The dice roll crack got me thinking.
I've been reading a lot of indie RPG's lately.
A huge amount actually. Dust Devils, Burning Wheel, Capes, My life with Master, Story Engine, Octane, Dogs in the Vineyard, Lacuna, and on and on. I have 2 ordered now (nine worlds and a perfectbound copy of octane)
In the process of doing that I've been exposed to a lot of new mechanics, and some of them are quite brilliant.
However I've seen something disturbing when people try new things with old concepts (namely RPG's) and I want to try to nip it in the bud.
I was amazed when I was reading a review of Capes on RPG.net lately how vehemently opposed to the lable of RPG's some people were when it came to narrative style games. I mean clearly (to me at least) any game that the players take on a role in (however secondary that role is to play) it is a roleplaying game. Sure, it may be a roleplaying card game (as in magic) or a roleplaying board game (monopoly) but the basic point is that it is in fact a roleplaying game. What I didnt get was that for some reason many people were arguing that the game that others were enjoying as a roleplaying game really wasn't, and in effect that they were stupid for believing otherwise.
17 pages of it on one of the capes reiviews.
So that being said yes, this doesnt use dice. We planned it that way.
Its more internet friendly.
It is by definition a game where the player takes on a role and plays it. It is a roleplaying game.
It does not use all the standard trappings of roleplaying games.
Frankly, the old style game is played out.
The idea of using die result x to mean y just isn't working all the time for me anymore. Sure I dont mind it sometimes, but I also like a little variety too. Dont get me wrong dice are fun, but I think you can do a good enough system for mechanics without using dice.
Just my 2 cents
I hope the playtest goes well.