Gaming in the World of Aranor

 Some, admittedly few, of you may have noticed a surge in posts about my campaign world of Aranor. An oft-lamented fact of my gaming life is that I have not had a play group in a number of years, Of course, I am aware of online options, but for me, the face-to-face camaraderie is a huge part of the experience. Now, I may be able to start gaming with my daughter. Time will tell.

At any rate, I have been in an on-going search for the best system to represent Aranor. One of the biggest criteria is that I don't have to either:

• Bend Aranor to fit the system. or
• Rework huge parts of the system to fit Aranor

Ideally, the two will mesh almost perfectly, relieving me of the burden of being forced to craft a mechanically dense house rules document. Some house rules to better reflect the narrative realities of the setting are acceptable. Whole cloth system rewrites are not. 

There have been two contenders passed over, one strong contender, and one has emerged as the front-runner. Note that I love all of these games. They are all fantastic at what they do, and I would jump at a chance to play any of them. Just not any of them in Aranor,

Pathfinder 2e Remaster

I loved it at first because it has crazy character customization. At first blush, it looked like it would be able to represent any character of Aranor. To a degree it actually can, but you'd have to leave some nuance behind. It's still class-and-level, which makes character development abstract and static. It doesn't represent characters growing organically along the pathways that may have been envisioned for the character. Even if a character could manage it, the static nature of level-based advancement means that the more nuanced a character is, the longer it will take to realize the vision.

One D&D

Most of the same issues as PF2e, really. With less character customization options. It's still D&D, and I still love it, but not for Aranor.

Mythras

A strong contender. Mythras allows for the kind of organic character growth that is rich and rewarding, as you watch your character become who he was always meant to be. The gritty combat system is a perfect fit for Aranor. Special effects make legendary warriors truly fearsome. The multiple, unique, magic systems are almost perfect as-is. Mythras is an excellent fit, and not entirely out of the running.

Ironsworn

The front-runner. I'm old school to my bones. I won't regurgitate my bona fides for the umpteenth time. If you know . . . So, it's a little odd to me to be listing such a narrativistic game as my front-runner. The fact is, though, that Aranor is a living, breathing world, and that means nuance, subtlety, and edge cases abound. To truly, accurately, represent Aranor would require a rulebook the size of a crate of Lurian wine. Nobody would read such a beast, let alone internalize enough of it to be able to actually play. Aranor needs a system that is more lens than box. Plus, Ironsworn has a certain brooding tone that fits Aranor very well. As a final bonus, it is designed for solo play, which means I can use it to play in Aranor myself, to explore my own world, make discoveries, and leave a mark as a citizen of the world.

So, there you have it. I guess this is as much another one of those "journal" posts that I sometimes make as much to myself as to you. Rest assured, though, that the door is always open to something different, be it new, or reconsidering something past. Finding the right game is part of the fun, after all.