Declaring obvious sucesses and failures is easy. Declaring any success is pretty easy. But when things could go either way, I want dice to take the blame when my friends' PCs fail and die.
Ps: I think details of how magic works can be seen as world building. Needing rules with rolls isn't automatic. And you could limit a magic system to spells that use existing rolling rules (summon a creature that then uses combat rules, or model a magic missile spell as a virtual crossbow). PPS: Even when the GM wants rules, players don't always feel a need to know them.
I think it's awesome that you wrote your own game system. I'd consider buying it, but I currently don't have any need for it, partly because I'm not currently playing with anyone. What I've been doing is writing my own Fantasy series called Forestera's Fate. It's basically D&D in story-form, but I've had a very hard time generating any interest in it, which surprised me, as I just assumed that D&D players would naturally be interested, but I guess they're just not aware of it, despite my attempts to generate interest. If you'd like to check it out, I narrated it on my channel. It's all in a Playlist, so it's easy to find. I'd love to hear your thoughts. I do wish you well though with your game system : )
I hear ya Ive written my own game as well. Is it selling, no, but i am playing it with my group and they enjoy it, so thats all that matters to me. Its pretty much why all independant creators do the work we do. For ourselves first, then if someone else likes it, cool.
This is a weird video for me because, for about nine years, I ran roleplaying campaigns for my friends without using any tabletop rules at all. It was literally just a matter of "what makes sense in this moment, in this fake world?" combined with, "what would be the most fun/interesting thing to happen here?" I have two lessons from that experience. First, freeform gaming is story gaming, not tactical gaming, and it relies on tropes to judge the players' decisions. Nobody actually makes movies or TV shows just about wandering through a laybrinth, dodging traps and monsters. D&D did that because it was built from wargaming (to simplify the heck out of the reasons). No, players in that kind of game want to play Star Wars, or Lord of the Rings, or whatever was the coolest movie in theaters at the time. So I'd say, "Would you guys like to play something like Star Wars crossed with Tron?" If they said yes, we were in business. They knew what to expect from weapons, vehicles, etc, because I described them as they'd appear in that sort of film. A side effect of that is the best way to handle magic: magic items and precise spell lists. If a wizard can just declare anything, as you said, it's hopeless. If they have a staff that releases lightning with an incantation then it comes down to Rule of Drama and Rule of Cool as to whether the wizard can get off that bolt before the goblins bear them down under their weight. So magic should work much like in Knave, built around scrolls, spellbooks, or other items. Second, freeform play is story centric, and the choices need to be story choices. It's unlikely that the team's ranger will fail to track the orc raiding party, or that the team will fail to ambush and defeat them. That's what happens in those kinds of stories. However, were the players wise to chase the raiding party and leave the town behind? Are the orcs running scared, or were they instructed to lead the town's defenders away? Should the party be so invested in that one town's woes when they know something fishy's happening amongst the king's guardsmen, and can actually see the darkening skies to the north where the long-missing Storm Dragon was banished ages back? It's really about what the players prioritize and how all those NPCs and factions move when they're not looking. We eventually moved on to playing Vampire: the Masquerade, which was the new hotness at the time. We tried dice, and discovered that we enjoyed that kind of chaos. I have to admit, though, that the campaign worlds never felt quite as believable to me as they did when everything was built out of story building blocks, themes, and, as they say nowadays, "being a fan of the player characters."
This is a very interesting experiment - as a side note, it is moderately distracting for your background to slowly zoom in and jump cut back out repeatedly
Oh, okay. Thanks for letting me know about the background. It's just what iMovie does by default. I thought it was a neat affect, but I'll just have it stay in place from now on.
@@playerextremebr1.027 @playerextremebr1.027 I'm not familiar with the wuxia magic system. Can you provide a link. You might also like my video on real world magic: ruclips.net/video/mKQWNzt0FE4/видео.html. You also might like a couple of supplements I wrote and put up on DriveThruRPG. (1) "Talismans, Potions, and Grimoires for Knave": www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/400304/Talismans-Potions-and-Grimoires-for-Knave and (2) "Ivan's Simple Magic System": www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/439408/Ivans-Simple-Magic-System
Honestly an open magic system where players can improv their spells with few guidelines sounds kind of fun.
I agree, but I still think you need some sort of minimal rules. Noah was using magic to get out of every situation, because there were no rules :D
Declaring obvious sucesses and failures is easy. Declaring any success is pretty easy. But when things could go either way, I want dice to take the blame when my friends' PCs fail and die.
Ps: I think details of how magic works can be seen as world building. Needing rules with rolls isn't automatic. And you could limit a magic system to spells that use existing rolling rules (summon a creature that then uses combat rules, or model a magic missile spell as a virtual crossbow). PPS: Even when the GM wants rules, players don't always feel a need to know them.
I think it's awesome that you wrote your own game system. I'd consider buying it, but I currently don't have any need for it, partly because I'm not currently playing with anyone. What I've been doing is writing my own Fantasy series called Forestera's Fate. It's basically D&D in story-form, but I've had a very hard time generating any interest in it, which surprised me, as I just assumed that D&D players would naturally be interested, but I guess they're just not aware of it, despite my attempts to generate interest. If you'd like to check it out, I narrated it on my channel. It's all in a Playlist, so it's easy to find. I'd love to hear your thoughts. I do wish you well though with your game system : )
I hear ya
Ive written my own game as well.
Is it selling, no, but i am playing it with my group and they enjoy it, so thats all that matters to me.
Its pretty much why all independant creators do the work we do. For ourselves first, then if someone else likes it, cool.
@@swordsnstones that's great. I hope you check out my narration and let me know what you think.
This is a weird video for me because, for about nine years, I ran roleplaying campaigns for my friends without using any tabletop rules at all. It was literally just a matter of "what makes sense in this moment, in this fake world?" combined with, "what would be the most fun/interesting thing to happen here?" I have two lessons from that experience.
First, freeform gaming is story gaming, not tactical gaming, and it relies on tropes to judge the players' decisions. Nobody actually makes movies or TV shows just about wandering through a laybrinth, dodging traps and monsters. D&D did that because it was built from wargaming (to simplify the heck out of the reasons). No, players in that kind of game want to play Star Wars, or Lord of the Rings, or whatever was the coolest movie in theaters at the time. So I'd say, "Would you guys like to play something like Star Wars crossed with Tron?" If they said yes, we were in business. They knew what to expect from weapons, vehicles, etc, because I described them as they'd appear in that sort of film.
A side effect of that is the best way to handle magic: magic items and precise spell lists. If a wizard can just declare anything, as you said, it's hopeless. If they have a staff that releases lightning with an incantation then it comes down to Rule of Drama and Rule of Cool as to whether the wizard can get off that bolt before the goblins bear them down under their weight. So magic should work much like in Knave, built around scrolls, spellbooks, or other items.
Second, freeform play is story centric, and the choices need to be story choices. It's unlikely that the team's ranger will fail to track the orc raiding party, or that the team will fail to ambush and defeat them. That's what happens in those kinds of stories. However, were the players wise to chase the raiding party and leave the town behind? Are the orcs running scared, or were they instructed to lead the town's defenders away? Should the party be so invested in that one town's woes when they know something fishy's happening amongst the king's guardsmen, and can actually see the darkening skies to the north where the long-missing Storm Dragon was banished ages back? It's really about what the players prioritize and how all those NPCs and factions move when they're not looking.
We eventually moved on to playing Vampire: the Masquerade, which was the new hotness at the time. We tried dice, and discovered that we enjoyed that kind of chaos. I have to admit, though, that the campaign worlds never felt quite as believable to me as they did when everything was built out of story building blocks, themes, and, as they say nowadays, "being a fan of the player characters."
This is a very interesting experiment - as a side note, it is moderately distracting for your background to slowly zoom in and jump cut back out repeatedly
Oh, okay. Thanks for letting me know about the background. It's just what iMovie does by default. I thought it was a neat affect, but I'll just have it stay in place from now on.
@@dragondreams5503 that’s just my opinion - it could be that others like it 🤷🏿♀️- keep up the good work 👍🏿
I need testing this...
If you describe a reasoble thing, you know, you probably make this.
If you come up with a really open-ended magic system or know of one you like, I'd love to learn about it :)
@@dragondreams5503 yes, my type magic this wuxia and inspired in real magic.
@@playerextremebr1.027 @playerextremebr1.027 I'm not familiar with the wuxia magic system. Can you provide a link. You might also like my video on real world magic: ruclips.net/video/mKQWNzt0FE4/видео.html. You also might like a couple of supplements I wrote and put up on DriveThruRPG. (1) "Talismans, Potions, and Grimoires for Knave": www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/400304/Talismans-Potions-and-Grimoires-for-Knave and (2) "Ivan's Simple Magic System": www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/439408/Ivans-Simple-Magic-System
@@dragondreams5503 oh... thank you! I gonna see this.