Clear Fantasy (working title)
Okay, what I want to do is work with some of the ideas that people have been suggesting on re-working of DnD into something that has a focus on story.
I am pulling the idea of games like the new Gamma World where weapons are not tables of different kinds but instead general ideas that the player can personalize and define. A good comment I saw was Mad-libs. I am also pulling from ideas like Fate system where the player defines the ‘aspect’ or nature of the ability. I would like to also pull from Saga system the idea that when you are ‘trained’ in a skill then you get a basic bonus to use that skill and another bonus if you choose to ‘specialize’ in that skill.
What I would like to get rid of are classes and races because they limit the story the player might want to tell. If a player wants to describe themselves as a large ogre or as a person in suit of living rock then they should be free to do this. I want to focus less on mechanics that differentiate and prevent a player from producing a ‘skin’ like this then on mechanics that promote this type of story play.
I would also like to get rid of levels. Levels are a reward system that is counter-productive to story play. I am not a fan of the idea that if you have troubles with the Big Bad Evil Person because they are too tough to fight then you should go fight a series or weaker people and you will become big and bad enough yourself that the villain eventually is not even a challenge. It also creates this endless envelope of opponents that are scaled around the rising level of the players with often the opponents needing to be ‘re-sized’ to make tougher or ‘weakened’ to avoid crushing the players. If this envelope of ‘monsters’ exists then it is easier to keep the players capabilities ‘fixed’ and just create monsters in types that are weaker or stronger then the players.
I feel that there are other reward systems that can be used then experience and levels which will be more productive and a better game mechanic. It will also make it easier for the GM if the player’s hit points are more ‘fixed’ instead of altering from level to level (levels 1 to 4 are very different due to hit points and damage that a player can absorb verses the damage most monsters can deliver).
I want to keep the d20 roll verses defenses and to make skill checks. A d20 is as good as any other number generator and provides a good variety of outcomes. A 1 is always a failure and a 20 is always special. This gives a bit of random bonus to keep interest in the die rolls.
I would like to go more with Saga style three defenses of Dodging (Skill/Quickness), Grit (Health/Stamina), and Determination (Mental/Mystical). Three defences gives a range of choices and players will be able to ‘specialize’ in one or two of these areas. Armour will be a modifier to one or more of the defences with the player possibly being able to choose certain attacks to resist with a different defense if they have armour than they normally might be able to resist. The ‘living rock’ armour person might be able to choose to deal with a large flame attack with their Grit defense instead of trying to Dodge.
I would like game sessions to focus on player story arcs with one player getting the ‘spot light’ per session. My thoughts on this would be the player chooses a goal and several sub-goals with the GM. The players and the GM work through a series of scenes to achieve the sub-goals and the finally the story arc goal. The group would also set a larger arc goal which would advance slightly through the series of player spot light arcs. The focus is to help players tell their story instead of the GM dictating the story.
Characters would be designed using an attribute system with the attribute representing a bonus to the d20 roll in various areas. I like how the new Mutants and Masterminds broke out of 3d6 paradigm (Blue Rose and True20 being early versions) and also added in a ‘Fighting’ attribute. I would like to have a Melee Fighting, Ranged Fighting, and Mystical Fighting attribute along with the three defences of Dodging, Grit, and Determination.
I would like each character to have amongst the three fighting skills to have one ability with a +5, one with a +2, and one with a +0. I would like to have players to choose one of the three defences to have a +5, one with a +2, and one with a +0. Players will have a chance to choose feats or talents to upgrade these further.
I would like to get away from the equipment and magical items to avoid the bag of a thousand different items to focus more on what each player brings to the game. Players can define their talents or abilities as equipment but people will not ‘rob the corpse’ to grab the items. Talents and abilities can be described or ‘skinned’ by a player to match their character concept.
I am thinking that players would get a set of minor talents or abilities to define the player’s heritage. Heritage could be the player’s race, community that raised them, or represent the underlying nature of the player. Similar to racial abilities these would include options to give a bonus to an offense or defense in certain situations, an extra skill, a quality like ‘strong’, a special effect, an improved sense, a bonus with a skill.
I am thinking that the player would get a set of more powerful talents or abilities to define their fighting style. This would be the pool of offensive and defensive abilities that makes the player unique in combat. It would include at least one offensive combat option and a number of other choices that can provide other combat options, damage mitigation, movement abilities, companions, resources, special uses for skills, special skills, or any other things that are more than a simple bonus to a basic skill or attack.
Needless to say, this is work in development but I am a regular poster with two active games to my credit on the pathfinder website (one Star Wars and one Dresden Files and you can check my Avatar for posting history). I am looking for people who are willing to work and develop this idea while telling some stories.
If you are interested then this is the process for character creation to get started.
1 Choose a concept for a character. I am not worried if the idea is ‘wild’ since that is part of stressing the design. You could have a flesh and blood character idea, a monster idea, a magical intelligent sword, a person dressed in a mecha suit or whatever seems to be your idea. This is fantasy but it is possible to do some steampunk and ‘mystical guns’ in fantasy with a bit of cleaver writing.
2 Choose a problem that your character cannot avoid. Problems make a character and it is the problems that make stories worth telling. This is not an enemy which is something that can be defeated but a problem with who your character happens to be and it interferes in some way with how your character deals with the world. It should be something that you are also comfortable with role playing and accepting when it gets in your character’s way.
3 Now, imagine what you see the character at the start of the campaign and decide what a ‘perfect ending’ would be for your character. Set a story goal for your character’s story arc as being related to this ‘perfect ending’. This should be some grand goal that will take several sub-goal achievements to reach. Now, think up two or three steps along the way to completing your character’s grand goal. If your grand goal is to conquer a kingdom and be named king then a couple sub goals might be to find a kingdom to conquer and to recruit people to serve in your kingdom. The sub goals will serve as the basis for your character’s spotlight adventures. The GM is not making up some random story. The GM is facilitating the players telling the story that relates to the characters.
4 Time to put some ‘bones’ or mechanics to your concept. Decide in order what your concept does best and worst for attacking from the choices of Melee Fighting, Ranged Fighting, and Mystical/Mental Fighting. Assign a +5 to your best, a +0 to your worst, and a +2 to the remaining choice.
5 Now, decide in order what your concept is best and worst for defense from the choices of Dodging, Grit, and Determination. Assign a +5 to your best, a +0 to your worst, and +2 to the remaining choice.
6 Now, think up what five skills best describe what your character can do or accomplish. Use the Pathfinder list of skills to help focus your thinking. I am sure a list can later be developed and personalized to the needs of the system but for now that is a list that most people should be able to get access to as a common list. Give each of the five skills chosen a +5 to represent your character’s training in those subjects. I like the order of doing skills prior to Heritage and Fighting Style to help the player determine what they can do or accomplish.
7 Heritage is the next choice. Heritage represents what background or race, environment, culture, society, or training that produced the character. This should be ‘blank’ upon which the character will develop their character further. It involves picking five small bonuses to represent this benefit. The list of benefits should be the type of things found in racial packages for d20 games. These benefits tend to be things like night vision, an extra bonus to a type of attribute, a damage bonus, a movement bonus, an ability to avoid sleep, a bonus to a skill, an extra skill, or a once a day extra special power. This selection should be in keeping with the concept of the character.
8 Fighting Style is the next choice. The first part of Fighting Style is to choose something that is the signature of the character. This should be something that people identify with your concept and expect to see your character to do on a regular basis. Most players will have an attack that is a signature of the character (though the attack can be delivered through an intermediary means like a companion). A player could choose a defensive signature that blocks damage or heals damage or a movement signature that allows them to reposition within a battle. The choice of the signature and the description of the signature should shape decisions for the other elements of a player’s fighting style.
What is a player wants to be a ‘mage’ with a book of spells? A player should still choose some sort of focus that is the signature of their magic whether it be heavenly light, swarms of insects, iron nails, or small demons. The player will then have a few choices to make of how many choices to commit to offense, defense, and other abilities. During the game, the player will be given a latitude in describing how their spell looks when used; so, an offensive spell that looks one way in one encounter can have a different ‘skin’ or appearance in another battle provided the base signature keeps constant.
9 The player having chosen the Signature of their Fighting Style should now decide on five ways this Style can be used in encounters. One of these should be an offensive usage though it does not have to be a damaging attack and could be something that snares an opponent or gives some sort of debilitating condition.
10 The player should choose a basic weapon to use when they cannot or do not wish to use their fighting style. The basic weapon could be one or two-handed and should be linked to one of the three fighting types (Melee, Ranged, Mystical/Mental). The player is free to define what this weapon looks like provided it fits the concept of the character.
11 The player will get a standard supply of 25 hit points which might have been increased or affected by the player’s choice of Heritage and Fighting Style.
Okay, that should be enough to get people deciding if they would like to get involved with this project and game.
Glad to hear that. I GM Dresden Files on Paizo boards; so, it does inspire some of my thinking.
I am aiming to see if it is possible to rework the model of gameplay based upon several games that I have been playing and experimenting with and comments of people on what they might like to see.