Intro to Open Legend Tabletop RPG

Hi everyone! This is a short introduction to the Open Legend RPG created by Matthew Mercer and Ed Greenwood. It should be coming out later this year in the fall of 2017. The system is a generic RPG that can be used to run in any setting or genre. It is similar to Dungeons and Dragons RPG, however, instead of locking abilities to classes, it breaks them down further.
Link to open legend: www.openlegendr...
Music is from audionetwork

[@lukegood8802]

Just to clarify Matt Mercer and Ed Greenwood didn't create the system (that honor goes to Brianfeister), they just showed support and are helping with "some" of the writing for the main setting.

[@Altorin]

Luke Good yeah neither of them are system designers really. They're writers

[@danielmoran3578]

a fitting profile picture

[@janrupertalfeche8959]

Looking back on this two years later, I can honestly say that I've never felt more comfortable with any other system than with this one, as a GM. Loved that I was made aware of this system when I did!

[@420xanatos]

That anthropomorphic toaster looked slightly undersized but, I could see the courage in it's eyes. Lmao nicely done , made me die a little inside.

[@justinsaunders6798]

Nice rhyme

[@alkashirthedragon3596]

It was a brave little toaster ( if you get my reference)

[@sinnerthesinful552]

I have no idea what's that next to it so i can't compare size

[@Miniaturegeek]

@@sinnerthesinful552 it's the heated blanket from the Brave Little Toaster.

[@donaldgraf1830]

"The master"

[@karmapolice1337]

I just started GM-ing this and it is very fun to GM it's easy to understand and will become fast to play , the fact you can make this system litterly anything is amazing I'm running a Halo campaign right now separate timeline as ODSTs they are loving it

[@Troommate]

Still Looking forward to Open Legend Fluff :D

[@giantmastersword]

My 5e group wanted to do a space western so we're trying this out for a while. This was a great summary. Thanks

[@hassurunous6167]

I worked on Open Legend a bit! I'm so glad you like it!

[@XcaliburKurosaki]

I use this video anytime I need a concise introduction to Open Legend

[@ianschlom3034]

I've been in love with GURPS since I first found it, so I'm happy that it was mentioned. I've glanced at BRP. Lately I've also been trying to come up with something with Moment of Truth. But I am definitely going to add Open Legends to my "Games of Interest" list.

[@way9689]

System is great. I’m a backer myself and the fluff is out now for backers in pdf form. Calling them spheres of abilities is simply genius and will be using that description with new players

[@mr.peanut2096]

in all fairness DnD hardly invented the concept of attacking from stealth doing extra damage

[@jokhard8137]

Mr. Peanut I agree. It's a bit strange Ben said that in a sarcastic and accusatory tone. Like wth? If I struck someone from behind with a beer bottle and he is totally unaware of that, it shouldn't matter what my day job is regarding the attack's effectiveness because it is as much of a surprise attack as a rogue's backstab.

[@Lucitaur]

He was just trying to make it obvious that you can use OL's feats to replicate D&D classes, but did it in a comic way.

[@sinnerthesinful552]

r/woooosh

[@TheRezro]

@@sinnerthesinful552 He has a point though. Things like stealth attack should be basic mechanic, just stealth classes should be designed to execute it efficiently. But I know, that is beside topic..

[@andrewenderfrost8161]

Dmg has an alternate rule for all characters getting advantage on backstabbing, and it stacks witb theif's

[@WildMike48]

That Brave Little Toaster reference tho

[@StarSpawnMusic]

WildMike48 I’d buy that.

[@Blaze87540]

@Puffin Forrest, Thanks for sharing. I'm in the middle of making a game from scratch and was going to borrow some of the D&D mechanics to help me out. This is much better. I appreciate it.

[@n.pcomplete7841]

Three years later, was it worth your money?

[@thevebis6392]

The Feat system reminds me of the Skyrim leveling system. You can take every feat if you have the skill do to so, which gives you very versatile characters

[@Hawke1230]

This looks amazing, me and my roommates have been looking into investing our limited college student time and money into an rpg tabletop along the lines of dnd but you know, a little simpler but still satisfying, definitely going to look into this some more! thanks puff!

[@TtheWriter]

Finally a system that will put the final nail in HARP's coffin. @_@

[@endorsedbryce]

HARP what?

[@SapphireCrook]

If you were being sassy; ignore this, considering adding a /s. I can't see this replacing HARP though. HARP was made for numbers people (to such a point it takes hours to make a single character sheet), and OL is not a numbers game. It's far more on the 'tell a story and let the numbers add a twist' game. It's like saying Golf will kill Wrestling.

[@ILuvKonata]

D= Golf killed wrestling? Oh noes!

[@justnoob8141]

What the hell is HARP?

[@TtheWriter]

@@justnoob8141 High Action Role Play. It's a d100 system.

[@Jader7777]

Sounds neat, I'll let it bob around in the water and come back in a few years to see if it's still floating.

[@vrenshrrg]

I'm here a few years later to let you know: Yep, it is.

[@Burnthas]

How about an update. Do you ever run the system? Was it everything you dreamt it would be?

[@benjaminwinnett7269]

I'm converting the game I'm running over to Open Legend this week. I think it's gonna work a lot better for what my group wants.

[@XO7FOX]

This is amazing, thank you for the insight. I've been developing my own game from scratch, I want to keep it simple and easy to play for quick and crazy games. The concept of buying feats is what I had already started doing, and is how I think games should be outside of DnD. If you want to be an elf, buy the elf characteristics.

[@Katolapse]

Just discovered your content this week and it is glorious. Thank you for all this work.

[@manticore6963]

A free RPG System would be interesting to me, as I never played, let alone GMed, a P&P Game and want to start with some friends one day. Can you say, how Newbie-friendly the System is?

[@puffinforest]

Honestly, right now, there are PROS and CONS to starting with this game: PRO #1: It's free, up online. PRO #2: Easy to make characters CON #1: There aren't any monsters or NPC stats CON #2: There's no world, no setting. CON #3: Combat is quite complex. If you want a free RPG to start, I would steer you towards Pathfinder, which is quite complex, actually, but all the info for it is up online. But you can find it here: paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/coreRulebook/gettingStarted.html If you want to pay money: Star Wars Edge of the Empire is good and Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition. Have fun!

[@manticore6963]

Hey, thanks for the quick Answer. :D

[@SOAHCSOAHCSOAHC]

I'm in the same place as you and had the same thought. I've been doing free-form role play online since... Good grief, since AOL was a thing. Never tried anything structured or in-person before.

[@Matti_Mattsen]

To chime in on this, the System Reference Document (aka free basic rules) for D&D 5e is free to download. It doesn't contain every option you'd have in the books, but it's a great start. It gives you everything from character options to monster stats. media.wizards.com/2016/downloads/SRD-OGL_V1.1.pdf If you like it, consider getting the starter set for about 20$. I has a nice adventure in it (The Lost Mines of Phandelver), gets you some dice and pre-generated characters.

[@Matti_Mattsen]

Making your own NPCs/Enemies in 5e is actually very easy, i've did it myself. It's just that you are somewhat bound to the setting without much work. But people already did SciFi-conversions of 5e. But overall, 5e is very enjoyable and easy to handle in terms of game mechanics

[@csesznaktom]

This system is my love-hate system. I love every aspect of it, even thou I have to homebrew some things, but hate that it gets really low support. I allways go back for it.

[@kosoricluka]

Interesting. This actually looks like a big mix of different RPGs. D&D for some of the perks and maybe rolling, Warhammer Black Crusade for the whole you can buy anything as long as you have the points and prerequisites and Mage with the magic spheres even though it looks like its a lot more guided then Mage (since it's not just you can cast whatever you imagine as long as you have that sphere and the magnitude of your spell is adequate to your sphere level). :)

[@Im_Not_Here57]

As a tabletop enthusiast, I love the idea of this rpg.

[@NavySturmGewehr]

Nice brave little toaster reference! First movie I ever shed a tear to, as a child.

[@craftsmenMC]

thank you for enlightening me about the existence of this. i will have SO MUCH FUN

[@nicolotosarello180]

I absolutely love this kind of versatile systems, where there are no OBLIGATORY settings/ races / classes ecc. OVA is a good exemple. Will learn more.

[@dqflynn]

now I actually wanna try making an adventure involving some anthropomorphic appliances!

[@Bellia25]

My friend wants to try to run an Open Legend campaign and just, it is so much to take in. Sometimes I feel like it is making it more difficult than it needs to be.

[@ODXT]

Been a couple of years since you posted this video. I would be curious about an update, maybe a couple of stories about games you ran with this system?

[@0doom1]

I just got my book yesterday, I'm super happy about my purchase 7 months ago

[@Wobble9000]

Hmm, interesting system. I been itching to try a open source RPG and I've looking into FATE. What are your thoughts on FATE and in comparison to Open Legend?

[@puffinforest]

I like FATE. But it depends on what you're running. It does modern day setting fine, if you want Urban Fantasy (werewolves and fairies), use Dresden Files (which is based on FATE), if you want D&D-style, medieval fantasy then I would recommend Freeport Companion to FATE. If you want superheroes, use ICONS with FATE dice. Also, FATE is very streamlined combat. Some people HATE it's combat, some people love it. Some call it bare-bones. Open Legend is the opposite of FATE when it comes to combat. I'm actually going to make ANOTHER video on Open Legend coming up, but the next one is going to be a long, afterthoughts-style video.

[@charlessandusky7270]

I'll add my opinion on that as I have experience with both. I like Cypher because GMing could not be easier, however I like the character options available to Open Legend better. TBH I'll probably play both, but for now Open Legend has the edge

[@atlas_of_prescottia]

You've successfully sold me haha

[@Daemonaccess]

Holy shit!! How have I missed this!! Man this is just what I was looking for, thank you so much. I'm clicking. On. THAT. LINK. SO. HARD!!

[@TriCobaltGmg]

I actually play a system like this, but instead of a point buy on feats, the DM actually makes them custom built for your character. I ended up playing an interdimensional human from a parallel sci fi earth, who ended up becoming a goddess and earned her own divinity(which was displayed on one huge feat) ...the game is very complicated

[@WingedVlog444]

I've seriously started developing a game like this! *flips table thousands of times*

[@purpleisdebeste]

My favourite open ttrpgs are the ones where you can have social fights where you attack the opponents reason or moral.

[@TheTjedge1]

I'm curious if you ever played with this system. I just found this video this week and now I'm watching and reading everything. I was in the process of designing something similar as a home brew system but working full-time and being a writer in my spare time doesn't leave much time to work on it. Now I'm wondering of I could just apply what I've done to this generic system, much of which is doing exactly what I was doing, but simpler, which is great.

[@grobanlover292]

Created by Matthew Mercer? Sounds like a perfect system.

[@caramonmajere447]

This looks pretty useful and adaptable. I could run a TMNT game of animal mutants, and possibly tie it into a MASK or GI Joe type of story.

[@Safer7Sephiroth]

Interesting. I lost my Babylon 5 rulebooks (Which had my players character sheets)and I had to GM in like 2 hours. I ended up banging out a generic rpg system that everyone seemed to like. We have a bit of a big party and not as much time as we would like to play because adults and work, so typically we do 1 or 2 small encounters and maybe a boss. That night we got to do a proper sessions worth of plot and encounters.

[@pierrevillemaire-brooks4247]

D&D's restrictive list of spells pulled me down , but the spell mechanic in ARS MAGICA was amazingly creative. 10 spheres of influence , 5 basic actions , some conjugation was also possible such as combining 2 types of actions in one sphere of influence or 2 spheres with one action , which gave players an incredible freedom of choice and the luxury of being creative with their skills as the game went on :-) … then Mtg happened and i lost 20 years on that :-o

[@degiguess]

sounds pretty great for people who want to create their own mythos and lore and such

[@PianoJester]

What's the name of the RPG with players as "reincarnated dragons living out their lives as Englishmen in the 1800s"? I want to check it out, but alas, my google-fu is unsuccessful.

[@JoahTheThread5ive]

I think he made that up.

[@OriginalWarwood]

Sounds like "Fireborn" in case you are still interested. Never played, but I was curious and The Great Google provided

[@TheRezro]

Sound pretentious..

[@WiggaMachiavelli]

Looks like it's well-suited as a toolkit to making locked but customised/customisable content with good balance - so players don't get to make their own elves or vampires, necessarily, but rather they are a fixed part of a given setting based on the standard cost system. I guess it also works well, in such a context, for things like variant races or alternate class features.

[@samuteel]

That was a Brave Little Toaster reference correct?

[@ealtar]

hell yeah ... i played anima wich has a similar system love being able to make truly MY character, not just pick the kinda clossest least bad option

[@totesMagotes83]

11:11 Is that a reference to Fireborn? There was this game I almost played a while back (GM flaked), but I remember the default setting was modern day.

[@fantas2331]

Definitely playing this with my Group!

[@raymondmartinez8519]

I played a game of GURPS finally. Played as a Gryphon, who had a pet dwarf. Basically a curse swapped their minds/bodies, so i was a small horse sized adolescent Gryphon constantly trying to corral my spastic dwarf who kept making squaking noises and flapping his arms. Lol. It was a fun game. I never did learn how to use my wings to fly though...

[@keishii2648]

This all sounds amazing and I love it.

[@rfc1526]

This sounds amazing.

[@AlsoMeowskivich]

monster creation is my specialty.

[@SamuelRowan]

I really love this system and am hoping to see more content related to it

[@frostipanda2737]

Its not free but you should check out the Hero System. You can essentially make anything you want much like you explained by buying powers then adding advantages and disadvantages to those powers. So let's say I wanted to make a spell that summoned roots that grabbed at my enemies in a radius, I'd buy "Entangle" as a power then I'd give it the disad "Only Feet/Hands" since roots will only snare my enemies hands but then I'd buy the advantage "Area of effect" and choose how many hexes I want it to cover. Since they are plant based I'd probably buy the disad "vulnerable" and make it take double damage from fire effects and add some extra disads to bring down the cost... "Gestures, Incantation's, requires a focus (staff of an elder tree)" etc. And it can be used in ANY SETTING it was built for super hero's but it can be used for fantasy, sci fi, wildwest anything because of how you can build equipment, armor, vehicles everything under the powers section and save them as "prefabs" for your game allowing your players to load up those prefabs during character creation on top of "racial packages" you can design from scratch that exist in your world. Combat has hundreds of ways you can attack it from martial maneuvers that alter your movement or enemy movement, change attack values, trips, grabs and even the custom maneuvers you can design in the powers section.

[@MarkosStefanou]

how is this system faring three years later?

[@cultofnatethemagnificent5879]

That sounds pretty cool honestly

[@fig8man]

holy shit the brave little toaster reference.

[@jupiter-wo6yd]

That feat system with the elf taking an ageless feat makes me think a lot about Shadowrun's qualities, where you could, for instance, make your character partially blind, albino, bilingual, etc. While they still have the generic racial upgrades, they appear as these qualities for the most part so anyone could run as whatever they wanted to roleplay as by just taking whatever qualities they wanted to have. In my opinion the system worked really well so I'd love to see a game with this open system to see how players could make use of it.

[@robadc]

Decided to run this with my D&D group. I'm going to set out some things. 1: It is A LOT more work for the GM. 2: There is a lot more freedom to do pretty much anything you want narratively, in fact I'm not sure there are many limits at all. 3: You have to homebrew. No way around it IMO, the entire system was built to homebrew and not doing it will just take away from the enjoyment. 4: It will confuse the hell out of everyone who doesn't put the work into understanding it.

[@Jhakaro]

I know this is a year old and you probably know already but the description still says it was created by Matt Mercer and Ed Greenwood who only contributed to the World Setting they created Amaurea's Dawn. They had nothing to do with the creation of the actual system itself which was created by Brian Feister.

[@burakc9673]

This game sounds awesome!

[@nrais76]

Nice, thanks. If only I had watched this earlier. Totally on me. Sounds cool, like Mage combined with D&D combined with Apocalypse World combined with GURPS combined with...

[@SharowbladyeGaymerPorate]

Really like the look of this system

[@VikingFyre]

Looks good. I might use it to to test some game ideas I couldn’t do with other systems.

[@paxmeier915]

Great video as always! Keep it up

[@Kittyhmommy]

This... actually sounds like a lot of fun! I play Pathfinder and 5th edition. I wonder if my group would try this?

[@markedforlife]

This system sounds AWESOME! Thanks for the video! One of my favorite parts of the hobby is world/lore-building. Screw all that silly/childish D&D lore that is forced down every player's throat in 5e. I love system that let GMs/players make the game their own! :D Hopefully, I'm not the only one that hopes they DON'T add fluff!

[@fightyfish1779]

open legend recently passed its goal

[@danielellis3051]

Thanks for the info on this it almost reminds me of a universal version of rolemaster

[@scorn5299]

I love this some much I’m on Kickstarter right now

[@marxxplaysgames]

So you can make a Darkest Dungeon Tabletop RPG?

[@halatcibarmen]

yes my friend

[@inigmianstudios2771]

Finally a system where I can play ben 10 without any fuss

[@youtubeuniversity3638]

Shapeshift!

[@IDKman555]

I have played a game in this, i like combines things I liked from pathfinder and 5e

[@loremastersllc8654]

I'm curious as to whether there are any more recent videos about Open Legend by Puffin?

[@youcantbeatk7006]

He talked about it in his newest video.

[@loremastersllc8654]

@@youcantbeatk7006 Just watched it and I think the recent video clips from others. The Open Legend segment is identical to this video. Still cool that he is featuring it again though.

[@joshuaknight6551]

Hum....I was working on a system myself with everything in "nodes" Letting you build your class as you saw it and unlocking new abilities based on what you had.... Mine had become insanely complex though

[@dontwannadie7634]

You made me curious

[@PrivateCritter]

sounds fun. Mercer and creator of Elminster on here? sweet.

[@AdolphusOfBlood]

This sounds wonderful.

[@SOLIAM]

Hey Puffin Forest! Have you got your kickstarter rewards for Open Legend yet? Can you do another video talking more about it? The setting, lore, etc. Any tall tales from in game to share? Love your work! Keep being awesome!

[@TheKillerman3333]

i m looking forward to it

[@MrRockranger1]

Would it be possible to use Open legends to complete an unfinished rpg system I found a while back? If you want to look into it, it is called Heaven's Feel. It's definitely different as all player characters would use magic, but the magic system is a bit more refined in its use. Dividing it into sets like Formalcraft (magic circles), alchemy, alteration, jewelcraft (casting with preloaded spells or magic batteries). I have been having trouble finishing the game since the magic system looks fantastic as it allows players to create their own spells, I just need a few references

[@nay-knee7779]

I am both mildly upset and extremely happy at this concept. It is almost exactly what I was creating for my own tabletop rpg. Now I dont have to do all that work! (But was also look h forward to it)

[@Dorian_sapiens]

You should keep working on your own. The world is still waiting for the perfect RPG system.

[@MrBoondaba]

Did Unisystem completely die out? "All Flesh Must Be Eaten" and "Buffy" I think were official implementations but I remember there were all kinds of player-made adaptations.

[@frog8220]

what are your thoughts on this now, after a few years?

[@ConorPender]

The Strange isn't a generic system. It's setting is modern day, defend earth from aliens, and go through portals to other worlds. Kind of like Men in Black meets Stargate SG1. The rules it uses are the Cyphers System, which is generic.

[@taintedmyth0s636]

I really want to know more about the "dragons reincarnated as englishmen" setting. That sounds hilarious!

[@officermeowmeowfuzzyface4408]

Sounds like a good system for producing game-breaking characters.

[@nuhuh4144]

Watch this video blow up

[@loganreads90]

Looking forward to making a "Megaman NT Warrior" campaign.

[@joseluiszambrano]

This system sounds fun run it using all monsters books. DND, EverQuest, Warcraft etc.

[@evan11711]

This sounds badass

[@UndyingZombie]

This actually does not sound too bad. I might see if I can talk the ones I game with into trying it out. Also if you have not tried it yet. There is another one that does try to tackle the "can play in any setting" ( But I must say ahead of time it is a zombie focused game.. But it has rules for non zombie stuff and how to make that sort of thing as well. ) called "All Flesh Must Be Eaten" or AFMBE for short.

[@Thrythlind]

Open Legend sounds a bit like a mix of Fate (the combat described) and Hero System. It also has Fate's success with cost.

[@malidite]

I might run this at some point

[@januszotto-pawlicki7018]

Yey savage worlds! :D

[@WerSonst95]

Thank you for showing this :D

[@FillySparkles]

The brave little toaster!!!!!!

[@andreasottohansen7338]

So the Magic is is like Mage: The Ascension, expect you pick what the spell should ultimately do, rather than picking how you want to do it, and working it out from there.