Grey
Dialectical Hermeticist
Other old hands, feel free to chime in here. Anecdotes, holistic approaches, hard numbers, that's all good.
We've got a lot of new members from primarily freeform PbP backgrounds, so this thread has a dual purpose - somewhere to bullshit about old times, design, and things we like in terms of system, and more importantly, somewhere to give the unfamiliar a friendly run down.
I'm going to kick us off with a little history, followed by some design philosophy. Anyone who sees me embellish or misremember, call me out.
You might be wondering why systems and dice, right? You roleplay because it's collaborative storytelling, no? Keeping those skills sharp (presumably between personal works) while producing something awesome with like-minded people. I get that. I especially get that when any exposure to tabletop games has been through D&D, even if only in other media, or the mechanics of RPG videogames (the now-venerable classic Fallout could be run on this site with damned near zero-effort due to a basis in tabletop mechanics).
Roleplaying predates Gary Gygax (may he roll with the greats, if that's your belief-structure), but we don't need to go back that far. Our system originates in war-games. Little toy soldiers on a tabletop, with two players battling as omniscient generals - competitive, tactical, tons of fun if you're into that. An early precursor to Warcraft, if anyone remembers it before it was an MMO.
So, Mr. Gygax hits upon the idea of combining roleplaying and rules to facilitate adventure - for good reason. The uncertainty of the dice added excitement, the structure of the rules provided a skeleton to build on, the division of roles gave everyone time in the spotlight (our brave Fighter is mortally wounded in slaying the dragon with the aid of our noble Elf's arrows that brought it to ground, only to be saved by the compassion of our Cleric).
Early counter-measures against god-modding, aye? Back when your group was you and a few friends, and goddamn you could not afford bad-blood spoiling the game or your friendships.
Of course, everyone, even Gygax, got a bit crazy as campaigns wore on. The rules remained as a jumping-off point, and some people get a kick out of manipulating the system, but you could wind up in a game with laser-breathing T-Rexes and as long as everyone was having fun, that was just fine.
We've come a long way, since then. Where once rules were an assumption, now they're tools.
I come from a writing background. When I want to write fiction, I write fiction, and years of being a loner mean I do not work well with others. Ah, but what you can do with a game is different. You're still telling a story, but it's a whole new quale.
There are a number of things we do with systems, and they're interdependent.
1. They support the setting. According to the setting history, the Exalted Host slew the Primordial creators of the universe and trapped them in their King. The system can, at least, hint to how. Just in case your players have some Gods to slay.
2. They enforce tone. Your game is set in a hellish distant future where there is only war, daemons want to eat your soul, and the God-Emperor's militant church punishes thought-crime with extreme prejudice. A system where you can die, easily, and then it gets worse, reinforces the bleakness and horror of this setting. By contrast, fitting it with a more forgiving system and you've got a recipe for pitch-black comedy.
3. They challenge you. Yes, writing is hard. Yes, you have to make compromises to keep a plot going. Yes, you have to negotiate when you character is hurt or even killed, for the purpose of drama. Yes, you decide if something is overcome, or first failed before trying again.
But then the system says 'you can't do that.' That's not discouragement - that's a challenge. Use the tools you have creatively.
4. They ensure fair conflict. Alright, that's half a lie because party balance is a myth. But they do help give everyone in the group a niche in which to excel, flaws to work around, and when two characters fight? It's one thing to agree on a result - but it's a real thrill if the clash of swords might kill someone and you don't know who. Not for sure. You know what else is fun? One lucky roll in a sparring match and you main or kill an ally. How is your character coping with that one?
5. They take the story to unexpected places. I have a rule - I only make players roll when failure is as interesting as success. But I don't stop them rolling when it seems appropriate, because an unexpected failure presents new directions. As might an unexpected success. In a recent game, one player accidentally broke an NPC's leg while sparring, which lead, directly, to another character suffering a most terrible fate. I hadn't planned for that - deep down, I didn't want it to happen - but it did, and improvising around that is what makes it so different to just writing something.
Now, I'm not here to shit all over freeform - I've done it before, I'm doing some now, and I shan't be surprised to do it again - but they're very different experiences. I'd suggest giving it a go sometime.
If you ever want a run down of the easy places to start, or hell, if you want to dive right in and suspect I have the time to lay out something newbies-only, I'm right here.
Everybody else? Come on, throw in! I almost certainly missed something.
We've got a lot of new members from primarily freeform PbP backgrounds, so this thread has a dual purpose - somewhere to bullshit about old times, design, and things we like in terms of system, and more importantly, somewhere to give the unfamiliar a friendly run down.
I'm going to kick us off with a little history, followed by some design philosophy. Anyone who sees me embellish or misremember, call me out.
You might be wondering why systems and dice, right? You roleplay because it's collaborative storytelling, no? Keeping those skills sharp (presumably between personal works) while producing something awesome with like-minded people. I get that. I especially get that when any exposure to tabletop games has been through D&D, even if only in other media, or the mechanics of RPG videogames (the now-venerable classic Fallout could be run on this site with damned near zero-effort due to a basis in tabletop mechanics).
Roleplaying predates Gary Gygax (may he roll with the greats, if that's your belief-structure), but we don't need to go back that far. Our system originates in war-games. Little toy soldiers on a tabletop, with two players battling as omniscient generals - competitive, tactical, tons of fun if you're into that. An early precursor to Warcraft, if anyone remembers it before it was an MMO.
So, Mr. Gygax hits upon the idea of combining roleplaying and rules to facilitate adventure - for good reason. The uncertainty of the dice added excitement, the structure of the rules provided a skeleton to build on, the division of roles gave everyone time in the spotlight (our brave Fighter is mortally wounded in slaying the dragon with the aid of our noble Elf's arrows that brought it to ground, only to be saved by the compassion of our Cleric).
Early counter-measures against god-modding, aye? Back when your group was you and a few friends, and goddamn you could not afford bad-blood spoiling the game or your friendships.
Of course, everyone, even Gygax, got a bit crazy as campaigns wore on. The rules remained as a jumping-off point, and some people get a kick out of manipulating the system, but you could wind up in a game with laser-breathing T-Rexes and as long as everyone was having fun, that was just fine.
We've come a long way, since then. Where once rules were an assumption, now they're tools.
I come from a writing background. When I want to write fiction, I write fiction, and years of being a loner mean I do not work well with others. Ah, but what you can do with a game is different. You're still telling a story, but it's a whole new quale.
There are a number of things we do with systems, and they're interdependent.
1. They support the setting. According to the setting history, the Exalted Host slew the Primordial creators of the universe and trapped them in their King. The system can, at least, hint to how. Just in case your players have some Gods to slay.
2. They enforce tone. Your game is set in a hellish distant future where there is only war, daemons want to eat your soul, and the God-Emperor's militant church punishes thought-crime with extreme prejudice. A system where you can die, easily, and then it gets worse, reinforces the bleakness and horror of this setting. By contrast, fitting it with a more forgiving system and you've got a recipe for pitch-black comedy.
3. They challenge you. Yes, writing is hard. Yes, you have to make compromises to keep a plot going. Yes, you have to negotiate when you character is hurt or even killed, for the purpose of drama. Yes, you decide if something is overcome, or first failed before trying again.
But then the system says 'you can't do that.' That's not discouragement - that's a challenge. Use the tools you have creatively.
4. They ensure fair conflict. Alright, that's half a lie because party balance is a myth. But they do help give everyone in the group a niche in which to excel, flaws to work around, and when two characters fight? It's one thing to agree on a result - but it's a real thrill if the clash of swords might kill someone and you don't know who. Not for sure. You know what else is fun? One lucky roll in a sparring match and you main or kill an ally. How is your character coping with that one?
5. They take the story to unexpected places. I have a rule - I only make players roll when failure is as interesting as success. But I don't stop them rolling when it seems appropriate, because an unexpected failure presents new directions. As might an unexpected success. In a recent game, one player accidentally broke an NPC's leg while sparring, which lead, directly, to another character suffering a most terrible fate. I hadn't planned for that - deep down, I didn't want it to happen - but it did, and improvising around that is what makes it so different to just writing something.
Now, I'm not here to shit all over freeform - I've done it before, I'm doing some now, and I shan't be surprised to do it again - but they're very different experiences. I'd suggest giving it a go sometime.
If you ever want a run down of the easy places to start, or hell, if you want to dive right in and suspect I have the time to lay out something newbies-only, I'm right here.
Everybody else? Come on, throw in! I almost certainly missed something.