Use Cairn to Design Your RPG

[@Marvin-bv6ti]

That was a treasure of a conversation there ! I just recently dived into the world of 'indie' RPG's because I was so bored of everyone just knowing dnd and it's marvelous so far. The level of creativity I stumble upon every click deeper into the internet is just so inspiring. The mind isn't a temple, it's ... well... way bigger !

[@DiekuGames]

I'm glad you're exploring! If you really wanna go down the rabbit hole, check out these two interviews which are foundational to Cairn: Minimalist Game Design with Chris McDowall! kzbin.info/www/bejne/p4jLnWCNbtepoqc Learn FKR Game Theory! kzbin.info/www/bejne/oaq9hHeklrabhs0

[@richardextall2002]

Welcome out of the D&D Matrix.

[@steelcaress]

Thanks for your permission to hack. I was using Cairn as a base game, but it gradually evolved beyond that. Some of the things I kept were the HP (renamed to Mettle, and modified slightly by profession), Armor, Scarring, and damage to STR systems. I like the idea of not having to keep track of oodles of HP. Still, it is one of the RPGs I have a soft spot for. Quite simple and elegant.

[@dm4life579]

As I read Cairn, I saw immediately the influence PBTA had on Cairn. It's a beautiful thing to bring both concepts together. Thanks for an amazing product, and thanks for hosting the interview.

[@mendercap]

Enjoyed watching the interview, thanks for having Yochai on. I've only recently come across Cairn (thanks to the recent ItO Kickstarter actually). Fantastic ruleset and one I look forward to using at the table

[@DiekuGames]

Thanks for watching! Stay tuned for more designers from the OSR/NewSR in the near future!

[@yochaigal]

That's cool, one of the Kickstarter goals is for Chris to interview a bunch of different ItO hackers (myself included).

[@BryanMullins]

Really great interview, glad I had a chance to watch it finally. I really vibe with Yochai’s points about the spaces where pbta and small trad games share similarity. I love WoDu 1979 and Cairn is a gem. So is One Shot World honestly.

[@RPG_Bliss]

Really cool video and interview. I liked how you let him tell his story. Makes me want to try Cairn out.

[@_fedmar_]

I did use Cairn to design my RPG, and it worked! Thanks Yochai!

[@GaryD20Games]

Nice interview. Have just recently discovered Cairn. Loving it!

[@mwhite212]

This guy is a gem and a person after my own heart. Low complexity all the way! One of the games I love (on paper at least) is Tunnels & Trolls. I recently discovered Cairn and may try to integrate some T&T flavor and fun into Cairn. Thanks for some of the name drops of hacks of your system. Meteor looks great.

[@TimeLapsePrints]

I’m just obsessed with whatever the origin and material of that Wizards print behind Yochai are.

[@johnmarcgreen]

It’s an old animated film from the 70s or 80s

[@hueysimon2726]

I started in 1980. D&D red box. Friend had the blue box. As I get older, I grow tired of reading 300+ pages for a game. Especially if it's a singular genre like D&D. Transitioned to Savage worlds years ago, but even that is starting to be a bit, since the new edition expanded it's page count. Good game, just always seeking simpler but still functional. Also easier to get newer players into. This is an interesting system. I really like the idea of eliminating attack rolls. If I did any changes I might add dodging or parrying of some kind, but don't want to change it by adding back in a roll. So more likely just a standard bonus to Armor if you forgo your action to defend yourself. Maybe even have a talent or skill in it so it could vary in capability slightly. Like novice, journeyman, expert(+1, +2, +3). Maybe allow a dex save to get defense bonus, which would sacrifice action or half your next attack damage. Something simple.

[@jefffisher1297]

The idea of forsaking your next attack to use the move to say, "Defend" and that adding a +1 to armor is pretty slick.

[@nathanherrold6887]

Thanks for this.

[@JeremyHelm]

13:25 for ground growth - characters are changed from their experienced occurrences rather than mechanics

[@JeremyHelm]

13:46, 13:57 great way of throwing some shade there :-)

[@JeremyHelm]

15:37 be the author of your own doom

[@JeremyHelm]

19:09 information, choice, impact - ICI doctrine

[@darecarrasquillo]

what a fantastic conversation

[@SentientSoup]

Does Mr. Gal still send out his game? I would love a copy. It sounds pretty amazing.

[@Pabsu]

You can just search Cairn Rpg on google and you'll end up on their website its free but you'll need to print it out yourself

[@Ifryt_]

Great guest!

[@DiekuGames]

Totally! He's a great supporter of the Indie TTRPG scene!

[@razorboy251]

I would love to see the Winter's Daughter hack for Cairn! Haven't been able to find it though. :)

[@nimlouth]

The "conversion" notes are in the Cairn SRD!

[@psytek1978]

Hi! what's the book that allows to play Mothership with the cairn rules? amazing interview! more osr author please! :D

[@eclecticagdr]

Meteor by David Lombardo

[@ilyaalexakhin8745]

as above and also Screams Amongst the Stars by Diogo Noriega (Into the Odd based) or Mothership Pocketmod 1E is the compact version of MoSh for one-shots, conventions etc

[@leonardomonteiro322]

​​@@ilyaalexakhin8745actually, his last name is NOGUEIRA.

[@SigveSolvaag]

Great video!

[@DiekuGames]

Thanks Sigve! I really enjoyed your Slumbering Seagull! revenant-quill.itch.io/the-slumbering-seagull

[@SigveSolvaag]

@@DiekuGames why thank you! I am flattered!

[@ellery0909]

Great interview!

[@DiekuGames]

Thanks for the kind words, and for watching!

[@UsuarioGenerico-li5pf]

Interesting and entertaining interview. Despite the fact that Cairn is not a game to my liking, it's too rules-light for my taste (I'm also terrible at math), I find the NSR principles captivating. I had never heard that it was the NSR before and after all the bad taste that were the OSR in my existence (both the community and the games themselves), I find this way of approaching the importance of playing what you enjoy quite interesting. And with respect to Cairn, although it's wonderful to license the system and be able to freely create and distribute hacks, personally I would never dare to do it with Cairn. If I will release a Cairn hack it would be a very crunchy one with 300 pages of only player options. (I'm sorry, for this I have never been connected with the OSR or PBtA, if I don't have the large number of playable character options offered by GURPS or Pathfinder, I came to suffer from narcolepsy, even when I'm the GM (especially if I can't have non-human characters or atypical non-human races).

[@HoroscopeZine]

Super cool!

[@Joshuazx]

I'm curious about Cairn now

[@tonyennis1787]

The Wizards poster at :15 shows class.

[@deltapi8859]

The whole game (especially how the dungeons are created) reminds me of Daggerfall. But the Music in the Intro, definitely reminds me of Elderscrolls Daggerfall...

[@yochaigal]

No joke that game was a huge deal for me when I was a teenager.

[@yochaigal]

@@deltapi8859 the werewolf quest was super impactful. Getting a letter in your bag. Murdering innocents. Etc. Whooo I still remember there being a polymorph spell.... Mandela Effect,. maybe.

[@christophseel8757]

The discord link seems to be expired 😩

[@DiekuGames]

Updated!

[@christophseel8757]

@@DiekuGames Thank you!

[@vincentcleaver1925]

If the name is hard to say, discuss getting the guest to introduce himself

[@DiekuGames]

I did ask for a phonetic spelling, but I was told it was impossible. Generally it has never been a problem.

[@jimparkin2345]

25:53 I pretend to be concise but am certainly not. Also I surmised Yochai’s content theft plan from the start!

[@benchcrewgames]

He must play as a Rouge since he has the same qualities IRL 😂

[@ReyOoze]

OMG Adam Sandler made Cairn? How cool is that?

[@VitoWolf-me3tq]

Thank you Yochai. For voicing inclusivity and basic human decency. OSR gatekeepers seem close minded .

[@asafoetidajones8181]

Great interview, loved Yochais insights up until the alarming "I have a very small collection of rulesets". It ain't natural!

[@thelemon5069]

5e was far too much for me this was easier to build upon. I just need a few copies of cairn now so my friends can play. Less numbers is better since I have dyscalcululia as well.

[@squidmansoup]

666 likes 🤙

[@DiekuGames]

🤘

[@GREYGANDALF]

What is transphobia? The fear of Transsexuals? Is anyone actually scared of transsexuals? I've never met or seen anyone who is scared of them.

[@macoppy6571]

Old School human relations: "All are welcome; we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason."

[@MattisCarlgren]

Eh, I'm sticking with Barbarians of Lemuria

[@CScott-wh5yk]

Did my innocuous comment about inclusion get deleted? Good people who are confident in their principals don’t censor speech.

[@DiekuGames]

I don't censor. I recall the comment, and had assumed you had deleted it?

[@CScott-wh5yk]

@@DiekuGames Weird, must have been a KZbin glitch. Sorry for the accusation. I will delete this thread later today since I was wrong.

[@DiekuGames]

@@CScott-wh5yk no worries, and no need to delete. Conversation is a good thing.

[@CScott-wh5yk]

@@DiekuGames Thanks, I’ll leave it up.

[@jasonmabry8526]

Inclusionary except for who isn't welcome. WAT? Lol

[@HeadHunterSix]

"Against gatekeeping" while they build gates around those who are _already there_ . That's how it's gone in Battletech since the 40K Exodus.

[@dziooooo]

Come on, Popper's paradox of tolerance is not that hard to grasp. Yes, you should include everyone. EXCEPT intolerant assholes who are destructive to any community who lets them in.

[@daniels4385]

So the OSR is 'exclusive' because you've made some kind of Pbta-inspired aesthetically-D&D fantasy heartbreaker and 'the grognards' weren't liking it, because it clearly has nothing to do with the OSR community's stated and factual intent (which is to revive AD&D, BX and OD&D era D&D). And to top it all off you draw a hasty generalization between those disliking your kind of fake-OSR game and nazis, so basically "if you don't like my game you're a bad person". Do you think the Pathfinder community is also exclusive because they don't seem to like GURPS: Dungeon Fantasy and they would push me out of their community if I tried to shove it in their forums? I've had enough of hacks peddling their vacuous sacks of vague ideas and aesthetic considerations who need to wear the skin of the latest cool thing to sell. What does OSR mean when it's printed into your books? Because I can clearly tell in OSRIC, OSE or Worlds Without Number - the game clearly has D&D roots. You can go and play B2 with practically zero adjustment, using the same MECHANICS. Because you can play through B2 in GURPS too, but that's not the same system. What does 'New School Rules' even mean? "It's like D&D but it's not D&D at all", so, every other freaking fantasy RPG ever?

[@ЮлианМацкевич]

Everybody is welcome, except people I don't agree with. Also gatekeeping is bad, kids

[@Lgoggigaming]

Look up Paradox of Tolerance bud

[@ЮлианМацкевич]

@@Lgoggigaming it's just a meme to claim moral superiority. There is no paradox, just a self-defeating purist take held with sticky tape

[@dziooooo]

​@@ЮлианМацкевичhey, wanna see a cool example of the Paradox of Tolerance in real life? Here's me walking away from this channel and never coming back, because they don't moderate their comment section and leave up comments disagreeing with being anti-nazi. Tolerating intolerance turned this comment section unpleasant to be in and gave platform to assholes. Byeeee.

[@katelynslounge9736]

@@ЮлианМацкевич The paradox of tolerance is a philosophical concept suggesting that, if a society extends tolerance to those who are intolerant, it risks enabling the eventual dominance of intolerance, thereby undermining the very principle of tolerance. This paradox was articulated by philosopher Karl Popper in The Open Society and Its Enemies (1945), where he argued that a truly tolerant society must not tolerate those who promote intolerance.[2] Popper posited that if intolerant ideologies are allowed unchecked expression, they could exploit open society values to erode or destroy tolerance itself through authoritarian or oppressive practices.

[@ЮлианМацкевич]

@@katelynslounge9736 you probably posted that to defend this self-aggrandizing worldview, however it's evident even from your definition that "exploiting open society values" and "eroding tolerance" is exactly what is happening and there is nothing to not make it recursive. So, no discernable difference with intolerance except supposed moral high ground and somebody's vague feelings

[@johnnygilbert8163]

What a poser...

[@johnnygilbert8163]

I was on board until yochai was acting like an anti-nazi nazi...