kiss it

Those of you familiar with the concept of KISS should know this makes life easier in the long run. I find there are many things some systems (and the GMs that run them) add to their games that can hinder the experience. To be fair, some players and GMs like doing these things, it makes it more “real” to them, but I do not. I do not mind keeping track of some things as a player if it pertains to my character, but as a GM, please do not ask me to do this.

First…carrying capacity. If my players do not start with a bag of holding, they get one within the first two levels of their character development. I know most players do not think about how much is in their inventory, or what they may or may not have access to. There are some systems that regulate this by allowing players to choose what they bring with them as they find a need for it, then limit the number of times this can take place. I find this as the easiest way to handle any kind of carrying capacity systematically. However, I don’t even want to track that so a bag to hold everything works for me.

Second…encumbrance. Now, I know what you’re thinking, this goes along with the first one, and you are right. Another reason to give my players that magical bag is to avoid encumbrance. I don’t particularly like “mathy” systems (you know the ones). A bonus for this, a penalty for that, and don’t forget positional bonuses/penalties, it’s enough to drive me crazy. I prefer a flat +/- to the roll, not multiple where I have to remember the PEMDAS sequence. Encumbrance is just another way to add a penalty to the character.

Third…random encounters. Ok, honestly, this one doesn’t bother me quite as bad. As a player, it can keep things exciting as you are never quite sure what you’ll run into. As a GM however, I don’t like combat for the sake of combat. If my players are going to have an encounter, it will be story driven (yes, even the ones that are seemingly random). I do not like to put in the time and effort for something that “looked cool” but had absolutely nothing to do with the story (I hate it in movies, and don’t like doing it as a GM).

Finally…timing. I barely know what time it is in the real world, let alone a fantasy one. I’m the world’s worst at estimating timing for events, travel, etc. in my own life. I go to the grocery store thinking I’ve just got to get a few things, and an hour later I finally find myself back home (I live about a mile away). What goes along with this is distances, and heaven forbid I try to keep distance with travel time consistent. I finally just told one of my players to keep track of that, it gives me a headache just thinking about it.

Gaming for me is supposed to be fun. Very quickly these things just drain the fun for me, at least as a GM. Most of these things drain me as a player too, but there is generally a GM keeping track of it for me. Hey, if it is fun for you, do it. It’s just not that fun for me. I find that keeping it simple works best.