SoY: First Impressions thread

[Thierry Michel]

*it's much more comfortable to read a book than a screen

*plus I can read in the bus

*the Keys system is so simple and effective I wonder why it wasn't invented with the first RPG

*abusing the system: buy all your advances as Keys and get an exponentially increasing number of XPs

*Creative Commons means I can put a functional french version of the rules online (or it doesn't?)

*Celtic-type stuff has really been done to death

*but Indochina-type stuff is pretty new (and the french get to be the Bad Guys!)

[Andy Kitkowski]

*abusing the system: buy all your advances as Keys and get an exponentially increasing number of XPs

However, you're only allowed 5 Keys at one time, IIRC.  Which makes sense: There's only so much you can care about.

*Creative Commons means I can put a functional french version of the rules online (or it doesn't?)

As my reading of it goes: Yes.  In fact, I just started working (very slowly) on a Japanese version. :-)

[Ron Edwards]

Hello,

Historical note: I think the foundation of the Keys system was invented with the first RPG. Dave Arneson's Blackmoor game, which in my opinion pre-dated D&D and was inexpertly misrepresented by D&D, utilized a reward system in which one did not get to spend experience points until the character had gratified various non-adventuring priorities (property, collection of art, social reform, etc).

Spiritual Attributes, BITs, Humanity (Sorcerer version), Personality as abilities (The Pool, HeroQuest) ... all of these parallel Arneson's group's approach ...

... which was then ignored or snap-twisted into the shapes of alignments (D&D) and, later, Psychological Disadavantages (Champions), both of which had very different procedural purposes from the original construction.

Only in the last few years has game design managed to recover what was effectively drowned at birth thirty years ago.

Best,
Ron

[Roger]

abusing the system: buy all your advances as Keys and get an exponentially increasing number of XPs

I believe you can't take the same sort of advance twice in a row.  This, coupled with the upper limit of five Keys, should largely prevent this from being a problem.


Cheers,
Roger

[Clinton R. Nixon]

abusing the system: buy all your advances as Keys and get an exponentially increasing number of XPs

I believe you can't take the same sort of advance twice in a row.  This, coupled with the upper limit of five Keys, should largely prevent this from being a problem.

That's true - and incidentally, was an improvement suggested by Ron.

If you have any other problems with "system abuse," quit playing with those shits. This is officially known as the "Jared Sorensen approach."

[Thierry Michel]

Hmmm.. I mised the 5-key limit (I see it now p. 17) and I forgot the "no two advances in a row" rule. As an aside, I don't think any of my (potential) players would try to abuse the system, it was just an impression as I read.

Interesting point about the origin of Keys (and similar mechanisms), begging the question: why was it dropped?