Thursday, September 08, 2005

[RPG] Does the system matter?

Let’s talk about the Star Wars game I’m playing in, ‘cos I think it’s illustrating a fundamental point about people and role-playing games.

Gino called me up last night and said he felt the particular game we're using was getting in the way of the story he wanted to tell. Specifically he compared the d20 system we’re using to a game we played a couple of months ago, My Life with Master and said MLwM was … what? Less cumbersome? Easier to cut to the chase? Anyway, my words – I’m paraphrasing.

Now I’m also damn sure Jenni is not playing a Jedi that’s as cool as the one in her head – not because you can’t have one in d20 Star Wars but because it takes a bit of experience with the system to figure out how to build a super-cool Jedi. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen Celeste go, “Huh?” at all the numbers – many of them completely irrelevant to us – all the numbers on her character sheet. And several times our party’s been saved by Wayne – who’s work in this story is really impressing me – and his knowledge with the rules.

The story Gino’s telling – which is extremely intense – is cool. What’s up is that the system is getting in the way of telling it.

The point:
System does matter.

So what's the next step?


I think it's to figure out what you like, what you want from a role-playing game. Then find a role-playing game that helps you deliver the experience you want without much effort. There’s a lot of them out there (and a lot being built right now) that cater to specific preferences.

That’s a big part of why I’m trying so many role-playing games with our group. When I decide on a story to tell, I can pull out an appropriate system – one that won’t get in my way.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are totally right!

In my head my Jedi can do heaps of stuff but on paper she's only got a few level one Jedi powers. It seems lame. One reason I got so scared on Tuesday was (aside from Gino's awesome storytelling) I didn't feel like I could adequately protect anyone. When I connect with the sabre it kicks ass, but I have to get to connecting before that.I have to stop taking heinour amounts of damage...

Wayne has totally saved our arses a bunch of times just by knowing D20 where the rest of us don't...man it's quite frustrating.

Anonymous said...

Dude, I hear ya.

And I just copied this entry & yr reply to our forum at RPG Wellie.

Unknown said...

The other side of wanting systems that are nicely focussed is the problem of having one that isn't.

If you have a game designed to try and do anything, then it generally doesn't do any specific thing really well. It just does everything in a mediocre way. And who needs that?