I've been building a TTRPG system for several years. Claude, help me refine it, and then helped me build an asynchronous live app with chat, rolls, and achievements. v3.0 just released today.

Hey r/aigamedev, I've spent the last several years building a tabletop RPG called Tools for the Bad Ass (TBA) and just shipped v3.0. Claude was my primary collaborator throughout the entire process. Here's what that actually looked like in practice.

What I used AI for:

Rule Breaking - I'd bring a mechanic idea to Claude, we'd stress test it, find edge cases, and lock it down before it went into the doc. Many long discussions and going back and forth before updating the document. There were also a lot of design questions I had, and it allowed for an open conversation to be able to hatch some extremely creative ideas. A lot of v3.0's biggest systems, Bonds & Combos, Ascension levels, and the initiative hold mechanic for Combo attacks, were designed conversationally. I'd propose ideas, and Claude would poke holes, and we'd refine until it was tight.

Catching inconsistencies - When you're building a system across multiple documents, things drift. Claude tracked locked decisions across sessions and flagged when something in a new section contradicted something we'd already locked. That alone saved hours.

What still needed me:

Everything creative and directional. Claude doesn't decide what a game should feel like; I did. There were so many times I would have to hit the stop button and say hold up, explain my thought, and it wasn't what I wanted and we would have to refine the idea and get it into a "Claude Friendly" version. The Bonds mechanic exists because I wanted relationships to have mechanical weight. The kids' version exists because I wanted parents to be able to play with their kids. The achievement system exists because I wanted sessions to leave a permanent record. Those were my calls. Everything was my call. Claude helped me execute them.

People want to bash vibe coding, but I feel like what I'm using Claude for is THRIVE coding.

Also, the final judgment on every rule's decision. Claude would present options and tradeoffs but never pushed me toward one. The locked decisions are mine. This helped with ideas such as whether it is stupid to want to have an in-game modal for quick reference, or I want to have these different chat tabs available. Claude and I would discuss, and it would help shape this app into something I never knew possible.

What surprised me:

How good it was at holding context across a long design process. I'd reference something we decided three weeks ago, and it was there. For a project with this many moving parts, two rule sets, two age versions, multiple supporting docs, and a live digital platform, that continuity was genuinely valuable.

Also, how useful it was as a sounding board for narrative content. The Scorched Lands campaign lore, the dragon philosophy system, and the achievement names, Claude could riff on those in a way that felt collaborative rather than generative.

I could go on with different surprises with everything involved with this 6+ month project that this app was taking. But I think the biggest surprise is how much I personally have accomplished and learned. I've learned more Python and HTML than I knew possible. I verify all code before pushing...and I understand it.

The result:

A complete v3.0 system. Adult and kids versions, with full documentation. A Story Weaver Guide, character sheets, leveling tables through level 15, and a browser-based companion app at tba-rpg.com. Free on itch.io https://klutzleo.itch.io/tba-rpg.

Happy to go deeper on any part of the workflow if people are curious.