The woes of compromise in design… and starting a blog

When I decided to try my hand at tabletop RPG design I never anticipated it shifting my focus away from all other priorities. Immersing myself in tireless research of game mechanics and focus. Dozens upon dozens of RPGs skimmed, read, played, or otherwise devoured.

Research led to insight, and insight to conscious design. Yet, design always demands compromise.

How do you achieve simplicity and complexity at the same time? You do not. You compromise, and to hell with whatever you decide to leave out. It is hard, but you cannot always have your cake and eat it too; Or so I would like to tell myself. This time, however, I refuse to listen to sage advice.

Having eked out design goals, a framework, and a few systems that work within the framework, I have yet again hit upon the roadblock that is the ‘dice system’ (randomiser, resolution mechanic, whatever you prefer to name it). I want a dice system that is both simple and complex. No compromise. Yet, the more I bang my head against that wall the more I realise it is a futile want.

I have combed over a hundred different dice systems and none of them have provided me with the insight I am searching for. I have spent hours upon hours with anydice and troll to no avail. I am barely one step further than when I started, and any ‘resolution’ to my problem still seem to be miles away.

So, I decided to finally pull the short straw and start a blog about my design woes in an attempt to pull my ideas together, and hopefully find a compromise I am happy with.

I had not planned on starting a blog about this Engine’s development before I at least had something substantial to show for it. But here I am.

With that out of the way, I hope to not only post my rants, but also some insightful nuggets I have picked up during my research, as well as some actual stuff from the engine I have so aptly named “Zero Sum”. Compromises, they are everywhere.