RPG R&D: System Engine

This post is part of a series examining my ideas for a new sci-fi/horror RPG, Red Shift.

One important point that I feel I should lay out, right up front, is that I've recently decided to forego writing the Red Shift RPG. After some introspection, I decided that the world probably doesn't need one more tabletop RPG that badly -- especially with the sheer number of them that are being released in recent years. Even if it had been functional (I hope that I could have ultimately guaranteed at least that much from my design work), it wouldn't have been original enough in a new or challenging way. As a good friend said to me, right now, there are a lot of rulesets out there that aren't strongly supported with adventures or settings. So why would I create one more? That said, I intend to continue this series of posts because I think sharing the design work that I did complete would be useful as part of the overall conversation on RPGs. Plus, it might prove useful to someone who is considering creating an RPG, at least to perhaps provoke some critical inspection. With that out of the way, let's proceed with the first topic...

Hopefully, at the core of any successful RPG is a decently running engine, some kind of resolution mechanic that introduces randomness into and elicits engagement with the game. There are already a number of highly popular and extremely effective systems out there -- as well as a number of less popular ones.

A Die for All Sessions: Boxes & Basics

One of the first things that struck me about this series of posts is the inappropriateness of the title. "A Die for All Sessions" -- already, this is a pretty bad pun; or at least uncomfortably reminiscent of an eye-roll-inducing library conference presentation title. (why do librarians consistently view puns as the ideal means of conceptual first contact for their ideas?) Also, the title sort of implies that there is an ideal die (or set of dice) that will somehow meet the gaming needs of any and all tabletop situations, a Renaissance dice set that can cover all the bases -- when what I actually intent to discuss at some length is just the opposite. I plan to talk about the extensive (and, arguably, unnecessary) thought and aesthetic deliberation that has gone into the various dice purchases I've made.

Anyway--