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Showing posts from September, 2022

Skill Specializations for Worlds Without Number

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Roots of Knowledge at Utah Valley University I have designed a skill specialization system for Worlds Without Number . I guess I just didn't like the fact that a world-renowned botanist or an expert mathematician could be mechanically identical in term of skills, or that a similarly skilled Greek hoplite and a katana-wielding samurai could exchange weapons be just as effective. The purpose is to increase mechanical differentiation between characters and to provide a wider range of possible areas of learning. The systems is based on the idea of tags, so that players and GMs can designate a reasonable specialization that falls under any skill.  You can find a .pdf of the rules here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UiSBqGtAlStUugAQXZ19LB8VHao49jfq/view?usp=sharing Here is a .pdf of an updated character sheet with room for skill specializations: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IduzEHT1i_EbNO2JFQB2pgYaouwPk6Fz/view?usp=sharing Skills vs. Specializations Skills can now be categorized a

RPG Review: Worlds Without Number

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Worlds Without Number Kevin Crawford Sine Nomine Publishing In college I became friends with a guy named Greg whose passion was cars. He raced them, fixed them, learned all he could, spent all his money on them.  He and a number of other car people owned 1990s Honda Civics - small, low-horsepower, hatchbacks - not flashy. I asked him why and he that they were old, so easily accessible, cheap, simply constructed with plentiful spare parts for modifications. The light frame gave it spectacular performance when the engine was upgraded. Greg took me for a ride once and the performance of his modded Civic was indeed spectacular. To compare Kevin Crawford's 398-page RPG rules tome to a light-bodied racer might seem nuts, but bear with me. First, and most importantly, Worlds Without Number (WWN) is a complete game. Everything you need to play and to generate game content is inside, and it is well thought-out so that newer GMs and veterans alike should be able to benefit. As a comparison,