SYNERGY Role Playing Game Version 1.5

[John Michael Crovis]

I'm looking for comments and constructive criticism for the first RPG I've designed. This RPG is designed with spontaneous storytelling in mind. This game provides a rules-light framework that is easy to understand, requires cheep common materials to play, and does not require any preparation time besides the time it takes to create a character. It is not tied to any particular setting or genre and allows each player to contribute equally to the development of the story.

I first posted this game on 1km1kt.net, and got a lot of great advice on how to make the game more appealing. Is there more that can be done to hone this game? I really do want your opinion!

SYNERGY RPG can be downloaded here: http://www.ravenlakegames.com/synergy-rpg

[John Michael Crovis]

To be a little more specific... Is the text clear and understandable? Do the rules make sense, from an academic point of view? Could you see yourself playing this game?

[voidgere]

John,

This game is rather innovative.  I like the way you handle character creation.  It reminds me of the bit of folk wisdom, "It takes a village to raise a child."  I think this would allow a bit more inter-connectivity between the characters.  I do feel it allows for griefing in worse case scenarios.  Stressing that the game is best played by seasoned RP'ers is a step in the right direction.  I have never been very keen on the idea of adding playing cards to a roleplaying game but I like the passive effect the addition has in Synergy. 

All in all, for a very slim and steamlined roleplaying system, I would have to rate this one a 9/10.

Pros
- Innovative character design and game mechanics
- Rules light
- Open genre

Cons
- The use of playing cards and dice
- Room for griefing during character generation and play

[John Michael Crovis]

Hello Voidgere,

Thank you for taking a look and giving me some feedback. I'm glad you like game system. Unfortunately, you are dead right about the game being open to inter-player conflict spilling into the game... The rules are designed to minimize this and promote a sense of fairness, but rules really can only go so far. There really isn't any good way to avoid that possibility in a game that doesn't rely on a Game Master; the maturity level of the players is tantamount to the success of this and similar games.

Regarding Cards - if used right, they can add another level of sophistication and strategy to a game. If utilized poorly in the game design, they leave players wondering why they couldn't just have rolled dice, instead. I hope that my use of cards in this game is the prior rather than the later.

Thank you again.

[voidgere]

I am going to introduce this system into my playtest group and see what they have to say.  I'll run it through my closed group first.  They are seasoned RP'ers and hand chosen by me for my own playtest group so they have experience with playtesting.  I am most intrigued with the ability to switch Storytellers.  I think this is the most unique mechanic.  As most of my group have referee experience, it will be very interesting to see how it plays out.

[Chris_Chinn]

Hi John,

The rules are very clear and it seems like a really neat game!   Two games I would suggest looking at for comparison would be Universalis, as well as 1001 Nights, as games that do the "shifting GM" mechanic, but in different ways.

Some things of note, looking over the rules:

1.  Initial trait scores are very low - maximum 6, and the Average Difficulty is 2D6 - which is going to give an average of 7.   And if you have any Traits at 1, you can't possibly succeed.  Is this correct?  It seems like players will have to be angling for very easy difficulties if they want any chance to succeed for a long time.

2.  Cards basically are used to; a) take Story Manager role, b) fend off injury, c) dispute a difficulty rating.  Any card can be used for fending off injuries, so it looks like players will just dump low cards into healing injuries.  Is it mostly a random pacing mechanic whether a player spends the session being more active from a Story Manager side or on the character side?

3.  I really like the crossing off Traits for creation, but I'd like to see those Traits come back as part of play later- maybe the first new Traits a character takes are based from the list?

Chris

[John Michael Crovis]

Hello Chris,
Thanks for your input!

1.  Initial trait scores are very low - maximum 6, and the Average Difficulty is 2D6 - which is going to give an average of 7.   And if you have any Traits at 1, you can't possibly succeed.  Is this correct?  It seems like players will have to be angling for very easy difficulties if they want any chance to succeed for a long time.

I'm not so sure that having low beginning scores are a bad thing... After all, they are beginner players. However, you are right about the traits starting out at 1. I may have to make some adjustments to this for the next version of the game. Good catch.

2.  Cards basically are used to; a) take Story Manager role, b) fend off injury, c) dispute a difficulty rating.  Any card can be used for fending off injuries, so it looks like players will just dump low cards into healing injuries.  Is it mostly a random pacing mechanic whether a player spends the session being more active from a Story Manager side or on the character side?

Cards are also used for d) ending a scene, e) preventing a failure, and f) experience points. Also, remember that whenever the Story Manager changes, everyone heals one injury - this is an added incentive to change Story Manager. However, you are correct; if everybody is happy with the story manager, no one else wants to be story manager, and no one gets injured during the course of game play, then the person who begins the game as story manager will probably remain story manager for the entire session.

Cards are the mechanic through which players can affect the flow of the game. After the Story Manager had been chosen, each player will have 7 cards. The players would need only 15 cards to advance, which means each player has an average of 2 cards per game session to use, if they want to advance their character in 3 sessions. If the player doesn't mind waiting more than 3 session, the player can use more cards. Are the cards you use a sure thing? No, it isn't, nor should it be. Because the card mechanic represents a possible outcome, rather than a definite outcome, players will be less likely to abuse this mechanic, and more likely to compromise. Does that make sense?

3.  I really like the crossing off Traits for creation, but I'd like to see those Traits come back as part of play later- maybe the first new Traits a character takes are based from the list?

That's an interesting idea for another game perhaps, but the purpose behind this mechanic in SYNERGY is as a deterrent from abuse. It's not much of a deterrent if the Traits that were crossed off come back a few sessions later...

[John Michael Crovis]

I'm not so sure that having low beginning scores are a bad thing... After all, they are beginner players. However, you are right about the traits starting out at 1. I may have to make some adjustments to this for the next version of the game. Good catch.

Okay - I have had a change of heart. The beginning scores will definitely be different in the next version of the game.