I am looking for some feedback on my choices in creating the A+ Fantasy game system:

http://www.1km1kt.net/rpg/A_Plus_Fantasy.php

I have decided to focus my questions a little bit in the hopes of generating more specific feed back. I'd like to start with character creation. My system is designed to make character creation very simple and fast and I have narrowed this down into a few simple decisions.

First, the player has 4 Attributes. The starting values of these are fixed. The player simply chooses how to arrange these. The player chooses a few skills based on the previous Attribute choices and they're done. This is simple and fast. Is it too simple? Too limiting?

If Dungeons and Dragons provided a beginning set of 6 fixed numbers for Ability Scores and then simply requested that each player arrange them, wouldn't this be better than random generation? It means that every starting player begins with the same opportunities. It's not an effective simulation of real life but games need to be more fair than life.

One problem I see with this kind of thing, in the case of D&D, is that in D&D Ability Scores are reasonably static... so everyone would not only start out the same but also end up that way... character advancement in my system focuses on improving and increasing attributes. So those fixed numbers that you are stuck with in the beginning change very soon.

I like to think that characters in my system are not actually created, but simply initialized. That the character itself is created (evolved) through play. For this reason the initializing of a character is very simple... the starting character sheet very sparse.

This approach seems contrary to all of the game systems out there that provide page after page for character creation and try and produce a very detailed and complex model for the player from the offset. Personally, I don't like this. Often a player really doesn't know what they want when they start. They need to grow into the character. What happens when you start to grow into the character and it turns out to be very different from its detailed foundation?

So, goal number one of my system: emphasize character evolution over character creation.

Ways that I accomplish this:

Character creation involves a few simple choices so players are in and playing quickly.

Character advancement will change choices made during creation, so that the character can evolve into something different from its inception.

Does this kind of approach work? Or do players see the small number of choices at the offset and dismiss the system for its lack of detail?


Your consideration is appreciated! Thanks!!


Jeff

Yes, that kind of approach works.

Vincent Baker has a nice thread on this topic over at "anyway." It starts from yet older commentary by Ron.

The trick is... your character evolution mechanic has to be compelling, and interesting, and give a lot of choices and always, always, always give "right" (i.e. interesting and provoking) results.

Welcome to the Forge, Jeff.

bigcape wrote: My system is designed to make character creation very simple and fast

bigcape wrote: It's not an effective simulation of real life but games need to be more fair than life.

bigcape wrote: So, goal number one of my system: emphasize character evolution over character creation.

Ways that I accomplish this:

Character creation involves a few simple choices so players are in and playing quickly.

Character advancement will change choices made during creation, so that the character can evolve into something different from its inception.

bigcape wrote: Does this kind of approach work?

bigcape wrote: Or do players see the small number of choices at the offset and dismiss the system for its lack of detail?