Saturday, February 17, 2007

More Role-Playing, Less Game

I was just browsing my free Holy Lands manual. It looked like there was no mention of levels at first. What a brilliant idea. People IRL never go up levels, so why bother with all the damn math? Have all the challenges on a table and set out the DC simply for commons, heros, enemies, animals. Boom.
It would be so much simpler, and more realistic. It also makes it easier to create a character. So much less calculation, especially to create a new character with advanced levels. The GM would have to make some changes and decisions as necessary. People wouldn't need to be attached to their character, making killing them easier. Great. If everything is always at the same level, everything is always balanced for your level. Boom. Work more with plot and less with numbers.
No levels. No experience. No guarantee the PCs will live to the next adventure. It would be great for a horror setting.
Attributes? What another pain in the ass. Skills? Don't get me started. I want a game with common people. I like to build characters but what the hell do I need all this stuff to deal with. I just want heroes to be better than the average joe. Villains should be close to heroes. Animals are less than the above. Done. That's it. I don't want characters to be that damned different and I don't want to worry whether Biff can thread a needle with a bullet at 40 paces because he learned a skill at his last level up. Brotha please. Let's make a game that's fun to play and not be so damned proud of ourselves for creating, refining and then endlessly expanding a system. All that does is showcase our overblown creativity without allowing any obstacles. What if this game isn't sellable? What if it isn't much fun? What if it isn't playable by anyone but the absolute suckas with nothing but time on their hands and allowance to buy the latest book? What the hell do we need another DND clone for? It's been done. You can't make it better by adding content. It doesn't work for anyone but the nerds. Niche market bullshit.
New Game. New rules. Simple game. Some dice. Some markers. Characters aren't different numerically. They are set in stone. The only thing that changes is the equipment. I don't want ot hear, "My character was built for this situation. I have a solution on a bag." That's not the kind of play I want to support and I either need to convince that player that that isn't a fun damned experience for anyone else, or change the rules so that gameplay is impossible. I want a game anyone can play at any time, and all they need to worry about is the plot they are involved in and maybe the equipment involved in the current mission. Character building is not part of hte gameplay anymore. That's it. It's done.
Example 1: Player bump into a special forces soldier. IRL he would probably best the average joe, but a martial arts master in the party might be able to take care of him. Why damn well bother? Make the players think of a way to stop the dude. Try something other than combat. Every enemy is a puzzle, not an opponent to roll some dice against. You build a character and write him as a martial arts master. I don't give a fuck. The reason you win is that PCs are better than the average NPC. If I want it to be a challenge I'll put you on the same level., not 5 or 3 but both PC level. I don't want you to be able to level up and beat up the dude I never meant you to beat either, or trick the system by using a weapon in a way not intended by the rules. THE GAME IS NOT TO BREAK MY RULES SO YOU CAN WIN. The game is for me to have fun writing a story and telling it to you as you experience it through a character within it, as we play out roles in life. We will address philosophical problems and questions of faith, politics, religion, ETHICS. Role-playing is a game, a story and a discussion. IT IS NOT YAHTZEE WITH MORE COMPLICATED SCORECARDS. Fuck your DND. I want to ROLE-PLAY.

2 comments:

Indigonegative said...

I think I'll borrow what I can from True20. I like its simplicity far better than D20. I'll use it, but the characters will not advance past level one. Your created character is static, and I hope to make characters generic and classless.
I'm not in the business to sell books. I hope to make a game for everyone. I think since I have a classless-levelless system it will be more a of a modular boardgame. I'm shedding so much complexity thati t will be closer to Clue than DND

Indigonegative said...

Incidentally, I am working on a magic system. It's different from DND entirely, but I don't know if I even want it for this system. I want tough scenarios with scary monsters. I don't mean big red dudes with horns or Dracula. I mean shit out of a Dean Koontz nightmare. I want the weird and the supernatural, but on my terms. No high fantasy and dammit no high fantasy/modern hybrids. New shit. I think it woudl kick ass for secretaries and plice officers to run from lurking shadows and hulking automatons. I don't want the heroes to think they'll win. I want them to fight to survive. We're going to put them on Flight 93 and in the World Trade Center. Why? Because that's real heroism and it's real damned scary.