Presenting: Paying Patron Poll Possibilities (Patreon)

Last week, I had a poll to see what my paying Patrons would like as my next series of weekly paying-Patron-exclusive posts. I have to say I was really pleased by the amount of engagement on this. It was my first actual poll on Patreon, and we had both a lot of votes and some great suggestions in the comments. And looking at the results, I feel like there is a strong trend for two specific things -- game material not connected to any existing game system, and Pathfinder 1e content. For example, here are the top 6 vote-getters (I was going to do the top 5, but two are tied for 5th place), with their total votes.

Design a New ttRPG From Scratch (in Weekly Installments) -12Create A System-Agnostic Setting (in Weekly Installments) -10Present Businesses for Various Genres (One Per Week) -9Horrifically Overpowered Pathfinder 1e Magic Items -7Horrifically Overpowered Pathfinder 1e Spells -6Horrifically Overpowered Pathfinder 1e Third-Party Classes-6

The next highest number of votes after that is 4, so there really is a notable drop-off. Now it's easy to skew a poll with such a small size, but on the other hand the people who were motived to vote and comment are people I want to keep happy in a paying service.

So, I'll be designing a ttRPG from scratch in weekly posts.

Wow. Well, I DID offer it up as an option. :)

I have a LOT of ideas for ttRPGs, and doing one "from scratch" means I won't be just reskinning, modifying, or creating a new setting for an existing game system (as I have with, for example Really Wild West and GammaFinder). I will, at minimum, be developing a set of game mechanics and a setting for them, though I may well iterate both fairly often. iteration is, in my opinion, one of the most important elements in making a good ttRPG.

I have a few idea for what ttRPG I could work towards. I may not actually HIT specific design goals, but I find it's best to be working towards specific goals even if those goal morph during design (though it's best if they morph on purpose, rather than as an unintended consequence of design creep).

So, time for another Poll! I'll describe some potential ttRPG ideas, and while I don't PROMISE to do the one that gets the most votes (if inspiration strikes hard, I'll follow my muse), I do promise to weigh it heavily in my final decision.

(Yeah, I HOPE I can make a ttRPG cool enough for this illo to represent it. Art by grandfailure.)

Here are the ideas:

Warbrand - I started work on this already and got derailed by cancer. Go check the link to see what it's about.

Wyverns & Warrens (and here, here, aaaaaaand here) - I started work on this already too, and was farther along, and got derailed by cancer. Go check the links to see what it's about.

The No Addition ttRPG - The concept is to make a core game mechanic that never asks you to add or subtract or multiply. This is not necessarily rules lite, just math lite.

Tales of the Lady's Spelunking League - In the mid 1800s, a man in Missouri put out a newspaper ad asking for a group to come explore the giant cave on his lands. No man answered. Twelve women did. And they found a fantastical underground world of adventure, wonder, and danger. Those women formed the Lady's Spelunking League, who have been protecting the surface world from the dangers of SubTerra ever since!

My Vision of Old Skool Post-Apocalypse - A game designed to create the thrill of super-science and sorcery (or psychicry, or mutation, or all of the above) I felt when first cracking open Gamma World, Morrow Project, Aftermath!, Rifts, and watching Thundarr the Barbarian and The Road Warrior. That's it, that's the design remit,,, no idea how I'd DO it, but that's fine for a pitch.

Other - DO let me know what your idea for "Other" is, but in this case Other is also a vote for "Please not any of the things you listed." If OTher wins, I WILL come up with something else... but I don't promise you'll like it any better. :)