Gaming System

[andrewducker]

This is an ultra-light system the last few times I've run something.*

Everyone picks 5 things they're good at, 3 they're great at and 3 they're bad at. For most other tasks this makes them "average".

Rating them on a scale:
0 - cannot do
1 - bad at
2 - average at
3 - good at
4 - great at
5 - OMG!

Everyone has a pack of cards. They pick three off the top. Black are good. Red are bad. Court cards are worth 2, other cards are worth 1.

If they're "good" at something, and have "good" skill then they don't need to play a card. If they want to be "great" at it then they need a black card, if they need to be "OMG!" at it then they need a black court card.

When they play a card they pick a new one.

If they keep doing things that punch above their weight then they'll end up with a hand of red cards and have to fail at something if they want to get another black one.

It's nice and simple, with an element of randomness, but not too much.

The original idea was used by Billy, one of the Stirling crowd, many years ago.

*Actually, it's a slight refinement of the system I used, because I used to make people play a card every time, and that was actually fairly pointless and a hassle

Comments

[johnbobshaun.livejournal.com]

I seem to recall that it's based on the old Castle Falkenstein system. Thanks for bringing it up: I've been trying to come up with a system for a game I've been wanting to run for ages.