Games are a way of telling stories. Especially roleplaying games. Some have very strict mechanics and rulesets, while others are more laissez-faire. The few I’ve encountered haven’t been the best at promoting roleplaying and storytelling but rather resolving combat encounters.

This was something I was thinking about during one of my many walks with my daughter. It’s a good time for coming up with ideas. Such as this game system, which combines the probability ratios of dice with the storytelling techniques of Matt Parker and Trey Stone, the creators of South Park.

I’ve had some experience with Dungeons and Dragons in various editions - notably 3.5, 4 and 5. Though I’ve never completed a full campaign due to moving quite frequently. I tried the FATE system, but only played a single game, the same is true for SLA Industries. Passively, I’ve listened to the Never Tell Me The Odds podcast, where a gaming group regularly plays the Star Wars RPG from Fantasy Flight Games. 

It’s the last that’s the biggest inspiration for my system. As the game is focused on the possibility of doing something rather than always trying to beat a particular number a la Dungeons and Dragons. So it allows for a lot more roleplaying opportunities, and even allows people to do something should they fail.

And failure to do something shouldn’t mean a story is over. It’s rarely the case in other mediums such as books or movies. Failure just presents a new obstacle and even success can do the same. It’s a classic aspect of good action and adventure stories and any good story. There’s the need for a try/fail cycle.

Which is why I’ve combined the South Park system for telling stories with dice to create what I call, the MYNT System.

MYNT meaning: Maybe, Yes, No, Twist. Catchy, right? Maybe the second edition will add an E and a D to become MYNTED. 

Telling stories is fun, but cooperating with people to tell stories can be difficult at times. Everyone brings different ideas to the table and focuses on different aspects when its a game. To manage that while everyone gets their moment and to feel like a hero is difficult. I hope this system goes some way to making that possible.

Of course right now I don’t know if it does because I only created this yesterday, over an hour while walking, and wrote it up this morning. I haven’t play-tested it yet, but that’s where you come in. The system is free for everyone, always. I would just love some feedback on how it works, if there are any situations that the system struggles to handle.

I expect this system won’t be ideal for murder mystery games. But that doesn’t mean it won’t work for any setting - wild west, hard sci-fi, fantasy, steampunk, cyberpunk, etc. Regardless, use this system with whatever setting you want. It’ll be good to know how well it works with different ideas. And if there is another system out there similar to this let me know.