Further Thoughts on "Revolver"
In the week since I published my sketch of a game provisionally called "Revolver" on this blog, I have continued to improve the text. In particular, I took care to spell out a few things that were only in my head, but not in the actual text.
Here's a more detailed writeup of my thoughts with a number of examples. Nothing, absolutely nothing can help explain a certain play culture so well as examples.
Find consent
The intent of the rules as written is "consent, not rulings". The GM is not supposed to be an impartial referee here. Decisions are left to the group as a whole.
The group, chased by werewolves, is hiding behind a huge menhir. "As the wolves approach, I lift the menhir and throw it at them", player A says. The GM says they believe this to be impossible, especially for the puny thief character impersonated by player A, but after a short discussion of genre and tone, the group agrees they want superheroic feats in their game and will allow the throwing of menhirs.
Such discussions should of course be exceptions so that the game may flow freely. Try to find a GM whose judgement you can trust most of the time, and who is also willing to occasionally adjust their frame of mind.
The group is standing in front of a locked steel door. Player A wants their thief character to pick the lock. "You know", says the GM, pointing at the module, "it expressly says that the door can only be opened with the right key, not picked or even opened magically. Of course, that's a bit silly, and if you guys don't mind taking a bit of a shortcut, we can certainly allow lockpicking here." However, the group decides they want to play the module as written and backtrack to find the key hidden somewhere in the dungeon.
Every roll is a success
In particular, there is no failure except if the group agrees.
Three troll are sitting around a fire feasting on an ox. Player B says: "I leave the underbrush and beat them up with my stick." Everyone agrees this is impossible. Player A decides to try and steal one of the trolls' hammers instead.
If a risky action is rolled for as per the rules, it always succeeds. The rolling only serves to find out if the character has to pay a prize for their daring.
"I go steal that troll's hammer", says player A. The group agrees this is a risky action. Among several proposed, player A picks the option "The troll will smash you with his fist". They roll - and the die comes up 1! Player A narrates how their thief sneaks up to the campfire scene and steals the hammer. However, on the way back, a stone they step on gives way and makes a squishing noise. One of the trolls hears the noise and is upon them in no time, smashing them with his fits.
In this case, the hammer has been stolen and probably lies on the ground somewhere in the dark. What happens to it is up to the group.
Player A's thief character is picking the lock of an oaken door. The risk involved is a guard of six orcs approaching. Player A rolls a 1! The door opens, but the group hear footsteps to their rear. They rush through the door and bolt it from the other side, even though they don't yet know what they will find in there.
Players can backtrack before rolling
The first draft of the rules didn't say so, but players may always backtrack if they are facing a roll and vehemently dislike all of the proposed results so much that they don't even want to take a 1-in-6 chance.
In this instance, spotlight should move to another character.
The GM's task
Revolver is mainly intended for playing traditional modules with the help of a GM. Unlike with traditional systems, the GM's task is limited to introducing dangers, playing NPCs and factions. As above, the GM is not a referee who resolves all conflicts, interprets all dice rolls.
Of course, the GM will have the best overview, and the group will usually trust his judgment.
The group has discovered the dragon's lair. Player B says their barbarian will rush at the dragon and kill it. "I'll argue you can't", says the GM. "It's quite a distance to cover. The dragon will wake up from its light slumber and you'll be killed by its fiery breath." Everyone in the group nods, even player B, who decides to sneak up to the dozing dragon instead.
Player B's character, a Barbarian with STR 16, has also approached the dragon. The player announces that this PC will now stab the beast. "I'm afraid you can't get through the thick scale armor with your non-magical sword", says the GM. A short discussion ensues, but then the Wizard's player proposes their character could try to identify the dragon's weak spot and point it out to the fighter. Play continues from there.