2d6 TTRPG

First Rule: Fiction First

The difficulty of actions is based on realism. If something can reasonably succeed, it does. If something is genuinely impossible, no die roll will allow it. If the rules of the game conflict with a believable fiction, the fiction beats the rules.

Core Mechanic

When an action needs to be simulated, the Game Master (GM) may call for a die roll. Otherwise, resolve actions with roleplay and rulings.

1. Roll two six-sided dice (notated as 2d6)
2. Add one attribute
3. Add one combat skill (if in combat)
4. Add one vocation (if out of combat)
5. Add any situational bonuses or penalties
6. Roll 9 or higher to succeed. The GM may raise or lower this number to suit the difficulty

• Double 1's automatically fail.
• Double 6's automatically succeed. If attacking, this is a critical hit.

Procedure

The game is played through conversation, and the game has a procedure. First, the Game Master (GM) describes a room, scene, or situation. Second, the players, either freeform or clockwise around the table, describe what their characters do or say, and how. Third, the GM calls for dice rolls if needed, determines what happens, and describes it. Repeat until the scene is resolved, then establish a new scene.

Character Creation

Each player except for the Game Master (GM) creates one player characters (or PC). PCs must suit the tone and setting of the game.

1. Start with an adventuring goal. Your character must have a goal to pursue in play.
2. Divide 4 points among your attributes: Strength, Agility, Intellect, and Willpower. 0 describes an average attribute. Starting attributes cap at 3.
3. Divide 4 points among your Combat Skills: Brawling, Melee, Range, and Defense. Starting combat skills cap at 3.
4. Choose four vocations and divide 4 points among them. There is no catalog of vocations. This is DIY. It replaces fantasy race, background, character classes, social status, and is a soft skill system in this game. Starting vocations cap at 3.
5. Choose traits and flaws to distinguish your character with flavor or mechanical bonuses or penalties.
6. Determine your maximum health. It's 10 + your Strength.
7. Magic-users determine your maximum ether. It's 10 + a suitable vocation (example Mage).
8. Determine your carrying capacity. It's 10 + your Strength.
9. Choose starting equipment. You begin with one weapon, one armor or shield, 6 Supplies, and 10 currency. You may also begin with a memento of your past or other personal item that has no market value, and a toolset or kit of one trade that suits one of your vocations.
10. Name your character.

Attributes

Attributes measure your characters abilities.

• Strength describes your physical strength and conditioning. You use Strength to lift and carry, push and pull, climb, swim, wrestle, resist fatigue, disease, poison, and make attacks with melee weapons. Strength is applied to both attack rolls and damage rolls with brawling and melee.
• Agility describes your balance, coordination and reflexes. Apply to 2d6 rolls to dodge traps, to tumble after a fall, to initiative rolls, to 2d6 attack roll to hit with a ranged weapon like a longbow, firearm, or throwing weapon. 
• Intellect describes your knowledge, crafting, skill with tools, and in some cases your sensory perception; You can roll Intellect to avoid surprise.
• Willpower describes intangible things, like your leadership ability, resistance to mental effects like fear, stress, magical confusion or charm, faith, and your potency with magic. Apply to reaction rolls and loyalty checks, and the number of followers you can lead.

Combat Skills

Combat skills represent your competency with different forms of fight.

• Brawling is for attack rolls for punching, kicking, and success with grappling. If you spend your action to defend, you can subtract brawling from attack rolls made against you instead of Defense.
• Melee is attacking with swords, spears, sticks, axes, or other striking weapons. If you spend your action to defend and you're holding melee weapon, your melee skill is subtracted from attack rolls made against you instead of Defense.
• Range is for attack rolls with guns or projectile weapons including throwing weapons.
• Defense as a combat skill describes your personal skill at dodging and blocking attacks. Your Total Defense is 9 + your Defense skill; This is the number needed to hit you with brawling, melee, ranged, and some magic or special attacks. Track both numbers.
• Note that if a character is unable and unwilling to defend themself, attacks automatically hit!

Vocations

Choose four vocations and divide 4 points among them. Your vocations are DIY, but they must suit the setting and concept for your character. If you can justify how a vocation applies to a non-combat die roll, you can apply the bonus to the roll. Some vocations are specialized, and so a GM can rule that if you don't have a vocation, you may not attempt certain actions (like magic or alchemy). Discuss vocations with the Game Master.

Sample Vocations: Ranger, Barbarian, Soldier, Thief, Mage, Priest, Sailor, Noble, Merchant, Beggar, Entertainer, Laborer, Servant, Scholar, Tradesman, Hunter, City Watch, Herbalist, Undertaker, Surgeon, etc.

Vocations are generally for non-combat actions, but you can make exceptions if reasonable. The combat skills do not include magic attacks. If you have a vocation that can reasonably grant you a bonus to a magical attack, you can apply it to a combat roll.

Traits and Flaws

At character creation, you can choose one trait for free. You can choose two additional traits at character creation, but each additional trait costs one flaw.

Traits

Attractive: When in the lead, +2 to reaction rolls with members of the opposite sex.

Brute: Add one bonus die to melee weapon damage.

Diehard: Add +1 to 2d6 die rolls against disease, fatigue, or poison.

Hardy: Your base maximum health is 12 + Strength rather than 10 +Strength.

Lucky: You automatically succeed by rolling double 5's or 6's.

Quick Reflexes: You add +2 to die rolls to dodge traps and act first in combat.

Resist Inclement Weather (choose either heat or frigid weather): Resist Heat means heat does not affect your daily water requirements. Resist Frigid means a lack of shelter does not force a roll vs fatigue. 

Strong Back: Your base carrying capacity is 15 + Strength rather than 10 + Strength.

Sharp Senses: You add +2 to avoid surprise.

Weapon Specialty (specify one): Add +1 to attack rolls with this weapon.

Other (diy): discuss with your game master.

Flaws

Addiction (specify): Satisfy your addition once per day or you are penalized by -2 on all actions.

Bad Temper: What is something you will always fight for?

Compulsion: You have a compulsive behavior like flipping a coin or wringing your hands. It may make you distinguishable, frequently occupy a hand, distract you, or keep you from being ready.

Distinguishing Mark: You are easily recognized by a distinguishing scar, birthmark, or etc.

Dull Reflexes: You roll a -2 to dodge traps or go first in combat.

Easily Distracted: You are not always alert. -2 on rolls to go first in combat.

Fear: What are you afraid of? In the presence of this, you have a -2 to all actions and you make a willpower roll or you are stunned for one round. 

Feeble: Base maximum health is 8 + Strength rather than 10 + Strength.

Honor Code: You have a restrictive code. What is it? How does it restrict you? What happens if you break it?

Obsession (specify): You are obsessed with one particular thing or quest and are easily influenced by it. You also are impatient with other matters.

Ugly: You're kind of ugly. -2 on reaction rolls when you're in the lead.

Other (diy): discuss with your game master.

Health

Health represents your body's capacity to sustain wounds or injuries. Any lost health abstractly represents a wound or injury and so health should not be deducted for trivial sources of harm. At 0 health, you are KOed; Any successive attacks automatically hit and count as deathblows. You recover 1 lost health per day representing natural healing.

Ether

Ether is the substance that spirits and magic are made of. There are trace amounts in everything. Your ether represents stamina for using magic or extraordinary powers. All spells cost a minimum of 1 ether to cast. At 0 Ether, you are spellburned and can do nothing but scream and writhe on the ground in pain for one hour. You recover all spent ether after a night of rest with adequate food and water, else you recover a half, or a quarter if you are already fatigued.

Carrying Capacity

You can carry a load of 10 + Strength items. This number assumes you have a backpack. Some small, light items can, in multiple quantity, be tracked as one item. You're considered encumbered if you're carrying your maximum load, and your speed is slowed to 15 ft per round.

• Supplies (x6) is a type of quantum item. One supply can be expended as a day's rations, a day's water, or first aid supplies.
• Torches (x6) are produce light for a radius of 30 ft. Light is essential.
• Currency (x100) means coins.
• Ammo container (of x20 pieces of ammunition) such as a quiver of arrows.

Starting Equipment

There is no catalog of weapons and armor. If you want a sword, write down Sword. If you want a specific sword, like a rapier or a greatsword, write that down instead. Same for armor.

Barehanded strikes do 1 + Strength points of damage. Daggers, clubs, and improvised weapons do 1d3 + attribute damage. Proper martial weapons do 1d6 damage + attribute damage. For variety, small, lighter weapons do 1d6-1 (minimum 1) + attribute damage, and large, heavy, and two-handed weapons do 1d6+1 or 1d6+2 + attribute damage.

In this game, armor works by reducing damage. This is called damage reduction or DR. Subtract your DR from an opponent's damage. If the result is 0 or less, you take no damage. Light Armor offers 1 DR, and so does a shield while held in your hand. Heavy Armor offers 3 DR.

Improvement

Players earn 2 experience points (exp) per adventure. Exp can be spent to improve characters. Improvements should suit the story that emerged in play.

• Increase an attribute, combat skill, or vocation. The cost is equal to the new value. For example, if you have 3 Strength, it costs 4 exp to raise it to 4. These stats cap at 5!
• Add a new trait or vocation for 2 exp. New vocations start at 0.
• Buy off a flaw for 2 exp.
• Optional: Increase max Health or carrying capacity by 1 for 1 exp up to a cap of 20 + Strength.

Exploration: Wilderness

When traversing large-scale areas like wildernesses, each 24-hour day represents a turn. The wilderness is divided into 6-mile hexagons (hexes) which players move across like spaces on a boardgame board.

The GM may choose or roll for weather each day, and they describe the kind of hex that the players are in. They roll a six-sided die once per day and once per night for random encounters. A random encounter occurs on a 1, or a 1-2 at night or when in more dangerous areas. The GM then chooses or rolls an encounter.

• Marching: Players choose a direction and march, and they must declare a marching order. Hexes of difficult terrain such as swamps or mountains are trickier to traverse and effectively require 12 miles to cross one difficult hex.
• March: 12 miles (2 hexes).
• Forced March: 18 miles (3 hexes), but the party must succeed a 2d6 Strength roll vs 9 or suffer fatigue. Camping is skipped for the day. The difficulty goes up by 1 for each consecutive day that a forced march is made.
• Camping: The players make camp for a night (about 8-10 hours) or longer if the specify. Players should describe how they make camp. The wilderness is assumed to be dangerous at night and so the players should work out watch shifts.
• Campfires must be tended to all night. In most environments, characters are assumed to gather enough firewood for the night as part of making camp.
• Alternatives to Marching: Each action listed below may be conducted in lieu of marching 6 miles (one hex); max two of these per day.
• Foraging, Fishing, Trapping, Hunting: Players may engage in activities to gather resources.
• Search (or Scout): The party automatically discovers any major locations (such as a settlement) in a hex by entering the hex unless there is heavy concealment by bad weather or dense woods. Otherwise, they can use the search action to make a dedicated search of the any hidden feature of the hex. 
• Other (specify): Treating sick or injured characters, crafting tools or complex items, mending broken equipment, etc. 

Exploration: Dungeons

Characters explore small-scale environments like dungeons in turns. Each turn represents 10 minutes of in-world time. Characters are assumed to move quietly, slowly and cautiously in dungeons to avoid danger, and so they can move about one room per turn; else they are traveling recklessly and cannot spot traps or danger.

• Searching (general): A party can search one small or modest sized room or hallway per turn. Each player can make a 2d6+Intellect roll vs 9 to find hidden or secret things.
• Searching (targeted): A player who chooses a specific feature of a room and specifies how they examine it can automatically find something hidden or secret if their description would reveal something hidden.
• Forcing Open Doors: Stuck or locked doors can be forced open or broken down by making a successful 2d6 + Strength roll. This is considered loud and the GM makes an extra wandering monster check.
• Picking Locks: A character who is knowledgeable about picking locks who has proper tools may attempt to pick a lock. They roll 2d6 + Intellect vs 9. A failure means this costs two turns.
• Disarming Traps: If a player can satisfactorily describe how their character disable a trap, they succeed. Else, they can roll 2d6 + intellect to disarm it. Failure means the trap is triggered.

Lighting

Dungeons are dark, and so is the wilderness at night. PCs need light sources to see (but monsters don't). In the dark, you are effectively blind. While blinded, attacks made against you hit automatically, and your attacks automatically hit an adjacent ally on doubles, except double 6s. Light sources occupy a hand.

• Torches burn for 6 turns (or 1 hour) for 30 ft.
• Lanterns burn a flask of oil for 24 turns (or 4 hours) for 30 ft. Can be covered without being doused or extinguished, and do not give off smoke.
• Candles burn for one day, but only for 5 ft.
• Campfires must be tended to all night. In most environments, characters are assumed to gather enough firewood for the night as part of making camp.

Wandering Monsters

Dungeons are occupied with foes (men, beasts, or monsters), and they wander around. Every two dungeon turns, the GM checks for wandering monsters by rolling a 1d6. A 1 means a wandering monster is encountered. Any time PCs are noisy, this can prompt a wandering monster check.

• Choose an encounter or roll from a table.
• Place the encounter 2d6 * 10 ft away from the PCs.
• Determine their direction of travel and activity.
• Make a Reaction Roll if encountered.
• Parley if the opportunity is present. If parley fails and hostilities occur, go to combat procedure.

Combat

Combat is broken into rounds. There are no individual turns in combat. Each round, one side acts, then the other side acts.

1. Roll surprise (if applicable) for PCs individually, or for the NPCs as a group: 2d6 + Intellect vs 9. Failure means the character is surprised and does not act on their first round.
2. Act First. The side that initiates hostilities acts first! If the NPCs act first, go to step 3. If the PCs act first, go to step 4. If there is uncertainty about who acts first, the PCs may make a 2d6 + Agility roll vs 9. PCs who succeed act first, then go to step 3.
3. All NPCs act and their actions are resolved.
4. All PCs. All players declare their action. Once declared, an action cannot be taken back.  Then all PC dice are rolled and their actions are resolved. Note that combat rounds represent seconds, and so once combat has begun, strategizing is breaking character and is metagaming.
5. Check Morale for NPCs as a group only twice per combat. Check when NPCs have taken their first casualty. Check when the NPCs have been reduced to half their numbers or about half their collect Health.
6. Repeat steps 3-6 until combat is resolved.

Reaction Rolls

When introducing NPCs to the PCs for the first time, the GM rolls a reaction roll to randomly determine their starting disposition or attitude towards the PCs. It's a 2d6 roll, and you add the Willpower of the closest PC. Optionally, the GM may apply a modifier (ordinarily ranging from -2 to +2) depending on the PCs local reputation if they have earned one.

• 2 or less: Hostile. Monsters will immediately attack. Other NPCs may refuse services or actively sabotage PCs.
• 3-5: Unfavorable. Steep demands or bribes. Withold help.
• 6-8: Neutral. Indifferent to PC needs.
• 9-11: Favorable. Lenient on demands or bribes. 
• 12 or more: Ideal disposition, possibly friendly.

Morale Check

Not all characters and monsters want to fight to the death. Roll 2d6 roll equal to or greater than the NPCs morale score to determine if the NPCs continue to fight. The GM should assign a morale score representing their bravery based on the NPC. 7 represents an ordinary bravery. The lower the morale score, the braver; the higher the morale score, the more cowardly. Mindless creatures do not check for morale. Roll once when the NPCs take their first casualty, and roll once when the NPCs are reduced to halve their number or about half their collect Health.

Improv Magic

Use of magic is typically permitted only by a vocation such as wizard or a trait like a magical bloodline. Magical objects may also permit use of magic or very specific spells. There is no catalog of spells. Instead, players must choose a theme for their magic. Discuss the limitations of your theme with you GM. When players want to use magic, they must describe the spell they cast, and it must suit their theme. The spell is cast automatically, and the character makes a 2d6 + attribute + vocation roll to determine if they hit with the spell. I assume Willpower is for magic, but your setting may assume Intellect is for magic.

Spells are fluid. All spells cost 1 Ether to cast per die (of damage or healing) or effect, and per additional target, up to a maximum or 3 Ether. Damage or healing is instantaneous. Effects persist for the length of the encounter. If spells effect additional targets, the caster chooses one target and the spell effects adjacent targets.

Sample Spells:

Healing Hands, 1 Ether. Touch one character and restore 1d6+willpower health.

Magic Dart, 2 Ether. Conjure and throw a magical dart for 1d6+willpower damage.

Flammeria, 3 Ether. Burn three adjacent targets for 1d6+willpower damage.

Actions in Combat

On your turn, you can make one dedicated action. You can move up to your movement as part of your action. Actions must be taken during your round. There is no option to delay or hold an action, or to otherwise disrupt turn order.

• Attack: Roll 2d6 + Attribute + Combat Skill +/- any other situational modifiers. If you hit, roll Damage and subtract the opponent's DR (damage reduction). On a critical hit, ignore DR add an extra 2d6 to your damage.
• Defend: You dedicate a round to dodging, blocking, or parrying. Add +2 to your effective defense.
• Use an Object: You may draw and use or draw and throw an object from a pocket or pouch, open a door, operate a lever, reload a mechanical weapon, etc. 
• Cast a Spell: Spells are cast automatically, but the caster rolls 2d6 + Attribute + Vocation +/- any other modifies to hit or successfully effect the target or opponent.
• Other (specify). Maybe you offer first aid or drag an unconscious character to a safe spot. Maybe you run and tackle a foe. Maybe you brace a spear or polearm against the ground and aim it at a charging opponent. Rely on your creativity. Avoid game terminology. Use descriptive language.

• State your action in first person, use present tense. Say it like you are reading a line from a book! Example "I run for the troll and attack by aiming the point of my sword for his gut!"

Abstract Space

We don't use precise or literal space. Distances, speeds, and ranges are abstracted for simplicity. All characters can move about 30 ft per round, or one pencil length if you're playing with miniature figurines (minis) on a tabletop. To use a pencil to measure distances, place one end of the pencil at the base of your mini. You can move your mini to the end of the pencil, but not past the pencil.

• Close means you can touch something without moving (within 5 ft). This is the reach of hand-to-hand or melee weapon attacks.
• Near means you are one move away from something (5 ft to 30 ft away). This is the effective range of throwing weapons.
• Far means you are multiple moves away (30 ft to 120 ft away). This is the effective range of slings, bowshots, and firearms.
• Distant means you may not see or hear something clearly (greater than 120 ft).

Moving and Movement Speed

Player characters and humans can move as part of their action up to one of the speeds below. There are no double moves! Characters can move either slow, normal, or fast. You can drop from standing to prone for free, but changing your posture otherwise costs half your movement.

• Slow means 15 ft per round. Characters move slowly when crawling, climbing, swimming, sneaking, crossing hazardous ground, or wading through waist high water.
• Normal means 30 ft per round.
• Fast means 45 ft per round. Fast movement means the character is dedicated to moving and nothing else. Fast movement allows characters to safely withdraw from melee and retreat, make a charge attack, run and bump, or tackle, and long jump or high jump, but at least 10 ft of movement must be spent in a relatively straight line towards your target.

Cover

Cover means that an object or character acts as an obstacle or obstruction between you and an attacker. To determine cover, draw an imaginary line from the attacker to the defender. Anyone or anything that obstructs that line provides either partial or full cover. Small characters or objects provide partial cover. If partial cover, attacks and spells are penalized by 2. If full cover, you cannot attack that character directly. On double 1s or double 2s, you automatically hit the closest obstacle even if it's a character!

Non-Player Character (NPC) Opponents and Monsters

NPCs stats do not need to work by the same logic as the players. Consider that movement speeds previously listed for player characters apply to humans, where 30 is typical movement, but other creatures that are faster than humans can move 45 feet per round and still make attacks.

• Health: Consider these values as typical. Low-tier opponents have 3 Health. Mid-tier opponents have 5 to 10 Health. High-tier opponents have 20 Health. Very high tier opponents have 30 or more Health.
• Hit Bonus: This is the number added to their 2d6 roll. It represents both the attribute and the combat skill. Low-tier opponents have 0 to 2. Mid-tier opponents have 2 to 4. High-tier opponents have 6. Very High-Tier opponents have 8 to 10.
• Damage: Consider these values as typical. Small opponents do 1d3 damage. Human sized opponents do 1d6 damage. Large sized opponents like bears, lions, or ogres do 2d6 damage. Giant sized opponents do 3d6 damage.
• Defense (Def): Defense is the number players need to roll to hit. Consider these numbers as typical. 9 represents an unarmored opponent. 10 to 11 represents a lightly armored opponent, 12 or higher represents a heavily armored opponent.
• Damage Reduction (DR): For simplicity, you may assume low tier opponents always have a DR of 0 as this is unnecessary math for a game. Creatures without armor or a thick hide or a hard shell do not typically possess a DR. If DR is not present in the stat block, assume its 0.

Sample NPCs

Alchemist: HP 10, Hit Bonus +2, Grenade damage 1d6 splash, Def 10. The alchemist carries several glass containers of dangerous compounds that could crack open and erupt, killing him and splashing adjacent characters.

Bear: HP 10, Hit Bonus +3, Bite or Claw 2d6, Defense 10

Dragon: HP 30, Hit Bonus +8, Bite + grapple, claw + throw, or fire breath an area 3d6, Defense 16, DR 3. Players must make a Willpower roll once per encounter or they are frightened, and the effects of this is they suffer a -2 penalty to all actions.

Goblin: HP 3, Hit Bonus +2, Weapon or Bite 1d3+1, Defense 9.

Lion: HP 15, Hit Bonus +4, Bite or Claw 2d6, Defense 11

Mage: HP 8, Hit Bonus +2, Spell damage 2d6 vs 1 or 1d6 AOE, Def 9

Ogre: HP 15, Hit Bonus +3, Weapon 2d6, Defense 11

Slime: HP 5, Hit Bonus +2, strike with pseudopod for 1d3 or grapple for 1d6, Defense is 7 but damage from mechanical sources of harm are ignored. Its acid body degrades all weapons and armor that contact it by -1.

Troll: HP 15, Hit Bonus +4, Damage 1d6+2, Defense 11. If slain, resurrects in 24 hours with full health and an extra point of Strength and Health unless burned or beheaded.

Warrior: HP 10, Hit Bonus +4, Melee weapon 1d6+2, Defense 11, DR 2

Zombie: HP 10, Hit Bonus +0 or +2 if grappled, Unarmed 1d3, Bite 1d6-1, Defense 7. Moves at slow speed only. Thrusting and Bludgeoning damage is ignored, as the creature must be hacked to pieces.

Managing Expectations in TTRPGs - Discussing What We Do and Don't Like

When it comes to TTRPGs like D&D and Pathfinder (pronounced pat-h-fin-der), I think the trickiest part is managing expectations. That is to say that I have had a lot of personal experience with trying to run one kind of game, and players trying to play another kind of game, or vice versa if I'm a player. For me, it's very unsatisfying to tell players, "I'm running a game for heroic characters", and someone still brings a joke character, and someone else still brings a character of neutral alignment and needs some extra motivation to do anything. Ugh.

This article is my attempt to work out a way to manage these expectations. The first thing is to identify the motives, experiences, interests and influences of the participants. Some people's only exposure to fantasy might be Adventure Time. You might think I'm making that up, but I'm not! I have played with that guy. He didn't know any of the classic fantasy conventions and he played like it.

We're going to start with some useful vocabulary. Ask and discuss these questions:

• Influences or Interests: What movies, books, comics, video games, tv, etc. have you seen? that you like? What do you like about them?
• Disinterests: What do you dislike about TTRPGs, genres, literary conventions, etc. Some people are open to anything, some people aren't! For people with discerning tastes, this is as important.
• Experiences: Previous experiences with TTRPG(s). What did you like about them, what did you not like? Players may have learned some things that you would like them to unlearn.
• Motives: Why are you interested in TTRPGs? What about this hobby is fun for you? What makes you want to play a TTRPG?

My Interests: My favorite work of Fantasy might just be Kentaro Miura's Berserk. Let's discuss why. The art is badass. The dark themes are interesting. The scenarios are interesting. There's a sort of cosmic horror to it. Guts is just this regular guy who manages to become above average by sheer effort and a will to survive. He has an extraordinary tenacity for survival in the face of overwhelming odds. His opponents are often otherworldly and nightmarish in power and scale but they have such simple motives like eating people or avoiding boredom. He even earns their respect with his will and fortitude. What else? It's otherwise a low-magic, earth-like setting. The horror elements almost replace the fantastic elements, and I think that's really cool!

I also like Vampire Hunter D for some similar reasons, and because I think it's stylish as hell. In this setting, Vampires became the rulers of the earth. To the extent that the word noble became synonymous with vampire and few people use the word vampire. Humans are cattle. That's pretty dark. The titular character is D, and he's a Dhampir. That means he is a half human half vampire. Because of this, he's rejected by both humans and vampires. He's also secretly the most badass character in the setting. The question is what does he want and why? It seems to me that the author intends to leave these things up to interpretation or inference, but we are to come away believing that this is not a character with ordinary motivations.

Tim Burton's Sleepy Hallow was pretty fucking stylish too. In this movie, everyone's dressed in a period era outfit, there's only one monster and he's an absolute badass, no one understands the monster or magic, and the fantastic elements are not casually accepted by anyone. They're all as wild as if you went out for a walk and met an extra-terrestrial.

Generally, low fantasy settings or earth-like settings where the supernatural or extraordinary are rare and maybe even intrusive upon the ordinary world are interesting. Monsters are monsters! Magic is dangerous or even forbidden. The elements of the fantasy that make fantasy unique are kept low so that they when they are used, they have a greater effect, like a guy who never says curse words finally dropping an f-bomb. I also like the low fantasy, dark fantasy Campaign Diaries of Professor DM on the Dungeon Craft YouTube channel!

Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean is cool for similar reasons. The fantastic elements are presented as curses, and they present the supernatural as dangerous and mysterious. If you had to assign all the characters in that movie a D&D class, they would either be fighters or thieves (rogues). 

My Disinterests: You might think I don't actually like fantasy, and there might be something to that, but I don't like pure horror and I'm not into the horror TTRPGs because in those you play as a survivor or a victim. I do want to be a hero. Fantasy can be pretty @#$%^ nerdy. The way nerds use wizards, vampires, demons, and lycanthropes can be really cringy because they make it mundane and ordinary. Monsters aren't monsters anymore, they're just like cat people or something. And then there's people who think it's racist to kill monsters and take their stuff, and those people are just detrimental to the hobby. I don't like elves, dwarves, hobbits, and some of the other fantastic races that have become standard like Tieflings, half-orcs, and dragonborn (dragon people). These things make me feel like I'm watching the Muppets. I don't like that magic is common and ordinary, like a skill or an art that people can just pick up and learn. What's so special about magic if everyone can do it?

My Experiences: I have mostly played 5e D&D. It's pretty lame. There's furries. There's scalies. Goblins, bugbears, and other monsters are humanoids or goblinoids, and so they're treated like an exotic people. I don't like that. Demons from the Christian hell are not people. Even goblins should be monstrous. D&D makes me feel like I'm Eddie Valiant in Who Framed Roger Rabit. Tonally, it's lame. Players play these goofy characters, or they make characters who are kind of goofy conceptually but are intended to be played serious. It makes it difficult for me to care. I don't care about non-humans, and I don't care to humanize the non-humans. I'm hoping for something more serious, but this can't help but feel cartoonish. Besides that, the player characters get pretty powerful, and after a while they play like they know they are. Powerful player characters are antithetical to horror. I have played mostly in Faerun and Eberron, and slightly in Draconlance, Spelljammer, the Underdark, and Greyhawk; but I think 5e modernized it all made it all lame. It's casual and accessible and safe. Even the modern Ravenloft setting is kind of watered down and plebian. I also hate chaotic and evil player characters! They're dicks and they spoil someone's fun. I want PCs who can play as a damn team. And I don't want to be a villainous character, and I don't want to be a character who would particularly tolerate villainous companions or allies. But when you play D&D, this game permits evil and chaotic player characters, and so do most GMs, so I have to put up with it.

Motives: I have lost interest in tv, movies, comics, anime, and books because I think it used to be good, now it's not; but I still want to indulge in some narrative entertainment. I want an outlet for creativity, I want to socialize, and I want to play a game!

I think this was a particularly interesting exercise and I recommend you all do the same.

Here's what I learned about myself: I am not down for any game.

I want an earth-like or low fantasy, human-centric setting where magic and monsters are rare and dangerous. The line between fantasy and horror is blurred. Monsters are not people, they are monsters, and they are opposed to humanity. Magic-users are rare, maybe even feared and hated. Stakes are low, not epic. Characters are generally relatable; scenarios are generally plausible; environments are generally realistic. Your character is an ordinary or above average person. You are not great, but you can earn greatness. You have a chance to become a hero, and I want you to aspire to be, but if you become a villain, I take your PC and make them an NPC in my setting, and they become the property of the me, the GM. Don't do anything you wouldn't do in real life. Play your character like you care what happens to them. This is low, dark fantasy.

Types of Fun (MDA Framework)

I want to give you some GM advice that no one teaches except for the Angry GM. Go read his article(s)  on his website on this subject if you think I suck at it. The subject is MDA Framework and how you can use it to make your game appeal to different players.

You every hear that condescending "having fun wrong" comment on the internet? Sure you have. Usually in internet conversation where someone tells someone else that "all fun is valid". Ugh. Look man, I'm sure some people have fun punching puppies or kicking kittens. That's an extreme example, but I'm not going to work out an intelligent example right now, I'm trying to sell you on an idea. You might understand what you have fun doing, and you might understand why it's fun for you, but can you say you understand how other people have fun or why that stuff is fun to them?

Let me introduce you to a concept called MDA Framework. MDA means Mechanics-Dynamics-Aesthetics, and it's a concept that tries to explain how video game players have fun. Here's the simplest break down. The Mechanics of a game are what the designers see, but the player doesn't perceive the mechanics, they perceive the Aesthetics (or sensations). In D&D 5e for a very specific example, the game designers have worked out the math so that the players succeed about 65% of the time at things their character is good at. Those are the mechanics. The player doesn't recognize this though because the mechanics are not explained like that in the official books; instead, what the players recognize is that they succeed an amount of time that feels just right. Not too much so that the game isn't too easy, but not too little that the game is too hard. It's an aesthetic; a sensation or a feeling.

What about the Dynamic in MDA? Shut up. That's a stupid question. Ahem.

What is the value of the MDA Framework? Because the people who invented the MDA Framework came up with a list of different ways that players have fun. This is a pretty clever idea. There's a list of eight different ways (or sensations) that people have fun, with other ways being less common but also identified.

One aesthetic is called challenge. That's a pretty easy to recognize concept. Fun comes from challenge when people derive pleasure by succeeding based on choices they made when failure was a possibility. That's easy to understand, right? Now, how about the aesthetic of fellowship. Fellowship is a type of fun that is derived from a sense of belonging. To simplify this, there are people who like to play multiplayers because they like being included in a group or team. Belonging is more valuable to them than the activity.

So, go look up the list of eight MDA aesthetics because it's worth having an understanding of the different ways there are to have fun. Different people have fun in different ways and being able to identify those ways are going to make you better at social forms of play or producing a product intended to entertain an audience.

Then there's also GNS Theory. GNS stands for Gamism, Narrativism, and Simulationism. I think these words are pretty self-explanatory. GNS Theory is simpler than MDA and a bit less useful. One difference is that GNS theory uses Simulationism to describe a person who wants an experience that they can be immersed in. Something that disrupts immersion, like a game mechanic that feels arbitrary for the sake of using a game mechanic and that does not adequately simulate the make-believe world, spoils immersion. That's a fine and dandy concept! But MDA describes fantasy as an aesthetic of wanting a make-believe world, expression as wanting to create a character to express yourself and narrative as an aesthetic of a satisfying story, and MDA presents these as distinct where as GNS's Simulationism might lump these kinds of fun but not adequately describe them as separate.

MDA is more complicated than D&D's attempt to explain different kinds of players: Problem Solvers, Hack-n-Slashers, and Actors. D&D will cause you to overlook sensations, like fellowship. How many of you have seen GMs asking for help engaging certain players in their games? Some players are engaged even though they don't look it. They're having fun just being included. Where D&D says actor, MDA says expression, narrative, and fantasy, which are not the same, and may cause you to fail to engage certain players by misidentifying the ways they have fun.

So let's look at a real example of how all of this knowledge could help me to provide a more satisfying experience as a Game Master.

I think one of the ways I like to have fun is discovery. Discovery is the satisfaction of finding something that was hidden based on choices I made. This can be a secret door, a secret fortress in the woods, or learning a about the castle's steward secret arrangement of selling the lord's wine to the thieves' guild. One thing that discourages this kind of play is a game mechanic! Let's say that I as a player describe examining a bookshelf in a dusty old room. I say I slowly, thoroughly read all the titles on the spines, and if a book doesn't have anything written on its spine, I pull it out and read the front cover or on the inside pages for a title. I say I'm looking for a book about magic, the occult, or the arcane, or something mystic and weird. Because I'm a magic-user, duh. You as the GM could say that I find a book called "The Interstice: The Space Between Spaces". I think that sound interesting and I would like to take that book. Cool, done! But if you instead make me roll dice to see if I spot that book, that feels arbitrary and failure discourages me from engaging in that kind of play again. Why do you think that there needs to be a mechanic to see if I spot this book?

Rolling dice to find something in plain sight also ruins the aesthetic of submission (or immersion) because it makes no sense that I could miss something that I think should be obvious and have no chance of failure! This also spoils the sensation of narrative because my character is not stupid, but you've made me doubt the competency of my own character. I should not have a chance to fail at discovery for something that's in plain sight if I take my time, but you introduced random chance where it shouldn't factor. For some situations, you use the logic of the narrative, not the game mechanics!

So, learn these ideas. Teach them to others. This will help you to communicate your needs to others, and it will help you to help others to communicate their needs to you. This has been a public service announcement brought to you by the letter Q. All hail Q, the most useless letter of the English alphabet. We could literally replace you with K and no one would miss you. I hope you die in a fire you lame ass letter.