Tag Archives: rules

Just don’t be a Zax about it

Posted on May 27, 2020 by Confanity

金科玉条 kin.ka.gyoku.jou Literally: gold – section – jewel – clause/article (of a document) Alternately: A golden rule. (Not necessarily The Golden Rule, though.) An important, even foundational principle, for someone’s behavior and life. Notes: This yojijukugo uses repetition for emphasis: … Continue reading →

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A How for Pow (RPG magic)

Posted on August 14, 2014 by Confanity

What would you give up for magical powers? Your health? Your physical strength or speed? Your sanity? Your ability to connect with the people around you? Here’s an idea for an alternate, relatively system-neutral rule for magic in RPGs. The … Continue reading →

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Fiddling with XP, part 3: Apologia and Addendum

Posted on July 15, 2014 by Confanity

Last time, I outlined a rough proposal for an alternate XP system for a class-and-level RPG. This included how the DM determines awards and how the players can work to adjust their individual awards, and then how those numbers might … Continue reading →

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Fiddling with XP, part 2: Something old, something new

Posted on July 11, 2014 by Confanity

Previously I rambled for a while about XP systems, and how my ideal would be granular and world-associated – i.e. the way it works makes sense from an in-world perspective as well as a meta, mechanical one. Assuming a D&D-style … Continue reading →

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More Musings on Skill Points and Economies Thereof

Posted on December 23, 2013 by Confanity

When I think about pen-and-paper RPG design, I invariably come around to skill systems and skill points. One thing that strikes me as odd about D&D is the almost complete disconnect between the systems for combat and the systems for … Continue reading →

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An SP Economy

Posted on November 27, 2013 by Confanity

(Yes, there are some bloggers who have talked about replacing the venerable “gold piece”-centric currency system with a silver standard, but that’s not what this post is about.) (By the by, I’m in favor of world-specific, idiosyncratic currency systems. It … Continue reading →

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Brain Storm

Posted on November 17, 2013 by Confanity

“Requesting Elegant Solutions – Psionics – Visions, mind-reading, [and] mental combat all seem archetypal and [I’m] not really satisfied with a Vancian system. No point systems.” I present a brief brainstorm for psionics rules, based the above challenge/request at the … Continue reading →

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Tweaking “Turning”

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Confanity

Background One of the classic powers of clerics in D&D is “turning undead.” You present a holy symbol, the light of your patron deity shines through, and mummies shamble away or zombies are blasted into dust. The root of this, … Continue reading →

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Tweaking magic

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Confanity

Last time was a grab-bag of ideas, but the main one that drove me to post was the idea of Devotions. I like the idea of (myths and game settings that feature) human-like gods, with moods and whimsy, and the … Continue reading →

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Four Realms: The Complete Experience

Posted on September 26, 2011 by Confanity

  Preamble In some ways the heart of role-playing games is that they are success-and-improvement simulators. (There are other hearts, of course, so RPGs are similar in that way to how certain dinosaurs are said to have been, but let’s … Continue reading →

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