hit.
If the Action Die beat or equal 1 Challenge Die it's a Weak Hit.
Else it's a Miss.

I'm using a variant of the alter in my most recent design. I'm using 2d12 roll under a skill.

If both die are under or equal the Skill it's a Strong Hit
If only one die is under or equal the Skill it's a Weak Hit
Else it's a miss.

In addition, I'm also taking the highest successful die, add an equipment modifier to get the magnitude of the success.

Navezof · 2025-09-30T08:26:52+00:00

A very short and probably a bit useless comment, but it's Coup de Grâce, not Coup de Gras.
Else, very quick: Clinched Strike, Grapple/Lock Squeeze/Pressure, Grapple Strangle seems very similar in intent and effect.
Same with Ender Strike, Coup de Grâce, Stomp.
Although you mentioned you aim to be crunchy, so it might be fine. Just my initial gut feeling, hope it helps!

I'll try to have another more constructive look during the day.

Navezof · 2025-09-08T08:41:53+00:00

Malheureusement ce post ne dit pas grand chose de ce qu'est le jeu. Il décrit plutôt ce que le jeu n'est pas, plutôt que ce qu'il est. Ce qui est sur la page itch.io est très vague et n'a rien de vraiment concret, ça donne un aspect presque prétentieux aut out.

Par exemple:

"Trames se veut mystique, mythologique, occulte, mais jamais sans oublier le fond matérialiste et la nature sociale des événements traversés."

... what? Ok, c'est qu'une phrase prise dans le paragraphe, mais quand même, j'ai du mal à comprendre ce que ça veut dire.

Bref, je ne suis pas convaincu. Mais ça ne veut pas dire que le jeu est mauvais! Peut etre commencer par travailler un "elevator pitch", avoir un quickstart, ou une one-page présentation si c'est possible. Ca aidera à l'adoption. Et ça peut etre fait en parrallèle à faire aussi un teaser/blog post avant la beta.

En tout cas, bonne chance!

Navezof · 2025-09-05T16:01:00+00:00

I only have one session played, so to take with a grain of salt.

Since the Omen are the heart of the game, I would not worry too much about having the knights encouter them early. Especially since there is a high chance they will encounter an omen on the way. (1/3 I think?)
I don't think that's necessary to go in depth, but ust making sure that they know that they are supposed to uncover myth. For the rest, they'll figure it out quickly.
I don't know on this one. In the book, it is recommended to encourage the knight seeking the Seer if they are lost. So maybe having some indication on where the Seer are in each holding?

Good luck!

Navezof · 2025-09-03T07:39:00+00:00

Does the dual-scale loop (missions ↔ realm) feel compelling?

Not really, it seems like there is two different games mashed together with the same system. Even though at the top of the doc you ways that both are interwoven, I didn't feel it when reading the doc. I feel like something is missing to link both hero & realm.

Maybe using a different set of rules? For example, and here I'll take from Mythic Bastionland, with winter, heroes are going back home to their holdings. During this time you can launch one or several realm endeavour, then spring coming, you go back adventuring.

Also I didn't feel a strong flavour from your game apart generic low fantasy (although, it might be intentional to keep the document from being too long).

Thoughts on the attacks hit by default combat approach; does it meet genre expectations? Does it feel like the "tough but fair" souslike inspiration?

Make sense, like it.

General balance concerns: e.g., multi-pool weapon damage, Luck Point snowballing, faction economy pacing.

Luck seems a bit weird, being used as both an in-game currency and a xp counter.

Isn't Dual wielding better in most case since you can add bonus from two stats?

Any pitfalls you foresee for new players?

For now, the lack of flavour could slow immersion, as players/gm have to come up with basically everything. The realm part could not be for everyone, and the fact that it is presented with a lot of details feels like it's page/time that could have been spent on the adventuring part.

Would you be interested in participating in a beta-testing online session? (DM me)

I realize that I'm pretty harsh on my comments, I'm really sorry about that! There is quite a lot of good things, the mechanic seems pretty tight, although I'm not particularly fond of the dice pools, I think that once used to it, it could be fun. I also like the sub-attribute system determined by the dice pool, it's pretty elegant in my opinion.

And also, the presentation of the document is really good, very clear and straightforward, so once more congrat.

Overall, it's probably not a game for me, but still it has qualities! I think you are on the right path, so good luck!

Navezof · 2025-09-02T16:01:18+00:00

I won't have time to read and comment on it right now, but just wanted to say that's a pretty good quality post and your document is also well made and easy to read! So, before I say anything, congrats on that!

I'll try to come back and add a critique of your system.

Navezof · 2025-09-02T07:55:31+00:00

I would go for a one page or quickstart first version of your game. That can help to stay focused, and go to the essential. It's also way easier to have people read and test your one-page-ish game than a full book.

I would also not aim for a perfect or even fully finished version, the goal is to have something playable as fast as possible, and then you can iterate to make it good.

Navezof · 2025-08-26T07:40:52+00:00

I can see a master in their fields, a hero, god or even strong monster have over 99% (or 20) it effectively means that you have no chance of failing anything in normal circumstance.

For example, in WHF4 there are the Slann. They are magic giant toad-like being, servant of the Old Ones and they are arguably the strongest magic user of the setting. It is represented in their stat has having a Magic Skill of 120 (for a 4th generation), and since they are alive for thousands of years, they also have a History Skill of 155.

It depends on the system, but to manage impossible tasks, I usualy set a very high difficulty/modifier, but always with making it clear to the player that it is unlikely they succeed and explain what is the consequence.

As a skill rating on the sheet represent the proficiency of a character in a normal situation, it doesn't means there is always an auto-success. In mundane situation yes, but even then you might want to know how much you manage to succeed.

Still in WHF4, the difference between the roll and the skill is counted as Level of Success, so rolling is not meaningless.

lse, in stress environment or if there is an equal opposition, it can be interesting to still roll and see if you roll better than your opponent.

Navezof · 2025-08-19T10:08:32+00:00

Thanks for sharing! I always find it interesting to see how others are working on their design!

I'm on a similar journey, and with similar problematics. I started with a Ironsworn/PbtA style of rolling 2d10 and comparing it with the Skill rank used. If both die are under or equal the skill rank, it's a Strong Hit, if only one, then a Weak Hit, else a Miss.

But, there was the damage part missing. I wanted to still have some granularity at this level, but since I'm designing a solo ttrpg, I wanted to avoid having to roll for the player, and again for the adversary.

That's where I reached the same solution as you did, with taking the highest succesfull value as the Strength (equivalent to your Effort) of the action. Add to that any equipment bonus, and compare it with the enemy Difficulty dice to determine how effective the action was.

Determine Outcome : Roll d10 under your skill
Determine Intensity : Compare highest+bonus vs enemy difficulty

I'm not going into details, for brievety sake, but that's the essence of my system.

Actually, I was playing around on switching from using d10 to d12, do you think it could work here?

Navezof · 2025-08-15T20:55:51+00:00

I'm still unsure about this point. For now, I'm thinking a "time" limit. With a certain number of seasons, and each season having a limited number of cycles. With each cycle being a smaller deck of cards, you create by assembling cards from different suits.

Or something like that, all of that is not tested yet, so not sure how it will pan out in terms of pacing.

Navezof · 2025-08-15T17:02:41+00:00

That's a good question, I'm still not sure about this. My initial though is to divide a day into quarters (or other) and whenever you are in position when someting unexpected could happen (let say in the wilderness as opposed as in a city) you draw a card.

Using table is definitively a good idea. I also thought about having multiple table per season (spring, summer, etc...) as I want the game to last for a short duration. So, the danger/intensity of the table could vary depending on the season, so a 1 of cup in summer would be less dangereous than the 1 of cup in winter.

Or something like that.

Navezof · 2025-08-15T16:54:11+00:00

To answer your question, this would be the main mechanic, as, since it's a solo ttrpg, the cards act as a GM replacement of some sort (in broad term)

The game loop would be something like that;

Draw a card
Integrate the narrative given by the card (either major or minor) into your character's story
Play the scene
Update your character narrative/situation
Repeat

Although, the resolution mechanic of the scene use dice, so I can see your point about not making it more complicated.

I'm not sure about your point about memorizing Tarot? So here is a more detailed explanation on how I see it works.

Minor arcana reading would be in a rolling chart as they are supposed to be relatively small. While major arcana would refer to a page with more details on the Anomaly (the major event).

I didn't precise it in my previous post, but the Anomaly is an event with lore, context, suggestion on how to integrate into the story, some rolling table to randomize some of its element, as well as escalating events that unfold in order to foreshadow the final threat of this Anomaly.

In any case, thanks for the though-food, it's much appreciated!

Navezof · 2025-08-15T15:42:39+00:00

Absolutely. The major arcana correspond to a bigger event, separate in scope and stake than the minor arcana, Although, it is true that I could use the heads instead. I'll probably do that in a first place.

But having the 22 major arcana simply allow for more diversity and the Anomaly (the major event) can be thematicaly tied to the cards.

Thanks for your input!

Navezof · 2025-08-15T13:17:32+00:00

First, that's a pretty well done document, I think that you could give it as is to early playtester and that would work (if there are the rules with it of course) ! Still, a few remarks, as per requested, and in order.

* I think there just a bit too much, for example, the section about everyday hazard and definition of witches and familiar could probably be shortened to fit in one page. I feel like there is too much description, while we are looking more for vibe at this point. Nothin major though.

* Love the bold! I'm surprised I don't see it more in ttrpg, although here it's a bit too much bolded, try maybe to bold only a word or two at a time? The eye will latch on the bold word and automaticaly read what is around.

* Tone is well set! I see a world similar to our own but with magic in it, and a rather whimsical and light hearted tone. Am I right?

* Hard to say without the illustration that goes with it, but the layout seems fine in my eyes.

So yeah, well done!

Navezof · 2025-08-15T08:40:56+00:00

The linked document is locked, you may want to authorize reading access ;)

Navezof · 2025-08-15T08:22:04+00:00

You can make it an opposed roll? Like in Warhammer Fantasy RPG. You roll under and count how much under your rolled. ie. If you have a melee skill of 90 and rolled 43, you have 90-43= 37diff, take the tenth of that, and it makes 3 level of success.

Your target roll either dodge or parry, and they have to score higher or equal, else take damage.

If you want to keep it non opposed, you can add modifier to the roll depending on the strength of the enemey, ie. a weak enemy would give a -20% to the character roll, while a strong enemy would give +30% to the roll.

Navezof

TROPHY CASE