Posted April 09, 2023 by Martian Muckraker
#ORC License #Open gaming #playtesting #pets #creatures #Opportunity
The IV playtest went very well. It features exploration of a giant beehive that I think is the best Environmental Encounter I’ve written yet.
The players also had a good grasp of the system that made things go very efficiently. Will be getting the video up later this week.
Players reiterated their love for how the system rewards creativity and teamwork. Each encounter feels very different, avoids repetition that D&D combat could fall into.
They really enjoyed the Bee Hive encounter, how the map was set up, the variety of goals and how player Pets were critical in that scene.
One player appreciated how the Stats/Resists while different, were still similarly close to classic RPG mechanics that they could be learned. He said he saw how the system was flexible enough to handle radically different stories / planets / ideas. Lots of room for GM innovation and creativity.
For GMs who want to use this system, one thing that came through today is that an Environmental Encounter should
AN asymetric map ensures that no mechanic/set of tasks becomes repeated and around each corner there are surprises to explore.
Having multiple goals ensures good teamwork potential and allows all characters to be utilized.
During hte game session the exploration of the Bee Hive went really well. The final Environmental Encounter was fun, but suffered from a symetrical map, that required the same type of roll to be done repeatedly.
Experimentation with this system is still on going. I won’t, for the immediate future, be posting videos of playtest games. I hope to have a formal “First Edition” of the system out by May. (If not sooner)
In the meantime, any feedback from YOU is valued as well.
This weekend is a historic time in the history of our hobby. A new, trully irrevokable license for sharing RPG mechanics had been made, and its designed to be system agnostic and not be controlled by any organization.
I look foward to releasing Under a Hostile Sun under the Orc when it is finalized. In the mean time, support this important work by reading it and providing feedback. https://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo6si9y?First-Draft-of-the-ORC-License-Ready-for