Introduction
Tyranny is a diceless RPG inspired by the portrayal of demons in anime and manga (Japanese comics and
cartoons). While most RPGs have a character creation process that can take up to an hour, and starts
each character off as a pathetic weakling, characters in Tyranny can be created in about ten seconds,
and are initially powerful enough to ransack whole cities single handedly.
Tyranny allows even large groups of players to get started on a high powered adventure with practically
no setup time, no complicated rules to memorize, and no dice to roll, making it ideal for parties or
unexpected appearances of free time.
While these rules stand on their own quite well, they can also be combined with any other RPG out there
with a minimum of augmentation. So if you really insist on ruling dice and looking up rules, you can
treat this game as an expansion for the RPG of your choice.
Playing an RPG, or Roleplaying Game, is an experience which falls somewhere between little kids playing
cowboys and indians, and a group of people producing an improvised play, but with a set of rules to keep
everything fair and realistic, and the players running around.
One player is designated as the Game Master (GM), or referee. He creates the setup for each adventure,
dictates what happens in the world and the actions of most characters, makes sure everyone follows the
rules, and generally maintains the flow of the game. The other players each create and control a single
character who participates in the adventures created by the GM.
Unlike other games, there's no way to win an RPG. The point of playing is simply to develop an interesting
character, and amuse the entire group playing.
The average RPG has a 300 page book full of tables, charts, and detailed rules for every situation from
combat to wandering through caves, and how much loot a character can haul around. Each of these subjects
is then expanded on with an additional 200 page sourcebook. ironically however, after buying all of these
books, the average GM will ignore these rules entirely and just handle each situation with a combination
of common sense, and a bit of dramatic flair.
A diceless RPG is one which keeps this in mind to begin with. Rather than providing a bookshelf of rules
which break up the flow of the game more than they enhance it, a diceless RPG establishes a setting and
a tone, backed up with just a small number of rules if any. Everything a good GM needs, and nothing more.
Ironically however, while diceless RPGs are simpler than the standard variety, they are much more dependant
on having an experienced group of players and a talented GM to be properly enjoyed. Therefore a game
such as this is really designed for experienced players only.
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