100 TTRPG Opinions
Why in the hell did I even post that thread? Honestly, why?!
Everyone I made a serious mistake. I posted the above message and I forgot that I do not have that many thoughts. I’m dumb as hell, gang. I had to stop at 100 because I was too empty-headed.
But, here they are, collected for your entertainment!
1-25: The Fool Sets Out
1. Whatever your randomizer/dice system is (or isn't, check out Lumen 2.0 by @gilarpgs.bsky.social) you need to make this choice thoughtfully and on purpose.
2. Organization of information is super fucking hard but it's probably one of the number one important things in your game so be serious about it
3. Related, the more useable your PDF is the better. Learn how to hyperlink, learn to make bookmarks. It's good.
4. Related. If your game has a GM, spoil them fucking rotten. If they don't feel supported your game literally never gets played.
5. (should not have posted this before work, haha oops) I love games like Locus by @cobblesprite.bsky.social that clearly define what is the GM's job and what is the player's. More games need to do that.
6. I wrote a wholeass blog post about it but if you can't make/afford art you can either give up or get creative. Do the second one.
7. Dread blew my mind when I first read it, but the more I return to it the more I love the visual style too
8. Balance versus GM and balance versus other player options are two different things
9. Some games need to be seen in motion. A truly excellent game delivers both on vibes AND on play. (My gold standard is Necronautilus)
10. If you are using an SRD (like PBTA, especially) your game will be ten times better if you get under the hood and tinker with the mechanics instead of just reskinning stuff.
11. Different players have different styles. Taking this into account will make your game reach its intended audience better.
12. Related. Ask all your TTRPG friends about their favorite game moments and take notes. These are experiences the game gave them, experiences you can try to create too.
13. Loosely related. Memory Time is a great way to check in. After a session or playtest, ask everyone for a meaningful memory. This is a great way to see where you're at in terms of delivering memorable moments!
14. If your game is inspired by a certain piece of media, take time to reaAaally drill down on what in that media you find satisfying and want to replicate
15. Truly go nuts, nothing is written in stone
16. Related, question everything you feel you "have" to include in your game. Why is it there? What purpose does it serve?
17. The classic Dragon Game stat line is kinda ableist? So like, I'm not saying you're ableist for using it, but I'm saying you can do better.
18. Dread is so good. Gang. Dread is incredible. You gotta understand how mindblowing it was in its day.
19. Nothing sets a game up for failure faster than no communication regarding expectations. This is a table conversation but the game can help facilitate it, and should.
20. Nihil novum, my bud. Instead of thinking "I'm gonna blow everyone's asses off with this hot new thing", focus on how the new thing (or the old stuff) contributes to what you want the game to feel like.
21. Inversely, "nihil novum" doesn't mean "don't try to be original", it just means that you can't focus your energy on JUST being new and flashy. Be original and find new ways to do things because they're the ways that work for you.
22. If someone who doesn't share your axes of marginalization says you did something fuctup in your game, that's important. That's SO important. Listen with fuckin gratitude.
23. (the more of these I do the more cussing, huh?) If you think your game needs to be played a certain way to be enjoyed, communicate that clearly.
24. Building an audience is hard and sucks ass. Making friends and hyping each other up? Now that's fun and easy.
25. If you think it's not fun and easy, you can always like, engage with people and be excited about their work. That kinda stuff isn't unnoticed.
26-50: The Dawning Realization
26. It's cool when the game has different language options, that fuckin' rules I think.
27. Sometimes you just make a game for the shit you're into, and honestly godspeed.
28. God how many ttrpg opinions can one guy have?!?! Um...look, you're not the only freak like you. Write a game for freaks like you and you'll meet a wonderful new world of perverts.
29. Study promo text, back of the book copy, and itch pages of games that get your attention. Promo copy is a skill
30. I actually don't love PBTA :( I'm too much of a tactics guy to find most PBTA games satisfying. I wanna make meaningful combat choices, and that just means a different game for me.
31. If you wanna use header graphics in your game but still want bookmarks and searchability and all that good stuff, put a text header in and then hide it under the graphic. That way it shows up on screen readers and in tags
32. There are 68 likes?! Fuck. Look, actually PLAY that game you bought on vibes. Does the gameplay deliver? Why or why not? What kind of experience is it?
33. Time your character creation. Then you can let your players know what to expect.
34. Organization of information is pretty easily one if my weakest suits. :( I should study more. Let's study tables of contents of our favorite games!
35. D&D is not a good game, I don't think. I liked 4e better than 3, 3.5, or 5 (I started on 3). I think there are material problems with the game in motion.
36. Because I don't like D&D on a mechanical level, I also do not like Pathfinder. I don't think either game actually plays well.
37. A game is like a baby horse. If it can walk, it can run. In other words, playtest early.
38. Um...I really like making characters in Heroes Unlimited and I won't apologize for that.
39. If you use tarot badly in your game, my tarot-loving ass will hate it to hell and back and there's no cure. Sorry.
40. Find out what time of day your brain likes writing. This makes a lot of things easier.
41. Find your game's beating heart and revolve the rules around it. No I have no idea what I mean by that.
42. I did a blog post on this but like, old art is so good and much of it is public domain
43. Credit people. Feels nice to do it.
44. A game doesn't have to be a three-book full-color flagship to be worthwhile. It has to make memories and enjoyable experiences for players, that's all.
45. Related, if you want your game to be built for one-shots, say so in the manual. If you want campaign play, say so in the manual. It's good to communicate.
46. You will end up optimizing your game for your playtest circumstances. For example, I playtested Rangers of a Broken World on an AP podcast and as a result I accidentally optimized it for remote play and AP. Oops.
57. Related - test your game for remote play and in-person. If it's meant to be played in-person, communicate that or offer remote rules.
48. (wow the last one was my first messed up number) You can totally bullshit your math but don't be surprised when it comes up in testing and needs tweaking. That's how it goes.
49. Look, playtesting doesn't have to be like, years and years. But running the game and seeing it in motion is huge, and I really can't recommend it enough even if it's just a oneshot here and there.
50. Related, communicate to your testers what you're looking for. "I need to see if this combat system works" or "I just want to see how everyone makes characters" helps them tailor their play to find the information you need.
51-75: The Bottom of the Barrel
51. The best player feedback is observable behavior. Sometimes your testers won't know "the math is off" but you'll see them avoiding certain mechanics or getting frustrated at outcomes. Pay attention.
52. I think it's good when the GM gets to have fun. Think about what's in it for the GM.
53. I truly wish I were a Mech Games Pervert. It seems like there's a lot of cool shit with deep tactics in that area.
54. Get a friend who will respond to your idea with "that's just world of darkness" (mine is noted International Problem @curatrix-ribston.bsky.social)
55. Related to everyone needing to have a Wendy, find a friend who's into different games than you are and see if they'll show you that world? (Wendy is my guide to the world of wargames and I love)
56. There are SO MANY srds my friends. You can pick from a huge list so if you're not confident building an engine, pick one that fits perfectly instead of one that just seems easiest.
57. I have wanted to make a Resistance Toolkit ( from @rowanrookanddecard.bsky.social ) game since it came out but never found a concept I liked for it, which TBH is a huge regret of mine. Resistance is good.
58. Don't tell anyone but tbh, the "topical fishknife" is my least favorite kind of indie game. Not to say they're bad, they just tend not to have very deep gameplay so they're not fot me. Sorry!
59. 90% of what I'm saying here boils down to "do it on purpose"
60. Re-read a game that blew your mind a ways back and see if your understanding of it has changed.
61. Games are by nature so experiential that they're great at conveying experiences! ( the works of @theleonamaple.bsky.social and @adambell.games come to mind)
62. I don't really like roll-under systems usually. Dunno why, they feel bad to my brain.
63. Like with any art, bring your whole self and whole history. (brought to you by my current Very Casino WIP)
64. Remember the OGL? Wow, what a time. So many games just like, smashed into d&d shaped molds.
65. Anydice.com is a helpful resource for dice math to help game feel good
67. Ah shit I used up all my profound ones. Uhhh...deciding whether your game needs classes? Classes use a fantasy to package your game's options in cute little boxes that are easy to understand. That may or may not even be needed for you!
67. (real) In my experience, the larger and more freeform a game, the more it benefits from having classes or some other easy to grasp package of options.
68. Smaller games, on the other hand, can benefit from using classes to sell the fantasy and inject character. Troika is an excellent example of this. (I tried to do this with Blazing Hymn as well)
69. (nice) Duet games are rad as hell.
70. Accounting for varying comfort levels among players, or at least using clear communication in your manual, makes freeform mechanics friendlier for people not used to them! (I, for example, hate "spend a point to declare reality in scene" mechanics. Feel bad to me.)
71. (send help) I love games that gameify realworld stuff. Someone should make more of those, like LIFTS or EGO or Mandrake Sanctuary.
72. Playtesting is hard but it can be a unique kind of fun so go do it!!
73. I don't think anyone would play D&D if it didn't have classes.
74. To elaborate on 73, I think D&D did a good job of selling the fantasy of the classes and giving the classes identifiable vibes. Didn't always follow through though.
75. If it's possible for a player to choose wrong at character creation, why is that choice even there? (lookin at you, Fighter)
76-100: Beneath The Bottom of the Barrel
76. If your game has combat it's good to think about who/what the players are doing violence against and why. It's good and cool.
77. Every possible random outcome is possible, and 5% is way more than you think it is.
78. If you're writing a random table try and make it all interesting so players don't end up like "aw man, I got Normal Guy?"
79. (nice) Review and rate all your Itch purchases every so often! It's good to do and helps visibility!
80. If you hate a game by a small indie creator for reasons aside from like, abusive or morally reprehensible shit? No you don't, shh. Vaguepost if you must but this is a small scene and punch-down callouts are a bad look.
81. Everyone should charge for their games to make it easier for people who need games income to fuckin' live. If the rest of the market sets the expectation that a game is worth "pwyw" then people won't buy the games from people who need that fuckin' money.
82. We are all trying to make something from nothing here. Uplift others, especially people who can't access the same tools you can (Kickstarter, for example, locks out Global South creators)
83. Work together! It's great to collab with other creators and can get you access to skills and knowledge beyond your own.
84. I love when a game messes with the idea of what happens at 0 HP or equivalent
85. I always feel that my own work is missing something and I have no way to describe what that something is. That's a design opinion, right?
86. I love to read them, the ttrpgs. But when I tried to return to World of Darkness I found it hard because it was like 60 page without hitting a rule of any kind.
87. Doctor Magnethands is an amazing example of a game that clearly tells the players what it's about and what it expects.
88. I am in over my head here gang. I haven't learned anything about ttrpgs and I've been at this since high school. Okay okay, try making a GURPS character. Just to see how it feels. Take notes.
89. D&D is truly like the hardest game to GM despite having a whole book about doing it.
90. Final stretch, Cat, hoo boy. Modules are great and I wish I was better at writing them because like I said earlier, GM support is great for a game.
91. Be specific in your references! "Princess Mononoke" rather than "Studio Ghibli", "Symphogear" rather than "anime", etc. If you care about it, being specific is a great way to show that.
92. Tone is great and cool and beautiful but don't let it make your text harder to use as a set of instructions.
93. 80% of what I have mentioned here can be contained in "be clear, do clarity"
94. You don't need to make a rule for every possible situation.
95. That said, giving the GM the tools to respond to unusual situations will prevent way more problems than precisely tailored rules can.
96. (ecin) Mysteries are super hard to run in a TTRPG but I like to start by focusing on the circumstances in detail.
97. My GM advice is usually "many levers, one machine". In other words, don't just have one solution in mind. Have different routes and be open to them.
98. I think more indie trrpgs should have audio components because it's good when they do.
99. Solo games are good and great and full of variety, and there's almost definitely one for you
100. I fully can't do more, I am stuggling so bad. Okay, Actual Play is all well and good but I do think we all need to consider how popular and indie AP media has influenced player and GM expectations.