D&D 4E 4e-like game (title TBD)

[Composer99]

Thanks for the expressions of sympathy! Fortunately, my work is back on down-cycle in terms of weekly hours - except for a bit of prep work for next year's Festival (the equivalent of a few hours a month), I'm down to checking email once or twice a day and having a meeting once a month or so from now until, effectively, the end of November. So there's plenty of time to get this project back on track.

 

[Composer99]

Thanks to an older set of draft rules I've found in cloud storage, I've been able to start reconstructing the rules of play. Over just the past two days I have reconstructed:

• An introduction.
• A chapter of basic rules.
• A chapter detailing how ability scores and skills work (with skill descriptions pending).
• A chapter detailing how powers and choosing targets work.

I'm just about to start working on reconstructing the combat and encounters rules.

I'm also thinking I should probably get rules and content online as soon as possible to avoid any future beverage incidents causing the same kind of setback. I don't want to spend too much time on a fancy website, so maybe just GitHub or something like that for now?

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Thanks to an older set of draft rules I've found in cloud storage, I've been able to start reconstructing the rules of play. Over just the past two days I have reconstructed:

• An introduction.
• A chapter of basic rules.
• A chapter detailing how ability scores and skills work (with skill descriptions pending).
• A chapter detailing how powers and choosing targets work.

I'm just about to start working on reconstructing the combat and encounters rules.

I'm also thinking I should probably get rules and content online as soon as possible to avoid any future beverage incidents causing the same kind of setback. I don't want to spend too much time on a fancy website, so maybe just GitHub or something like that for now?

Github yes

Or you can do what the cool kids do these days and start a patreon

Edited to add: or a Substack type thing

 

[Nakana]

I’d actually cast a vote for your own website, but I get all the reasons why not.

Seems like itch.io would suit your needs better than GitHub, but that’s just my opinion.

 

[Sanglorian]

I found GitHub Pages a really easy way to publish content in different formats (spreadsheets, HTML, PDFs, etc). Orcus involved a very iterative process where I was changing the spreadsheets, building the Markdown files from the spreadsheets and then changing the PDFs to reflect the Markdown changes - and that was all easy via GitHub.

But that entirely depends on how you're planning to release content and what your workflow involves, of course!

 

[Composer99]

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I've just finished magic weapons and armour, so I'm going to write up a few more magic items in each category and reconstruct the rituals. With the exception of some reference appendices (glossary and a few stat blocks), that will mean the "Tome of Rules" (think a rules cyclopedia/compendium) will be complete.

After that, I think I'll divide the project into three prongs for the rest of the summer and into the fall:
(1) Start getting playtest content online.
(2) Prototype adventurers and monsters to test combats. My intention is to use the MM3 math, and therefore to calibrate adventurer capabilities accordingly, but I do want to make sure the calibration is correct and that the adventurer abilities are both thematic and fun (for people who like the detailed cut-and-thrust of 4e-style combat, that is).
(3) Wrap up the "Tome of Rules".

Magic Items
Since I was reconstructing the magic items, I've adapted an idea that you can sort of see in 5e but is more plainly spelled out in the MCDM RPG, which is the idea that you get a cool magic item and then you can stick with it and it grows with you. Two implications of this concept are that cool weapons are available to be had early, but also that they have to have room to grow at higher levels.

 

[Composer99]

I'm pleased to say that after some revamping of magic items, I've finished an entire set of them (I may have got a bit carried away), for a total of over 150 of the things. Now working on reconstructing rituals. I think I've added some to the planned lot, too. Basically, I'm on pace to finish the "Tome of Rules", except for a keyword glossary and some stat blocks, by the end of next week. Probably should get my act in gear on a few other items on my to-do list starting then.

 

[Composer99]

Rituals are all done, with 90 included in this base ruleset!

 

[Composer99]

I'm pleased to say that as of this writing, my to-do list out of my summer plans for this project is as follows:

After that, I think I'll divide the project into three prongs for the rest of the summer and into the fall:
(1) Start getting playtest content online.
(2) Prototype adventurers and monsters to test combats. My intention is to use the MM3 math, and therefore to calibrate adventurer capabilities accordingly, but I do want to make sure the calibration is correct and that the adventurer abilities are both thematic and fun (for people who like the detailed cut-and-thrust of 4e-style combat, that is).
(3) Wrap up the "Tome of Rules".

That is, I've now finished the Tome of Rules, apart from perhaps reformatting the glossary (and adding a few terms here and there).

Now it's time to figure out getting this stuff online before getting on with adventurers & monsters!

Edit to add: I've also come up with a name for the project, as long as it's not already being used elsewhere as an RPG.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Thanks to an older set of draft rules I've found in cloud storage, I've been able to start reconstructing the rules of play. Over just the past two days I have reconstructed:

• An introduction.
• A chapter of basic rules.
• A chapter detailing how ability scores and skills work (with skill descriptions pending).
• A chapter detailing how powers and choosing targets work.

I'm just about to start working on reconstructing the combat and encounters rules.

I'm also thinking I should probably get rules and content online as soon as possible to avoid any future beverage incidents causing the same kind of setback. I don't want to spend too much time on a fancy website, so maybe just GitHub or something like that for now?

You can drop a copy of your files onto gdrive, but github can be pretty effective, it is certainly a good place for text files that you plan to do shared work on. I back up my RPG work both ways, depending on exactly what it is.