I've been thinking a lot lately about some articles I was reading <a href="http://www.rpg.net/oracle/authors/chrisk.html">here.</a><br />Basically the articles were talking about the old skool games (SF, D&D, GW, etc) being based on old combat simulation type games which were very mathematically oriented and complicated at the expense of story. <br /><br />Coming up playing those games when they were new, it's tough to visualize anything else, but I'm noticing with my kids they really enjoy the more story heavy type situations as we play. It's causing me to rethink my approach to RPGs. I really love Star Frontiers - the tech, the setting, the tone all really stand up well over time. I pretty much like the combat resolution system, it's pretty simple. The clunky skills system has always been a little bit of a problem for me though. I currently am using the "Skilled Frontier" mechanic from SFMAN #9 as an attempt to bridge the gap.<br /><br />Anyways, I've been reading through the rules for the FATE system and some of it's derivatives: Star Blazers, Diaspora, etc. and checking out they way they handle skills. I find the ASPECT system where a key part of the character's background can be used to influence the story to be very interesting. I also like the FATE system's general approach to skills as well. Not so sure I'd want to chuck everything and go with the FATE engine for the game though. <br /><br />Any interesting insights into this subject?
- Log in to post comments