Lefrin the RPG

[BadgerTemplar]

Heys,
I've been working on this rpg for a little over a year now.

The driving principles behind this work are my desires for a
-free
-psuedo-open source (adapts overtime to player requested/submitted content)
-setting based
fantasy rpg

Here is the beta version of the players handbook: http://freepdfhosting.com/4cc29db624.pdf
and a link to a blog with more information on the project itself: http://rpggeek.com/blog/921/the-voyage-to-lefrin

The player's handbook is meant to be supported with supplemental handbooks that will
be made available as they're completed.

Realistically, any feedback is appreciated (yes, I will graciously correct my grammar and spelling errors),
but specific feedback I'm looking for is:
Does the rulebook make sense? Are there areas that need more explanation?

One of the objectives is to add player suggested content; are there abilities, items, roles, people,
monsters, stories, etc that you would like to see implemented into this system?

Preemptive thanks for taking the time to read through this and for providing some feedback!

[Callan S.]

Hi,

I had a skim through - what seems pivotal to me for play is, well, a situation to play in. Otherwise it's (the combat sections, etc) like describing all the moves of chess pieces, but not the initial board configuration of chess. Without which (if you didn't know anything about chess) you couldn't play. Is there a part that helps the group generate a situation?

[BadgerTemplar]

Hey Callan,
Thanks for taking the time to look through all that. I'm not entirely clear on what you mean by "a situation."
Do you mean the background setting, a specific scenario / campaign, specific examples of play, or something
entirely different?

I am currently working on a source book that describes the world in detail and a beginner campaign that walks
people through each step of play. The beginner campaign is kinda short and railroads the players, but I think
it does a decent job of teaching players and GM how to resolve things in game. Once those are done I'll post
both of them.

Just a question for anyone who has read through the player's book: What source material do you want to see
next. I'm kind of shotgunning this at the moment. Working on a little bit of everything at once. Are there
resources you would like to see so I have a better idea of how to allocate my time?

Thank you,
BT

[Callan S.]

Disclaimer: I'm probably saying stuff that goes against the grain of traditional design.

I'm talking about is when play begins, what is around the PCs? I don't mean a mysterious city a hundred miles away. What's five or ten feet away from them the moment they start and if they walk ten feet in a direction, what else is there?

The traditional design is that whatever the GM puts there or anything the GM decides to resolve, that's what playing the game is like. To which I'm skeptical. Eg, I think if I took about ten traditional games, with fairly different mechanics between them but without anything in the way of situation generation, I would by habit play them all the same.

More to the point, I'm pretty sure when you run the game, you'll do it in your own style. But I wont get to experience that, because I'm so free in setting generation I'll just do the same things I've always done.

As I said, this all goes against trad design. You might want to consult someone elses opinions and estimates.

[BadgerTemplar]

Don't worry about going against traditional thinking; I like to hear from all different views and I want to
make Lefrin accessible and playable for most of them. I'll try to answer your question, but I may
meander a bit to get there. Bear with me.

Lefrin is a bit nontraditional. I want to create an RPG with a Meta-game. Here's what I mean:
Players have something to do now; they meet and play like any other RPG. However, their actions
can have repercussions that go beyond their control and influence a greater group of people.
Actions taken by players can influence the "official" setting of the game. Imagine if Wizards (or another
reputable large RPG publishing company, but I like to pick on them) read through the Actual Play forum on this
site and implemented changes based on how people played D&D. Drizzt killed in an epic battle while
playing? Guess what, he's dead in the official sanctioned Wizards D&D mythos.

To that end, Lefrin does have an official setting where play takes place. Lefrin is the name of a
super-continent. The Edain (human) race has fled their homeland and landed on Lefrin to eke out a new
existence for themselves. You play as one of the Edain and the overall goal is the survival of your race.
For most play sessions you would start off in the capital city of Worldgate situated on the Southern coast.
The Edain have only been on Lefrin for a dozen years. There are a few basic outlying cities, but Lefrin is
fresh and unexplored.

Because the continent is mostly a mystery at this point a GM has carte blanche to fill in those blanks. What
I've done is give the Edain a past and a basic starting region. (it'll be available once I finish making it legible)
Over time I'd like to release more content and slowly fill in the continent of Lefrin. I have "expansion" content
planned, but that doesn't mean I'll stick to it. If someone has a better idea of what should be out there I will
gladly go with it.

To support the Meta-game idea I would like to eventually have an "official" internet page where people go to
download Lefrin. The site will have a forum and submissions center that allows players, GMs, and readers to
submit their ideas and a chance to have them implemented into the game. For example, if during a play session
the players founded a new city to the north on the outlying border of the Edain territory they could submit that
information to the site either by starting a forum discussion or directly giving the information to moderators.
If the idea is a great one and/or is embraced by the community the official lore could be changed to include that
new city.

So.....Lefrin is a super-continent (think 1 1/2 the size of Eurasia) with enough empty spaces for you to play
however you want to (within the strictures of the official material (or not, hang the rules)) and if your play session
is reported back to the powers that be (and fits within the strictures of the official materials (damn you rules!))
you could find your habitual play setting added to the official lore.

That make some sense?
BT

[BadgerTemplar]

Hey all you forge'y people.
I haven't implemented it yet, but I would like to make survival in the wilds a larger portion
of Lefrin, ie. a party must find shelter, have adequate food and water, and avoid hazards/ dangerous
creatures while traveling. Failing to avoid hazards and creatures has a pretty obvious penalty, but
what are some balanced ways to reward players for having shelter and supplies (or punish them for
not doing so)? You don't want to make travel unbearably complicated and sloggy after all.

BT