BIND | TTRPGs

Subraces Should be Cultures

Nov 5, 2023 · 3 min read · Design BIND

Referring to elves as a 'race' makes perfect sense. They're clearly different from the other humanoids, have their own features, and biological properties and oddities.¹

But 'sylvan elves'? The elves who live in forests, but generally act like any other elf? They're clearly just elves living in a different climate. …

Parallel Rules and BIND

Oct 26, 2023 · 3 min read · BIND

I want contradictory things for BIND, so I've been trying to do both. And I have finally made it work...I think.

The Oneshot Campaign

Escape from the Goblin Horde started with a notion to make a one-shot introduction to BIND, and soon grew far too large to really call itself a 'one-shot'.

I fixed this with toggles …

BIND's Meta History

Oct 12, 2023 · 2 min read · BIND

RPG worlds need histories, so I had to write some history for BIND. This was a big mistake.

The stupidity came in writing because I had to. This, unsurprisingly, produced bad writing. Now that I'm rewriting the lot for BIND version 0.9, it's all going in the BIND-bin. Like King Hagard in the Last Unicorn, I will …

How I Made BIND's Monsters

Jun 27, 2023 · 2 min read · BIND

BIND began as a D&D-reaction. "Mathematically, these rules stand some serious improvement". After that, I only wanted some generic fantasy monsters to make an example game.

Unfortunately, art costs money, which I didn't have. The first RPG I'd made lost me a lot of time wandering through cheap stock-art, …

Why BIND Rules Don't Allow Players to Go for the Eyes

Jun 7, 2023 · 4 min read · BIND

(a story about spreadsheet failure)

I've considered changing BIND's 'to-hit' system to let players 'go for the eyes' (or a headshot, or otherwise decide to attempt a vitals shot), and decided against it. My reasons sit below, but expect lots of boring numbers. You have been warned. (or just skip to the conclusions) …

Deriving from Magic

Jun 1, 2023 · 2 min read · RPG BIND

As I've mentioned, every fantasy novel needs two particular characters - magic, and landscape . For BIND's next edition (0.9) I'm hoping to tie the two together a little more. Specifically, more creatures could arise from magic.

Nura (goblins, ogres, et c.) come directly from the nuramancy sphere. They exist because …

New Handouts

Apr 29, 2023 · 2 min read · LaTeX BIND

BIND's maps have their numbers and comments applied by its writing tool, LaTeX. This makes handouts really easy, because the same map can present different layers to different people.

Here's the plan so far (it's untested, none of my players have seen this):

The fallen temple to Qualme (god of death and pensions) has …

No Introduction Necessary

Apr 22, 2023 · 3 min read · BIND Theory Memoirs

It's been commented that BIND has no introduction, saying 'what is a roleplaying game?', and I don't think it needs one.

Of course, nobody's picking this thing up in a 90's game store, et c., but I feel we have a deeper problem. I think that no RPG - including D&D - really needs an explanation of 'how to do …

Minified vs Minimalist Rules

Mar 19, 2023 · 4 min read · BIND

D&D got a way with a lot of bad habits, because it was the only game in town. People are expected to read the core rules, then the Dungeon Master's Guide, then an adventure. I've copied their style, and only now realized the error of front-loading MAXIMUM RULES.

The order of books in this case is:

Core Rules ( …

Group Rolls

Feb 5, 2023 · 3 min read · Theory BIND

Dice can give unexpected results when groups of people roll.

When a group of 5 players need to roll to sneak past a guard, you already know someone will fail, because they have 5 chances to fail. If everyone rolls for Alertness, they will succeed every time, because they have five chances to succeed.

The Alertness roll …