Rift Walker Design Goals Revisited (0.5)
I wanted to review the design goals of Rift Walker and see what I have been successful with so far, and what requires some more work. I have talked about this before but it is important to think about as I am in the current play test. This, in a way, becomes also the list of what makes my game special and different from other games. I have also added some to the list and tweaked their description for clarity form the last time they were mentioned. I know I have a lot, but they all end up being core components of play. Some being more clear and discrete than others, make them easier to achieve. One day I hope to tighten them all up and clarify what the feeling is I want to achieve with the rules.
Rules light but still ‘gamey’ elements
How RW achieves that: There are plenty of rules that support the feel of this design goal. The fact that there is simple small number of core attributes, a simple dice mechanic and not too many types of actions, all facilitate the idea that this is rules lite. I am happy that improvisation and character description are still the main drivers of the characters, in practice, rather than what is on the sheet. There are still ‘gamey’ elements. Spending actions for attacks/moves, having dice pools gain and shrink, some mechanical depth.
What needs Improvement: I hope to make this a little more in depth and tactical in the future, as there are still some placeholder rules in my development. This includes things like the damage and armour systems for RWs, reactions and action economy. There could be some tweak here! This whole conceit is something I want to keep in mind when making any additional changes.
Excitement and flexibility through many settings, genres, worlds, NPCs and other system modules
How RW achieves that: The main conceit of the game is to rift walk between worlds/settings/locations. This is an easy way for RMs to use their different modules and their different inspirational setting books form different games. It helps keep RMs and players engaged, by keeping variety at the forefront. Things like universal currency, look of rifts and hub worlds all support this notion. Keeping the game ‘feeling’ still like Rift Walker, (between different campaigns, genres, worlds), was originally hard at first, but what binds it together is the set preparation and structure of play, with phases and clear preparation methods to get the ‘feel’. I like my preparation rules for designing world so that they don’t need to be too deep and burn RMs out!
What needs Improvement: All the preparation lists and rules need to be more concise. I also want to finish off my genre tables and inspiration lists to make this all smooth for an RM.
Adaptable and easy player stats - flexible rather than discrete
How RW achieves that: This is core to the whole game. 4 pools that represent attributes that can be negotiated between players and RMs. There is no large skill list to remember as a RM. Calling a check from one of the main pools is easy. Rift Walkers have a background which notes a core set of skills they would reasonably have, and then new skills to track along the way that they would learn. It is noted that the choice and use of the skills is neogtiated between RW and RM. It should and will be adaptable in the future. Even attacks can be done from any pool, maximising flexibility. As a bonus, having powers means that it is easy for players and RMs to decide if this is a powerful effect, they can spend a power dice to do it, and if it is minor, it can be done through a check, or just succeed at it. The classic example is the wizard with ice magic; if they want to cool their beverage - it just happens; if they want to freeze a small pool of acid to safely pull an item out from it - that could be a mind check, if they want to slow the movement of an enemy - that could be a power.
What needs Improvement: As long as this is kept front of mind when building new elements. There shouldn’t be any additional work in this.
Flexible ways to increase depth in certain game sections, adventure structure clear
How RW achieves that: There are 4 resolution modes or phases in the game. Narrative scenes are the level of granularity that is typical to out of combat sections in other ttrpgs. Extended scenes are the typical combat section with more detail. Montage scenes are typical skill challenges that zoom out of the deep detail and focus on one layer action each. Finally, downtime represents a large amount ofttimes between adventures. RMs and RWs can choose what sections they want to zoom in and out of for their level of detail. The book also has examples of how to make extended scenes things other than combats. I like the game-feel of the phases. The consistent turn order approach still brings a level of unification to it all. The core adventure structure also helps bring consistency and helps mimic the hero’s tale!
What needs Improvement: I would like to make the section on Detailed encounters more concise, as it is quite lengthy at the moment.
Modular optional rules for campaign feeling
How RW achieves that: The game encourages different modular rules for different campaigns. My Rift Plane Alpha campaign had a corruption and mutation mechanic. My Luminvale campaign had a renown system. The book has different optional rules in there that can be used to expand and emphasise certain themes and mechanics in campaigns. Some of these rules replace the main rules and some expand, as you would expect.
What needs Improvement: I would like to play test more to better tighten them up and include more options of RMs in making their campaigns.
Easy to build character - avoid long feature lists
How RW achieves that: The character creation process should only take about 15 minutes. there is not many things they need to pick. There is only one set of list to pick form, and that is the role ability. I’d like to keep this short as its is (only 6 per role), as I don’t want character creation to take forever. I am also a fan of how the roles are what you want your character to focus on, rather than a package of flavour. How the character feels in play and what you want them to excel at. It is flavour agnostic (more on that below). This is tricky at the moment, so I wanted to create some generic character models for different core genres for players to speed up this process.
What needs Improvement: I have a bit to do to fill these tables out more and make them as simple as possible. I want to finalise the life path system. I also want to have an example character in the game, with fully filled out sheet, to show the process more thoroughly.
Infinitely customisable characters, choose own flavour
How RW achieves that: As listed above, the roles determine how you want the character to feel in play, not its flavour. This is the essence of the fact that the game is setting agnostic. This is core to the game and is very well the case. There is not much by the way of preset characters. This is a blessing and curse. The hardest part so far is bringing your own flavour and tying it to the campaign settings and worlds. There is a guided life path in the latest test that I am looking to continue to flesh out, in order to make it as simple as possible to create the flavour players want, while tying some mechanical effect to them.
What needs Improvement: I’d like to make this easier to also connect RM to RW. This is sort of done with the Character Preparation sheet for the group. But I think I can flesh this out more and make clearer.
Mechanics are clear and up front so GMs can adapt conditions etc for the situation
How RW achieves that: The mechanics are fairly simple. The core resolution the the dice pool is flexible. The powers and conditions are examples of where they have a set mechanic that can be adapted to any situation. There are 4 conditions that currently touch all narrative and mechanical elements. I dislike games with long condition lists or long lists of key words. In play I find they make things hard, while pretending to look more rules lite, by having shorter stat blocks etc.
What needs Improvement: I want to better name and describe conditions so that they are easier to make more adaptable to any situation. I would like this ideology to not only stay, but become clearer.
Visible components for players for tactical depth and ease - like a video game
How RW achieves that: This was something that evolved over time. It links a bit up with the first item. Visible monster hit points, visible dice timers for effects, peril points for rift matters to activate big effects, physical dice for pools, pool slots of inventory, “chest” style rewards that players pick from for their rewards. These almost generate a feeling of a video game. This is a good thing! It makes it easier to run and makes it more tactile.
What needs Improvement: I would like to bring cards into its somehow. I have always liked cards in games. I want them to be in but not overwhelming or overly tactile. I think me playing in the next campaign will show what the next step is for this area.
Same player actions work in and out of combat
How RW achieves that: While I have always wanted there to be more granularity in sections like combat, I didn’t want the game to feel completely different. I wanted the actions to remain the same. So whenever I add actions, I have to think about how they work in and out of combat. The ‘always on’ initiative kind of allows for this to be ok. Obviously certain actions will be less used in different areas of the game, but they are theoretically possible and not just corded off for different sections. Applying additional granularity of effort or “damage” in extended scenes is a natural extension of allowing this to keep the same actions, without changing much.
What needs Improvement: I am look next at how reactions might work, and the interpose action in this version of the play test. I wonder what it feels like for montage sequences to not have the same amount of actions as other scenes?
Solo and Co-op play (GM-less) designed
How RW achieves that: This is something I have always wanted. Not bolt on rules, but the game being theoretically GM-less. Player facing rolls for attacks, discrete monster attack types and roles mean that this is all very much the case. I have played this solo a lot and have not seen any issues. The only amendment I make is the need for a timer (like in extended scenes) and a progress tracker (like in a montage sequence), to narrative scenes. In saying that, I have done this for sessions I have run for players too, so no real change. It is very suited for this kind of play.
What needs Improvement: I must write a designated section still and, spell out that kind of tracker for progress vs timer in my book still.
Tactical manoeuvres possible to all players with narrative sense but character niche still protected
How RW achieves that: I have always wanted niche protection. It has always been a pain in other games when my character is meant to be the expert in a field, and through strange builds, someone else out paces them. At the same time, I don’t want to lock off any type of action. I also dislike games where a certain feature in one class or character means it is not available to another, even if it is simple. An example is that anyone can try to swing from the chandelier, even if they are a slow clunky robot - it is balanced by them having a smaller speed pool which self regulates success. That is why for my Roles, I have made people the expert at a particular play style. This has been done by giving a bonus modifier to that roll type, allowing them to do it as a reaction and allowing them to move and do that action at the same time. It is the best of both worlds, in my opinion.
What needs Improvement: The hardest bit to balance so far is the “Skilled” role. This is because they get a free check of their chosen pool with a move in an action. In saying that, certain types of narrative descriptions would require a check. So I have struggled to balance that as an RM. This game I hope to play as one to allow me to test out how it feels as a player. More to come! Do the roles feel different enough?
Always on turn order
How RW achieves that: I have talked about this in other previous entries. It is a great way to ensure equal spotlight time between characters and scenes. It is also easy to do because there is a note abut flexibility in narrative scenes in the book. The order also ‘resets’ at the top of each round, so it allows for flexibility in these more freeform scenes. I have gotten feedback that people liked it when their turns felt more discrete in narrative scenes as otherwise some turns from more engaged players can drag on a bit. It then allows the Roles to shine as their ability to move, or react with specific actions makes them feel more unique.
What needs Improvement: Nothing more to add!
Player ability to succeed at tasks decreases as they take damage or get exhausted - hit points matter
How RW achieves that: I have disliked games where hit points only matter when you hit 0. Both as a player and a game master. This game makes each hit feel super lethal. It is one of the main reasons I went for dice pools as the core resolution system. This works well for mental, social, agile and strength based tasks also! This is a great feature.
What needs Improvement: I hope to streamline the amount of damage and armour that is done, as it feels a little swingy at the moment depending on where you place your points. Recovery so far is not needed as much also, I think it is a result of armour applying to most hits. If I can tweak that, it will be great to have this recovery in place to make it feel more cinematic. Maybe a defend action? that might require more action points or the reaction as noted. Otherwise, working as intended!
Roll to hit value and damage in one roll
How RW achieves that: Speeding up play was a goal for sure. This is a way to do it by having preset damage amounts! Success in combat = your preset damage, with each additional success = +1 damage (+ whatever your role bonus allows).
What needs Improvement: This works well and I don’t think requires much extra work. I guess just checking if the role bonuses and abilities get a bit fiddly to slow down play.
Fun resource management
How RW achieves that: The game has some OSR style elements, that have inspired it. I would not want to track kilograms the character carries. The pool slot items are this. I like that they are linked to the size of your pools and they can be tracked. I like that critical wounds take up slots until healed.
What needs Improvement: I wonder if there is a more meaningful way to spend them for big success? I wonder if recovery feels fiddly and unnecessary? I wonder if powers feel impactful still and worth spending, or if they are the only optimal strategy to spend first? Does tracking items feel fun?
Gear can be customisable and impactful, but not fiddly
How RW achieves that: Gear has probably had the most change from the start of development. I have wanted different ‘gear’ (including resources, skills and contacts), to be differently useful and impactful. They started with having power style effects, then custom world bonuses (effective against different style gear), and now are much more free form. While they are no longer fiddly, I think that they could have a touch more mechanical heft and customisation. There is tug of war for a more narrative system to still have mechanical crunch, without taking away flavour or making huge lists.
What needs Improvement: I think there is some work here to make gear more customisable and impactful. Maybe more modifier improvement and spend to succeed use might improve things?
Suited for long and short sessions, one shot adventures
How RW achieves that: A new one on the list! When looking at the sort of GM I am, I have been influenced from running games in friendly local gaming stores with preset timelines. So the adventure structure for Rift Walker needed to facilitate shorter sessions. I think it effectively does that. We normally play between 2-3 hours and I actually ran a sub-2 hour game the other day. I think it works for long sessions too, as done in my finale of our recent campaign. Adventures also can run over multiple sessions, by extending certain phases of play in one, and leaving others of the next. I have run many this campaign with the Montage and Narrative scenes in one session, with the Extended and Downtime in the next!
What needs Improvement: This works well. I will just need to consider if I add anything more, it doesn’t slow down play. The book also has notes on how to pace games pretty well, but of course this could be tightened up.
