In classic RPG, characters are described with two things: a character sheet (with attributes and skills) and a literal part (physical description, nature, etc). In systemless RPG, you only have the literal part, so this part is really important and must contain enough elements to describe the character.

The difficulty of systemless RPG is that all must be contained in the literal description. The first error that can be committed is to write something like that:

This last character description is an attempt to translate the classic [numeric or literal] description into a free text. Indeed when you write a character description for a systemless game, you must forget the idea of skills and attributes. Write as if you write a novel:

Another (better) possibility is:

* english is not my native language, so this description
is a poor attempt to be literary. Please be indulgent !

There are many possibilies to describe a character. In fact all these possibilities are used by most of gamers in classic RPG. But the difference is still: in systemless RPG this literal description is the one and only description of the character... so take care of it !

For a player, there is absolutely no apparent difference between classic RPG and systemless RPG, except that he hasn't got any character sheet, nor any dice. As he has not to resolve the actions, he can play as usual: to describe what his character does and to speak for him.

But there is one hidden difficulty. It can seem very little but, in fact, it's huge : the players must have an absolute trust in the GM. They must not consider the GM as an opponent (GM doesn't win anything if the PCs don't succeed in what they want to do...) or a referee (systemless RPG is not a competition between the players*). GM must be considered as a storyteller, a movie director or a writer. The players and the GM are building a story, and there is not any kind of competition in it.

*there can be a competition between the characters. Be sure to make the difference..

The important thing is: playing systemless RPG doesn't require any experience in classic RPG. Nevertheless it is recommended that the players are mature (/adult) enough to be able not to consider the game as a competition*, in other words, you can't play systemless with an extremist gamist style. In this condition, systemless RPG can be used to introduce new people to RPG. In fact it is easier to introduce to systemless RPG than to classic RPG because people are often discouraged by the rules...

*as an adult, I play classic RPG with competition in mind
But this way of playing is simply not adapted to systemless RPG.

On the contrary, to be the Game Master of a systemless game needs a certain experience. In classic RPGs, the Game Master can use the rules or the dices as a protection ("I haven't wounded your character: you bad roll is responsible!") or a pretext (to lead the PC where he wants). In a systemless game, he GM must assume every one of his decisions.

Here is the three basic points on which the GM must base his decisions (not necessarily in this order) :
- Realism : Which result is the most coherent with the situation and the capacities of the characters ?
- Sense of drama: which result leads to the most interesting way for the adventure and/or for the characters ?
- Rules of the genre : which result is consistent with the genre of the adventure (is it an Honk-Kong action movie, a thriller ? Is the style delirious, serious ? etc) ?

Systemless RPG can lead to some unexplored dimensions of RPGs. One important thing is: when your adventures don't depend on an actual RPG, you tend to create adventures with no link to traditionnal RPG World (the usual Heroïc Fantasy style, World of Darkness, Cthulhu adventure-like, etc). It happens to every GM to develop his own world, but if you play systemless, you will feel more free, and you will write each adventure as you write a novel: with original characters and original bases.

If you want, you can follow this advice :
- Write the characters that the players will play at the same time as the adventure : characters specifically designed for an adventure lead to a much more intense game. Adventures designed according to given characters often leads to uselessly complicated plots (some World of Darkness chronicles for instance).
- Don't give "missions" to your characters ! Characters are real or imaginary people who have loves, fears and goals. Put them in a certain situation and think of the results it can lead to. That is a scenario. If you look at movies you rarely see characters with a mission to accomplish... except in some hollywood movies*.

* having a mission can belong to the genre you want to respect: in thriller there is always an inquiry.
But keep in mind that the possibilities are much more wider than that.