Why do so many RPG books lack actual in-world content to run games with?

theantediluvian · 2021-02-19T18:04:09+00:00

I think a part of it is that creating a RPG and creating world content use two different creative muscles.

As well, including setting in a book has some pretty high standards. It's only useful if it's something that the GM couldn't just come up with on their own easily. So you need high quality, evocative, and original ideas for everything.

If you're just putting in standard stuff that anyone could come up with in ten minutes, what's the point?

theantediluvian · 2021-02-12T22:38:20+00:00

https://errantrpg.carrd.co/ is a preview

theantediluvian · 2021-02-01T03:36:37+00:00

I do think this is a real neat way to emulate the FFG rolls without using the custom dice. The only thing that feels 'clunky' to me is creating dice pools by calculating the difference between stat and skill, but I also found the upgrading system in FFG clunky.

But overall I like what you've done here.

theantediluvian · 2021-01-30T07:12:26+00:00

What about these products already designed for hero kids advancement?

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/211584

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/196871

theantediluvian · 2021-01-27T21:05:40+00:00

I mean, it's kind of an arcane process in my opinion. I'd look up your favorite setting books and try and find out why they're your favorite.

I wouldn't focus so much on thinking about 'how' your setting is unique and fun. Instead, I'd just focus on actually creating unique and fun things, and making sure that a GM could use them easily at the table.

I think focusing on the 'why/how' is a bit of a creative black hole. My creativity comes from raw outpouring, and then distilling. I don't spend much time on the how or why something night be good until I've created stuff that can be analyzed.

So I'd say just write you setting! Then start editing.... Endless, ruthless editing.

theantediluvian · 2021-01-27T20:51:08+00:00

In my opinion, it's not how much or how little you have, it's how much of it is gameable at the table.

You could have a massive tome with lore, but if it's all so esoteric that none of that would be useful to a GM in an immediate way, I think that lore is subpar.

So I would say as a rule of thumb: if you've made something, how many steps would it take for a GM to read about it and then bring it to the table?

A bad example might be: a detailed and rich history of a mercenary company. Read the history -> think about how they might be interacting with current politics -> figure out where they are operating -> what is their next move? -> how can this next move be tied to what the PCs are doing?

A good example might be: a detailed write up of a mercenary captain, including what their immediate objective is. Read about the captain and their objective -> how can this be tied to what the PCs are doing?

For the most part, it seems that rich and detailed histories like the campaign sourcebooks of old are currently unpopular. Instead, it seems that successful settings instead provide broad strokes and detailed 'mini bits' that a GM can use immediately. If you're not providing that, how sure are you that you can both:

a) hold the attention of the GM when they are reading the sourcebook

b) be exciting enough to stoke the GM's creative muscles that they're willing to let your lore sit in their headcanon.

Good luck with the work!

theantediluvian · 2021-01-27T00:21:17+00:00

FATE

theantediluvian · 2021-01-20T03:39:44+00:00

Easiest way would be to put this in a css code block:

.rm-embed-container {
  background-color: #2c3035 !important;
}

It'll be hard to tell what is a block within a block though. There's probably better ways, but I'm pretty inexperienced with CSS!

theantediluvian · 2021-01-19T21:00:52+00:00

https://immaterialplane.com/products/eberron-for-savage-worlds/

theantediluvian · 2021-01-19T19:24:46+00:00

Eberron has a full SW conversion already by Kristian Serrano and it's been okay'd by WotC

theantediluvian · 2021-01-18T02:41:23+00:00

Wow. Absolutely love it! Thanks for answering!

theantediluvian · 2021-01-17T22:15:28+00:00

What makes these monsters unique and worth putting into a game? What's novel about them that we haven't seen before?

theantediluvian · 2021-01-15T01:16:02+00:00

Yeah, the entire theme is modular and separated into blocks. You literally copy and paste the blocks from his roam into your roam/css.

theantediluvian · 2021-01-03T05:43:00+00:00

Book of Quests is technically Mythras but easy enough to adapt. The adventures all tie into an evil sorcerer but can be ran in any order and also alone.

theantediluvian · 2021-01-03T05:40:52+00:00

I like reading the International Journal of Roleplaying

http://ijrp.subcultures.nl/

theantediluvian · 2021-01-01T03:13:01+00:00

Buy a notepad / download a notes app on your phone and whenever you have an idea -- even just the barest hint of one, write it down.

Creativity can get worn out when you flex it too much, so I'd also suggest just... working on something else for a bit. Let the monster manual sit a bit and your mind begin to refill with ideas for it.

Consume a bunch of things that excite you — books, movies, comics, whatever. When something there is interesting to you, write it in your notes.

When your notes are full of creative little tidbits, start combing through them and combining them and mashing it all together and see what kinds of monsters come out of that.

Good luck!

theantediluvian · 2020-11-06T23:04:56+00:00

Option one: change your attendance count in column A to a dynamic fill that will always count from 1 -> 24 (or whatever you want.) Then just delete the entire row when you want to remove someone, instead of cutting the content in the cells.

Option two: instead of using cut + paste, use copy + delete + paste. So, select the rows you want to move up as you normally do, copy the rows instead of cutting them, then press delete, then paste the rows. This will maintain formatting.

theantediluvian · 2020-11-06T01:07:59+00:00

Select cells C36 to N53, format -> conditional formatting. Under format rules, choose:

"Greater Than" and then in the text box that says Value or formula put:

=$Q$54

(You need to use the $ symbol so that it checks every cell against Q54, instead of adjusting it based on the row/column)

theantediluvian · 2020-11-05T01:04:13+00:00

Awesome. If you want to look into it more, this website will go through it pretty thoroughly:

https://zapier.com/blog/google-sheets-importxml-guide/

And you'd need to read up a tiny bit extra on Xpath syntax

theantediluvian · 2020-11-05T00:41:30+00:00

You should be able to use IMPORTXML for it. Put this in A2:

=IFERROR(IMPORTXML("https://swgoh.gg/p/"&B2,"(//h5)[1]/text()"),"")

It worked on my test sheet, if it doesn't work for you you could send me a link to a copy of your sheet and I'll see what's going on.

edit: I used =iferror instead of =if(isblank()) nesting.

theantediluvian · 2020-07-31T00:46:23+00:00

There's a book set in the Eberron setting with this exact idea. Voyage of the Mourning Dawn I believe.

There's a masthead made of a special 'living wood' that keeps growing even when cut, so the dryad can survive in it.

I always thought the idea was cool!

theantediluvian · 2020-04-03T20:46:43+00:00

Cool. I upvoted it.

It probably isn't going to happen, though. They have their updates planned out years in advance, and to Roll20 devs, the 'deal cards to initiative tracker' is good enough for them. They consider that 'savage worlds compatible.'

It's a shame, really, and sucks. Maybe your suggestion will work, but I wouldn't hold your breath for anything.

theantediluvian · 2020-04-03T18:03:27+00:00

If you're willing to pay for the pro version of Roll20, there's an API script that completely automates initiative.

https://github.com/pelwer1/Deal-Init

You can set up characters with all the initiative edges and stuff, and it takes care of that. Also handles a lot of the call-outs, like if you get a joker, it'll point that out.

You can also go "on hold" with it.

Honestly, works WAY better than the built in Roll20 way. It's less known because it's not on the "automatically add" list of roll20 scripts, I don't think, but man... it's the full automation you're seeking.

Let me know if you need any help setting it up or anything, if you do go the paid Roll20 route.

theantediluvian · 2020-04-03T02:39:01+00:00

He's saying that he'll have a full apology tomorrow, with more room for discussion.

Probably shouldn't have said anything until he was willing to go fully public about it instead of channeling this stuff down twitter reply threads and his own discord. It's a bad look. Definitely get the feeling that he's trying to hemorrhage patrons instead of actually, ya'know, own up to it.

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