Tabletop Roleplaying Games (D&D, Pathfinder, CoC, ETC.)

rpg.net is liable to ban you if they find out you even know what Dark Sun is.
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Yeah that sounds about right, the ResetEra of TTRPGs.
What are you talking about when you say "resources to create a TTRPG"? You mean a rules system? Do you mean an existing system to create a setting with? An adventure?
I have no idea how to make this more clear, not to say it was clear to begin with because even I don't know exactly what I want. Literally just, anything. I don't care. Just throw shit at me and see what sticks.
 
I have no idea how to make this more clear, not to say it was clear to begin with because even I don't know exactly what I want. Literally just, anything. I don't care. Just throw shit at me and see what sticks.
Best thing I can think of is play a couple RPGs that are really different (i.e. not all minor variation on D&D) and think about what will work for what you want to accomplish and what won't. The most important thing is to identify what you want to do in non-technical terms before worrying about probabilities and level-up schedules.
 
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>rpg.net
Yeah that sounds about right, the ResetEra of TTRPGs.

I have no idea how to make this more clear, not to say it was clear to begin with because even I don't know exactly what I want. Literally just, anything. I don't care. Just throw shit at me and see what sticks.
The best thing to do is to read a bunch of RPGs and find what you like, what works, what doesn't work, what's missing?

I've written several systems that are really straining what is meant by "TTRPG." The world is your oyster, though it helps to have a gaggle of fellow retards willing to test the things you make.
 
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In funny news, I got into a conversation with one of my players and we accidentally learned that Tharizdun, you know, the multiversal level threat that is so fucking evil and insane that he transcends traditional alignment, is a patron that a warlock can pick in 5e. We just noticed that and began laughing and raging respectively, since this is just absolutely comical.

The entity who is so horrible that all gods fought and sealed him away, and one who they attempted to damnatio memoriae, is just something a level 1 warlock can casually chat to. A being who corrodes and drives mad anyone who knows of him is just something some CN shitling can just talk to with effectively no negative effects.

This was in the original release too mind you.
 
In funny news, I got into a conversation with one of my players and we accidentally learned that Tharizdun, you know, the multiversal level threat that is so fucking evil and insane that he transcends traditional alignment, is a patron that a warlock can pick in 5e. We just noticed that and began laughing and raging respectively, since this is just absolutely comical.

The entity who is so horrible that all gods fought and sealed him away, and one who they attempted to damnatio memoriae, is just something a level 1 warlock can casually chat to. A being who corrodes and drives mad anyone who knows of him is just something some CN shitling can just talk to with effectively no negative effects.

This was in the original release too mind you.
For what it's worth, I think the concept of a Warlock "talking to" their patron is a total misread on the intent of the class in the first place. When I first read 5e, the Warlock was one of the things I really liked as it seemed like an actually new and fun class with a cool Dresden Files kinda flavor. A patron has to be something capable of granting 20 class levels worth of power while not quite being a traditional god/goddess. This opens things up to epic-level angels, princes of Hell, archfey, Cthulian outer gods type entities, etc as spell-granters instead of just making them Cleric options. The Warlock should start out mostly in the dark, receiving only an infinitesimal trickle of this massive power from somewhere they can only guess. As they become stronger, they become capable of using more power and knowing more about their patron. This idea of "my warlock calls up Jimmy the two-dicked satyr, his patron, to have a chat" is gay and retarded because the kind of being that would just talk to a low-level nobody wouldn't be capable of being a patron in the first place.
So of course Tharizdun is sending his power trickling in through little cracks in the material plane to unsuspecting mortals some of whom begin using it and end up serving Tharizdun's purposes while being slowly mind-raped by him.

TL;DR The Warlock is a great idea for a class ruined by the worst players and writing tabletop has to offer.
 
I have no idea how to make this more clear, not to say it was clear to begin with because even I don't know exactly what I want. Literally just, anything. I don't care. Just throw shit at me and see what sticks.
You do have an idea how to make this more clear because I spelled out the distinctions of what you might mean in my reply. Are you looking to write a rules system, a setting and adventures or both? Saying "I want to create a TTRPG" implies both but your question of asking what resources you need suggests you want to create a setting and adventures. It implies it because if you want to create a rules set your resources for that are: pencil, paper, looking at other RPGs for inspiration based on the sort of game you want to create.

You say you're a writer but you claim you can't make this clear! Really? Try writing:

"I would like to create a supernatural horror-focused RPG with a gritty dangerous feel in which there's a real risk that characters might die and I want it to be simple".

or

"I want to create some epic Sci-Fi game where players command navies of giant starships and deal with interstellar politics."

and

"I don't want the rules to get in the way" or "I am a mathematician and I love detailed probability analysis in my games"

See how easy that was? Now you have a go.
 
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So of course Tharizdun is sending his power trickling in through little cracks in the material plane to unsuspecting mortals some of whom begin using it and end up serving Tharizdun's purposes while being slowly mind-raped by him.
This not only requires him to be coherent enough to think through this and plan, but it also requires the collective actions of every single deity, demon, or devil, of every single alignment, in every single setting mind you to miss this. I should note that in most incarnations he's not capable of organized thought himself any more due to his attempted transcendence and efforts to wipe out all other gods but himself driving him completely mad by the way, but this also pisses in the face of pretty much every single edition prior to 5e.

He was not listed in the playerbooks until 4e for a reason, because the entire point of this guy is he was banished and locked away, since he actively seeks to take all of reality into nothingness. It takes active effort to even find references of him since every single god did their best to scrub their settings of his influence, and on top of that he's chained real deep. His cult members are all irrevocably insane and/or nihilistic for a reason.

Even Critical Role knew that he did not work like this.

But RAW shows you can play a goofy warlock who not only has none of these ill effects, but can due to how this branch of the power set works, actively inflict the essence of the Chained Oblivion to others at higher levels and treat that as a charm person. No, they don't go completely fucking insane. No you don't become completely fucking insane. No, you don't need to seek an end to all. None of that shit bothers you and your new brain thrall. And the gods wouldn't give a shit either mechanistically.
 
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I have no idea how to make this more clear, not to say it was clear to begin with because even I don't know exactly what I want. Literally just, anything. I don't care. Just throw shit at me and see what sticks.
Give GURPS a try. It's janky as hell, but right out of the box it can be used for any setting you can imagine. The myriad of supplemental books, both first and third party, refines it for a more custom experience. I've played traditional sword and sorcery games, a historic reenactment of the First Crusade, a zombie apocalypse, a custom Fallout campaign, space pirates, cryptid hunting in the 1960's, a noir detective story in the 1930's, and I'm working on a super hero game.
 
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But RAW shows you can play a goofy warlock who not only has none of these ill effects, but can due to how this branch of the power set works, actively inflict the essence of the Chained Oblivion to others at higher levels and treat that as a charm person. No, they don't go completely fucking insane. No you don't become completely fucking insane. No, you don't need to seek an end to all. None of that shit bothers you and your new brain thrall. And the gods wouldn't give a shit either mechanistically.
The "fuck the rules, roleplay as whatever you want" attitude that permeates modern RPGs fucks with Warlocks as much (if not more so) than Clerics and Paladins. A Warlock's Patron should heavily affect them, either due to being chosen for their natural affinity with said Patron, or because you're quietly scared shitless of what happens when your debt comes due and you have no idea why your Patron is telling you to do the things you're doing.

But nah, fam. Just do whatever you want. Your Patron is just fluff to justify why you don't have any spells slots.
 
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The problem with classes that have deep lore is they threaten to take over the party due to the class lore itself having lots of implications for the story, which puts the spotlight on any player who chooses one of them. A Fighter is just some guy. A Warlock is the specialest snowflake in the entire sky and needs lots of attention and babying throughout the campaign if you take the lore seriously. I don't really like caring about the players, let alone centering the campaign on someone who wrote "warlock" on his sheet because Eldritch Blast goes pew pew, so I just ignore them as much as I ignore how the Fighter learned to be good at two-handed weapons.
 
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From my understanding, Warlocks are basically cultists and should be treated like that. Clerics and Paladins might despise or barely tolerate them, depending on the patron. Society at large might fear or hunt them. It's a class with lots of cool roleplay potential, but it does need more attention from the GM and cooperation from the player.
 
You don't have to focus your entire campaign on the Warlock player, the same way you don't need to focus your entire campaign on the Paladin. But the GM would be cognizant of the characters' background and occasionally remind them that their characters aren't just piles of numbers on a sheet of digital paper. Occasionally giving the Warlock quick but cryptic odd-jobs to do for their Patron isn't any worse than reminding the Paladin he'll need to atone for killing the wrong guy by accident. It's all flavor, but the flavor is important. If all you're doing is pushing from combat encounter to combat encounter then none of the lore matters and you're playing a skirmish game with extra steps.

ETA: and anyway, background and fluff are still useful as campaign and story hooks. If you have something you know the character will have to do, you can put something in front of the party and have the character be the the one pulling them towards the dungeon they would otherwise miss. Just like having a well-adjusted Paladin or Cleric of a charitable deity gives you carte blanche to use the "innocent people are suffering, do something!" move, a Warlock gives you the "you feel your Patron's will pulling you towards this half-hidden path" card for free.
 
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The problem with classes that have deep lore is they threaten to take over the party due to the class lore itself having lots of implications for the story, which puts the spotlight on any player who chooses one of them. A Fighter is just some guy. A Warlock is the specialest snowflake in the entire sky and needs lots of attention and babying throughout the campaign if you take the lore seriously. I don't really like caring about the players, let alone centering the campaign on someone who wrote "warlock" on his sheet because Eldritch Blast goes pew pew, so I just ignore them as much as I ignore how the Fighter learned to be good at two-handed weapons.
But why though? Even the fighter who learned to be good at 2h weapons can have someone that trained him that turned out to be bad guy and isn't necessarily the big bad evil guy but could be one of their lieutenants, or maybe they went on a training expedition and disappeared or went after an artifact, or maybe got defeated and needs avenged, involving something that happens to also be a part of your story and the party encounters a city where the previous captain of the guard went missing and enough hints point out to the fighter who it was.

Player backgrounds, including their class can be reasons to pull the players in even for a simple class like a fighter.

Like @Corn Flakes said, a warlock doesn't need a conversation with their patron on a regular basis, probably shouldn't have a real conversation with them ever. Just like a paladin or cleric shouldn't just be having a chat with their god and instead maybe get some vague answers to prayer via some "sign". A wizard is easy to string along with knowledge/spells/artifacts. A rogue or ranger might have someone from their background involved in the plot.

Yes, these characters exist in YOUR world, but they didn't just spawn out of nothing right as the adventure started.
 
Even the fighter who learned to be good at 2h weapons can have someone that trained him that turned out to be bad guy and isn't necessarily the big bad evil guy but could be one of their lieutenants, or maybe they went on a training expedition and disappeared or went after an artifact, or maybe got defeated and needs avenged, involving something that happens to also be a part of your story and the party encounters a city where the previous captain of the guard went missing and enough hints point out to the fighter who it was.

You are completely missing the point. None of that is in the PHB. The Fighter player can choose whatever subclass and fighting style he wants, and none of his choices are tied up with text that put any significant weight on the setting lore or center him in the party. Maybe he's just some guy. Maybe he's a special snowflake. DM's call. By contrast, the Warlock's class description has details of cosmic significance, inserting godlike beings into your setting, making them actively interested, defining those beings to some degree, and intrinsically putting some pretty heavy demands on the lore and tilting the table to the Warlock. The patron is not easily disentangled from the lore, and it's a damned-if-you-do-damnned-if-you-don't situation. Making a campaign-defining arc out of why the fighter gets to reroll 1s and 2s on his damage dice does nothing about this problem.

Player backgrounds, including their class can be reasons to pull the players in even for a simple class like a fighter.

If a player sits down at my table who can't stay engaged with the game unless I build critical quest arcs out of 1-line class features on his character sheet, the whole table will be glad to see the last of him after two sessions.
 
This not only requires him to be coherent enough to think through this and plan, but it also requires the collective actions of every single deity, demon, or devil, of every single alignment, in every single setting mind you to miss this.
I'm gonna keep it real, I don't know Faerun lore, my group has never been FR guys. If there are other lore reasons that it would be impossible for Tharizdun to be a patron, I default to your knowledge. I just wanted to point out that a Warlock can most certainly have a horrifying, inhuman, outer god kinda patron because the idea of the Warlock just having telephone conversations with their patron is simply a dumb misconception of how the class should work (presuming one cares about the class working in the game and not just existing to provide stats.)
But RAW shows you can play a goofy warlock who not only has none of these ill effects
I think it's a bit silly to blame the rules for not having binding passages on how Warlocks behave or the lore effects/consequences of their powers. The DM should be able to decide on and adjudicate that on a case by case basis. If I were DMing a game where someone wanted to be this kind of Warlock, I would say clearly "By a certain level, you will basically be King in Yellowing the average person you encounter and that's going to create problems. Are you and the party up for that?"
The problem with classes that have deep lore is they threaten to take over the party due to the class lore itself having lots of implications for the story, which puts the spotlight on any player who chooses one of them. A Fighter is just some guy. A Warlock is the specialest snowflake in the entire sky and needs lots of attention and babying throughout the campaign if you take the lore seriously.
Eh, Warlock pacts aren't so burdensome on game lore, not any more than Paladin oaths or Cleric domains are. They're also not particularly difficult to reflavor (provided the setting has magic of just about any kind). It's stated in the PHB (iirc) that some patrons have a bunch of Warlocks just to maintain some foothold among mortals. The patron may tug on the chain every once in a while, but there's no need for the Warlock to become the super-special MC of the group. I've found that if a "Main Character" emerges in one of my parties, running or playing, it has a lot more to do with who wrote the best character hook and roleplays the best for that adventure, rather than anything to do with class.
 
You are completely missing the point. None of that is in the PHB. The Fighter player can choose whatever subclass and fighting style he wants, and none of his choices are tied up with text that put any significant weight on the setting lore or center him in the party. Maybe he's just some guy. Maybe he's a special snowflake. DM's call. By contrast, the Warlock's class description has details of cosmic significance, inserting godlike beings into your setting, making them actively interested, defining those beings to some degree, and intrinsically putting some pretty heavy demands on the lore and tilting the table to the Warlock. The patron is not easily disentangled from the lore, and it's a damned-if-you-do-damnned-if-you-don't situation. Making a campaign-defining arc out of why the fighter gets to reroll 1s and 2s on his damage dice does nothing about this problem.
It doesn't have to be in the PHB. But if I as a player show up at the table and my character may as well have not existed in the world until the start of the adventure, that's not a character that has much going on in the world let alone a reason to be doing anything. I would hope your players aren't so basic that the only reason to ever go adventuring is "because its' the right thing to do" because that's one-dimensional as fuck.

If a player sits down at my table who can't stay engaged with the game unless I build critical quest arcs out of 1-line class features on his character sheet, the whole table will be glad to see the last of him after two sessions.
Your table sounds boring. If you can't figure out how to keep a player engaged, that's a you problem. No, it doesn't mean that character backstories need to "take over" your campaign, it means that people come up with characters that exist in the world you've created and expect that the PC doesn't exist for the adventure as if you put them there as a generic fill in character creator from a CRPG to be run through a dungeon meatgrinder like you're playing Chainmail.

Also, are you really so uncreative that you can't figure out how to take a swordsman's previous master and have him turned to join the evil guys or whatever as some random capo so the player can have a moment of roleplaying when they encounter NPCs? Come on. That's basic as fuck, doesn't interfere with anything in a preset story, and actually allows more character specific storytelling to occur. Even someone running a pre-written D&D adventure should be able to figure this out, without altering anything about the campaign.
I've found that if a "Main Character" emerges in one of my parties, running or playing, it has a lot more to do with who wrote the best character hook and roleplays the best for that adventure, rather than anything to do with class.
And if that happens and things aren't balanced because one player is hogging the spotlight, you tug on another hook from a different PC's character sheet to balance things back out.

Could be class, race, who their parents were, their preferred weapon, socioeconomic status of the character's family(noble going on an adventure vs a former serf)
 
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And if that happens and things aren't balanced because one player is hogging the spotlight, you tug on another hook from a different PC's character sheet to balance things back out.
To clarify, if an MC emerges it's usually via an unspoken party consensus because everyone enjoys the hook and the roleplaying. Nothing wrong with enjoying playing a simpler character or a character who primarily supports one of the other PCs. Few things worse than a party where everyone is competing to be the coolest.
 
To clarify, if an MC emerges it's usually via an unspoken party consensus because everyone enjoys the hook and the roleplaying. Nothing wrong with enjoying playing a simpler character or a character who primarily supports one of the other PCs. Few things worse than a party where everyone is competing to be the coolest.
Certainly, I wasn't referring to a party where everyone has a case of main character syndrome. I simply meant that if a PC's former sensei or whatever the shit has been coming up too often, move onto the guy who taught the rogue sleight of hand tricks when they were a kid and tries to sucker him and the party into doing a job. Doesn't mean the rogue needs to engage with it like it's some holy grail of a quest, but it can keep interacting flowing around the table smoother or even to get the party back towards the main story/quest/adventure.
 
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