I found a bug on the website.

I was out in the desert, found an oasis, slept there, and saw a Money Tree. Then the tree turned into something else, and I had to choose between trying to get the shells or letting it be. I tried to get the shells, and the result was:

QuoteERROR: NON-EXISTENT ATTRIBUTE
 
ERROR: NON-EXISTENT ATTRIBUTE
 
 
You beat at the thing again and again with your machete. Finally, it turns back into a palm tree - dead or dormant, you know not. You climb the tree and take the shells before moving on.
 
gain 15 shells
Heroism -2
 
You travel over the desert for the entire day. As the sun begins to set, you see a settlement in the distance. You head towards it. As you get closer, the desert ends. You feel relief - which ends as you realise you've walked in a circle and are back where you started.
 
Heroism -1
Stamina -1

Thanks for finding that. I've fixed it.

I recommend either systemless, or maybe a very light D&D/d20 stat parenthetical similar to what's in Conley's "Points of Light."

Having played AoF online, it reminds me the most of what you'd get in something like BRP/RQ, but I don't think attaching it to something like Mongoose RQ is going to do anything but cut back the audience.

As for including a light proprietary system, it's just a waste of page space. There are a hundred rules-light fantasy games out there--AoF isn't really going to find its way into the hands of a new roleplayer all by itself. Buyers can just bold on whatever simple system they like.

The above all aside, I encourage you to put out the AoF worldbook. I really like the online game, it really hits the SJ UK/ Ian Livingstone vibe, with a little extra Vance/Smith to sweeten the deal.

Thanks for the advice...that's kind of what I'm thinking.

What's a good worldbook I could look at as a model?

One of the GURPS ones maybe?

If you're not going to make a full worldbook - for which you'd need a map - then the best way to approach it would be as a bunch of setting encounters.

There'd be city encounters, village encounters, desert encounters, and so on.

That means you could have charts, too, which every sensible roleplayer loves

This'd also mean you don't have to do a lot of writing, you could just take what you've got now as the entries and rearrange them a bit as single pieces of encounter text.

Quote from: Kyle Aaron;247525If you're not going to make a full worldbook - for which you'd need a map - then the best way to approach it would be as a bunch of setting encounters.

Is there a particularly good example of a book like this that I should read?

I don't know of any, to be honest. Usually encounters are just a small part of a larger setting book, or else they're part of an adventure module.

I'm just suggesting it because it makes the writing easiest for you. Already you've got written up encounters, with choices leading to different descriptions. So a book full of encounters would just tie those together. For example, an encounter with people on the trail, instead of writing up the initial encounter and then three possibilities - the PC sleeps and is robbed, the PC sleeps and awakes while being robbed and fights, the PC stays awake and is not robbed - you'd just write the initial encounter, and then note some sort of aggression, greed and bravery level - so that the GM could play through those three possibilities and more.

I recently had a look at the GURPS Western book - I think I could do something like that.

I'll put forth a dissenting opinion: no. I really enjoy Age of Fable, and look forward to its continued expansion, but I would never play a roleplaying game based on it. Too many popular culture references [and things I have to assume are popular culture references that I just don't get], too much levity, very little gravity. For what it is, I think it's brilliant and fun and a great way to accidentally suck up a few hours at work, but as a roleplaying setting, there's not enough meat to set it apart.

Besides, every second you spend writing a game book is a second you're not writing a new way for me to get set afire/drowned/sold into slavery/eaten by catpeople. I say, continue with Age of Fable, and if you want to write an RPG setting, do that with something else. Don't be one of those one-world-ponies. [I'm looking at you, Feist!]

What do you think I need to add to give it gravity / meat / depth?

edit: I"m not planning to start on a world-book until the actual game is complete.

Any thoughts on length / format / price?

Why not a homebrew system? Looks like you've already got a start of one.

Whoop, brain is half-asleep. I missed that there were two more pages.

I'd like to do my own system, but I fear that people might be more likely to buy and use it if they're 'allowed' to use the system they already use.