Tabula Rasa

I'm thinking of starting my fantasy campaign with the players having no stats. A mystery start, with the PCs emerging as blank slates emerging from a magical event (or coccoons, or something) with a body form but no immediate knowledge, past history or items. They would choose a body form (race) and then we start playing to see what happens, exploring the somewhat surreal fantasy world with its strange contradictions and bizarre inhabitants.

They pick up skills as the PCs travel through the world (and the player expresses an interest in being capable in something) as memories returning to them. Likewise for attributes. For example, a player that starts thinking about how the plants and animals work might get a point in Druidism or Farming or Outdoors. There is a system behind all this but it would not be visible to the players until much later.

This would be a pretty freeform game focused on exploration, in imitation of some of the weird comics I used to read (Moebius's Airtight Garage, Donjon, Heavy Metal movie, etc.), where the abilities of the protagonist(s) are never clear and fluctuate quite a bit.

What do you think, is this just asking for a clusterfuck of dashed expectations or would it be fun?

That reminds me a bit of noumenon in theme

Oh? Don't know it. Does it have a setting or just rules?

Both, basically everyone wakes up as nameless insect people called husks from a caccoon with no memory and explore a surreal world.

That's maybe a bit too weird on my scale, but I'll look into it, thanks.

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I'd play it.

In fact, I'd like to read about your behind-the-screen system.

>Donjon
I thought I was the only one who enjoyed this. It was shockingly creative and well-realized.

Well, uhh, the whole point is that you have to play it to acquire it, not read it beforehand. It wouldn't be anything special, apart from magic arts being very granular, esoteric and micro-focused. Each one would have different rituals, items, foci, components, procedures and such, and you'd have to figure them out through play.

Yeah, it was great, and I didn't even read the whole thing. I jumped in at vol 3, I think.

Was definitely hoping that this thread wasgoing to be about adapting that old MMO that the madman Richard Garriot made.

I actually really enjoyed that game. Shame about King British wanting to go to space.

What I mean is that obviously I'm not going to be playing in your campaign, so unless your players browse Veeky Forums, it'd be cool to read your system.

My players do browse here occasionally. The system's not really the point of the game, it's supposed to be a Grand Mystery both in the world and the rules, but okay, let me give you an example:

>Player is running around a forest and wants to make fire
>P: "Can I invent a fire spell, or become a fire mage?"
>GM: "Sure, but how? You don't have any fire right now."
>P: "Hmm, what about...sparks from banging two rocks together? Or maybe fireflies or something?"
>GM: "Okay, you can generate sparks, but how will you capture them?"
>P: "Maybe a leather bag, I have a couple. Or that potion bottle I found earlier."
>GM: "Fine, try it."
>P: "Let's see, I capture some fireflies in my bottle, generate a few sparks and add it to that, then I'll chant some power words like LEMB and URDA, then inhale the contents with my pneuma and capture it in my cheeks."
>GM: "Well, that's pretty complicated, but it works! You test it out and now you can breathe fire, as long as the fireflies are alive in your cheeks (they glow through them). You have a 1 in 6 chance of breathing fire any time you try this magic."

So it's kind of like a negotiated magic-creation system, in this particular case.

Players would have the chance to improve 1 attribute and 1 skill or magic per session, or one more attribute/skill if they decrease an attribute or skill. Encounters with people, places or things that could improve an ability would organically increase skills at the GM's discretion, ie, climbing a mountain would improve a Climbing skill.

The physics, technology and magic of the world would be somewhat idiosyncratic (though mostly exotic fantasy), so it wouldn't be immediately obvious which skills or attributes would be optimal or even important, and you could customize your character as you went along. Ie, you could learn colour magic from a passing blue fairy, or a kukri knife-fighting from a beastman you fight in the desert, or how to make magical ram horns that freeze people in place with their terrifying cauterwailing.

I don't know anything about the video game, apart from it being some Korean shooter, but I did enjoy the Ultima games up until Ultima 8.

Cool stuff user. I'm inspired, and I'll have to dig up some moebius comics.

Personally I would like a more structured incentive system. Doesn't have to be an XP system, but something that rewards discovery and player skill. Figuring out how the world works allows you to advance/have more agency.

Regardless, I'd play the shit out of it.

>something that rewards discovery and player skill
That's exactly what I'm aiming for.

Maybe I elided too many steps in the above example making it look too simple, but it would take player skill and exploration to capture those fireflies (maybe they're intelligent), or to find a special gas vent that occasionally burps fireballs that you have to safely swallow to get the magical fire-charge in your pneuma. It wouldn't be as easy as just bullshitting a quick answer.

I'm also thinking of adding an element of social chance by letting players, at the end of each session, tag each other with words that described their PC's behaviour, generally in a positive way. Each player gets the chance to say something like "Dave was pretty deft at spotting those cave-ins and fern-people today. I'd say he's Perceptive or maybe Alert." If everyone around the table agrees, Dave's PC gets that tag which gives a +1 bonus to rolls next session. If the tag is confirmed a 2nd or 3rd time, it becomes a permanent ability.

Wouldn't it be awesome if you could make your breath come alive, or restrict an opponent's movement to the patterns of a web?

>Physical forms of magic
>Dancing, Slow Motion, Singing, Yelling, Humming, Chanting, Cursing, Meditation, Painting, Bowing, Jumping, Runic Inscriptions, Smashing an Item, Poetry, Kneeling, Clasping hands, Playing a musical instrument, Fasting, Drawing in sand/pencil, Purification, Washing, Inhaling, Breathing, Contortion, Scratchings, Zazen, Yoga, Gesture, Hand Patterns, Twitching, Tai Chi.

>Reagents
>Feathers, Fangs, Skin, Eyes, Flowers, Wood, Sea Shells, Beads, Talons, Fur, Incense, Pigments, Bones, Hair, Blood, Dust, Spittle, Crystals, Brains, Ichor, Spines, Carapaces, Stingers, Bile, Tongues, Milk, Honey, Ambrosia, Water, Fruits, Stones, Barks, Pebbles, Mushrooms, Food, Eggs, Spices, Herbs, Roots, Icicles, Moss, Perfumes, Mud, Sap, Thorns, Teeth, Coccoons, Vapours, Horns/Antlers, Coral, Leaves, Urine, Tears, Powder, Feces, Needles, Nectar, Fossils, Gemstones, Skulls, Chalk, Wax, Silver, Gold, Iron.

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