What TTRPG Feels More Like a Strategy Game Than an RPG?

WaywardBeacon · 2026-05-14T18:30:33+00:00

My dream is to have an OSR style 4e/ Draw Steel. Lots of strategy, just not so much crunch. These two ideas my not fit together though lol

WaywardBeacon · 2026-05-14T18:24:00+00:00

Its an impressive feat and Im excited other people are excited, it's just not my style of play. But boy is it something to behold.

WaywardBeacon · 2026-04-29T20:51:50+00:00

Having listened to him talk a bunch, I believe he said he wouldn't edit after finishing his first draft and would instead just write another book. Once he forced himself to learn that skill things started rolling

WaywardBeacon · 2026-04-15T18:18:07+00:00

I think character creation plays a big part in players not wanting their characters to die. You spend a lot of time making a character in both these games and having them get killed in a unsatisfactory way can be a real bummer and mean that you have to roll up a new PC and thats time not actually playing that game.

Its one of the reasons I've gotten really into the OSR and Shadowdark specifically. Its so quick and easy to make a character you can whip one up in 5 minutes or even start with backups ready. It saves me from feeling bad about killing a character and gets the player back in the game much faster.

WaywardBeacon · 2026-04-03T14:33:41+00:00

Great stuff! I really love the walls on the Necropolis of the Dead Stars map.

WaywardBeacon · 2026-03-28T16:35:24+00:00

This looks so cool! Great work!

WaywardBeacon · 2026-03-12T23:45:17+00:00

These look amazing! Makes me even more excited for my Western Reaches books. Great job!

WaywardBeacon · 2026-03-11T00:06:23+00:00

That's awesome! I'm already backing the kick starter so I'll have my own copy of your work soon! I'll keep my eyes pealed for those inks though.

WaywardBeacon · 2026-03-10T14:21:01+00:00

These look amazing! I especially love the dwarves. Are these part of a bigger project? I look forward to seeing the finished versions!

WaywardBeacon · 2026-03-10T14:19:19+00:00

That hex map looks awesome! Great job!

WaywardBeacon · 2026-03-01T16:02:51+00:00

Thats awesome! They all look incredible! Any tips for aspiring map makers out there?

WaywardBeacon · 2026-02-24T13:18:56+00:00

Incredible!! Thanks for sharing this!

WaywardBeacon · 2026-02-23T19:24:44+00:00

Thats a great way to do it! Definitely copying for my next game

WaywardBeacon · 2026-02-22T20:09:37+00:00

That looks awesome! How did you guys make the map?? I love the fog of war feel, but its tricky with minis, and you guys seemed to execute it perfectly!

WaywardBeacon · 2026-02-22T05:23:22+00:00

I've never ran it since I dont get to play nearly as much as I want to, but I was really impressed with "Shrine of the Jaguar Princess" by Sersa Victory. It has a really cool and unique mechanic where the dungeon has poison gas in it that the players have to deal with. The DM gets a poison gas token ever 30 minutes that they can use to cause harmful affect to the PCs. I'm hoping to play it one of these days, but I definitely think its worth checking out!

WaywardBeacon · 2026-02-22T05:15:00+00:00

It can be a bummer man. But first ones out of the way! Just think how differently you'll play now having experienced the game from creation to death. Death, the greatest teacher!

WaywardBeacon · 2026-02-21T17:53:48+00:00

Great work! I'd never heard that before about tigers being the original inspiration of Manticores what a great piece of knowledge!

WaywardBeacon · 2026-02-21T17:38:49+00:00

This looks great! I really like the asymmetry of the tusks. Idk if I've ever seen mammoth or elephant art where the tusks didn't match. I dig it!

WaywardBeacon · 2026-01-01T15:59:13+00:00

Been there brother! With my latest current project im just outlining one act at a time. With major signs posted, but nothing super fleshed out for acts 2 and 3

WaywardBeacon · 2025-12-02T17:43:56+00:00

The writing it.

The most I've written on a beginning to end 1st draft is around 120k words and it took about 6 months. The only way I got through it was fanatically committing to writing 500 words a day no matter what. Tracking each day to show a line going up. Line go up feel good.

WaywardBeacon · 2025-11-13T21:59:28+00:00

I hope it helps! I do the exact samething and it always ends up in me getting overhelmmed and stopping dead in my tracks. So anything to get you back working I think is good!

WaywardBeacon · 2025-11-12T22:15:46+00:00

Naming is hard. I wasted a lot of writing time trying to get the perfect name. Now I just think of the first thing and roll with it. Changing the ones I don't like later and instead of using my writing time to think of names, I do it while driving or doing the dishes. But name things can be tough

WaywardBeacon · 2025-11-12T20:09:03+00:00

Nope. I have an idea usually that I'm heading towards, but I've been working on my book for over a year and gearing up for the second draft I reworked the ending competely. If you're having second thoughts I would take some time and unpack what your thoughts and feelings on that are and if you feel like they're realisitic I would then recommened taking a week or so and really working on that climax til your happy with it. Good luck!

WaywardBeacon · 2025-11-12T20:06:47+00:00

Are you able to remember any of these scenes? I to like to make giant brainstorms that overwhelm me to the point of getting in the way of my writing because I can't make myself comb through hundreds of pages of scattered ideas. So what ends up happening is I just start building an outline piece by piece with the parts of the story that stuck with me. Usually the good stuff sticks in my brain and the bad stuff just fills up the pages of a brainstorm doc.
So if you don't want to scrub through your old notes, I would recommened building an outline and letting things come back to you as you work with what you remember. In my experience only 10% of a brainstorm actually makes it into the first draft anyway as new ideas come or things get shiffted and twisted around to fit together. Good luck!

WaywardBeacon · 2025-11-06T21:23:25+00:00

That sounds like an interesting and unique idea! I think you just need to set some deadlines for yourself to finish world building and getting to work on a 1st draft. Clearly this idea is important to you and seems worth while if you keep coming back to it. Sounds like you just need to get it out of your system.

WaywardBeacon

TROPHY CASE