Skip to main content

What Kind of Game Is This?


Open Legend makes a fantastic, fast-moving story engine but the story that you tell is yours. This is a game setting that could be used to play at several different levels of influence and power.

Power Levels

A 'street' level game about young adults learning to cope with magic and power in their normal lives. (Stranger Things)
A 'local' level game where the players work to protect and understand their community of magicals, dealing with exotic threats and mundane predjudices. (Buffy)
A 'nation' level game could have the players battling enormous magical threats while being chased by the government under the threat of jail or dissection. (X-Files)
A 'world' level game pits the players against magical forces that will destroy the world if they are not stopped. The governments of the world seek to control and shackle the players at every turn. (Avengers)
See more Campaign Power Levels
Here are a few campaign concepts:

Infiltrators

The party is a devoted to learning the secrets that corporations and governments want to hide from them.
The Hacker: this dwarf handles all the computers and security. Also uses a custom drone in combat.
The Operative: once a member of a government squad, now a seeker of truth and an ace shot.
The Arcanist: a half-elven magician that reads the past of objects and the minds of liars.
The Thief: a breaking and entering specialist. Also a Halfling.
The Face: the smooth-talking leader of the crew with devil horns and a wicked smile.
An expanded example of the Infiltrators

Seal Cove
A street-level game where the team works to solve the mystery of a small fishing town. This one is an example of campaign design that incorporates how to build opposition and support, as well as how to weave your character design into your world design.

Seekers

Exploring the world and fighting to save the world.
The Archdruid: An ancient Elven magician that protects the natural world above all else.
The Mystic Ninja: The half-elven student of the last great ninja clan, trained to destroy evil.
The Shapeshifter: A Dragonborn sorcerer with absolute control over their body.
The Colossus: An indomitable Troll warrior who solves problems with his fists and forehead.
An expanded example of the Seekers.
 
Still, this is a story about exploration, the unknown, and the choices that the players make. You can make the world entirely your own, leaving behind those things you don't need and embracing those that you enjoy.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The AstralNet

The AstralNet is a Dwarven creation that parallels the Internet. Using it magicals can communicate without crossing over mundane channels. There are a variety of apps and websites that link to the AstralNet for easy access. The AstralNet doesn't have the same information resources as the Internet but it does support a number of chat and messaging programs, bulletin boards and other information sharing resources. Magic spellbooks and reference guides have been scanned and shared online as well as guides to many beneficial and dangerous magical beasts. The AstralNet is also a source of jobs and tasks for entrepreneurs. These range from legal jobs that require magical skill to illegal black or wet ops. AstralNet servers are large, heavily enchanted computers. They are kept safely and securely deep within the Earth where only Dwarves go. 

Open Legend Character Creation Tips

Having run Open Legend with a few different groups, I have some opinions on how to get character creation going and have fun playing at level 1. To really maximize character creation: Make it an event! Schedule character creation with your group (commonly called a Session Zero), especially if this is the first time the group is playing Open Legend. This works best as a face-to-face session, whether that's in person or over video chat. I have done this through Messenger as well, but time delays and message threads make cohesive campaign prep harder. Explain some of the rules and how they work. My quick list would be: All Attributes, no Skills. Everything is a roll, no modifiers. All dice explode! Explain Banes and Boons. No spell lists, more than just Attacks. Explain the game campaign concept that you have. Hopefully your players know what they are showing up for and are interested, but now take that large concept and allow players to contribute and add to it. Make it i

No Spellbooks - No Limits!

A major benefit of Open Legend RPG over others is the way magical effects are constructed. There are no spellbooks! While I love reading RPG books, I dislike reading and comprehending spell listings. Open Legend gives easy tools to simplify this. The concept of a 'spell' in Open Legend can be one of a few things, generally referred to as 'Favored Actions' in the example Archetypes given in the rules. They can be damaging attacks, just like you would make with a sword or bow, Banes - which are harmful effects, generally placed on enemies, or Boons - helpful effects placed on oneself or an ally. These effects are also not limited by levels of power or slots, so you can use each of them as many times per day/game as you like! Most require a simple action to use, the same as an attack in combat. One of the most fun and creative things to do in Open Legend is take these general, mechanical game effects and transform them into unique actions that describe your character