Post by Finarvyn on Aug 16, 2009 19:06:02 GMT -6
As you can probably tell in my Colonial Gothic and Thousand Suns threads, I'm currently intrigued by the 12o (12-degree) game mechanic, the one that powers both games.
I guess part of the allure of these games is the fact that they can be both simple and complex at the same time.
Eh? Let me explain.
The 12o system is, at its heart, quite simple. Take your stat and your skill and add them together to get a target number. Roll 2d12 and try to roll equal to or less than this number and you succeed. Basically, that’s it.
At least, I imagine that one could play the entire campaign with this mechanic used exactly as I’ve explained it. As such, this game has the potential to be just as simple as OD&D or other “old school” type games. (Kind of like having a “Holmes only” campaign, which I know some of our posters enjoy.)
For Colonial Gothic the setting is somewhat limited since it’s designed to focus on the American Revolutionary War era, but for Thousand Suns the rules are a setting toolbox whereby you can pick and choose what parts to use and what parts to omit.
Of course, there are layers of complexity that enter the system eventually. Characters have skills typically based on a template. Various actions have modifiers for difficulty being rated as easy, average, hard, whatever. Spells and psionics tend to have much more complex sets of add-on rules, which you would probably expect since most FRPG systems seem to be about 30% spells. There are probably more add-on layers of complexity that can be brought into the campaign, but these are just some of the ones that pop into my brain at the moment.
Anyway, I’ve been frustrated over the past few years by reading rulebooks that just seem heavy with rules so that they read slow and I absorb them even slower. I read most of Thousand Suns in an evening and “got it” almost right away, which is a definite bonus in my book.
I guess part of the allure of these games is the fact that they can be both simple and complex at the same time.
Eh? Let me explain.
The 12o system is, at its heart, quite simple. Take your stat and your skill and add them together to get a target number. Roll 2d12 and try to roll equal to or less than this number and you succeed. Basically, that’s it.
At least, I imagine that one could play the entire campaign with this mechanic used exactly as I’ve explained it. As such, this game has the potential to be just as simple as OD&D or other “old school” type games. (Kind of like having a “Holmes only” campaign, which I know some of our posters enjoy.)
For Colonial Gothic the setting is somewhat limited since it’s designed to focus on the American Revolutionary War era, but for Thousand Suns the rules are a setting toolbox whereby you can pick and choose what parts to use and what parts to omit.
Of course, there are layers of complexity that enter the system eventually. Characters have skills typically based on a template. Various actions have modifiers for difficulty being rated as easy, average, hard, whatever. Spells and psionics tend to have much more complex sets of add-on rules, which you would probably expect since most FRPG systems seem to be about 30% spells. There are probably more add-on layers of complexity that can be brought into the campaign, but these are just some of the ones that pop into my brain at the moment.
Anyway, I’ve been frustrated over the past few years by reading rulebooks that just seem heavy with rules so that they read slow and I absorb them even slower. I read most of Thousand Suns in an evening and “got it” almost right away, which is a definite bonus in my book.