Thread by @Arr_Roo

Inspired by @/pangalactic's read-through threads, I'm going to start talking about Diogo's Primal Quest.

If you don't already own Primal Quest, you can pick it up in #TTRPGs for Reproductive Rights and jump in on the #PrimalQuest jam.

To describe Diogo as an influence on me would be an understatement, so this read-through will probably be biased.
itch.io/b/1375/ttrpgs-…

The gametext starts with a very short intro, links to the Primal World zine series and character sheet, and info on the open license. I started talking to Diogo about open licenses a few years ago, and know that openness is an important commitment to him.
diogo-old-skull.itch.io/primal-quest-c…

From there, there's a really brief intro to the rules (less than 600 words).
- You always get a positive die and a negative die
- You sometimes have extra of one or both
- Roll, subtract highest neg die from highest pos die, add modifiers
- Resulting number is the Effect

Success is determined by the Effect equaling or beating the difficulty.

There's also a special effect for 6s on either die (called Boons or Setbacks). Players use boons to gain advantages while refs/GMs use Setbacks to hinder the players' actions.

There's also a lightweight tag system.

It's a system with some math and some crunch and a clear way to work/collaborate to stack advantages and disadvantages in a tense situation.

Next up is about 400 words on character creation: allocating points to 3 attributes, gaining tags (each character starts with 5 - Concept, Talent, Motivation, Relationship, Trouble), other stats (vitality/hp and defense), equipment, and details. Simple and lightweight but...

With room for things to stay interesting and focus on a character's motivations. I like tag-style systems like this: they give RPers space to start and still leave a lot of room for backstory to emerge in play.

They also lend themselves to the advancement mechanics: an XP system that rewards survival, using tags, and making a mark on the game world (including making allies and enemies). All lightweight, and focused on giving players agency in setting their own goals in the world.

There's another short section on equipment that seems to fit the zeitgeist's love of short, fairly abstract equipment sections, but with a some love set aside for the much overlooked shield, and some good notes on durability....

And the demisaints of titterpigdom know I love a good lightweight set of durability rules.

Next up is combat...

Diogo gives space for narrative-driven/GM-arbitrated initiative and does a cool thing with opponent levels and initiative rolls.

I've moved away from initiative systems lately, but this is nicely set up and well written. From initiative, the combat section moves on to Movement and zone-like range system, attack options, defense options, and blocking/using shields. All in less than 1000 words.

And this is a shout-out to the healing/dying mechanics. Simple, while making room for short rests/long rests and still making it worthwhile to do an extended rest.

And the possibility of death is present but never brutally so. It's also great that it is easy to adjust this to fit group preferences without breaking anything else about the system (and it's much, much simpler than the WotC-era death saves system).

Sorcery works through a system of arcane foci and magic words, and it's nourishing my Mage-formed soul in approximately 500 words.

Next up is running the game: underlying principles, luck tests, random encounters, reaction rolls, statting opponents, and exploration procedures.

The last half of the book is given to an introductory hexcrawl in Mother's Vale, a region of few-dozen hexes, with 12 of them detailed with problems, special features, dangers/secrets, and customized random encounter tables.

The locations include villages, natural features (Father Mountain), and strange/arcane/weird locations that a ref might use as arcane foci themselves.

Diogo's also got an intro adventure "Cave of Our People." I've not read it yet, but Diogo has ENNIE Gold for adventure writing and it's 2.99 USD, so pick it up. diogo-old-skull.itch.io/primal-quest-t…

Also, a Jam, y'all!
itch.io/jam/primal-jam…

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