There’s a long-reigning champion among the world’s TTRPGs. Let me state for the record: I’m not here to dethrone it. Especially in its 5th Edition, it deserves the crown it wears.
But my own gameplay experience has taught me that dungeon crawls and treasure hauls often leave the heart wanting more. I rolled the dice with a few other TTRPG platforms that promised more emotionally authentic roleplay. And while their intent was noble, their mechanics fell flat.
What’s a wizard of infernal ancestry and in search of connection between demiplanes to do?
The answer: build.
But not from scratch. Reaching new heights requires a rock-solid foundation. So I developed my Emotional Stance overlay for existing TTRPG gameplay—designed with that aforementioned industry leader’s mechanics in mind. The rules you know and love remain untouched. What I offer is a layer of emotional authenticity that allows roleplaying to hit harder, cut deeper, and land truer.
Sure, anyone can say their character leaps from Stoicism to Assertiveness mid-dungeon. But for those of us who crave deeper immersion, that kind of sudden declaration feels as jarring as someone shouting “I loot all the bodies!” before the last enemy even hits the floor.
My Emotional Stance system treats emotional states like any other treasure: trackable, influential, and earned. It operates on a single principle: player agency. No rule stops you from jumping from Shame to Excitement. But biochemically? That’s one helluva leap across the emotional chasm.
Can you justify that move in character, in the moment, and in service to your party?
That’s the challenge.
That’s the magic.
If what I’ve offered here resonates with your experience at the table—or what you’ve been missing—I’d love to hear your story. Drop me a thought at @cineratae on X. Tell me about your own Hand of [Name of Lich redacted] moment. Cinerátae is my fictional world, and I’d like you to share it with me.