This is just a little note from me to any readers out there. The SIM System is my attempt to create a reasonably rational framework for role-playing to occur in with minimum effort and maximum fun. Essentially I designed it, after much revision and criticism, to uphold three ideas that I think all role-playing systems should exemplify. Simplicity, so that new and old players don't have to become rules-lawyers or do overly complicated algorithms to determine simple results. Intuitiveness, so that logical, consistent, and understandable results occur. Essentially I wanted the system to give a sense of reality without being bound to it. And finally, Malleability. The system is designed so that the values describing characters and the physical world can be related in a number of way, or processed individually or separately to give values that can be presented any number of ways (e.g. percentage or numerically) and represent any number of interactions (e.g. between skill and counter skill, or damage and resistance, etc...). It all depends on how much effort and calculation the user wants to do (and the players will put up with). By my own statement, I try to keep things simple, but if I want to think about a weird situation, or bend the rules to accommodate something unusual, I'm not hampered and consistency doesn't fall too much by the wayside.With that out of the way, I also wish to state that some of the tables and lists that I have made use of come from published RPGs. I simply found it convenient to use a good idea where I found it, instead of trying to create material from scratch that would only replicate the published material. The material I have used is not directly a copy, but remains close enough to the original stuff that I feel I must give credit and thanks to any number of sources. To see the list of trademarked games I've consulted, enjoyed, and that have frustrated me enough so that I wanted to create my own, and have thus helped give rise to this, you can check out this list. Suffice to say that I am in debt to a great many creative minds. As Isaac Newton said, "If I have seen further than others, it is only because I have stood on the shoulders of giants." After trying to create and wrestle with my own system, I have gained a measure of empathy with others who have done so before me. And in doing so, I have come to truly respect the work of all the men and women whose efforts have gone into the production of such fine systems.
But if all SIM was simply a rehash of other peoples stuff, it wouldn't be worthwhile to put it here, and it would be largely incomprehensible. No, SIM is also a collection of thoughts, ideas, wishes, and gaming philosophy that I've developed over many years of GMing, playing, and reading archaic rules and too much fiction. It's a culmination of most everything that I liked or thought 'fitting' in other systems and everything else that I wanted to do that I couldn't. And only of the stuff that wasn't mutually contradictory. And it's never quite done. I'll never stop tweaking it, and if a new product comes out that I really like, I may revise it heavily to include rules that I haven't thought of or couldn't make work before.
Finally, SIMRPG is also a labor of love and great fun I've had with a number of people, who have been friends, playtesters (whether they knew it or not) and critics and who have helped me improve it a great deal. My thanks to them and best wishes. A list of people to who I own thanks can be found here on the Credits page.
With that said, enjoy, enjoy. Definitely let me know your thoughts and suggestions. I will gladly respond to any intelligent criticism or ideas, and will give you credit if I include a suggestion of yours in a revision. Other than that, do as you see fit. Remember that this material free and not to be sold or published in any fashion but for you and your friends own enjoyment. If you do find it interesting and useful, please drop me a line; I like to know that all the work that has gone into the system isn't just for me and my own players' enjoyment. Also, if you do use this material, please feel free to link to me on a webpage, or mention this site to friends so that the word spreads. A good reputation and modest recognition are more valuable than gold. Best wishes in gaming,
Adam Flynn, GM, player, and author