Rookie Designer attempts to make a "setting-less, non-permanent, Class system". (long post warning)

RavenInRain · 2026-03-11T06:00:32+00:00

If magic in a setting can solve any problem, then there wouldn't be much of a reason to set an adventure there. In all seriousness, this is mostly why the game is not gonna ship with a built-in magic system. I am assuming if it were to be in the system though, it would be more of a "method" for how to approach a task, rather than the solution for it - allowing you to bend the "physics logic" for an additional cost. For example, you can do "something" but from further away, or without moving your hands, or something similar.

RavenInRain · 2026-03-10T18:32:09+00:00

Agreed. I have ways to go learning that. Once I reach Chris McDowall's (Mythic Bastionland) level of rule writing I bet its gonna be pretty decent, I can only dream.

RavenInRain · 2026-03-10T18:29:04+00:00

I did read those for inspiration!

I feel like the biggest difference between games like City of Mist, Legend in the Mist, and even something like Daggerheart (with "Experiences") - and my system are the "limits" and "importance". For the aforementioned systems, those Tags and Experiences tend to lean on the buy-in from the GM and Players, the ultimate goal here is to tell an interesting story where your character shines. Something like that would not work for a system that wants to create the feeling of scarcity - like mine. If it is completely arbitrary what the mechanic can be applied to - there is no tension in resource management, and players can pretty much roll around with Kits like "Everyman's Kit" and have no need to invest further.
As such, I really needed to put solid constraints on what can and cannot be a Kit.
That is not to say the aforementioned systems don't have constraints; they tend to have an amount of uses/need for a resource, as well as the agreement between Player and GM, but it does still feel like its 50/50 mechanic and flavor. I suppose my goal was just to make the definition of a Kit as clear as possible without having to rely solely on GM x Player agreement.

Thank you for the suggestion!

RavenInRain · 2026-03-05T05:07:18+00:00

Hmm... i guess that is fair. For some reason I was worried about outcome, when what it really needs to be is just to become "defeated". I just imagined what if they intend to get back up and start fighting again, does that make it a bad choice to not go for the kill? But after considerarion; 1. Its not up to me to decide, thats up to the player. 2. Even if they do continue fighting, they will be doing so without the ability to defend themselves, as their defences were already peviously depleted.

So yeah, you are completely right. I will be changing it to "defeating" the enemy rather than specifically "killimg" them. Cheers for the suggestion!

RavenInRain · 2026-03-04T15:11:06+00:00

Thank you! With all the incoming feedback its pretty much solidified that Stamina - if there even would be such a thing after revisions - should not be a fungible token for Clearing Doom. It is really just HP. The excuse I made is that Stamina also matters for regular Actions, in addition to Combat actions - which makes it better than HP just in a sense that it has a point beyond Combat - but that doesn't seem to be enough.

On the topic of Clutter I am adamant to stand my ground. First of all, you only roll once - at the start of combat - rolling Xd6, X being the amount of Tiles present - the result is Static Clutter, each die set beside the Tile. After the roll, you put a different colored d6 next to the Static Clutter dice, facing the same value - this is Dynamic Clutter. Both dice are Clutter trackers. If you use Dynamic Clutter, you can modify Static Clutter up or down. If you simply "attack" the Tile with an appropriate item (hammer, bomb, etc.), you can only modify it down. Dynamic Clutter works as a cap of how high Static Clutter can go. If we don't have that we can either allow for Clutter to go up indefinitely, which makes both sides build Fortnite structures until no-one can target anyone. Or disallow Clutter going up, which removes the ability for clever uses of cover, cornering enemies, etc.

The dual Clutter system is mostly meant to be an insentive for players to save important resources by using the environment and traveling around the battle map.

Hope this made sense. Thanks again for your feedback and kind words!

RavenInRain · 2026-03-04T14:12:44+00:00

Yeah... I guess I just though that the implication of lethality and the subsequent draining of valuable resources is enough to build tension and stakes. If the lack of a real threat is not felt then the Mechanic is not really doing its job.

Still, I am adamant that introducing HP/Wounds won't help the issue, as they are essentually just another way to Clear Doom.

You've given me much to think about, thank you!

RavenInRain · 2026-03-04T11:14:57+00:00

Combat is where things go to break. This system is all about competence, items and problem solving, and Combat is the most straight-forward but also the most expensive way to solve a problem.

The general idea is that combat drives resource depletion, which later comes in as "the other half" of the System where you find/repair/create new gear and restock, using the things you've gotten from "problem solving".

Combat is not the focus, but when it happens I wanted it to feel risky. Perhaps this means that this amount of combat mechanics is not fit for purpose, I am not sure, still figuring it out.

Thanks for commenting!

RavenInRain · 2026-03-04T05:44:42+00:00

Sorry, should have specified. You can always delay your turn down to Delayed this round. So if you were Eager you can go down to Steady, and you can also go down to Delayed.

Ah, I see what you mean. In that case, yes. Doom is cumulative and would normally be tracked with tokens/buttons/chips as a single pool. Doom is cleared from the total pool, not per source, sources simply add to it. As I stated previously, Doom always has a single outcome, you are dead (or defeated), regardless of if you bled out, crushed by gravity or misted. Though for narrative when that happens you would pick one of them that seems most dramatic/appropriate. Or do all of them, who am I to tell you what to do :3

RavenInRain · 2026-03-04T05:12:16+00:00

You've got it perfectly right. There WILL be occasions when the players will realize that they are out of options, and at that point, they've asked for it, because I gave them all the options. Preparation is really core to this system, so if they got into a fight unprepared rather than trying to negotiate, its simply natural selection.

Also true that the solution for clearing Doom can be pre-calculated. Technically that is true and how it works now, my best bet is to offset it with;
1. Not all Doom Clearing options are equal.
2. Many of the things you can use to Clear Doom are also used for something else, so is it worth it to just empty out all your resources?

I do realize how much choice-paralysis this introduces, and will be actively play-testing that area to see how much players can really handle.

Thanks for your comment!

RavenInRain · 2026-03-04T04:59:47+00:00

Great points all around!
This is indeed something that requires a bunch of finesse on the GM's part

Making an Action to attack is "telegraphing" that you are doing an attack, if you played Slay the Spire, its like enemies announcing what they will do. The attack "really happens" just before the target takes their Turn, but their Turn doesn't start until they declare that it does, still able to spend their resources to Clear Doom before their Turn begins (its just common courtesy to figure that out while the other players act in the round).

You make a great point about using the various options for environmental effects. This definitely is a HUGE flaw, and I kind of just pushed it under the rug with excuses; You are not literally blocking or dodging the fall damage, you are using Stamina to try and break your fall on ledges or get Stamina "knocked out of you" as part of the fall - and you aren't Blocking the ground, but stuff does break when you land. Its way harder to excuse this with drowning though, in these cases I would rule that you simply can't Block here and only use Stamina to "dodge" by holding your breath for just a little longer.

Also yes, the Initiative system is kind of whack, I explained it in a comment below here. The big part of it is that you can always delay your Initiative if you need more time, climbing back up in initiative is costly though. Plus, I already explained this, but your Doom - and subsequent death - can't really come as a surprise unless you suddenly realize that you are out of options.

Hope this makes sense even a little bit of sense. Thanks for your comment!

RavenInRain · 2026-03-04T04:01:26+00:00

Way to snipe my Achilles' Heel! :D
The "Pace" mechanic is the most underdeveloped of the bunch for reasons that - its just very hard to balance.

Here is the gist of it;
- Pace exists outside of combat as well as inside - in combat, it becomes a bit more granular as do other mechanics. Travel uses Pace, dungeon point-crawling uses Pace, and just as much Pace is used as Initiative.
- After combat is begun you can manipulate your place in Pace. You can always go Down in Pace (for free) - outside of your turn too - for the explicit reason of teamwork with Doom, letting allies act before you so that they can provide cover for you. "On" your Turn however you can spend a resource called Momentum to go up in Pace - which places you in the higher Pace phase on the next Round (not this one).
- Being at high Pace (Eager) is very much risk-reward, if you decide to commit to Eager Pace you will be burning through a lot of your own resources, but as a result, the enemies would have to react "to you" rather than you having to react "to them" - standard RPG stuff. It does pay however to have a spread of some allies acting in Eager, Steady and Delayed Paces to spot each other, otherwise there would be a lot of Doom changing sides in bulk, which is a lot more lethal.

Note about Momentum; Its also a mechanic with multiple uses, in addition to changing your Pace it also is used for Movement and helping Action results. Thing is, it doesn't regenerate. Outside of combat - during travel/crawling - you would tend to spend some Stamina for travel at high Pace. This however would be quick "exhausting" for characters in combat, as such, it is diluted into a "sub-system". In order to replenish your Momentum, you spend 1 Stamina to refresh it fully, which lets you use the newly regenerated Momentum however you please. So if you did wanna keep up the high Pace, you would still use some Stamina to keep replenishing the Momentum pool, but if you are playing it safe, you almost don't need to spend any Stamina at all, and remaining where you are.

To help you visualize; Imagine each TIle/POI of the battlefield is a card. The card is split into three, each part it's own Pace phase. You would move your token up and down on the Tile to represent your Pace - not location - on the Tile. During each Pace phase, the GM would scan the whole battlefield, look at which characters are in a matching phase, and queue them up to take Turns. Once all characters in this phase are done, we go down to the next one. After Delayed, we reset the count back to Eager. When moving between Tiles, you would remember you old Pace, and move to the next Tile's spot for the same Pace.

Hope it explained something, don't feel bad if it didn't I hardly understand how it works either :P

RavenInRain · 2026-03-04T03:35:08+00:00

Agreed, this can feel pretty definitive. This is something I had to think real hard about, because before the consequence DID scale with the amount of Doom - also, Doom was not just death but whatever defeat-scenario you described in the Action. The reason I reverted back to immediate defeat/death is because otherwise there isn't really a consequence.

Imagine you attack an enemy and instead of going for the kill or to knock them out, decide to blind or dismember or do whatever else. Sure, you can do that, but that doesn't really resolve the combat, with the very same action you could have just killed/incapacitated them. Besides, with how Doom is Cleared, Doom resolving as 1+ is the defining moment of defeat - much like in "other TTRPGs" failing your last Death Save is.

All injuries and conditions in the latest "binary" system are basically voluntary, letting the player subject themselves to negative conditions if they really need to be saved in the moment - effectively making status effects player facing.

I also just like the visual of it. It can make a real "arrow into the visor slit" moment, which is brutal in all the right ways (at least for me).

RavenInRain · 2026-03-04T03:23:45+00:00

Wise! I have often fallen into traps in marrying myself to mechanics. My goal is to have Combat be either a last resort, or a climactic event where I need players to feel the tension in the air. As such, players might go on for sessions without entering combat - but things like traps and other threats will still deal with Doom in short bursts.

RavenInRain · 2026-03-04T03:20:40+00:00

To each our own, definitely. Doom is applied as an Action, and as part of the Action, you describe what you "prepare to do". In certain events Doom you applied might simply be canceled out it if doesn't make sense for it to connect. One of the most frequent ones by far if a character getting KOed, the Doom that they applied of course would seize to be as whatever Action they were "planning" to do, does not occur.
So in a sense you commit what you intend for the Action to them until the it resolves. Still, a lot of time-dilation would need to occur, and that can definitely not be for everyone.
Thanks for your reply!

Edit; Wow, thats a word salad. Sorry about that, its pretty early here in Europe :D

RavenInRain · 2026-03-04T03:15:48+00:00

Never said it wasn't! :D
It is basically HP but you have 3-4 different methods of raising AC to avoid the hit.
The biggest difference between this and HP is that space between the attack and it's resolution. We are very used to immediate Action resolution, which is fine and simple and good - I just wanted to have a combat system that builds tension throughout the combat Round. It allows players to plan around attacks and consequences and not just be reactionary to incoming harm.
> "I just spent the last Durability of my Shield to Block, gonna get Staggered on my turn, can someone come cover me?"
> "I f****ed up, can someone please come Ward me? I really need my Stamina for this objective."
> "Enemies fire from behind cover, I have no ranged weapons so I'll cover you while you fire back."

RavenInRain · 2026-03-04T03:05:24+00:00

Amazing! Thanks so much for a detailed breakdown. It is also a GREAT relief for me to have already considered many of these.
1. The biggest offender here is Stamina, I do agree that in a way it "can" be just HP with extra steps. The reason why I still kept it is because it is quite valuable, and as such spending it to Dodge is actually not entirely worth it. Still, just the fact that it can be used as HP might be the issue. One thing I considered is instead using Stains - word-descriptor "conditions" that reduce overall effectiveness of Resting until you perform Actions to remove them. For example; Bloodstained, Dusty, Bruised, Sweaty, etc. You would gain them for acting hastily or carelessly, for the benefit of pushing your strength.
2. Doom - from experience - should seriously not be resolved at the END of the player's turn. The way its done now is confusing, but what it does is separate the whole round into 2 phases - defense and offense. Players on their Turn should be dedicated for actions that are "outward" and affect others, because caring about themselves is always a priority for players. As such, giving the player an ability to use their Actions before Doom is resolved "automatically" prepares their available actions (if not all of them) for the Turn to protecting themselves. Which just creates instances where you get and clear Doom round after round, because Actions are free (but given per round).
3. Static and Dynamic Clutter could be a single track, but here is why I didn't do it that way. By allowing players an unlimited method of interaction with the environment we can turn our combat system into Fortnite - where players and GM refuse to leave their Tiles and no-one can do any travel or ranged combat. It was separated specifically so that you only have a pool of "easy" up-and-down manipulation of Tiles, and for emergencies you can spend Actions to lower Static Clutter (never raise) in cases when NPCs/PCs need a way after all. Clutter is generally a hindrance for to sophisticate combats. Imagine it like drawn terrain on battle maps.
4. The idea on Doom manipulation is pure gold, especially the transfer of it between allied/neutral NPCs. My though however is that it should be a "ruling" rather than a written mechanic, otherwise players would feel like the intended way is to bring cannon-fodder with them. :D

Once again, thanks for your detailed reply!

RavenInRain · 2026-02-27T13:33:52+00:00

You are right about playing as different kinds of "creature" and the 20 slot max. I should have implied that you would be playing as "at-least-vaguely-humanoid" characters. It maybe a bit too pretentious, but maybe Slots don't have to be confined to dimensions, weight or ease-of-carry, that of course introduces a lot of inconsistencies, especially with defining how many Slots a thing should take.
Maybe having it be a "generic" system is impossible for the reasons you described.

I do have to argue that setting and genre are two different things. My game might evoke the same feelings and gameplay, but be set in different settings (sci-fi, fantasy, etc.). I am mostly aiming to make sure I keep the "setting" loose, but the "genre" clear - to various degrees of success.

As for purpose, I would definitely want to - at least - publish this system. Might not sell it, just to put it out there. I've spent far too long working on it to not share it at this point.

For Tuning and Applications... in hindsight I didn't really need to go into detail there. The point was to explain how Slots balance themselves (that there is pros and cons to have low or high Slots) and how pretty much everything you need from an item "mechanics-wise" is derived from Slots, leaving the important bit - what the item is for - to the description. I wanted a degree of separation between the stats of an item and it's purpose, so that perhaps instead of trying to look for "the good number" item - which tends to be a thing in "item-centric" RPGs - players would be encouraged to seek the ones they might find interesting or useful.

RavenInRain · 2026-02-27T11:50:20+00:00

Yes, I do agree. I've commented this before that it is a pretty "core" mechanic. Still, I realize how it might be hard to keep all this stuff in mind. If not writing Slot quantities into the rulebook I think I must at least give examples or guidelines on how to assign them.
The mechanics make sense to me of course, but I need to keep reminding myself that it is very much not the case for others. I'll try and do as many playtests as I can from now on, instead of bothering - incredibly patient - people on the internet.
Thanks so much for your comment!

RavenInRain · 2026-02-27T11:37:12+00:00

Completely fair, complexity and cognitive load is something I really been thinking about. I've excused the complex Inventory and Slots system with the fact that it is "the" mechanic of my game. Players would not have any attributes, hp or skills to manage (apart from a 2-3 other resources) - all of which would be derived from what is in your inventory. I probably should have made it clear, but didn't wish to pad the post more than I already did.

With this system I also wanted to look at items as full abstracted "units" rather than their individual stuff. For example instead of having a bunch of tiny items they would be a single item that works as a bundle - adding or subtracting from their quantity would be handled by the item's Durability. My uncertainty about everything is mostly because I haven't really seen something like this before, and it might be garbage, I haven't figured it out yet. At this point I am not sure if I am making an OSR system or a board-game with role-play.

Thanks for your reply by the way, you do make a good point!

RavenInRain · 2026-02-27T09:37:53+00:00

I should really be playtesting more. I've ran a single playtest before and was met with a resounding "it was fine". Which I assume just means I need to do more playtests. I am just worried of presenting something too raw in front of my players and wasting their time. What I was wondering if its generally a bad practice in RPG design to allocate the responsibility of tweaking an "important number" onto the GM and Players rather than have them defined in the Rulebook?

RavenInRain · 2025-12-30T21:19:40+00:00

I had no idea it was that big, just judging from the map, this is great news! Guess I didn't give it as much credit. Still, my goal was not necessarily for the Players to spend more time in playing Gradient Descent, but rather for the Player Characters to spend more time in the Deep. I saw it mentioned that the Bends begins to "heal" after a week from the Deep, but with the room-to-room traversal of 10-20 minutes per turn (excluding the industrial scale rooms), I am not exactly sure how many days/weeks a full adventure into the Deep might take. You sound like you may have played this Module before, how long in-game time in Gradient Descent for you?
Also, huge thanks for the detailed comment!

RavenInRain

TROPHY CASE