Viewpoint RP Systems without Dice

[ItsVelvet]

So this is the structure I am going for. The idea is that this gives direct permission to do most cool things. Anyone can open a door, but expertly picking locking the door might require an Aspect that heavily implies or directly says you can do that. An additional idea is having Points, where you can use them to do a cool thing without Aspects. Whenever you accept a failure based on your Aspect or Flaw, you get a point back. All points are restored after every Scenario, which is basically an entire plot, with or without an Arc that affects the Scenario.

Is this a good way to set up RP, especially for a D&D and Fate: Core players such as myself who are trying to find a middle ground between systems and RP? This doesn't use dice, btw. This just uses Aspects and Points to guarantee success, with Points rewarded for taking failures such as losing a fight.

#Name
#Background (Can include professions and a non-human species. We can have Two Backgrounds, but each has to be a single Noun)
#Gender (male, female, gay, lesbian, anything but "queer". Pick a Pride Flag and that's basically it)

#Description (3-5 sentences that tells what your character looks like. An image is not necesary)
#Background (3-5 sentences that tells your character's history relevant and enriching for the RP)

(Aspects are snappy quips that give fast, direct words and incomplete sentences that would most defiently count for RP permissions to get away with cool stuff, such as being a Water Bender in the Avatar world. The best Aspects are the double-edged swords, although a Flaw is meant to be directly negative)
#High Concept
#Flaw
#Relationship
#2 Other Aspects

 

[Idea]

So this is the structure I am going for. The idea is that this gives direct permission to do most cool things. Anyone can open a door, but expertly picking locking the door might require an Aspect that heavily implies or directly says you can do that.

I think I can see that working. It's like a regular system, but instead of a person having a lower chance to do something if they lack the skills, they just outright can't do it, and therefore players are funneled into the skills they chose at first and accumulate over the RP.

An additional idea is having Points, where you can use them to do a cool thing without Aspects. Whenever you accept a failure based on your Aspect or Flaw, you get a point back. All points are restored after every Scenario, which is basically an entire plot, with or without an Arc that affects the Scenario.

As someone who has tried implementing stuff like this in RPs, I can tell you: It's a big toll on the DM (it means having to fine-comb every post and make a serious effort to evaluate in each whether it was being held to the standard worth rewarding with points) and it can easily come off as rail-roady (because it seems the DM is trying to force the characters to act in certain ways, even if by all accounts that is how the player defined they would act) or unfair (because players more often punished by this may feel they are being treated more harshly or held to higher standards than those who get more rewarded for it).

I've also learned just being upfront isn't enough to ensure players are aware of what they are getting into with one such system, so I would advise you to keep things simple and very specific. Of course though, your own goals and ambitions matter here as well, but introducing new mechanics tends to create confusion about how it works and many people - especially those with experience in other systems- may be adverse to some details at first. Furthermore since you're advertising this as "without dice" this can call some players who aren't invested in the gamification and so are likely to find the system more restricting than anything. Naturally none of this specific to your system really, but they are things I would keep in mind as patience will definitely be important.

Is this a good way to set up RP, especially for a D&D and Fate: Core players such as myself who are trying to find a middle ground between systems and RP?

It can be. I've been in places that use point systems to great effect and I've seen plenty of "D&D without dice" type RPs popping around in the last few months so this might be a good time to try this out.

Of course though, random custom systems don't carry the inherent trust that an actual official one does, so you're going to have to work harder to get a premise people can really get behind - just the system isn't going to cut it in terms of appeal, I don't think.

 

[ItsVelvet]

Idea I really like the idea of dropping points and just having creative problem solving. Another idea is to additionally have Attributes that are rated Poor, Average, Good, and Great. Most challenges are Mediocre or Good, and having the same score or above gives you a pass. This gives some general room for more successes. Otherwise, relying entirely on Aspects might make it enough.

An idea is Consequences to keep track of. A Flaw or a negative use of your Aspect can make you loose in a fight, chase, debate, etc. Or even just being hit because you lacked plate armor, basically just using logic to decide rather or not you avoid the blow or bad things. A Consequence can be an Aspect that is worse than a Flaw, such as a bloody wound or post-traumatic stress.

I'm not sure how to run combat other than to run off of logic and trust, or else maybe use Fate: Core's skill list that goes under the adjectives for those who want a more detailed description.

 

[Idea]

Idea Idea I really like the idea of dropping points and just having creative problem solving. Another idea is to additionally have Attributes that are rated Poor, Average, Good, and Great. Most challenges are Mediocre or Good, and having the same score or above gives you a pass. This gives some general room for more successes. Otherwise, relying entirely on Aspects might make it enough.

Sure I suppose. I guess then the difficulty becomes what exactly is the criteria for for "poor-great" attributes / requirements.

An idea is Consequences to keep track of. A Flaw or a negative use of your Aspect can make you loose in a fight, chase, debate, etc. Or even just being hit because you lacked plate armor, basically just using logic to decide rather or not you avoid the blow or bad things. A Consequence can be an Aspect that is worse than a Flaw, such as a bloody wound or post-traumatic stress.

I see, so basically what a condition is in D&D, but perhaps more broad on one hand, and a little on the other because it's focused on negative things.

I would pose myself, at some point the question: At what point of "just using logic to decide" do you circle back to effectively just having a more limited freeform RP?