#...I don't think I'm beating the tism allegations

[knight-intraining]

Oh to be a prop master or set dresser or even costume designer on Doctor Who

[fable-on-the-table]

A ridiculously long review of the Wayfarer system

I posted this review to the Wayfarer system's itch.io page but I figured I may as well post it here too for posterity.

Truly I am not beating the 'tism allegations.

I've run three sessions of Wayfarer so far and my group has been really enjoying it, so get ready for a needlessly in-depth review of this entire system! I've given some feedback on some aspects that I'd like to see tweaked or expanded upon, so if you ever feel like releasing a 2nd edition I will 100% check it out. Please note that while I go into a lot of depth criticising some parts of the game, it's only because I want to really break it down and analyse it - not because it's really wrong! Despite my feelings about a few aspects of the game, you've still done a great job on Wayfarer and deserve a 5/5. I'm sure my players and I will enjoy this system for many sessions to come!

Stuff I liked!

The harm system. This is a really nice adaptation of Blades in the Dark's harm system, and I even think it's more naturally intuitive than how BitD does it. It makes players actually deal with the wounds they've suffered rather than limping around on only a few hitpoints with no consequences to their abilities.

Spirit. Spirit feels like a nice catch-all for the classic TTRPG trope of the per-day resource. I love that you can spend Spirit for flashbacks - super evocative!

Advantage and Disadvantage. A nice way of implementing it into a 2d6 based game! Feels very familiar and easy coming straight from D&D.

Recovery. I found the resting system clear and straightforward, and I love that it distinguishes between resting in the wilderness Vs resting in a civilised area. I also really like that you can spend more coin or supplies to recover more.

Skills. I like that skills do something other than just providing a numerical buff, but are still a way for you to manipulate your chances of failure/ success.

Abilities. All the abilities are very evocative and add a lot to the narrative. I think some of them could have used a little more explanation, but the GM can usually fill in any ambiguities.

The Sorcery Table. Great for coming up with a vast array of magical effects on the fly.

The explanation of soft & hard moves for the GM. Though I know you're not the first to come up with the concept of soft and hard moves, you explained it really well!

The guide to building threats. Your framework for building threats/ monsters is so concise and effective! I followed the guide for the first boss monster that my players faced, and that fight was some of the most fun I've had playing TTRPGS in a long time. Encouraging GMs to invent monsters that have specific weaknesses instead of a health bar is a great move, and encourages super creative and cinematic play!

Visual design. The layout of the rulebook and character sheet is great. I'm a designer myself, so I can always appreciate when the visuals and layouts are really on point!

Stuff I was less keen on

The names for the attributes. I might just be brainrotted from D&D but the names used for the five core attributes weren't my favourite. I kept getting resolve and prowess mixed up. But hey, I recognise that this one is super dependent on personal preference so it's more of a neutral comment than a critique.

The inventory and supply system. I see the vision for this - by having players' inventories not set in stone you give them a lot more options and remove the need for intensive pre-planning for an adventure. However, in my opinion this inventory system just takes something that almost all players understand intuitively ("which items do I have in my backpack") and makes it unintuitive and hard to understand. It feels like your inventory is in this weird quantum state where you don't know what's in your pack until you pull an item out. We tried to play it by the book for the first session, but we all ended up getting really confused and switching back to a more traditional system. Sorry, I think this system may just not be my cup of tea, but I do see why you made it this way. If I may suggest a compromise - you could always have a standard inventory system for crucial items like weapons, armour and quest items, and then "supply points" which you can spend to produce mundane items like spare clothes, food, camping equipment, etc. The Root RPG handles items in a similar way (and it's also PbtA!) so maybe it would be good inspiration for you. Each character has a "depletion" meter which tracks how much mundane supplies they have left, but more important items are handled as their own things. This way you can hand-wave the boring stuff and focus on the actually interesting items!

The coin system. Again, I feel that this was an already-simple mechanic that has suffered from being further oversimplified. I find it odd that any item (including coins?) cost 0 coin, and also the values of what each amount of coin can buy seem to progress exponentially rather than linearly. 1 coin buys you a martial weapon, but 6 coin buys you a meagre home. Does that mean you can trade six martial weapons for a meagre home? I'd assume not, but when it's so nonlinear it's very hard to tell. Another side effect of this system is that it makes it impossible for you to reward your players with wealth in drips and drabs. They can't stumble upon a few coins in a cabinet, for example, because that would count as 0 coin and make no numerical difference to their wealth. In my opinion, currency does not need an overhaul, because everyone understands how it works already. I've just been running it in the usual way, so every 1 coin has a fixed spending power. I also wrote up my own cost table to make it more linear. If the original version works for you, fine, but it's just not for me.

Stuff that I would like to see expanded on

Ritual magic. Love the concept, but at the moment the GM has to put in a lot of legwork to come up with ideas for rituals. Which is fine, but it's just a bit tricky when there's no framework at all provided. I'd love to see something along the lines of what we get for the sorcery domains table, but perhaps it's various key phrases that you can combine together to describe the function of a spell. For example you could have the key phrases "conjure", "destroy", "locate", and then "plants", "rocks", "fire", and those could be put together into "conjure rocks", "destroy rocks", "locate plants", "locate fire" etc etc. This would combo especially well with the list of drawbacks added to rituals which is already in the game!

Alchemy. Similar to my thoughts on ritual magic. Good starting point, but even a basic framework for what kind of potions a person can brew would be wonderful.

Types of weapons. The example gear sections lists "basic weaponry", "martial weaponry", "great weapons" and "beautiful weapons" as different things, but provides no distinction. Even a short line to give the weapon types some distinction would be awesome.