Looking for more eyes, playtesters, and possibly an editor

homebrew

#1

Hey y’all!

Wow. I thought getting a beta game out there was hard work! I’ve been busy fleshing out, clarifying, and in general filing off the rough edges of my game Blood and Gold. I have yet to put it into a pdf and layout with the newest changes, that part is coming soon haha. However, it is sitting at 102 pages of text(no artwork as of right now!) in size 11 Courier New font (avg size, titles and subtitles bigger of course!). And I need some other folks to look at it other than myself and my playtest players. The Shields have always been great, and I call on you now! Haha.

In all seriousness, I DO need help. So, here is the link, and I’m sharing it here for any and all to look at. The doc should be set to Viewer only, so you shouldn’t be able to edit directly in this file. However, if anyone is so inclined, and feeling generous, I would greatly appreciate some eyeballs and feedback, even if you can’t play it! I look forward to any and all feedback.

Skal!

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1mRLdGoR5kuCXLQP9wYbTovPHsAfPYHLU?usp=share_link


#2

Why the saving throw array from 3e? just have them be DEX, CON, and WIS saves. Its extraneous.


#3

Hi. Thanks!

Short answer: Because Str, Int, and Cha do not make sense as Saving Throws in my opinion.

Long Answer: I designed the game to make every stat count for two major aspects of gameplay. And I also like classes and kin(races) to be better at certain types of saving throws and not have them completely tied to just stats.

Edit: Further clarification. For instance, Dwarves receive +2 bonus to Fortitude Saving Throws, and the Fighter Class gives the Character +2 to Fortitude and Willpower Saving Throws. With average rolls for ability scores, the Dwarf Fighter will end up with one stat above average, and most of the rest will be at +0. With Saves separated from Ability Scores like this, the Dwarf Fighter with a Con of 10/0 bonus will still have +4 to Fortitude Saving Throws at 1st Level. I could just give a bonus to the Con stat for Dwarves, true, but then they receive that bonus to all Con checks, and while Con still affects Fortitude Saving Throws, I prefer Saving Throws to be mostly separated from that, and because Saving Throws increase separately from ability scores, the tanky Dwarf Fighter will be better at Fort Saves regardless of their Con score and bonus.


#4

Hi! I like what I read and will do full proofread.

First thought is that it feels like Kelsey’s Shadow Dark if the direction would have been D&D 3E/5E instead of old school: simplified gear and magic weapons, 2d6 boon/character-progression table. And this is good!

Might end up as good replacement for Scott’s Bastard Sword.


#5

Hi nullzero! Thanks for that!

That is a great compliment!

I started with 2e but moved to 3e quickly after that, where I spent most of my formative DM years. In the year and a half of actually designing this game, play testing, making changes, play testing, and then reading/playing other games, it’s picked up inspiration from many places.

Shadow Dark is a wonderful little game, and it definitely inspired the Boon system with her Talent system. The original Boon system I had was much simpler, inspired by Mork Borgs Omens, but Kelsey’s Talent system just clicked, and I loved it, so I decided to use it for my Boons.

I like to think that it is a modern mechanics game(mostly haha) with old school lethality. Lower HP, every fight is dangerous, but Characters still have options. I also wanted to be able to pick up any adventure from the 70s up through today, and run it without much prep. That has worked out fantastically so far! I’ve run BX adventures, 5e adventures, 3e adventures, OSR stuff, and homebrewed stuff, and it all worked out great!

I look forward to any feedback you may have for me!