Ishanekon World Shapers (2022)

Overview

Ishanekon: World Shapers is the (probably) biggest free Indie TTRPG with over 2,500 character options. It has been mainly developed by Jan Luyken, aka Blaze Reason, with the aim of creating a game that can compete (if not surpass) the current biggest games on the market while remaining affordable for anyone. With its easily adaptable rules and wide range of options, from beginner-friendly to highly complex, it is designed to satisfy the needs of almost any story and play style. Description From epic fantasy and sci-fi to mundane humans facing everything from common threats to cosmic horror, Ishanekons: World Shapers’ modular design lets you easily adjust the rules to help you experience your stories. This game is designed with the idea that you bring the flavor, and the mechanics help you bring it to life. The 10 Archetypes with over 200 Sub-Archetypes, 1000+ Abilities, 600+ Talents, 300+ items and upgrades, and more allow you to build anything from a simple cat to a city-destroying kaiju. Role and complexity filters let you find what you need quickly while helping you avoid those features that might be too overwhelming for your liking. System Overview & Key Features
Combat d20, Skill d10 The core of combat is built around d20 attack and defense rolls with modifiers that try to beat the enemy's Evasion and DR Power, respectively. Skills, on the other hand, are rolled with d10s, creating somewhat of a dice-based separation between combat and non-combat.
Cinematic Actions While IWS has a solid tactical core that will satisfy most war gamers, it also comes with so-called “Cinematic Actions”. These allow narrative-driven actions, independent of what the rules say your character can do, balancing the rule of cool so that role players have a rules-light way to interact with the action, bringing the best of both worlds.
Flexible Character Customization This system allows you to mix and match all sorts of Archetypes, features, and Abilities. It encourages such behavior and does not introduce any blocks, such as stat requirements. All sorts of interesting mechanical and flavor combinations open up once you start experimenting. This is also true for items. An extensive upgrade and crafting system exists that can turn any old blade into whatever you want.
Carefully Balanced The system's core math has been calculated to ensure that every character option is viable. Breaking the game is not trivial, and you will feel strong, no matter if you are a martial, caster, or something in between. Every weapon and armor type can be wielded to great effect, and each Stat has its uses. “Optimal play” should never get in the way of what fits your character narratively.
Regular Patches As a digital product, IWS can be easily expanded. Monthly patches bring new content, buff weak options, and nerf broken combos to help this game evolve and become the best it can be. New digital tools are also added and expanded, such as online character sheets and an encounter calculator.
Build Your Own Creatures The website comes with more than 100 creatures, each of which has Level 0 to 15 versions, but creature templates and an online creature builder help you as the GM to create whatever monstrosities you want to throw at your players. All those 2,500 options can also be used for whatever you cook up.
Additional links world-shapers.com https://world-shapers.com/ - Official website world-shapers./resources/adventures https://world-shapers.com/resources/adventures/ - Free adventures Super short rules https://world-shapers.com/guides/beginner-introduction/super-short-rules/ - Get started with Ishanekon fast

Other entries

RPPR Actual Play
Actual Play & Podcasts

RPPR Actual Play

TTRPG
English
Actual Play
Role Playing Public Radio presents a weekly Actual Play podcast of tabletop role playing game sessions. It is run by Ross Payton, a tabletop RPG writer and podcaster.The cast rotates for different games, but our regular players include Caleb Stokes, Aaron Carsten, Tom Church, Maddy Gibbons, and Thaddeus Stoklasa. We play a wide variety of RPGs, including Call of Cthulhu, Delta Green, Blades in the Dark, Eclipse Phase, Dungeon Crawl Classics, Heart: The City Beneath, and Monster of the Week. We alternate between full campaigns and one shot adventures. Links actualplay.roleplayingpublicradio.com - Official website podcasts.apple.com - Apple Podcasts feed

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Cyberpunk RED (2020)
Tabletop Roleplaying Games

Cyberpunk RED (2020)

TTRPG
English
Complex
Cyberpunk RED is the fourth edition of the a tabletop role-playing game system published by R. Talsorian Games in 2020. The story takes place in the near-future of 2045 following the events of the Fourth Corporate War. The period for the game's storyline is named the "Time of the Red" due to atmospheric pollution. The system it directly evolved from is Cyberpunk 2020 Description Players in the game are referred to as "Edgerunners". They are mercenaries, criminals, and specialists living in the metropolis of Night City. The games focus on completing jobs and surviving in a megacorporations and street gangs controlled society. As the global supply chain has collapsed, resources are scarce and players must often rely on black-market brokers, known as Fixers, to find their equipment, weapons, and armor. Cybernetic body modifications are a recurring topic in the game, with the emphasis on the risks of enhancing one's body and mind with. System Overview & Key Features Core Dice Mechanic (Interlock System) The game uses a Interlock System. An action's success is determined with a a ten-sided die (d10) and adding the relevant Statistic and Skill rating. The total is compared against a Difficulty Value (DV). Lifepath Generation When creating a character, the player can either roll or manually pick various options from the "Lifepath" tables. The choices made will define the character's cultural background, their family history, romantic relationships, and potential enemies. This is a built-in method of creating an immersive and entangled character backstory. Roles and Special Abilities Characters are defined by their "Role," which is a the game's class system. Players have a choice between ten different roles: Solo (combat specialist), Netrunner (hacker), and Medtech (doctor). Every role has their unique Special Ability which gives them unique gameplay mechanics. Combat and Armor Combat in Cyberpunk RED relies heavily on their body armor rather than high hit point totals. If an attack successfully penetrates a character's armor, the armor's defensive rating is permanently lowered by one point. This mechanic makes extended combat encounters dangerous and forces players to consider alternative approaches. Netrunning The game's hacking rules require Netrunners to be physically close to the computer systems they want to breach. In the setting, the global internet was destroyed, meaning remote hacking is no longer possible. Cyberware and Humanity Players can install cybernetic implants into their characters to gain new abilities or improve their stats. Every implant reduces a character's Humanity, which subsequently lowers their Empathy . If a character's Humanity reaches zero, they develop a condition called Cyberpsychosis. This generally results in the player permanently losing control of their character and no longer being able to play them. Additional links rtalsoriangames.com - Official publisher website and digital storefront cyberpunk.net - Official franchise portal for cross-media content

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Index Card RPG
Tabletop Roleplaying Games

Index Card RPG

TTRPG
English
Rules-light
Index Card RPG (ICRPG) is a universal, fast-paced tabletop role-playing game designed by Brandish Gilhelm (Hankrin Kapuf) and published by Runehammer Games. Originally released in 2017, with its definitive "Master Edition" published in 2021, the system is designed to strip away the mechanical bloat and analysis paralysis often found in traditional d20-based systems. It serves as both a standalone game and a philosophical design toolkit meant to be hacked, modified, and integrated into other role-playing systems. Description ICRPG is highly customizable and natively includes multiple distinct settings within its core rulebook, ranging from traditional high fantasy (Alfheim) and gritty sci-fi (Warp Shell) to weird west prehistoric survival (Ghost Mountain). The system treats game mastering as a visible, high-momentum performance. Rather than hiding information behind GM screens, ICRPG brings structural elements, like turn timers, room difficulties, and tracking metrics directly into the open. The game derives its name from the use of standard index cards to abstractly map encounters, represent terrain, track turn order, and quickly visualize items or monsters, eliminating the need for complex grid maps or expensive miniatures. System Overview & Key Features The Room Target Instead of assigning different Difficulty Classes (DCs) or Armor Classes (ACs) to every individual object, monster, and trap in an area, the Game Master sets a single "Room Target" number for the entire scene (typically ranging from 10 to 15). Every single d20 roll made by a player in that room, whether it is an attack roll, a saving throw, a stealth check, or an arcane spellcast: must meet or exceed that exact same Target number to succeed. The GM can temporarily adjust this target up or down by 3 points for specific tasks that are explicitly "Easy" or "Hard." Loot-Based Progression Characters do not possess traditional levels, nor do they gain intrinsic stat increases or health boosts when accumulating experience points. Instead, character progression is entirely physical and external, driven by "Loot." Every class feature, stat modification, magical spell, and unique ability is physically tied to an item equipped on the character sheet. If a character's gear is destroyed, stolen, or voluntarily traded to an ally, their mechanical capabilities shift completely, forcing players to focus on acquiring and managing an inventory limited to 10 carried and 10 equipped items. Visible Turn Timers To prevent tactical stalling and maintain pacing, the system relies heavily on explicit, visible timers. At the start of an encounter, the Game Master openly rolls a four-sided die (1d4) in front of the players. This represents the number of rounds remaining until a cataclysmic or complicating event occurs, such as a cave-in, the arrival of enemy reinforcements, or a bomb detonating. This mechanic converts passive exploration into an immediate, high-stakes tactical countdown. Abstract Range Zones Tactical movement completely abandons feet, meters, and grid counting in favor of four abstract distance zones: Close (touching or within arm's reach), Near (a few steps away, reachable within a single move action), Far (within sight and shootable, requiring a full dash to reach), and All the Way (distant or requiring specialized long-range capabilities). Positioning is easily tracked using index cards as relative zone containers. Links runehammer.online - Official homepage for Runehammer Games

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Reviews

Sorted by:
Skrat
Skrat
3 months ago

I'm too dumb for crunchy games so Blaze added a trait that removes all the complicated stuff and lets you perform cinematic actions for free at a reduced potency. Am I insulted? Maybe Was it awesome? Yes

GoldZephzellian
GoldZephzellian
3 months ago

Ishanekon has been my favourite TTRPG for a good while now, and it's largely thanks to the excellent berth of character customization and very strong gameplay. Character customization is the vastest it's ever been here, with 3.5e levels of options... but unlike 3.5e where various options were traps, NOTHING is a trap here. Everything has a use for some build, even if they aren't the best on EVERY build. With over 200 Sub-Archetypes (think Classes) to choose from alongside all the other customization, you'll be going crazy if you're a character creating freak like I am. The gameplay is pretty dang great too; the System seems pretty lethal on the surface, and it can be, but the game is actually pretty heavily in the Player's favour when you learn to use the tools you have. This is especially so with the core Meta Resource, Narrative Momentum, which not only allows you to reroll dice, but also perform Cinematic Actions, which are unique actions to kinda do whatever you can think of within reason. Everything here is just... really sweet. And it's all FREE. I've given Blaze money because I feel bad about not paying for this, though. If that isn't a high state of praise, I don't know what is.

Zakary
Zakary
3 months ago

Far and wide the most in-depth and expansive character customization Ive seen in any ttrpg. You can find a build for nearly anything your brain can dream of. My character was able to conjure mobs of disease ridden peasants to fight and spread sickness; never done that in any other ttrpg before hahah.

Nat
Nat
3 months ago

If you like DnD, you should try this. 🩷

antonioGUAK
antonioGUAK
3 months ago

Ishanekon is my favorite TTRPG and the game that more I play as a GM and a player. I highly recomend it.

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