How a game plays

What every game on RPGForge plays like, whatever its world. Read this before telling anyone what the engine can or can't do.

Turns

The player types what they do in plain words. One action is one turn: the engine settles it (rolls, damage, trades, travel, time passing) and the narrator writes what happened. Uncertain actions roll a d20 against the situation, with any skill rank added.

Travel goes between connected locations, and the trip takes game time by distance.

Combat

Combat is turn-based in rounds. One command is the player's action for the round; everyone else in the fight acts in the same round, in initiative order (the quicker act first, so a blow that drops someone lands before their own action).

• Attacks roll to hit; damage comes from the weapon and a stat (strength for melee, agility for ranged).
• Abilities cost resources and have cooldowns; effects (poison, stun, buffs) tick each round.
• Party members, recruited NPCs and summoned companions fight on the player's side.
• Anyone can try to flee, opposed by the side they are running from.

No grid and no positions. A fight happens at one location, and everyone in it can reach everyone else. There is no movement, range or facing inside a scene. A game wanting tactical positioning can approximate it with fields (cover, a high ground flag), not a map.

Multiplayer

Every game is multiplayer with no setup. The host opens their session to friends, who join with their own characters, before the start or mid-game with the host's approval. The engine handles it as one party:

• Each player sends an action every turn and the turn resolves them together, once everyone has acted, the host's turn timer runs out, or the host moves it on.
• The party shares one location and travels together; it can't split up.
• In a fight, each player's action takes its place in the round's initiative order.

Not part of the engine

• A tactical grid or positioning (above).
• Splitting the party across locations.
• Real-time play: nothing happens between turns.
• New screens, panels or minigames, see What you can't build.