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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Neonchameleon" data-source="post: 9321018" data-attributes="member: 87792">Mind if I step in here; I'm currently running Stonetop for what I refer to as my Apocalypse World group. And the quick answer is "a lot closer than anything actually in the D&D space. And some of what Stonetop does builds on freeform to give more of what people who play it want (again largely  borrowed from Apocalypse World)."The first thing to say is that Freeform is not perfect and there are some known cases where there are issues; some obvious ones where Freeform has far more problems than TTRPGs when trying to act in character and create stories are:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Conflict Resolution (as anyone who has played Cops & Robbers probably has seen); TTRPGs give everyone stats so you have something specific, then let you roll the dice - and blame them if both people want different things.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Playing the NPCs; everyone has their own characters who have their own agendas and their characters aren't NPCs.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Providing opposition; providing challenge and opposition to other peoples' characters can make people feel like jerks so people often don't like to do it.</li> </ul>Is this saying you can't handle these things under freeform? No, of course not. But they are things tabletop is genuinely much better at - and things Vincent doubled down on; he was trying to create a game that was good for freeform gamers including his wife. Meanwhile he kept the characters mechanically lean (five stats, no skills, about three special abilities for a starting character and always clearly written, always the same roll) and used a number of tricks to disrupt the freeform experience as little as possible.Stonetop is two generations removed from AW. Dungeon World is AW slightly clumsily crossed with D&D and is much further from freeform. Stonetop is meanwhile more deftly done than its Dungeon World parent and adds back in a lot from Apocalypse World that makes it feel closer to freeform. It also adds a mountain of lore (current Stonetop betas could do with someone cutting back the lore with a chainsaw), including maps, and a defined starting environment (although you build on it in shared character creation) and locations to a degree I've not seen in freeform but have in tabletop. But there is a very strong freeform influence.</blockquote>

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