Lyell's School for Introductory to System Games

[Lyell]

Purpose of this thread: to connect me to potential role play partners who have a desire to learn system games.

What is the allure of system games?

System games reflect an aspect that free form games typically cannot easily reflect. Participants (in my experience) communicate regarding where they want to story to go. That aspect is chance.

The chance that not everything will go according to plan. The chance that even an iconic hero might screw up in a critical moment.

That is not to say however that system games are entirely unpredictable, as game masters typically have some resemblance of a plan in store.

What is a Game Master?

A game/dungeon master or storyteller is, for all purposes, the supreme being of the setting for which one is playing in. Even the gods of the realm must follow his or her instruction. There are two major schools of thought as to how this power should be used.

The first school believes that player characters are intruders. The setting regards them as such and attempts to thwart them at every turn. Players are the enemy.

The second school believes that it is the game master's job to entertain. True, the world must be challenging, but the players must be presented with options to engage and interact with. Players are unpredictable actors within an impromptu play of sorts.

I heard these games involve a lot of numbers and dice.

This is partially true. However for the purpose of introducing players to system games I will be using a very basic, rule light system.

Some systems do require basic addition, subtraction, division and multiplication, but often the numbers are relatively small and easy to solve on the fly.

Only certain things prompt a dice roll. These typically fall under combat and complicated or difficult tasks. Typical or simple tasks usually do not prompt a die roll except under extraordinary circumstances.

Method

Either in this thread or via PM, contact me and I will take you through a very short, very light introduction to character creation and a campaign for that character. This should give you a feel for how system games function without bombarding you with rules and numbers. From there, you will have to make the call as to whether or not system games are for you.

I'm not new to system games, but this sounds like a good idea! Can I help?

Depending on the level of response this thread gets, I may need help responding to potential players. If you would like to aid me by taking on such players yourself, PM me or use this thread. I'm sure we can coordinate.

[MasterMischief]

I would like to add, for me, part of the appeal is that characters must be fleshed out a little further at the beginning.  I know character sheets can be intimidating to the uninitiated, but once you get the hang of them, you can really understand a character with a glance.

That may not appeal to everyone.  Many people prefer to find their character through the course of the role play.  Of course, that is not to say a character can not grow during a role play.  Nearly every system I am familiar with includes a built in mechanic for character growth.

I can help, Lyell, but I am not on very frequently.  So anyone you send to me would have to be very patient with me as well.  I think Prose Descriptive Qualities (PDQ) is one of the most rules light systems out there and that is what I would use to introduce new players.