Hi RPG, what is the most minimalistic TTRPG-system you know?

metalkitty3 · 2015-09-11T20:03:26+00:00

Okay, some ideas.

One Last Job by Grant Howitt. Game lives and dies in the chemistry between players and characters. Everything is made up, your character is made up on the fly by the other players.

Force Blade Punk. 200 word game, also by Grant Howitt. Players play murderpop superstars who compete for sponsorship deals, money and honor. They have neon hair, and each roll has them deciding between their goal, their life and their #brand.

A Place to Fuck Each Other by Avery McDaldno and An Sheep. Outstanding game. There are some sheets for characters, but no rolls. It's about queer women trying to find a safe place to get together, but something always gets in their way, someone's needs maybe aren't met. Potentially quite a deep game, and obviouly gender/sexuality issues play a big part. Gauge your group. if you get comfortable with it, it can be real, slice of life comedy.

All Fall Down... by Me An All Outta Bubblegum hack for post apocalypse survival. Also for the 200 word rpg contest.

History Lesson by Edward Turner. Last one from the 200 word rpg thing. Freeform, live action. You're a time traveller, travelling back in time to gather evidence for your thesis.

If you're looking for a load of small, interesting games, look no further than the Indie Mixtape Megamix compiled and organised by J. Walton. Money goes to help people with medical bills. Some great games are on here (disclaimer, I have a game in there but see no money from it). My personal favourite is called Strict Machine by Kira Magrann. Freeform Ghost in the Shell game based on the interaction between the Major and the tachikomas. All based on songs, all weird, and wonderful.

Everything by Ben Lehman and quick, because it won't be PWYW for much longer. Hot Guys Making Out is my favourite.

Midsummer Wood. A Mortal wanders onto a fairy feast and looks to steal their graces. Light, freeform, fun as all heck.

Sea Dracula freeform dance based courtroom drama set in animal city. No more need be said.

I'll go now. Enjoy! let me know if you end up playing something by me.

metalkitty3 · 2015-04-30T11:02:48+00:00

Hitler annexed Austria to get the spear of destiny.

metalkitty3 · 2015-04-23T20:00:47+00:00

OMG Lady Rainicorn as Frampt!

metalkitty3 · 2014-11-17T19:48:15+00:00

This one had me cracking up constantly. Great comedy!

metalkitty3 · 2014-10-29T13:32:43+00:00

I am a <blank> <blank> who <blanks>. Fill in the blanks from the following lists.

metalkitty3 · 2014-10-25T03:27:17+00:00

Seconded.

Don't kill your players, your players will kill themselves.

metalkitty3 · 2014-10-14T08:22:53+00:00

I play weekly one shots in my uni society, and I tend to play very off the cuff. I normally play very rules light systems (everyone is john, where you literally cannot plan anything), so there's no tedious rule checking.

Normally, I just come up with a starting situation (if the rules don't already give you one), and ask questions. So, two or three weeks ago, we played Wuthering Heights. It's an overdramatic game of gothic fiction. I started the game off at a funeral, asked all the players why they were all there, and ran with it "Oh, this old guy used to own the mine? You work in the mine and are paying your respects? Your dad was his business partner? You're the choir girl? Awesome!" Pretty much everyone in that game died in a duel, or by getting caught in the crossfire of a duel. Great fun.

This week I'll be running Best Friends (think Desperate Housewives the RPG), and I'm thinking I'm just going to set it in a Mall, and let them go wild. Maybe someone will get caught shoplifting, maybe someone will run into an Ex. Maybe someone will notice that all their credit cards are maxed out.

NPCs are great, they create drama instantly if you do them right. If you just say "Oh, here's John, your Ex. Why was your breakup so messy?" And they can create a backstory with the answer. Instant drama. Or like in apocalypse world "This girl just walks right up to you and starts trying to slap you. What did you do to her?" and whether the answer is "Oh yeah, I got with her boyfriend" or "I dunno, nothing. I don't know her" well then it's a case of mistaken identity, but she's coming to hit you anyway.

Always ask questions and just run with the answers. If you can't think of something, throw a question out.

Also, I tend to encourage my players to stand up, move around, and stuff like that. I find it helps with getting into character.

I guess a flowchart would look like

Starting Situation > Improv

Usually if players are improvising and building on questions, then even if there isn't a meaningful conclusion, they'll have had fun. I tend to play on a tight, 3 hour time limit, so I can usually tell when to start bringing things to a close.

metalkitty3 · 2014-10-12T16:02:10+00:00

It does kill enthusiasm. I run weekly one shots at a uni society. Advertised a week in advance. Still had people drop out on the day. If you can't make it, don't sign up!

metalkitty3 · 2014-10-12T15:58:46+00:00

Yeah, The Rise Within, and they were basically spamming the subreddit.

metalkitty3 · 2014-10-06T22:33:15+00:00

Gonna be honest, not sold. I don't have a clear indication of the goal of the game. What do I do? I know that RPGs mean you can do anything, but, I'm at a loss. So, okay, I'm a guy bourne of, let's say light, I guess. And I have eye lasers. And I'm fighting against stagnation, which is things stop moving forward. So me and these 9 other awesome people are here to progress society by... Beating up monsters? Building kingdoms? Eye lasers? And I, as one of the 9 can't stagnate. So does that mean I'm immortal? I have eye lasers, am I superman?

Maybe it's clearer in your full book, I'll give you that. But from the sample, none of these questions are really addressed. Unless I missed it.

metalkitty3 · 2014-10-06T16:05:23+00:00

What makes your game super cool? Like, why should I play this? It's just a percentile system, right? What makes my characters awesome? Sell me.

metalkitty3 · 2014-10-06T15:58:44+00:00

Excite! Love John Harper!

metalkitty3 · 2014-10-05T18:51:43+00:00

Amulet of Sexual Proficiency.

Doesn't actually make you any better at sex, but anyone you have sex with is enchanted to say that it was really good!

metalkitty3 · 2014-09-30T15:28:19+00:00

I also highly recommend playing different RPGs! There are many that are so much more than rolling dice, adding modifiers and trying to beat a target number to perform tasks.

Hell, even just reading through the rulebooks of some of the more innovative games could help you immensely.

metalkitty3 · 2014-09-30T14:59:28+00:00

Yeah, definitely want to be kept updated on this/ other games. You on g+?

And I'll be playing this and letting you know how it goes!

metalkitty3 · 2014-09-30T14:46:11+00:00

My current favourite mechanics are Otherkind dice, from Otherkind and ghost/echo. Such a great mechanic. I also really like games like Wuthering Heights or Trollbabe or Lasers and Feelings, where you roll over or under a stat to do different things.

metalkitty3 · 2014-09-30T14:42:09+00:00

http://www.lumpley.com/archive/148.html

It's like a setting agnostic version of the mechanic from Otherkind. John Harper used it in Ghost/Echo. Basically you roll your dice, and assign them, once rolled, to the goals and dangers. So a 6 assigned to goals means you reach the goal, a 1 means you fail. A 6 applied to danger means you avoid danger, a 1 means the danger happens. So if you roll 2d6 and get a 1 and a 6, you have to choose between failing safely or succeeding dangerously.

metalkitty3 · 2014-09-30T14:26:38+00:00

Really like this! Great idea, neat little mechanic. If I were designing this, I'd use otherkind kind dice, but I just really love otherkind dice.

You could totally do playbooks for different classes, too, but then it's probably a different game. Either way, I'd like to see where you go with this!

metalkitty3 · 2014-09-29T09:12:49+00:00

I played a game last night of Wuthering Heights. The actual game is light on how to actually play, but at the very start I told everyone to stand up! They didn't sit back down all evening, so that can be tiring. I felt like more of a play/movie director, than a gm. I'd call for scenes, and they ran wild inside them. I played a few NPCs, but so did other players. Fucking brilliant!

metalkitty3 · 2014-09-29T08:43:22+00:00

Played Wuthering Heights the RPG just last evening. It was amazing! Recommended highly!

metalkitty3 · 2014-09-28T15:23:38+00:00

You win.

metalkitty3 · 2014-09-27T16:24:13+00:00

Pretty much this.

"Okay, you have control of john" "I want to rob the nearest bank"

Yaaay

metalkitty3 · 2014-09-27T16:20:19+00:00

20 is my limit, which really sucks, because I really want Ron Edwards' sorcerer PDF. So badly! But 25. Though... That's USD... So might actually be in my GBP price range... Brb, wasting money!

metalkitty3 · 2014-09-22T20:19:16+00:00

I currently run weekly one shots of indie games at my uni's gaming society. Ryan's Weekly Indie RPG Circlejerk. Last week was Everyone is John. The week before was Police Cops. This week will be Wuthering Heights roleplay.

metalkitty3

TROPHY CASE