In my third article for Speculative Physics, Fuzzy Alchemy I described another holistic design, an extreme variant of the d20 system for a strange world of alchemical transformations. In that article I discussed an overhaul of the d20 system, some elements of which have appeared among subsequent d20 and Open Gaming License (OGL) developments over the past few years.

But my intent is to describe how your earlier game designs can influence and inspire your later ones. Refining a design is an important skill, but so is the willingness to move on to another design. Learning and growing as a game designer is one of the most important reasons to design, and its only something you stop doing when you refuse to move on.

Cutting Things Loose

With the original design of Fuzzy Alchemy, I took the basics of d20 and refined them to suit a specific setting. This went far beyond simply changing a few classes. Specifically, by re-envisioning feats as dramatic abilities, truly feats in the typical use of the word, I removed the need for hit points, saves, and so on. This choice was made necessary, because the technological focus of most feats in d20 did not match the animalistic feel of bestial cross-breeds.

This meant separating common and heroic activities between skills and feats, and making feats limited in some way to ensure their uniqueness. Intriguingly enough this design philosophy has appeared with more frequency in d20 designs over the past few years. Balancing limited use heroic capabilities makes for interesting decisions and keeps those abilities fresh to the players.

However, while the ideas involved in the design have merit, they did not fully mesh together. And, frankly, I found it difficult to build enough enthusiasm for Fuzzy Alchemy. As such it took a back burner to other game designs. Perhaps some day I'll return to it. But whether you return to an old design or not, it matter most that you don't forget the lessons it taught you.

A New Directive

About two years ago, I was asked to design a Firefly RPG for a friend's birthday. And more specifically he wanted a d20 Firefly RPG. And that's what I did.

Designing games for specific requests can often be a good exercise, if nothing else. But you have to handle it carefully. You need to get a solid idea of the design goals, but there's also a more ephemeral quality. Just because an expectation isn't stated doesn't mean it is unimportant. Perhaps most importantly, the judgment of your recipient is the ultimate gauge of your design success. There are few other ways to get such accessible feedback on meeting your design goals.

Designing for a pre-existing setting leads to two very different design strategies. On one hand, the most common strategy is to take a system and then glue the setting and system together, typically sacrificing a little of the integrity of each. The other approach is to build the system ground up to preserve and accentuate the setting. Holistic design clearly focuses on the later approach, but in this case, I found myself facing design goals which required gluing Firefly to d20.

However, these are not two distinct paths, if you refine your default system to the bare essentials and then redesign from those foundations, a world of design options opens up. Then it's only a matter of exploiting them. And fortunately, I had already done this reduction to d20 in my Fuzzy Alchemy design.

From the Ground Up

With Fuzzy Alchemy I reduced the d20 system to focus on skills and feats. I took the same approach with Firefly d20, with one additional realization. If all you have is skills and feats (and you no longer need a class just to distinguish between being an animate tree and a feline human), then classes are just a selection of skills and feats. And something that simple can be built as needed by the players during game.

Building from that foundation Firefly d20 became a d20 game where each character has a unique history, written in the very classes he or she has taken over the years. I decided to bring back saves, but expanded their use far beyond avoiding specific effects. Fortitude resists the consequences of combat, such as being knocked out or dying, and is boosted by taking ability damage - an idea directly from Fuzzy Alchemy, where wounds are player decisions used to avoid the more lethal consequences of combat. Reflexes doubles as AC, and Will acts as a initiative - including giving additional actions in combat. Lastly, I added a social save to reflect contacts and reputation, because you can't have Firefly without reputation.

The result was Firefly d20, paired with a character sheet that turns it into an OGL game, by adding character creation and experience rules. Keep in mind this game was designed prior to the Serenity movie, so it has an alternate view of some things (most notably River and the Reavers).

While enjoyed, such a game design is ultimately limited. Licensed products are troublesome like that. Which is just one more reason to ensure that you learn from your designs. Even if your homage to a favored setting will always languish as a fan product, the insights you gain from the design can help you make your next game even better.

Genetic System

So what is the next game?

I've been calling it the Genetic System, inspired by the flexibility of the make-your-own class structure in Firefly d20. Just as that insight came by looking back at an earlier design, the insight in the Genetic System comes from taking a good look at how saves work. In combat, reflexes let you avoid damage, while fortitude lets you resist it. In the same vein, you could have social interaction work with the social save as setting the difficulty, and the will save as the resistance.

This avoid / resist structure has great flexibility. Social embarrassments might be avoided with Will and resisted with Social. And this makes a better way to handle stealth, not as an active "saved" roll, but as a save that avoids being noticed. Or perception as a save that resists deception. And that will form the first new piece of this new game design.

If you don't challenge yourself, you won't grow as a game designer. That means facing different design goals, and learning from your past designs. Because no game design is a failure if it gives you one new tool or perspective to apply to the next one.

Next Month: Beneath the Desk