Things I personally don't think TTRPGs have to have: * Six Stats * THACO * Levels * Classes * Miniatures * Stats * A Table * Skills * Hit Points * Sanity checks * GMs / DMs etc * Experience / Character advancement * Character Sheets * Dice / Cards Things I think they do need: * One or more players - ThreadSky

impworks.bsky.social • 57 days ago

Things I personally don't think TTRPGs have to have:
* Six Stats
* THACO
* Levels
* Classes
* Miniatures
* Stats
* A Table
* Skills
* Hit Points
* Sanity checks
* GMs / DMs etc
* Experience / Character advancement
* Character Sheets
* Dice / Cards

Things I think they do need:
* One or more players

Comments

lmaron.bsky.social•56 days ago

While they don't strictly need any of those, I would argue that having at least a few of them might enhance the experience.

impworks.bsky.social•56 days ago

Absolutely

But starting game design with sacred cows limits where your game can go

lmaron.bsky.social•56 days ago

I think it would be an interesting exercise for each of those examples either name a game that doesn‘t have them or a concept how a game without them would work. EG instead of cards/dice you could have a pool of slowly refilling points which the players can bid on a certain outcome.

impworks.bsky.social•55 days ago

An interesting challenge - I'll do a few to start - and to make it more interesting trying to do it without repetition

* 6 Stats - Big Eyes Small Mouth
* THACO - D&D 3rd edition
* Levels - Call of Cthulhu
* Classes - Hong Kong Action Theatre
* Miniatures - Rosewood Abbey
1/2

impworks.bsky.social•55 days ago

* Stats- Over the Edge
* A Table- Soap
* Skills- Zombi
* Hit Points- Brother Why?
* Sanity checks- D&D (core no splatbooks)
* GMs/DMs etc- Number Stations
* Experience/Character advancement- What's so Daring about Sky Pirates
* Character Sheets- Goldfish
* Dice/Cards- Golden Sky Stories

2/2

monsata.bsky.social•55 days ago

Crown and Skull has a novel way of dealing non-hp damage: when you take an injury, you cross off one of your skills or pieces of equipment.

Healing restores your skills, and repairing restores items. Resting restores 1d4.

And if everything on your sheet is crossed out? ...don't get hit again.

jdragsky.bsky.social•57 days ago

are you familiar with the tragedy of gj-237b? a wonderful counter-example to the need for ttrpgs to have players

humza.bsky.social•55 days ago

*Is* gj-237b an RPG? NOT saying this to snark about the work/its message/merit, but I always parsed it as an RPG-shaped artwork, more than an actual game.

jdragsky.bsky.social•55 days ago

id absolutely argue its an rpg! i think the lyric game movement did a lot to blast that door open, and gj-237b (while pre-lyric) is part of that

humza.bsky.social•55 days ago

Hmm! I know *of* the lyric games space but haven't really investigated. Am I parsing it correctly that reading/thinking about the game is a design goal equally significant to "playing" in traditional manner?

jdragsky.bsky.social•55 days ago

pretty much! that was one of the claims made, to greater or lesser degrees. that said, i think the tragedy of gj-237b is entirely and clearly playable (or at least contains instructions that are all plausibly followed) and produces a play state

jdragsky.bsky.social•55 days ago

it confounds what we think of as traditional play (when we have a dnd game, and we all step away to use the bathroom, what remains?) but it still functions as an rpg

humza.bsky.social•55 days ago

Fair! For me, the line of "It is not something you can play, or even understand." is something that takes it out of the space of "play" but I can see that being a YMMV thing.

thoughtpunks.com•55 days ago

Has clear rules. There is roleplaying and a fictional state involved. The players are the outsiders/humans. Even a clear end game state! Though arguably it's a little meta, roleplaying that roleplaying is happening in the other room. While it may be non-traditional, it seems clearly a game and RPG.

humza.bsky.social•55 days ago

I'm not sure there's roleplaying involved! But also (as I said in another comment) I'm not sure it matters ultimately - it just doesn't read as a game to me, but if it does for someone else, I can see that perspective and think it's valid even if I disagree.

thoughtpunks.com•55 days ago

For the roleplaying, my interpretation: The end game state is explicitly an act of roleplaying. You are the human explorers touching down and interrupting the stories that were being told.

Not trying to make a big argument, to be clear! No hills to die on here for me. Just explaining a POV. :)

impworks.bsky.social•57 days ago

I was not I now am.

I think it beats my game "Goldfish" for taking things to extremes

https://impworks.co.uk/2021/01/goldfish-rpg/

ceruleanfive.bsky.social•57 days ago

Yup.

trebormills.bsky.social•57 days ago

Burn the heretic

I jest

impworks.bsky.social•57 days ago

😀

I almost finished it with - how far did you get before calling me a heretic?

thelorax42.bsky.social•57 days ago

Imagine if thaco was mandated for all games! Someone playing an indie game about showing emotional openness as traumatised teens must also know what the roll for armour class 0 is!

trebormills.bsky.social•57 days ago

The true horror

Thac0 can burn in hell

impworks.bsky.social•57 days ago

Someone I used to game with said Thac0 was the sound a backpack containing a collection of RPG books makes when "accidentally" swung hard into a rules lawyers softer body parts

sookayheresthe.bsky.social•57 days ago

most vital element of a TTRPG: it's gotta have at least two Ts, one R, a G, and at least one other letter. if it doesn't have at least those five, it is not a TTRPG

unboxedcereal.bsky.social•57 days ago

my TTRAG is now officially a TTRPG, thank you

impworks.bsky.social•57 days ago

TTRAG is not an acronym I know?

Traditional Timber Frame Research & Advisory Group?

impworks.bsky.social•57 days ago

Ah I think I should try reading stuff in time linear order and it makes more sense

alexhypnotist.bsky.social•56 days ago

Shop around. There are tons of diceless games, games without stats, levels, and classes, and games where the primary aim is something other than fighting and looting.

Berin Kinsman's Lightspress Media, and their game engine, The Simple Approach, has almost exactly what you'd want.

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