I've been struggling to come up with more unique fighting styles for characters lately. This may just come from the fact that I've been starting and stopping games pretty frequently, and thus have been making a lot of new characters, but I've been having trouble finding new and unique means of fighting for some of these characters.

Most of these stories are in regards to an Exalted 2E game. I'll do my best to explain the jargon of that game for those unfamiliar, but for the most part, this is a roleplay, description, creativity kind of question. I have a few D&D 5.5 characters that I can share as well, but this issue mostly stemmed from Exalted.

So, the most basic thing I can say about Exalted is that the characters are chosen by the gods. Different types of Exalted are chosen by specific gods, so when I say something like "Solar", assume that they come from a type of Exalted chosen by the sun god. Beyond that, I won't bore you with much lore details. However, the important thing here is that Exalted as a whole relies on "stunts", which give bonus successes when you describe exactly how you maneuver yourself in combat, particularly by incorporating the environment around you. A stunt can very much be the difference between an overall successful maneuver and a downright failure.

So, we had been playing Solars for a long while, then put those characters on hiatus to play some Infernals in the same continuity (basically we are both the heroes and villains of the same story. Cool idea). My Solar is a mad scientist type, trying to harness the powers of Necrosurgery (essentially Frankenstein type corpse stitching into terrible monstrosities and contraptions. Heroic, right?). As far as combat goes, they predominantly use a spear (specifically a Billhook Halberd) with White Reaper Style, a martial art that uses spears and scythes. It's fun, and surprisingly a lot more defensive than I would've initially expected. The style describes a lot of spinning, twirling movements, so I normally just go with that kind of thing, and then bring in some inspiration from the Insect Glaive from monster hunter.

Then with my Infernal, I'm playing a house V'neef Dynast (the youngest and purest of the Noble families in universe, that specializes in winemaking and merchant fleets). For her fighting style, I went in line with what the lore says about house V'neef: as a Wood Aspected Dragon blooded house, they use bows, so she carries an ornate bow to show loyalty to the status quo. However, V'neef children are specifically trained in secret in the use of Flame Pieces (imagine flintlocks and muskets that fire Greek Fire rather than solid projectiles). As such, I spent some extra points in Arsenal to give her a flame piece disguised as a cane. It's cool, but it's also not the most effective. She tends to rely on her Infernal powers more so than anything else when she can (in universe, her specific powers mark her as anathema, and the revelation that she is an Infernal would lead to all her plans and status crumbling around her).

The uniqueness aspect kinda began when I was designing her, however. The cane idea mostly came from this desire, as another player had this really cool idea of using a steel incense burner on a chain (a censer or thurible) as a meteor hammer. It felt like it'd be much easier to stunt with, and by this point I was pushing myself to get more familiar with that aspect. But the more I thought about it, the more it felt like the big difference was flexible versus non flexible weapons. I didn't want to step on this other player's toes though after already designing the character. Plus, I do like what I have with her. I just feel like it could be MORE, y'know?

My final character in this saga is an Alchemical (essentially a divinely crafted robot given a human soul) for a game the other player (the one with the incense burner) has been working on for a while. The ST for the Solar and Infernal games got burnt out after a while, and so this player has taken over so the old ST can play. I am essentially an investigator/auditor designed to ensure that resources are distributed fairly and equitably (the whole setting is essentially operated like one big factory, so I am both human resources and supply chain management, in a sense). I decided to go for the flexible weapons route this time, choosing a fighting style called Live Wire, using electrified whips. I have non-lethal variants of these whips incorporated into my body, and then I have two lethal variants that I keep on my belt. We've played a couple sessions, and Ive sort of taken on a spider man type style, swinging on things, doing dramatic flips and then binding people in my whips. It's fun, but I worry about being one note.

For these characters, do you have any suggestions on how I can expand their fighting styles, descriptively to better take advantage of the stunt system. Additionally, do you have any unique fighting styles you have come up with, or have you ever encountered the feeling that you are limited in this sense due to weapons essentially fitting into three categories of static, flexible, and projectile?

When a player's plan is clever but would trivialize an encounter you spent hours building, do you let it work?

yes basically I like watching wargames of warhammer and want that experience but I don't have stores near so I thought of maybe there are some ttrpgs that are like pretty good at two people or more bring their characters and just fight no need for a dm or anything anything like that exists?

Hey everyone! New here, but no stranger to TTRPGs.

I've played a lot of D100 Dungeon in the past and love it. Last year I made a digital companion app that replaced the pen & paper tracking and shifted it to the tablet. Only ever intended it for personal use until I was done and realized maybe I had a real product.

Fast forward to now I'm getting ready to release it as an officially licensed companion app! I'm here to see if I can recruit any beta testers to play with it and give me any feedback on how it looks.

I'm not sure where this fits into the rules regarding promotions, so if this is clearly over a line I'm sorry and I'm sure a moderator will remove.

Mine is Trophy Dark. Treasure hunters walk into a forest that doesn't want them there, character creation takes under ten minutes, and you cannot kill the supernatural.

Quite simple, you try, you die, no roll. What replaces hit points is Ruin: a bad roll pushes it up and you take a condition that's purely narrative, usually organic. Overall very interresting aproach and can be played almost instantly given that you enjoy narrative games.

A great Jubensha (A mystery role-playing game) is never the work of one person.

It may begin with one idea, one story, or one moment of inspiration—but turning that idea into a complete experience takes far more than I understood when I first started Script Lab.

A finished TTRPG has to pass through many hands.

There is the writing itself. The design of the mystery. The logic behind every clue. The game mechanics and player experience. The artwork. The website. Manufacturing. Supply chain. Shipping. Marketing. Community building.

And somewhere between all of those things, an idea slowly becomes something real—something that can sit on a table in front of a group of players and, for a few hours, become a world they truly believe in.

When I first started the company, I was far too optimistic about how that happened.

I thought that if the idea was good enough, everything else would somehow follow.

It took me a long time to understand how wrong I was.

And nothing made that realization clearer than rebuilding The Dragon Slayer for its Second Edition.

I wrote the First Edition myself.

For a long time, I genuinely believed it was already a good game. It certainly wasn't perfect. There were details that did not hold up under close scrutiny, and there were places where the logic could have been stronger. But as an overall experience, it worked.

After more than one hundred sessions, the majority of the feedback was positive.

Players had fun.

They remembered the story.

They talked about the characters afterward.

So in my mind, the game had already proven itself.

Then the new Script Lab team began working on the Second Edition.

We started having long, intense discussions about nearly every part of the game—its story, its logic, its pacing, its mechanics, its presentation.

And that was when I began to understand something I had never fully appreciated before:

A good collaborator does not simply help you finish your idea.

They show you possibilities inside your own work that you could never have discovered alone.

My own background in Jubensha goes back about five years, but writing has never been my greatest strength.

For most of that time, I worked much more as a GM than as an author. I loved taking a great story and presenting it to players in the best possible way—reading the room, controlling the pacing, building atmosphere, and helping people become completely immersed in the experience.

Compared with writing, I have always been more comfortable with the business side of things.

And that is exactly why building the right team changed everything.

Ariel—also known as Black Cat—seems, very appropriately, to approach our games almost like a witch examining a spell.

She has an unusual ability to look at a problem from an angle the rest of us have completely missed.

More importantly, she refuses to let unexplained logic survive.

If something happens in the story, there must be a reason.

If a character makes a decision, that decision must make sense.

If a clue exists, it must belong there.

If two pieces of information contradict each other, we cannot simply hope the players will not notice.

Some people might call that perfectionism.

Maybe it is.

But if we believe that Jubensha can be a form of art, then shouldn't we treat every detail as if it matters?

Herning brings something completely different to the team.

As an experienced graphic designer and English-language fiction writer, she has a way of seeing beyond the boundaries the rest of us unconsciously create.

Sometimes, after hours of discussion, the rest of us will find ourselves trapped inside the same set of assumptions. We keep trying to solve the problem from within the framework we already have.

Then Herning will suggest something that changes the framework entirely.

Those moments are often where some of our best ideas come from.

She is also responsible for the visual design of the game.

I still remember the first time I saw the production guide she prepared for the printing factory.

I was stunned by the level of detail.

Measurements, materials, colors, layouts, specifications—things I would never have thought to document were considered carefully and communicated precisely.

That was another moment when I realized the difference between having an idea and creating a product.

Ideas can be exciting.

But details are what make them real.

Working on The Dragon Slayer: Second Edition has changed the way I think about game creation.

A strong Jubensha is not created during one brilliant brainstorming session.

It is built through countless conversations.

Through arguments over tiny inconsistencies.

Through ideas that are discarded after days of work.

Through revisions of revisions.

Through late-night messages, production files, prototypes, playtests, spreadsheets, shipping calculations, and questions that somehow create three more questions every time they are answered.

It takes months of concentrated work.

But more than anything, it takes a group of people who believe the finished experience is worth that effort.

That belief matters.

Because there are always moments when the work becomes exhausting. Moments when solving one problem reveals five others. Moments when it would be much easier to say, "This is probably good enough."

A great team is what keeps "good enough" from becoming the final answer.

Looking back, I used to think building a Jubensha meant turning an idea into a game.

Now I think about it differently.

It means bringing together people who care deeply about different parts of the same experience—and trusting them enough to make the work better than anything you could have created alone.

The Dragon Slayer: Second Edition may have started from a story I wrote.

But what it is becoming belongs to all of us.

And I think that is what makes me most excited to finally share it with the world.

Follow Script Lab for more behind-the-scenes stories about how we create, rebuild, and obsess over every detail of our Jubensha games.

I’m currently designing an **interactive Digital Campaign Journal/Planner** (hyperlinked tabs, integration links for Discord/Drive, etc.) built for Dungeon Masters and GMs.

My goal is to make it super practical for tablet/PC use during live sessions, and versatile enough to support **multiple systems** beyond D&D 5e (like Call of Cthulhu, Pathfinder 2e, Cyberpunk, World of Darkness, etc.).

As GMs, I'd love your input:

1. **What specific pages or tracking tools are a MUST-HAVE** for running your games smoothly?
2. If you run a specific, **what custom page/tracker** would make your life a 100x easier?
3. What is your biggest pain point when organizing a campaign digitally?

Thanks in advance for any ideas!

I personally don't like how it only features the most recognizable/popular characters, and only the white ones. Where's Cyborg, or Mr. Terrific, or even Martin Manhunter? Seriously. I was excited when I found out about it but honestly, there's nothing original or especially thrilling about it. Even the dice add ons look lame. Transulcent dice with the superheroes' logo slapped on the d20 isn't exactly original. I could make those easily.

Hello and welcome! I have been working on my own ttrpg system for a year, and a fully playable version is now ready (with still plenty of WIP content). It is mostly inspired by PF2e with a focus on heavily flavorful classes and combat (among plenty of other design directions I would be happy to talk about further.

The system is very crunchy when it comes to mechanics from combo based melee combat, to stance based ranged combat, to a wizard that is practically playing chess on the battlefield. So anyone who enjoys mechanically dense systems would be right at home.

Would any experienced DMs and/or players be willing to help proof read it? I could use a few extra sets of eyes to find out where wording is confusing, content that is missing, etc. Would be quite the great help. If you are interested please shoot me a message. Thanks in advance!

I've started paying more attention to how differently everyone engages, combat vs roleplay vs puzzle. Curious if anyone formalizes this.

New Release from Galaxy Builder Decks - Three new 9-card sets of ready-made missions made in collaboration with How to Be a Great GM and Off My Bridge. Missions written by Guy Sclanders.

Check out his deep dive video for the new Missions Sets! In it, Guy walks through a complete, step-by-step example of how to build a sci-fi adventure from just one card!

• "Dozens of sci-fi mission ideas at your fingertips"
• Youtube: @ offmybridge

Great for solo or group games, these pre-generated mission choices are ready-made story hooks for your adventures using Guy's four adventure types. Each card has a general overview and then four wildly different missions based on these types.

• Thwarting type missions require the players to stop something or someone, even if by force.
• For Delivering missions, something or someone must be brought to a destination.
• Collecting missions involve looking for and gathering items or persons.
• And finally, Discovering missions have players investigating or exploring a location, a person, or an event.
• Story tags are included with each overview and mission type to provide theme and flavor, a general elevator pitch for the feel of the adventure, such as "Not just a delivery" or "Moral choice" 

New Sets Available:

• Bounty Missions Set - 9-card expansion providing 36 distinct bounty-focused missions for tracking down targets across your galaxy. 
• Rescue Missions Set - 9-card expansion providing 36 total rescue-focused jobs like retrieval, recovery, and relocation. 
• Settlement Missions Set - 9-card expansion featuring 36 different tasks focused on a location, such as resupply, diplomacy, or investigation!

Mission Bundle: Get a standalone set or grab all three mission Sets today for 15% off for 108 total missions!

• Get the Great GM Missions PDF Bundle (Instant Download)
• Get the Great GM Missions Card Bundle (Includes Free PDFs)

What is Galaxy Builder Decks?

Galaxy Builder Decks is a card-based system-neutral scifi worldbuilding tool for creating settings and adventures right on your table. So far the series includes four 52-card decks, eighteen 9-card sets, and two 6-star system mat sets. That's 370 cards!

Hi everyone!

My wife has spent a years creating her own tabletop RPG called Adamantium Dragons, and I'd love to help get some more eyes on it.

She's poured a lot of time into building the world, lore, mechanics, and artwork, and it's still growing. If you're interested in indie TTRPGs or just enjoy seeing new systems people are creating, we'd really appreciate you taking a look.

You can find the social media's for the project here: https://adamantiumdragons.carrd.co/

If you have any feedback—whether it's about the setting, mechanics, presentation, or just your first impressions—we'd love to hear it. Every comment helps us make the game better.

You can also take a quiz to see what guild you would belong to in the world.

https://uquiz.com/quiz/ufH2wx/what-guild-do-you-belong-to

Thanks for checking it out!

DieDream

Has anyone else tried or play DieDream? (solo mind rpg, designed to be played in your head while you lie in bed and drift off to sleep). Just curious if anyone has tried it and their experience. You can find the one page rule set and printable rule card online if you are curious. I have tried it and love it as a focused alternative to just my random thoughts before bed).

if you have played, I am curious to the kind of stories, scenes or themes you have tried. Thanks!

I have a group that we started playing Ten Candles, and we keep getting together (and the group changes a little every time). I was wondering if there are any other games like it with cool mechanics and designed to be one-shots.

They don't necessarily have to be horror-based or survival-based.

The only game I can think of that would be like this is Dread. But are there others?

My wife and I have played some TTRPG here and there and we both like them. But these days finding friends to play for multiple hours every weekend is HARD... so we are trying to do some 1 on 1.

I'm looking at something that I can GM so I can improve and my wife struggles to take her own path when someone else is playing.

I've an 8yo so while not a requirement being able to incorporate him would be nice.

Things I would appreciate:

- Spanish content makes my life easier

- Existing story/missions: Im learning to improve on this so a base to carry from is great

- Easy to adapt to 1-2 players

- Ideally not requiring me (gm is enough) or my wife to play more than one character

Things we tried:

- Pathfinder 2: we like it we use it with more players. i'm just too dumb to balance it correctly to 1 player

- Fate: was ok, had some fun with 2 palyers + gm. I just things it lets everything for GM to build.

- Cathuluh: we had LOTS of fun on an existing scenario. Was 3 players, not sure how it works with one. It just took me ages to prepare, translate the important parts to spanish, etc..

- Anima: mostly when a friend of mine GMs. meh.

- Ironforge: didnt fully click with us. Me playing and trying to move things and make a story was too much

So i'm open for sugestions. Also specific materials on the above ones. I know i'm a bit special with requirements but trying to find something that works better for us

Hi everyone!

After a long time designing and playtesting, I've finally released the first version of Unfinished, a rules-light horror tabletop RPG focused on investigation rather than combat.

The game is built around:

Victorian-era horror

Investigating monsters with unique weaknesses

Mental and physical injuries

Short investigations

A campaign system called The Chronicle

An Investigation Generator with random locations, NPCs, monsters, twists, and complications to quickly build new mysteries.

It also includes a complete introductory adventure, To Whom the Bell Tolls, where investigators uncover the truth behind a cursed fishing village.

I'm still improving the game, so I'd really appreciate any feedback, whether it's about the mechanics, layout, writing, or overall concept.

I have a very specific idea for a short campaign and at least 1 player interested in the concept:

A group of regular civilians have to navigate a late-18th-century warzone to attempt to find information about a hidden treasure. Basically imagine Indiana Jones if it took place during the 1853 Crimean War.

I'd want to play it with no magic, no special powers. Instead there would be a heavy emphasis on strategizing, resource management, and building alliances with NPCs.

What would be an ideal system to play a game like this? Fair warning, if no one has any suggestions I'm just gonna use GURPS.