Mad Science with Jack and Doc (An RPG)

I am planning a second RPG and the setting will be a variant on That Story With The Cat In It.

I recently mentioned that I had drafted a new RPG without any levelling or grinding. That setting allows you to interact with a fictional version of King Author and Robin Hood (in the same world). The setting has been a lot of fun to write and some friends and I will be play-testing it soon. Meanwhile, I had an idea…

Using a story as an RPG setting

I feel that if the world building for a story is good enough then that world should lend itself to being the setting for additional works. Which caused me to think that Jack, Normal, and Doc lived in a world suited to a very sarcastic role play game.

This has led me to extract the mechanics of the RPG and write them up as a separate document. I called it the Story Skills RPG System (or 3S, for short) because sometimes a descriptive name works best. You are free to use my work as long as you do not attempt to profit from it and if you share it, you share it under a similar license.

Next, I started to work out the backgrounds, classes, jobs, skills, items, and hero styles for such a setting. So far, you can play as an animal (like Normal), a housemate, or a mad scientist.

Unexpected hurdles

While the standard RPG system had combat as a skills system, this new setting did not really lend itself to magic or fighting. That’s not a  bad thing. In fact, in many ways, I find this more interesting – a role play game without needless killing as part of character progression could be a lot of fun. It would shift the whole thing much more towards storytelling and away from endless fights.

I am currently fleshing out this concept but I think that I will release it as soon as it is in a workable state. Maybe you would like to play-test it for me?