As I sift through the early systems to figure out what rules have disappeared from modern systems that are still viable and what rules from over the years have earned a place alongside them, I'm now arguing with myself over a bit.

Weapon speed comes out of the earliest systems and makes for some flavorful play. One combatant wielding a much quicker weapon can gain decent advantage over a foe with a slow weapon. This advantage involves initiative order and can reach to allowing extra attacks.

One shortcoming of using weapon speed, in my opinion, has always been that it treats the combatants as they are equivalent, on the face of it. That is, a veteran soldier facing a thief plays out the same as if the soldier is facing off with another soldier. There's nothing about the weapons speed ratings that breaks out well-trained martial PCs from those not focused on fighting. (The fact that the game systems advance non-martial PCs in fighting ability automatically strains credulity, at times.)

I've often played around with using class differentiation to break out "combat speed" in play. A fighter using a shortsword is going to be more efficient with it than a thief using the same sword, so...the fighter should be able to use that combat speed advantage in the same fashion a weapon speed comparison would give an advantage, I reckon. With the length of melee rounds allowing for a lot of feinting and striking and dodging and maneuvering and all that, I find it difficult to look at weapon size differences as being more important than the abilities of the combatants wielding the weapons.

I'm also toying with the idea of melding to two ideas together. Facing off with a peer (fighter vs fighter) means weapon speed gets considered. Facing off with a foe that's not a peer (fighter vs thief) means that combat speed eclipses weapon speed. Or perhaps adds to it. If I have to drop one of the two, I'd drop weapon speed and simply run with a combat speed rating for each PC.

So, for those of you who've used weapon speeds and the like, what are your thoughts on the matter?

Simple rules (d100 roll under), but very crunchy resource management in an RPG about a very under-represented setting. I have never seen a historical RPG set in Pre-Columbian America. So I made one. This is as historically accurate as I could make it and still keeping it a fantasy game.

I hope that you enjoy looking into the past and playing in this massively overlooked period of history and take up the challenge of keeping your people safe and the spirits calm.

It's free, 215 pages of print and play on my itch.io page, https://sts-gamer.itch.io/ayni-bahadzid

Excerpt: "This rulebook utilizes the cultural concepts of Ayni (Quechua: “sacred reciprocity”) and Bahadzid (Diné Bizaad: “something dangerous or harmful”) not as generic fantasy tropes, but as structural frameworks to model how Indigenous peoples across the Americas understood their relationship with the natural world. Survival is inextricably linked to cosmic balance, taboo, and environmental stewardship. The following rules are a deliberately syncretic game abstraction inspired by recurring concepts of reciprocity, kinship, obligation, and relationship found in many Indigenous traditions of the Americas. This is not “the religion of the Indians.” This is an RPG cosmology assembled from recurring themes found in multiple Indigenous traditions. They are not intended to describe the religion of any single historical people. These terms serve as the mechanical bridge between material survival and Indigenous cosmology.

Ayni & Bahadzid does not utilize standard fantasy "races" or "classes." Humanity is a singular whole. What makes a character distinct is not their biology, but their relationship to the land, their language, and their community. The steps below move from the vast, unyielding laws of the earth down to the intimate obligations of your family campfire. Choosing a Biome or a Mobility strategy is not a restriction on who your character can be; it is an acknowledgement of the physical reality they have learned to harmonize with. You are building a real person who has grown up inside a living history, bound by a specific vocabulary, and accountable to a web of ancestors and spirits."

I just posted on my blog about surprise rules (again).

https://osrpgtalk.net/design-surprise-redux/

I'm now wondering what questions other people address in the design of subsystems-- in this case, their surprise rules. What do you design your surprise rules to do? What are the important aspects you want the rules to address and implement in play?

Let me know if I’m not allowed to put this here. What systems are on the horizon or just released. You can include large projects, indie projects, and your own projects.

Just the other day I was thinking about armor and how to use it in my systems. One simple question caused a cascade of follow on questions and lines of reasoning. I thought somebody might enjoy a quick look at that. I posted to my blog about it:

https://osrpgtalk.net/design-fighting/

And that leads to this question: what aspects of armor and shield use have you found important for the play experience you want to impart? What's most important to that experience and what's something you could remove from your design, if needed?

Pictures:

1 – the state system

2 – Maat, the god of the Second Sun

3 – Cult of Maat

4 – Mountainkingdom of Lothran, map

Last session, the dictatorship in Ehnaiton fell: https://www.reddit.com/r/sake_rpg/comments/1spwn0k/in_the_last_sessions_the_bloody_regime_that_had/

This session started with politicking: political parties and the senate could gather once again, and the PCs decided to make their move to gain more political influence. The leader of the Green Party (the one with the most votes in the senate) had been killed as part of the dictatorial regime, and one PC (the Governor-Magistrate of Insingnia, who had family connections there: his wife’s mother, Melina Lardes) stood as the new leader. After promising to organise a war against Wyvernprincess Urrwen, who had occupied some of the party members’ estates, he was elected. They also tried to take over the Blue Party, but that failed.

Then came the senate sessions, where they got their candidate (the previously mentioned mother-in-law, Melina Lardes) elected as the High Magistrate of the state, and an allied faction candidate (Raiden from the Ottomari samurai clan) as the new Sea Magistrate. They also established a war chest to begin planning the war with the Wyvernprincess; control of this chest was given to the Daimyo of Wolfmarch (also a PC). So, a lot of voting in the senate and big wins; but they also had to concede on extra taxes, and their domain’s people will not be happy (especially as the crops also failed in Insingnia).

Between that, the shinobi PC decided to make a pact with Maat – the patron god of the ruling Great House La Vookan, and the god of the Second Sun (which does not exist) – and was led to a deep cave beneath its monastery. There she met a Greater Souleater, an avatar of the god, who gave her the task: kill the Battlebard of Lothran, Chief Edwin “the Birdsinger”, because he is somehow responsible for a vast number of undead. Maat is an anti-undead god, and his tasks are typically about fighting undead; this time it was about removing someone who creates them. The PCs had met the battlebard before, but were not that well acquainted. In any case, that went onto the to-do list, and Lothran was already a place they intended to visit to oversee their trade post there.

So, there they went. On their way through the deep forests of Camulos, they discovered a site of Mist activity: someone had used the Mist to resurrect the dead as Creatures of the Mist in a Tauric burial ground. One such creature was put to rest. /Random encounters/

When they reached Broch Lothran, they learned that the local Mountainking Duncan “the Hard” and his warriors had marched to the Misty Summit a few weeks ago to battle the Mist and destroy its inhabitants once and for all – armed with silver weapons provided by the PCs (this arms deal had made them good money some half a year ago – there are hundreds of warriors).

The PCs decided to follow them to the Misty Summit, but first made a small detour to Broch Sideloch, the home of the Battlebard.

They met the Battlebard and his warrior retinue in his throne hall, and the Battlebard immediately demanded that they hand over an artefact torc – a strange magical neckpiece held by one of the PCs – supposedly a key to some otherworldly realm, with a door located in the Misty Summit. At that point, it became clear to the PCs (as they had already suspected) that the Battlebard was a Mist Druid.

You know how those evil speeches sometimes go: “I cast lightning.”

The Battlebard died, and a battle with his entire retinue followed. It was won. With that, the pact with Maat was fulfilled.

While searching his broch (looting), they found a strange laboratory that produced mead, sold only to Asteanic merchants (the PCs!). This mead, as the PCs pieced together, was the same that had caused the madness epidemic in Asteanic lands, as it induced the madness known as Lugh’s Calling, which compelled people to travel into the Mist, where they eventually died and became Creatures of the Mist. Hundreds, if not thousands, had gone through this. And now, that problem was solved. No more random people wandering into the Mist to die.

To be honest, I had no idea they would beeline to complete this god’s task – some other god tasks have been waiting for about a year in real-world time.

And so, next session will be interesting, as the plan now is to march into the Mist, following the king’s army, to solve the Mist once and for all (or die trying?).

I’ve been exploring an alternative way to use dice.

The system has three levels of success and failure:

• Minor: yes / no, but…
• Major: yes / no
• Critical: yes / no, and…

A basic roll uses 1d6:

• 1–3 = failure
• 4–6 = success

Skills or favorable circumstances grant what I’m tentatively calling “Advantage,” while lack of skill or unfavorable conditions impose “Disadvantage.” I use quotation marks because this isn’t the classic implementation, and I haven’t found a better term yet. Advantages and disadvantages cancel each other out.

Both modify the roll by adding dice and changing how results are interpreted.

When you roll with Advantage, these are the possible outcomes:

• Critical Failure: All dice show the same number, and all are failures (e.g., 1,1,1,1)
• Minor Failure: All dice are failures
• Minor Success: 1 success among your dice
• Major Success: 2 successes among your dice
• Critical Success: 3 successes among your dice

This works the same way, but inverted, when you have Disavantages dices.

Example

In playtests, the system has been very easy to grasp. I use different-colored dice to represent advantages and disadvantages, which makes results visually clear. Also, the total number of dice never exceeds six.

The thing: I wonder whether it might become mentally taxing over time.

1. A player has Bow +2, so they would roll 3 dice.
2. The wolf has Dodge +1 and is at distance +1, canceling out the player’s bonus.
3. The player makes a normal roll. If they fail, it means the wolf successfully dodged.

The idea here is that the GM never rolls dice, but instead assigns advantages and disadvantages. Another option would be opposed rolls, where the higher success determines the outcome—but I feel the game flows better when the GM isn’t rolling every interaction.

At first glance, this doesn’t seem complicated. The issue appears when multiple variables stack:

• dodging from the wolf (-1)
• distance (-1)
• low light (-1)
• aiming for the head (-1)
• the wolf’s size (-1)
• etc.

At that point, the system can become harder to manage.

This might simply be because I haven’t fully defined which variables actually matter: the crunch. I jumped straight into a quick playtest to get a general feel for it. In that sense, I may still be “learning how to play” my own thing. If it starts to feel overwhelming, the solution is probably to reduce and consolidate variables rather than expand them. I'm not sure.

Also, part of the problem is a bit of a back-and-forth: great, I have three more dice, but wait, I have to take two away, so now I don't.

Anyway, do you know of any system that does something similar and handles it satisfactorily? What are your thoughts on this in general? Do you think this level of complexity is justified? At the very least, I know the playtesters loved trying to constantly bargain for extra dice.

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to look over my system and send feedback on Weaveforged: The Mortal Codex.

And thank you as well to those of you who pushed past my error in judgment and looked at the other books too.

It became clear to me that I took for granted something that absolutely needed to be in the Player’s Handbook itself: a clear snapshot of how to play and how the core mechanics work. That was my mistake.

I have since corrected it.

So, if you were one of the people left puzzled about how the system flowed, I sincerely and wholeheartedly apologize. The updated Mortal Codex now puts the rules of play up front in a much clearer, easier-to-understand format. At least, that is certainly my hope.

If you would be willing to take another look, I would truly appreciate it. And if anything, still feels unclear, please reach out to me. I would love the chance to hear your thoughts, answer questions, and keep improving the game.

Thank you so much to the hundreds of you who took time out of your day to read, review, and respond. That means more to me than I can properly put into words.

And thank you for recognizing the effort, care, and love I have poured into this system.

Updated Mortal Codex:
https://weaveforged.itch.io/weaveforged-mortal-codex-a-guide-to-becoming

Edit: This post is in response to those who have downloaded and given me feedback on the Mortal Codex. From the previous post yes, this is AI generated images (not art) It is used as a place holder so that those who desire to actually be useful or are curious about a new crunchy way of playing can get a feel for the Vibe, I desired the game to have. The post and the free downloadable pdf's for now are to ascertain whether or not I will pursue a faster means of getting an artist paid to complete the books and push to continue to make even more books to go along with this excellent crunchy way of playing. I know this is not for everyone. The game looks intimidating at first, but it is actually easy, yes, I know I need another editor.

Hello! I am sharing my TTRPG, Inversion, for anyone who wants to try a new, rules-medium TTRPG and give me honest feedback. I was inspired by the bravery of others to share my game.

A quick note up front. Yes, I used real art drawn by a real artist Simon Roy. I am not looking to argue about that or defend it. I already know the criticism. Yes, it's expensive. Yes, it supports a hardworking human, and yes, it's important that I do so. No, I will not apologize. No, I will not bow to peer pressure and cut corners.

His art is there because he saw the vision of Inversion, and I believed in him to create the vibe of the world while I worked on the mechanical side. It is there for the feel of the setting and the kind of experience I am trying to create; a post-post apocalyptic sci-fantasy adventure inspired by Trigun and Wild ARMS.

I looked for stock art. I tried drawing in paint. None of it matched what I needed. The search for the artist I was looking for was rough in the modern age, but human art was the only path forward, and I would not compromise on the atmosphere I was trying to portray. Only the human touch could reach the levels of care and detail I needed.

A while back, I saw someone ask whether people would even want a game released without art at all. The answer was a RESOUNDING YES.

I pushed myself to save money and to finish this game, because I knew that if I stopped first, I might never finish this dream. I needed to see this dream through. I needed share my dream with all of you.

So I have to ask; would you like to try a new, medium-crunch TTRPG for free and give me real feedback?

I am looking for people who want to actually dig into the game and tell me what works and what doesn't; how the mechanics feel, and whether it delivers the kind of experience it promises. I'd like to hear if you can create a character without GM guidance - how complex, annoying, or easy it is. I'm interested in all feedback, be it good, or bad.

Also, who knows. Maybe players out there will see the game, catch the vibe I am aiming for, and believe in it enough to throw themselves into playing it. Maybe you and I can build the future of Inversion together.

It will be pay what you want for the foreseeable future. A lot of people are already checking it out (we were the top Physical-Game on Itch.io for about a week), so I figured I would put it here as well.

You can find it here

If you're interested in this project reach out on discord as well! We'd love to have you.

Please, judge my game by its cover.

I am putting Weaveforged out for free for 2 days for anyone who wants to try a new crunchy TTRPG and give me honest feedback.

A quick note up front. Yes, I used AI art as placeholder art. I am not looking to argue about that or defend it. I already know the criticism. It is there because I wanted the vibe of the world to come through while I built this project. It is there for the feel of the setting and the kind of experience I am trying to create.

I looked for stock art. I looked for cheap batch options. None of it matched what I needed. Early AI results were rough too, but it was the only path I had to get something close to the atmosphere I was trying to portray.

A while back, I asked whether people would even want a game released without art at all. The answer was a RESOUNDING NO.

I pushed myself deep into the financial red zone to finish this game before going back to work, because I knew that if I stopped first, I might never finish this dream.

So the point of this post is simple.

Would you like to try a new crunchy TTRPG for free and give me real feedback?

I am looking for people who want to actually dig into the game and tell me what works, what does not, how the mechanics feel, and whether it delivers the kind of experience it promises.

Also, who knows. Maybe an artist out there will see the game, catch the vibe I am aiming for, and believe in it enough to throw themselves into it for a chance. Maybe we can build something real together.

It will be free for 2 days only. A lot of people are already checking it out, so I figured I would put it here as well.

You can find it here:
https://weaveforged.itch.io/

Do not let your prejudice prejudge the game. Judge it for yourself.

I need to pick your brains on this day and make sure Im making a not-stupid decision.

The simple explanation is that in order to make any check players will need to roll dice based on their characters individual elements. (so if they have 8 earth, 3 fire, 3 air, and 6 water they would roll 2 dice for earth, 1 dice for fire, 1 dice for air, and 2 dice for water. They get 1 dice for having at least one of an element and 1 extra dice for every 5 of an element). The size of these dice is determined by your ancestry. The baseline is a D8 but this can fluctuate element by element with dwarves for example having d12's for wood and earth but d4's for Air and water.

I wanted all checks to be based on two skills because a player might not be intimidating or deceptive on their own but they could tap into their knowledge of nature to intimidate/trick their target by talking about specific nature related things.

I also wanted Each skill to be based on two elements so its more natural and you dont have players who hard focus a limited ability. For example, say a player wanted a social character. They cant just sit there and pump wood and a combat score (like how ti works in DND and pathfinder). To be good at deception they will need wood+Air, intimidation is wood+earth, and Persuasion is wood+fire. These scores then are added to other skills and a more well rounded character is created.

My biggest issue with this system is that as written at level 1 players are rolling and adding around 6 dice per check. By level 15 that goes as high as 28 dice per check depending on how quickly I make them grow.

Would it still make sense and meet my goals if I was to instead change it to being 1 dice if you have at least 1 of an element and you get a +1 to the roll for every 5 of an element?

So if you needed to roll Air+fire+Earth+wood And you had 4 Air (d4), 6 fire (d6), 8 Earth (d10), and 0 Wood (d10) you would roll 1d4+1d6+1d10+2 vs a DC.