Osrs elemental battlestaff

Maybe it’s because I have a background in making video games but this is so bizarre to me. Many indie TTRPG feel like long forum posts about what some person decided their dream game was, done without any consideration for the actual player on the other end of the game.
There are no discernible game loops, the lack of any kind of concrete rules for many situations is handwaved away with “just roll a skill check” and “it’s up to the GM”, tons of game-specific jargon exist for mechanics that already have well-negotiated names, and worst of all, many of them are just direct clones of one another with a couple inconsequential mechanical twists and new Proper Nouns.
I wonder sometimes if this is a market that exists almost solely for people who also consider themselves designers and want to study and collect other designs aa opposed to actual players playing what they find fun and engaging?
Many of the OSR clones and PbtA-likes seem to be the worst offenders here. Heavily stylized books chock full of expensive artwork and eye-catching design, but functionally it’s difficult to even call some of them “games” for me (PbtAs in particular). They are more like loosely structured roleplaying exercises and often lack most of the intentional design elements that make games actually feel addictive and rewarding to play.
Is it just me clinging too narrowly to design concepts that primarily exist to sell games and hook players? Or is there a serious lack of critical thinking in this space in regards to stuff as basic as the “30 seconds of fun” loop that drives most successful video and board games?

Soooo this ended up being longer than I expected, but ok here is the thing:
I've played 5e for a while now and it's been quite fun. I've dmed that system for 6 years more or less with different groups of friends. But it's been enough. 5e was my introduction to TRPGs and even though I enjoyed the hell out of the system (and still do), I could never take out the need for constant homebrewing and changing the system to suit the world/game that I was dming. I am tired of fighting against the system and trying to make it something that it isn't. Throughout these last years, I became quite a TRPGs fanatic and checked/collected different game rules and settings, but sadly I didn't manage to play them due to not finding players or the lack of interest from my party. This is not the first time I try to step out of 5e, but as everyone at the table wants to play it, I always fall back into it to avoid rpg abstinence.
Pls this can NOT happen again xd, I am done with fantasy superheroes, over-restrictive class guidelines, and prescribed vancian casting. I NEED something new that lets me be free of the 5e player expectations and rules.
After some time I am gonna restart dming from time to time in a cool shared setting that I and some friends started for a west marches/living world game. The premise of the setting is basically:
"mesh of our different real-world cultures/mythologies" + "fantasy races as product of evolution" + "an archipelago/continent with a large history of migrations" + "magic as a physical manifestation of individual or collective worldviews"
There is way way more to the setting, but explaining it would take quite a bit of space. But that is a good basic idea of it.
As I remain unwilling to use 5e, I need some new system to play the game and I thought of asking the community due to my lack of experience. We play online using Foundry and the thing is that, in the case of 5e, the overall system was too damn time-consuming for homebrew. Combat takes too long and doing all the homebrew items, NPCs, etc is quite some work to make it work smoothly with the system. And something to consider is that my prepping time is now very limited due to university.
So, after thinking more about it, I believe that these are the requirements I would need in the game: - A rules light or medium game system that is opt for homebrewing to lower the prep-time - It has good support in Foundry (I mean that one can play with no probl the system there) - It has some interesting combat and it doesn't bog down. It is fairly fast but still keeps a balance with some complexity. It being deadly can be a plus. - It is suitable for long-term play - It has a more free-form magic system. So again, no straight vancian casting.
This last thing is the biggest issue I have atm given that representing the magic of this world in the fiction depends a lot more on a character's backstory than just the actual rules of a class or magic school. The basic idea of how using magic works is that an individual can "attune" themselves with practice and study using a "magical mechanism in nature" (this would be described with fluff in the system) to a specific element(s) and so, learn how to control them and with experience, expand on their capabilities. Now what consists as an element depends on a culture's, school's, or an individual's interpretation/view. Because of how the flavor of the magic is built, it doesn't lend itself that well to an only spell slot type of system. We had been working around it with 5e, but it would be cool to now use a more suited ruleset for this.
As my players come from 5e, I've been checking some more 5e-dnd-player-friendly systems for the game like Index Cards RPG, Savage Worlds, Cypher, or overall OSR. But honestly, Idk how well these systems would translate to the world, which are their strengths in comparison to each other in practice, or if there could be any better-suited game systems. Also, my players are only familiar with dnd and though, they are open to using a new ruleset for the game, I know that it can not diverge too much from what they are used to (so no narrative-only or simulationist games). And this is important, cause oc I also want them to pass a damn good time with the game.
Still, even though they really like some good combat, from facing a BBEG to clashes of armies, they also love rp (we have a term which is "unnecessary roleplay" for the mandatory 2 hours rp we definitely don't need but require every session). And besides that, we also like the idea of traveling in the game instead of just basically teleporting, so keeping the pillars of DND would be important (exploration, social, and combat). This is why I've had my eyes on universal systems or OSRs, but again my inexperience with other systems maybe blinds me.
Anyway, sorry for the long post. If you read til here, then I thank you and I would appreciate any game suggestions or input!

This is something I whipped up after I picked up all the Lamentations of the Flame Princess PDFs in their recent sale. I've been doing rigid design work on Trackmarks for the past few months, so I used this project as an excuse to cut loose.
I tried to be as off-the-wall as I could: Explaining rules in footnotes, holistically designing the character sheet, etc. All things considered, I think it came out really good!
This system combines the proposed rules in Eldritch Cock with some of my favorite design elements from Trackmarks and tidbits from other OSR games. These come together to form a system I will be very comfortable churning through Lamentations products with.
It was super fun to go completely bonkers. I hope you find something useful to steal from this!
Download Ancient Sword of Hate from itch.io.

Hey so I haven't played osrs in like 15 years lol. But I'm back and I'm wondering the best way to handle the jungle demon in mm1. The issue is I'm 1 def and only magic at 50, but I need the attack xp the quest gives, so I'm kinda forcing myself to run it.
I've seen the cheese strats, and wondering if the prayer for magic defense is 100% necessary, or if anybody has any def suggestions.
I was planning on wearing leather top and mage bot and cap, with the elemental shield and use fire bolt for the killing blows, but only have 25 prayer.
I have 36 hp as well.

I need to vent, I seriously need to let off some steam about my new favorite part of the game, Chompy Birds. Yeah, you heard me right. CHOMPY. BIRD. HUNTING. AND IT’S AMAZING.
I've been an avid player of OSRS for quite some time now, but only recently have I discovered the pure, unadulterated joy that is Chompy Bird hunting. Why only now, you ask? Well, that's why I am making this post. For too long, the OSRS community has brushed off Chompy Bird hunting as some kind of annoying activity and treated it like some kind of punishment sanctioned by jagex for our diaries. Every time I talked about it I was met with people flaming them and telling me to avoid them unless I was doing a diary. "Focus on bossing," they said. "Killing chompies won't get you anywhere," “void gear sucks now,” they said. Well, guess what, they were wrong. Dead wrong.
I've been hunting these plump birds for a few weeks now, and let me tell you, it's not just fun - it's insanely profitable. I'm making a steady 500k an hour just by hunting and selling these magnificent creatures. Yes, you read that right, 500K AN HOUR. And I'm not even good at it. Why the hell do people not do this on new accounts? Why was I never recommended this? It makes more money than blue dragons and it is hella fun.
So why the misinformation? Why does everyone shit on them so much, they are fucking amazing. I honestly don't know, and frankly, I'm pissed off. This community is supposed to be about sharing knowledge and helping each other out. But instead, you have my new favorite money maker getting roasted by maxed mains who discover this part of the game after already having a max cape and just trying to finish the grind. Of course they have a bad reputation, but you should give them a shot, they are really good.
But now that I've discovered the truth about Chompy Bird hunting, I have a suggestion. Let's take this thing to the next level. I propose we add a new, more challenging and more rewarding Chompy Bird - a Mega Chompy, if you will - in the Wilderness, similar philosophy to black chins.
It would be High-risk, high-reward hunting challenge that not only tests your skills but also gives you the chance to earn something truly unique. Imagine hunting this Mega Chompy while avoiding PKers, adding an element of thrill and danger to the hunt. And what's the reward, you ask? How about a unique drop that gives a defense boost in the Wilderness Slayer Cave and Revenant Caves? Think something similar to the wilderness weapons.
This item would make these areas more desirable for players, fostering more engagement in the community and making the Wilderness a more dynamic and exciting place to be. It's about time for some new wilderness content and I think adding a Mega Chompy to the Wilderness is the perfect way to do it.
So, let's not brush off this idea as we did with Chompy Bird hunting for so many years. Let's embrace change and make OSRS an even better game. Join me in calling for the addition of the Mega Chompy, and let's revolutionize the way we hunt in OSRS.
I rest my case. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk. #MegaChompyForOSRS TLDR: Chompy birds are underrated and fuck people for telling me to avoid them. I am making 500k an hour on them and loving every second of it. We need to add a wilderness chompy that is even more rewarding.

I plan to release my system later this year and was curious about your perspective on whether it is OSR adjacent or not. However you classify it, does it interest you?
The system has a 5e core with heavy inspiration from Five Torches Deep. Here's the main features:

• d20 system with the six core stats STR - CHA. The only other dice used are d6s. Roll stats down the line.
• There are no classes. Players spend XP to improve skills and unlock abilities. During character creation players must choose between special abilities like spellcasting and other critical features.
• Max PC level is 10. At max, PCs are skilled adventurers, but still mortal and never far from death.
• No rolling for damage, weapons deal flat damage
• Players roll everything. The GM doesn't roll NPC attacks, instead the players roll defence checks, etc.
• Combat uses range zones and group initiatives.
• High lethality. PCs start with low health, don't get much more. Health heals slowly, not overnight. PCs can receive permanent injuries when dropping to zero HP, if they don't die.
• Weapons and armor have durability and can break. Non-combat skills are essential for adventuring parties (repairing gear, carrying gear, brewing potions, etc).
• Inventory slot system.
• Magic casters gather and spend mana to cast spells, must pass casting checks to use magic, miscasts damage the caster and everyone nearby, mana regens slowly, new spells are learned by finding and studying artifacts (not via level-ups).
• Unique magic system for elemental casting like Avatar the last Airbender where mages channel their element.

Those are the major features. What do you think? Is this too far away from old-school D&D to be considered OSR or OSR adjacent? I've been heavily influenced by OSR while working on this, but maybe it's missing a key component of the OSR formula. Cheers!

We are looking for 2-3 more players; after some of our schedule changes, several players needed to depart.
Sessions are on Sunday Evenings (EST), usually at 7pm. Our next session is in an excellent place for new characters to join the story and become integrated with the remaining party.
------------------------------
This campaign is an all caster campaign, started in an arcane university (harry potter jokes) but has spiraled out with an archdemon summoned and destroying the School and it's surrounding city of Kaunalos, and forbidden magic being used to stop the demon and destroy him, along with everything around it for miles.
The party woke up, years later, unburied themselves from the rubble, regrouped, and are beginning to uncover what happened and how things have changed.
After meeting the various factions that are scavenging the remains and looting what they find, the party has gone through a portal to a curious plane, and when they looked back, there was no way back home in sight..
They are in an inhospitable land of monsters that change and adapt as they fight them in real time. A truly alien world. This is where we begin...
---------------------------
It is a sandbox game, spanning across any planes and realms you wish to travel to; There will be clear hooks, but where you go and what you do is up to you. This is a living world; for example, if you let a war break out that you could have prevented, the world may likely change from the war's impact.
When I see my players gravitate towards something, what parts of the game they enjoy, I often build in personalized elements of the story for that interest. If you like something, lean into it - I'll be happy to feed it.
---------------------------
Previous DMs, forever DMs, and experienced players will fit best, but if you are up for high complexity and a challenge, we can help you out and you will be welcomed.
I appreciate those who do their best to not get distracted during game time.
Splitting the party if it makes sense is completely fair, creative uses for skills not explicitly described in the book are great, and using spells in creative ways that may not be exactly how the spell is written can be done with a good roll.
I try to run fast paced combat with group initiative (Party turn // Enemies turn); if you don't know quite what to do, no problem ill come back around to you.
I will not tolerate childish behaviors like murder-hobos, disregard for other's boundaries, and disrespecting the rest of the group's time.
My Discord is AgreeableFaust#2276
---------------------------
In this campaign, we will be using a system that I have worked on for over two years. The system is built on the backbone of 3.5e, but I have incorporated many of the best parts of 5e that speed the game up and make things simpler, and incorporated mechanics and systems from other games that just do it better (exploration for example).
This system is a mix of 3.5e, 5e, and Old School systems. There are 12 total classes, but there are many subclass branches one can choose within each one. You can multiclass to make things even more interesting.
Magic has been completely rebuilt into different schools and are based on a skill tree system of learning spells (similar to something like skyrim-style skill trees).
***This system is a Custom Home Brewed System***
This system is designed to speed up the bloated aspects of 3.5, leave more to open interpretation and imagination similar to 5e and OSR games, while rebalancing the game, letting anyone feel as powerful as anyone else in their roles.
I have all the books in pdf for you, and all the other information is in simple, organized pages similar to how the books would lay things out.
I'm always happy to answer questions! Again, My Discord is AgreeableFaust#2276
------------------------------
We look forward to game with you.

I know "hardcore" originally meant "death=delete", however I feel that does not work in MMO's. For anyone that doesn't know, an ironman ruleset means you must be self-sufficient or only trade with NPCs.
Here's my dilemma: The "challenge" in hardcore is almost entirely diminished without ironman rules. Why? Not for AH/trading. That's the #2 reason it makes it easier. By far the #1 reason is GROUPING. Being able to group up with players significantly lowers the chance of dying. And yeah, being able to buy gear makes it a tad easier, that's somewhat of a "cherry on top" to scale even better within a group, further reducing the death risk.
However, there's another reason, other than just difficulty. I think lacking ironman rules undermines a core element of what the hardcore challenge has become. It made people play the game in a whole new perspective. Being able to trade players and use the AH eliminates (or mostly eliminates) all of the interesting tactics involving tactically buying gear from vendors across the game world and actually benefiting from gear you can craft through professions. It is so fun and interesting to actually plan gear upgrades through your traveling to zones and from planning your professions.
​
Look at how Oldschool Runescape has implemented these systems. I think OSRS has become the gold standard in alternative game modes for MMO's and there's no shame in modeling after it. These game modes have been EXTREMELY popular and healthy for that game contributing hugely to the playerbase. In OSRS, they created several account types: non-hardcore ironman, hardcore ironman, and more recently added both hardcore and non-hardcore versions of "group ironman".
Of course I don't expect blizzard to implement all 4 of these game modes in one update, but it would be an amazing goal for them to set. "Group ironman" is a way for friends to do a lite version of the challenge together. It is still much easier than solo as mentioned above, however this game mode isn't focused on challenge as much as it is on fun with friends. You establish your group at level 1 and it cannot change, ever.
I would just really love to have these options available in this game, maybe it's something blizzard could implement in waves if they so desired and the community wanted it.
How do you guys think the OSRS-model for hardcore/ironman would work here in Classic?

Originally posted this in the OSR sub, but forgot there's a dedicated sub for BH. So if you guys have any ideas, or have seen alternate armour rules in other hacks id appreciate any ideas
I know the Black Hack armour rules are quite divisive, I don't mind them, but I love the system overall and it's the one part that doesn't entirely click for me.
I find the full damage negation makes fights feel a bit sloggy, and players know that the fights at least going to last x rounds based on the armour alone.
But I really enjoy the breaking and repairing aspects of the system.
So my thinking for armour is this instead. I've seen very similar ideas being discussed but so far haven't seen it specifically written down. So hopefully this isn't entirely repeating something already known
Armour provides flat damage reduction, and every time you're hit you roll the quality die. Crits automatically drop you down one. You can still repair your armour at rest to increase the die back up.
Armour has 2 elements, Type and Quality.
The type can be simply Light /Medium/Heavy or you can make them more specific with chain/plate etc and potentially add some additional rules in there like stealth disadvantage or something. Its the type that dictates the level of damage protection.
Quality is not connected to the type, but literally the quality of the armours make.
So you could have excellently made Leather armour. You take 2 less damage from all hits and it's quality is d12
You could also have shoddy and scrap plate mail scavenged off an orc. 6 damage reduction but only a d4 quality.
I'm not sure exactly on how to repair the armour mechanically, so any ideas there would be appreciated.
Or any other ideas on general towards this would be great.

​
Our group is looking for two dedicated and friendly roleplayers to join us in our new campaign using the Shadow of the Demon Lord system (see ‘What is the Shadow of the Demon Lord system?’ below for an explanation). We are a quartet who have survived the perils of the Abomination Vaults, our previous campaign using PF2e, and are ready to delve into the unknown of this new campaign.
I am the storyteller (GM) of the group, and I put in a great deal of time, effort, and passion into my campaigns. My campaigns have an emphasis on narrative, character, and story, placing the protagonists (the PCs) into a believable world where the antagonists and supporting characters behave according to their goals and motivations. I place a great deal of weight into the story narrative and encourage my players to do the same. We are creating a collaborative story which will hopefully remain with us for years to come.
We are looking for players who are: punctual, proactive, present, and curious. You are required to learn the system rules as they relate to your chosen character. Creating this collaborative story will take effort from all of us. If you are new roleplayer or new to the Shadow of the Demon Lord system you are still welcome.
As a GM I am consistent with sessions, have a strong narrative style, am engaging and personable, patient, and love to be part of an excellent story involving the player’s characters.
​
What is the Shadow of the Demon Lord system?
Shadow of the Demon Lord is a game designed for dark fantasy adventures. It uses a simple d20 system to determine outcomes, and features a character progression system that allows for a variety of unique and interesting abilities.
It sits somewhere between the complexity of D&D 5E and the various OSR systems. It reduces the mechanical complexity from 5E so that it can focus more on roleplaying and speed of play. It is a more dangerous system to characters than 5E, but still provides a measure of safety against bad luck.
It has dark fantasy and horror elements similar to what you would find in the 5E 'Curse of Strahd' module.
CAMPAIGN INFORMATION
Characters: The campaign will begin with characters starting at Level Zero. We will be using the SotDL Core Rulebook, with some elements added from other supplements. Characters are more than just a sum of mechanical parts, and will need to have thought placed into their personality, motivations, and goals.
Virtual Table Top: Foundry VTT. All you need is a web browser.
Communications: Discord for voice during sessions and text between sessions. Your microphone and internet needs to be able to transmit clearly and without static. "Push To Talk" is a must.
Group Size: 4-5 Players + 1 GM (Me)
Session Length: 3.5 to 5 hours (typically 4 to 4.5 hours) with a 15 minute break near the middle.
Frequency: Weekly. Three weeks on, one week off.
Session Zero: Saturday 20th May 1pm (AEST), Friday 19th May 8pm (PDT)
Start Times:
- AEST: Saturday 1pm
- PDT: Friday 8pm
​
Age Restriction: 18 years or older.
​
Content Warnings:
Violence, horror elements, death, swearing, alcohol, drugs, nudity, sexual language, typical fantasy world themes (undead, creepy crawlies, dragons, rats, darkness, etc).
If you have any theme/phobia that you have difficulty with it is best if you bring this up either in the Google Form application, or if it makes you more comfortable, during the interview. We can then discuss if I am able to accommodate this within the game, or if you would be better suited finding another game.
​
How to Express Interest: Please fill out the Google Form at:
https://forms.gle/V1pALeQdDxJupNBw6
​
If you are a likely good fit for the group I will arrange a time for a voice chat via Discord. I am more interested in who you are as a person and roleplayer than character at this stage.

TLDR: my 8 hour sessions are still too short to finish a single quest, any advice?
Hello. I'm running a campaign where a major session goal is to start and end each game in town, so that everything is "reset" between sessions and players can rotate in and out of the party on a whim. At the same time though, the actual wilderness exploration is a huge element I don't want to lose out on, and most of the content comes from random encounter tables and stuff.
So a typical session looks like: Gear up and leave town > travel to location > do the main quest > travel to town > end.
The "travel" bits can take a few days, each with a random thing happening twice per day (can be an encounter, npc, landmark, finding valuables, etc). I really don't want to skip the travel, I want the wilderness to feel vast and dangerous, but it tends to take up a lot of the session time. My first thought is to just have longer sessions, but we already play for 6-8 hours at a time, so that's not really an option.
We're all new to this style of campaign and OSR in general, so I'm confident we'll learn and get better over time, but do any of you more experienced folks have any words of wisdom you don't mind sharing? TIA!
​
Edit: copy-pasting my random "encounter" table from a comment so y'all can see my odds of random combat: Each hex is one day's travel, so morning > short rest > evening > long rest. Twice per hex (one for morning and one for evening), I roll a d10: 1 is a random encounter, intended to be combat 2-3 is either a landmark (if it's the first day's travel) or encounter (if more than that). 4 is landmark, which the party may choose to explore or investigate, or bypass completely 5 is nothing (brief scenic description) 6-7 is an animal (flees, party can hunt if they need food or want a trophy; but a 1/3 chance it's something that might go after them like a dire animal, if it's hungry, i.e roll reaction table) 8-9 is something valuable (more random tables to determine what) 10 is an "otherworldly" encounter, some eldritch lovecraftian thing, this is here to fit the setting: a pre-apocalyptic world abandoned by the gods and slowly falling into darkness yada yada.

[D&D3e] [OSR]So I'm a GM with 40 years experience, but never used a VTT. What I'm looking for in a system is one that is as easy to use for me as a battle Map would be in real life while I'm in play. I'm OK with doing a decent amount of prep work to minimize work when the game is going but do want specific features to minimize the work I'll be doing for a game.Specifically, what I want in a VTT is support for graphical tile* sets with preconfigured line of sight per tile, so that I can lay tiles into multiple layers at once. What I would like to avoid is a situation where I have to lay out the canvas in tiles and the draw in the line-of-sight features and doors for the tiles. Ideally I'd like to build up a library of tileable resources with not only a graphical appearance, but also all the meta-information already set up.
*(I am aware that Foundry seems to use the word Tile for something laid atop the 'canvas' layer. I'm using the term here to refer to a map making process where small repeated elements are connected together.)
Is this something that is supported, and if it is and there is an article about efficiently making maps using tile sets that someone is familiar with, then a link would be great as well.
UPDATE: I've been asked about system and I'm not really sure. I haven't worried about system as strongly because the most likely systems would be either something based off 1e AD&D/OSR or a homebrew version of D&D 3e. So I'm not really expecting direct support for my preferred homebrewed systems. The envisioned game type would be a Gygaxian haven/delve format with a large funhouse mega dungeon, or what is sometimes called a 'West Marches' style campaign. The biggest time sink in such a format is usually map making, and so the most important feature is the ease of map creation.

There was a blog that I read forever ago on blogspot that dealt with a lot of lovecraftian elements within the OSR sphere. Had rulwa for airplanes, guns, race-as-class for mythos entities, and more. I know it had a green text and a black background.
Beyond all this, i cant find it.
EDIT: I also remembered they had a house rule on their blog that has "Anybody can do magic but as a ritual, and the ritual takes as much time as in hours as the level of spell. Ex: 1 hour ritual for magic missle."

Greetings dear OSR-Community,
I´m DMing a Pathfinder campaign (wait, don´t run! ...at least ...it`s First Ed.???) and I need help in fleshing out my adventure.
Thematically it goes like this: Heroes have to deal with an evil item in a very LotR-like way: By bringing it to a certain place in northern Faerun, where it must be dealt with in a specific manner. Third-Parties are after said item too and of course there is a certain element of corruption involved.
As I´m a) not afraid of some old fashioned lethality, b) not really sure, what do to with my basic ideas anyway and c) know that the OSRs possibilites are nearly endless I´ve come here with high hopes in my mind:
Can you please name me some campaigns or modules, which have already done what I set out to do? That LotR-style of adventuring, where the journey is part of the fun and at its end some MacGuffin needs to be taken care of in whatever way.
I don´t care if the module/campaign itself is bad, as I just need them as resources where I can keep what I like and forget the rest...
Thank you very much for any suggestion you can provide.

Hello! This is my second post about rationalization of the rules of old-school games.
New post about spell slots! See first post about clerics here
note: all this may have been invented before me, I do not claim to be the first, and if I stole something from someone, I'm sorry, I did it without malicious intent.
"What people call magic is the ancient art of demonology. Each spell is the name of a demon, elemental, spirit, or other entity from the immaterial world. Each such creature is able to influence the material world in a specific way, but will not do it without special reasons. Such a reason is usually a spell - a requirement backed up by the true name of an entity capable of influencing the physical world in a certain way - to cause a fireball or open a lock without a key. Alas, the ethereal creatures are not stupid, and they know about the power of names over them, so each of them has a hundred names that they change in order not to fall into slavery to the one who recognized him.
Therefore, wizards' spell books are crammed with dozens and hundreds of names belonging to certain creatures from parallel worlds.
And even in this case, the name of the demon is a mysterious entity and only long years of meditation and training of the mind allow you to remember it without risk to the mind. The more experienced a wizard is, the more hardened his mind is, and the more names of demons he is able to contain.
Scrolls - contracts concluded with demons or spirits deserve special mention. According to such contracts, the demon undertakes to fulfill the will of the caster in exchange for a sacrifice pleasing to the demon. That is why the production of scrolls is such a complex and expensive process, requiring the immersion of the sorcerer's mind into the ether and the search for entities willing to conclude such a contract."

I've mentioned a few times around here that I track RPG Kickstarter projects for RPGGeek. You can see all the information here: https://rpggeek.com/geeklist/280234/rpg-kickstarter-geeklist-tracking In a separate thread, I said I had some things to say about what makes for a funded or unfunded project based on my tracking. Some folks were interested. So, here it is. These are strictly my observations. Although I have lots of data, much of what I am about to say is still anecdotal; I have not done an actual analysis on some of these points. Take this wall of text for what it is; a rando dude on the internet talking about stuff.
(I use "funded" here instead of "successful" because I can't say if the projects were successful in the eyes of the backers or not. I don't track things like time to delivery, quality of delivered product, whether all the stretch goals happened, etc. I believe that most funded projects do end up being actually successful, but I have no data around that.)
First, the very good news. ~90% of RPG Kickstarters fund. So as I said elsewhere, if you are the kind of person that can put in the effort to organize a Kickstarter for your RPG project, you have a 9 in 10 chance of being a person who can get it funded. This is also across genres, game styles, systems (although see below for some detail on that).
Now, some negative. Here are factors that, in my observation, are associated with unfunded projects. The more of these that are present, the more likely you are to be disappointed.

• Focusing your pitch on your personal story. I know this is advice that can be found more generally for Kickstarter, but for RPG projects no one cares. If your pitch starts out "I first started playing RPGs X years ago, and I always felt that something was missing..." or similar, it's not a good sign.
• Zero art. It doesn't have to be great art. Honestly, to my mind it can be really crappy art (e.g. in the past six months I'd say 10% or more projects are using AI generated art).
• No description of the actual game; its mechanics, its setting. This might seem like a no-brainer, but you'd be astonished at how many pitches I have seen where the pitch is essentially "I have written an awesome game. It has dragons in it. You should give me money."
• Not having an actual game text. You don't actually have to share that game text (although see below) but if you say something like "We'll create this game to be awesome!" that means you haven't created anything yet.
• A lengthy discourse on the setting and its many nations and elements. This is a sign that what you probably wanted to do was write a novel, not an RPG product.

Now some more positive. Here are factors that seem to increase the chance of funding.

• Quality, consistent art. You don't need a lot of it. I say "quality" instead of "good" because who am I to say whether a piece is good or not? But I can judge the quality of its execution given what seems to be its intent. And the pieces should have a consistent tone and look like they go together even if they are not by the same artist. I'm not a personal fan of the Mork Borg art design phenomenon, but it is a good example of this point. It's eye catching and has a clear style.
• A solid "elevator pitch". Tell the reader in the first paragraphs what the product is about and why it will be fun.
• A clear and concise description of the mechanics (if it is a new RPG, or if it is supplement that includes new mechanics). You don't need 20 paragraphs, 2 or 3 is enough.
• A concise and interesting summary/set of highlights of the setting. You don't need pages of it, but things like "Here are a few of the cool species you can play!" bullet point lists do a good job of conveying the tone and fun of the setting without too much detail.
• A Quickstart pack or an Intro document. Lots of people won't even download it. But a document like this proves you actually have something written. It provides confidence that you will deliver.

EDIT: Here is a project from earlier in the year that funded that I think exemplifies all of the above points except the last one: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/13thmoongames/coven-and-crucible-a-game-of-magic-and-witchcraft It funded for $12k with 272 backers. I think it is an example that many folks here on RPGdesign could conceivably follow. Given that they used DTRPG for distribution of the print copy, I have every reason to think they would be able to deliver the project on time and without taking a bath in extra expenses.
Last but not least, thoughts on style/genre/system.

• If you are writing a fantasy thing and it is not explicitly system neutral or explicitly OSR, you need to seriously ask yourself why you are not writing it as 5E-compatible. The recent OGL kerfuffle has not slowed down 5E-compatible projects or their success. I'm not saying you should do 5E stuff. I'm saying you should be able to explain to yourself a cogent reason why you aren't.
• OSR stuff funds. Not usually at big amounts (although it can). That is a place where DIY aesthetics can be a selling point.
• System neutral resources fund, which is a source of constant astonishment to me. Decks of cards of 100 NPC ideas. A bunch of hexes for a potential hex crawl. An adventure with no system content but some good art and a clear theme.
• New generic RPGs, on the other hand, are a crapshoot. A really solid pitch with good art can work. But this is a very hard market to crack. There are far far more generic heartbreakers than successful new generic games.

A note on funding level. You should be careful about setting your funding tiers and overall funding level. Be serious about this. Have an actual business plan. Trying to make things cheap is not as useful as you think it might be. If people like your pitch they will back it at a reasonable price. A $1k Kickstarter is no more likely to fund than a $10k or $50k Kickstarter. It's all about the pitch. It's better to have a realistic and honest plan and have it not fund than to try to cheapskate it and be stuck with an obligation that is hard to meet.
More importantly than anything else I have said above is this. If you are thinking of doing a Kickstarter for your thing, for god's sake actually look at existing Kickstarters. See what similar projects are out there and whethehow much they funded for. Do some research. Your project does not stand on its own, it is going to be compared to other things folks have backed.
Happy to answer questions and discuss.
EDITED FOR SPELLING AND GRAMMAR

Hey SWN, I'm gonna be DMing for a group new to OSR rules and I'm prob gonna run heroic characters for the campaign. But rather than using the hit dice ruleset, enemy NPCs woud have hp numbers and I allowed every player character to take 1 free standard action if they kill an enemy NPC? For those experienced in OSR, would this potentially unbalance too many elements of combat? Or could this homebrew comfortably fit as an extra tool for new players?

Out of the Abyss is a bad module. That's just my opinion of course, I speak with no presumed authority over you, but I'd like to outline why I think this is the case.
I ran Out of the Abyss about 3 years ago for a group, and got to about 5 sessions before the group broke up. I was still a new-ish DM at the time (having only run a couple one shots and aborted campaigns beforehand). I am going to write this up from the perspective of experience I have now as well as what I remember it was like running as a new DM.
And before I rip it apart, I should qualify that if you enjoy the module, that's not only great but I'd like to know why. I am not here to police your opinion, and I do not speak for every playstyle. And importantly, of course anyone with enough effort and player engagement can make this module great- but my argument is that on it's own it neither fosters that nor aids the DM.
----------------
Firstly: Out of the Abyss is so. very. linear. It doesn't outright say it, but the language in the book is almost egging you to railroad your players.
(Heavy spoilers now) Firstly, the whole first half of the module assumes players try to escape the Underdark. So, the campaign starts in a prison. It then expects players to escape (which is somewhat reasonable), Then, it heavily suggests players go to the Darklake and Sloobludop, basically have to partake in a ritual, then witness Demogorgon's rise in what I can safely call a cutscene- essentially demands players to escape, then for some reason go in Demogorgon's direction to Gracklstugh, then heavily suggests you go to Neverlight Grove (this is my group got to before we burned out), then go to Blingdenstone (the only place to escape the Underdark), fight for the gnomes, and then leave the Underdark- and finally, go to Bruenor Battlehammer's throne, get lectured to go back to the Underdark, and then go down a prescribed Macguffin fetch quests.
But the connective tissue between these beats is incredibly weak. In fact, the module tries to present itself as a sandbox where players can go wherever they like, so they don't give you tools to communicate where they should go to for the next beat. Added on, the book itself doesn't give the DM direction on where to go next.
I'd argue it's a toxic lesson it taught me as a new DM; instead of being forthright about the railroad or giving a tangible sandbox, it has you setting up a game where you're trying to telepathically tell your players where to go next. 'Sloobludop is the closest from where you are- from there you could go to Gracklstugh or Neverlight. You can also just go to Menzoberrazan, the city of Drow- though that might not go over well'. Notice the lack of agency there. The players can only rationally go to Sloobludop. Why smoke and mirror the railroad like that?
------------
Next, Out of the Abyss' exploration rules are downright unusable.
I'd argue 5e has a foundationally weak exploration pillar. To compesate Out of the Abyss thus gives barebones travel rules to get between places. It suggests micromanaging 6 different things players can do during travel, but it also gets you check for two random encounters per day. The shortest distances in the game are 8 days- that means rolling a d20 at least 16 times if you follow the book's suggestion. I might add, combat encounters in 5e are not optimized to be run quickly- expecting ~3 combats to occur in trips between settlements is brutal, and can take up a whole session especially for new DMs.
On top of this, part of the framing in the early half of the book is that the players are being pursued by a team of drow. There is a huge paragraph outlining 'pursuit level', where player actions need to be measured against pursuit.
Bluntly, that's absurd- way too much for a DM to deal with. It's mechanical overload. Homebrewing a different method is fine!.... but why do we have to figure that out? Wasn't this tested? Didn't they make sure the module is fun to run RAW?
----------------
And those two major points coalesce into my broad issue with Out of the Abyss. It wants to jump to major beats/cutscenes, while giving no good tools to run 'everything in between'.
When Demogorgon rises from the Dark Lake to destroy Sloobludop it might be cool. But there's no guidance on how to run that encounter. There are no 4e skill challenges, no rules on how damage is dealt, and no clear enemies. All that's given is two different skill checks that might do something. So as the DM, you have to do everything on the roleplaying of getting away. And with the lack of mechanical danger, the players aren't actually in any danger for this situation- because are you going to kill them for failing a persuasion roll to get the fish-folk out of the way??
There are ten NPCs that are meant to align with the players at the start, all with payoffs and big moments later in the story if you keep them around. But if you don't have online discourse to help you, and especially if you're a new DM, you won't know that ten NPC allies to run for your players is borderline impossible. Even for the most experienced and organized DMs.
Players are essentially railroaded into shambling from place to place, mired with badly thought out random encounters or having all of it handwaves so everything feels floaty. Pushing players to see these cutscenes instead of actually playing a TTRPG.
I am not at the table to whisk my players to get to the cool stuff. I just want to do cool stuff. Why is travelling such a mess? Why aren't there opportunities and clear ways for players to interact with the world (other than going from place to place)? Why are the dungeons pigeonholes that stand as obstacles to the plot instead of being the plot themselves?
---------------------
Out of the Abyss is bad. It dumps too much work onto the DM, expects players to follow along in good faith for some reason, and a sense of cohesion and consequence. It is baffling that this was tested and still deemed worthy, and is almost certainly not worth your money.
It is an okay resource to use to gain inspiration and incorporate elements into your game: and with a lot of work can be converted into somewhat of a decent sandbox. I love stuff like Faerzress and the various mushrooms, and the dungeons on their own are mediocre and useable.
Don't run this. If you want to run a survival game in 5e, go with Rime of the Frostmaiden. And if you want a themepark of cool moments stringed together (as this book seems to be), stick to Wild Beyond the Witchlight.
(I might add, if you really want to run an Underdark game, run Heart: The City Beneath, or find an OSR module to your liking).

I am an Old School Runescape player. Put 60 days into the game in the past 2 years. I recently came across a big urge to play WOW. Never played it in my entire life.
I am mostly interested in doing quests, collection (log?) items, some group content and an overall feeling of solid progression. Sine I am coming from osrs I have no issue with using resources to figure out quests or other aspects of the game, don't need much hand holding.
I heard Classic has a more "you are not the hero" element to its stories? I very much like this aspect.
Also, I am coming from OSRS, so graphics dont have any weight.
I am fairly against any PTW or MTX (i know retail has a pretty aggressive mtx model)
I guess my question is... is classic or retail more suited to me? I am leaning towards classic due to the "old school" feel. But dont want to sink time into one and switch over.
Edit: For those viewing in the future. I went with classic and am very very happy with my decision

To clarify: Would utilizing Gritty Realim/Safe Haven Resting in an overland campaign, or hell even a megadungeon campaign with OSR Morale and Reaction rolls so most combat encounters have a social element inherently, lead to player-guided difficulty?
In the sense that players would have the freedom to see how far they want to push themselves and retreat (with the DM giving clear warning of potentially fatal encounters), and therefore naturally leading to an adventuring day being roughly met, rather than having to guide and prebalance a set of linear encounters to meet an adventuring day.
Of course the worry then is that if players make a mistake and TPK it's still likely on me even if they have the agency, which makes me wonder if there's a safety mechanic I could use. Maybe a one time guaranteed retreat token or something.

Inclusion of more elemental related monsters -
The Temple of the Crushing Wave did this pretty well. So, expanding on that theme I added more encounters with monsters that fly for the Air Temple for example a will o wisp luring the players into a huge swarm of stinges in the A. 8 Ruined Villa instead of an Umber Hulk as an example or a Lava Child included in the Fire Temple.
More non-human cultists -
I reskinned various cultists to not just be human or genasi but kenkus, owlins or in the fire temple fire newts. Same powers and abilities and hit points just reskinned so the players did not get tired of just fighting humans all the time.
More noncombat encounters and exploration rooms -
Chapter 4 can be a bit of a slog and despite there being always a second in command wanting to talk you into fighting the prophet for them not a lot of folks to role-play against. I made some of the bugbears or hobgoblins bored and willing to be bought because they are tired of the cults and their apocalypse nonsense. I just added a few set pieces or little chests in living quarters with nasty traps and such. This part was easy for me because I am running mashup with the original Temple of Elemental Evil and Princes of the Apocalypse and could easily add more weird Gygaxian set piece psych out rooms.
This is where most of the delegates are -
You know all those prisoner rooms in these dungeons? Well most of the delegates are found here because at this point they are giving you clues and hints about what the cultist prophets are planning at the nodes. Even my neutral to evil group is like no way a Prince of Elemental Evil in my backyard is a hard no go for me. It gives payoff for the often neglected Missing Delegation hook sooner and you use them to impress the danger the entire world is in if a creature of that size gets loose.
Be ready to nerf and buff -
My characters wanted to hit the earth temple first and then the air temple and then water and leave fire to the end. Be ok with adjusting difficulty. It really helps for players to have more agency in this one.
Do not be afraid of the side quests and be ready to change a few things to tie it back to the main story -
I did this with the necromancer caves and the Vale of the Dancing Waters.
Just something fun I did.
I also decided to theme each level on some aspect of my own experience growing up in the 80s playing D&D since I am running for a younger group.
Two things everyone thinks about with OSR gaming:
Temple of Black Earth - Dungeon Crawl (easy one)
Temple of the Crushing Wave - Swashbuckling Sword and Sorcery feel (lots of giant monsters and pirates in that one)
Two things you do not think of:
Temple of Howling Hatred - Dark Silly Humor (From DungeonLand to the Land Beyond the Magic Mirror and the first Castle Greyhawk to funhouse dungeons D&D could be weird and funny) . They were allied to the Air cult so a city tour of evil with Savra Belabranta from the Spire leading them past the torture and interogation room and Windharrow beating a flutist asking “Were you rushing or were you dragging?” The kenku mocking the humans being tortured and that sort of thing.
Temple of Eternal Flame - Heavy Metal I even added a Mad Max moment where they were on a thing that looked like a Hellfire Engine (look it up so cool) but was basically just a juggernaut with azers riding on top and a bard riffing. All the ogres in plate mail had spikes coming off their outfits so they looked like members of Gwar. It was not hard at all.