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Hal Maclean
PostPosted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 4:59 am    Post subject: A One Page Rule Set? Reply with quote

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So, I've been thinking quite a bit lately about how to go about creating a really, really, simple game. Something you could teach non-gamers in a few moments and then hop right into play but still with enough potential complexity to keep the attention of actual gamers. The six rules outlined below seem like a decent start.

Caveat, some of the concepts strike me as pretty familiar, almost as if I were ripping them off of a game that already exists. If anyone recognizes them from another game could you please mention its name so I can dig it out of my closet full of RPG stuff? Smile

(1) All actions are determined by rolling one or more d6s. Each time you roll a 6 you not only get to keep rolling (adding you next roll to the original) but you also get to make another independent roll. For instance, if you rolled a 6, followed by another 6 and then a 3 you would get a 15 for your first roll and then the right to make two more rolls.

(2) Difficulty for an action is based upon how high you must roll to get a success and how many successes you must make. For instance an action might have a difficulty of 5(2) meaning you would have to roll 5 or higher twice in order to succeed.

(3) Characters are created with character points. You use them to purchase abilities, skills, and origins (maybe called backgrounds instead?).

(4) Each ability has a base ranking of 1. This means you get to roll 1d6 when attempting to perform an action based on that ability. Each character point you put in an ability gives you another d6.

(5) Skills cost 1/3 of a character point. Each one gives you a bonus of +1d6 when attempting to use one of your abilities to perform a specific action. You can buy the same skill more than once. Each time you do you get another +1d6.

(6) Origins are everything else that might affect your character. If something gives you an advantage in the game it is an origin and you must pay for it. The more useful the advantage the greater the cost in character points.
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ephealy
PostPosted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 9:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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Lowering the barrier to game play is a great idea. Have you considered using some pages from card or board games? For instance, FLUXX doesn't have a rule book. All the rules are on the cards.

Just a thought.
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Hal Maclean
PostPosted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 9:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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I was actually thinking about trying to fit all the rules on a downloadable pamphlet.
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Tom
PostPosted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 12:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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I once played a short one session game with my players, where everything they wanted to accomplish had a difficult rating of 1-10.
Every player was allowed to roll a d3 at beginning of play to get his/her bonus to that roll. We didn't used dice though, because I had two pages with numbers ranging from 1-10 printed on them, and just marked them of, one after the other while playing. Easy, not immersive but so much fun that day!
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Hal Maclean
PostPosted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 4:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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Tom wrote:
I once played a short one session game with my players, where everything they wanted to accomplish had a difficult rating of 1-10.
Every player was allowed to roll a d3 at beginning of play to get his/her bonus to that roll. We didn't used dice though, because I had two pages with numbers ranging from 1-10 printed on them, and just marked them of, one after the other while playing. Easy, not immersive but so much fun that day!


So one guy got a +3 on all checks and someone else got a +1? Heh, not exactly a rule set that's conducive to min/maxing... Smile
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Tom
PostPosted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 12:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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Hal Maclean wrote:
So one guy got a +3 on all checks and someone else got a +1? Heh, not exactly a rule set that's conducive to min/maxing... Smile

You're right, but it was fun anyway! Very Happy
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Hal Maclean
PostPosted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 4:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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Tom wrote:
Hal Maclean wrote:
So one guy got a +3 on all checks and someone else got a +1? Heh, not exactly a rule set that's conducive to min/maxing... Smile

You're right, but it was fun anyway! Very Happy


That's the thing. Rules pretty much always take a back seat to imagination and the willingness to have fun.
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