Still Searching for "That" System

[johnmarron]

Dragonbane might work for you. It's pretty intuitive.

That's another good suggestion!

 

[GMMichael]

Can you help find my Goldilocks system?

• Survivable – you’re not going to die to a single hit from a kobold at 1st level [this cuts out most OSR systems]
• Interesting Options – you can do more than swing a sword or cast one spell (if you want to interact with the game that way) [this also cuts out most OSR systems]
• Easy to learn – you don’t need to perfect your tactics, count on your fingers to hit elevated numbers in the mid-20s (with always altering numbers) [Pathfinder, 4e, etc., are cut here]
• Good GM tools – encounter building that works, possibly good adventures/settings [cutting out 5e]

Close to 60 different games, and none of them clear this bar?

I don't trust myself with rules-lite games. I can stare at the FATE rules and just be completely bewildered. I don't know how to understand them. . .

I guess - in my mind - Savage Worlds is still too crunchy for what I'm thinking. My experience is that even the most basic Savage Worlds is exceeds 5e in complexity, and 5e represents the threshold of what I think these players can handle.

So you don't trust yourself with rules-light, but rules-medium is too crunchy. That...doesn't leave a lot.

What about a modular game that starts super-simple, with bare bones rules for game play and character creation, then adds a layer of complexity for generic, extended conflict resolution, and then adds combat and magic modules in case you're still wanting more? Try Modos RPG.

Gritty details:

Spoiler

• Survivable. Characters generally start at 10 health, and kobolds, on a good day, will strike for d6 damage with a short sword.
• Interesting options. While the GM can always interpret whatever action a PC wants (which can make Progress), the basic actions are attack, defend, cast, move, combine, mount, maintain, and delay.
• Easy to learn...but difficult to master. The first module simply asks a player to roll a d20, add an attribute bonus to it, and compare it to the GM's result. The extended conflict module chains these rolls together with rounds and progress. The combat module adds a physical, more tactical layer on the extended conflict module.
• Good GM tools. There's a GM's toolbox, which helps general game play. Combat encounter creation gets some pointers, but largely comes down to two major factors: which side has more combatants, and which side has better arms and armor?

 

[FrogReaver]

As I posted in another thread (https://www.enworld.org/threads/what-game-systems-do-you-have.699515/), I have close to 60 different game systems. I'm still looking for a system that will fit the unique needs of my group.
Can you help find my Goldilocks system?

• Survivable – you’re not going to die to a single hit from a kobold at 1st level [this cuts out most OSR systems]
• Interesting Options – you can do more than swing a sword or cast one spell (if you want to interact with the game that way) [this also cuts out most OSR systems]
• Easy to learn – you don’t need to perfect your tactics, count on your fingers to hit elevated numbers in the mid-20s (with always altering numbers) [Pathfinder, 4e, etc., are cut here]
• Good GM tools – encounter building that works, possibly good adventures/settings [cutting out 5e]

Would 4e d&d work?

 

[Umbran]

I don't trust myself with rules-lite games. I can stare at the FATE rules and just be completely bewildered. I don't know how to understand them.

One answer is, "Have someone teach you."

Find someone who is willing to run it for you, or find someone here who has played a lot of it (there are some of us) who you won't mind having some long PM talks with.

 

[TheSword]

My gut feeling is that your better looking with fresh eyes than seeking new shores.

I’m not sure your holy grail of perfect game exists.

Coach one of your players to be a DM and take a back seat for a bit. Enjoying the game as a player and teaching the next generation how to DM may give you a new lease of life.

 

[Retreater]

Close to 60 different games, and none of them clear this bar?

It could be analysis paralysis - too many options.
But off the top of my head I can't think of anything that will hit "that sweet spot." (Maybe Fantasy AGE; Maybe 13th Age.)

For example...
Savage Worlds is too crunchy for them. Too many rules options, tactical maneuvers, damage resistances, dividing by 4 to get success levels, etc.
3.x/PF1/PF2 are also too crunchy.
OSR games are too deadly. That extends to TSR-era games, Mork Borg, Free League's Year Zero Engine, Warhammer, Fantasy Trip.

So you don't trust yourself with rules-light, but rules-medium is too crunchy. That...doesn't leave a lot.

Yeah. It's a heck of a predicament.
When I say I don't trust myself with "rules-light," I'm talking about narrative games with GMs getting to do things like "awaken a challenge from the list of the character's background conflicts, pertinent to her relationship with the bandit lord." I mean, I just want to roll attacks with monsters, place devious traps, have the heroes engage in a rooftop chase to pursue the burglar who lifted the crown jewels.
Something like a 5e that doesn't stink.

What about a modular game that starts super-simple, with bare bones rules for game play and character creation, then adds a layer of complexity for generic, extended conflict resolution, and then adds combat and magic modules in case you're still wanting more? Try Modos RPG.

That's an idea! I'll take a look.

 

[Retreater]

Would 4e d&d work?

It's not so far. We're two sessions into Gamma World (which is an even more streamlined 4e). They're about to fall off it, hard.
Which is a shame, because I do really enjoy 4e, and one of the more experienced players loves it (her favorite system).
It's just too much math, interrupting actions, character options, too many Powers, etc.

Coach one of your players to be a DM and take a back seat for a bit enjoying the game as a player.

Dang, don't I wish! I've recommended that, but there are no takers.
Also, I have a suspicion that I'm a bad player. My wife got me a seat at a game with her other DM. He unceremoniously killed my character, by keeping adding legendary actions to the villain until I was dead. Then he didn't invite me to return.

One answer is, "Have someone teach you."

Find someone who is willing to run it for you, or find someone here who has played a lot of it (there are some of us) who you won't mind having some long PM talks with.

I did have someone run me in City of Mists and FATE. The free-form was bad for my wife (who is one of the players in my current group) - she hated being "put on the spot," forced to think creatively, and engaging in the "mother, may I" questions.
The GM of those systems handled all the rules for me when I ran Fantasy Flight Star Wars - because he said I couldn't understand how to decode the dice.

 

[Aldarc]

Now that you say it: I think Worlds Without Number might qualify.

There are even rules for making characters play better with heroic fantasy.

 

[TheSword]

Dang, don't I wish! I've recommended that, but there are no takers.
Also, I have a suspicion that I'm a bad player. My wife got me a seat at a game with her other DM. He unceremoniously killed my character, by keeping adding legendary actions to the villain until I was dead. Then he didn't invite me to return.

The guy sounds like a douche. He can’t pull that stuff with ex DM’s. It’s too transparent. You’re better off out of a game that treats a new player like that. Unless you were, like, really rude.

That’s what you’ve got to grow your own. Don’t give those kids a choice, say there will be no gaming until somebody steps up to the plate. Then coach them through it. The new Phandelver campaign is a good place to start. Particularly if they’re familiar with the start as players.

 

[Cadence]

I'm not sure. The ones I've tried (OSE, S&W) are still very challenging to balance, because "balance" seems antithetical to the concept of OSR games.
Having grown up with TSR-era AD&D, I don't know how any of my PCs survived to mid-levels. Did we all play differently then?

Would B/X starting with 3rd level characters, but using encounters for 1st and 2nd level ones work?

Are you making encounters in advance that use what the book says is balanced instead of adjusting on the fly?