A "oneshot engine", would that be something you'd be interested in?

[Lvl 2 Expert]

I lately ran a game in version 2 of my homebrew system. I had added quite a lot of stuff, with the basics needed to build a character having expanded from 2 pages excluding examples to 5. This was mostly due to opening the game up to better character progression and improving balance. I had also expanded on stuff like the combat system. While the session went fine, all the things that worked about the system were the same things that worked about version 1. Which kind of forced me into the realization that I'm never going to do as good a job writing an RPG interesting in the long term as the bigger publishers do, because it simply requires a lot of content. Even if you design super clever mechanics that can do nearly everything the game will eventually become stale because while the characters may keep doing different things, the players are always doing the same things. But I also realized a thing my mechanics may be much better suited for: a oneshot engine. A base format that would help DM's build their own adventures between 1 and maybe 5 or 6 sessions in length. The system would be setting independent but tend towards more lighthearted games using characters defined by attributes like skillsets, equipment and special powers which all use the same mechanics and thus operate on the same scale of power.

The engine would consist of two documents. The first is a small free to distribute player guide that outlines character creation and the basic general mechanisms of play. The game allows players to semi-freely make up the abilities that form the core of their characters, as long as these abilities fit a few criteria. The second document would be a DM's guide that includes all the advanced mechanics for specific situations, guides for building different types of encounters (chases, investigations, a few separate flavors of boss battle), a long list of interesting abilities for NPC's and how to use them (because the DM is allowed to freely make things up, but may not want to be bothered with that for every NPC they create), notes on how to balance encounters, on how much time certain encounters will probably take up, on how to tell a story and what to do to make sure players find clues but not immediately etc. This document I would think about publishing somewhere where I could ask for a small fee for it. The point of the whole system is that a DM with a setting, story or plot hook idea in their head can turn that idea into a game as quickly and easily as possible and players could join in with maybe half an hour of looking at the player guide and building a character. (Or even handing their ideas to the DM and letting him or her turn it into a character).

So the question here is: would that kind of thing be a thing that you could be interested in? Is that a product you feel like you're missing, because you have game ideas and people to play them with but no easy enough way to bring everything together into an actual game? Would you actually think about paying for a product like that or would you at best be interested in having a look if it was free? Or do you already have a system you use for games like that and figure it's really good and I should just start using that system myself instead of trying to reinvent the wheel? Those are the sort of opinions I'm looking for. If you have ideas on this I hope you're willing to share. Thanks in advance.




(Note to moderators: while technically this is about a homebrewing project, I feel the questions I have about it are much better suited for the roleplaying general forum, because they are about the experience of playing rather than the mechanics to build.)

[Martin Greywolf]

Frankly, no, because there are systems out there that can do this already that offer more than just this. Even something like DnD 3.5 can be used for this, you just pick a level and amount of gold and create characters based on that, and it then allows you to expand tyhat oneshot into longer campaign. FATE Core does this as well as have a system that is easy to build on top of, and can extend campaigns. WoD systems give you unique flavor, Planet Mercenary is a fairly hard sci fi system with a specific universe and so on.

You need more than just "good for oneshots" to sell me on a game, because it takes a while to learn a system and any TTRPG is good at oneshots. Well, okay, maybe not FATAL, but let's not talk about that one.

[Pelle]

Sounds a little complicated for being dedicated to one-shots. What sets this apart from rules light games? Personally, it's hard to beat for example Into the Odd...

[Cluedrew]

Sure I'd be interested in a one-shot engine if it was easy to teach people and set up. Thing is can you make a system that is really good at that? Fudge and Fate exist as toolbox systems that can be used for almost anything. Powered by the Apocalypse has more systems tailored for a particular game than anyone could count. How does your system fit into this picture?

Personally, I enjoy writing rules as much as using them so my solution for not being able to compete with companies is A) don't care it is good enough to have fun with my friends and B) make very specialized systems. Like my current one will be (hopefully) good for more than one campaign but the premise for those campaigns is exactly the same, maybe swapping out some names.

[kyoryu]

Fate or FAE with on-the-fly character generation work well. I'd look at them.

Specifically, minimum info to start playing is close to zero, and most of the character sheet can be filled out during play. A lot of this is because there's very few derived stats.... your ability to swing a sword is just what your Fight skill is, and that's just where you decide to put it in your available skill slots. There's no "add dex and 1/2 strength and these eight feats" type of stuff going on.

[Friv]

Short answer: I might be interested in it, but you'd need a hook. I already have, conservatively, twenty or thirty different games designed specifically for one-shot play, most of which cost me $5 or less and many of which were only $1 (or by donation.) What I look for in a one-shot isn't what makes the game generic, it's what makes the game unique.

Your summary discusses a lighthearted game defined by skills, equipment, and powers, but it doesn't tell me what the game is about, and if it's a one-shot engine I want it to be about something. My experience is that if I want to take a generic hook in my head and turn it into a one-shot, I've already got D&D, GURPS, Mutants & Masterminds, Fate (Core and Accelerated), or Cortex to do it with. Your game would have to be something pretty amazing to outdo all of those. On the other hand, fun thematic games like One Last Job, Runaway Hirelings, Lasers & Feelings, My Identical Cousin, Ghost Court or Nice Marines are all things that we've pulled out at our table and played on nights that we don't have the full team.