My space fantasy RPG ZSF is on the front burner again. It is an adventure game set on the Supercalla space highway. I begin playtesting it in a month or so. This is probably the first game I ever designed around a character sheet, which I created before making any game rules. I'd say this isn't a bad way to do it, though I would caution doing it exactly how I am.
I drew tons of these character sheets between 2023 and now and I haven't changed the elements. I'm locked in. These are the elements I used to design the game. I refused to change them. Why?
Because I gave it a shitload of thought and these are the elements I need for this game. The skill list (abilities, attributes) includes the six things that all spacers will do in this game, over and over. Explore, Drive, Fight, Operate, Shoot, and Talk. Everything else can be a Trait.
Anyway, here's the first two sheets I ever did. You can see in the first one that I was not 100% locked in but by the second sheet... I found it.
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| The first ZSF sheet. |
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| This is the second one, on the next page. |
To demonstrate how this sheet hasn't changed... here's the most recent one I did.
I think the elements are mostly self-explanatory, but here's a rundown of what they mean.
EDFOST: This dumb acronym stands for Explore, Drive, Fight, Operate, Shoot, and Talk. The Skills of the game. Most of the action rolls are based on one of these. One early feedback from my group was "Edfost sounds stupid"*. Fair enough. But it's how I have enshrined it into my brain.
So I built some lore into the setting. The names Ed Fost, Stef Do, and Fot Sed are the equivalent of John Doe or Jane Doe. Ed Fost himself was apparently a real guy. Some factory working schmuck who got used by the system and now his name and face are the standard for a generic person. I think that's kinda funny.
Never trust anyone who says their name is Ed Fost.
DEF: This is Defense. It reduces damage and comes from armor and shields and stuff.
LP: Life Points, which work exactly like Hit Points.
SP: Space Points, which are like XP that you spend to help change and grow.
Aces: These are luck points that let you absorb damage, improve rolls, and add little narrative flairs.
Name, Form, Background, Gear: These all seem self-explanatory. Form is what you are... like a green bubble headed guy or a robot.
Traits: These are things outside normal Skills. Not just skills and powers, but relationships and stuff. They add to dice rolls.
$: Money. To buy ship stuff, cooler gear, road snacks, etc.
The game is built around these pretty simple concepts. Dice rolls are probably mostly about shooting monsters, hotwiring spaceships, and fast-talking alien leaders.
My current thought is to publish the game in the form of a series of zines. But it is still very early and I might change my mind.
