RPG Ideas

    Here are some of my ideas for RPG mechanics and house rules, some may just be fragments.  All my personal content here is licensed as the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International unless otherwise noted in the post...


RPG Conversation Map

Work In Progress - the RPG Conversation Map
    Here is a cleaned-up version of my idea, not quite done yet

Interpersonal Interaction Map - Beta Concept
    An idea for a new system neutral tool to help players and GMs with conversations, very rough


Skirmish Combat

part 1 - above "party" below "mass"
    An introduction to the principles behind my skirmish combat house rules, a system for battles involving dozens of combatants, but not whole armies.


The Combat Capabilities Map

Combat Capabilities Map
Looking at how to map each character's place in the team's strategy/ tactics.

Combat Capabilities - Part 2 - the Duel
Very rough stream-of-consciousness thoughts about the CCM

Combat Capabilities - Part 3 - Defining The Terms
Trying to get a better handle on what the capabilities are supposed to do


Skills and Skill Checks

Perception Is Not A Skill 

The Reverse-Roll (inspired by YouTube's Lindybeige) - we usually look at a roll as what the character does, what if we turned it around to be a definition of what the world is like?

Using Impossible Target Numbers - games like Pathfinder use a small bonus for "aid another" when characters team up to do something, what if we just set the numbers so high it was impossible for a single character to reach them?

Constructing Target Numbers - what if there was a system to make your DCs/ target numbers instead of the generic "easy, hard, impossible"?

Limiting Results To Represent Experience - most RPGs use a higher modifier more a more skilled character, which can lead to the dreaded "numbers inflation", so what if we changed the roll instead?

5th Edition Rolls With 2d10 Instead - what happens to the odds when you roll 2d10 instead of 1d20 in the 5th Edition system?


Magic Items and Gear

Crafted-Only Magic Items - here's an idea for letting players create their own magic items instead of giving them away.  For Pathfinder and doesn't change the balance of the game very much.


Characters and Companions

Nimitz, the Best Animal Companion Ever - taking a look at David Weber's "Honor Harrington" series of novels to get some pointers on creating animal companions.

Mike Mearls on Alignment - a short video that I liked on a tricky topic.

When Creating a Character is More Fun than Playing a Character - something I learned about creating RPG characters from re-playing the "Neverwinter Nights" computer game.


Sample Characters / Character Creation

Tails of Equestria - I had an interesting experience creating a character for the "My Little Pony" RPG.

Starfinder - let's see what happens when we take our fantasy RPG into space.


General Game Design and such

Interactive Narrative, my new favorite term - I used to talk about Interactive Fiction, but I think Interactive Narrative is a better term, and it's the foundation for all RPG's as well.