/gdg/ - Game Design General

Don't you fucking die on me edition.

Previous thread: A thread dedicated to discussion and feedback of games and homebrews made by Veeky Forums regarding anything from minor elements to entire systems, as well as inviting people to playtest your games online. While the thread's main focus is mechanics, you're always welcome to share tidbits about your setting.

Try to keep discussion as civilized as possible, avoid non-constructive criticism, and try not to drop your entire PDF unless you're asking for specifics, it's near completion or you're asked to.

Useful Links:
>Veeky Forums and /gdg/ specific
1d4chan.org/
imgur.com/a/7D6TT

>Project List:
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/134UgMoKE9c9RrHL5hqicB5tEfNwbav5kUvzlXFLz1HI/edit?usp=sharing

>Online Play:
roll20.net/
obsidianportal.com/

>RPG Stuff:
darkshire.net/~jhkim/rpg/freerpgs/fulllist.html
darkshire.net/~jhkim/rpg/theory/
therpgsite.com/showthread.php?t=21479
docs.google.com/document/d/1FXquCh4NZ74xGS_AmWzyItjuvtvDEwIcyqqOy6rvGE0/edit
mega.nz/#!xUsyVKJD!xkH3kJT7sT5zX7WGGgDF_7Ds2hw2hHe94jaFU8cHXr0
gamesprecipice.com/category/dimensions/

>Dice Rollers
anydice.com/
anwu.org/games/dice_calc.html?N=2&X=6&c=-7
topps.diku.dk/torbenm/troll.msp
fnordistan.com/smallroller.html

>Tools and Resources:
gozzys.com/
donjon.bin.sh/
seventhsanctum.com/
ebon.pyorre.net/
henry-davis.com/MAPS/carto.html
topps.diku.dk/torbenm/maps.msp
www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~amitp/game-programming/polygon-map-generation/demo.html
mega.nz/#!ZUMAhQ4A!IETzo0d47KrCf-AdYMrld6H6AOh0KRijx2NHpvv0qNg

>Design and Layout
erebaltor.se/rickard/typography/
drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B4qCWY8UnLrcVVVNWG5qUTUySjg&usp=sharing
davesmapper.com

Reposting this for feedback.

And also throwing out a discussion question to get things going: How much uncertainty do you, or from your players, feels too little or too much. Classic uncertainty elements are things like not knowing what monsters are in the next room, not knowing about traps unless you make a search check, things like that. But are there times when you feel there should be more or times when even that seems too unfair in rulesets?

Personally, I like a higher than normal level of uncertainty. One of my favorite things in games like WHFB was not revealing certain equipment choices, it made for some decision making. Do you charge the unit of Night Goblins and risk the chance they had fanatics? Two units have set-ups that make best use of a certain magic item, but which one has it? Which unit has an assassin in it? Things like that. Not things that horrible skew the game, like hiding weapon loadouts and such, but little bits that add some excitement.

Is there any real reason to use anything besides 3d6, d20, d100 or dice pools with d6,d10?

I've seen a few elegant games that used 2d6 and a couple very minimalist ones that I liked that used 1d6, but not really. Any dice that aren't d6, d10, or d20 really don't have a reason to exist as anything but a curiosity.

I've been using D12's, since they give you a bit more room than a D6.

i'm personally fond of 2d8 because the range is a perfect 15 and i like the way d8s look, but i've yet to use it for anything

bump

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My system uses pools of Xd12... I sometimes stay up late at night wondering if no one but me will ever be able to play it due to almost no one owning more than 1d12.

I selected it so that i could have double digit numbers be successes (10,11,12) for a 25% success rate per die, with each successful die giving a rediculously intuitive number of bonus die (10=0, 11=1, 12=2). Simple and elegant, I think. But its a d12...

bump