When I start looking at a RPG, there are a few things I want to know. They are benchmarks to see if the game is going to be realistic enough to be enjoyable. This isn't to say that any of these are absolute dealbreakers, but the more of these they pass, the better I feel.
Can you kill someone with one shot of a knife?
This is my first big test of a combat system. In most RPG's, knives or daggers are weapons of last resort. In real life, a pocket knife being drawn makes a fight go from simple brawl to life or death situation.
Are there rules of dual-weild weapons?
I'm a big fan of John Woo movies. I also took a martial arts class where in three weeks or so, I could weild twin batons. Duel weilding weapons should be harder than normal combat, but it shouldn't be so huge that a reasonably trained fighter doesn't get some benefit from it.
Is there any skill I have that a starting character couldn't?
I'm 36 and by most RPG's, I should have some experience on a new character. That said, I've not been in intensive weapons training since I was twelve or gone to a wizards college. If a starting character can't cook, dance, drive (or ride), fight, have a hobby skill or two and not have to handycap their specialty, then I have to ask why.
Is there any physical action I can take that a character couldn't?
The whole point of a tabletop RPG is to simulate real life in a systematic way (well that and to get loot so as to purchase ale and woo wenches). If you can point to something you can do in real life and not in a game, then the designer messed up a little. Alas, all my wit seems to have left me and I can't provide a good example of this one.
Hope you're having a lovely Teusday. Peace.
Tags: RPG Role Playing Games Tabletop Design
