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Sheetless roleplaying article in progress - v2.0
Still working on it. Sorry, I haven't applied any formatting yet; I'm basically just spewing it out as quickly as possible in order to actually have some text to work with.
Sheetless roleplaying is a variation on traditional table-top roleplaying campaigns. It's not for beginners, but for experienced roleplayers who really enjoy getting into character, sheetless roleplaying creates an extremely intense roleplaying experience.
The technique was created in 1986 by Bill Moodey, who was a student at Allegheny College in Meadville PA at the time. The basic idea was a simple one: A roleplaying campaign in which the players didn't have character sheets and didn't have to deal with system mechanics. In other words, players knew no more about their characters than their characters knew about themselves.
This may seem to be a minor point. But without character sheets full of numbers and statistics, the game became a much more immersive experience for the players; we got into our roles in a way we never had before.
Let me explain.
Think about yourself, as a person. Can you express your wisdom as a number? How about your agility? Even if you know your IQ or how much you can bench press, do those numbers define your vision of yourself?
If you're the kind of roleplayer who prefers roleplaying to number-crunching, you'll be stunned to realize how much time you spent thinking about numbers in traditional roleplaying campaigns...and at how much more deeply you can get into character once those numbers are out of your hands.
This isn't based on just one campaign, incidentally. The original sheetless campaign was so successful that several more were run in the group; I ran several myself, both in college and in the years after graduation. Without exception, the result was a remarkably powerful experience for everyone involved.
Too powerful, in some cases. The experience is so intense that in every single sheetless game, at least one player lost track of the line between reality and fantasy. They lost it in various ways, but all of them became obsessed with their characters to one degree or another. Most roleplayers have seen this sort of behavior before, of course, but in sheetless games such behavior is much more common and extreme. Just a word of warning.
Campaigns
Sheetless roleplaying is not for casual campaigns. It's ideal for "serious" campaigns, ones in which roleplaying and plot are key. That doesn't mean that humor can't be a part of the campaign - quite the contrary! But since sheetless games take considerably more work to run, and have the greatest impact when the players are able to get into their roles as they develop over time, the sheetless style isn't appropriate for most one-shot or very short campaigns. Nor is it likely to enhance a casual pick-up dungeon crawl, Paranoia adventure, or Toon session.
In general, sheetless roleplaying works best for two campaign types. An "arc" campaign is ideal. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end. It can last several months, or several years. During the game characters mature and change, even if they began the game as adults. By the end of the campaign they've reached a major milestone of some sort. Sequel campaigns with the same characters or their descendents may be possible, however.
How It Works
In addition to his or her usual responsibilities, the gamemaster handles all record-keeping for the PCs as well. The players never see their character sheets, and should not know their specific characteristic scores or skills. The goal is to keep the players minds off the game system and on roleplaying.
Some players can't stand this. In fact, this is one way in which a player can lose it in a sheetless game. They try to guess what their statistics are, recording the result of every roll and trying to "work" the game world to derive statistics; for example, in a fantasy campaign they may experiment with spellcasting to try to figure out precisely what their magic capacity is. They then attempt to argue numbers with the gamemaster based on their estimate of what their statistics are.
This is pure poison for a sheetless campaign. Such a player will almost certainly not be able to continue with the game; sheetless roleplaying is not for them.
Throughout the game, the GM maintains character sheets, tracks experience, and takes care of the numbers that represent the abilities of the PCs. The players do get to roll dice for their actions, if appropriate; but should be discouraged from trying to work out what their precise chances of success are. Of course players should have a good idea of the abilities and skills of their characters; for example, a player might know that his character is one of the better swordsmen in the region, or is familiar with the mysteries of a rare sort of magic that usually works well for him. But GM modifications should be freely applied to the chance to succeed if the system allows for it.
The System
Many different game systems may be used as the basis for a sheetless campaign. In general, though, it's easier to use a system which avoids artificial limitations on character action. In the original sheetless game, the gamemaster claimed to have created an entirely new system. For my own games, I used RuneQuest III; its percentile-based skill system and lack of character classes made it ideal for that purpose. Chaosium's new multi-genre version of the Basic Roleplaying (D100) system would also be particularly well-suited to a sheetless campaign. But almost any system should be useable. There are two key points to keep in mind:
1. The GM should be comfortable enough with the system to be able to modify it freely, in order to avoid making the underlying mechanics too obvious to the players. Good players will try to avoid focusing on the underlying mechanics, but they're only human; it's better not to tempt them.
2. The players should not be aware of what specific system is being used at all! That's simply an invitation to some to try and work out the underlying numbers.
Characters
You may be wondering how characters are created if the players aren't supposed to know their precise characteristics and skills. Good question!
Characters are created as concepts in private discussions between each player and the GM. For example, in a campaign set in a fantasy world in which magic exists but is rare, a player might ask to play a boy in a village who fell into a river at an early age, but was saved from drowning by a water spirit. A secret bond of friendship grew between them, and as the boy grew he secretly learned the ways of water magic.
Generally, it’s best to spread the character-creation process out over several conversations and one or more weeks. Often the character concept evolves and improves over time, in the give-and-take between the GM and player. Once the concept is fully detailed and finalized, the GM privately creates a character sheet for the character, designating characteristics and abilities by fiat.
Players are free to take their own notes during the process; in fact, it’s recommended. Of course, their notes aren’t based on numbers, but rather on the character concept itself.
Example: A scrawny, unattractive boy in his late teens, who has spent most of his life in a small village. He is sickly, and has difficulty making friends; as a result he has had a lot of practice in sneaking and hiding from others. He has also become somewhat adept at stealing, although there isn’t much to steal in the village. He is called “Worm” by most of the children he grew up with, with the exception of one of his few friends (another PC).
Once the characters have been fleshed out, i
Magic
More to come...
Sheetless roleplaying is a variation on traditional table-top roleplaying campaigns. It's not for beginners, but for experienced roleplayers who really enjoy getting into character, sheetless roleplaying creates an extremely intense roleplaying experience.
The technique was created in 1986 by Bill Moodey, who was a student at Allegheny College in Meadville PA at the time. The basic idea was a simple one: A roleplaying campaign in which the players didn't have character sheets and didn't have to deal with system mechanics. In other words, players knew no more about their characters than their characters knew about themselves.
This may seem to be a minor point. But without character sheets full of numbers and statistics, the game became a much more immersive experience for the players; we got into our roles in a way we never had before.
Let me explain.
Think about yourself, as a person. Can you express your wisdom as a number? How about your agility? Even if you know your IQ or how much you can bench press, do those numbers define your vision of yourself?
If you're the kind of roleplayer who prefers roleplaying to number-crunching, you'll be stunned to realize how much time you spent thinking about numbers in traditional roleplaying campaigns...and at how much more deeply you can get into character once those numbers are out of your hands.
This isn't based on just one campaign, incidentally. The original sheetless campaign was so successful that several more were run in the group; I ran several myself, both in college and in the years after graduation. Without exception, the result was a remarkably powerful experience for everyone involved.
Too powerful, in some cases. The experience is so intense that in every single sheetless game, at least one player lost track of the line between reality and fantasy. They lost it in various ways, but all of them became obsessed with their characters to one degree or another. Most roleplayers have seen this sort of behavior before, of course, but in sheetless games such behavior is much more common and extreme. Just a word of warning.
Campaigns
Sheetless roleplaying is not for casual campaigns. It's ideal for "serious" campaigns, ones in which roleplaying and plot are key. That doesn't mean that humor can't be a part of the campaign - quite the contrary! But since sheetless games take considerably more work to run, and have the greatest impact when the players are able to get into their roles as they develop over time, the sheetless style isn't appropriate for most one-shot or very short campaigns. Nor is it likely to enhance a casual pick-up dungeon crawl, Paranoia adventure, or Toon session.
In general, sheetless roleplaying works best for two campaign types. An "arc" campaign is ideal. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end. It can last several months, or several years. During the game characters mature and change, even if they began the game as adults. By the end of the campaign they've reached a major milestone of some sort. Sequel campaigns with the same characters or their descendents may be possible, however.
How It Works
In addition to his or her usual responsibilities, the gamemaster handles all record-keeping for the PCs as well. The players never see their character sheets, and should not know their specific characteristic scores or skills. The goal is to keep the players minds off the game system and on roleplaying.
Some players can't stand this. In fact, this is one way in which a player can lose it in a sheetless game. They try to guess what their statistics are, recording the result of every roll and trying to "work" the game world to derive statistics; for example, in a fantasy campaign they may experiment with spellcasting to try to figure out precisely what their magic capacity is. They then attempt to argue numbers with the gamemaster based on their estimate of what their statistics are.
This is pure poison for a sheetless campaign. Such a player will almost certainly not be able to continue with the game; sheetless roleplaying is not for them.
Throughout the game, the GM maintains character sheets, tracks experience, and takes care of the numbers that represent the abilities of the PCs. The players do get to roll dice for their actions, if appropriate; but should be discouraged from trying to work out what their precise chances of success are. Of course players should have a good idea of the abilities and skills of their characters; for example, a player might know that his character is one of the better swordsmen in the region, or is familiar with the mysteries of a rare sort of magic that usually works well for him. But GM modifications should be freely applied to the chance to succeed if the system allows for it.
The System
Many different game systems may be used as the basis for a sheetless campaign. In general, though, it's easier to use a system which avoids artificial limitations on character action. In the original sheetless game, the gamemaster claimed to have created an entirely new system. For my own games, I used RuneQuest III; its percentile-based skill system and lack of character classes made it ideal for that purpose. Chaosium's new multi-genre version of the Basic Roleplaying (D100) system would also be particularly well-suited to a sheetless campaign. But almost any system should be useable. There are two key points to keep in mind:
1. The GM should be comfortable enough with the system to be able to modify it freely, in order to avoid making the underlying mechanics too obvious to the players. Good players will try to avoid focusing on the underlying mechanics, but they're only human; it's better not to tempt them.
2. The players should not be aware of what specific system is being used at all! That's simply an invitation to some to try and work out the underlying numbers.
Characters
You may be wondering how characters are created if the players aren't supposed to know their precise characteristics and skills. Good question!
Characters are created as concepts in private discussions between each player and the GM. For example, in a campaign set in a fantasy world in which magic exists but is rare, a player might ask to play a boy in a village who fell into a river at an early age, but was saved from drowning by a water spirit. A secret bond of friendship grew between them, and as the boy grew he secretly learned the ways of water magic.
Generally, it’s best to spread the character-creation process out over several conversations and one or more weeks. Often the character concept evolves and improves over time, in the give-and-take between the GM and player. Once the concept is fully detailed and finalized, the GM privately creates a character sheet for the character, designating characteristics and abilities by fiat.
Players are free to take their own notes during the process; in fact, it’s recommended. Of course, their notes aren’t based on numbers, but rather on the character concept itself.
Example: A scrawny, unattractive boy in his late teens, who has spent most of his life in a small village. He is sickly, and has difficulty making friends; as a result he has had a lot of practice in sneaking and hiding from others. He has also become somewhat adept at stealing, although there isn’t much to steal in the village. He is called “Worm” by most of the children he grew up with, with the exception of one of his few friends (another PC).
Once the characters have been fleshed out, i
Magic
More to come...