Keeping it simple

I always think that the complexity in a roleplaying session should come from the story rather than the rules. Complicated rules don't make a complicated story, they make a slow story and a story where rule lawyers interrupt things to make sure they're doing things "by the book".

I've been looking at elemental concepts, and splitting things out into 8 types of action (matching the elements of air, darkness, earth, fire, light, metal, water, and wood), but this has been getting complicated. 

Looking back at 'Town Guard' has realigned my thoughts along some older patterns. That game has 4 attributes... Battle, Knowledge, Influence, and Mysticism. Almost allwing a shift back to the simple style of game found in Warrior, Rogue, Mage (http://www.stargazergames.eu/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/WRM.pdf) which has informed a few of my design concepts recently. 

With that in mnd, I could probably knock out a game in a few pages to align up with the symbols and ideas behind the location images I'm working with. A shattered magical realm, where everyone has the capacity to awaken inner powers, but these powers might be focused along combat techniques, insight and knowledge, status and social manipulation, or raw and blatantly magical. 

...but I'm still thinking at this stage.

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