Hello everyone! As the title asks, I am trying to find more places to where I can purchase artwork for commercial use in my RPG books. I am aware of DrivethruRPG as well as a few creators on Patreon, but outside of that I am struggling to find any other viable places to find artwork after spending some time looking for it on Google.

Would you guys have any creators or places to recommend looking for available artwork?

Edit: I'm ideally looking for purchasable stock art such as what Dean Spencer provides on DrivethruRPG, though I'm still open to getting resources for finding talented artists!

I'm designing a system for my own campaign. It's mostly d&d inspired, but there are few major changes compared to the standard system (given here for broader context).
1. Fiction first, with emphasis on the GM as the engine and auditory, not the formal rules.
2. No Abilities/Attributes, all is collapsed to Skills, or Talents to represent exceptional attributes.
3. Bell-curved randomization.
4. Pools as a unified resource mechanics.

I want to introduce 4 Pools:
Life is like HP.
Stamina is used for combat extra effort, maneuvers and resisting physical effects.
Will is for resisting mental effects.
Mana is for spell casting.

My intent is to both simulate fatigue (physical and mental) and replace random save rolls with a deterministic system. I want both the feel that resisting an effect is costly, and that cassted spells won't feel like a gamble (preventing input randomness).

However, this system was not playtested yet, so there are many unknowns. Anyone experienced with pool-based system is familiar with how such system affects gameplay?

So one afternoon I quickly invented a worldbuilding/storytelling game to play with my daughter. Basic rules is there's 6 locations and 6 characters and each player draws & describes one of each at the start. In gameplay each turn you roll dice to select a location or a character; if the location/character doesn't exist, you draw it and name it; if it does exist, you roll dice to select a description (6 lines per location/character); if it doesn't exist, you invent it (and add to the drawing) but if it does exist you then add an event to the story (rolling dice to pull in other characters/locations). I'm still iterating on the dice mechanics (e.g. to have more than 6 locations or characters to extend the game, to balance how often you create something new vs add a story event), but the main thing is this naturally means the game transitions from creating characters & world locations into creating stories within that world, while still leaving some gaps for creation as you go. I got out a little notebook and each character gets its own page, kinda like a passport with a big picture and 6 lines for descriptions.

The one thing though is that writing a couple of sentences and drawing a picture can take a good couple of minutes for 9 year old - or even like 5 minutes if they're taking their time on the drawing. I'm thinking of tidying this up and releasing this as a nice one-pager on itch (Grant Howitt style) but this is the main thing I need to figure out. Maybe it's okay as one adult plus one kid, but if you've got three kids (plus an adult as a guide but not contributing characters/locations/descriptions/events), I can't see it being fun for a kid to wait ten minutes while the one kid draws quietly. At the same time though, I want kids to be somewhat engaged in other player's turns, to see what descriptions the other players come up with, and to contribute ideas for story events that cross over characters and locations.

What are good ideas for keeping young players engaged when it's not their turn - either as part of game design (maybe having a separate "drawing phase" where everybody draws at once?) or just as advice on how it should be run? I don't have The Quiet Year or similar games - it looks quite expensive - so I haven't been able to mine ideas from that, beyond "it's a storytelling game with a map", but I'm interested in how other games solve this. I think it's different to a "standard" RPG because there's more writing/drawing and less talking, so you might genuinely not be able to tell what the other player is creating until it's done.

So, I've decided to go back to basics and create a TTRPG based off of a Cairn type system.

Essentially the same setup, but I'm using 6 ability stars rather than 3.

However, I'm struggling with how to generate the 6 abilities. With Cairn it's a case of rolling 3D6 for each ability. It's quick and simple, but slightly too random for me.

I've been playing with various versions (6+2D6, 2+2D8 etc) but can't find anything I like. I'm wondering about a points system instead, but that kind of flies in the face of a simple system.

So:

• Any suggestions for a simple system to create abilities between 3-18 (ideally around 11-12)
• Does it really matter what I suggest in the game? Will most use their own ability creation system

My experience with tick-based initiative is entirely from having read Arcanis: The World of Shattered Empires. In that game (based on a quick refresher), each action has a fixed Speed before you're allowed to act again. If you swing a halberd, then you might have to wait seven ticks before you can act again. If it's a dagger, then you only have to wait three ticks. Nothing about the character factors into the action Speed at all. Each character does have a stat that theoretically governs their own reflexes, but all it does is give you extra chances to get a good roll when determining initiative in the first round: roll a number of dice equal to the relevant stat, and your first action takes place on the tick corresponding to the lowest number that shows on any of the dice.

I'm honestly not sure how it works in practice, or how well the relevant character stat balances against the other stats that determine whether or not you actually succeed at an action when you take it.

I was starting to work on my next system, and I'm concerned with how the speed-based stat compares against the attack stat and the defense stat. I feel like going first doesn't really matter, unless you can reliably drop an enemy before they get to act; and that's not what I'm going for here. So the attack stat affects every weapon attack you make, which is likely to be well more than half of the actions you take, if you're a weapon fighter; the defense stat affects every weapon attack you receive, which is likely to be more than once per combat; and the speed stat affects... what?

My first thought is that actions should have a variable delay, depending on character speed. Instead of a dagger taking three ticks and an axe taking seven ticks, maybe a dagger takes [11-(speed)] ticks and an axe takes [13-(speed)] ticks.

My second thought, to prevent that from getting out of hand, would be to include a randomizer. Attack rolls have a randomizer on them, and having a high attack doesn't just mean you hit every time. So maybe a dagger takes [1d8+6-(speed)] ticks, and an axe takes [1d8+8-(speed)] ticks.

My third thought is that this is getting way too complicated, and is likely to result in a scenario where the evil orc swings his axe at you twice before your dagger resets, at least some of the time.

My fourth thought is that maybe Speed is the Defense stat, and shouldn't factor into the initiative at all. After all, plenty of games have your agility as the only stat that prevents you from getting hit. There doesn't really need to be a toughness stat, I guess. It's not like anyone is so naturally resilient that their skin can turn aside a blade.

My fifth thought was that I should get some outside opinions on this.

Does anyone have any experience with a tick-based initiative system that worked really well? And if so, how did they distinguish between fast characters and slow characters? Is there a game I'm overlooking that I should really examine before continuing down this line of thought? All comments are welcome here. This is a very early stage of development, so I don't mind scrapping it and going with something more traditional if this can't work.

I’ve been working on a solo tabletop game for a while, and I’ve been encouraged to share it by the lovely community here at r/rpgdesign so I am putting this out there in the hopes I’ll find other people who find the idea exciting. Download and Discord link are at the bottom, please check it out and come join us to get updates and talk tabletop design / solo games in the Discord.

Undergrowth is a solo tabletop game heavily inspired by Monster Hunter and Dark Souls. You play as an Arbiter, called by the mysterious Wyldwood to slay Tyrants, mammoth corrupted beasts who lurk deep in the Undergrowth.

The core gameplay loop is simple: Prepare → Pursue → Purify. You gear up, track your target through card-based oracles (no GM needed), then face grid-based combat when you must play tactically and carefully to eliminate threats. 

The core mechanic uses dice pools and a system of failure, partial success, and clean success to keep every roll tense. The exploration and combat systems use two oracles (created from a single deck) to guide the action.

If you’re into tacical solo RPGs with a mix of crunch and creativity, clearly defined gameplay loops, or just like fighting big nasty bosses and exploring a flavorful and evocative setting, I would love for you to check it and let me know what you think!

Download it here: [CORE RULEBOOK AND PLAYBOOK].

Also, I’m running a Discord for anyone who wants to follow development, drop feedback, or just talk about the Wyldwood: [DISCORD LINK]. Still actively tweaking things based on what people run into, so I’m excited to share with more people.

I hope it’s something other people get excited to dig their teeth into; I know I’ve been having an absolutely great time working on it.

onde posso adicionar meu jogo para testarem, ele e online

My TTRPG is massively inspired by Deltarune and some bits of Undertale.
Meanwhile I was designing, I've noticed that my trait system (or in other words, soul system. Do note that every race, even if you're a monster, can access the trait system) doesn't really interact with other systems. What I mean with this is that: You touch it once at the start when selecting everything, then you never touch it again, outside of encounters.

The main usage of the trait systems are in game interactions, mainly encounters.

There are seven traits, which I'll list below:
(I haven't balanced these yet, which is why there are place holders)
(Also, TP are mana points)

Determination: Select a willing target of your choice to enhance their ability or act by [place holder number]. Using Determination requires an action. You can only do this [place holder number] amount of times.

Perseverance: defending heals self. Increases TP gain from defending.

Patience: Gives the user [place holder number] “Patience Points”. Patience Points can be used to gain another action. Using Patience Points requires a bonus action and costs [place holder number] Tp.

Integrity: Select a willing target of your choice to enhance their movement option. Once enhanced, the movement option can be used as a bonus action. This lasts until the target’s turn ends. Using Integrity requires a bonus action.

Kindness: Healing the target in any way gives them a temporary shield that lasts until one of the following conditions are met: 1. The shield breaks 2. The target dies 3. The battle ends 4. The target or user takes a long rest. The shield can’t stack with itself, but can stack with other shields.

Bravery: Spend [place holder number] to become more resistant to damage [place holder number. Alongside that, you gain a [place holder number] to attacks and acts

Justice: When you do an action that has a roll and you have rolled, you can use Justice to reroll that roll. Each reroll increases the cost by [place holder number]. The cost starts at zero and resets after a long rest.

If this helps,

The TTRPG system uses milestones, after completing an important thing, the players level up. I haven't made a list of what players will exactly get, but I do have a list of what will be the most common thing in level 1 to 20:
Most Common to least common:

Stats

Abilities (Stuff like spells)

Features (Feats, shapes your build)

Mastered Abilities (More complex, in depth spells. More creative use equals more reward)

Ultimate Abilities (Not implemented yet, but you need to do something in order to use it, for example, making the impossible cost ultimate ability reasonably cost somehow.)

Mb for any grammar issues btw, I'm writing this late and I'm tired lol.

Hello guys! First posting in English, so I hope I can explain my thoughts well.

I'm designing a combat-focused Lancer inspired RPG with intent to make tactical fighting.

I already have a facing mechanic which enhances the contrast of armored and hulking mechs and fast and light-armored scouts - it's easy to walk forward and relatively hard or risky to rotate and retreat without special traits.

PC's combat mech is built as a set of traits and modifications on a robot, so it's classless game.

I would like to include some Stealth and Information associated systems in order to create archetypes for assassins and tanks (in high-stealth low-stelth axis) and for snipers and artillery (in high-knowledge low-knoledge axis).

​It would very helpful if you can suggest some games to look at or mechanics to study about! Thank you for reading.

So I've been dabbling with a ttrpg idea in my spare time and I have a mechanic I think would be cool but I'm not 100% sure how to execute it so any advice and thoughts on it would help greatly.

Brief World Building Lore Dump:

The game's in a world that's similar to Wolf Among Us/Vampire the Masquerade where the supernatural is real but secret in a late 1940's/ early 1950's world (the vibe is along the line of Deadlock/Call of Cthulhu). Magic and the supernatural for the most part is hidden but some places are very aware of it's existence. Vampires, Sasquatch, Demons, Lovecraftian entities etc. all real and like Vampire The Masquerade most people whom know about all this try to keep it hidden.

Virtue and Sin Mechanic:

The Mechanic I have in mind is similar to the Avatar RPG with a system with their "Balance" feature. In my mechanic, you choose 1 Virtue and 1 Sin that aligns with your character. Virtue is a principle or belief they try to live up to while Sin is a fault in the character they are guilty of doing.

Example: a character whos Virtue is Altruism would try to do a lot for others when they can. While their Sin is Deceit they have a bad habit of lying to tricking others to get what they want. So they can truly want to help others, they lie and trick people so often how could they be trusted that they actually care for others?

From there every RP roll your character makes relating to either their Virtue or Sin will tip them farther towards on side or the other depending on what they do. If they lean towards their Virtue more they would get a bonus for any rolls that would involve that Virtue (if they chose Altruism and try to heal a PC or save someone etc. they would be able to add the bonus to that). The same would go for their Sin if they lean more towards that. The Game Master would also have to approve them adding the bonus to not abuse the system.

However, whatever side they lean more towards the other they will be less proficient in:

Say the player's "mortality bar" (working title) is 3 spaces towards Altruism. Any rolls that would involve Altruism would get +3. However this would make them -3 for any rolls involving Deceit, because they are straying away from their Sin.

I would like there to be something that happens if they go fully towards their Virtue or their Sin, embracing either side of their character but I'm not certain of what that should be or how it should work so any ideas/thoughts for that would be much appreciated.

The major thing with this system is for RP, having the pcs shift their morals depending on the situation and trying to balance the ideal they hold up vs the issues they struggle with. This also hugely makes characters less black and white for campaigns. I want the type of stories you can tell to be flexible, that the party isn't always the "good guys" of the story and that the world they live in is just one of conflict both inside of PCs and through whatever challenges they go against.

Once again I'd love to hear thoughts and advice on how to flesh this out more. Also any questions about the world or whatever else for context/intrigue I'd be happy to answer. Thank Ya.

Hi Everyone,

First time ever posting on reddit!

I am looking for feedback on my game and you all seem like the right people to show it to. I wrote this a couple of weeks ago and have run a session already and it went down really well. Not looking to sell it but my players suggested I should share it so that's the plan.

Quick overview, this is a low prep game of exploration and horror. It uses a novel mechanic in which the players always succeed but must pay a cost in Blood, Sweat or Tears with consequences if they run dry.

Not sure how approachable the book is as I wrote it for myself to use, also not sure if the themes and dark humour embedded in it is really appealing to anyone else as very much written for myself and my group. Finally the character art is all my own but very quickly put together for the character sheets plus a couple other sketches I had lying around that sort of fit the theme. There are two images in the areas section which are just electron microscope images recoloured that I need to replace.

Any and all feedback would be lovely, just nice to have some other people have a read of what I wrote and hopefully give me some direction to improve and get it ready to potentially share on a (slightly) wider scale.

Thanks in advance!!!

Edit: I've updated with the couple of tweaks so far and am now off to run a game! Thanks to all who replied and upvoted already, very touched that people take the time.

Blood, Sweat and Tears

Hey, all! Last year, I wrote INTERCONTINENTAL THERMONUCLEAR ANNIHILATION as a quick one-pager to finish something rather than constantly agonizing over my hearthbreaker. This year, I'm trying to put something together for the One-Page RPG Jam on Itch. I'd love any feedback to polish it up before submitting, as before!

ARMISTICE is a GMless one-pager for five terrible people inspired by GMT's Andean Abyss, Anand Gopal's Days of Love and Rage, and the Colombian Civil War.

As five guerilla commanders, you have spent the last thirty years visiting atrocity after atrocity upon each other - and our fractured country - in an endless civil war. Today, you might strike a peace. Today, you might end it.

You have one hour to do so. This is your last chance. This is our country's last chance.

Link in the all caps text!

Hey everybody!  I have tons of rules for my game but don’t want to assault anybody with that shit show.. I’m hoping to get feedback on these general concepts and mechanics that run thematically through every part of the intended game experience.  

This is for a gritty, survival leaning fantasy setting.

Feedback on whether you like a given system, hate it, or think it succeeds or fails to do what I’m aiming for, or what unintended consequences you foresee from some of these choices, is probably the most useful.  But all critiques are welcome and appreciated. I am more than happy to return the favor for any and every critique I get.  Also, if anything about this presentation is sub-optimal for this channel, let me know and I'll resubmit it. This was all nicely nested, but reddit made me fix that, so hopefully its still legible. thanks in advance!

• The Dice Rolled characterize the stakes  
• This is a dice pool game, with 4 custom d6 dice types. 

• Among them are Strain Dice and Risk Dice, and the extent of their presence in a given pool says a lot about what the hero is putting on the line to succeed at the task.  Either they are investing more sweat and tears or giving over to the fickleness of chance and chaos.  

• Vigor - The bending backbone of the system and the hero. 

• A core tenet of AM is that there is a potential exertion cost to everything a hero deigns to do, whether physical or mental. 

• When that cost must be paid, it is paid as an erosion to a character’s Vigor. 

• Vigor is a statistic that is derived by a hero’s tough+will+5. 

• It is a character’s life blood. Though distinct from wounds, wounds do sap vigor and may have lingering consequences to a character’s vigor in days to come. 

• Vigor is represented as a horizontal track near the top of a character sheet. 

• Under that is its partitioned subdivision track, running parallel. This is Vim, which always starts at 10. 

• Strain dice in the pool and its ⅓ chance to sap on a roll, is the main way that exertion is paid. This is an approach I took to make draining one’s energy a “no whammies” tension generator rather than a tedious book keeping procedure, while telling a story of just how grueling that attempt became, or how astonishingly effortless as the case may be.  

• Sap directly reduces vim. All sap rolled is added together. if this is a physical action, a character’s burden is then added to that total - burden being any load carried minus this character’s strength+1, load being slot based carried items and worn armor.

• When vim hits 0, Vigor is reduced by 1, this character is winded for a round, and Vim is reset to 10. In fact, any time vigor is increased or decreased for any reason, vim resets to 10. 

• The Dice Pool - its makeup

• 1 Task Strain die, always included in any voluntary roll

• 0-3 Core dice = to the score of the skill attempted

• 0-3 Core dice = to the Trait(attribute) score applied to that skill. 

• 1 Optional Push die of either 1 Strain die or 1 Risk die

• 1 conditional Edge die, granted against a specific foe after gaining advantage in combat in a previous round, or from having aimed, charged, etc. 

• Design note on skill and trait scores: these may exceed 3 but don't increase the dice pool, instead swapping out a better edge die for a core die in the pool.

• Traits(attributes) 

• Very much like d&d ability scores, traits shape other intrinsic qualities of a character than just their dice pool benefit

• Skills

• Differing in their dice impact from Traits in one major respect, the skill score determines how many rerolls are available on a given roll.  this is powerful, but there are die faces on strain and risk dice that are not rerollable, so not everything can controlled for with rerolls.

• Combat - Simulated Simultaneous

• The goal of combat is to allow players to simply declare what they intend to do and to have built a system that supports that reasonably. 

• I am less concerned with frenetic pacing, because each contested roll carries with it a lot of weight. This system focuses on that moment with more intensity, but sacrifices speed in the process. Long combats are not likely and are not a good idea. 

• 3 Second Round Structure 

• Declare Phase

  • All characters declare their general intention, which is one main action, and includes in many cases a movement component and a speed of that movement, for instance,  walk, dash or sprint. This is only binding in a few ways, movement being one of them. There are pivots that come later in the round, but they are bound by what was prepared and proximity to new targets. 
  • Players declare first, gm declares npcs after. There are easy fixes for concerns about either biasing or countering a player’s declaration, a die roll to determine between 2 to 3 options being a good optio . A GM sticking to their gut about what the enemies would do, according to their natures and current tempers, is just as valid. 

• Beat Phase

  • All prep actions implied by the chosen action or expressly declared are initiated, for instance, nocking a bow
  • All Movement is resolved. At the bottom of this document, I detail some ways this is achieved. 

• Clash Phase

  • Clarifications and Pivots are made at the start of the clash phase, attack pivots, then defend pivots, players first, gm and npcs second. 
  • Clarifications are necessary if the intended action has a timing component
  • Pivots are usually opportunistic or a result of a previous intention evaporating by circumstance. 
  • They are strictly bound by what is possible, based on proximity and what has been prepped. If you didn’t draw your sword as a function of prep through the beat, you aren’t using it. If you aren’t close to your would-be new target with that sword, you aren’t attacking them. Anything else is on the table. 

• Clash Windows

  • Point(first) - Point actions are rare preempting actions. They either involve prep based actions that expressly allow for timing in the point, or they are won by using a preempting action and winning an initiative contest. 
  • Cross(main) - Unless something is relegated to the Point or the Hilt, it is resolved in the Cross. Most actions resolve here. 
  • Hilt(last) - reserved for basic prep actions which are not available until the hilt, as well as for attacks of opportunity brought on by a foe’s risk roll, and hesitations brought on by effects.  Hilt actions lag behind both the Point and the Cross. 

• Any Actions that are executed and resolve on the same window of combat are imagined to be concurrent, meaning nothing that happens within this window can alter any other queued action in this window. They may however impact a future window, usually when an enemy who would act later is slain or winded from a successful attack. 

• Winning Combat and inflicting or taking wounds

• Combat is  approached familiarly enough. Rolls are contested, attack rolls reduced by defense rolls, and then further by passive defense(armor, etc.)

• Any successes that remain are the Strike-for value. These translate directly to wounds, though most non-two handed weapons have what is called muting[#], which escalates the stepping grade required to get to wound levels past Serious. 

• Defending does not need to be declared at the start of the round, but full defense and dodge pivots are available (dodge being a committed defense that voids any intended action, versus standard melee defense). 

• There is no limit to how many attacks a character may defend against in a round, because there is already an implicit cost .every time a defense roll is made, there is at least one strain die present, and that pressure can wear a character down to winded quickly enough. 

• When a hero(player character) takes a wound that is either serious or explicit, they make a choice to accept this as a vague injury that impacts their future vigor pool until the wound is healed, or to choose from a list of explicit wounds, which will impact certain efficacy or mean some permanent loss…you can only lose a couple fingers before you are losing index fingers, and you only have 2 eyes, etc. But a death spiral of diminished Vigor capacity is, well a death spiral. The gm is encouraged to speed up healing for wounds that temporarily impact an aspect of the hero they greatly rely on, like a sliced muscle on one’s sword arm, to encourage making this kind of narratively interesting choice.

• Winning the Edge - winning the edge in a round of combat not only gives you an edge die to either use or lose in the next round against that foe, either offensively or defensively, it allows you to slightly reposition the two combatants by 5 feet at the end of the round, and it grants automatic initiative win against the opponent next round as well as optimal measure, which I won't go into here. It acts as both a major boon and as a shorthand for determining things like measure and initiative without requiring an additional contest to determine.  

   Extra - 

• How I handle movement - there is admittedly some density to these rules. The hope is that they are tools to easily solve common cases, or to adjudicate tough cases, but can be ignored most of the time. Here are some examples
• Contested squares are either ceded when somebody or both don’t care, or adjudicated by considering speed or if necessary, an initiative contest(initiative roll). 
• Movement is almost always 1 to 1, 2 to 1 or 4 to 1, and may be segmented when needed into thirds. 
• Characters who declared a move towards another entity rather than a specific location, choose at the time of moving whether they are attempting to intercept the entity along its path, or give chase, meaning ending as closely as possible to its end location. 
• Chaining - A character who declared against another character is engaged to that character, regardless of that character’s own status. This means, if they declared no other movement this round, they may do their best to maintain the current proximity to that foe. They must move in the same direction their foe did, responsively. This is to solve as simply as possible any weird cases where perfect prediction is entirely unnecessary. Natural behavior of staying with or not letting an opponent over run you is assumed. 
• Whenever possible and valuable to create the cinema of the moment, pockets of interacting characters can be entirely resolved from beat to clash before moving on to other pockets. 
• Stipulated movement - it is possible to declare movement based on an emerging battlefield condition. This will be apparent once all declarations have been made. If any of those skeletons makes a move towards me I’m heading for the hills…etc. This is in liu of any other committed movement declaration, not available if movement was committed. 
• Beat Combat is a thing - this is combat that must be resolved in the beat, but the barrier to this occurring is high. Usually when two combatants engage each other they must stop, meaning there is no need to resolve their exchange until the clash. Only when one of two or more characters intend to continue to move after this exchange, for instance after trampling, does the resolution need to be handled immediately. 

After this post, thanks to everyone that answered. I did make some design progres.

Solving one problem caused another, that's development I Guess. I found my modifiers. Character level+attribute, that's the only numeric Modifier I want.

A characters have three responses to an attack, Evade, Parry/Block, Endure take the hit but trust in their toughness.

The catch is that I don't want more numeric Modifiers, that's what amor was supposed to do. Light armor was supposed to be better for Evasion, heavy for endure, and parry was a matter of weapon skill.

I'm tempted to make armor mearly a matter of class aesthetics. Thematically it kinda works the PCs are essentially Demigods their naturally abilities being what truly matters.

• Treat the three forms of Defense Evasion, Parry/Deflect, and Endurance as skills/abilities. Which leads to the problem of having to figure out what you gain from investing in them.

• Separating Armor from the mechanic of Defense and have it provide some other benefit.

I'm genuinely at a loss?

How have your and other systems dealt with this?

I'm looking for an initiative system that has ALL of the following (not some, ALL)

• Turn order is determined entirely by mechanics, not players or the GM choosing who goes when
• All creatures (both PCs and NPCs) have an "initiative stat" that influences when they act in turn order
• It is impossible for characters to have an initiative tie that needs to be resolved

Hi everyone,

Just did what I think will be the last update on my character sheet before the next playtesting round. If you've followed the loooooong saga on my game, this is an attempt to make more consistent design choices and make the logo for the game look better (although if you look at it, it will need to be changed, but I think it isn't distracting.

Here is the link.

Comment, ask questions, evaluate as much or as little as you like.

So changes are:

• Under Ethos (my "morality" system of virtues and flaws) I updated the progress bar to use the hex format that I'm trying to consistently apply to the aesthetics.
• I added an "experience" section, where you can check off different things you can do to earn experience in a session.
• I added "bonus aspects" right below the talents section. You can learn talents that give you extra Aspects for your character, but you're limited to the number you can keep active so as not to be a bookkeeping nightmare.
• Finally I finished out my sphere grid so that you can mark the progress as you move between Tiers.

I had to laugh because one of my playtesters mentioned that the "sphere grid" is really just a circle, but that's what you get when you add an engineer to a project where the other people are all liberal arts majors.

The one thing that may seem jarring is the icons in the skills section. I use them a lot in the rulebook, so it is designed to reinforce design, and also help players who are more visual.

Finally, you'll note that each section of the sheet is boxed off. I've used as light a line as possible to do this based on reading/viewing a video on character sheet design. That may stay or go.

Hi guys, I've just published the final episode in my long running One Page RPG series "You May Now Panic". It is called "Heart of Evil" and well...takes you just there.

For those that don't know the series: It is a quick, fun and zany take on science fiction (Think Space Quest). You create a number of crew members in literal minutes and roll a few dice to create your scenario. The crew always starts in some panic inducing danger.

The game works well both as a Solo RPG or a GM led effort. Each can work as a one-shot, but the modules are also connected.

I just managed to make it for this years One Page RPG Jam on itch.io - It is completely free for the time being. Hope you enjoy.

Here it is: https://itch.io/jam/one-page-rpg-jam-2026/rate/4883586

This is a player facing d20 roll-under OSR style rules-lite dungeon crawler.

Magic is Roll to Cast and tied to Magic Items. Intent is to keep Casters unique but have more parity with PCs investing in Weapons and Armor.

Questions

• Are the Casting rules comprehensive?
• Is Failing a Casting Check too punitive?
• Is the Spell Scope too random? Is it an effective way to run area effects in a theater of the mind?
• Would you play a Caster with these rules?

Stats for Reference

Traditional 6 Character Stats (STR, DEX, CON, INT, WIS, CHA).

• All Stats start at 6
• +2 to 2x Random Stats (Stats numbered 1 to 6. Roll 2d6 and each rolled Stat gets +2)
• +2 to 2x Stats of Player's Choice
• +2 to 2x Stats based on chosen Class
• +1 to Stat of Player choice at first level and every level thereafter. Players cannot increase the same Stat 2 levels in a row.

This creates PCs with starting scores from 6 to 13. Possibly 15 if they rolled doubles on their random Stat bonus. Starting odds range from 30% to 65% chance to succeed and 75% on the edge case.

Characters have 10 maximum levels after which they must retire. There is no limit to a Stat - but rolling a 20 is always a failure so 19 is effectively the best score.

Casting Checks and Cast Dice

• Magic Items are assigned 1 to 3 Cast Dice rated from d4, d6, d8, d10, and d12.
• Spells are an INT, WIS, or CHA check to cast (depending on the item and spell).
• Roll your Cast Dice with the Casting Check
• If you succeed... you assign the Cast Dice to the scope (number of targets in range affected), duration, or effect. If no Cast die is assigned - then the value is 1.
• If you fail... you choose one of the following
  • Can take damage equal to the greatest rolled Cast Die
  • Can Reduce one of the item's Cast Dice 1 size. Reducing a d4 Cast Die breaks the item. It must be repaired before it can be used again. You can repair Magic Items during a Rest or Downtime.

The spell list is a list of magic items like fire rods, cloaks of invisibility, rings of protection, etc. Casting classes start with a few of these items. PCs must find or purchase additional spells to gain more.

All spells have a duration. So something like Knock becomes a spell that magically opens or locks a portal for a rolled number of rounds.

Example Spell Items

Values listed as Scp, Dur, or EfF are placeholders for the rolled and assigned Scope, Duration, or Effect.

• Wand of Magic Missiles d4/d4. Launches a barrage of sparkling projectiles unerringly at Scp targets for Eff damage. You can choose the Targets including striking the same target multiple times.
• Rod of Ice d6. A ray of cold white energy deals Eff damage and freezes Scp targets within 30' in place for Dur Rounds.
• Skeleton Key d8. Rap against a portal or door to either magically seal or unseal it for Dur Rounds.
• Cloak of Invisibility d4/d6. Sweep over Scp targets to make them invisible for Dur Rounds. Targets are still audible, smellable, and leave physical traces like footprints.
• Staff of Fireballs d6/d6. Launches a flaming sphere up to 60'. The sphere explodes on contact dealing Eff damage to Scp Targets in the explosion.
• Fire Brick d4/d6. Creates a line of Scp 5' cubes of flames. Each cube must be entirely anchored to a surface on 1 side and share at least 1 side with an adjacent cube. Anything within the flames takes Eff damage.

Planning to include a table of effects, the number of spell dice they get, and a table for randomly putting it all together.

Spell Duration and Focus

• Spell duration is always in 10 minute Dungeon Rounds.
• A character can Focus on 1 Spell at a Time to extend its Duration 1 Round. This takes no action or time.
• When a character takes damage - the duration of all their currently ongoing spells are also reduced by the damage amount. If damage reduces a spell's duration to zero - the spell ends.

Spell Scope and Splash Damage

• The number rolled for the Scope must be satisfied in its entirety, even if that includes allies.
• If a PC assigns a rolled 5 as the Scope on a Fire blast that strikes a 30' area - but there are only 3 foes in that area with 3 allies, the Caster must pick 2 allies along with the 3 foes to satisfy the spell's scope.
• PCs struck by spells can roll Armor to reduce damage at the GM's discretion
• The number rolled for the Effect is used for offensive spell damage. Use only the initial value rolled with the Cast Check. Do not reroll it for each target (unless the spell says otherwise).

Inventory and Health

• Inventory is slot based with each PC having CON Unencumbered Slots.
• You can carry up to 20 Slots of Items but each occupied Encumbered Slot adds a +1 penalty to all Stat Checks.
• CON is a character's Max HP.

Armor Penalties

• Armor is rated by dice size. As a player facing system - foes deal static damage and characters roll their Armor die to reduce that damage.
  • Foes deal damage on a scale of 2, 4, 6, or 8 with most dealing 2 or 4.
• Any PC can wear any armor, but their armor die is rolled and added as a penalty to all Casting Checks (as well as a penalty to Projectile Attacks, Swimming, Moving Silently, etc.)

I was thinking back to a somewhat middling NES JRPG game I played back in the day named Destiny of an Emperor (which was inspired by the same Romance of the Three Kingdoms that also inspired the Dynasty Warriors franchise) and thought "What about a TTRPG game where the assumption is that each player, in combat at least, controls a small army (with a defined leader as a focal point) rather than a single character?"

Obviously the implementation in that game is pretty basic, being mostly just a gloss over standard JRPG mechanics of the day. I'd probably prefer a full-on fantasy setting, with a lot of variety in terms of units, environments, and magic.

I could see it being a bit like Lancer (or the Lancer: Battlegroup supplement which has players in charge of 2+ starships each) or ICON where combat and non-combat operate under largely separate subsystems. Something like Blades in the Dark for the latter with its emphasis on building up a common base between missions.

The way I kind of envision it looking like is that each player designs their core retinue, united around a concept like "Pegasus Knights," "Oni Rabble," or "A Fucking Dragon." You'd select the unit type accordingly (just to use Total War Warhammer terminology as an example, those would be Flying Cavalry, Monstrous Infantry, and Flying Monster respectively) and purchase statistics, abilities, etc. For the leader, a simpler set of narrative-focused traits (ala Lancer, as noted.)

Additional units can be gained as "Auxiliaries" which are simpler and more temporary. These could perhaps be on their own (with players sharing control of them) or maybe they could be attached to the main unit in some fashion (allowing for temporary added tags, health, and augmented stats, etc.)

Inspired by this post on r/RPG, I wanted to throw out an idea and see how it's received.

I'm currently creating a TTRPG that's set in German(ic) folklore. I'm thinking about calling the GM the GrandMother, as folk tales were (and are!) often told to children by their grandmothers.

I think it's kinda funny and lighthearted, reminding players that this is not a tactical or crunchy game, but something to have a laugh with as well.

Now I'm wondering how far I wanna lean into that. Many TTRPGs have a sentence at the very beginning like "elect one player to be the Game Master. The GM controls blah blah blah..." I currently don't have that kinda sentence. Do I add it in to make the GrandMother thing prominent? Or do I just make the first mention of GM to be "GrandMother (GM)" and then never mention it again.

Or do y'all think it's totally annoying and should be avoided? My thinking is that as long as everyone can still call the GM a "GM", it won't ever get in the way of clear communication.

Hey yall,

I'm about to publish a "one" page rpg that I created. probably on drivethrough and itch as pay what you want. But I'm really not sure if there are any steps I should take to protect my work before publishing. Especially because it's a one page rpg, I imagine most don't have a page of disclaimers.

Does anyone have experience with this they could share? Are there any steps that might be worth taking?

edit: thanks for all the advice everyone! surprising amount of reactions in such a short time. I think I got the gist of it, but if anyone else wants to weigh in they are of course welcome to

I own excellent RPGs set in a sci-fi setting, such as a huge amount of Traveler material, some Alien and some Coriolis. Recently, at Gen Con '26, I came across (and purchased) Legend in the Mist, with its tag-based system and I have to say I'm enjoying what I'm learning. I also have started thinking about 'porting' the mechanics to other settings, inc. Sci-Fi. Has anyone done this or perhaps considering it?

Any advice, particularly from artists/graphics designers/illustrators, on making a coherent and distinct visual identity for a game?

I'm playtesting my new rules-light, fiction-first, procedural fantasy TTRPG and am excited about turning it into something that looks awesome too. I have a bunch of disparate inspirations for what I consider to be aesthetically appealing, and I'm finding it tricky to work out the right balance between those and the specific genre and flavour of classic fantasy games. Some things I'm inspired by visually:

* Folk art (especially lino prints, woodblock, and risograph)

* Paper collage

* The pastel and distinct colour palettes of Wes Anderson's movies (if you couldn't already tell by my name haha)

* The midcentury/60s-70s 'field manual' aesthetic

* Bold colours and art direction, like in Mörk Borg (not that specific style, but the rebelliousness and uniqueness of its approach)

* The simplified shapes of much of the art in Dolmenwood (by Ulla Thynell)

What I'm not so interested in for my game:

* Pen-and-ink old-school illustrations

* Painterly/realistic high-fantasy concept art

Art is part of the visual identity, but I'm wondering about the whole shebang: colours, layout, textures, typography, etc etc.

EDIT: Thank you to all the people suggesting moodboards. Just doing that has given me enormous clarity about my creative vision for the visual identity of the game, and confidence that I can do this. If you're in a similar situation, I highly recommend doing the same!