Other D&D Variant Domain play, what, if anything, do you use?

[cbwjm]

Aria is less game and more world building exercise, you start by creating a map, determining topography, seasonal cycles and weather patterns and major geological features. Then you create Heritage Groups (Species, Nations, Cultures) and then start 'play' where you are essentially playing as a Society advancing through its history and occasionally zooming in to one of its culture heroes or rulers (the closest thing to individual PC).

The mechanics were % rolls but in typical 1990s fashion they were a shambles to read through the 800-odd pages and went into excrutiating details. Luckily I was a player via PBEM so fortunately didnt have to keep checking back on every possible parameter to be rolled.

There is a fudge version which at least has easier rolls

Sounds almost like the inspiration for microscope RPG.

 

[cbwjm]

Agree. Not to sound like a broken record, but I don't think there's anything else that even comes close. Curious what others offer up though.

I did see An Echo Resounding by Sine Nomine Publishing. Haven't read it myself, but is an add-on for OSR systems that might appeal to those looking for more abstract domain rules.

I did have a look at An echo resounding (turns out I'd added to my drivethruRPG library at some point), I think it was too much for me when I read it a couple weeks back, but that might have been because I was flicking through it too fast trying to quickly grasp it.

 

[thirdkingdom]

The Into the Wild Omnibus that I wrote has pretty extensive, fairly granular rules for domain play inspired by the Rules Cyclopedia.

 

[sevenbastard]

I built a whole system of homebrew domain play for my characters in a 5e campaign and my party was not interested at all in the idea, they just wanted to keep exploring the sandbox...

Maybe that's why there are not more robust system? Most players dont care about it?

Honestly I was excited as a DM to do it because domain choices impacted the sandbox and politics. As a player...when presented with something that feels like work, budgets, bookkeeping, spending choices, I get less excited.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Agree. Not to sound like a broken record, but I don't think there's anything else that even comes close. Curious what others offer up though.

I did see An Echo Resounding by Sine Nomine Publishing. Haven't read it myself, but is an add-on for OSR systems that might appeal to those looking for more abstract domain rules.

Working with the Without Number series would be my second choice. All are excellent games that cover a lot of territory.

 

[Jahydin]

The Into the Wild Omnibus that I wrote has pretty extensive, fairly granular rules for domain play inspired by the Rules Cyclopedia.

Looks awesome! I can only imagine the amount of work that went into that.

Can you talk about your domain rules a little more. What it's similar to, clever mechanics you like, etc.? Even better, if you're familiar with ACKS, how it differs for those shopping around.

 

[Jahydin]

This thread reminded me, I did run the Pathfinder AP Kingmaker and thought the domain system was a lot of fun. Nothing I would port over, but it did go to show a quick abstract system that fits your particular campaign tone and style can go a long way.

 

[Tonguez]

I have my own system which essentially treats Domains/Factions as a Character with Attributes - Diplomacy (Cha), Military (Str), Economy (Con), Society (Wis), Academy (Int) and Mobility (Dex) used for Skills and Saves and then uses Aspect Tags to define Traits, Features and Assets.
Domains also have Class (Military, Religious, Noble, Merchant etc), Scope (Level 1 - 10), Stability (HP) and Defence (AC)

Legends of Anglerre has a system for modelling bases and organisations using Fate. This is the ‘Fate fractal’ in action, so you could do it in any Fate game however this is a detailed worked example. Organisations / bases have stats of their own, plus aspects and stunts. It’s more mechanically rich than the Savage Worlds rules and provides more support for maintenance, complications, or conflict if these are things you want to feature more in your game.

The Fate fractal has been an absolutely boon for play, I use them frequently including in DnD. The Legends of Anglerre system is cool too, though the skills might get a bit too specific

Sounds almost like the inspiration for microscope RPG.

I suspect it was but from what I've seen of Microscope it looks eminently more playable - not that I've had a chance to play it.

 

[cbwjm]

I built a whole system of homebrew domain play for my characters in a 5e campaign and my party was not interested at all in the idea, they just wanted to keep exploring the sandbox...

Maybe that's why there are not more robust system? Most players dont care about it?

Honestly I was excited as a DM to do it because domain choices impacted the sandbox and politics. As a player...when presented with something that feels like work, budgets, bookkeeping, spending choices, I get less excited.

That's a large part of the reason I don't really want to get into a highly detailed domain system, something that players can easily interact with. Like you, I enjoy tinkering with this stuff as a DM, but I wouldn't want it to be too much of a focus during a session as a player. Mind you, as a player, doing domain stuff outside the play session might work for me. I think part of it is not wanting to impact other player's time with my domain stuff.

 

[cbwjm]

I have my own system which essentially treats Domains/Factions as a Character with Attributes - Diplomacy (Cha), Military (Str), Economy (Con), Society (Wis), Academy (Int) and Mobility (Dex) used for Skills and Saves and then uses Aspect Tags to define Traits, Features and Assets.
Domains also have Class (Military, Religious, Noble, Merchant etc), Scope (Level 1 - 10), Stability (HP) and Defence (AC)

The d20 WoWRPG had a kind of similar system for building settlements, I can't remember what the stats were but it levelled up like a character with 4 "classes": civilian, arcane, divine, and military. Each gained different stats and skills and some feats might be easier to get or require with one of the classes. Skills basically meant that you'd be able to find someone in the settlement with that skill rank. An arcane class gave the scribe scroll feat, civilian communities had higher wealth since they also the merchant classes. Thinking about it, I'm not sure they ever used those rules themselves, it's been a while since I looked at the books but I can't recall any settlement stats.