I want an explorer fantasy RPG

[Almaz]

So here's my secret personal desire in terms of RPG systems. I want a system that systematizes and rewards exploring a fantasy world, that ideally leverages the combined storytelling talents of the table (with frequent reference to the authority of a referee or master bard or whatever) in order to create an interesting and compelling backdrop for the setting. Not a book, but a shared experience of finding out more and more about the world you are in. One that likewise challenges and commands the players to survive in hostile and adverse environments, where monsters are far less of a threat than your relative supply of food and water. In short, I want the RPG form of me going hiking for a weekend, including the psychedelic environs because of the acid.

And I have no idea if anyone else ever would want this, a game about scavenging, struggling, and overcoming nature. The last time I read a "man against nature" story that people were actually talking about, it was Hatchet, and Survivorman and Bear Grylls don't seem to be doing all that well off lately.

Anyone? Bueller? Is this just my personal perverse fantasy, or do other people actually care for this notionally? Can exploration and struggling with the nature ever be something that is not just skipped by 5th level?

[OgreBattle]

Anyone? Bueller? Is this just my personal perverse fantasy, or do other people actually care for this notionally? Can exploration and struggling with the nature ever be something that is not just skipped by 5th level?

I would really like to know what kind of rules and dice roll modifiers would make a game feel as intense as Bowser's Castle, but I don't know either :l

Killing a monster is something I understand, making hopping over chasms, dodging whomp rocks, and running past collapsing bridges work for a party based tabletop campaign, beaaaats me.

[bosssmiley]

Sounds a bit like the original Outdoor Survival, albeit with an objective of "find new stuff" rather than "get out of the wilderness". The similar Trapper (you play a beast-skinning mountain man in the Canadian wilds and score points for getting canoes of skins to rendezvous) may also be of interest from a design perspective.

I understand some old(er) school RPGs incentivised slogging around in the sticks by rewarding being the first to discover new things, or even awarding XP per mile of distance travelled overland. RoleMaster and MERP spring to mind here.

One problem I anticipate is that it might be hard to make pure man-vs-environment 'scarcity and hardship' stories interesting in RPG terms. Stuff like Bear Grylls, Dual Survival, or even the story of the Donner Party are ultimately a bit boring in narrative terms. ("They all die, or not.")

[Mask_De_H]

I hope you know how to read Japanese, because you're describing Ryuutama, a Japanese TTRPG.

[Almaz]

I hope you know how to read Japanese, because you're describing Ryuutama, a Japanese TTRPG.

This is what I've studied for years for.

[JigokuBosatsu]

I'd like to see this as a game (or minigame) where the concept is married to the "Legendary Locations" bit. So if you kill the Red Dragon at the heart Mt. Wannafakya, you only become King Shit of Fire Island if you've also A. mapped the island and B. completed 3 of the optional Fire Island encounters.

[Almaz]

Yeah, I think even if it's the fundamental aspect of the game it needs to have a strong backdrop of "why" and players can decide whether their characters are in it for the adventure or the gold in them thar hills. Gaining mystical powers for "owning" an island or having fonts of magical resources is always a good incentive.

[shadzar]

One that likewise challenges and commands the players to survive in hostile and adverse environments

with the exception of this part, have you tried D&D?

D&D can do everything you require, but it challenges the characters from the player's POV rather than challenging the players themselves to explore hostile environments.

any version of D&D will work, you jsut need to find the right group of people to play with that dont get hung up on the optimization, numbers, monsters, horseshit that often makes people forget what the point of D&D was. a game system that gave you basics, and lets you adapt it to your own playstyle.

everything you want can be done with D&D, and the right group of like-minded people.

[Almaz]

obnoxious shadzar bullshit

Dude I've been playing D&D since last fucking century. No, it doesn't do what I want. Fuck off, shadzar. And giving a suggestion that applies "with the exception of the part you're specifically looking to emulate" is idiotic.

[shadzar]

obnoxious shadzar bullshit

Dude I've been playing D&D since last fucking century. No, it doesn't do what I want. Fuck off, shadzar. And giving a suggestion that applies "with the exception of the part you're specifically looking to emulate" is idiotic.

then you dont know how to play D&D, so go suck a barrel of cocks, or just go back to the SA forums where you probably came from.