High-quality systemless books [+]

[aramis erak]

The old Lejenta titles are excellent, but are really for D&D and T&T, rather than properly systemless, but are low on mechanics.

Talislanta, while a game system and a setting, is low on mechanics, and rich on short blurb descriptions... 45 years, and still no elves, but 20 "elf in all but looks" species... Boon: PDFs legit free. Also note: the Big Blue Book, just like the big blue Champions book, can stop a hunting rifle's bullet. Some yahoo on youtube demonstrated that for both.

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

I would call Lejentia truly system agnostic myself, at least outside of the Stanza pack.

Mentioning them reminds me that there's also the "Catalyst" City Book series from FBI, which (unlike Lejentia) is still available. I didn't see them mentioned as yet, surprisingly.

 

[Autumnal]

Thanks to y’all, too. Substantial reply got delayed but is coming.

Anyone want to suggest modern/sf entries, by the way?

 

[Evaniel]

I highly recommend A Visitor's Guide to the Rainy City:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/317941/a-visitor-s-guide-to-the-rainy-city

It's setting neutral, and I've seen it used for B/X D&D, Fantasy Trip, and others. The vibe is great, and it accommodates a number of genres: picaresque, heists, political intrigue, and good ol' fashioned dungeon crawls. It levies its heavier connotations (as a "last city" filled with refugees) with a tonal levity and playfulness that's often downright charming. The art is fantastic and conveys the vibe well, too.

"The Rainy City can be dropped into the oceans of nearly any fantasy world, be found on the edges of the Elemental Plane of Water, or used as we use it -- as the last city left, where everyone and everything eventually washes up as world after world is destroyed by flood. Maybe it’s a place your regular characters pass through on their adventures. Maybe it’s a sort of Bermuda Triangle where they get stuck, for a while. Maybe it’s a pocket universe, maybe a dream, or even some sort of hell. If you can think of a use for a magic rich, rain-soaked city with an Age of Sail flavor that could house any sort of fantasy, you can drop the Rainy City into your campaign."

If you'd like a great review, The Vintage RPG Podcast provides a very positive one:

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I just read this blog post yesterday and it makes me want to grab everything this duo has done: Why Riso Makes This Magical Three stat-less location zines that sketch out interesting adventure sites and are beautiful to go with it.

Which, of course, made me think of something else:

Two years ago, I would have told you to pick up A Thousand Thousand Islands, but that pair had a very nasty split -- if two people in a partnership both feel undervalued, there's big trouble -- but if you see any of their island zines or Reach of the Roach God (their one and only hardcover adventure), grab them immediately, as they're all out of print and will never be published again. They're fantasy settlements inspired by Southeast Asia and they can be surreal, bittersweet, spooky. (I own the zines in PDF only, because the store was coming down immediately. I did snag Reach of the Roach God as well, but it looks like the run is sold through and it's now being sold on the aftermarket for hundreds of dollars. That's too rich for my blood, but keep an eye on second hand stores.)

Just as an art object alone, they're worth picking up. Here's the intro to Andjang, The Queen on Dog Mountain:

"THREE DAYS, UP A
SWITCH-BACKING TRACK

"Silk strips on a teak gateway. Drifting gauzily with the wind. Inwards, at first. Then
out. In again. And out. The breeze keeps shifting. Breathing."

Then there's rumor tables, descriptions of other people on the road to the market atop the mountain, information about trade goods, all of it incredibly evocative and a little strange:

"RATTAN PUPPET

"Made by weaving together spirit-stuff and palm wood. With the final spell said, a fruit buds from the top of its head.

"Whoever eats this fruit the puppet obeys. Only takes simple commands. Not quick or deft, but tires as a tree does -- which is never."

If you only pick up one of these, I bet it'll still give you a "random" settlement a player group will think about forever.

This probably not exactly what you were looking for, but I suspect they would delight everyone who loves systemless books.

 

[Cordwainer Fish]

Anyone want to suggest modern/sf entries, by the way?

GURPS Traveller: Nobles has huge swaths without any game mechanics, and lots of the other GT books have chunks of mechanicless text on life and operations in Charted Space (which might not yet have been called that at the time).

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

I just read this blog post yesterday and it makes me want to grab everything this duo has done: Why Riso Makes This Magical Three stat-less location zines that sketch out interesting adventure sites and are beautiful to go with it.

Those look very intriguing.

I refuse to say "never" when it comes to Thousand Thousand Islands. Bad as the break was, stranger things have happened than two talented creators getting back together again years down the road. But yes, for now get their collab work if you can.

 

[Autumnal]

Let’s catch up. You may wish to secure refreshments: this could take a while.

What about moving beyond the gaming industry for this?

What about it, huh? Well? Huh?

It’s a great idea, that’s what. Stewart Crowley was an early influence on my visual imagination, and Wayne Barlowe another. A friend. Gave me Barlowe’s Inferno years ago, and it’s my favorite rendering a gameable Hell.

On the fantasy side of things Larry MacDougall's Gwelf setting feels very much like a deliberately systemless series of setting books that could be used for the RPG rule set of your choice, with a vague Redwall-ish feel to it.

Oh wow. I wasn’t familiar with this, and I’ve been a huge McDougall fan since before he did the cover for my first book for White Wolf.

Just to add to system neutral adventures: there is the dark of hot springs island, a dark tropical island hexcrawl sandbox and the great collection of one page Trilemma adventures

Thanks!

Greg Stolze's Spherewalker Sourcebook is among the hobby's greatest volume of fantastical ideas.

it is, and I’m fortunate to have it.

The obvious choice for me is A Magical Mediaeval Society: Western Europe, which goes into great depth about how mediaeval society actually worked, with pointers on feudalism, inheritance, farming, the church and so on. Although nominally produced for 3rd Edition, the historical stuff is system-neutral and even the various tables for NPC distribution and the like could be easily adapted for a non-D&D game.

Interesting! Sounds reminiscent of early Chivalry & Sorcery. Possibly not the sort of world building I want, but I should check it out.

On a distantly related note, WotC's old (pre-Magic) Primal Order books were all systemless. Chessboards was probably the most useful for inspiration and odd ideas, but they're all worth a look - and unlike the Spherewalker Sourcebook they are all on DTRGP, with a bargain bundle for all four books even.

I think I have those, too. Time to check the library. Thanks for the reminder!

The Guide to Glorantha Vol 1 & 2 are system-less books about that world.

Good for subduing rampaging morokanth, too.

All these are great sources of info. Some settings have fan wikis which probably give you all you need to know for a world if you are comfortable with adaption to your system-of-choice.

They are indeed. Thanks!

The old Lejenta titles are excellent, but are really for D&D and T&T, rather than properly systemless, but are low on mechanics.

Talislanta, while a game system and a setting, is low on mechanics, and rich on short blurb descriptions... 45 years, and still no elves, but 20 "elf in all but looks" species... Boon: PDFs legit free. Also note: the Big Blue Book, just like the big blue Champions book, can stop a hunting rifle's bullet. Some yahoo on youtube demonstrated that for both.

I’m not familiar with Lejenta at all. Will fix that. Despite having socialized with hardcore Talislanta fans for decades, I’ve only ever skimmed the books. I’ll throw them in the pile too.

for, but I suspect they would delight everyone who loves systemless books.

Not at all what I had in mind, but very welcome! I love being surprised.

GURPS Traveller: Nobles has huge swaths without any game mechanics, and lots of the other GT books have chunks of mechanicless text on life and operations in Charted Space (which might not yet have been called that at the time).

Huh. I had no idea. Thanks.

 

[Autumnal]

I accidentally oversnipped in places. Repairing:

Mentioning them reminds me that there's also the "Catalyst" City Book series from FBI, which (unlike Lejentia) is still available. I didn't see them mentioned as yet, surprisingly.

Oh, man, I remember liking those a lot.

I highly recommend A Visitor's Guide to the Rainy City:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/317941/a-visitor-s-guide-to-the-rainy-city

This looks suspiciously like something made to sell right to me.

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

Rainy City sounded great in the reviews I've seen of it, FWIW.

I think I have those, too. Time to check the library. Thanks for the reminder!

Primal Order's also got some historical significance, although finding a copy of the original printing of the core book could be tricky. Not only was it the first RPG product published by WotC, it's also the book Kevin Siembieda sued WotC over because it included some quick conversion suggestions for using Palladium Fantasy with it. They eventually settled out of court and Wotc did a second print run with Palladium excised, but the monetary threat was severe enough that one of the WotC newsletters included Peter Adkison himself asking for donations for legal fees. I sent him $5.

Chessboards came out in 1993 at the same GenCon Magic was released, and that was the end of Primal Order and the CapSystem rules-agnostic stuff from WotC, sadly.

There's some alternate timeline where Palladium's suit did kill WotC, Magic as we know it never came out, the whole CCG boom was late or never arrived, and D&D probably got carved up when TSR collapsed.

There's also some timeline where WotC felt like being vindictive and casually drove Palladium out of business with mounds of Magic cash, then made sure Kevin never worked in the gaming industry again.

Despite having socialized with hardcore Talislanta fans for decades, I’ve only ever skimmed the books. I’ll throw them in the pile too.

The fact that they're all perpetually free now makes them a good choice to just go randomly browse through when the whim takes you. I used to own all the books for multiple editions, and I still find myself going back to the pdfs for the odd stroll down memory lane.

Just thought of another system-agnostic product in the same style as Primal Order (ie conversion notes for many systems without one default choice) - Chaosium's Thieves' World boxed set had stats for nine different systems, the weirdest of which was probably LBB Traveller.