Thoughts on Design as a GM and Designer

[kylesgames]

I can't stop myself from writing. Sorry for the link spam:

tl;dr: I've found that giving players agency and relying on a tight toolset while fully expanding that toolset is the best thing you can do.

http://blog.homoeoteleuton.com/things-i ... -designer/

[Onix]

It's good to see growth. I went through a similar change in my philosophy a few years back. I may have thrown out the baby with the bath water a few times though. It turns out that my players like my big clunky procedural game. They've warmed to some of the other ones and tuning in to a balance has been an interesting project.

[kylesgames]

[Rob Lang]

[madunkieg]

[kylesgames]

[Rob Lang]

[Onix]

Then there's the really hard operations.

Multiplying by 2
Subtracting single digit numbers
Multiplying by numbers other than 2 (or 1 or 0)
Subtracting double digit numbers
Dividing by 2
Dividing by anything other than 2 (yada yada, don't divide by 0)

I mention these because they are included by more starting level game designers than you'd think and things like triple damage are used in even modern D&D.

Another way to make things faster in an RPG is to reduce the number of steps it takes to get to a resolution. For instance, does the game require initiative rolls? That's a step. If you have a attack roll, do you need a defense roll?

So for instance, what if instead of rolling numbers you used Fudge dice (Steffan O'Sullivan deserves his due). A skill allows you to negate a die. Maybe some equipment allows you to negate a die. Instead of rolling to defend, the defender gets to negate a die (if they have a skill). So you just get rid of the dice you don't like from the roll. It would be a fast way of resolving. Not very granular, but it could be a useful basis to start out a game system. (Actually now I want to develop that idea.)

[kylesgames]

[Evil Scientist]

In Call of Cthulhu 7th ed. the difficulty of a roll is modeled by the player having to roll under the half or the fifth value of the skill. During chargen, you record all these fractions, e.g. if your base skill is 60, you jot down 60 (30 / 12). And adjust accordingly when you improve a skill.
There is a table in the rulebook with a listing of all half and fifth values for numbers from 1 to 100 to help you out...


The reason I like dice pool systems is that you juggle physical dice, not numbers. You see the little polyhedrons before you, and physically remove the ones that are low/high (depending on the system), it's quick and easy. The bottleneck is the calculation of the size of the dice pool (which, in some cases, is also limited by the actual amount of dice you own when you cannot roll your pool in one go, it takes away all the charm and easiness)...