If you’ve played more than one ttrpg system you likely have mechanics you love in each, while simultaneously disliking other mechanics from the same system.
I, for example, absolutely love the advantage/disadvantage mechanic from Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition… but I dislike classes and hit points. I love the dice pool mechanics of the World of Darkness systems… but dislike the complicated subsystems. I love the character design of the Savage Worlds system… but I dislike the Wild Dice mechanic.
Often we’ll attempt to house-rule the mechanics we dislike in a way that doesn’t break the rest of the system, but that’s not always an easy feat.
Or, like me, you get it in your head to blend all the mechanics you love, while dropping all the mechanics you don’t, until you end up with essentially your own unique ttrpg system.
Why build a TTRPG System?
I know there are a lot of great ttrpg systems out there. And mechanically virtually everything has already been done. So the question then quickly becomes, why bother?
Over forty-ish years of tabletop roleplaying, I’ve tried a fair selection of systems. I’ve played every iteration of Dungeons and Dragons starting with Advanced and ending with 5th. I’ve played Call of Cthulhu, World of Darkness (Vampire, Werewolf, Mage, etc), Pathfinder, Open d6 (Star Wars), Savage Worlds, Palladium (Rifts, Macross, etc), Shadowrun, Cypher (Numenera), Cortex (Firefly)… there are more but you get the idea.
And in every system I’ve played, there are mechanics I love, and mechanics I don’t.
About a year ago I started toying with the idea of building my own system by blending what I love and dropping the rest. Very on and off, just in my downtime, but I believe I have the core of what I want working.
So I suppose the why of it all is because I selfishly want a single system that caters to my personal tastes. That’s not greedy, is it?
But also because I think having people play a system I designed would be a point of pride. And designing a system that perfectly aligns with the stories I’m trying to tell sounds amazing.
Side note: Before I started I watched some videos on ttrpg design. I remember one video said, “Don’t try to make a system just for the fun of it”, and I thought that was odd advice… fun is the primary motivation in almost everything I do.
So also, if for no other reason, I started building this system just for the fun of it.
What do I want in a TTRPG system?
- Simple, rules light, with little to no math or mechanics that complicate or slow down gameplay.
- A d6 dice pool, with an advantage/disadvantage system, because rolling lots of dice is fun but too many modifiers get clumsy.
- Skill-based, not class-based, because character-building options should never be restricted.
- Wounds, not hit points, because no one should be able to take 10+ arrows and still be at full fighting strength because they have one hit point left. Looking at you Dungeons and Dragons.
- Non-vancian magic, rather something mechanically more in line with Mage or Savage Worlds.
- No weird dice, I don’t want anyone forced to buy proprietary dice in order to play.
What’s the setting?
I imagine this system being somewhat genre agnostic, similar to Savage Worlds or GURPS, however, to begin it will be a contemporary fantasy setting. The world has enough high fantasy systems already.
It’s been done before, almost to the point of being cliche, but honestly I don’t care… I am fascinated by the idea of a hidden world parallel to our real world and known only to a few. An alternate history Earth where everything we know co-exists with unseen magic, monsters, and other fantasy tropes.
Taking inspiration from Lovecraft & Call of Cthulhu, World of Darkness, The Secret World, The Dresden Files, The Magicians, Charmed, The Mortal Instruments, A Discovery of Witches, The Southern Vampires Mysteries, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Vampire Diaries, Underworld, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
Worldbuilding is one of my favourite elements of tabletop gaming. I spend more time than I’m willing to admit imagining new settings… the people, places, and events that fill out its history. When I run a game I want to create a sense of realness for my players. I want the worlds they adventure in to feel alive.
What’s next and when can I play?
I’m a long way from being able to answer that. This is a passion project I intend to work on as time allows, however, my career plus the business I run on the side keeps me consistently busy. My intent is to flesh out the core mechanics so they can be trialed, and following that will be the worldbuilding.
This post may feel a little preemptive, but I want to write as I progress vice waiting until I’m done. Sharing keeps me motivated.
All updates on the system will be shared on this website openly for review and critique (which I welcome). Aside from this post the rest of the shares will be broken into logical chapters, core mechanics, character creation, etc.
As a passion project, my intent is not to publish, sell, etc… I’m just doing this for me, and even if no one else ever sees it I’ll still be having fun making it.