Many ways in (to the FKR)

The Many Ways Inn is famous for standing at the meeting of three great roads on the chaotic margins of the Harrowmarch, and infamous for the many adventurers and ne’er-do-wells who gather there seeking rumors of suspect ventures.

Over the last couple of years(!) circumstances as well as interests have guided the tinkerage farther in the  direction of free-form, minimalist rules — or the Free Kriegsspiel Roleplaying (FKR) style of gaming, lead by play worlds, not rules principles.

Now there are plenty of resources online to learn more about FKR, and the Green Dragon and Fighting Fantasy systems I’ve discussed earlier are also an introduction to this style, but in the next few posts I’m going to delve into some of the many ways in to free-style gaming that have developed.

But first, a note about FKR play.

FKR is based on the innovation of the original “frei kriegsspiel” wargames, where detailed and systematic resolution methods were discarded in favor of an experienced referee or adjudicator. 

Hence, a free-form toolkit has these elements:

• A world, being the shared setting for the game and its scenarios. This world can come from an existing game (like the dungeon-y system), an existing fictional world (like the Star Wars universe or Middle-earth), or, of course, the referee and players’ own invention. That being said, the world serves best as a starting point: it’s a place to enter and explore, to map and develop. And although a trend in some FKR circles has been to lean towards playing in existing fictional worlds and genres, for me it’s the creation of one’s own world with rules-light play that offers the most fun and challenge, while (as I’ve said in my Play ALL the Books posts) it’s hugely productive and fun to ransack all the sources you have at hand for tools and inspiration.
• A format for characters. This is usually diegetic, meaning that simple description tells you about the character in terms of the game-world, not with reference to detailed metrics like stats and ability modifiers, hit points, skills, and so on. See Getting in to Character here, for an example.
• A resolution system that is as minimal as possible, so that it operates behind and not in front of the character’s choices. See Getting into Adventure for an example.

The key to play-the-world or FKR gaming is not that every action is determined by referee fiat, but that the players concentrate on their characters and the situation, and the referee is equipped to apply, through judgement and experience, with a set of tools for resolution that are both fair and simple to execute. It’s not that there are no mechanics, but that the mechanics are compact and easy enough to generate the chance element that means that the play is not simply dictated but develops in unexpected and dramatic ways as it runs.