7K - Wealth of Nations

Character gear has been something of a bug for me lately.  Back when pretty much every system just gave your character a load of cash and a big price list, I was okay with that being the way things were done.  But I have seen some systems lately that approach it very differently.  For my Seven Kingdoms game, I want to try something fairly radical.

7K - Another reboot?

Yeah, I've walked down this road before.  I'm becoming less and less happy with sticking to d20 as a system for this campaign.  I'm just feeling like the real strengths of the system aren't things I'm looking to leverage, and the drawbacks of the system are definitely cropping up as stumbling blocks.

So, the question of the moment is, should I scrap what I've done and start over with a new system?

Feedback requested

Well, it seems that I need to learn to read the instructions on this thing better.  I screwed up the scheduling on a couple posts last week.  So, they may or may not be coming later.

I say may not, because I need some feedback here from you loyal readers.  I've noticed that I've gotten pretty much zero feedback on my Seven Kingdoms stuff.  More importantly, I noticed while trying to get caught up on the RPGBA feed that I tend to skip everyone else's posts regarding "here's my new system/setting!"

I'm thinking that live-blogging the development of an RPG is a lot like Greg Stolze's patron model.  If you already have people who are interested in what you have to say, it can really work.  If you're still making your bones, people aren't likely to be interested in watching you flail about.  That's especially true when, like me, you can't drop a new post on the subject every day.  People just aren't likely to remember what else you're doing to see how all the pieces fit together.

So, the feedback I'm looking for is whether or not I should even continue posting Seven Kingdoms stuff.  Please don't worry about hurting my feelings.  I recognize there's a difference between "I'm not interested in reading about you trying to pull this game together" and "Your game sucks."

I'm still planning on working out the game.  When I get it all together, I may be releasing it as a PDF.  Of course, part of this is also spawned from the fact that one of the missing posts from last week is that I'm no longer convinced that d20 is the right system, even with the tweaks I'm making.  I'm actually considering creating a franken-system out of all the bits I highlight in my "System Wank" series.  If I'm going to re-boot the whole system (again), I don't want to drag it out on the blog.  Unless you guys want to see me drag it out.

I'll just wrap this up with a blatant begging for comments.  Even if you're just saying, "meh, whatever," I'd still like to hear it.  Given the number of readers I have, trust me, every vote counts.

Murder by Numbers

Poison is an ancient tool of the subtler forms of warfare.  It is also a key device in literature, from Romeo and Juliet to the Count of Monte Cristo.  And yet, it is rarely handled well in RPGs.  I talked about it a bit on RPG Circus last night week, and just wanted to expand on it a bit here.

System Wank - Ads and Disads

Lots of systems out there feature various ways to make your character better, along with various ways to represent flaws.  Most of them function essentially the same way.  I want to call out the system that completely changed the way I thought about them, and in some ways how I thought about RPGs in general.

FATE, first seen by most of us in Spirit of the Century, approaches the whole issue from a decidedly different angle.  Advantages and disadvantages both serve one single purpose: grabbing the spotlight.  One way lets you shine by winning, the other by failing.  Unifying the mechanics as Aspects is undeniably brilliant.

About that time again

Regular readers may have noticed that I've missed posting the last couple of days.  A combination of busy days at work and a series of posts that are stuck in fragment form right now have created a bit of a logjam.  Mea culpa, mea culpa.  Consider this the obligatory "I swear I'll get back on track and have fewer excuses" post.

7K - Heraldry of the Seven Kingdoms

Most home brew settings ignore the element of heraldry.  The reason for this is simple: Most of us don't have the artistic chops to draw it out.  However, the symbology of a nation can be very important, and allow for rapid identification.  Having the players suddenly surrounded by "a sea of blue tabards" can let them know that they are either safe, or in very deep trouble, depending on their relationship with the King's Men.

Here are the colors and a few important symbols of the Seven Kingdoms.