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Roll less, Play more.
Sep. 18th, 2021 05:00 pmSeveral years ago I came out as a reformed gearhead. I put aside detailed TTRPG design systems that designed vehicles down to the last bolt, planets down to the fifth decimal place, and weapons in excruciating detail. Because I realized that almost nobody cared.
Things in games should be useful and can be covered in pretty general terms most of the time. "The grav truck can hit 500kph and cannot normally make orbit," "Frelbog's gravity is a bit heavy, and the air is breathable, but soup-like with humidity" or "It's a blaster. It can reach out to 60 meters and does x dice of damage."
I've now gone that route with my taste in rules systems. As the great Ernie Harwell said: "The game's the thing. That's why people tune in. They don't tune in to hear an announcer." Nor do players come to a game to explore the rules. They come to game. So I've been drawing back from rules-heavy games like D&D5e in favor of games like Savage Worlds Adventure Edition or FATE.
What I'm looking for is faster, innovative gameplay that puts the player in control, and encourages more than "I swing my longsword at the orc" in combat. A game that gives players agency in what happens next. Also, something flexible, so we can go from playing Elvish Pirates of the Carbibean campaign to Space Truckers! without having to relearn systems.
For this, I think Savage Worlds Adventure Edition is my best shot. An easy to learn character generation system with plenty of options, I love the characteristics being die types (you have a d8 in Smarts and a d6 in Vigor, for example,) and the use of a deck of playing cards for initiative and other things is quite innovative, as it's not just the card you draw, but the suite affects what happens that round. Combat is fast and action-packed.
One thing I am totally stealing from FATE is Aspects for places, things, and anything else. In short, these are short descriptive items that highlight some way the environment can be used, for good or ill, by both the GM and the players. As an example, the lost temple of Yu-Kargzant can be described like this:
Everything in bold is an aspect and can be used by a player. You can do the same with NPC tavern keepers or starship captains. A few short sentences that give him or her a few aspects to play with. It's a very useful system and a great shortcut for the GM.
Luckily for me, one of my Kickstarter backings was a port of Pathfinder to Savage Worlds Adventure Edition, and I should be getting those rewards soon. It's going to be a big box.
Gaming soon, I hope.
Things in games should be useful and can be covered in pretty general terms most of the time. "The grav truck can hit 500kph and cannot normally make orbit," "Frelbog's gravity is a bit heavy, and the air is breathable, but soup-like with humidity" or "It's a blaster. It can reach out to 60 meters and does x dice of damage."
I've now gone that route with my taste in rules systems. As the great Ernie Harwell said: "The game's the thing. That's why people tune in. They don't tune in to hear an announcer." Nor do players come to a game to explore the rules. They come to game. So I've been drawing back from rules-heavy games like D&D5e in favor of games like Savage Worlds Adventure Edition or FATE.
What I'm looking for is faster, innovative gameplay that puts the player in control, and encourages more than "I swing my longsword at the orc" in combat. A game that gives players agency in what happens next. Also, something flexible, so we can go from playing Elvish Pirates of the Carbibean campaign to Space Truckers! without having to relearn systems.
For this, I think Savage Worlds Adventure Edition is my best shot. An easy to learn character generation system with plenty of options, I love the characteristics being die types (you have a d8 in Smarts and a d6 in Vigor, for example,) and the use of a deck of playing cards for initiative and other things is quite innovative, as it's not just the card you draw, but the suite affects what happens that round. Combat is fast and action-packed.
One thing I am totally stealing from FATE is Aspects for places, things, and anything else. In short, these are short descriptive items that highlight some way the environment can be used, for good or ill, by both the GM and the players. As an example, the lost temple of Yu-Kargzant can be described like this:
The temple is being reclaimed by the jungle. Thick vines cling to the walls and hang from holes in the broken roof. On a dais in the center of the circular room, a large golden statue of a horse with a fiery mane stands. Parts of the walls and roof have collapsed, creating irregular piles of rubble.
Everything in bold is an aspect and can be used by a player. You can do the same with NPC tavern keepers or starship captains. A few short sentences that give him or her a few aspects to play with. It's a very useful system and a great shortcut for the GM.
Luckily for me, one of my Kickstarter backings was a port of Pathfinder to Savage Worlds Adventure Edition, and I should be getting those rewards soon. It's going to be a big box.
Gaming soon, I hope.
