The Virtue of the Homebrewed Ruleset: Custom-Fit for Custom Use

I mentioned my private ruleset yesterday. I've posted about it previously, some time ago.

It's a blend of Classic Traveller and old-school D&D. Classes, but no levels or Hit Points. Damage goes directly to physical stats; easy to get taken out, almost as easy to get one-shot by big hits, and there's a time limit for combat due to endurance tracking fatigue. Progression is by gear and training, done by actual play and not by rote mechanics, so XP is not a thing; my ruleset is designed to rely upon my judgement and not a system, so you can't code it into a program.

This means that there is no issue with stat inflation, and thus no "I've got 100 HP and your crossbows do 1d4. I ignore you." issues. I deliberately stick with a minimal ruleset so I can focus on maximizing the utility of liminality. It's why I tell folks to just buy a single-subject spiral-bound notebook instead of making character sheets; a lot easier to take notes when you have 80+ sheets to work with. (It's less than a dollar. You can spare a dollar to play a tabletop RPG.)

That doesn't sound like a lot, and you're right. What you need to run your own games at home is much less than what you need to produce a commercially-viable product, so it's fine that I can be so threadbare in mechanics. I need a resolution mechanics and some benchmarks for comparison. I don't need a first draft of a technical manual (which is what TRPG rulebooks actually are).

And yes, it's meant to run entirely off the use of standard d6 dice. Raid the craps table, the Yatzhee box, etc. I'm good to go.

It's that simple and easy. Plain natural language handles the majority of play, using what game designers formalize as "status conditions" to handle damn near everything where a numerical rating isn't required. The results are experience of play where the virtual lives of characters is far more believable because you're required to addressing challenges by dealing with the setting and situation- and not working the mechanics. It's an anti-Mech Pilot approach, and it's far more newbie-friendly. It also has absolutely no commercial viability. That's okay. It's a hobby for me, a pastime, and not something to pay the bills.