Folk Uncounted & the Bone of Fate
FUBF
Welcome to the FUBF Newsletter by me, Redwulf. Aspiring game designer. Fantasy and myth aficionado. History buff. Gamer.
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Folk Uncounted & the Bone of Fate is my work in progress tabletop role-playing game. I plan on creating it as a system with only a basic barebones setting, and then writing a setting that uses the system to go with it as a separate project. I hope to publish it as a PDF document and print on demand through drive-thru RPG.
Design Principles
The primary idea is to have a numberless system that is played entirely without math. In lieu of numbers, characters and obstacles will be described using adjectives, and outcomes determined using rationalization of the likeliest results and a die roll.
The name of the system references the three foremost principles of design:
Folk: Players aren't heroes by default, but common folk
Uncounted: Players have no numbers assigned to them
the Bone of Fate: Almost every mechanic in the game uses a single d6 to decide the outcome
Several other ideas make up the secondary principles of design:
Rulings rather than Rules: Generalized light rulesets that encourage rulings based on circumstances and rationalization
Immersion and Believability: Design that aids in the suspension of disbelief, but not realism that would make the game unplayable or unfun
Customization: An extensive appendix which will include alternate ways to play as well as conversions for compatibility with most mainstream systems
Universal: Free of setting, although most of the system will be created with medieval fantasy in mind, and the base system will include a basic barebones setting to be used as an example and built upon
Social Conflict: Giving as much detail and time to social conflicts as physical combat
Addendum:
Player Will, Character Body: This system will be designed assuming that problem solving skills, creativity, willpower, and other mental processing attributes are part of the player and won't change with in-game characters. Player characters have mental attributes, but they are things that can easily be emulated by a player, depend on the world, or depend on timing, such as mental reflexes, delivery of speeches, in-world knowledge, practical in-world experience, etc.