Nimble 5e

[Arilyn]

@Aldarc, now you'll have to start your own gaming company.

 

[The Soloist]

I'm not sure about that. What makes each of these games "sing" individually do not necessarily harmonize well together.

I mentioned the rated dice mechanic in Ryuutama and Fabula Ultima. I like that because it then your attributes have to work together. However, a rated-dice mechanic would not work if one wanted a more d20-esque fantasy adventure game. If I used a d20 resolution mechanic, would it be roll over (e.g., Shadowdark, ICRPG, Nimble, etc.) or roll under (e.g., Dragonbane, Black Hack, Cairn/Mausritter, etc.)? Some people absolutely despise roll-under systems even though I personally appreciate how they can speed things up for old school play: i.e., players know as soon as they roll.

Would I utilize classes? How many? Or would I go more classless but maybe with starter Professions (e.g., Dragonbane)? Would there be levels or would I just go level-less?

Would I use Shadowdark or Shadow of the Weird Wizard-style Backgrounds? Or maybe 13th Age Backgrounds? Or would I go with more Fate-like Aspects and Fabula Ultima-like Traits? Dragonbane-like roll under skills also work.

How would I do magic? Because I definitely do not want the usual Wizards (Arcane) and Priests/Clerics (Divine). Would it be roll to cast? Mana points? Would I use ranked spells or just all spells have the same basic level and then have magic rituals with levels (see Beyond the Wall)?

Plus while I generally like OSR, I'm not necessarily the biggest fan of OSR's love of the old school aesthetic. I'm more of a "new school" aesthetic guy, who also enjoys things like warforged, changelings, dragonborn, tieflings, etc.

I'm genuinely not sure if I could make a good product game, as it likely would be trying to do too much while achieving too little success. It may be better if this was not one game but several.

It doesn't have to be about profit or sellability. I'm designing my solo RPG for myself. The process of creating the game has its rewards.

 

[Aldarc]

@Aldarc, now you'll have to start your own gaming company.

It doesn't have to be about profit or sellability. I'm designing my solo RPG for myself. The process of creating the game has its rewards.

Maybe but there is still difficulty here in finding a good baseline resolution system for the RPG as a starting point because the games that I listed are pretty different in their resolution systems and what that does for gameplay.

This is where I think that games like Nimble, Shadowdark, or DC20 are at an advantage. Their respective designers knew their starting point. Their designers want something familiar to 5e players. They knew they are starting from simplifying/streamlining 5e D&D, which meant d20 roll over plus attribute modifiers. Shadowdark also knew that it wanted to have some semblance of compatibility with other OSR adventures/modules, particularly with B/X. And honestly that's pretty easy to do because there's a lot of fat that can easily be cut from 5e without losing the meat or fatty flavor of the dish.

Edit: At the moment, I'm probably leaning towards something closer to Dragonbane. I like spell traditions instead of just having a bunch of spell classes. I think that its roll under system with boons and banes is pretty easy and fun in actual play. I don't like rolling for talents in Shadowdark, so I think that picking your own after getting enough XP works. However, I would also need to rework Dragonbane to make it work with some of my other idiomatic preferences. For example, I don't like age stat adjustments. But I would probably also need to make something that was a little more legally and mechanically distinct from Dragonbane as well.

 

[The Soloist]

Maybe but there is still difficulty here in finding a good baseline resolution system for the RPG as a starting point because the games that I listed are pretty different in their resolution systems and what that does for gameplay.

This is where I think that games like Nimble, Shadowdark, or DC20 are at an advantage. Their respective designers knew their starting point. Their designers want something familiar to 5e players. They knew they are starting from simplifying/streamlining 5e D&D, which meant d20 roll over plus attribute modifiers. Shadowdark also knew that it wanted to have some semblance of compatibility with other OSR adventures/modules, particularly with B/X. And honestly that's pretty easy to do because there's a lot of fat that can easily be cut from 5e without losing the meat or fatty flavor of the dish.

Edit: At the moment, I'm probably leaning towards something closer to Dragonbane. I like spell traditions instead of just having a bunch of spell classes. I think that its roll under system with boons and banes is pretty easy and fun in actual play. I don't like rolling for talents in Shadowdark, so I think that picking your own after getting enough XP works. However, I would also need to rework Dragonbane to make it work with some of my other idiomatic preferences. For example, I don't like age stat adjustments. But I would probably also need to make something that was a little more legally and mechanically distinct from Dragonbane as well.

For me, after much trial and error with various systems I went with d20 rollover. It's a good system. It's the D&D implementation I've had problems with, regardless of editions. I'm designing it to be played solo with 1 character, which is very different from a regular RPG.

 

[Aldarc]

For me, after much trial and error with various systems I went with d20 rollover. It's a good system. It's the D&D implementation I've had problems with, regardless of editions. I'm designing it to be played solo with 1 character, which is very different from a regular RPG.

d20 roll over with a static DC (e.g., Shadow of the Demon Lord) or a variable DC? One reason why I am presently leaning towards roll-under is precisely because I don't like thinking about DCs.

If I were designing a solo TTRPG, I would also seriously consider creating a more Zelda-like game and lean into things like resurrection shrines. Or design it a bit like the Hades video game set in the Underworld, where the character starts back at the beginning but the dungeon changes.

 

[The Soloist]

d20 roll over with a static DC (e.g., Shadow of the Demon Lord) or a variable DC? One reason why I am presently leaning towards roll-under is precisely because I don't like thinking about DCs.

If I were designing a solo TTRPG, I would also seriously consider creating a more Zelda-like game and lean into things like resurrection shrines. Or design it a bit like the Hades video game set in the Underworld, where the character starts back at the beginning but the dungeon changes.

Seems like you know what you want.

For my solo system, I'm more interested in creating an engaging narrative than in dungeon crawls. Solo crawl systems are very common.

 

[GMMichael]

. . . but not quite hitting the spot for the sort of casual fantasy adventure that I would potentially want. I think that one problem is that some feel "a little too D&D" for my tastes when it comes to their choice of classes and ancestries, and I am not a fan of D&D's six attributes either. . .

I'm all for physical, mental, spiritual being the attributes.... And just bonuses, no raw stat as it were.

Look no further, friends. This D-un-D has no classes or ancestries, and its "raw stats" of physical, mental, and metaphysical contribute directly to your survivability as health. So you can design a gelfling wing-glider whose 12 metaphysical score provides for 12 points of spellcasting cost/damage. Take 13 or more, though, and you might end up staring into space as though you'd seen a dark crystal . . .

DriveThruRPG

www.drivethrurpg.com

 

[R_J_K75]

I've been reading through the threads/reviews of the D&D 2024 Revision and decided I didn't see anything that I liked about it. Granted D&D 2014 is probably one of the simpler versions of the game, but I didn't like it after playing it for a few years. After trying to decide if I was going to buy the new revision I decided not to, cancelled my Amazon pre-order, and backed the Nimble 5E after reading the preview. Seems like a good level of complexity me and my group want. I think I can probably combine this and some of Shadowdark to come close to the game I'm looking for.

 

[The Soloist]

If I were designing a solo TTRPG, I would also seriously consider creating a more Zelda-like game and lean into things like resurrection shrines. Or design it a bit like the Hades video game set in the Underworld, where the character starts back at the beginning but the dungeon changes.

I found this today: Heroes of Cerulean The Legend of Zelda Solo RPG

 

[Aldarc]

I found this today: Heroes of Cerulean The Legend of Zelda Solo RPG

Backed the Kickstarter. However, it was shipped to my old Austrian address and not my current German one.

It's a pretty neat game. It's a little too light for what I would want, but it's a fun game nonetheless.