One Rule

It would be interesting to make an RPG out of only words, no math, no charts, just words. Maybe it would be simple and refreshing.

A game like that could easily become just as or even more complex than any normal RPG though. In order to build a world engine that only used descriptions, could end up taking up a huge amount of time to convey.

To circumvent that eventuality, it may be useful to give the engine a direction so that things stay simple. This is what I thought of.

One Rule

Every story worthy element has One Rule. The GM gives the world a rule. Players give their characters a rule. Important (special) equipment gets a rule. An important NPC or maybe a group of NPCs get a rule. Weather can get a rule. A maze can have a rule.

There are a few conditions that make things clearer.

No two elements can have the same rule. This is important so that two unstoppable forces don’t collide and annihilate everything.

A more specific rule supersedes a more general rule. If one player has a character that is “The greatest fighter in the world” and another has the rule that they are “The greatest swordsman in the world” as long as the fighting is being done with swords, the swordsman wins out.

That’s very Amber like in it’s certainty however. A character can always win in a specific contest, a randomizer could be employed, but that doesn’t seem interesting. I’ll have to play with the idea and see if it I can make something of it.

Artwork

I’m feeling good, I have my new art tablet, a Monoprice 14481 and I’m really enjoying it. Setting it up wasn’t easy because there’s very little documentation to go on, but I eventually found enough little snippets of information on message boards to get it working properly.

I’ve done some pictures for Eat the Meappets as  a warm up and I’m working on pictures for Protector right now. I’m thinking that I want to go in a different direction with the art in Jump Temp. I’d like to try a different style that I’m not really sure I know how to pull off. It’ll be interesting to try though.

I’ve already finished around ten pieces and I’ve been trying to get in one every two days. Jump Temp and Protector are both around 80 pages, so they both need around 20 pictures minimum.

After that, I’ll start working on the last sourcebook for The Artifact. This is going to be a busy year.

On the non-artwork front, I’ve halfway put together my beginner friendly RPG that doesn’t use character sheets and tracks things on a board (or one sheet of paper). I have something of a story to build to, but I’m looking for that little something, a twist or other element that makes the setting come alive.