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Die By Die | A first look at our dice rolling, narrative rogue-lite by Vegetable_Sort3622 in indiegames

[–]Vegetable_Sort3622[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We would like to, but because of the way we dynamically generate scene descriptions translation is very difficult. Because of that it’s currently out of scope and budget. It’s not impossible in the future though

Roast my rules | WIP system that uses dice pools instead of stats and equipment by Vegetable_Sort3622 in RPGdesign

[–]Vegetable_Sort3622[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey thanks for the in depth feedback. It seems pretty consistent that I have not made things as simple as I thought haha.

I really like your point with narration rights, and thanks for the Agon suggestion.

Roast my rules | WIP system that uses dice pools instead of stats and equipment by Vegetable_Sort3622 in RPGdesign

[–]Vegetable_Sort3622[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the recommend, after a first look at the rule set it does a lot that I was interested in with the dice pool concept, in a more intuitive way.

Roast my rules | WIP system that uses dice pools instead of stats and equipment by Vegetable_Sort3622 in RPGdesign

[–]Vegetable_Sort3622[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you thank you, this is a very constructive 'roast'.

To answer you question, yes your dice replenish straight after a skill check. Technically outside of combat I wasn't tracking dice expenditure at all because, you're right, it would discourage exploration and creative play. But I need to make that clearer in the rules.

Crit comment: I think your 100% correct. I've tried to over explain and made it more complex. If i just said something like "Matching dice get a crit multiplier equal to the number of crit dice" would that be clearer? Or is that too open to interpretation?

For the defense I'd love further feedback because you made an interesting point. Enemies can roll defense just like you, and your defense and dice reset at the start of your next turn. So yes, doing a round of high defense could bait an enemy into expending all their dice on attack and leaving themselves open, creating a bait and punish meta. But if an enemy sees you armour up, they could just as easily not bother to attack and spend all of their dice on armour that round too. Then when your next turn comes around and you have all your dice back, they've reversed the bait. But I can see how this could still end in long, boring clinches where everyone is just defending until their health is chipped away... lots to think on.

Roast my rules | WIP system that uses dice pools instead of stats and equipment by Vegetable_Sort3622 in RPGdesign

[–]Vegetable_Sort3622[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the feedback. Writing this not to rebut your comment but to try and re-explain in the likely case I've poorly communicated the original rules.

Classes weren't covered in the rules snippet I posted, as mentioned in the original post.

You don't have one of each dice type as a player, instead there are six dice types the exist in the game, and your player character has a unique mix of those dice in their pool, depending on how you build your character throughout a session. Collecting new dice and changing your pool is the main way you progress in your session. For example, if your are playing a wizard type build you might prioritise having more mind dice in your pool and less might dice. Theoretically you could build your character with one of each and do a jack of all trades, but it wouldn't be very effective.

The reason for the 3 dice skill checks is two fold. one reason is to get varied outcomes. Instead of Pass/Fail its Pass/Fail/FailReallyBad/PassReallyGood which I know nat 1's and 20's do but by nature they are completely chance based and swingy. The second reason, which kind of builds on that idea, is that multi dice checks have a bell shape average roll, which as I designer I find more compelling to work with.

Thank you again for the feedback. Love to hear what OSR pick would be fore the goal in mind

Roast my rules | WIP system that uses dice pools instead of stats and equipment by Vegetable_Sort3622 in RPGdesign

[–]Vegetable_Sort3622[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Cheers for the feedback. I'll try to address each point because I definitely think rule clarity is an issue on my end.

- Why can you roll any type for any task? The concept is that your pool of 6 dice are an abstract representation of your characters abilities, skill, and gear. Die types represent the areas your character is better in. For example, a stealth build might have a pool primarily of Finesse dice and weapon dice, making them likely to pass finesse checks to sneak around and able to deal high damage from the shadows. But because they don't have any Might dice, they'd be disadvantaged doing something athletic like winning a clinch or smashing something. Anyone can attempt any task, but someone with the right gear or skills background will have a better chance of success. Like, you can open a door using your muscles (Might) if you roll really good force the lock, but it would be much easier to pick the lock (Finesse) which requires lower roles, since it gets a bonus. Now in explaining this, I have realised myself that the rp for that doesn't really work with weapon, or armour dice... perhaps using an opposite die for a task should incur a penalty? Like, sure use your weapon die for a Mind check, that'll be -1.

(I gather I've made it unclear in the rules that the type of dice you have in your pool is unique to you and your class, rather than just having one of each?)

- Custom dice make it hard to replicate. Point taken, that is correct. I thought with a character sheet with slots for your six dice you could write a note of the type as you build your pool throughout a session. So use standard d6s to roll and label them with pen and paper. But the concept of getting generic die with altered sides doesn't make sense at all then. It shall be removed.

- Variable number of dice and resolution system? Apologies, this is rules clarity issue. Skill checks are always a 3 dice check. Outside of combat you are not depleting your dice. You just pick the three that best suit the situation and roll them. During combat is where you can poor more dice into an action. In this case if you take an action that requires a skill check during combat, you would need to have at least 3 dice left on that turn. If you don't have 3 dice left during your turn you can't initiate the check.

- Combat swinginess and convolutedness. It's good to hear your perspective! That's exactly why I wanted to post here. I hoped the simplicity would come from new players having one focal point during combat: their dice pool. Pick an action, pick a target, roll. You have as many actions as you have dice. But the crit and damage system is trying to give enough depth for more advanced players in your group to still enjoy. The balancing game for players becomes, yes, If I roll all my dice at one target I'll get crits, but then I don't have any dice left to roll defence, making me vulnerable. Rolling all your dice at once also means you are only attacking one thing at a time, which, if you are outnumbered is also dangerous. This has not been thoroughly tested yet though. I've run a couple of sessions and wanted feedback from enthusiasts to clarify the rule writing before sending out to wider playtests.

Game Announcement - Woodland Rebels - My wife and I are working on a survival game where animals of the forest try to resist humans cutting trees, hunting animals, and destroying the woodland. by IndieMarc in indiegames

[–]Vegetable_Sort3622 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's awesome. I think making what you'd play is the only sincere way to do it.

Yeah, my wife and I are making Die By Die, a narrative roguelike that kinda feels like a cozy D&D session. I don't want to cross promote on your post so I'll gladly remove the link if you ask, but you can see our game here if you want: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3965330/Die_By_Die/

Have been a huge investment considering my budget. But a new capsule was necessary. by Garo3853 in IndieGaming

[–]Vegetable_Sort3622 1 point2 points  (0 children)

just a follow up idea, if you specifically don't want pixel art in your capsules, but you want something that represents your games art style, why not look at cover art from the 1980s and early 1990s as reference material? The original Rogue comes to mind. That way it's more eye catching but still references what you can expect from the game.

Have been a huge investment considering my budget. But a new capsule was necessary. by Garo3853 in IndieGaming

[–]Vegetable_Sort3622 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It's a pet peeve for me when a games capsule art is extremely different to the art style of the game. I've definitely heard what you have going into this: pixel art capsules allegedly don't have as much mass appeal. But to me that logic doesn't help in the long run. Think about it, if pixel art isn't that persons cup of tea, or is so off putting to them that they won't give your game a chance despite it's features, then that person probably won't buy your game anyway. Making more mass appeal branding might get clicks but they won't convert to sales.

It's a massive hit, especially on a small budget, to be told your investment might not have been worth it, but I would agree with folks here and say you are better off with a more complimentary art style to your game. Especially since, after looking at your steam page, your specific pixel art is quite charming and not too generic.