Great stuff. I will be using this when next I sit in the GM chair, with a few minimal tweaks to adapt it to my campaign. Looking forward to posting on the Discord as things get going.
Hi! I answered a question about this on the discord today - there is nothing to stop you from plugging the b/x magic system back in, with a bit of legwork it will work just fine.
Us new soloers here and trying to get used to the context.
May I please ask whether there is some sort of streamlined ...method to calculate a fair combat encounter for our PCs? And by fair I mean that they have a chance of winning...(little point in 2 level 1 folks encountering an overpowerd enemy\monster/ beast)...
If the above is answered within the context please excuse and kindly let me know where to find the answer.
You could probably adapt Scarlet Heroes' method for playing with one hero or one hero and a companion. When you roll your weapon's damage die, you use the following chart:
1: no dmg
2-5: 1 dmg
6-9: 2 dmg
10+: 3 dmg
Heroes deal their damage directly to the enemies' HD, while enemies deal their damage to the heroes' HP. That means a 1HD bandit is killed in a successful hit if the damage die roll is 2 or more. (Since FORGE doesn't use HD for its example creatures, just use the creature's level instead.)
Heroes also have what's called a "Fray Die" equal to their weapon damage die that they can roll once per round to deal additional damage to enemies of equal or lower level. So a Lvl 1 Knight engaged with two Bandits (1HD) and a Bandit Leader (2HD) would be able to roll her d8 Fray Die at any time during the round and potentially deal 1 or 2 damage to the two bandits (but not to the higher HD leader).
This is a relatively simple way of beefing up a single hero such that they can take on a standard OSR combat encounter alone, or with a companion. However, it's not recommended to use this method for more than 2 heroes, or else they will be significantly overpowered.
Hi there! The above advice is great, and actually ties in nicely with an addon that I've been putting together that helps facilitate true solo play - Paragon Mode. Both systems essentially toughen up and increase the capabilities of a lone adventurer (or two) allowing you to throw more at them.
The playtest for FORGE Paragon Mode is currently on the Discord, if you wanted to check it out. It is functionally similar to Scarlet Heroes, however more tuned for the FORGE primary/secondary attributes and (hopefully) simplifies some things.
With regards to balancing encounters anyway, I suppose the normal response you will get is that OSR games are inherently unbalanced.. which isn't particularly helpful I know. I suppose you could say that a 1HD/1st Level enemy should be roughly equivalent to a 1st level Player Character, however that would also depend on the character's equipment and what capabilities the enemy had. I think it is important to remember that in OSR games it is generally not a good idea to try and go toe-to-toe with an enemy, as you would in more modern versions of D&D. Instead, you are encouraged to think outside the current combat engagement - can you use terrain/topple scenery/bypass the encounter with stealth or diplomacy? Ultimately it isn't as straightforward as you were hoping!
I think you get a feel for it, the more encounters you play/GM. I have seen a group of 6 level 1 adventurers clear out an entire goblin/bugbear cave (30+ enemies) with clever use of poison on their food supplies... there will almost always be a way for the players to win if they come up with a good plan!
Thanks ! Pretty much that was the spirit og the answer inhad expect led myself. If you feel you are overpowered, use your mind ! Thanks again for the effort in this !
I ordered my copy from amazon Canada and the quality of the print is really good.
I will need more time to explore all the mechanics and potential adventures!
My mind started to race when I saw the potential to create specific tables to run a game in Middle-Earth 5e or Beyond The Walls rpg. Time will tell if I find the time to do it. :-)
Hi there, sorry for the belated response and thank you for the kind words. Let me know how you get on with your game! I hope you get some good use out of FORGE :)
Great game! I just bought a printed copy. But ... my v1.03 pdf has some elements in the sidebar table of contents (viewable when open in a pdf reader) that do not correspond to anything in the document. For instance the sub-links, "Weapon" and "Armour" (under Treasure) should probably be be removed and "Magic Item Effect" added instead. Haven't looked at all the sub-links ... maybe when I get more time. Anyway, just fyi. Love the game and keep up the good work.
With regards to your comments - the 'Weapon' and 'Armour' links are to the two nested tables within 'Magic Item' at the top of that page (I didn't necessarily need to put bookmarks to these, but decided that it was useful even for non-magic items discovered as treasure - e.g. the hyperlinks from the non-magic items on the table opposite). To save on space, it is the only table where the type of weapon or armour can be randomly determined. It would have potentially been clearer if I had included a separate weapon/armour table that both 'Magic Item' and 'Non-Magic Item' linked to, but space was at a premium!
I do agree that 'Magic Item Effect' would benefit from having a bookmark, so I will include that in the next update to the pdf.
Thank you Oliver for releasing this! I ordered the A5 version! I am pretty new to solo rpg tabletops and I was looking into dungeon worlds and waiting for my copy, do you happen to know if forge works well with it?
Hi there streamlap, thank you for your interest and I apologise for taking such a long time to respond (for some reason I missed the notification that you had left a comment!)
Do you mean 'Dungeon World'? That is a Powered by the Apocalypse (PBTA) style game, which is slightly different to a game based on D&D mechanics, like FORGE. PBTA games tend to lean more heavily into the fiction, and often run best with multiple players working together to interpret the emerging story. Personally, I find FORGE easier to play as a solo game than PBTA, as I benefit from the increased mechanical crunch as a scaffold to hang my story from. If you prefer a PBTA style game, I can recommend Ironsworn as an alternative to DW, as that is designed to be played solo.
I'm really impressed with clarity of presentation and enhancements to old school rules. One thing I'm not sure about is how the primary and secondary attribute bonuses affect play at higher levels. +1 to a primary seems reasonable at level one, but when you get to level 10 that +10 means you'll nearly always succeed on actions with your primary attributes. How has this worked in play testing?
With regards to the +10 and +5 to primary and secondary checks at 10th level, on average that relates to 80% and 55% chance to succeed against the default target of 15.
If this were for a saving throw, it isn't too dissimilar to B/X which has saving throw chances between 50% and 70% for the average level 10 fighter (A level 10 dwarf would have a 90% chance to succeed a save vs death).
Attack bonuses are largely similar too, a level 10 character with STR as primary (e.g. a fighter type) would have +10 to melee attacks, which is close to the base +7 of a B/X level 10 fighter. Similarly a level 10 thief, with STR secondary would have only +5 to melee attacks, identical to B/X.
Skills-wise, a B/X level 10 thief would have an 85% (5/6 chance) to succeed at most thief-y things, this is pretty similar to having a level 10 DEX primary character in FORGE.
In general I find that characters in FORGE are ever so slightly stronger than their B/X counterparts, however not noticeably so.
In play testing, we have occasionally had a character make it to the higher echelons, at which point they are definitely expected to succeed at most of the things they attempt.. however I fully expect a Dragon or similar high level creature to make short work of them should they throw themselves into combat without proper planning! :)
Thanks for the detailed explanation, that makes sense. I rarely play above level 5 or 6, but it would be interesting to see how the game plays at level 10.
I tried to visit the FORGE discrod channel following the link you provided on this page, but it doesn't lead to any channel. I think that it either doesnt work, or your channel no longer exists.
Really nice system from what I've looked at so far!
One question on spell casting: are runestones/writs per spell, or per circle?
The rules for scribing suggest one per spell (since the special component must relate to the spell in some way), but this seems quite prohibitive considering they take an inventory slot each!
Runestones and writs are one per spell. This is designed to be slightly restrictive - more in line with the low number of spells memorised by magic users and clerics in b/x d&d. At some point your character might well own several more runestones than they can carry, this means they will need to choose which ones to take with them (similar to memorising), or come up with ways to carry more, e.g. hiring a porter.
Feel free to join us on the FORGE discord where we've talked about this, as well as many other topics. There are also options for increasing carry capacity if RAW feels too restrictive - everyone has different preferences!
While I understand the goal of restricting how many spells are available at once, it effectively makes Strength the stat that governs this which doesn't feel right to me.
I appreciate that there are options like porters which mitigate this, but at low levels it seems to punish magic users even more than most OSR systems and dissuades the use of niche spells like 'Ventriloquism' or 'Read Languages' when you can only carry 2 or 3 total.
Going from level 1 to level 6, unless strength is a primary, then an arcane magic user will have 5 more spells per day and 60 more spells to choose from but only 3 more slots. Meanwhile a melee fighter is unlikely to ever need more slots than they start with besides perhaps having a secondary weapon or acting as the party's pack mule.
Thank you for your feedback. I appreciate that the restriction on carry capacity might not be everyone's cup of tea.
Just going back to your point about a low level magic-user only being able to carry 2 or 3 spells - this is effectively similar to how many spells a magic user has access to in, e.g. OSE. They have only a single spell at level 1, 2 at level 2, 3 at level 3.. etc. Whilst RAW a FORGE magic-user could potentially have 3 runestones at level 1. Yes this would be at the expense of other gear, but the option is still available to them.
Whilst I do agree that the rate at which you gain inventory slots as a magic-user increases more slowly than the max number of spells able to be memorised in OSE, the earlier availability of higher circle spells (e.g. 6th circle at level 6 instead of level 11) swings the balance quite considerably back in the magic-users favour.
In any case, as I mentioned previously, please feel free to increase carry capacity to your preference. For example, using (STR check bonus + 15) inventory slots will give you more wiggle room at lower levels without breaking anything.
The book was originally written for A4, so the A5 format is a scaled down version (65% scaling) to fit within the POD margins. I'd say that it's perfectly readable, but perhaps this might enable you to make a judgement yourself (Full size A4 on the left, A5 on the right and ruler with centimeters along the bottom - zoom on a tablet or phone and match up the ruler with your own.. then you'll know exactly how the text will look):
+1 on Amazon. I am disabled and without income but I occasionally receive Amazon gift cards for Holidays. So I can't pay for things most places (Lulu, DrivethruRPGs, Itch) but I can occasionally get $tuff on Amazon. And, while I dislike Bezos and Amazon generally, I know some people who work there (Unionize!) that still need to pay their bills so...
I did originally look into publishing with Amazon, however I have heard some negativity concerning print quality, it is also quite particular with regards to trim sizes, more expensive to print, and then Jeff also takes all the $ at the end! :P
I'll give it another look now though and let you know.
I will totally understand if you choose not to do it given those reasons, but if I remember correctly Lulu will actually take your print books and distribute to Amazon for you, all you need to do (I think) is make sure to get an ISBN and make certain selections in the admin area. https://www.lulu.com/sell/retail-distribution
But, that said, I can't blame anyone for not wanting to go there ;) I'd just like to be able to support indie game developers and that is the only place I can do it with any regularity but my occasional $$$ will not make or break anyone so it certainly is not worthwhile doing it on my account ... only if you get a goodly number of people asking for it. Thanks for even considering it. That alone is something.
This is truly excellent. I love that everything uses d6's - it makes it far faster to roll up results. A real labour of love! Can't wait to start using this in some of my solo sessions.
Thankyou for for all the work & effort put you've into this. :)
Just one bit of feedback to polish it even more- under Quick References I would add one very small annotation under Attribute Checks, reminding players that the target number is a Roll Over System.
Of course, that is explained later on, but it's missing here, which I think is crucial to know right off the bat.
What an amazing condensed game, it captures the fun elements of B/X, BECMI, ADnD very well, while dispensing with some of the annoying idiosyncracies that keep new players away.
At the same time, this is a fully fledged OSR-compatible solo/gm-less GM Emulator, with all the concrete tables I've needed yet and all the abstract ones I think I'll ever need.
Um.... I feel like I'm pirating something with the quality presented here! Honestly, I can't believe how amazing the presentation is and how complete the rules are. Typically games with similar rulesets bury it under hundreds of pages.. Absolutely amazing. If I could order a print copy, I would in a heartbeat! Amazing work!!!
Thank you! And huge thanks again for all of your proofreading and helpful comments, I really do appreciate your efforts. Hope that you enjoy playing it when you do! :)
That is what I was referring to at the top of my comment. v1.0 (which I hope to upload later this week) has this wording now, to hopefully avoid confusion:
Something I've noticed is, somewhere in the manual I think I read something about Trapped Treasure, but in the dungeon generation pages there's no seeming relation between the unguarded treasure or the result in traps, are you supposed to ask the oracle if the treasure IS the trap?
Hi there, thanks for your comment. So, I actually rephrased the bit early in the book regarding 'room traps' and 'treasure traps' - these are now defined as 'simple traps' and 'complex traps', with complex traps requiring thieves tools to disarm. In general, I'd say anything linked to opening a door or chest would be classed as complex. A pit, a hinged trapdoor, a rope attached to an alarm bell etc are all simple traps. I leave this up to the GM to determine, based on the description of the trap and the fiction.
With trap/dungeon generation, unguarded treasure appears on the discovery table and traps appear on the danger table. On delving deeper you can get danger+discovery together, so that would be one hardcoded way to link the two.
Outside of this, you can also interpret unguarded treasure in different ways.. i recently had a room in a crumbling crypt in which my PC found a gem as unguarded treasure.. i decided this was lying amongst the rubble and i wasn't suspicious of a trap. If a treasure makes you suspicious of a trap based on the fiction, I'd definitely ask the oracle.. whilst playing solo I often do this when my character is right in front of the treasure and I say that is him actually checking for traps (1 turn passes), that reflects what would happen at the table with a real GM. Both my character and I find out if there is a trap at the same time.
I would rule that a character skilled in dungeon exploration or thievery should always automatically discover a trap, but I often use the oracle or an attribute check to determine if they can disarm it depending on the fiction (e.g. He cuts the wire connected to the wall - does this disarm it? (Likely Odds) if it doesn't, I'll give him a chance to roll out of the way of whatever trap springs). It keeps a lot of the tension present whilst playing solo.
You can certainly ask the oracle about potential traps on treasure hoards owned by monsters.. but the likelihood will again depend on the type of monster etc.
I hope that helps somewhat? Let me know if I misunderstood.
Hey! I skimmed pretty much everything except the spell lists, and have not really caught much on my end so far except maybe one typo and a potential mistake with one of the tables:
1) I see 5-6 next to the moderate potions section so I am confused on that piece.
2) I see most the of the verb and noun tables are in alphabetical order but on the third noun table, this pattern stops on entry 24. It looks like some entries after that are a repeat of earlier entries. Is this intentional?
I also have some questions for clarifications on my end. Some of these might just be a matter of applying common sense, or even just creative use of the oracle, but may or may not be worth elaborating on in the text somewhere if there is room in the text and/or time before your 1.0 release.
!) Do you track water and thirst?
3) How do you determine how far is a creature during the start of an encounter?
3) In the Alchemy section, the potion example is specific to healing potions. Is the same template used for other potions?
5) Runestones and writs can only hold one spell correct?
Hey, thanks again for your comment. You've actually picked up on a huge copy paste mistake there. All the tables are put together in excel and then copied in.. I'll definitely get that fixed straight away, especially as its such an important table!
the 5-6 next to Moderate Potions is supposed to be 2-6. As in, roll d6 to find out if you've found one of the simple potions or if you get to roll d66 on the larger table. I think i need to make that more obvious.
For the clarifications:
I generally handwave thirst and water. One group I know include it as part of a Ration, which seems to work well enough. I think anything beyond that and it starts to defeat the simplification idea behind forge.
I don't, actually. I generally insert the creature wherever I initially imagined it to be. But I think there's a good argument for adding encounter range onto the bottom of page 37.
I admit that the variable potency of crafted Potions probably works best for healing Potions and poisons, but I think it's also interesting if someone tries to brew a potion of fly, but they end up with levitate.. or if they were trying for a potion of strength and ended up with giant strength. I think this will definitely require some GM thinking. Alternatively, you can ignore variable potency for Potions where it's a bit ambiguous, and just roll d4 on complication/added bonus.
Correct, runes and writs all contain a single spell, however that spell may be cast multiple times, based on how many spells a character can cast per day.
I have a fair few other fixes that i need to make, in addition to those above, however I'm hopeful that I'll be able to upload v1.0 by the end of the week.
Quick question regarding potions that can be found as treasure. For those involving special effects (potion of water-breathing as an example), would it be around 1 hour such as what is stated in the alchemy section or would it be the same duration as the spell? Figure it would be the former but was not sure if that applied only to potions brewed by the character vs those found randomly as treasure.
My intention was that all potion effects should last 1 hour, as it makes it significantly easier to adjudicate. I've actually added the following note to the potions section under treasures, as I also thought it wasn't immediately obvious - "Potion effects, if temporary, last 1 hour (poison is potent on a blade for two hits, or up to 1 hour before drying up – save with advantage vs the 2nd hit)".
I'm getting closer to v1.0. I've revamped the Wilderness section, which now includes a half-page set of terrain-based feature tables, with splits for water, plant and land features. I've tried to keep them as concise as possible, but results like "Dust bowl", "Creek" or "Wildflowers" should be enough to send you in the right direction! Terrain feature is also now tied into the expanded wilderness discovery table too.
I've added some tables for resources - types of stone, wood and metals (e.g. for trade or construction/item crafting), as well as a section on plants (both poisonous and edible) which can also be used as a "what was found on a foraging attempt" roll. On the whole, I'm much happier with the wilderness section - it feels packed, without being bloated.
I've also added a page that goes into detail about incorporating followers into your game, as well as breaking down mechanical differences between hirelings, mercenaries and companions.
Do you think you are going to release those additions before the 1.0 release or are you going to hold off and release everything at once in the final release?
Hi again! I've decided that it would be best if I released it with all the new additions/changes in advance of a V1.0 release (V0.9.7).. just so that if there any any obvious mistakes they will get captured. Hope you enjoy it!
This is definitely the best set of rules that I have seen so far for an osr/nsr rpg that also integrates a framework for solo gaming. Without a doubt going to be my solo rpg of choice for quite some time since this game fundamentally contains rules from some modern osr/nsr rule sets that I love (Such as abstract distance) with all of the fundamental procedures you need to solo this type of game (especially dungeon generation).
As far as feedback, if possible, I probably would add maybe one more page for the wilderness section that would contain some expanded examples for the discovery’s you can find. That being said, this is pretty much just a nitpick since, for example, if I needed a specific landmark, I can roll for that in one of the games you mentioned as attributions (such as maze rats or the upcoming knave 2e). This would also give you that nice two page spread to make it consistent with some of the other sections in the book.
Hope more fans of solo gaming discover this game so that it gets the attention it deserves.
Hi there, thank you very much for your kind words and feedback!
I do agree that the wilderness section could be fleshed out slightly - my goal is to try and include everything needed to run a solo game, all in one book. Plus you are definitely right about the two page spread layout.
I am conscious of not making tables too prescriptive, as I find that tends to hamper imagination, however I totally get that others may feel differently. As you say, I think expanding the wilderness discovery table one level deeper (similar to the dungeon discovery table) will be a step in the right direction, without overdoing it.
After seeing the recent Dolmenwood PDF, I was also thinking that I could add a table or two expanding on foraging in the wilderness too, such as example plants and herbs (e.g. edible, inedible/poisonous). I'll have a play around and see what looks good. I do need to be careful, as I want to give people the tools to easily create their own game worlds, rather than force feed them made up plant names from my own setting :)
Thank you again for your comment - collaboration is key to creating the best product!
Im really happy with this system! Genuinely! Its become my go-to for solo.
Because youre looking for feedback, id suggest a dedicated section on hirelings, just for the sake of having those rules available on the table of contents.
As it stands now it seems they are only mentioned in passing on the combat section, and on the shopping section as just a thing you can use your money on. It's not impossible to piece things together, but i was confused initially, especially because there is a playsheet dedicated to them. Aside from that, i love this game.
Thank you so much for your comment. I'm really glad you're enjoying the game!
The way I play hirelings is that they usually start off as generic 'Footman', 'Archer', etc recorded on the notes and hirelings sheet (sometimes with names assigned). They are presumed to have their own inventory etc but I don't track it as I'm effectively treating them as mercenaries. I'll put a tick in two attribute boxes for each to mark them as primary, either randomly (d6) or whatever I think suits their role. These hirelings are generally for above-ground wagon guarding or similar.
My PC's actual companions were generally elevated from hireling status (or met through other circumstances etc), at which point I flesh them out on the companion sheet, tracking inventory, conditions, experience, etc, and these guys follow my PC down into dungeons and get a half share of loot, as well as an increased wage (though more often than not I remove the wage if they are getting a share).
Mechanically there isn't much difference between hirelings and companions, except companions can gain xp and become stronger with your PC. They should all hopefully be quite quick to run. I'll generally establish more character details for companions too, such as appearance, quirks and motivations, however I track that separately on my character list.
The total number of followers that a PC can have (CHA check bonus +2) are the number of hirelings and companions combined. However, when playing solo I think it's fine to be a bit less strict with this.
I'll definitely add a section on hirelings and companions to my to-do list, thank you!
Hello, I have reviewed the latest version and I think it is a great system, I usually play solo and I think the tables and oracle will be very useful for me, I only have one question, how are the initial values of the attributes assigned? I look forward to version 1.0
Hi there! Thank you, I'm really glad that you like it!
If you check the top of page 11, I mention rolling 3d6 for each attribute in turn (3d6 down the line - STR > DEX > CON etc.) This will generally result in lower attribute scores than in more modern versions of d&d, but also they have slightly less mechanical impact too..
I'm hoping to release 1.0 soon, I just want to make sure I've got all the wrinkles ironed out.
Hi, thank you for the feedback (I do appreciate it). I included a 'button' to take you back to the contents page on every page - I use this on my own documents as it helps streamline my solo-play experience. I deliberately put it in the footer so that it would be easier to hide/remove from later versions if people don't like it.
I made an effort to add hyperlinks to all the sections and tables, again in an effort to speed up solo-play, but yes you are right, there are no bookmarks, which some people prefer. I will add them to a future release.
This is just... beautiful. I've spent good money on significantly smaller documents. The layout is excellent, and the amount of content is ridiculous for the page count. I love the tables and procedures included. The Knave and Maze Rats influences on these areas are obvious, and that's not a complaint. The occupation system doubling as race or class replacement is great, Worlds Without Number if I'm not mistaken? Overall, I've wanted to put together my own OSR solo book for a while that fits my tastes and I think you've just done it for me. I may have to print it off in A5 size.
Thank you for the kind words! I hadn't originally intended on making a full book, but it just blossomed into one over the course of a year or so. I'm primarily a solo player, so that's why there is so much focus on the random tables. Ideally i wanted a full system and oracle/adventure/item/creature generation that synergised with itself without needing to convert on the fly.
The result is a heavily modified combination of procedures and tables from various sources (including my own) that i have used for years with great success.. all in one place!
Oh, and the fact that the page count is divisible by 4 is no accident - you can print it as a booklet in Adobe and saddle stitch/staple to give you an A5 booklet.
When i get around to it, I am intending on adding a spread of example items after the treasure pages. Plus anything else that I think of that might be helpful.
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Just got the book in the mail today! I love it sooo much! It's so inspiring. Gonna use a lot of the ideas in my othe games! Thank you for this book!
Great stuff. I will be using this when next I sit in the GM chair, with a few minimal tweaks to adapt it to my campaign. Looking forward to posting on the Discord as things get going.
Brilliant! I look forward to hearing about your game. Best of luck with it! :)
Thank you very much for making this amazing game available to all of us, Zap!
Hey, thank you for your message! I hope you get some good use out of it :)
The generators are a great help for sure, thank you so much, Zap.
Thank you a lot. Excellent work.
Thank you!
Love this
Are there any alternate magic system floating around?
Hi! I answered a question about this on the discord today - there is nothing to stop you from plugging the b/x magic system back in, with a bit of legwork it will work just fine.
Thanks for this excellent piece of work !
Us new soloers here and trying to get used to the context.
May I please ask whether there is some sort of streamlined ...method to calculate a fair combat encounter for our PCs? And by fair I mean that they have a chance of winning...(little point in 2 level 1 folks encountering an overpowerd enemy\monster/ beast)...
If the above is answered within the context please excuse and kindly let me know where to find the answer.
Again many thanks for inspiring our worlds.
Alex
You could probably adapt Scarlet Heroes' method for playing with one hero or one hero and a companion. When you roll your weapon's damage die, you use the following chart:
Heroes deal their damage directly to the enemies' HD, while enemies deal their damage to the heroes' HP. That means a 1HD bandit is killed in a successful hit if the damage die roll is 2 or more. (Since FORGE doesn't use HD for its example creatures, just use the creature's level instead.)
Heroes also have what's called a "Fray Die" equal to their weapon damage die that they can roll once per round to deal additional damage to enemies of equal or lower level. So a Lvl 1 Knight engaged with two Bandits (1HD) and a Bandit Leader (2HD) would be able to roll her d8 Fray Die at any time during the round and potentially deal 1 or 2 damage to the two bandits (but not to the higher HD leader).
This is a relatively simple way of beefing up a single hero such that they can take on a standard OSR combat encounter alone, or with a companion. However, it's not recommended to use this method for more than 2 heroes, or else they will be significantly overpowered.
Thank you ! I was mostly asking about how we decide how tough, and many, the enemies would be. Though you did provide with excellent ideas !
Hi there! The above advice is great, and actually ties in nicely with an addon that I've been putting together that helps facilitate true solo play - Paragon Mode. Both systems essentially toughen up and increase the capabilities of a lone adventurer (or two) allowing you to throw more at them.
The playtest for FORGE Paragon Mode is currently on the Discord, if you wanted to check it out. It is functionally similar to Scarlet Heroes, however more tuned for the FORGE primary/secondary attributes and (hopefully) simplifies some things.
With regards to balancing encounters anyway, I suppose the normal response you will get is that OSR games are inherently unbalanced.. which isn't particularly helpful I know. I suppose you could say that a 1HD/1st Level enemy should be roughly equivalent to a 1st level Player Character, however that would also depend on the character's equipment and what capabilities the enemy had. I think it is important to remember that in OSR games it is generally not a good idea to try and go toe-to-toe with an enemy, as you would in more modern versions of D&D. Instead, you are encouraged to think outside the current combat engagement - can you use terrain/topple scenery/bypass the encounter with stealth or diplomacy? Ultimately it isn't as straightforward as you were hoping!
I think you get a feel for it, the more encounters you play/GM. I have seen a group of 6 level 1 adventurers clear out an entire goblin/bugbear cave (30+ enemies) with clever use of poison on their food supplies... there will almost always be a way for the players to win if they come up with a good plan!
Thanks ! Pretty much that was the spirit og the answer inhad expect led myself. If you feel you are overpowered, use your mind ! Thanks again for the effort in this !
I think I see you already asked this on the discord too.. apologies for not answering sooner!
Thank you. Good job for the game.
I ordered my copy from amazon Canada and the quality of the print is really good.
I will need more time to explore all the mechanics and potential adventures!
My mind started to race when I saw the potential to create specific tables to run a game in Middle-Earth 5e or Beyond The Walls rpg. Time will tell if I find the time to do it. :-)
Hi there, sorry for the belated response and thank you for the kind words. Let me know how you get on with your game! I hope you get some good use out of FORGE :)
Great game! I just bought a printed copy. But ... my v1.03 pdf has some elements in the sidebar table of contents (viewable when open in a pdf reader) that do not correspond to anything in the document. For instance the sub-links, "Weapon" and "Armour" (under Treasure) should probably be be removed and "Magic Item Effect" added instead. Haven't looked at all the sub-links ... maybe when I get more time. Anyway, just fyi. Love the game and keep up the good work.
Hi there! I'm glad you're enjoying the game :)
With regards to your comments - the 'Weapon' and 'Armour' links are to the two nested tables within 'Magic Item' at the top of that page (I didn't necessarily need to put bookmarks to these, but decided that it was useful even for non-magic items discovered as treasure - e.g. the hyperlinks from the non-magic items on the table opposite). To save on space, it is the only table where the type of weapon or armour can be randomly determined. It would have potentially been clearer if I had included a separate weapon/armour table that both 'Magic Item' and 'Non-Magic Item' linked to, but space was at a premium!
I do agree that 'Magic Item Effect' would benefit from having a bookmark, so I will include that in the next update to the pdf.
Thanks again!
Thank you Oliver for releasing this! I ordered the A5 version! I am pretty new to solo rpg tabletops and I was looking into dungeon worlds and waiting for my copy, do you happen to know if forge works well with it?
Hi there streamlap, thank you for your interest and I apologise for taking such a long time to respond (for some reason I missed the notification that you had left a comment!)
Do you mean 'Dungeon World'? That is a Powered by the Apocalypse (PBTA) style game, which is slightly different to a game based on D&D mechanics, like FORGE. PBTA games tend to lean more heavily into the fiction, and often run best with multiple players working together to interpret the emerging story. Personally, I find FORGE easier to play as a solo game than PBTA, as I benefit from the increased mechanical crunch as a scaffold to hang my story from. If you prefer a PBTA style game, I can recommend Ironsworn as an alternative to DW, as that is designed to be played solo.
I'm really impressed with clarity of presentation and enhancements to old school rules. One thing I'm not sure about is how the primary and secondary attribute bonuses affect play at higher levels. +1 to a primary seems reasonable at level one, but when you get to level 10 that +10 means you'll nearly always succeed on actions with your primary attributes. How has this worked in play testing?
Hi there, thank you for the kind words.
With regards to the +10 and +5 to primary and secondary checks at 10th level, on average that relates to 80% and 55% chance to succeed against the default target of 15.
If this were for a saving throw, it isn't too dissimilar to B/X which has saving throw chances between 50% and 70% for the average level 10 fighter (A level 10 dwarf would have a 90% chance to succeed a save vs death).
Attack bonuses are largely similar too, a level 10 character with STR as primary (e.g. a fighter type) would have +10 to melee attacks, which is close to the base +7 of a B/X level 10 fighter. Similarly a level 10 thief, with STR secondary would have only +5 to melee attacks, identical to B/X.
Skills-wise, a B/X level 10 thief would have an 85% (5/6 chance) to succeed at most thief-y things, this is pretty similar to having a level 10 DEX primary character in FORGE.
In general I find that characters in FORGE are ever so slightly stronger than their B/X counterparts, however not noticeably so.
In play testing, we have occasionally had a character make it to the higher echelons, at which point they are definitely expected to succeed at most of the things they attempt.. however I fully expect a Dragon or similar high level creature to make short work of them should they throw themselves into combat without proper planning! :)
Thanks for the detailed explanation, that makes sense. I rarely play above level 5 or 6, but it would be interesting to see how the game plays at level 10.
I tried to visit the FORGE discrod channel following the link you provided on this page, but it doesn't lead to any channel. I think that it either doesnt work, or your channel no longer exists.
Strange, it should be working. I've replaced it with a new link that has no expiry date, same link here: FORGE Discord
Let me know if you have any problems.
Really nice system from what I've looked at so far!
One question on spell casting: are runestones/writs per spell, or per circle?
The rules for scribing suggest one per spell (since the special component must relate to the spell in some way), but this seems quite prohibitive considering they take an inventory slot each!
Runestones and writs are one per spell. This is designed to be slightly restrictive - more in line with the low number of spells memorised by magic users and clerics in b/x d&d. At some point your character might well own several more runestones than they can carry, this means they will need to choose which ones to take with them (similar to memorising), or come up with ways to carry more, e.g. hiring a porter.
Feel free to join us on the FORGE discord where we've talked about this, as well as many other topics. There are also options for increasing carry capacity if RAW feels too restrictive - everyone has different preferences!
While I understand the goal of restricting how many spells are available at once, it effectively makes Strength the stat that governs this which doesn't feel right to me.
I appreciate that there are options like porters which mitigate this, but at low levels it seems to punish magic users even more than most OSR systems and dissuades the use of niche spells like 'Ventriloquism' or 'Read Languages' when you can only carry 2 or 3 total.
Going from level 1 to level 6, unless strength is a primary, then an arcane magic user will have 5 more spells per day and 60 more spells to choose from but only 3 more slots. Meanwhile a melee fighter is unlikely to ever need more slots than they start with besides perhaps having a secondary weapon or acting as the party's pack mule.
Thank you for your feedback. I appreciate that the restriction on carry capacity might not be everyone's cup of tea.
Just going back to your point about a low level magic-user only being able to carry 2 or 3 spells - this is effectively similar to how many spells a magic user has access to in, e.g. OSE. They have only a single spell at level 1, 2 at level 2, 3 at level 3.. etc. Whilst RAW a FORGE magic-user could potentially have 3 runestones at level 1. Yes this would be at the expense of other gear, but the option is still available to them.
Whilst I do agree that the rate at which you gain inventory slots as a magic-user increases more slowly than the max number of spells able to be memorised in OSE, the earlier availability of higher circle spells (e.g. 6th circle at level 6 instead of level 11) swings the balance quite considerably back in the magic-users favour.
In any case, as I mentioned previously, please feel free to increase carry capacity to your preference. For example, using (STR check bonus + 15) inventory slots will give you more wiggle room at lower levels without breaking anything.
I hope that helps.
i really like this comprehensive game, including those oracle tables! Great! I would love to see a sci-fi (Star Wars) version of it.
Just ordered the book from lulu.com? Thanks again for this precious resource!
Thank you, I'm so glad you like it!
I currently have plans for a few different genres (cyberpunk, post-apoc, sci-fi) however they are still in their infancy! Stay tuned i guess :P
understood. I wait.
One question: I really like the font that you have used for the letters. May I ask: which one did you take?
The font used for the title is called 'IM Fell English', I really like it too!
Trying to decide which to buy. I like the more digest size books, but how's the readability on the A5 version?
The book was originally written for A4, so the A5 format is a scaled down version (65% scaling) to fit within the POD margins. I'd say that it's perfectly readable, but perhaps this might enable you to make a judgement yourself (Full size A4 on the left, A5 on the right and ruler with centimeters along the bottom - zoom on a tablet or phone and match up the ruler with your own.. then you'll know exactly how the text will look):
Hope that helps! :)
This is amazing and so helpful. Thank you!
No problem at all!
Hi, any plan to make a POD version on Amazon? Thanks for this great little gem!
Love the feel of these rules.
+1 on Amazon. I am disabled and without income but I occasionally receive Amazon gift cards for Holidays. So I can't pay for things most places (Lulu, DrivethruRPGs, Itch) but I can occasionally get $tuff on Amazon. And, while I dislike Bezos and Amazon generally, I know some people who work there (Unionize!) that still need to pay their bills so...
I did originally look into publishing with Amazon, however I have heard some negativity concerning print quality, it is also quite particular with regards to trim sizes, more expensive to print, and then Jeff also takes all the $ at the end! :P
I'll give it another look now though and let you know.
I will totally understand if you choose not to do it given those reasons, but if I remember correctly Lulu will actually take your print books and distribute to Amazon for you, all you need to do (I think) is make sure to get an ISBN and make certain selections in the admin area. https://www.lulu.com/sell/retail-distribution
But, that said, I can't blame anyone for not wanting to go there ;)
I'd just like to be able to support indie game developers and that is the only place I can do it with any regularity but my occasional $$$ will not make or break anyone so it certainly is not worthwhile doing it on my account ... only if you get a goodly number of people asking for it. Thanks for even considering it. That alone is something.
This is truly excellent. I love that everything uses d6's - it makes it far faster to roll up results. A real labour of love! Can't wait to start using this in some of my solo sessions.
Thank you! I just love d6s :)
I'd love to hear how you get on if you do get a chance to play!
Thankyou for for all the work & effort put you've into this. :)
Just one bit of feedback to polish it even more- under Quick References I would add one very small annotation under Attribute Checks, reminding players that the target number is a Roll Over System.
Of course, that is explained later on, but it's missing here, which I think is crucial to know right off the bat.
Hi, thank you for your kind words :)
You make a good point, and I will add something to that effect.
I should have enough time to put that change in before the print release next week.
What an amazing condensed game, it captures the fun elements of B/X, BECMI, ADnD very well, while dispensing with some of the annoying idiosyncracies that keep new players away.
At the same time, this is a fully fledged OSR-compatible solo/gm-less GM Emulator, with all the concrete tables I've needed yet and all the abstract ones I think I'll ever need.
What a gem of a comment, thank you!
Um.... I feel like I'm pirating something with the quality presented here! Honestly, I can't believe how amazing the presentation is and how complete the rules are. Typically games with similar rulesets bury it under hundreds of pages.. Absolutely amazing. If I could order a print copy, I would in a heartbeat! Amazing work!!!
I agree with Steven here and would like to second interest in a print copy.
So, as a test run, i actually have a hardcopy of an earlier version. It came out really nicely, as you can see below.
My plan is to organise the release version print run, figure out costs, then I'll put an update on here with info on how you guys can get hold of it!
Congrats on your 1.0 release! Looks solid and definitely plan to play a lot of it when I have time.
Thank you! And huge thanks again for all of your proofreading and helpful comments, I really do appreciate your efforts. Hope that you enjoy playing it when you do! :)
thus is what I was talking about on my previous comment
That is what I was referring to at the top of my comment. v1.0 (which I hope to upload later this week) has this wording now, to hopefully avoid confusion:
Something I've noticed is, somewhere in the manual I think I read something about Trapped Treasure, but in the dungeon generation pages there's no seeming relation between the unguarded treasure or the result in traps, are you supposed to ask the oracle if the treasure IS the trap?
Hi there, thanks for your comment. So, I actually rephrased the bit early in the book regarding 'room traps' and 'treasure traps' - these are now defined as 'simple traps' and 'complex traps', with complex traps requiring thieves tools to disarm. In general, I'd say anything linked to opening a door or chest would be classed as complex. A pit, a hinged trapdoor, a rope attached to an alarm bell etc are all simple traps. I leave this up to the GM to determine, based on the description of the trap and the fiction.
With trap/dungeon generation, unguarded treasure appears on the discovery table and traps appear on the danger table. On delving deeper you can get danger+discovery together, so that would be one hardcoded way to link the two.
Outside of this, you can also interpret unguarded treasure in different ways.. i recently had a room in a crumbling crypt in which my PC found a gem as unguarded treasure.. i decided this was lying amongst the rubble and i wasn't suspicious of a trap. If a treasure makes you suspicious of a trap based on the fiction, I'd definitely ask the oracle.. whilst playing solo I often do this when my character is right in front of the treasure and I say that is him actually checking for traps (1 turn passes), that reflects what would happen at the table with a real GM. Both my character and I find out if there is a trap at the same time.
I would rule that a character skilled in dungeon exploration or thievery should always automatically discover a trap, but I often use the oracle or an attribute check to determine if they can disarm it depending on the fiction (e.g. He cuts the wire connected to the wall - does this disarm it? (Likely Odds) if it doesn't, I'll give him a chance to roll out of the way of whatever trap springs). It keeps a lot of the tension present whilst playing solo.
You can certainly ask the oracle about potential traps on treasure hoards owned by monsters.. but the likelihood will again depend on the type of monster etc.
I hope that helps somewhat? Let me know if I misunderstood.
Hey! I skimmed pretty much everything except the spell lists, and have not really caught much on my end so far except maybe one typo and a potential mistake with one of the tables:
1) I see 5-6 next to the moderate potions section so I am confused on that piece.
2) I see most the of the verb and noun tables are in alphabetical order but on the third noun table, this pattern stops on entry 24. It looks like some entries after that are a repeat of earlier entries. Is this intentional?
I also have some questions for clarifications on my end. Some of these might just be a matter of applying common sense, or even just creative use of the oracle, but may or may not be worth elaborating on in the text somewhere if there is room in the text and/or time before your 1.0 release.
!) Do you track water and thirst?
3) How do you determine how far is a creature during the start of an encounter?
3) In the Alchemy section, the potion example is specific to healing potions. Is the same template used for other potions?
5) Runestones and writs can only hold one spell correct?
Hey, thanks again for your comment. You've actually picked up on a huge copy paste mistake there. All the tables are put together in excel and then copied in.. I'll definitely get that fixed straight away, especially as its such an important table!
the 5-6 next to Moderate Potions is supposed to be 2-6. As in, roll d6 to find out if you've found one of the simple potions or if you get to roll d66 on the larger table. I think i need to make that more obvious.
For the clarifications:
I generally handwave thirst and water. One group I know include it as part of a Ration, which seems to work well enough. I think anything beyond that and it starts to defeat the simplification idea behind forge.
I don't, actually. I generally insert the creature wherever I initially imagined it to be. But I think there's a good argument for adding encounter range onto the bottom of page 37.
I admit that the variable potency of crafted Potions probably works best for healing Potions and poisons, but I think it's also interesting if someone tries to brew a potion of fly, but they end up with levitate.. or if they were trying for a potion of strength and ended up with giant strength. I think this will definitely require some GM thinking. Alternatively, you can ignore variable potency for Potions where it's a bit ambiguous, and just roll d4 on complication/added bonus.
Correct, runes and writs all contain a single spell, however that spell may be cast multiple times, based on how many spells a character can cast per day.
I have a fair few other fixes that i need to make, in addition to those above, however I'm hopeful that I'll be able to upload v1.0 by the end of the week.
Thanks for your response!
Wish you the best of luck on finishing the rest of it. Sounds like it is going to be a solid release.
Quick question regarding potions that can be found as treasure. For those involving special effects (potion of water-breathing as an example), would it be around 1 hour such as what is stated in the alchemy section or would it be the same duration as the spell? Figure it would be the former but was not sure if that applied only to potions brewed by the character vs those found randomly as treasure.
My intention was that all potion effects should last 1 hour, as it makes it significantly easier to adjudicate. I've actually added the following note to the potions section under treasures, as I also thought it wasn't immediately obvious - "Potion effects, if temporary, last 1 hour (poison is potent on a blade for two hits, or up to 1 hour before drying up – save with advantage vs the 2nd hit)".
I'm getting closer to v1.0. I've revamped the Wilderness section, which now includes a half-page set of terrain-based feature tables, with splits for water, plant and land features. I've tried to keep them as concise as possible, but results like "Dust bowl", "Creek" or "Wildflowers" should be enough to send you in the right direction! Terrain feature is also now tied into the expanded wilderness discovery table too.
I've added some tables for resources - types of stone, wood and metals (e.g. for trade or construction/item crafting), as well as a section on plants (both poisonous and edible) which can also be used as a "what was found on a foraging attempt" roll. On the whole, I'm much happier with the wilderness section - it feels packed, without being bloated.
I've also added a page that goes into detail about incorporating followers into your game, as well as breaking down mechanical differences between hirelings, mercenaries and companions.
All the changes sound awesome! Looking forward for the next update.
Do you think you are going to release those additions before the 1.0 release or are you going to hold off and release everything at once in the final release?
Hi again! I've decided that it would be best if I released it with all the new additions/changes in advance of a V1.0 release (V0.9.7).. just so that if there any any obvious mistakes they will get captured. Hope you enjoy it!
Awesome! Love what I see so far and plan on reading the whole thing over the next week or two to see if I can catch any typos/mistakes on my end.
This is definitely the best set of rules that I have seen so far for an osr/nsr rpg that also integrates a framework for solo gaming. Without a doubt going to be my solo rpg of choice for quite some time since this game fundamentally contains rules from some modern osr/nsr rule sets that I love (Such as abstract distance) with all of the fundamental procedures you need to solo this type of game (especially dungeon generation).
As far as feedback, if possible, I probably would add maybe one more page for the wilderness section that would contain some expanded examples for the discovery’s you can find. That being said, this is pretty much just a nitpick since, for example, if I needed a specific landmark, I can roll for that in one of the games you mentioned as attributions (such as maze rats or the upcoming knave 2e). This would also give you that nice two page spread to make it consistent with some of the other sections in the book.
Hope more fans of solo gaming discover this game so that it gets the attention it deserves.
Hi there, thank you very much for your kind words and feedback!
I do agree that the wilderness section could be fleshed out slightly - my goal is to try and include everything needed to run a solo game, all in one book. Plus you are definitely right about the two page spread layout.
I am conscious of not making tables too prescriptive, as I find that tends to hamper imagination, however I totally get that others may feel differently. As you say, I think expanding the wilderness discovery table one level deeper (similar to the dungeon discovery table) will be a step in the right direction, without overdoing it.
After seeing the recent Dolmenwood PDF, I was also thinking that I could add a table or two expanding on foraging in the wilderness too, such as example plants and herbs (e.g. edible, inedible/poisonous). I'll have a play around and see what looks good. I do need to be careful, as I want to give people the tools to easily create their own game worlds, rather than force feed them made up plant names from my own setting :)
Thank you again for your comment - collaboration is key to creating the best product!
Im really happy with this system! Genuinely! Its become my go-to for solo.
Because youre looking for feedback, id suggest a dedicated section on hirelings, just for the sake of having those rules available on the table of contents.
As it stands now it seems they are only mentioned in passing on the combat section, and on the shopping section as just a thing you can use your money on. It's not impossible to piece things together, but i was confused initially, especially because there is a playsheet dedicated to them. Aside from that, i love this game.
Thank you so much for your comment. I'm really glad you're enjoying the game!
The way I play hirelings is that they usually start off as generic 'Footman', 'Archer', etc recorded on the notes and hirelings sheet (sometimes with names assigned). They are presumed to have their own inventory etc but I don't track it as I'm effectively treating them as mercenaries. I'll put a tick in two attribute boxes for each to mark them as primary, either randomly (d6) or whatever I think suits their role. These hirelings are generally for above-ground wagon guarding or similar.
My PC's actual companions were generally elevated from hireling status (or met through other circumstances etc), at which point I flesh them out on the companion sheet, tracking inventory, conditions, experience, etc, and these guys follow my PC down into dungeons and get a half share of loot, as well as an increased wage (though more often than not I remove the wage if they are getting a share).
Mechanically there isn't much difference between hirelings and companions, except companions can gain xp and become stronger with your PC. They should all hopefully be quite quick to run. I'll generally establish more character details for companions too, such as appearance, quirks and motivations, however I track that separately on my character list.
The total number of followers that a PC can have (CHA check bonus +2) are the number of hirelings and companions combined. However, when playing solo I think it's fine to be a bit less strict with this.
I'll definitely add a section on hirelings and companions to my to-do list, thank you!
Hello, I have reviewed the latest version and I think it is a great system, I usually play solo and I think the tables and oracle will be very useful for me, I only have one question, how are the initial values of the attributes assigned? I look forward to version 1.0
Hi there! Thank you, I'm really glad that you like it!
If you check the top of page 11, I mention rolling 3d6 for each attribute in turn (3d6 down the line - STR > DEX > CON etc.) This will generally result in lower attribute scores than in more modern versions of d&d, but also they have slightly less mechanical impact too..
I'm hoping to release 1.0 soon, I just want to make sure I've got all the wrinkles ironed out.
Thanx, english is not my first lenguaje and I was looking in the wrong page.😅
Can you rename the subfiles so that they start with FORGE - there are so many and they wont sort together.
Good point to be fair! I'll do that now.
There’s a “Contents” footer on every page.
Hi, thank you for the feedback (I do appreciate it). I included a 'button' to take you back to the contents page on every page - I use this on my own documents as it helps streamline my solo-play experience. I deliberately put it in the footer so that it would be easier to hide/remove from later versions if people don't like it.
I made an effort to add hyperlinks to all the sections and tables, again in an effort to speed up solo-play, but yes you are right, there are no bookmarks, which some people prefer. I will add them to a future release.
Oh! OK. I didn’t realise it’s a link.
Bookmarks would be nice.
This is just... beautiful. I've spent good money on significantly smaller documents. The layout is excellent, and the amount of content is ridiculous for the page count. I love the tables and procedures included. The Knave and Maze Rats influences on these areas are obvious, and that's not a complaint. The occupation system doubling as race or class replacement is great, Worlds Without Number if I'm not mistaken? Overall, I've wanted to put together my own OSR solo book for a while that fits my tastes and I think you've just done it for me. I may have to print it off in A5 size.
Thank you for the kind words! I hadn't originally intended on making a full book, but it just blossomed into one over the course of a year or so. I'm primarily a solo player, so that's why there is so much focus on the random tables. Ideally i wanted a full system and oracle/adventure/item/creature generation that synergised with itself without needing to convert on the fly.
The result is a heavily modified combination of procedures and tables from various sources (including my own) that i have used for years with great success.. all in one place!
Oh, and the fact that the page count is divisible by 4 is no accident - you can print it as a booklet in Adobe and saddle stitch/staple to give you an A5 booklet.
When i get around to it, I am intending on adding a spread of example items after the treasure pages. Plus anything else that I think of that might be helpful.
I hope you get as much use out of it as I have :)