Setting:

World building isn't just on your shoulders now. Stop, Collaborate, and Listen, to your players!

• Collaborative World-building: While the GM is responsible for creating the setting, they can also involve the players in the world-building process. This can be done through collaborative brainstorming sessions, where the GM and players work together to create the history, geography, cultures, and factions of the world.
• Setting the Tone: The GM should establish the tone of the game early on, so that players know what to expect. This might involve discussing the genre, the level of realism, and the overall mood of the game.
• Creating NPCs: The GM is responsible for creating non-player characters (NPCs) that the players will interact with. These NPCs should be well-rounded and have their own motivations and goals.
• Establishing Conflict: Conflict is an important part of any RPG, and the GM should establish conflicts that are interesting and engaging for the players. This might involve creating a central conflict that drives the story forward, as well as smaller conflicts that arise throughout the game.
• Encouraging Exploration: Rollless Roleplay is designed to be setting-agnostic, so the GM should encourage players to explore the world and discover new things. This might involve creating interesting locations, hidden treasures, and mysteries to solve.
• Adapting to Player Actions: Since Rollless Roleplay is focused on collaborative storytelling, the GM should be prepared to adapt the setting based on the actions of the players. This might involve creating new NPCs, adjusting the story, or modifying the world in response to the players' decisions.
• Balancing the Setting: To ensure that the game remains balanced and fair, the GM should be mindful of the power levels of the characters and the challenges they face. This might involve adjusting the difficulty level of tasks, creating obstacles that require teamwork, or modifying the setting to better suit the characters' abilities.

Mechanics:

A quick intro into how to the game is played:

• Setting Difficulty Levels: To help determine how many success points a player needs to spend to succeed at a particular task, the GM can assign a difficulty level to the task. This can be based on factors such as the character's abilities, the situation, and any obstacles that are present. For example, a simple task might have a difficulty level of 1, while a very challenging task might have a difficulty level of 5.
• Using Success Points: When a player wants to attempt a task that is particularly challenging, they can spend success points from their pool to increase their chances of success. The number of success points required to automatically succeed at a task can be determined by the GM based on the difficulty level. For example, if the task has a difficulty level of 3, the player might need to spend 3 success points to automatically succeed.
• Granting Inspiration: The GM can grant success points to players for good roleplaying, accomplishing goals, and advancing the story. The number of success points granted can vary depending on the significance of the action. For example, a player might earn 1 success point for a minor accomplishment, or 5 success points for a major accomplishment.
• Balancing Success Points: To ensure that the game remains balanced and fair, the GM should be mindful of how many success points they are granting to players. They can also adjust the difficulty level of tasks based on the number of success points that players have available.
• Encouraging Collaboration: Since Rollless Roleplay focuses on collaborative storytelling, the GM can encourage players to work together to solve problems and overcome obstacles. For example, the GM might allow players to pool their success points to succeed at a particularly challenging task.
• Creating Challenges: To keep the game interesting and engaging, the GM should create challenges that are tailored to the characters and their abilities. This can include creating obstacles that require specific skills or abilities to overcome, or creating situations that require creative problem-solving.
• Adapting the Rules: Since Rollless Roleplay is designed to be setting-agnostic, the GM can adapt the rules to fit any genre or world. This might involve creating new abilities, adjusting the difficulty levels of tasks, or modifying the success point system to fit the setting.
• Leveling Up: Players can level up their characters with good role play, furthering the storyline, accomplishing goals, etc.

NPC Creation:

NPCs are people too. The following should be kept in mind when creating NPCs:

• Establishing NPC Goals: Each NPC should have their own motivations and goals. This can help to make them feel more realistic and well-rounded. The GM should consider what the NPC wants, what they are willing to do to achieve it, and how they might interact with the players.
• Creating NPC Abilities: NPCs should have abilities that are appropriate for their role in the game. This might include combat abilities, social skills, or magical powers. The GM should consider what abilities are necessary for the NPC to fulfill their role, and how they might interact with the players' abilities.
• Balancing NPC Power Levels: To ensure that the game remains balanced and fair, the GM should be mindful of the power levels of the NPCs. This might involve adjusting the difficulty level of tasks, creating obstacles that require teamwork, or modifying the NPCs' abilities to better suit the players' abilities.
• Creating NPC Relationships: NPCs should have relationships with each other, as well as with the players. This can help to create a more immersive and dynamic world. The GM should consider how the NPCs are connected, what their history is, and how they might interact with each other.
• Providing NPC Backgrounds: Providing background information on NPCs can help to make them feel more realistic and believable. The GM should consider the NPCs' history, personality, and motivations. This information can be used to inform the NPCs' actions and decisions.
• Using NPCs to Advance the Story: NPCs can be used to advance the story, provide information, or create obstacles for the players. The GM should consider how the NPCs fit into the larger narrative, and how they can be used to create interesting and engaging scenarios.
• Adapting NPCs to Player Actions: Since Rollless Roleplay is focused on collaborative storytelling, the GM should be prepared to adapt NPCs based on the actions of the players. This might involve creating new NPCs, adjusting the story, or modifying the NPCs' abilities or motivations in response to the players' decisions.

Conflict Resolution:

Conflict is a must in TTRPGs. Here are some examples of how you can play out conflicts:

• Ability Checks: Ability checks are used to resolve conflicts that don't involve combat. This might include negotiations, threats, or other forms of social interaction. To make an ability check, the player describes what their character is trying to do, and the GM determines the difficulty level of the task. The player can then spend success points from their pool to increase their chances of success. The number of success points required to automatically succeed at a task can be determined by the GM based on the difficulty level.
• Combat: Combat can be resolved using a similar system to ability checks. Each player describes what their character is doing, and the GM determines the outcome based on the narrative and the character's abilities. The GM may require the player to spend success points from their ability pool to succeed in particularly challenging combat tasks.
• Initiative: Initiative can be determined using a variety of methods, depending on the situation. For example, the GM might allow players to choose their own initiative [who goes first, second, third, etc], or they might use a more narrative-based approach, where the order of actions is determined by the story. The GM creates the initiative order for any enemies based on their armor type, speed, weapon type, and preference to battle.
• Damage: In Rollless Roleplay, damage is abstracted and doesn't necessarily correspond to physical harm. Instead, damage represents a character's ability to overcome obstacles and achieve their goals. The GM determines how much damage a character takes based on the narrative and the character's abilities.
• Healing: Healing can be abstracted in a similar way to damage. Instead of restoring hit points, healing represents a character's ability to recover from setbacks and regain their abilities. The GM determines how much healing a character receives based on the narrative and the character's abilities.
• Encouraging Creative Solutions: Since Rollless Roleplay is focused on collaborative storytelling, the GM should encourage players to come up with creative solutions to conflicts. This might involve allowing players to use their abilities in unusual ways, or rewarding players for coming up with interesting and unexpected solutions.
• Adapting to Player Actions: Since Rollless Roleplay is focused on collaborative storytelling, the GM should be prepared to adapt the conflict resolution system based on the actions of the players. This might involve creating new obstacles, adjusting the difficulty level of tasks, or modifying the combat system to better suit the players' abilities.

Roleplay Rewards:

Reward your players for good roleplay. Here are a few examples

• Leveling Up: Leveling up is awarded to players for good roleplaying, accomplishing goals, and advancing the story.
• Success Points: Success points can be awarded to players for good roleplaying, accomplishing goals, or overcoming particularly challenging obstacles. These points can be spent to increase the odds of success on ability checks or in combat. The number of success points awarded can vary depending on the significance of the action.
• In-Game Rewards: In-game rewards can include items, equipment, or other resources that the characters can use in the game. These rewards can be awarded for accomplishing goals, overcoming obstacles, or as a reward for good roleplaying.
• Story Rewards: Story rewards can include plot twists, character development, or other narrative rewards that advance the story. These rewards can be awarded for accomplishing goals, making important decisions, or for good roleplaying.
• Balancing Rewards: To ensure that the game remains balanced and fair, the GM should be mindful of how many rewards they are giving out. They can also adjust the difficulty level of tasks based on the number of rewards that players have received.
• Encouraging Good Roleplaying: The GM should reward players for good roleplaying, regardless of the outcome of their actions. This can help to encourage players to stay in character and make decisions that are consistent with their character's motivations and personality.
• Rewarding Teamwork: The GM should also reward players for working together and using teamwork to overcome obstacles. This can help to encourage collaboration and create a more cohesive group dynamic.