Traits in RPGs

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I’ve seen a bunch of different games do a bunch of different spins on character traits or attributes.  Often times the traits affect either the number of dice, the die-type, or the number to be added to a roll.  For this game I’m thinking that traits will play a slightly more subtle role.  (If you’re new here and don’t know what game I’m talking about then please check out the About.)  Anyway, traits will affect the speed of progression in associated skills as opposed to affecting the rolls that characters make.  There will, however, still be straight up trait rolls in the proper circumstances, and they will take part in unskilled checks.

Here’s what I’m currently going with:

Physical

  • Strength
  • Dexterity
  • Constitution

Mental

  • Intelligence
  • Wits
  • Focus

Spiritual

  • Presence
  • Awareness
  • Will

I really like this list.  I’m just slightly worried about there being nine traits, as I normally distrust numbers greater than four;  however, I think that aspect is mitigated by the groupings.

Thoughts?  Also, what have been some of your favored systems for traits?  Or, just plain interesting/innovative systems?

Other News

Rob Lang has directed me over to 1,000 Monkeys, 1,000 Typewriters for some input on free RPGs and their creation.  There’re a lot of games over there.  And, if you’re anything like me and my friends, this is the horror season.  If you’re looking for a game to mess with your players in a one-shot before Halloween, check out Snuff.  I’d just recommend not telling the players what they’re in for…

Core Mechanic

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I’ve already mentioned that I’m not the biggest fan of discrete uniform distribution systems (from here on out to be called DUDs).  Basically, whenever you have a DUD on your hands it means that you’ve an equal percentage chance of rolling any of the possible results.  For a d20 the graph looks something like this:

DUD

Boring line with boring changes

That shouldn’t be the case, right?  You should have a greater chance of average performance, no?  And, your chance of dramatic success (or failure) shouldn’t be equal with everything else.  What I’m trying to say is that there should be something more akin to normal distribution in our gaming platform, which according to wikipedia should look something like this:

Normal?

This is normal, right?

2d10, Not Your Father’s 1d20

Now, I’ve seen some proponents of 3d6 systems, but three is too many dice for my aesthetic tastes.  Besides, I don’t think any of us nerds are that normal.  So, the core mechanic of this game is going to be 2d10, which looks something like this:

2d10's Percentage Graph

2d10, not your old man's 1d20

Now, there’s going to be more to it than this.  Like, explosions!  Who doesn’t love explosions!  And, exploding dice!  (I almost wish I liked Michael Bay and his excitement for explosions.)  But, more on all that exploding business later.

Game Design: Concepts and Aesthetics

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Makin’ thangs purty/werk gud

This may seem besides the point, but how did Apple recently surpass Exxon to become the world’s most valuable company? As much as I’d like to blame a bunch of fanboys for buying overpriced hardware, I really can’t. I mean, you can cite the halo effect from iPod sales or that enough hipsters toting around MacBooks has led to a tipping point in brand recognition/subservience, but all the above stem from one thing: Apple actually has a design aesthetic.

xkcd: One Two

We're pretty simple creatures.

Now, changing gears, the human mind, for all of its bells and whistles, really has some shortcomings. One such shortcoming is that we aren’t all Rain Man. He, and mystics like him, can accurately subitize large numbers. Most of us, though, can only look at a group of about four items or fewer and automatically know how many objects are present. You can also see this in the language of primitive cultures that have counting systems of “one, two, many.”

These things being said, here are the first guiding principles for the design aesthetic that I’d like to employ:

  • Rule 1: Simplicity. Remember, I are never progressed beyond thurd grade, and therd graders don’t want rules getting in the way of their fun.
  • No more than four. Currently, this applies to the max number of dice to be rolled for anything, but four should be considered exceptional. The normal maximum should be two, because everything above “two” is “many.”

Thoughts?

Influences and Their Opposite

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IT’S D&D…!

Some are magical

Sets don't always match

I’ve been amazed at how many long time gamers never branched out beyond D&D.  Why does D&D dominate the market?  I mean, I’m sure a big part of it is the 35+ years of brand recognition.  However, I’m going to contend that the d20 has a certain sex appeal.  It’s simple.  It’s elegant.  Why mess with a game where you’re constantly rolling different dice or different numbers of dice just for the base mechanic when you can just toss around that single, lumpy testicle?

D&D’s uniball system will only take one so far, however.  It has some major blemishes.  For instance, I know that for a number of gamers classes and levels are sacred cows, but I don’t subscribe to Hinduism.  Classes and levels are limiting in the way they pigeonhole characters.  Not as much a problem with skill based systems.  (Granted, they’ve their own slew of problems to slay).  Also, I’m not a fan of a discrete uniform distribution, but more on that in another post.  And anyway, enough picking on D&D for now.  It’s a fun game.  I even like 4th edition.  I mean, not as a roleplaying game.  It’s more like a strategy/board game with rpg elements, but whatever.  It’s fun at what it does, and I won’t fault people for playing it.

Deadlands Classic

StonesConfession:  I love Deadlands.  For those of you that don’t know, Deadlands was a ridiculously fun mashup of horror and spaghetti western (Personal note:  I couldn’t stand the western genre before Deadlands).  All this being said the system was slow.  It was downright clunky to the point that I wonder about my levels of masochism.  It was skill based, but for every skill you are rolling different die-types and different numbers of dice.  Which in and of itself isn’t fully a problem, but when I think back on a time when one round of combat–six seconds game time–lasted a full three hours…  I’m not terrifically surprised that I’ve seen people on the net calling foul (we were having fun, though).

As clunky as the system was it had a lot going for it.  The setting was terrific, and they made the rules evocative of the setting by using playing cards and poker chips in the mechanics. (What spaghetti western is complete without poker?)  They also made the relationship of traits vs. skills interesting by using a non-additive system.  Meaning that when you received, say, a +1 to a roll it was different from raising a skill by one rank.

Some Thoughts…

D&D has a lot going for it.  All you need is paper, pencil and one of each die-type and you can get rollin’.  People know it.  At the different phases of my life when I’ve moved and needed to find new gaming groups it was always a game that people could get behind for a new campaign.  Major points for initial ease, but that initial ease starts to fray when one gets into all of the splatbooks, settings, etc.  Also, the function of classes and levels makes the story somewhat limited and simplistic.

Deadlands was retarded, but lovable.  It had some great flavor in the mechanics, but the execution was less than streamlined.  That being said, the crunch of the mechanics and the sweetness of the setting made for a really tasty game.  It was great fun and still is great fun even though the classic rules are no longer being published;  however, as tasty as it is, it’s not quite the dish I currently want.

All this being said, my current desire is to create a game that’s rather simple, but skill based as opposed to class and level based.

More to come…

I could write a lot more on this topic, but I promised myself that I would try to keep these posts short but frequent.  However, next time I tackle this subject I’ll try to talk about Savage Worlds and another game or two.  In the meantime, I’d love to know:

  • What are your favorite games?
  • Why are they your favorites?  Is it because of setting?  Mechanics?  Please tell.

In the Beginning…

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…there was Chaos.  Hopefully, there was a bit of magic, too.  If I’m lucky, you might be a part of it.

I’ve been interested in making a roleplaying game for a long while now.  I’ve been gaming since the mid-90′s, and I’ve found that year after year I’m just less excited by where the industry is going.  Maybe because things have become more about industry, splatbooks, n’ such and less about the game.  I could just be getting old and jaded, but…  To be clear, there are plenty of fantastic games out there.  It’s just that I find that there aren’t many that really excite my sense of wonder anymore.  Again, I might be becoming an old fogey, but my tastes are simple.  I just want a classic fantasy.  Nothing fancy or over-the-top.  So, with a bit of creativity flowing and a little help from all of you fine friends, I want to make a game.  I don’t fully know my intentions with it beyond that I just want a system that I’d really want to play.

A Call to Arms

This site is going to be where I throw things up on the wall and see what sticks.  I’d love it if you felt moved enough to contribute.  Can you draw?  Awesome, I’d love to display your art.  Got an idea or experience that you think relates to good gaming then let me know if you want to write a guest post.  Good at math or web design?  Geek out all over me and let me know how to improve the site or the mechanics of the game as it develops.  Have any friends of the nerd/geek persuasion?  Then please, pleas, peas pass this along.

Happy gaming!

-Z

P.S.  If you’re interested in this please I’d love to hear it.  Just leave leave a comment saying, “Hiya,” or some such tomfoolery.