GAME

The Coolest Universal Role Playing System

GAME came about because my friends and I liked role-playing games, but not everyone was able to make every session each week. We ended up having several different games running simultaneously, and each time we started a new one, the entire first session would end up being devoted to character creation. In addition, if a new player wanted to join, he or she wound up sitting out for a couple of hours for the exact same reason. This would have to stop. In addition, most of the systems we used had something in them that didn't work. Some had mechanics that were statistically 'broken,' making an extremely competent character more likely to botch a die roll than a complete idiot. Some had complicated combat systems. Some were simply so contorted that while the game itself was simple, looking up a particular roll took half an hour. This would have to stop.

From this overall frustration, GAME was born. I'd always wanted to write my own role-playing system, and having been involved with them for fourteen years, I knew I was ready. Bringing in inspirations from Steve Jackson's GURPS, White Wolf's World of Darkness series, Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu and a few other ideas from the gaming sessions themselves, I was ready to start.

I designed this system with three main things in mind: speed, flexibility, and overall ease. It had to be straightforward and fast to create a character and play the game, which meant being organized and keeping the mechanics simple. It had to suit any character, from the prehistoric to the futuristic, without any changes. It also had to be so easy to play that you could skim the rules in five minutes and join a game already in progress. This is what I have done.

GAME was created with speed in mind. If you can add, subract and multiply by two, that's about all you really need. There are few tables, fewer modifiers, and almost no reasons to look anything up once your game starts. This game is meant to be played, not pored over.
GAME is adaptable to any world in any novel or even from any other game. Its structure is modular and flexible. Do you like another game's magic system? Bring it in! Does your idea require additional statistics? Tack them on! This system is bare-bones enough to be your jumping-off point to whatever adventure excites you.
GAME is just plain easy. It was designed so that you and your friends could say, "Let's GAME!" and start in a matter of minutes. There are no special rules besides the ones you can make yourself.

8/12/2004: GAME now has LARP guidelines, for those who enjoy Live Action Role-Playing and want a generic, easily adaptable system to create something new for yourselves without having to purchase endless supplements!

Rather than shipping a game booklet and charging you for production, shipping and handling, and so forth, I figured the best and least expensive way to get the game out is to sell the rules and game design in an electronic format, either as ZIPped-up HTML files or as one BIG page, to read with your browser. Print out whatever you need. Feel free to share, as long as you don't modify any of it. I do ask, though, that if you and your friends enjoy the system, that you all drop some money in my Tip Jar. I do have to eat, you know.

Click here to download GAME (e-Book)

Click here to download GAME (ZIP file)

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