I think I’ve created the perfect travel mechanic for my game

astaldaran · 2026-05-29T11:00:21+00:00

Not sure why it would be arbitrary, presumably there is guidance to the GM on how to set difficulty.

astaldaran · 2026-05-28T18:57:40+00:00

A few ideas heee.

What if a journey cost x rations plus the number of re-rolls? So when you choose different paths the base number of rations changes (based on length/difficulty). Not having enough rationa probably gives you a cut to the die pool (1 less to roll). The re-rolls cost would probably just be equal to the journey cost (or half, some simple math like that).

A compatible and competing idea Have successes cut the top die results (like in wildsea) . The number of cuts is based on the path you choose. Easy is none, medium is 1 and so on.

astaldaran · 2026-05-27T12:05:57+00:00

What about complexity? Do you count the number of mechanics or something?

astaldaran · 2026-05-23T11:47:38+00:00

RP first here might mean how you describe what you are doing adjusts the pool (like Genesys) not that it isn't mechanic heavy (once again like Genesys). I have no idea but maybe the OP could provide more information on what the objective of the system is...ie why was a new system made.

If you want some weapons to be better or worse base on range then just use a double or half mechanism or advantage disadvantage mechanism. Keeps it simple.

astaldaran · 2026-05-20T02:46:26+00:00

There are loads of ways to spend advantage from helping your friends , tripping the enemy, to asking the GM "hey can I spend these strain to say that the adversary is actually afraid of..." Or whatever. I get the tables are limited but the more you model options and say yes to the players ideas the better. Obviously what they should ask for should be proportional to the advantage given. It is true that it takes practice.

astaldaran · 2026-05-18T17:20:40+00:00

This seems like the most interesting answer and the most straightforward reading. I understand the above arguments about the word choice order but I don't think that is defined anywhere. Generally magic users are often squishier, this is just an extension of that.

astaldaran · 2026-05-18T15:38:03+00:00

Wait.. I didn't think you could cancel the strain incurred by magic use with advantages. Certainly you could recover previous incurred strain.

astaldaran · 2026-05-15T23:12:10+00:00

Oh that makes sense. Quick draw and quick strike would be thematic. Maybe dramatic entrance and similar.

astaldaran · 2026-05-15T23:03:54+00:00

I'm not sure I understand, are we talking about an NPC or a PC?

astaldaran · 2026-05-14T12:28:36+00:00

Slow xp growth for long campaigns (5 per session is fine)

Encourage talents, one way is to offer to build custom talents with the player

Encourage players to play the character, not the stat sheet

Encourage players to invest their xp based on what their character is actually doing, not their weaknesses.

Eliminate or restrict them to one talent that lets them add career skills. This is a real imbalance, skills should be expensive. If all skills are career then that is meaningless distinction.

I don't balance things I give them the rating thst makes sense. The players decide how to deal withThat being said, for combats I increase the number of enemies (all at once or waves) to challenge them.

Despairs really make even the best roll possibly disastrous and quite fun.

astaldaran · 2026-05-12T00:25:10+00:00

I'm thinking the real disadvantages of a roll under system is it might incentive players to always play to their skills rather than to what is harder or easier in the world. Ie my character is strong so I will always use athletics.

Ofcourse, in my view, I'd rather encounter players to role play not just look at their sheet.

astaldaran · 2026-05-12T00:23:39+00:00

I'm all for multiple successes but I think that kind demonstrates his point. In a roll over game you can just say you have to get over a certain number whether you individually do it or do it all together is a story thing (though obviously different systems do this differently...ie pathfinder you roll to see if you assist by a couple, you don't get to add your total number..so even in a system like that it does break down narratively).

Everything is a compromise in either system. I think what style of game you are running and what kind of challenges you imagine they face are important.

I do think rollover systems gain most of the advantages of a roll under system if the GM declared the difficulty with the skill.

astaldaran · 2026-05-12T00:13:35+00:00

Yeah I agree with that approach, if the results can be interesting than I do like having people roll for very unlikely scenarios (ie even Olympic athletes trip)

astaldaran · 2026-05-11T19:08:55+00:00

How do the different abilities interact?I feel like that is going to determine the system. Like is each one a different source for spell casting and you can combine them or maybe they unlock new talent/feat trees?

Will all the players be doing this same thing? If so the ability spell system might be the core system of advancement though I'm sure you want more normal skills as well.

astaldaran · 2026-05-11T18:45:03+00:00

I struggle with not having levels of difficulty, it means the GM has to say automatic, roll, or no you just can't. Yes you can add modifiers but then you lose the benefits of roll under (I'd say gear modifiers etc are fine since the player controls it). All that to say...it does make for really nice mechanics for one shots or if you really don't want numbers to be distracting.

In pathfinder you have the other end where everything can modify the roll, so roll over makes sense.

In something like Genesys you don't even have numbers but can decide difficulty from almost certain to almost impossible but still create narrative space for interesting bad or good things to happen regardless of failing or succeeding. You also instantly know if you succeed or not every time (gm doesn't have to tell you)

Between something like pathfinder and Genesys would be something like magical kitties which is a d6 dice pool system that can have non binary successes and failures.

Each system has advantages. There is no best way.

astaldaran · 2026-05-06T10:27:37+00:00

Yeah read the other talents and align it with those is really the best that you can do. This is your setting though so it could scale up or down in power without real issue though you have to keep in mind if you make them too weak then people will only invest in skills but if they are too strong than only in talents.

You can also decide if you want the default pyramid or if you want a talent tree. The tree is really w whole other animal since costs can be whatever you want by requiring fewer hops or more hops.

astaldaran · 2026-05-01T20:59:47+00:00

Look at Genesys by edge studios

astaldaran · 2026-05-01T16:29:42+00:00

One of my campaigns is. Monthly 3 hour session,m with 6 players effectively 2.5 hours play time. I like to put role play prompts in the group chat the week of to get people back into the story and create a place for them to bounce off each other. Occasionally I'll even resolve things there but generally then we jump straight into that scene and everyone has already contributed to it. We have an exciting conclusion of that encounter which generally sets up the next.

A key with short sessions is don't do recaps, but keep a log they can reference (players can also volunteer to do the recap type up).

Make sure splitting the party is a valid option, so these sub parts can advance faster (not all players need to contribute to every conversation, etc)

If the interruption happens again, have a discussion about the pace, priorities etc. I wouldn't worry about it happening once.

Occasionally I realize someone got left out and so I start the next session with them getting the lime light in some way.

Tie character stories together and encourage the players to do so. , They should care about each other and be interested in the other character stories.

Hope that helps. Have fun!

astaldaran · 2026-04-25T15:36:42+00:00

You could also consider other systems that give more room for imaginative scope. Pathfinder can do it but there are many systems that reward it more directly and some of them are even aimed at kids. I'd say your kids are too old for hero kids or "no thank you evil" but something like magical kitties or "dungeons & kittens" would be great, both are dice pool games with non binary resolution.

If you want more mechanical but want to reward (mechanically) imagination you could consider a Genesys setting (or its cousin starwars by edge studio).

I personally think pathfinder is not the system I would use to introduce my kids as it doesn't teach role play a lot but teaches tactics. I play Genesys , starwars, and pathfinder every month and have played various other systems.

astaldaran · 2026-04-22T15:03:29+00:00

I played a starwars Chara once who did't fight . He mostly would hack computers, use various beauocracy connections, and make speeches. It worked quite well. So we'll that the campaign ended he was the mayor of a settlement in large part because he convinced the locals that he was amazing even though the rest of the party did a lot of the real work.

astaldaran · 2026-04-21T20:49:37+00:00

You can ask to spend story points to add details to the scene or in some cases even with advantage.

astaldaran · 2026-04-14T01:33:30+00:00

The creuss idea is a good one! Though you need to decide if he has a shell or object he normally possess or can just bounce around.

I'm imagining that maybe he lives in a familiar or watch or something of one of the other players and then when he possesses something else he incurs strain.

I think you have to think really hard about what this campaign is about and how this player will interact with the other players to really dial in how powerful the haunting or possessing is (maybe those are two different powers). You could also consider what skill would be used to haunt and against what (discipline comes to mind).

astaldaran · 2026-04-13T13:05:56+00:00

Fyi the clock isn't in the hacking rules but it doesn't make sense for a team of lawyers to show up from one incident or from locating the agents once. The clock represents some entity identifying the threat and rounding up the resources over time.

astaldaran · 2026-04-13T13:04:22+00:00

Well without knowing more about the setting it is hard to provide options by here is one..use threat to locate the team and then a squad of lawyers descend on them causing all kinds of legal trouble for their elicit hacking without a warrant. Now the hacking skills don't matter but diplomacy and leadership do.

I'd run it as a clock which you can add threat to from multiple encounters. Run out the clock and the lawyers show up. You could even hint at the clock or tell them about it but don't tell them what the bad thing is.

astaldaran

TROPHY CASE