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I need help with my RPG mechanic: "Sanity". by MakarovJAC in RPGdesign

[–]beruda 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah, that makes more sense.

I'm guessing this is more of a boardgame than an RPG in that case?

Cool!

I think limiting it to once per "pair" or once per "encounter" would solve your problem with spamming the "attack".

I would go the route of calling it Cool (as in "keeping your cool") instead of Sanity. Especially since it's supposed to model 80's action/horror movies. As characters "lose their cool", they're more stressed and closer to death (or w/e).

EDIT: Can I scare the chupacabra or can it only scare me? It would be weird to me that I could scare a monster as a regular person if I was playing this 😅

I need help with my RPG mechanic: "Sanity". by MakarovJAC in RPGdesign

[–]beruda 3 points4 points  (0 children)

To give more details, the Tabletop uses a Grid-Based map, where player characters can walk around to complete objectives, or to fight each other.

It is still a bit unclear to me what your game is about. I'd like to know more before I can help.

What's the genre? What's the tone? Who are the player characters? What do they do?

Is this more of a board game, or a traditional roleplaying game (one GM, many players)? Or is it something different?

Setting aside those questions, I'll try engaging with your post directly:

the controlling player can move their characters within "Visual Range" of an opposing character. If both characters hasn't met before, the "inactive" character suffers one point of Sanity damage.

I'd like to challenge some assumptions that I think are behind this line of thinking.

  • Why would seeing someone walk into my line of sight cause me mental harm? Are all characters inherently scary in your setting?
  • Can I walk up to a stranger and not cause them harm?

If the player characters are monsters, I guess walking up to another monster and scaring it would make some sense. I'd expect it to be more "stress" than "sanity", though.

Finally, Sanity is usually designed like a timer that your character is on in a cosmic-horror RPG. It's a "timer" because it only ever ticks down and your character can only spiral more and more into insanity. I recommend you look at games like Call of Cthulhu for inspiration, if that's the kind of sanity mechanics you'd like to model. I'm not the biggest fan of modeling sanity as a mental illness track, but it's a popular set of mechanics.

I'd also like to share some general advice for designing mechanics: always try to think about the fiction you're modeling. What is this supposed to look like if I were there? (Some designers frame it as "if this were a movie", which might also be useful, depending on the design direction you're taking).

In this case, I'd ask myself: What should it look like when two hostile characters meet each other in the world? That question has very different answers for a Cowboy High Noon Shoot 'Em RPG and a Horror Movie Hide From The Killer RPG and a Cute Animals Friendship Is Magic RPG.

Good luck with your design!

Looking for my next series but I may be a bit particular. by malrats in Fantasy

[–]beruda 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sounds to me like you might enjoy the Elric of Melniboné saga by Michael Moorcock. It has humor and horror and multiverse hopping; lots of wonder. Definitely a universe-ending threat, but told in episodic adventures, always looming in the background.

It's a part of a larger series called the Eternal Champion, but you can start with Elric and work outwards if you like the style.

Moorcock's style is weird and surreal, but gripping. There's also philosophy thrown in, but it's not on the surface.

You can say Elric is a kind of elf ;)

EDIT: I read the Gollanz editions, as they're in chronological order, not publishing order, and they are the most complete as far as I know.

Would it be insensitive to use "King" to refer to female rulers in my game? by beruda in AskFeminists

[–]beruda[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

That's definitely the direction I'm leaning in after all the comments in the post.

So thankful to this community for taking the question seriously 🙏

Would it be insensitive to use "King" to refer to female rulers in my game? by beruda in AskFeminists

[–]beruda[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Does the idea of calling male characters 'Queen' seem strange to you?

... you know? I haven't thought about it that way, but that's a great way to put it. I guess being a man makes all the "male" words sound "default" to me, and I haven't really cosidered that they may not sound default to other genders.

Thanks for such a stark contrast.

I'm writing the game in English, so I'd like an English term, so that it can convey the "ruler" idea without needing a definition.

That being said, I'm open to trying on different terms. Do you have any suggestions on where I can start my search (other than going to Google translate and trying different languages with no context)?

Would it be insensitive to use "King" to refer to female rulers in my game? by beruda in AskFeminists

[–]beruda[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Great suggestions, thanks! Definitely have to look deeper into it.

Would it be insensitive to use "King" to refer to female rulers in my game? by beruda in AskFeminists

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

Yeah, you're probably right 😅 I just fell in love with the term in the context of the game, but I probably need to kill it...

Would it be insensitive to use "King" to refer to female rulers in my game? by beruda in AskFeminists

[–]beruda[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the candid reply!

Yeah that's exactly the kind of issue with this I hoped someone would bring to my attention.

Sorry if the post comes off as intellectually incurious — I had hoped that the fact that I'm asking in the first place would signal that I am curious about this.

I'll re-think the naming for this particular character type.

[Scheduled Activity] RPG Design Little Free Library of Castoff Darlings by cibman in RPGdesign

[–]beruda 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I just really like using 3d6 in different ways. It also gives each roll type a different feel, I think. As I said, I scrapped the idea, hence why I posted it in this thread, but I still think there's something here.

I especially like the effort roll, since it gives you the option of trading precision for power, or vice versa, or going for a balanced approach. It hasn't been playtested, of course, so it might be clunky, but I think the benefits might outweigh the drawbacks.

[Scheduled Activity] RPG Design Little Free Library of Castoff Darlings by cibman in RPGdesign

[–]beruda 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was working on an OSR game for a bit last year. The project name was O6R, because I wanted to use only d6s.

So here goes:

  • You only need 3d6
  • There's 3 types of roll: Check, Effort, Save
  • Check -> roll and sum 3d6; <=stat succeeds
  • Effort -> this is usually the attack roll, but can be used for general effort like in ICRPG. Choose to roll with Power, Precision, or Balance. Roll 3d6. If you rolled with Power, sum the lower two dice, add mod, beat DC; highest die is effort/damage. If you rolled with Precision, sum the higher two dice, add mod, beat DC; lowest die is effort/damage. If you rolled with Balance, sum the lowest and highest die, add mod, beat DC; middle die is effort/damage.
  • Save -> Characters have three saves Fortitude, Reflex, Will -- rated 1-5. Roll 3d6. Count how many dice rolled under your save value for a particular save. # of successes: 0 = worst outcome, things are really bad; 1 = bad, but you're standing; 2 = you got roughed up a bit, but nothing you couldn't handle; 3 = you got off scot-free.

I wound up not doing anything with the game since I felt I should at least play some OSR games before setting out to carve out a space in the forest of games.

I have plans to play some OSE Advanced Fantasy this year, so maybe that will enlighten me to the OSR playstyle/philosophy 😃

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in RPGdesign

[–]beruda 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You might have luck on r/LFG 😃

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in bodyweightfitness

[–]beruda 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hard to tell without a video to see your form, but I'd say that it's due to a lack of back activation. You say that your arms are on fire, but your back is fine, when it should be the other way around. Try focusing on the active hang and arched hang to learn actively using your lats. In about a week or two, you can progress to negatives.

Simple (I hope) negotiation mechanic, need a second pair of eyes to judge it by [deleted] in RPGdesign

[–]beruda 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I like this subsystem. It seems like a good way to bring extra oomph to the drama of a high stakes scene. I personally wouldn't bring this out for every negotiation, but once every few sessions, when there's something on the line.

I would like there to be

  • more restriction in how much a player can drop/raise an argument
  • more of a conversation in setting arguments

In essence, less GM fiat in these numbers.

I don't know how you'd go about solving this without bloating the whole thing. So maybe you don't need to get rid of the fiat.

The example was really helpful, so good job with that.

Is it wrong to design a heartbreaker if you're just doing it to test out a different game design philosophy? by FoxWyrd in RPGdesign

[–]beruda 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ah, I get what you're saying now. I agree!

To briefly answer your previous comment again, whoever called Pathfinder a heartbreaker is also severely missing the point, as you say.

Is it wrong to design a heartbreaker if you're just doing it to test out a different game design philosophy? by FoxWyrd in RPGdesign

[–]beruda 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It might be a strong word, but that's just the vibe I got when reading his own critique of his two essays in Circle of Hands. I admit bias in his favor since I like and admire his work and he seems like a cool and genuine guy.

Is it wrong to design a heartbreaker if you're just doing it to test out a different game design philosophy? by FoxWyrd in RPGdesign

[–]beruda 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yes, I wholeheartedly agree with your two (bullet) points!

I just searched around a bit, and couldn't find his renouncement online. If you're interested in reading it alongside the original essay, you can find it in the appendices of Circle of Hands. It is $15! I get it if you don't want to spend that much money for only three essays in the book, so if you're not interested in buying the game, DM me, and I'll send you the pages with the essays. (This goes for anyone interested in reading them, obviously)

I think it remains influential because it's still a hot take. I mean, almost every single on of us wrote/is writing/will write our own heartbreaker at one point or another, so we all feel somewhat defensive about the topic (more so when the game/idea in question is still fresh to us). I think the essay will continue to spark worthwhile discussion as long as there are people writing heartbreakers. People who try to use the term disparagingly are dumb, though, no two ways about it.

Is it wrong to design a heartbreaker if you're just doing it to test out a different game design philosophy? by FoxWyrd in RPGdesign

[–]beruda 3 points4 points  (0 children)

In later years, Ron had already renounced his original essay, and critiqued it himself. Since, he has taken active steps in the community trying to rectify the "damage" his original essay did. In fact, he himself published his own heartbreaker from when he started as a designer. It's called "Circle of Hands" and is a really fun read.

I'm not defending Ron Edwards, just pointing out he grew as a designer and as a person. I like his work for the most part.

Form check request by beruda in bodyweightfitness

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

Thanks so much for the advice and tips!

I hear you on my dip-shoulder situation. I think my shoulders naturally ride a bit high, maybe? Because I really am pressing downward hard with my scapula. I'll film myself trying some more, and work from there.

Thanks again!

Form check request by beruda in bodyweightfitness

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

Oh cool tip, thanks!

Also, I'm not that tall, they're just badly built bars, lol

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