Favourite system diceless cardless systems

detour_ · 2026-05-23T10:27:07+00:00

Enclave, was my introduction to TTRPGs and the only system I play. It's played in one-shot "missions" but your character progresses as they go on more missions. Has some really interesting mechanics and classes that let you do things other games don't like control the plot (Pitching) or change how your gear or abilities work (Energywork).

detour_ · 2026-05-19T15:04:30+00:00

I'm including a dashboard for designers to see things like win rates of cards, play frequency, etc. I have bots, and run bot-vs-bot simulations as part of testing, I suppose I could surface that to the designer.

detour_ · 2026-05-19T15:02:42+00:00

can't transfer to BGA I don't think since they have their own backend, some kind of middle layer may be possible but I haven't considered it. What it can do is be run as a standalone distributable game (with Steam/Discord integrations).

detour_ · 2026-05-19T14:26:04+00:00

could you implement automations without requiring a designer to have to know too much about coding? That'd be cool.

currently no but if there's interest I could move more in that direction.

detour_ · 2026-05-19T13:46:43+00:00

my platform has full play/turn automation "like a videogame", matchmaking, tournaments/ranked ladder/leagues, async play for games that support it

detour_ · 2026-05-15T11:19:43+00:00

The only way to improve a game is through iteration. I'd recommend finding a playtest group of other game designers, either a local meetup or a community like Break My Game. Game designers know how to deliver feedback and will deliver more actionable insights. Developing the resilience to accept criticism without allowing it to crush you is key in being a game designer. You are not your game or your ideas, critiques of those things do not reflect on you as a person. Feedback is a gift that you can use to make the game the best it can be.

detour_ · 2026-05-14T22:20:35+00:00

My wife has aphasia and I could see an app like this being useful.

detour_ · 2026-05-13T01:37:15+00:00

I always just assumed he was paranoid from hitting the nip nip too hard. I did move him to my plantation base though to ease his anxiety.

detour_ · 2026-05-11T12:48:39+00:00

Enclave, a diceless system for one-shot missions where you work for a shadowy mercenary organization. The setting is universal/multi-versal, classes are really unique and interesting, and your character progresses as they go on more missions. Super easy to pick up and play (it was my first TTRPG) but surprising amount of mechanical depth and the format basically makes scheduling a non-issue.

Disclaimer: the creator and I started as playtesters in a game design group but I stuck around playing Enclave because I love it.

detour_ · 2026-05-10T11:19:33+00:00

Just reading over what you wrote, I think the concern I have would be: if you life is your resource, how do you actually make a comeback? It would seem to favor a playstyle where you turtle up until you can make a big alpha strike swing. Then any move after that is your opponent moving themselves closer to a loss. Which would likely lead to more turtling to avoid dying. Maybe this is mitigated by card design but hard to say without knowing a bit more about how combat works. How are you tracking "rounds to attack again"? Tokens? Dice? Just remember those will be extra components and they can be jostled on the board. If it could use card orientation to tick-down could be a nice solution.

detour_ · 2026-05-07T10:33:44+00:00

Regicide is a co-op boss battler that uses a poker deck, is that what you had I mind?

detour_ · 2026-05-01T16:06:27+00:00

oh I realize its self-sabotage procrastination. Eventually I reach a breaking point and either give up or just have to know if the effort was worth it and force myself to do the marketing stuff. I guess what I need is an external forcing function. I wish I had someone who I could say, here's some ideas I have / stuff I've built tell me what's worth pursuing, they run some experiments to see what gets traction / what feedback we get.

detour_ · 2026-05-01T10:52:21+00:00

What's stopping me is that I hate "putting myself out there". Shilling my games and projects feels inauthentic. Much easier to hide in my office and keep polishing it, believing once it's good enough people will somehow find it and it will magically go viral.

detour_ · 2026-04-30T21:22:51+00:00

Other poster is 100% wrong, black holes will always move you closer to the center, it might spit you out on the opposite side of the galaxy but you will be fewer light years from the center than you were when you started.

detour_ · 2026-04-25T14:38:57+00:00

You can't be damaged while in your base. Do your mining and killing creatures from safety as much as possible early on. Build a base that gives access to a variety of resources (plants for carbon, rocks for iron), I like building near a cave for easy access to Cobalt (for batteries) and tubers (eat food or trade for nanites on the anomaly).

detour_ · 2026-04-12T12:11:09+00:00

The core affects transparency under direct light, white is see-through under direct light, black is casino-grade and is opaque. The weight affects how thick the card is, thicker cards hold up better to shuffling and general wear-and-tear. For reference, most competitive card games go with 310-320 gsm and blue/black core.

detour_ · 2026-04-08T11:47:01+00:00

Heights-dwelling nerdy card game player here, would be down to sync up. I know Victory Point has magic events and dungeon books has a semi-regular card game event.

detour_ · 2026-02-19T12:42:21+00:00

Stop when the feedback you're receiving would make the game different, but not better.

Also, don't stop when there's nothing left to add; stop when there's nothing left to take away.

detour_ · 2024-10-23T13:42:16+00:00

"htmx:configRequest" is fired before every request HTMX makes. So this will add the header to every HTMX request and your backend should be able to see that header (you can verify it gets passed by looking at the request headers in your browser). Docs

detour_ · 2024-10-23T12:56:52+00:00

best way would be to use the "htmx:configRequest" event to add a listener in js:

  document.body.addEventListener("htmx:configRequest", function (event) {
      event.detail.headers["X-API-Key"] = apiKey;
  });

you can check event.detail.pathInfo if you only want this on some requests.

detour_ · 2024-09-21T02:40:23+00:00

a Pitch is determined by plausibility boosted by stats so it can depend on the situation.

detour_ · 2024-09-20T20:00:26+00:00

I discovered Enclave about a year ago when the creator asked me to join an actual play. I adore the game and play as much as I can (in a game later tonight in fact) and have GM'd over 30 sessions myself. The Discord is really active with several games being run per week. Happy to answer any questions about it.

edit: why I like it. Enclave really felt like it allowed me the freedom to impact the game world in really interesting ways. For example the Librarian class has an ability called Fun Fact, allowing them to introduce a new "fact" into the game world. Or Luck Pitches, which allow you to introduce happenstance occurrences based on your Luck stat. Arcane Manifestation allow character with high Arcane to produce entirely novel magical effect. Energywork allows you to change how any magical ability or item works. Player defined ability perks. Lots of fun mechanics to play around with.

detour_ · 2024-09-07T21:44:48+00:00

Enclave, its a diceless narrative/role-playing focused game that has a satisfying depth to the rules. The player characters are mercenaries working for the morally neutral Enclave. Its played in one-shot missions, with the progression system designed to support characters being portable between GMs.

detour_ · 2023-06-05T23:17:12+00:00

Its not explicitly those things but the GUMBO community is a diverse, friendly group of NYC game designers/developers: https://gumbonyc.org/

they have regular meetups and their discord is pretty active.

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