This engine is in development. Getting Started instructions will be added once the engince has a production release.
Hello! My name is Kevin, I'm a software engineer who recently started enjoying tabletop roleplaying games with friends! Naturally, as I progressed through the "buy all the dice" phase, and "let me build a notebook" phase, I found myself unenthused with what I'd gathered. See, there's great digital tools out there for D&D, but most homebrew stuff you are forced to use secondary methods for keeping track of the growing rules, item upgrades, character progression, and more.
Then, I thought, "What if anyone could get in on this? What if I could build my party's ruleset, but then Jane Doe could build her team's ruleset, and use the same front-end client to reliably store and operate character sheets across any ruleset(s)?"
So, that's the vision for the ttrpg ecosystem: an engine that enables easy creation of rules, and can be used to drive a single client application that allows a player to manage characters across infinite worlds.
Much like a video game requires many engines to operate, doing everything from converting mathematics to computer geometry, and eventually cinematics and animation, to driving the controls and interaction, this engine exists to create a set of tabletop rpg objects, like characters and monsters, with defined rules. Each ttrpg rule module will export the gameplay tools with their rules applied, so a client may install the package and utilize the same gameplay-enhancing tools in-client across any rule module in the ttrpg ecosystem.
The idea is that the engine drives all gameplay functionality, and rulesets only define rules. As new client experiences are created with custom extension of the engine through the ruleset layer, these are the types of things considered in the scope of adoption for the engine.
The long-term vision is a slew of requests for features in the engine, fueled by the creativity of tabletop gamers around the world using the engine to build various clients to enhance gameplay in unique ways. The engine will always remain open-source!
As mentioned, the engine itself exists to build a Rule Module; that is, a package utilizing the ttrpg engine, and existing on npm under the @ttrpg/ scope! Every rule module must export all the required exports to integrate into the official ttrpg client, though the package quality is the responsibility the package maintainer. The official client will be set up to handle cases where rulesets do not properly configure their exports.
- characterBuilder (Coming Soon)
- weaponBuilder (Coming Soon)
- wearableBuilder (Coming Soon)
- trinketBuilder (Coming Soon)
A good client app should be able to utilize any ruleset. If you wish to extend the functionality of a client with a ruleset implementing non-engine functionality, it's recommended you do so with caution, as these are not yet fully engine-supported. With the engine, a ttrpg client, codename: homebrew-beyond, will also be made available and open-source.
- Character Creation (Coming Soon)
- Character sheet (Coming Soon)
- Inventory (Coming Soon)
- Create Weapons, Wearables, and Trinkets (Coming Soon)