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<blockquote data-quote="Ariosto" data-source="post: 4981880" data-attributes="member: 80487">I designed an RPG of unwieldy complexity. It started in extreme simplicity: a single sheet of notebook paper. We had some excellent adventures with that one-page &quot;rule book&quot;, basically a &quot;d20 system&quot; without all the special-case rules, in 1981-82. You got + factors to write down, but in whatever you wanted (subject to GM approval) rather than from a set list. It was sort of like Talislanta with a &quot;points system&quot; instead of templates. There was no spell list, either; describe what you want to do, roll and add an appropriate magic factor, and do it if you roll high enough.Over the years, though, I kept adding elaborations for their own sake. The magic system especially got weighed down with pages of specific effects and difficulty factors. Characteristics/skills, of course, got similarly formalized. Combat procedures and equipment ratings multiplied like rabbits. By the last time I actually ran it, in '85, it was definitely heavy. A couple of years later, I considered a revision to slim it down. I had consciously tried to keep things modular, but there were too many interdependencies and balances.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Ariosto, post: 4981880, member: 80487"] I designed an RPG of unwieldy complexity. It started in extreme simplicity: a single sheet of notebook paper. We had some excellent adventures with that one-page "rule book", basically a "d20 system" without all the special-case rules, in 1981-82. You got + factors to write down, but in whatever you wanted (subject to GM approval) rather than from a set list. It was sort of like Talislanta with a "points system" instead of templates. There was no spell list, either; describe what you want to do, roll and add an appropriate magic factor, and do it if you roll high enough. Over the years, though, I kept adding elaborations for their own sake. The magic system especially got weighed down with pages of specific effects and difficulty factors. Characteristics/skills, of course, got similarly formalized. Combat procedures and equipment ratings multiplied like rabbits. By the last time I actually ran it, in '85, it was definitely heavy. A couple of years later, I considered a revision to slim it down. I had consciously tried to keep things modular, but there were too many interdependencies and balances. [/QUOTE]

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