Twilight of the Surreal

The Seven Deadly Sins of RPG Writing All these sins are relative. For example, you might find a system is your jam that I found unusable due to complexity. All of them can and should have exceptions.  Overly Complex: as an example, take combat. You're usually talking a hit roll and a damage roll. If you're making separate rolls to account for parries, dodging, hit location, weapon malfunctions, blood loss, and shock, your system may be too complex. Generally, it's better to start simple and build on it later.  Too Much Fluff: there is crunch and there is fluff. This is a very personal matter, but the game you are writing is the product. If I have to slog through a 30 page cut scene before I get to the meat of the system, I get a little peevish. Honestly write flash fiction to scratch that authorial itch.  Again this varies a lot with people. Too Lite: Some games are written to be lite. Everything Needs Is On This Page is a movement. Putting the entire game on one page, is m

 First of all saying 'in Spaaace!' doesn't make something cool.  Secondly, I was a murder hobo when I started out. Too much D&D at a young age (was I ever that young? Apparently.) Thirdly, if you're having fun you're doing it right. If murder hobos are the style of play your table likes and you're good with it, murder the Galaxy for all I care.  Lastly, before someone takes offense at the term as others do: a hobo is a migrant worker. They mv around finding day jobs to support themselves. I'm not trying to (or even referring to) the homeless. If you still take issue, go read anther blog.  The homicidal free willing style of play worries many referees who don't simply want a hack and shoot game. This was the case for a Traveller game I just heard about (Hi, my Discord friends!). What to do about this? There are a few things. 1. Consequences! You steal a free trader say and leave the crew desperately trying to adapt to vacuum or having been shot full o

Immortality for all! Why not? We discuss post scarcity cultures all the time (TNG taught us, it's pretty boring IMO.) Wy not a post-death culture Let's say there is a process that extends human life indefinitely. It won't regenerate lost limbs or cure poisoning.  It will stop the aging process, and make many if not all diseases chronic at worst. What would society be like? Risk assessment might go out the window. When only an accident or violence can end you, you don't want either around. Violent criminals might be sentenced to death -or at least mortality. Mortality might be regarded as a form of punishment in fact. Assault someone and you get aged ten years, murder, fifty years? Simpler and cheaper than a jail. That's assuming immortality is based on a regular dose of something, or it can be reversed.  The salient question. is, how many is all? The entire society? All the upper crust or rulers? How does one figure out who gets the process and defies natural order?