Theory

My Session One

Aug 11, 2022 · 2 min read · Theory Hosting

Pre-Game Post a link to the rules pdf (but assume nobody will read it) Get snacks (or make dahl if you're feeling fancy - everyone loves dahl) Put water and glasses on the table Dice, rubbers (or 'erasers' in American), pencils, and coins Plan smoke-breaks (even if you don't have smokers) Intro Hide the beers until the …

Finding the OSR

Jul 22, 2022 · 4 min read · OSR Theory

My recent background-watching videos covered the Old School Renaissance ('OSR'), which looks to revive a lot of old-school D&D-style play. I started with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, so a renaissance intrigued me. Strange Premises While I've not heard of some of the more egregious rules returning (thieves tracking 10% …

Systems and Genre Representation

Jul 12, 2022 · 3 min read · Theory Design

Systems should represent genres, and some do this better than others. System Excellence Dr Who One Dr Who RPG (I forget which) contained an absolutely genius initiative system. The initiative turn-order was: Speak Run Use an item Attack This clearly produces unrealistic results. The system cannot allow anyone to shoot …

Show, Don't Tell

Jul 8, 2022 · 2 min read · Theory

Radio dramas often have their characters speak so as to indicate their actions. Does anyone have an extra blanket? If I get cold I'll wake up with a bad back. Hearing this, we know The group is sleeping outside, the speaker is old, and the speaker wants to sleep. I wonder if the group adopting this habit might enhance …

Fixing White Wolf's Combat

Jun 30, 2022 · 12 min read · Theory White Wolf

As established in the previous article , the World of Darkness' combat system sucks. But the right system can make everything better. (If you want to skip the system explanations, you can just download the revised White Wolf pdf ) No Combat Emphasis First off, I'm not making a combat system. The World of Darkness …

White Wolf Combat Sucks

Jun 30, 2022 · 4 min read · Theory White Wolf

White Wolf games always mentioned how small their system was - roll a number of D10's equal to your Wits + Athletics (or whatever), and count all the dice which land on 6 or more. The player then reads the dice like so many runes, and the final result would yield detailed information. 0 successes means failure, or at …

I Want Realistic Dragons

Jun 14, 2022 · 2 min read · Theory Blorb

Weighing into an ancient (or at least senile) fantasy debate, I'd like to go back a step. The debate usually goes like this: An elf punching a dragon to death because of monk-training isn't realistic. You think dragons are "realistic"? No, but a certain semblance, in certain regards, to reality, which we might call …

Ideas People

Mar 26, 2022 · 2 min read · Theory

Oh young one! So you think you have an idea. Well let.me.tell.you: EVERYONE has ideas. Nobody cares if you have ideas. The real results are in work, in the execution. It's about labour, not inspiration. I've seen this kind of patronising lecture a few times on various RPG boards, and speaking as someone without any …

What Systems Do

Mar 21, 2022 · 10 min read · Theory

Systems can be boiled down to input, process, and output. ┌────────────────────┐ ┌───────────────────┐ ┌────────────────────┐ │ Monster: AC 17 │ ──> │ │ <── │ Player: Attack +3 │ └────────────────────┘ │ process │ └────────────────────┘ ┌────────────────────┐ │ │ ┌─────────────────────┐ │ Player: Long sword │ ──> │ │ …

If You Want to Understand an RPG System, Remove the Dice

Mar 5, 2022 · 6 min read · Theory Design

Reading over systems with all of those 'Add this, roll that' can give someone the appearance of a massive RPG engine, churning out all sorts of details and replicating various interesting minutiae of the gaming world. But sometimes what's really happening is pointless plastic tapping noises, and once the plastic's …