[copied to Tumblr]
So, we've moved. Well, I have to say it in past tense because we're living out of the house, and we've got everything out of the four storage rooms and into storage in our place, but really, while the binary switch has been flipped, the act of "moving" has merely metamorphosized from nymph to pupa stage.
We're setting up the front room with the idea that we're going to start gaming again... and while there are social issues ("We can't simply get new, less flammable friends," I explain) involved, I'm of course less worried about that than starting to work on a new campaign.
I know what the campaign is. I know some of the quirks of it, I know some of the encounters. I know it's got a chance to be as political as the players want to be, while there will also be some monster killin', and some tough moral choices.
I'm doing a small scale one-shot of this game for conventions with pregenerated characters.
I just don't know what system it's going to be in - part of it needs to tip its hat to "Dogs in the Vineyard" and part of it definitely needs to have FATE-like Aspects, and there's an AD&Desque feel to it if only the fantasy world and the monster-slaying portion. I want experience not to come solely from killing monsters (although it will add to the success of killing future monsters of that type), but also from other handling of "scenes." Experience should improve attributes and skills, but I also don't want to have a set list of "skills," specifically. Definitely no "alignments" but everyone will be held to a code (or guild principles depending on their overall "class.")
The starting types (classes, if you must) of characters are somewhat limited - they're all competent in their field, but they're not Amberites.
The people I will probably have playing in it will want something rules-light and fairly elegant. There needs to be dice, but only occasionally. Failure is always a possibility, but only if it's interesting. There can't be a huge learning curve - and certainly not a lot of background reading.
Chances are, I'll hack something together to make it work and polish up the rough edges in play, so "elegant" may be out, but I'm not thinking of anything on my shelves that I can just grab and say, "This is it. This is the system I want to use to play."