Sword of Spirit
Legend
A thought I've been focusing on recently in my own design is making sure the entire rules framework creates, as close to possible, the exact experience that I want my players to have at the table. It seems to me that the rules have a huge effect on what experiences are possible or easy to create. If I want a particular experience, I have to make sure nothing is getting in the way of that experience and the elements that are present are encouraging and enabling that experience.
I'll share what I'm currently thinking of for my system, and I'm very curious to hear what others are thinking of for their systems, how well they feel they are (or have) accomplished it in actual play, and any thoughts on other systems out there and what we can learn from their successes or failures. (I'm starting with the assumption that systems are intended to provide different experiences, and so we should be clear of what our aims are.) Also, while GM experience is also important, I'm primarily focusing on player experience for the moment.
My system is designed to enable players to traverse a cinematically believable plot canvas* where the physics of the world interact more or less as expected for those assumptions, but players have narrative input on the flow of the scenario their choices are creating.
What I want them to experience at the table is a sense of role-playing immersion, where they are most often thinking in terms of what their character would do, taking more of an acting approach than anything, and when they feel an urge to support out-of-character (or even in-character) desires regarding how their character relates to the world, they can briefly withdraw from that immersion long enough to invoke the narrative input resources they have available to them before plunging back into first-person role-playing of their persona.
I find that the gamey-er aspects that are fun for me in some systems tend to break the immersion I'm going for in this system and slow down the play. "Roll for initiative", looking up numbers (heck, even using numbers to an extent), and even rolling dice immediately pull you out of the mode I'm going for, and prevent you from fully interacting with immersive acting, even in scenes where it would be highly fulfilling to stick in-character.
They also slow down the play way more than I would like. A sufficiently light system minimizes this, but it doesn't eliminate the other issue.
Here are some thoughts I've had on some ways to help create what I'm going for:
1) Record character information with words rather than numbers as much as possible (this is one I've been doing for a long time). So your character information (which won't necessarily need a special character sheet--just jot it down wherever) might say that you are Tremendously Intelligent, Exceptionally Insightful, but have Unimpressive Agility. (Any quality not explicitly described is assumed to be at a Normal level.) You have a PhD in Molecular Engineering, Professional level grasp of computers, are a Journeyman in Conjuration (yay, magic!), and your crazy hobbies make you a fairly Advanced Driver. (You initially write down any defining skills you can think of, and can add more as they come up during play or you think of them.)
I haven't decided whether I should put numbers after those words or not. Initially I wasn't planning on it, but it occurs to me that it would speed things up if it was all there and ready to go. (Numbers are small enough that they rarely reach 10.)
2) Reference numbers only when needed. Numbers are used when it is important to compare values. That's pretty much it. Whether there is a contest of some sort and you need to see who wins and by how much, or someone gets smacked by a club and you need to see how badly they are hurt, or whether you need to see how much extra effort they can add through an act of will, numbers can be referenced to let you know where things stand. They are available when needed so our make-believe play doesn't devolve into "bang! bang! you're dead!" "no I'm not!" "are too!" etc. Numbers then translate directly back to words so that primary interpretation of results is built-in rather than requiring individual effort.
3) Keep dice rolling simple. There are generally three test resolution modes, and a scene will normally be designated (explicitly or by assumption) with one of them based on the goals and the nature of the scene. For the first, no dice are used. Skill levels, circumstances, and narration of details determine success. The second scene type is like the first, except that a d6 is rolled with 6 meaning add 1 and 1 meaning subtract 1 from the value comparison. The third scene type is the same except that two d6s are rolled, and basically treated like Fudge/Fate dice, except that rolling double 6s adds 3 and snake eyes subtracts 3. If I could make it even simpler than that (such as by having the two dice method use the same dice interpretation as the single die method) I would, but I haven't found a simpler alternative that produces the values I'm looking for.
4) Condense the considerations involved in determining outcomes to the smallest possible number of elements that I can while still maintaining satisfying results. (This is one of the major difficulties in refining the system--trying to get it right. I may have to initially settle for getting it "good enough".)
I'm still not sure this is going to do everything I want to have happen. I'm also considering:
5) Have the GM roll all dice. In a contest, only one roll is made, rather than one for each side.
6) Have the GM keep track of all numbers instead of the players.
I think I may be able to swing 5 without putting too much work on the GM, but I think 6 might break the camel's back. If the GM has to pause the game for too long every time dice are rolled, the players will come out of their immersion due to lack of stimulation, even without direct distractions like thinking about dice and numbers. Perhaps I need to walk a fine balance.
So in play, it should involve the GM narrating the broad environment of a scene, and the players getting into their characters' heads, describing what they do with a heavy dose of in-character talking and decision making (hopefully with most of their character information soon memorized due to the lack of numbers and small quantity of things recorded on their sheet allowing them to internalize it and not need to reference a sheet). Either players say things like, "With Advanced Driving skills I'm going to attempt to maneuver through traffic to get ahead of that car," or they just say what they are doing and the GM knows they have Advanced Driving and takes care of it, then the GM quickly rolls a die on his side of the table (if its that kind of scene) and narrates any results, complications, or events following, which the players then continue to respond to, etc.
I don't want action scenes to slow down the play; I want to keep the feeling that the narration only takes a bit longer than the action in the world (I know there is only so far I can go in this direction), so it doesn't feel that there is a disconnect between how an "action scene" is run and how a conversation scene (presumably more or less real-time) is run. That shift is jarring and I don't want it.
So what actual play experience are you going for in your system? How have you accomplished it, or how are you struggling to do so? How and how well have you seen other systems accomplish their apparent intended play experiences? What considerations, innovations, or theoretical refinements might help us in this regard?
I'll share what I'm currently thinking of for my system, and I'm very curious to hear what others are thinking of for their systems, how well they feel they are (or have) accomplished it in actual play, and any thoughts on other systems out there and what we can learn from their successes or failures. (I'm starting with the assumption that systems are intended to provide different experiences, and so we should be clear of what our aims are.) Also, while GM experience is also important, I'm primarily focusing on player experience for the moment.
My system is designed to enable players to traverse a cinematically believable plot canvas* where the physics of the world interact more or less as expected for those assumptions, but players have narrative input on the flow of the scenario their choices are creating.
What I want them to experience at the table is a sense of role-playing immersion, where they are most often thinking in terms of what their character would do, taking more of an acting approach than anything, and when they feel an urge to support out-of-character (or even in-character) desires regarding how their character relates to the world, they can briefly withdraw from that immersion long enough to invoke the narrative input resources they have available to them before plunging back into first-person role-playing of their persona.
I find that the gamey-er aspects that are fun for me in some systems tend to break the immersion I'm going for in this system and slow down the play. "Roll for initiative", looking up numbers (heck, even using numbers to an extent), and even rolling dice immediately pull you out of the mode I'm going for, and prevent you from fully interacting with immersive acting, even in scenes where it would be highly fulfilling to stick in-character.
They also slow down the play way more than I would like. A sufficiently light system minimizes this, but it doesn't eliminate the other issue.
Here are some thoughts I've had on some ways to help create what I'm going for:
1) Record character information with words rather than numbers as much as possible (this is one I've been doing for a long time). So your character information (which won't necessarily need a special character sheet--just jot it down wherever) might say that you are Tremendously Intelligent, Exceptionally Insightful, but have Unimpressive Agility. (Any quality not explicitly described is assumed to be at a Normal level.) You have a PhD in Molecular Engineering, Professional level grasp of computers, are a Journeyman in Conjuration (yay, magic!), and your crazy hobbies make you a fairly Advanced Driver. (You initially write down any defining skills you can think of, and can add more as they come up during play or you think of them.)
I haven't decided whether I should put numbers after those words or not. Initially I wasn't planning on it, but it occurs to me that it would speed things up if it was all there and ready to go. (Numbers are small enough that they rarely reach 10.)
2) Reference numbers only when needed. Numbers are used when it is important to compare values. That's pretty much it. Whether there is a contest of some sort and you need to see who wins and by how much, or someone gets smacked by a club and you need to see how badly they are hurt, or whether you need to see how much extra effort they can add through an act of will, numbers can be referenced to let you know where things stand. They are available when needed so our make-believe play doesn't devolve into "bang! bang! you're dead!" "no I'm not!" "are too!" etc. Numbers then translate directly back to words so that primary interpretation of results is built-in rather than requiring individual effort.
3) Keep dice rolling simple. There are generally three test resolution modes, and a scene will normally be designated (explicitly or by assumption) with one of them based on the goals and the nature of the scene. For the first, no dice are used. Skill levels, circumstances, and narration of details determine success. The second scene type is like the first, except that a d6 is rolled with 6 meaning add 1 and 1 meaning subtract 1 from the value comparison. The third scene type is the same except that two d6s are rolled, and basically treated like Fudge/Fate dice, except that rolling double 6s adds 3 and snake eyes subtracts 3. If I could make it even simpler than that (such as by having the two dice method use the same dice interpretation as the single die method) I would, but I haven't found a simpler alternative that produces the values I'm looking for.
4) Condense the considerations involved in determining outcomes to the smallest possible number of elements that I can while still maintaining satisfying results. (This is one of the major difficulties in refining the system--trying to get it right. I may have to initially settle for getting it "good enough".)
I'm still not sure this is going to do everything I want to have happen. I'm also considering:
5) Have the GM roll all dice. In a contest, only one roll is made, rather than one for each side.
6) Have the GM keep track of all numbers instead of the players.
I think I may be able to swing 5 without putting too much work on the GM, but I think 6 might break the camel's back. If the GM has to pause the game for too long every time dice are rolled, the players will come out of their immersion due to lack of stimulation, even without direct distractions like thinking about dice and numbers. Perhaps I need to walk a fine balance.
So in play, it should involve the GM narrating the broad environment of a scene, and the players getting into their characters' heads, describing what they do with a heavy dose of in-character talking and decision making (hopefully with most of their character information soon memorized due to the lack of numbers and small quantity of things recorded on their sheet allowing them to internalize it and not need to reference a sheet). Either players say things like, "With Advanced Driving skills I'm going to attempt to maneuver through traffic to get ahead of that car," or they just say what they are doing and the GM knows they have Advanced Driving and takes care of it, then the GM quickly rolls a die on his side of the table (if its that kind of scene) and narrates any results, complications, or events following, which the players then continue to respond to, etc.
I don't want action scenes to slow down the play; I want to keep the feeling that the narration only takes a bit longer than the action in the world (I know there is only so far I can go in this direction), so it doesn't feel that there is a disconnect between how an "action scene" is run and how a conversation scene (presumably more or less real-time) is run. That shift is jarring and I don't want it.
So what actual play experience are you going for in your system? How have you accomplished it, or how are you struggling to do so? How and how well have you seen other systems accomplish their apparent intended play experiences? What considerations, innovations, or theoretical refinements might help us in this regard?
