Sam Seer's Blog

Next time you're running a combat encounter, try telling your Players this: A creative stunt will always do more damage than your weapon. A stunt is anything: cutting a chandelier, collapsing the roof, pushing off a ledge, choking with a grappling hook, etc. It just has to be creative. As for "more damage", it doesn't have to be game-breaking. Just increase their weapon die a step (d8 -> d10) or, if it's a wound-based system, increase damage by 1 wound. The important thing is that Players know they will be quantitatively rewarded for their creativity.  Are those doubts I hear? Now, I hear what you're saying: why would a chandelier do more damage than a tool literally made for bloodletting? Where's the goddamn verisimilitude ? And to that I say: I don't give a fuck! It's more fun this way! This is a way purer expression of the tabletop RPG medium because it capitalizes on tactical infinity. Plus, it reminds me of another unrealistic rule that...

Some big changes to  Sellsword , a one-page OSR ruleset, recently and none of them necessitated by a playtest (though I’m eager to get it to table). In brief... 1. Overhauled the layout.  Old Butterick said Minion is a bad font choice because it’s an automatic font choice. As Calibri is to Word, Minion to Adobe. Except Adobe users are supposed to have their aesthetics about them, so it’s a graver sin. So, inspired by the 24XX games I went for a condensed sans serif, similar to Futura, but a little rounder. It’s Proxima Nova, and I’m sure Butterick would have his qualms.  I also replaced the Souvenir headings (another automatic font, pulled straight from classic D&D) with something more Western-tinged. But hopefully not too Western tinged. It’s a delicate, challenging, and fun balance between maximum readability and theme/flavor. At times like this, I’m jealous of Mothership. A game that’s set in the future feels like it has endless graphic design choices. And, ba...

This week I ran the second-ever session of  Sellsword , a one-page OSR ruleset. For an adventure, I used “Incident at Torn Throat Gorge”, a work-in-progress one-page adventure with an Old West flavor. In no particular order, here are my dominant takeaways: 1. Extend the “noob” stage. When I started playing Runescape in 2005, the most fun I ever had was playing on a free account, fishing for shrimp in Lumbridge and trying to get enough gold to buy a green cape. I was a noob. And the smallest things— like selling an inventory load of mined iron, or picking up 10 gp from a dead guard— mattered. That changed as I leveled up and gained more gold. As I leveled up, the percentage of the game that posed a challenge and offered value— that delivered joy — decreased. How might a game designer avoid this? I’ll be reflecting on this for a while I imagine. But off the top of my head, two things come to mind... First is Dark Souls. I’ve never played a Souls game, but my impression is that even t...

On Thursday night, I ran the first playtest of Sellsword , a one-page OSR ruleset. For an adventure, I used The Undying Flame of Gal-Bog , a one-page dungeon I wrote, inspired by this all-time classic illustration. In no particular order, here are my dominant takeaways: 1. Scenario drives Player behavior. Starting out dirt poor: the Players murdered an NPC for his hand-axe and sling. Starting out as strangers: one Player led two other Players into known danger. Playing as swords-for-hire: the Players were inclined towards chaotic-evil levels of violence. Is this a problem? Not necessarily. The game should incentive multiple types of problem-solving. If the ruleset makes Players feel they have choices, it works. The PvP conflict is an issue if the Players feel incentivized to kill one another endlessly; this brings the story to a standstill. 2. Action and resolution were in lockstep. It felt like the story was happening at the same speed as the game. Often, roleplaying games can feel ...