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2022-02-17

RPG System Preferences

There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to RPG rules. Some things people might prefer are:

• Tactical and crunchy or reality-simulating combat
• Extensive character creation
• Detailed character progression
• Niche protection
• Specialised skills and skill trees
• Levels

And for each of those someone else wants the exact opposite or something in between.

Sub-System Example: Choosing a Character Class

My OSR character generator picks a random character class. I've been asked a few times to make it less random and more, uhm, realistic, I guess. Choosing like a person would. The problem is that people choose in very different ways. I've asked around to see if I can find some useful rules of thumb to build a heuristic around. These are some of the answers I've received on how people choose class:

• Complementing the group (which is of course impossible to implement in a character generator unless you generate a full party at once)
• Always picking the fighter because it's the simplest to play
• Going for the class where ones abilities fit the best (but what do you do when you have both high DEX and high WIZ? Elf, Thief, or Cleric?)
• Always picking a spell caster, because that's fun
• Anything but the Thief
• Anything but the Halfling
• Fighter or Dwarf, because both of those get high hit points and are cool
• Preferably Cleric, but that depends on the exact system: whether you get a spell at the first level, whether Turn Undead is a spell or ability.

The RPG world, as any other hobby, is filled with different preferences. This example is just a tiny portion of a very simple genre of rules and it's still mildly controversial.

-- CC0 Björn Wärmedal