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The off-topic rules may not apply here, but the other rules still do. This is less the Wild West and more the Mild West. Don't be a jerk.

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Was looking back at some trailers for the PS4 cancelled game, Deep Down. And its theme seem fun to me: Normal dungeon crawlers who can't cast magic on their own, and has to rely on "magic fused" item like scrolls, rune stones, flasks, etc bought from the local wizard's workshop. Basically, no magic classes, but magic still play an important role in the gameplay through magic items. Is there any system that fit this description of mine?

Check out Rat Catchers, a hack of Die A Hundred Times by kobayashi to emulate low-fantasy old world roleplaying. Just put this one together today when I decided to enter the jam, and finding out it ended today.

Hello! I am interested in being more up to date with either recently launched titles or soon-to-launch ones. Is there any resource I can use to do that? I am a bit bored of the existing market (there's nothing wrong with it) and I am craving something new. I tried Itch, but it has plenty of obscure and niche games that are not exactly up my alley. Thank you.

I've taken a look at Reign, I tracked down the Meikyu Kingdom rules that I'd seen mentioned here before, and while both systems look interesting neither were really scratching the itch I have.

I'm looking for a management game that's pretty in depth, with resources to manage, diplomacy, war, can be large scale or small scale. I'd like the population to have an actual value that means something and can be manipulated and utilised, instead of an abstracted grade or stat instead.

I'd like to be able to launch raids against rivals to steal population and resources, or to set up trade routes and expand the economic might of whatever region I control, setting up new business and ventures such as mines.

Anything from managing an entire kingdom to just a town would be good for me. I'd like exploration elements too, finding dungeons and ruins to send expeditions to, I don't mind if there are actual player characters or not. I'd be playing this solo for the most part, but the rules don't need to be designed for that, I can adapt.

If there are no rules that fit this exactly then I'd be willing to look at homebrew, if anyone can recommend some sources to pull from.

Thanks in advance for this rather niche request!

Hi, all! Does anyone know of any tools for making nice-looking maps of fantasy cities?

Something like Wonderdraft/Dungeondraft, but for cities.

I'm willing to do a reasonable one-time purchase, but I'm not looking for a subscription service (like Inkarnate).

I'm also up for using just an art program (I'm comfortable with Inkscape, Clip Studio Paint, and GIMP) if anyone's got a tutorial.

I just learned that Dungeon Dwellers has been delivered to its backers and is now available for everyone to buy off the Reaper website. If you have it, what do you think so far? Is it sufficiently different from other D&D-derived games to be worth the money?

After 5e, PF2e, and CoC, what’s the next crunchiest game that could still be said to have a sizeable player base, do you think?

For me, it's mazes that are not abstracted through rolls or other mechanics. Dealing with a strict, grid-set labyrinth is too much mental work if playing with theater of the mind, and if the players are permitted to draw the maze then it takes a million years even if you hold their hand with the map-making. Of course, IT CAN WORK, and I know that some people can enjoy taking their time with a challenge like that, but I wanna do more things in my sessions, lol.

An art project I found online has inspired me to run a game heavily inspired by bloodborne aesthetics with the characters fighting monsters in complex dungeons and an emphasis on death and "respawning". The issue I've run into is that I'm not sure a good system to use. I'm willing to heavily homebrew so I'm mainly looking for a good foundation.

The only required trait is that it supports turn based grid/hex tactical combat but I'm also looking for features such as:

1. Immediately lethal combat instead of big HP blob PCs

2. Interesting choices in tactical combat

3. Some core respawn mechanic, I can homebrew this easily but it would be a plus if the game has consequences designed in.

4. Some form of magic system, ideally modifiable

Additional specifics would be stuff like guns built into the system or other aesthetic matches but these are much easier for me to add myself. Any ideas on systems that might work?

TLDR: What are some games where "success with a cost" is literally a failure that is made into a success by player using a meta-currency or a resource?

I feel like many games that have "success with a cost" typically frame it by starting with a success, then adding some complication to it. While I understand that the "cost" part of "success with a cost" should not undermine the success, I don't think it's easy to come up with a complication that doesn't feel like it undermines the success in someway—based on the now closed 1000 page thread in enworld talking about this topic. I think that for some folks, this comes naturally, and I think they are unable to comprehend why folks struggle with it.

The model of "success with a cost" that works better for me, I think, is a mechanic that allows the player to turn a failure into a success by "paying a price." So you roll some dice, and the result is a failure. The player can choose to accept the failure OR pay some kind of a price to turn that failure into a success. The cost could be some resource / meta-currency, and there can be some narrative attached to the loss. I prefer this model because there is literally a cost attached to the success. It allows you to just mark the resources and move on if you can't come up with anything on the spot.

What are some games where success with cost is modeled this way? Do you also struggle with "success with cost"? Do you feel like "success with cost" works better than the propose "turn failure into success"? Why or why not?

Curious to hear your thoughts.

Sometimes I see a system and immediately want to make a campaign for it, sometimes I have a setting idea in mind and search endlessly for the right system to use. Which way do you do it?

What about a setting might drive you to a new system, or vice versa. Just curious on people's opinions about this.

I have definitely done a bit of both, though when it's a system, I usually start by designing a short one-shot to learn it rather than diving in to making an entire campaign.