We found some nice treasure while Questing for the latest RPG related news:
Here is some quick RPG News!
CCP Games
CCP Games, creators of the successful space MMORPG EVE Online, have announced they will be harvesting stories from within the game to create comic books, a TV series, and possibly even films set in the EVE universe. EVE has never set records for the size of its userbase, but it’s long been known as a game that generates some of the best emergent gameplay in the industry. From battles involving thousands of players to in-game confidence schemes involving currency worth tens of thousands of real dollars, it’s likely you’ve heard about players’ exploits even if you haven’t played the game. CCP is now looking to bring the EVE universe to a wider audience, and rather than having a group of writers dictate all of the lore, they’re letting the players take part. They’ve set up a site where users can share their tales and vote on those of others. CCP has partnered with Dark Horse Comics to make a comic book out of the stories, and with a production company to make a live-action TV show.
SWOTR:
http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/07/16/bioware-teases-swtors-2-4-pve-and-pvp-content/
WIZARDS OF THE COAST:
http://company.wizards.com/content/magic-2014-core-set-launches-today
The Nature of Attributes
Your attributes are how your character’s make-up is defined. The gifts you where born with, your physical and metal charactirisitcs.
There is a sweet spot for attrubutes though, nobody wants to be the guy who is stupid, ugly and physically impared. By the same token, playing Adonis isn’t as much fin as one might think either, and its not fun to run games for.
You can play any attributes scores, but you may have to change your core concept.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alignment_(role-playing_games)
Do you need skills in an RPG?
Generally speaking, skills are needed in most RPG’s. These are how you, as a character seperates themselves from the pack. What you can do in the real world help define your role in sociaty, and skills in an RPG are no different.
Don’t let skills dictate the role-palying though. They are there to enhance your experiance, not define it.Skills should be used as a way to help tell the story but if you if can out RP the NPC, then good on you!
Don’t get carried away either. Some games can have to many skills. As a GM you don’t want to spread out the need for skills to much because it will overly complicate not only your storytelling and slow down your characters effectivness.
Combat
While not every game NEEDS combat, conflict is almost always inevitable in some stories. After all, how do we grow without overcoming adversity?
Comabt can become a problem though. It slows down te flow of games and can become overly mechanical. You need to keep the players engaged in the story. You can do this through narration or just speedy combat systems like the New World of Darkness system.
As a player or GM, you should always strive to make combats fun for everyone and keep peoples attention. Don’t let the mechanics limit your creativity.
If your characters find themselves in a huge mass battle, you may find it tough to feel like you are making a difference. You are the heroes of the setting, and your charaters should almost always have some way to affect the tides of battle. Be it through heroic oppertuinits like L5R or small raids away from the fighting that can stall the enemy just long enough to give your side the edge, Mass Combat can be a solid tool for epic storytelling.
House Rules – the Good, the Bad & the Ugly
Sometimes the rules just don’t fit the style of story you want to tell, but you can make it happen with a couple fo tweeks. Thats what house rules are for.Sometimes you can just make a couple of small tweeks like changing how inititive works, to adding in entire new rules systems for doing things.
Personally, our groups almost always ad things like hero points and drama dice as a way to allow the players to help tell the story!
The sky is the limit for house rules though. If a rule gets in the way, change it!
Does System Even Matter?
Well, the answer is maybe. While the players really do make the difference, sometimes the system can hinder the storytelling styles of both the GM and the players. The system is how your characters interact with the world around them, and some systems do not work well for some worlds.
If you want a Pirates of the Carrabian or Princess Bride style game, you may not want to strugle with the mechanical nature of d20 when the swashbukling system for 7th sea is already built for that.
Systems can also become so much a part of the setting that the setting itself does not work outside of its original shell. 7th Sea and Legend of the Five Rings became Swashbukling and Oriential Adventures in d20 3/3.5, but lost almost all of their charm and wonder.
Choosing Your System
A lot goes into choosing a system, but in theend it comes down to knowing your style of play and the story you want to run. Choose a system that meets your needs, and allows you to tell the type of story you really want to tell.
Final Thoughts
Every system has its pros and cons, and all that really matters is you have fun. If something doesn’t work, change it!
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