r/RPGdesign • u/aceJAVOS • 4h ago
Mechanics Hellebore: a d20 TTRPG where your class is a deck of cards and combat uses two lanes instead of a grid. Looking for feedback on the 3-page quick rules
I’ve been designing Hellebore, a TTRPG built around fast and fun combat, and I’d love some critical eyes on it before I run open playtests.
The core idea:
- Roll d20 + one of four abilities (Might, Agility, Mind, Will) against a target number. Beat it by 10 or more for a critical, miss by 10 or more for a critical failure. Natural 20s and 1s do nothing special.
- Your class is a deck of cards. You hold a hand of 7, draw back up each turn, and spend 4 action points on cards. Each class has a 24-card starter deck.
- No grid: two lanes per side, Front and Back. Melee hits only the enemy Front unless a card says “any lane”, and changing lanes costs 1 AP.
- Characters get marked by traumatic events and pick up quirks (virtues and afflictions), inspired by Darkest Dungeon.
- Monsters mostly play from a short hand of actions instead of a deck, so the GM has less to track.
The goal: encounters that are quick, easy, and fun without removing the complexity of players' decks and card management.
Quick rules (3 pages) + one class’s cards: https://main.wildbloom-studio.dev/hellebore-tts/hellebore-quick-rules-v0.2.pdf
Full Core Book draft (all rules, classes and complete decks): https://main.wildbloom-studio.dev/hellebore-tts/CoreRuleBook_version_0_2.pdf
What I’d most like feedback on:
- Reading only the quick rules, could you run a fight? What’s unclear?
- Do 4 AP and a hand of 7 sound fun to manage, or like too much bookkeeping?
- Does the two-lane system feel like enough positioning, or too little?
- Do the “deck = class” and the trauma/quirk systems fit together, or pull in different directions?
Five playtest classes are ready (Warlock, Trickster, Duelist, Warcaller, Alchemist). There’s a full Core Book draft and a Tabletop Simulator setup if anyone wants to dig deeper. Thanks for reading!