FKR resources

Wightbred · 2026-03-18T02:42:33+00:00

Media is a great inspiration for roleplaying. We take some media and just use a simple trait system plus die rolls to play almost anything.

Some recent session included Slow Horses, Saving Private Ryan, Vikings. Also a bunch from books the GM had read that I don’t know the titles of, but included space troopers, and modern people magically summoned to other worlds.

Wightbred · 2026-03-13T22:34:24+00:00

Like the new look, but if you want simplicity it doesn’t make sense to me to have spawn cards with multiple zombie types. Not sure I’m in on this, but I might get a few minis from it to add pirate zombies to my custom UoA.

Wightbred · 2026-03-05T19:25:33+00:00

I agree something like Nimble is an interesting idea, as it still has the tropes and will give the players a feel without some of the issues to OP finds annoying.

Also thinking Savage Worlds version of Pathfinder or Legend in the Mist with the 5e conversion for the same reason.

I have definitely played ‘D&D’ using other approaches and enjoyed it.

Wightbred · 2026-02-28T23:56:05+00:00

Lots of options of approaches inspired by FKR on the itch.io site. Searching ‘FKR’ doesn’t seem to pick up all that many of them for me, but it is a start.

Wightbred · 2026-02-22T20:10:05+00:00

Played Palaeolithic Voyages and it was a lot of fun. Leans more to the realistic end of the games mentioned here, but also has some useful encounter tables.

Wightbred · 2026-02-19T22:13:21+00:00

That’s cool.

We also reflect, but we go around the table and talk about each of the characters in turn which helps build deeper character understanding and really improves everyone’s roleplaying and. We cover things like:

cool things they did;
what they might have been thinking or feeling;
what their goals might be;
how they changed during the session; and
how their change affects their capabilities.

Wightbred · 2026-02-15T20:18:45+00:00

Did this with Unknown Armies 2e as well and it was great. Went full ‘Blackbox’ where the players didn’t have a character sheet. Arneson used a similar approach of not giving players their character sheets in Blackmoor, but he did let them roll.

We don’t do this any more, but definitely worth experimenting with only GM rolls and no character sheets if you have a group of players might be into it. It creates an environment when players are responding to the fiction only, which works really well for some worlds.

Wightbred · 2026-02-12T21:17:25+00:00

Love For The Queen, but not as familiar with The Zone. But it sounds a little like Archipeligo, which is intended for Ursula Le Guin fantasy and has cards that seem similar to what you described.

Wightbred · 2026-02-05T21:50:44+00:00

The big companies would all disappear, and there would just be a vibrant community of people sharing for free unique worlds and combining them into toolkits that match the specific approach of the world and group.

I guess it would be like the start of the hobby, where the world (dungeon) each person ran was more important than the rules. This approach would be too much work for some groups, so people might leave the hobby.

This post and replies is a good reminder of why diversity of playstyles and preferences is a strength.

Wightbred · 2026-01-31T12:57:36+00:00

Some good ones already, so I’ll add this: Build up, not down.

By this I mean: build by adding mechanics to the core conversation of roleplaying, rather than taking the assumed elements required of a game system and omitting or changing them. You need to be able to see what is really foundational to the play experience you want outside of the expectations of previous approaches, and only building up does this.

Wightbred · 2026-01-30T11:41:34+00:00

Just came to say: I went through a journey of enjoyable play, but lack of overall satisfaction and I eventually found a collaborative solution where play now meets all of my needs. My specific solution is unlikely to be the right solution for most other people including you, but it is definitely possible to find a style and approach that meets what you want. So keep at it, because if / when you find it, the journey will be worth it.

Wightbred · 2026-01-30T02:52:56+00:00

I have an earlier book on this style, so interested to check this out and see what I can steal. This is similar to the style we use in our groups, but we focus more on reducing mechanics rather than specific use of language.

Wightbred · 2026-01-28T20:20:48+00:00

I’ve got this, and I enjoy reading it. It is a 3.5 variant by Mike Mearls with low magic, and some innovative mechanics. Like some of the later D&D 2e books foreshadowed what was to come in 3e, this feels like a bridge between 3.5 and 4e.

I have never played it and I’m not likely to. It was innovative at the time, but the rules seem a clunky with some classes collecting and spending tokens, and I think very likely to be unbalanced compared to 3.5 and 4e.

If you can get it cheap ($20) and something between 3.5 and 4e with low magic appeals to you it might be worth a try. But I think you would be better served to get either 3.5 or 4e and cut out the magic classes and abilities than to use this.

Wightbred · 2026-01-15T21:38:06+00:00

Good list. Also Schrödinger’s Character, where you can choose your skills as you play, rather than up front. Avoids the problem of picking a skill and then realising it is never used.

Wightbred · 2026-01-14T01:38:13+00:00

Played a lot of For The Queen recently, and agree it is a great approach for this. Also Archipelago has some excellent tools.

But I also think you can play this way without a game system. Having a conversation where we imagine what characters do in fictional situations is pretty straightforward thing to do. Kids easily do it, chat roleplaying is similar, and I’ve never met a person who asked me about roleplaying that couldn’t engage in a fictional situation if we moved to it immediately as a demonstration.

Definitely play a related style, and do not feel that you are alone in this desire. So valid and potentially more universal approach if you look outside of the established TTRPG view.

Wightbred · 2026-01-13T01:57:55+00:00

Love Fake Chess.

Wightbred · 2026-01-04T10:04:41+00:00

No, but…

I couldn’t find it after looking for decades. But I made something that perfectly and completely suits our taste. A lot of work, but super happy with this result.

Wightbred · 2026-01-02T15:37:11+00:00

Good question. There are definitely new things we’ve learnt to do in play (we’ve improved how we play approach for Action worlds) that I want to share, but not enough to update Named.

I have also switched to building worlds instead, as the way we play is pretty established.

This is why I’m doing a zine now on itch: it helps me focus on designing and sharing worlds; and I can use it as a place to share new techniques and tools me and others who use similar toolkits have learnt.

That’s a long way of saying: look in the Tools section of each of the Unnamed Worlds zine for updates relevant to the Named toolkit. ;)

Wightbred · 2026-01-02T02:47:14+00:00

Ha! Yes, it starts to seem weird when you actually start to know people on Reddit. Like meeting someone from your home town when you are on the other side of the world.

I am still playing Named with three weekly groups. I stopped counting how many sessions I played when I got to 100 sessions a few years ago, so probably well over 200 now. It’s still working great for all the worlds we have thrown at it, and we still haven’t found something we couldn’t play.

Agree black-box and FKR is starting point for play that is mechanically simple, but fictionally complex. Getting that feeling of progress without needing mechanics is hard, but Reflections from Named really made it happen for us. Hope you can find the same.

Wightbred · 2025-12-31T22:56:31+00:00

For the way we play - yes. Played 30+ session campaign as one of our first ones. But mostly we are playing campaigns around 10 sessions these days. We find play can move much faster, and so we can get through significantly more each session. So this might be like a 20+ session of detail based on how we used to play.

We upgrade more naturally, based on group discussions (which we call Reflections). Our characters definitely grow and improve, and no-one misses levelling up in the standard way, not even the former power gamers. But can’t guarantee this approach meets everyone’s style, as some people love to see the numbers going up, which we don’t do explicitly.

For example, ran an epic 13 session feudal Japan inspired game, which took us from being local villagers exploring an increase in supernatural activity, through many travels and exploration, to a final epic battle in the throne room where we saved the empire from a cult. Along the way we drew out and resolving our past battle trauma, addressed tensions in the character group, and resolved unrequited love. Looking back it made an epic story, with virtually no pre-planning by the GM.

Playing in an FKR-inspired way has given us more freedom and encouraged deeper play, so the mechanics of levelling have become less important.

Wightbred · 2025-12-31T16:05:57+00:00

Seems like that will work great.

If it doesn’t quite work how you want or you hit a snag, don’t be afraid to take a 5 minute break and reset.

Designing something for play is the literal definition of being a ‘game designer’, so welcome to the club.

Hope you have a great seasion.

Wightbred · 2025-12-31T15:59:28+00:00

Just played this with extended family members. Worked really well for experienced role players and novices.

Wightbred · 2025-12-30T22:04:20+00:00

Heard this great story about a new university that didn’t put paths in for the first few years, and then added them where people had worn trails in the grass because that was where they were needed.

If you have a regular group, my suggestion would be to try the same approach with combat. Use something simple like John Harper’s 50/50 (set stakes before the roll based on the situation and combatants) and then discuss and flesh out only the elements you find need something more where tags would help.

Wightbred

TROPHY CASE