One of the things that first hooked me when I started playing D&D in 1981-82 was the fun of designing my own scenarios and adventures. That has remained the case through the years. In fact I think I enjoy designing adventures as much or even more than actually playing. With the pandemic I've probably written more of my own material in the past couple years than in the previous 20.
This got me thinking about which systems I find easiest to write stuff for and why. In my case, it (unsurprisingly) turns out to be OSE (B/X) and Swords & Wizardry. I assume this is because they most emulate the first games I learned and the systems I'm most familiar with. Just tonight I was working on a section of a campaign for OSE (with a bit of DCC thrown in) and it was just so easy and fun. In the past year I've done a lot of Castles & Crusades, which is by no means difficult, but still is less familiar than my beloved B/X.
So what about you? And for the purposes of this thread, your original games/systems don't count. Or deserve an asterisk:)
Probably TSR D&D up to and including 1e AD&D. NPCs and monsters are fast and easy to create. There are no complicated stat blocks. I know the system like the back of my hand. Et cetera.
Savage worlds. Super easy to write, and super easy to convert. I did always enjoy 1st ed. AD&D as well, but I do not know how much that is nostalgia looking back and me flexing a creative interest as a kid. As an adult getting something together to play, SW is super easy and super fast. For things like a dungeon I do use the random tables from the 1st edition DMG and convert to SW.
Quote from: oggsmash on June 15, 2022, 07:47:45 AM
Savage worlds. Super easy to write, and super easy to convert. I did always enjoy 1st ed. AD&D as well, but I do not know how much that is nostalgia looking back and me flexing a creative interest as a kid. As an adult getting something together to play, SW is super easy and super fast. For things like a dungeon I do use the random tables from the 1st edition DMG and convert to SW.
I agree. It's easy to covert any setting into Savage Worlds. I have done it with The A-Team, Scooby Do an others with no problems whatsoever.
Fastest would currently be a tie between BEMCI/RC and my own system. Not surprising, since my own is considerably inspired by RC. RC is moderately simpler than mine, but then mine is more in my head at the moment. AD&D versions are not notably more difficult, except that I need to limit the amount of spells used at any one time to keep it under control. I enjoy prepping for any of them.
Of all the WotC versions, I think 5E is the only one in which I enjoyed the prep. Part of what made that possible was that I did my own, simpler stat block, which I then used all the time. So a little work to convert the monster over when I first used a given monster, but easier from then on.
The "accounting" part of the game is what I enjoy the least. This is part of what drove me out of running Hero System (which I really enjoy running at the table), contributed to abandoning D&D 3E (which I gradually stopped enjoying for other reasons), and is a bit of brake every time I think about running RQ again (which I otherwise like).
Star Adventurer, because it is in a genre/system I like and easy to hack in new things if I want.
Fate Accelerated Edition, king of the easy to hack RPGs since it is all aspect driven and you can even change the approaches/attributes and not break the system.
The Trouble with Rose, my own system, essentially round-robin storytelling for one shots
There are a LOT of systems out there with open licenses and SRDs that I'm interested in writing for as well, I just have to make the time when the Muse is willing.
I write OSR and 5e stuff.
OSR (in the B/X vicinity - including my own game Dark Fantasy Basic) is so much easier and more enjoyable to write that I'm having a hard time writing 5e stuff anymore.
Creating monsters is a bit of a hassle.
And the OSR audience seems more willing to embrace new ideas, despite the alleged nostalgia.
I mean, I still think that 5e has some good idea and I prefer it over 3e and 4e... but yeah, my favorite is writing things for B/X / OSE / LL etc.
Savage Worlds - simple task resolution mechanics, deep abstraction allows it to scale. Small footprint for stat-blocs. In-game subsystems plug in easily, and are completely optional AND easy to modify to your own needs, even on the fly.
Talislanta - super easy. More work if you want to change genres than Savage Worlds, but certainly not harder than d20. Stat-blocs are super small, but dense with content.
Marvel Super Heroes - Ridiculously easy. Scalability and task resolution are unmatched in simplicity for me. In-game systems are cohesive (yes crafting in MSH is very much a thing).
1e/2e DND - purely because of familiarity.
Honorable Mentions -
Interlock/CP2020 - The system is so cohesive and tight (outside of Netrunning - which on its own is fine, but creates too much time-drag if used in conjunction). There are very few subsystems that aren't already cooked into the core game-loop, so it's mostly just gear/armor/weapon values customized to your needs.
Seeing others' responses I'm definitely seeing how much system crunch comes into play. Even comparatively "light" games like DCC get clunky fast with all the perception rolls, assigning DC's for every freakin' action and the like.
Again, that's why I love the streamlined simplicity of B/X or S&W versions of D&D. Many of these situations are handled simply with a saving throw (without 8 damn modifiers) or roll under ability score check. Even that DC 15 or whatever Strength check can be simplified this way.
And don't get me started on monster or NPC stat blocks...
Stat blocs for most of the games I mentioned can usually be abbreviated or outright written on an index card.
I say this not as some kind of testament to their design, but as an observation of my own tastes that *incidentally* has me realizing that I've moved from heavy crunch games to much more streamlined affairs that *scale* very well.
This is an important item for me. While I think BECMI scales very well, there is much more bloat to it than I like these days, that I think is unnecessary for long-form campaigns that I try to run. Again this is *not* to say I couldn't get my mileage out of BECMI, I absolutely can, but I feel I can do it better, faster, and with more fidelity with other systems.
In fairness, this is only a hunch. I haven't run BECMI in decades... I fully submit I could be wrong. My problem these days would be getting my players to submit to this experiment.
Yeah, I love the short stat blocks when writing because I put everything right in the text to avoid having to look stuff up in books at the table. That's also why I dislike lots of feats, skills, and conditions. Too much to keep track of. I can rule on simple things on the fly. And in the case of games like Swords & Wizardry, so many situations are covered by the single saving throw or a simple ability check. None of this "but I have a +4 bonus against flanking attacks on Tuesday after a full moon" crap you get in some games.
And the less charts one needs to consult, the better, though that applies more to playing than designing. That's what has soured us on DCC. It's not necessarily complex, but it's damn slow. If I want a bunch of charts I'll just play MERP/Darkmaster. Totally different experience from D&D.
I've been writing game materials for both Savage Worlds and Amazing Adventures. Both are pretty smooth. Should be done with a lot of the text soon, but AA and C&C have no licensing so I'll probably only release that as a fan conversion. I still want maps and art for it but I am unsure where to go with that yet.
I am currently torn between Hyperborea, S&W, and C&C for my next project and campaign.
Despite a lot of the complaints I have heard about Shadowrun Sixth World, I'm having a lot of fun coming up with stuff for two different groups to do. And it's not really very hard (for me at least) to come up with stuff using the system. Remembering all the crap one can now do with Edge is really the hardest part.
Quote from: Dropbear on June 19, 2022, 11:31:15 AM
I've been writing game materials for both Savage Worlds and Amazing Adventures. Both are pretty smooth. Should be done with a lot of the text soon, but AA and C&C have no licensing so I'll probably only release that as a fan conversion. I still want maps and art for it but I am unsure where to go with that yet.
I am currently torn between Hyperborea, S&W, and C&C for my next project and campaign.
Despite a lot of the complaints I have heard about Shadowrun Sixth World, I'm having a lot of fun coming up with stuff for two different groups to do. And it's not really very hard (for me at least) to come up with stuff using the system. Remembering all the crap one can now do with Edge is really the hardest part.
I like Hyperborea a lot as a player/DM. The new edition is about to drop and they've changed a few things in it. I wasn't a fan of the old initiative and phased combat systems so we just played it like B/X D&D. It's fairly straightforward, but definitely more complex than Swords & Wizardry for what that's worth. So we just bolt Hyperborea stuff onto our existing S&W campaign.
Yes, quite hyped for Hyperborea!
Swords & Wizardry. It is such clean, pure, refined OD&D that it's easy to write for, then modify for any other D&D-related OSR game.
Twilight:2000 in it's first three incarnations. NPCs are super easy to generate. Source material for locales is as easy as just reading history, and the scenarios can draw on any tv or movie or novel for inspiration.
Quote from: Persimmon on June 19, 2022, 12:39:53 PM
I like Hyperborea a lot as a player/DM. The new edition is about to drop and they've changed a few things in it. I wasn't a fan of the old initiative and phased combat systems so we just played it like B/X D&D. It's fairly straightforward, but definitely more complex than Swords & Wizardry for what that's worth. So we just bolt Hyperborea stuff onto our existing S&W campaign.
I'm waiting for the books, but I have the PDFs and trying to convince my players to get into it but they want to see the books.