RPGs - What a single change can do
I'm in the middle of a break designing and running my system...
It's currently going well but I've recently changed two separate things, health and how magic works.
These changes are minor in the grand scheme of things but the result but they have actually caused me no end of trouble.
The example I will be giving is health; without giving spoilers it is a streamlining of the system down to the most common two stats used for health (Physical and Mental).
Firstly, there is a risk of focusing on the stat; the streamlining would focus the players on the stats that govern health at the loss of the others. This leaves the system open to min/maxing.
Secondly, it requires a rewrite, I have to go through all the rules and correct them to include the correct terminology throughout at least 40 pages.
Thirdly, the testing becomes more complicated as the rule changes. In this case however the change in health is a recalculation of the health they have so this will not be a problem.
This system was originally never meant to be for project level, only a filler, however it's taken on a mind of its own and has evolved way beyond what it was... good for confidence, no so much for the work required to finish it.