Codex Robynica

So if you haven’t seen the survivability onion, here it is! Its a way of analyzing the layers of defense around you when you’re in an armored vehicle. And I thought that we could apply this to ttrpg combat so we can understand where various parts of combat game design lay. Layer 1: Don’t be there The best way to avoid serious injury or death is to simply not be anywhere near goblins, skeletons, dragons, trolls, or anything else that might want to rip your face off and grind your bones into dust. However adventures are quite foolish creatures and will almost certainly go places they probably shouldn’t. However should the players deem it necessary to engage in the foolishness that is adventure, they should at least have the tools and wherewithal to research, scout or otherwise gather information on where they’re going. Things such as hex-maps, point-crawl maps, rumors and seeded adventures are all tools that are designed to reduce the cognitive overhead on the GM while also provi...

So I’m prepping for a Dolmenwood campaign, and i haven’t DM’d in forever but since im getting back into the saddle my brain can’t help but think about homebrewing rules to better fit my GMimg style. So as I work on Dolmenwood, and possibly replace its game engine, I’m going to set out the following design goals for any and all dice mechanics that I create in the future. Goal the First: Use D1s This is more a table practice than a design goal, but I think more people should use d1s. Whats a d1? I’m glad you asked. A d1 is a die with 1 side. It always rolls 1. Small pebbles, tokens, beads, acorns, buttons, all make great d1s. Whats the point of a d1? Okay here me out… the next time you go to roll some dice, I want you to take whatever bonus to that roll you have (+1 +2 etc.) and put that many d1s in your hand along with your dice and roll that. Now instead of having to hunt down all the bonuses in your character sheet and do mental math and announce a different result than the o...