Camelot
Adventurer
Thanks for all the advice! I looked through those systems (or reviews of them) that I could find, took what I liked, and this is what I came up with:
Each character starts with three Stories. The player chooses the first two (one Solo Story and one Group Story), and the third is created by the Game Master (can be Solo or Group). The GM is encouraged to make sure that the group is united through the Group Stories, so that they have reasons to all be together. Here are some examples of Stories:
Missing Master [Solo]
You were taken on as an apprentice to learn a craft or art from a master. You grew close with your master over the years. One day, your master mysteriously disappeared, leaving you with only a vague clue as to where the master went or was taken. You set out to search for your master.
Guardian [Group]
One or more characters have sworn to protect one or more of the other characters, and so they stick together no matter what. However, something may challenge the relationship.
Prophesy [Group]
One or more characters had a vision of one or more of the other characters doing great things, for good or otherwise. The prophets now stay close to the subjects of the vision in order to impact or benefit from the outcome in some way.
A Story can be anything as long as it provides somewhere to go in the narrative, and in the case of a Group Story, links two or more characters together. The GM takes all the Stories into consideration when creating the campaign, providing opportunities for them to develop. Each Story must have multiple possible outcomes that the characters' actions guide them towards. When a Story results in significant character development, the Story grants a reward to each of its members. This can be a magic item, a unique ability, or some other in-game reward. In games that have a required amount of treasure that the GM must give to the players each level, that treasure can come from their Stories. If a Story seems used up, the players can decide that it has been completed.
Instead of keeping track of XP, you can use Stories to advance through the campaign both in level and plot. At the end of each session, run through each of the characters' Stories and tally how many have been progressed in the game that day. If the result is at least twice the number of characters at the table, the characters are free to level up for the next session. Group Stories count once for each member of said group, so it provides more incentive to develop the relationships among the characters. If the group does not have enough points, they carry over into the next session.
Characters can acquire more Stories from the events of the game. If the players or the GM notice something that will make a good Story, simply declare it, discuss it briefly, and add it to the appropriate characters. There is no hard limit to how many Stories a character can participate in at one time; use your common sense and let the plot guide you.
I won't be able to test this out for a while, so how does it sound?
Each character starts with three Stories. The player chooses the first two (one Solo Story and one Group Story), and the third is created by the Game Master (can be Solo or Group). The GM is encouraged to make sure that the group is united through the Group Stories, so that they have reasons to all be together. Here are some examples of Stories:
Missing Master [Solo]
You were taken on as an apprentice to learn a craft or art from a master. You grew close with your master over the years. One day, your master mysteriously disappeared, leaving you with only a vague clue as to where the master went or was taken. You set out to search for your master.
Examples: A young samurai returns from a trip to town to find the meditation grove is in shambles and his sensei is missing and has left all his weapons and armor behind; a padawan sets out in search of her jedi master who was last seen on Hoth; the sorcerer thought that his former teacher had died years ago, but comes across mention that a man of the same description was seen performing dark magic
Guardian [Group]
One or more characters have sworn to protect one or more of the other characters, and so they stick together no matter what. However, something may challenge the relationship.
Examples: A wizard hires a warrior bodyguard; Sam, Merry, Pippin, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli swear to protect Frodo on his journey to Mordor; a jedi saves a wookiee's life, and the wookiee now follows the jedi everywhere despite the jedi's complaints
Prophesy [Group]
One or more characters had a vision of one or more of the other characters doing great things, for good or otherwise. The prophets now stay close to the subjects of the vision in order to impact or benefit from the outcome in some way.
Examples: A professor who has been dabbling into Cthulhu myth has a vivid nightmare in which a local private investigator will bring about the end of times; a cleric is granted a vision of herself and four others who will become champions of Erathis, then meets those four others the next day; a group of explorers discovers an ancient tablet describing a hidden treasure that can only be rediscovered by the chosen one, who they recognize as the princess of the kingdom
A Story can be anything as long as it provides somewhere to go in the narrative, and in the case of a Group Story, links two or more characters together. The GM takes all the Stories into consideration when creating the campaign, providing opportunities for them to develop. Each Story must have multiple possible outcomes that the characters' actions guide them towards. When a Story results in significant character development, the Story grants a reward to each of its members. This can be a magic item, a unique ability, or some other in-game reward. In games that have a required amount of treasure that the GM must give to the players each level, that treasure can come from their Stories. If a Story seems used up, the players can decide that it has been completed.
Instead of keeping track of XP, you can use Stories to advance through the campaign both in level and plot. At the end of each session, run through each of the characters' Stories and tally how many have been progressed in the game that day. If the result is at least twice the number of characters at the table, the characters are free to level up for the next session. Group Stories count once for each member of said group, so it provides more incentive to develop the relationships among the characters. If the group does not have enough points, they carry over into the next session.
Characters can acquire more Stories from the events of the game. If the players or the GM notice something that will make a good Story, simply declare it, discuss it briefly, and add it to the appropriate characters. There is no hard limit to how many Stories a character can participate in at one time; use your common sense and let the plot guide you.
I won't be able to test this out for a while, so how does it sound?
Last edited:
