So I’ve been fortunate to run a few playtests of my Primeval d6 (which I should probably “rename” to Primeval 2d6 since that’s pretty much all I roll) and I’ve been honing the kind of basic form of the system. I need to sit down and update my actual play document, but here’s how I’ve been running it lately and why I have made changes.
Character Creation
Previously character creation involved writing an about-fifty word description of your character. From that you would pick out four keywords. This was very heavily inspired from The Pool, one of my favorite rpgs.
The issue I ran into was this was initially too much free form for some of the players I was running it for, and when the system I was pitching was already pretty free form, this compounded it. It also didn’t leverage the notion that things like options, equipment lists, and tables are setting and communicate to the players the kinds of things that will be going on in game.
So instead I’ve opted instead to classify a few keywords for players to either roll from tables or to come up with: a positive physical/mental trait, a negative physical mental trait, a virtue & vice, a background, and some special ability/item/knowledge/relationship.
Rolling Dice
Previously the system would use contested 2d6 rolls with the higher roller getting their intent, along with pluses or minuses from things like keywords, situations, etc.
I have since decided that I play enough games with number fiddling and instead want to focus entirely on fictional positioning. The situation, your keywords, gear you have, etc. all contribute to your overall Risk, or the stated consequences you may suffer, as well as your Impact, the thing you are trying to achieve.
So instead of saying that this sweet magical sword that you have gives you a +1 to a roll, perhaps it allows you to slay ghosts, or maybe the light of its glow prevents the giant spider from leaping directly upon you – it must first figure out how to remove the blade from your hand before pouncing.
So both sides roll the same dice with higher stating what happens (within reason of the fiction), and if they’re close (I’ve still mostly been keeping that to within 2 pips of each other but I play that kind of fast and loose) the winning side suffers some of their Risk.
I don’t have a very formal notion of setting up Risk and Impact, not quite like how the very fun Blades in the Dark does with its positioning. But I usually “count up” the risky fictional things for the players, and then count out the things that negate these risks (like nice climbing gear removes the risk of slipping off a cliff face without the chance of grabbing on, or armor negating the risk of being slashed by a blade). Then I do the same for the things contributing to the characters’ Impact.
Usually if I see that one side has around three net advantages over their opposition then I tend to throw out the idea of rolling, but again I have yet to decide if I want to try formalizing this, and instead just play it by ear.
Consequences
All of the consequences I have been playing with have been fictional, so I have yet to really track hits or anything so concrete. Pretty much the Risks and Impact dictate what could be happening, and then they either change the scene or affect NPCs, or get written to character sheet. These written keywords then can be referenced when setting up Risk & Impact.
This is also kind of how players can change situations to have a greater Impact. For example a young squire, aiming to climb up the ranks and do good in a corrupt land stands off against a despicable knight. The knight has greater training, more experience, and a nice set of armor – the squire poses very little threat to them. So when they duel, the knight has extremely low Risk but very high Impact.
But if the squire could rile the knight up to compel them to make risky maneuvers, hurt the knight’s armor, or even lead them into unstable grounds where their clunky armor may pose a disadvantage, the squire could really start making a difference.
How I handle things like death is pretty similar to before – if you suffer a blow in combat you may write “Wounded” on your sheet. A further strike poses the threat of ending your character. This of course can work for magical effects, being rendered mad by Eldritch mysteries, etc.
Sometimes I’ll do the “roll against your wound” thing to give the player a save, but as per the trend of all other mechanics I’ve been toying with – this isn’t set in stone yet.
Advancement
“Leveling up” hasn’t really came up in my playtests since they’ve all been one-shots, but I think like most of the above – advancement will happen in fiction, not on a per-session basis or through a specific accumulation of points.
However, I do strongly believe games are about what they reward, so I want some reward mechanisms. I’ve debated doing something similar Dreaming Dragonslayer’s Diagetic Triggers – either selected by the player or even randomly rolled.
Another idea is simply allowing the design of player-created goals, so the player says the what and why a character wants to accomplish something, and we figure out what that entails for the character once they succeed (or fail) in their goal.
Wrapping Up
I’ve definitely been having fun with the playtesting I have been doing with this system, and its fun that its moving me closer to a more free form style that I used to play quite a bit, eventually moved away from, and find myself returning to with newer insights after gaming for years in a variety of different “styles” with tons of different people.
All of the playtests I have been running have been in a Sword & Sorcery setting, one that’s mostly hacked together at the table based on the characters. I am trying to kind of mash together Knave’s background charts, Troika & Electric Bastionland‘s Careers, with pulp fantasy inspiration and some of Mophidius’ Conan tables. I haven’t decided the exact form I want these tables to be, but am excited to keep using them. Its always fun to have players chug wine and punch foul wizards.
Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think.
(I need to remember to update the linked page on the side with these changes, as well as format my playtest doc for sharing)
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