Casting Shadows

Question 15 for #RPGaDay makes polite inquiries about our habits in regard to adapting games to better fit our desires and plans.

Mythras

For many of the reasons that I cited yesterday, I would perhaps confusingly mention Mythras again in this category. For me the game works, it works with me, it works with the players, and it has no nasty or disappointing surprises. Why then would I consider it something to adapt?

Ultimately, that is its purpose.

Mythras is not a simple fantasy rule set, it is a broadly featured toolbox for adventures in any age, fantasy or otherwise. It was designed around the idea of building or borrowing settings and making them come to life with a clatter of d100 rolls. The tools provided work together seamlessly, but not all are needed for every setting or period you pursue. As a toolkit, the GM who works with Mythras has the fun of adapting from a stable and effective palette of choices, either native to Mythras or selected and tweaked from any of the other d100 gaming sources, to give shape to their creations or their adaptations of popular media.

Ubiquity

Unlike Mythras, but not unlike the lineage of d100 games, the Ubiquity Roleplaying System by Exile Game Studios is not a toolbox or universal system designed to be repurposed in any way a GM sees fit, and yet… that is pretty much exactly what happens to it. It has been adapted by other companies to support their games, and it has continually put to the test of bring all manner of film and adventure IPs to the table.

With its mix of ease of application and streamlined depth, the system is attractive on its own, but the springboards provided by the existing settings and supplemental material make adaption and inspiration easy as well.

Again, as with Mythras, the type of adaptation required is more one of a selection of things to exclude or retain rather than inventing or discarding mechanics. Unlike Mythras, specific adaption of Ubiquity to a setting may entail creating skills, Talents, Resources, and abilities and making them fit within the system’s framework. As I am a long-term player, I find this to be easy, but that is why this system is my answer for the day’s question. If I have to adapt a system to get a game going, let it be either Mythras or Ubiquity and I will be happy to do so~

Question 16: What is an RPG you enjoy using ‘as is’?

My answer is of course ‘almost all of them’ but I will try to make my response interesting and unexpected tomorrow~