Kalontas / Xarthat
@kalontas.bsky.social
I designed a TTRPG system for myself and my friends. Does that make me a game designer? You decide.
Healer hunter? Healer mage? Ranged DPS death knight? What are they smoking? Those are completely different classes.
January 16, 2026 at 12:20 PM
Healer hunter? Healer mage? Ranged DPS death knight? What are they smoking? Those are completely different classes.
Oh yeah, D&D was created for a very specific universe, with a very specific magic system. You'd think even say WarCraft would be easy, right? But no, even another fantasy world is so different with its magic system it can't really work besides really shoehorning it.
November 3, 2025 at 1:44 AM
Oh yeah, D&D was created for a very specific universe, with a very specific magic system. You'd think even say WarCraft would be easy, right? But no, even another fantasy world is so different with its magic system it can't really work besides really shoehorning it.
I was very confused why this was in my TTRPG feed, and then it clicked.
October 29, 2025 at 8:42 AM
I was very confused why this was in my TTRPG feed, and then it clicked.
Am I doing this right? Do people do the hashtags on here? I don't really see them, but they do appear to be a functionality.
October 22, 2025 at 7:35 AM
Am I doing this right? Do people do the hashtags on here? I don't really see them, but they do appear to be a functionality.
Younger Trump I would have definitely called intelligent. Very callous, unscrupulous, egoistic and immoral, but intelligent. Present day Trump... the age has probably caught up to him.
October 19, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Younger Trump I would have definitely called intelligent. Very callous, unscrupulous, egoistic and immoral, but intelligent. Present day Trump... the age has probably caught up to him.
...immediately give them what they want. However, intelligence can be very directional. You are very smart about one thing, but very... not smart in other ways. They are intelligent in a very narrow way - which in the end comes out to harming them. Which goes in spite of the intelligence.
October 19, 2025 at 6:17 PM
...immediately give them what they want. However, intelligence can be very directional. You are very smart about one thing, but very... not smart in other ways. They are intelligent in a very narrow way - which in the end comes out to harming them. Which goes in spite of the intelligence.
Though this is a very interesting way of looking at this and made me think, I disagree with the assessment that this "isn't in spite of intelligence". They would have achieved even greater success if they sometimes listened to feedback and didn't completely dismiss anything that doesn't...
October 19, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Though this is a very interesting way of looking at this and made me think, I disagree with the assessment that this "isn't in spite of intelligence". They would have achieved even greater success if they sometimes listened to feedback and didn't completely dismiss anything that doesn't...
That's their whole thing, though. They don't want us to imagine whatever we want into being. They want everyone to adhere only to what they imagine.
October 19, 2025 at 1:25 PM
That's their whole thing, though. They don't want us to imagine whatever we want into being. They want everyone to adhere only to what they imagine.
We do exploration, but we don't like... make new cities on lands occupied by goblins after kicking them out of it. We explore new cultures, learn about their habits, and help them with their corrupt pricks.
October 18, 2025 at 4:53 PM
We do exploration, but we don't like... make new cities on lands occupied by goblins after kicking them out of it. We explore new cultures, learn about their habits, and help them with their corrupt pricks.
How does that work within the fiction? Is there a rule on how early you can go, or do you win forever by killing him the moment he's born?
October 18, 2025 at 4:49 PM
How does that work within the fiction? Is there a rule on how early you can go, or do you win forever by killing him the moment he's born?
The kids, no. But the grognards are as argumentative about it as ever.
October 18, 2025 at 4:46 PM
The kids, no. But the grognards are as argumentative about it as ever.
While I do not take those tools away from my players, I try to emphasize through the worldbuilding that this is not common. The prices for resurrections are exorbitant, spellcasters who can cast it are very rare, and so is the ability to walk the planes. Afterlife is real and tangible, but remote.
October 18, 2025 at 1:31 PM
While I do not take those tools away from my players, I try to emphasize through the worldbuilding that this is not common. The prices for resurrections are exorbitant, spellcasters who can cast it are very rare, and so is the ability to walk the planes. Afterlife is real and tangible, but remote.
(5) So I personally think it wouldn't work very well because of different design goals, but if you really wanted to do it, it is probably doable relatively easily (but very time consuming due to translating spell effects). (End)
October 18, 2025 at 11:18 AM
(5) So I personally think it wouldn't work very well because of different design goals, but if you really wanted to do it, it is probably doable relatively easily (but very time consuming due to translating spell effects). (End)
(4) It is probably possible to just replace the Prepared Spells mechanic with an MtG deck you have to design separately, but you'd probably have to also translate the spell mechanics between systems? I do a lot of that kind of translation and it can be hard in some instances.
October 18, 2025 at 11:17 AM
(4) It is probably possible to just replace the Prepared Spells mechanic with an MtG deck you have to design separately, but you'd probably have to also translate the spell mechanics between systems? I do a lot of that kind of translation and it can be hard in some instances.
(3) In my system, there's no prepared spells at all, if you learn a spell, you remember it, no silly Vancian living spells that you forget every day, and no rules to tell you what you remember at any given moment - but my system does value freedom and versatility first and foremost.
October 18, 2025 at 11:16 AM
(3) In my system, there's no prepared spells at all, if you learn a spell, you remember it, no silly Vancian living spells that you forget every day, and no rules to tell you what you remember at any given moment - but my system does value freedom and versatility first and foremost.
(2) In Magic, the cards you draw are the spells that are coming to your mind at the moment, and your deck is the spells you remember altogether. The "remember in the moment" mechanic doesn't translate well into TTRPGs, because generally you decide what you're thinking about, not random draw.
October 18, 2025 at 11:15 AM
(2) In Magic, the cards you draw are the spells that are coming to your mind at the moment, and your deck is the spells you remember altogether. The "remember in the moment" mechanic doesn't translate well into TTRPGs, because generally you decide what you're thinking about, not random draw.
I have tried designing MtG-based systems in a TTRPG, non-D&D, and IMO, there is some conceptual clash between how TTRPGs and Magic represent memory and spells.
In D&D, you memorize spells at the beginning of the day and switch them out then, because spells are "alive" in their fiction. (Cont'd)
In D&D, you memorize spells at the beginning of the day and switch them out then, because spells are "alive" in their fiction. (Cont'd)
October 18, 2025 at 11:14 AM
I have tried designing MtG-based systems in a TTRPG, non-D&D, and IMO, there is some conceptual clash between how TTRPGs and Magic represent memory and spells.
In D&D, you memorize spells at the beginning of the day and switch them out then, because spells are "alive" in their fiction. (Cont'd)
In D&D, you memorize spells at the beginning of the day and switch them out then, because spells are "alive" in their fiction. (Cont'd)
I've said it in my own YouTube videos, it is very surprising they aren't doing anything with that given how popular TTRPGs have become since. We got the old tabletop gamer Metzen back at the helm, so maybe he will eventually push for something but IDK.
October 18, 2025 at 9:58 AM
I've said it in my own YouTube videos, it is very surprising they aren't doing anything with that given how popular TTRPGs have become since. We got the old tabletop gamer Metzen back at the helm, so maybe he will eventually push for something but IDK.
That also existed in the past! Look up StarCraft Alternity.
October 18, 2025 at 9:57 AM
That also existed in the past! Look up StarCraft Alternity.
WoW used to have RPGs back in the 3rd edition era. It was very heavy on d20/D&D, but it used some of its unique flair. It was somewhere between campaign setting and full system.
October 17, 2025 at 5:53 PM
WoW used to have RPGs back in the 3rd edition era. It was very heavy on d20/D&D, but it used some of its unique flair. It was somewhere between campaign setting and full system.