Wednesday, 26 February 2014

Character Sheet Blinkers

In some games, a character sheet can feel like a horse's blinkers.

This week I've read reports from a number of players talking about their character sheet like a list of restrictions on what they can and cannot do. It's their main consideration when deciding on an action, their tool for interacting with the game, and their window into the setting. 

The reason I use minimal characters in Into the Odd is to prevent this effect.

I don't want you to have to think about Base Attack Bonuses, Caster Levels, Aspects, Armour Class, Reflex Defence, Motivations, Skills, Feats, or Weapon Expertise. 

All you get is this.

STR 14, DEX 9, WIL 8, 4hp.
Pistol, Pipe, Animal Trap, Spyglass

You're a pretty strong guy with a pistol, trap and spyglass. Plus you get to smoke a pipe. Now tell me what you want to do about this horrible situation you've gotten yourself into. 

1 comment:

  1. Yes to this. It's odd to me, but I equate the effort to create order in a game system by adding more and more specific rules the same as a long slide into chaos. Games with two much detail and too many sub-systems rapidly overwhelm me or turn me off. And frankly, at the table, the more rules there are the less time you spend _playing_. (Or perhaps I should say you spend more time playing the rules than you do playing the story. I guess you have to decide which is the "game" - the most fun - for you. For me it's the story.)