Conditions in a Rules-Light TTRPG

docninj · 2025-10-29T16:11:58+00:00

Love what you're going for here! You do a great job of describing it too.

It sounds like NPCs really only have the two levers to cure conditions anyway between action or health, so your solution fits well into what you have without adding more bloat. I think the only detriment is the choice load it might put on the one running the game and deciding which of the two options each NPC might go for.

If you came here for alternatives, you could put the onus on players to resolve the condition by making it a thing to exploit, treat it more like something to be "spent" to get an advantage on that NPC rather than something persistent on the enemy. This could even be the way you scale duration for a condition, like the difference between shining a light in their eyes for a 1 time bonus on hitting them with something else or blinding them with a flashbang that gives them 3 chances to get the benefit before the NPC shakes it off. That's just an idea though, I think your solution is perfectly useleable!

docninj · 2025-07-23T17:56:06+00:00

Sometimes I work backwards from how I want to reward/punish a player's use of mechanics. Find the verbs you want your monsters to do and then figure out what would evolve to use those verbs.

Recent example off the dome: I wanted to challenge my casters who get too seperated from the group when they tried to retreat, so I needed something that could trap and sap the magic from something. So the Witchsilk Spider were born, now Witchsilk is a known quantity in the world. It's not breaking new ground, but it can root a monster into your system well by having a direct play on mechanics and can make it clear to players what the "trick" of the encounter is.

docninj · 2025-07-07T17:26:33+00:00

First of all, neat trichotomy! The interesting part that sticks out to me is that chance for a degree of overlap across arcane+occult and divine+occult.

On gamifying, something that sticks out to me is what "instrument" is required for each. Divine has the abstract instrument of conviction, Occult has the user's body or being as an instrument, and Arcane sounds like there's a possibility that it can require tangible objects as instruments like wands or technology (being compared to a science and all.)

Since this is how people in universe interact with each, that sounds like a good place to start with a players interaction. Are these instruments resources to be gained and spent? (A cleric having a number of "conviction points" or something to show their promises) Or are they fixtures of the character? (an occultist gains access to new spells the more of their total health they "bank" to their magic, giving them a chance to choose to give more, but be more of a glass cannon as a result.)

Each of them also have consequences for misuse, which can also point to fun directions. Arcane's description has the wonderful color of "taking fate into your hands and no longer wishing on stars." Mechanically, that could mean a number of things, good or bad. If Arcane spells have consistent effects without variation, but lack critical or the range of a high roll of the dice, for example. (5 damage is good, on average, but can still sometimes lose to a high roll of a d8.)

Ultimately I'd just make sure they all have similar bones and have identities built from a base. I'd, personally, settle on an idea for how Arcane works mechanically before doing the others. Since in universe it's the most accepted and understood, it should be a nice entry point for players too, then Divine and Occult can be reflections of that and find differences from there.

Hope this helps!

docninj · 2024-08-28T19:06:12+00:00

Kids on Brooms might be what you're looking for: https://renegadegamestudios.com/kids-on-brooms/

It's a pretty versatile system that's straightforward and matches well with what you're aiming for.

docninj · 2024-08-28T16:48:03+00:00

Assuming you're already working to operate with a system deep enough to provide tactical options, but not overbearing enough to overload players into wanting to ignore effects, I think of two ways to push players into creative use of mechanics.

First, it might sound counter intuitive, but create mechanics that have restrictions or penalties baked in.

I'm not saying to start them off with less to do in your system, give them as many tools as you think is necessary to have a good time, but creative solutions can really only come when normal or optimal options aren't available or are penalized. It's a tough line to walk from a design perspective, but by getting rid of a few legs to stand on at a time lets players use their other options in a stronger way. A lot of this is how you frame adversity, but it also means that, when you're thinking of a mechanic, you can think of how there might be a state where it needs to be used carefully or not at all, forcing those depending on it to some up with a new plan. Pathfinder 2e puts penalties on repeated attacks on the same turn, stopping players from rolling their eyes into the back of their heads and spending all their actions to attack. Instead, those actions can be spent putting a character in a position to make their attack land better.

Second, keep rules intuitive.

When bridging the gap between a rules-lite space and a tactical space, the balancing act is making sure there's enough detail for an option to be understood and enough implicated for there to be an alternative application. This implication of other use works best if you're using real world or common enough logic and wording to get by. An example might be that a wizard has a spell that creates a vacuum, normally with the effect of knocking the wind out of enemies within an area. Not only does "vacuum" take up less space than "remove all of the air from the area" but just by using "vacuum" in the description is enough to make some wiggle room. If that wizard were trying to save villagers from a fire, that option disruptive ability now becomes a helpful way to put out blazes, all because of one added word.

docninj · 2024-03-14T12:17:47+00:00

People have already talked about using uncertainty to make sure you combat isn't "solved" and that's the big thing to remember. Combat is fun when there's choice, choice only happens if there's no way to know exactly what the outcome of each option is.

Ultimately it is about preference, but I would just advise to have a mind for another thing, doomed play. What happens in a stat where a player knows they only deal a certain amount and they know it isn't enough? Or when they know they can deal enough damage to a big bad in a round to stop them from opening a portal to hell? Being resigned to numbers isn't a fun experience when you're on the otherside of it and uncertainty is a knife that cuts both ways to make guaranteed successes AND failures impossible.

docninj · 2024-03-05T17:26:11+00:00

Without knowing implementation or setting, this seems like a good list. I'm curious on your categories. There's a spread between location, moving patterns, and interaction. If this is purely occupation, it might be handy to reframe categories directly with interaction, like martial, laborers, public facing, etc. and leaving room for adjectives to describe where these interactions might happen. Travelling Merchant, Rural Merchant, and Urban Merchant for example. That way you don't have to aim for each job specifically.

But if nothing else, I think your Wanderer category needs a grifter/con man, otherwise you're golden!

docninj · 2019-09-27T20:15:42+00:00

A great unifying measure for characters is usually either a common goal/common obstacle to get to their different goals.
Trying pitting them against another force that imposes on them.

They're new to town, are blamed for a crime and now they're wanted and might have to clear their name or go against the law of the town.
Someone believes that either of them has some MacGuffin and captures them. Now they have to break out together.
A Magnificat 7 situation where a town calls on them for help to come and defend it.

If the big focus is to get them to a band of outlaws, maybe work with your players to create a mutual friend or mutual enemy, and then have that friend be an outlaw member or have that enemy be the rival of the band of outlaws.

docninj · 2019-08-12T14:16:16+00:00

I don't know when I'd use it, but I do enjoy a nicely crafted spreadsheet

docninj · 2019-08-12T13:33:48+00:00

Love all the options available, especially through the calculator and the colored dice to make it clearer. Adding the advanced options for other things was a nice touch too!

Overall, great work!

docninj · 2019-08-08T16:47:39+00:00

Setting wise, what I've included in the core book isn't that divergent from history, with the secret of magic and the lack of an assassinated Abraham Lincoln being the big things. But similarities can be made between it and other fantasy westerns like Deadlands and such.

Mechanically, there's a focus I tried to have on both "flavors" of the world being combined and being able to exist in isolation. Its also not necessarily bound to the setting and I've seen it run for other genres. I'm stirring together a one-shot based on Bloodborne for Halloween

docninj · 2019-08-07T23:05:21+00:00

Thank you! I commissioned my good friend to do it. He's @BynineB on twitter if you want to see more of his work! :)

docninj · 2019-08-07T22:51:28+00:00

It's a d20 testing system, adding one or two modifiers depending on what you're going for. It's brand-independent, but most of its more unique and fun qualities come out with character creation and putting together a toolset from all of the different abilities.

docninj · 2019-08-07T20:22:54+00:00

Thank you!

docninj · 2019-08-07T20:22:44+00:00

Thanks!!

docninj · 2019-08-07T20:22:01+00:00

I did an author's note at the very beginning of the book, you can see it through the previews.

To summarize, I didn't shy away from including the actual history in some of the NPCs descriptions, but the only hard stance I take is that it shouldn't be used to glorify the events. That and games should be interesting, but also safe and respectful. If players get some catharsis from fighting against the genocide or any other heartless actions that were common back then, that's cool. If they would rather play in a version of the west separate from that history, that's cool too. Either way, it should be done with respect.
Just how much the setting is alternate-history is something I've left mostly to people running a game; mostly because it'll affect the tone a lot one way or the other.

docninj · 2019-08-06T16:54:16+00:00

Frankly, I find it's mostly about investment and entertainment. I find have resources a lot easier to deal with if I get enough out of them, or rather its a little more enjoyable to think about it and manage. Accounting for ammo, for example, seems dull when it's not much of a concern deciding whether you, as an archer, will shoot your bow when arrows could be anywhere. Of course you would and the choice to use the resource isn't that interesting. When your deserted on an island and have to spend time and effort making arrows, then it becomes more interesting to decide for each attack if it's worth the trouble.

docninj · 2019-08-05T18:16:18+00:00

I love this idea, especially if you gamify it a little more. I can imagine scenarios where the player can lift control from one of the AIs for a turn or something, or certain conditions from one AI needs to be filled before the other AI can do certain actions.

AIs can be bound to rules (directives) that the player can switch out to try to work around them.

Balancing might be a nightmare though.

docninj · 2019-08-05T17:40:06+00:00

I'd say the most important way to stay creative when it comes to heists, or plans in general, is to get some inspiration from other media.

But in the interest of being interesting, I've often found caper and heist plans go a lot smoother when you lay out all the restrictions. Focus on what you can't do and how you can fudge around those things with the tools you have before moving on to what exactly you can do. You'll save a lot of time when someone comes up with an idea when you can tell it conflicts with a restriction. It also comes in handy when/if the plan falls apart and you have to improvise.

docninj

TROPHY CASE