First thought was Andoran from Pathfinder’s Golarian worldsetting

Sounds like an amazing campaign, thank you for sharing

The exhaustion / nimble dying rules sound like they would facilitate the “the Dieselpunk pulp fantasy vibes of Dishonored mixed with the socialist weird fiction vibes of Disco Elysium”

I totally get the charm of the roll for initiative and the randomness that d20 brings to the game both in the to hit and the initiative roll. If you are comfortable with the system that is just as valid as someone that changes systems frequently, having fun telling a story together is the most important thing to me.

Leaning into the exhaustion mechanic could be effective, spending more time investigation means you get more exhaustion. A fail forward consequence could be a level or two of exhaustion in addition to the usual HP loss / status effect / item loss.

Is there some sort of Dieselpunk way of removing exhaustion at the cost of HP?

How many of the players are full casters?

After having run many “tactical” systems I think it isn’t for me, I resonate with the approach you described and like the pie/meal analogy.

While you would need to tweak the setting a bit, The Between could be a great fit or Blades in the Dark. Especially BitD if you want to lean into the faction aspect, it is known for being a “heist” game but expanding on what the concept of a “heist” is can open it up to more robust campaigns.

Honestly though it sounds like you have a great idea for a game and using what works for you! Reminds me of some dimension 20 campaigns in the best way, and Eberron is such a cool setting

I’ve got a few thoughts but I have not played Draw Steel however I have read it.

What are the themes of the campaign? What do you and your players like doing in heroic fantasy?

I get a feeling from the proposed changes that there is some enjoyment of the tactical combat, as well as the superhero nature of more heroic fantasy as opposed to gritty fantasy.

The mana change would cut down on book-keeping at the expense of potential balance not only around combat but also the gameplay loop of combat - rest - non-combat encounter - combat.

Have you considered Lancer style initiative where the players go first, you go second, and then repeat until combat ends? No rolls needed, just the players to decide who goes first.

Are you going to use the automatic hit rules from Draw Steel or keeping the swingy to-hit of a d20 attack roll?

Is character death important at all?

While the Dying/exhaustion is interesting it seems to be adding more bookkeeping, you might want to think about increasing the ways the players can recover from exhaustion unless you all like the idea of waiting around for a few days to get enough long-rests to recover from a near-death encounter.

I’m curious about your campaign and group and would love to hear more.

We did some pathfinder 2e about a year ago but I couldn’t keep it up as I’m honestly quite tired of the genre (d20 heroic fantasy) but there are some neat additions to the genre the past couple years.

That the next session could be the last, I like that some resources for games have guidance on that. For example the Mothership Warden’s Operation Manual has a section on what is the omega to the alpha of session 0.5.

Going off of that perspective, I try hard not to prep more than the session after next as well as use my cool thoughts/NPCs/threats/etc. sooner rather than later.

Thank you for pinning! I’m hoping to start around April 9th

GURPS, Delta Green, F.I.S.T, or Twilight 2000

dimension 20 moment

great video, I’ve DM a lot of horror but have never been able to evoke the doppelganger theme of horror remotely close to Jacob in the video

Being on the receiving end of superior military might the player characters are forced into exploring the frontier to escape the military that has conquered or is in the midst of conquest.

Red Hand of Doom is a good inspiration for this premise.

The characters are hired to take a one-way boat journey to deliver a MacGuffin, they are shipwrecked or ambushed once they arrive and are effectively stranded in the frontier until they find a way back.

Gods of the Forbidden North is a good inspiration for this premise

There is some sort of valuable material in high supply but unknown locations within the frontier, the players are developing a stronghold or part of a stronghold that needs this material so the players are tasked with recovering it, during the course of it two factions come into focus one that is neutral or positive of the ecological harvesting as it expands civilization, while the other is negative of the ecological harvesting.

Land of Eem sounds like it could be a good choice, “the game combines Lord of the Rings high fantasy epicness with a heavy dose of Muppets-like whimsy and a dash of Mad Max dystopia.” They have a free quickstart so you could try it out.

I would’nt be able to speak to what is cool but I’ll share some newer titles that seem to capture the current trend.

Shadowdark is the ultimate Old School Renascence game using the style and sensibilities of classic D&D while updating it to use modern mechanics that make it more approachable.

In Mythic Bastionland you begin as a young knight errant, seeking the glory to lead warbands, earn a place in court, and rule your own domain. Glory is found in hunting the Myths of this world, manifesting them into reality while protecting the Realm from their strange influence.

Mothership a sci-fi horror RPG where you and your crew try to survive in the most inhospitable environment in the universe: outer space!

Urban Shadows is an urban fantasy tabletop roleplaying game in which mortals and monsters vie for control of a modern-day city in a political battleground layered just under the reality we think we know.

I think its a pretty great time for smaller publishers so finding something that fits the genre your group is looking for.

I know you said no DnD clones but Draw Steel and Daggerheart are pretty good alternatives, Draw Steel is very tactical where as Daggerheart has some meta aspects that help storytelling.

Oh neat, have you done any prewritten scenarios? Any advice?

Hey there are you still still interested in participating? Thanks!

Hello I wanted to see if you were still interested in participating, thank you!

Ok I’ll put your name down for Friday/Saturday and check in with you in a couple weeks.

me too!

Neat the ones I had planned were neither of those, the third party content for Mothership is amazing!

I just filled the saturday game, would any of the weekdays work for you?

Thanks for cross posting

Sounds good I’ll write your name down, what scenarios did you run? I’d like to pick ones you haven’t experienced