Synergy: Bare Bones v 1.0


Review by C. Demetrius Morgan





Synopsis

Synergy is a bare bones role-playing system in development created by Roy Penrod (roypenrod123@yahoo.com) and is presented as a seven page PDF document. The game itself is a pre-Alpha pen and paper role-playing rules rough draft presented in overview with minimalist detail. The first three pages are either introduction or author’s notes, thus the document contains only four pages of actual rules.


Summary

The Setting: None. Setting is left to the players and Moderator (GM) to define.

The Game: Designed primarily for co-operative role-playing Synergy presents itself as a “variable setting role-playing framework”, meaning it is intended to fit somewhere between a generic and universal system.

The System: Traits. Plot Points. Dice Pool.

Character Creation: The system reduces everything down to a trait, and that is how characters are defined; by what Traits they have. Apparently players earn Plot Points for having Traits (?) and these Plot Points can then be expended into the players dice pool.

The Mechanics: Simple dice pool using the D6. Numerical values are assigned resolution levels as follows: dies rolls of 1-3 indicate failure while die rolls of 4-6 indicate success. Each numerical value indicated a different level of success or failure.

How are the dice intended to be used? Not a clue. The text currently relies upon the reader to have a understanding of dice pool systems and is not newbie friendly, a factor that will have to be addressed in future editions if this document is to be intended for wider distribution. No sample is provided to illustrate the mechanics in actual use.


Initial Impressions

Synergy is a game in its infancy that is still learning to walk. But the difference here is that the author is letting us all in on those first baby steps, more he's letting us help guide where the game will take those first steps. More information about the game (and discussion of it) can be found HERE.


Appraisal

The document, as it stands, is best suited for veteran gamers.

Negatives: The author states “I designed this for my own use” and it shows in the bare bones presentation, which isn‘t necessarily bad in and of itself. Obviously the rules could use some polishing, but then that author seems to know this as well. In fact the rules are presented for critique and feedback so any perceived faults are all but negated by the simple fact this document is presented solely for the purpose of solicited developmental feedback.

Positives: The author is soliciting developmental feedback, therefore this is very much a work in progress. As such there is much room for improvement. However, based upon what has been presented, the Synergy system appears to have much potential. It’s just a matter of finding the right audience and getting actual feedback to carry the system into the next phase of the design and development process.

Happy gaming!

Copyright & 2003 C. Demetrius Morgan

Kester,

Thanks for taking the time to review the first draft of Synergy. I appreciate your comments and will keep them in mind as I work on Synergy.

I realize the writing in the first draft is rough, and I kept it sparse on details intentionally.

I've playtested Synergy several times this week and the system worked very well for me, but I wasn't sure if it was the system itself or just the dynamics of my group.

I wanted to give people the system and see how they used it without being told how I expected them to use it. That's why I didn't include concrete play examples in this version.

I gave The Forge community my "Rubik's Cube" to see if the system encouraged them to "solve the puzzle" or to see if just ended up being a colorful paperweight.

The lack of detail in the draft seems to be discouraging feedback instead of stimulating it, so I'll continue to playtest it and work on a more comprehensive version.

Thanks again for your time and consideration.

Roy
roypenrod123@yahoo.com