Have dice, will [game design].

Endless_Serpents

Hello, this a thread for your game ideas. I'm not a bit fussed if it's a roleplaying game or a checkers variant, if it's nearly playable or just a mess of concepts. Hopefully push each other along and test each other's ideas out.

To start us off, please take a look at a little game I made once:
Two Drink Tea on Mount Komaki
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RTW6ahyLGhP9_gpvNz0f3UvM0Z_iP5sEpY4IvoysWvg

OptimusZed

I tend to get somewhere between 30% and 80% through a project before getting distracted and moving on. A lot of my stuff is just repurposing of existing material or fiddling around the edges to make it run more smoothly.

Here's my Marvel SAGA system rewrite, which is probably going to look really strange to anyone unfamiliar with the original game.

I've got a number of other projects that aren't quite that finished. And another one in the pipeline, which is basically a mashup of Ryuutama, Cortex, and a couple of other things in an attempt to make something to run RIFTS, since I don't really like the direction they've gone in Savage Worlds.

If my Ninjas and Superspies conversion to Cortex was in google docs I'd post that. Unfortunately I think it's in a word doc, so I'll need to copy it over.

Fuselage

I started working on a system to merge X-Wing Miniatures and 5e together so your role-playing character would have an impact on your ship.

Now that I've seen what Fragged Empire can do I can just use that or steal some of those concepts to keep the merger fairly simple.

(Man, imagine how scary a Boba Fett crew card would be if your crew member was one of the role-playing characters)

WACriminal

I always have 2 or 3 game design projects bouncing around in my head. I never, you know, finish any of them, but I have them.

Right now I'm working on a concept called "Early Bird". It's sortof a press-your-luck/worker placement game, where all players are using limited actions to prepare and serve breakfast foods in a shared kitchen. Bonus points are awarded for particular combinations, like bacon + eggs, sausage + biscuit, and fruit + oatmeal. There's some shared resources like water and sugar, and a bit of drafting going on in the style of Ticket to Ride, where ingredients are dealt face-up from the pantry deck.

If I ever get a sufficiently engaging ruleset ginned up, I'll try running a round here in CF.

Endless_Serpents

@WACriminal I adore that idea! I know several people that will love it too. I can picture the perfect art style for it too, take a gander at a lady named OXBoxer, her art would work for this. Not that I'm saying employ her, just for ideas.

@Fuselage Inbetween everything I'm dreaming up a starfighter rpg (I'm not even at 1% with it, really), I'd intrigued by your ideas if your down for showing them.

@OptimusZed I'm taking a look at it now, it's a lot to take in for a non-Saga player...

But what's the major difference between brawling and smashing? Surely collateral damage is just an aspect of mutants fighting Norse robots or whatever. Like, Cyclops smashes the school when Toad steals his shades, Luke Cage brawls by throwing a motorbike. They're similar things. Maybe it could be "trained takedowns" and "savagery"- just with a better choice of words.

Other than that it looks cool!

Fuselage

Once everyone is awake I'll draw up a rough sketch of what I thought of during my mini vacation drive. It would be very simple and use the X-Wing dice, not nearly as detailed as others would want.

OptimusZed

Endless_Serpents wrote: »

OptimusZed I'm taking a look at it now, it's a lot to take in for a non-Saga player...

But what's the major difference between brawling and smashing? Surely collateral damage is just an aspect of mutants fighting Norse robots or whatever. Like, Cyclops smashes the school when Toad steals his shades, Luke Cage brawls by throwing a motorbike. They're similar things. Maybe it could be "trained takedowns" and "savagery"- just with a better choice of words.

Other than that it looks cool!

There aren't really meant to be bright lines between the proficiencies. A character might have a couple that apply to a given test. For the combat skills in particular, of which Smashing and Brawling are two, the idea is more for characters that have access to them to have a mechanical reason to establish a theme across their particular fighting style. Someone with both Brawling and Smashing is probably going to be hurling hot dog carts one round and kidney punching the next. I'm fine with that.

Smashing also has significant non-combat usage, whereas Brawling is more a general-use combat skill.

Endless_Serpents

Fair enough!

Sadly work is dragging me away from an Internet connection for a month, so I leave you with this junk: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lPxXL3x8MC8wHRlvltCP0tVD11N9VzuV1QLJS-n_HWA

I'll get back to you guys when I can!

Super Namicchi

cross posted from the general thread;

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1A33ajEt9z1iFcS6H2fiQG5DUezmLTMh1IZhBd6drF1Q/edit

my Final Fantasy fate core hack. anyone interested in helping me playtest?

OptimusZed

I'm not sure I get the need for such a system, Arc. I loved FFT, but the videogame mechanics don't really seem super relevant for roleplaying in that setting.

Sell me on it.

Super Namicchi

FF is a series built on two things: tropes and progression

trying to make something that offers the JRPG level up that isn't super heavy is sort of my goal

OptimusZed

Ok, I can see how that would be fun.

Leveling up your group's mercenary company could be pretty cool.

Grunt's Ghosts

I keep starting and not finishing so many projects. A Cortex Pokemon game, A Cortex Mecha game (that OptimusZed got me interested in doing. I see how it works perfectly in my head, it's just getting down on paper), and Crystal Pirates, which I have used like a dozen different engines to try to do but fail all the time.

And 21st Age, my d20 Modern twist on 13th Age.

Super Namicchi

OptimusZed wrote: »

Ok, I can see how that would be fun.

Leveling up your group's mercenary company could be pretty cool.

I realized lately that I couldn't think of any Fate games that actually incorporated leveling up in the traditional sense

i mean yeah, the milestones and adding refresh in the different flavors of fate sort of hit it, but I wondered myself if adding jobs (classes) and actual levels with real, mechanical progression would be something worth doing.

Albino Bunny

I've had the first half of a quick 2 player game in my head for ages and can never quite come up with an interesting bit to bolt onto the second half:

The board is about 8-10 tokens with various character's faces on with the diamond sitting in the middle.

Players are each spy agencies trying to secure the diamond and to that end spend the first part of the game secretly bidding on the five active agents drawn from a deck (all non active agents are civilians).

VP are given for (in descending order of importance):

Escorting the Diamond out of your escape route.

Lost if an enemy agent escapes through your escape route.

Gained for each agent that escapes.

Gained for each agent left alive at game end (a turn after the diamond escapes).

So the general idea is to thematically capture stand offs, uncertain allegiences and the kind of explosive, over in an instant action scenes you get in the more lethal spy films/shows. The issue is how to make the second half, of actually playing out the stand off, interesting as a tactical game without making it stretch for ages when the main fun bit from the opening stages, having the power to say 'ACTUALLY that agent works for me, here's my bid that's bigger than yours so he doesn't shoot my other agent' screws with having a delicate tactical plan and the longer a tactical stage goes on the less interesting the question of 'did I really bid enough to own this agent' becomes as the lines become clearer.

The only real mechanic I've maybe thought of is being able to use cash cards you don't bid with as a way to get bonuses in the tactical stage but even that's not really certain.

Amigu

I have this idea for a game rolling around in my head where you play as a pod of psychic Orca's. It'd have an Ecco the Dolphin vibe and be very exploratory and story driven.

Advances would be all about creating new relations between members of the pod - as Orca's have a super developed sense of social intelligence.

Hmmmmm.

Endless_Serpents

If you don't call it Whale Song and all their psychic powers are sound and wave based I will cry.

Farangu

I vaguely remember a design I started for a Netrunner RPG a few years ago.

Then I got married and had a kid. Also I realized that it probably wouldn't be able to answer the question "why not just reskin Shadowrun"

Edit: I am super stoked about a project that is actually nearing completion, though. I work with the Chicago Megagames group, and my own megagame is going to get playtested at the end of this month. It's quite odd to realize that a little less than a year ago it was just a mind fragment taking up idle space. Although nothing motivates like putting ideas to a timeline that others can see and judge you on.

GrieforGlory

Farangu wrote: »

I vaguely remember a design I started for a Netrunner RPG a few years ago.
Edit: I am super stoked about a project that is actually nearing completion, though. I work with the Chicago Megagames group, and my own megagame is going to get playtested at the end of this month. It's quite odd to realize that a little less than a year ago it was just a mind fragment taking up idle space. Although nothing motivates like putting ideas to a timeline that others can see and judge you on.

What Megagame did you design? I designed and run ALLIANCE down here in Houston, TX

Endless_Serpents

I starting making a rules light game to play some manner of Dark Souls / Heavy Metal fantasy and below I'd like you to tell me what you think of the rules so far (it isn't anywhere near finished).

A lot of the game hinges on everyone involved accepting that a lot of acting is involved. Firstly as there is no HP, just "afflictions"- Stuff like arm broken, or blinded, I'll need players to work with me as they overcome obstacles while taking what's currently wrong with them into account. The second thing is "grotesque", a sort of dark fantasy equivalent of hulking out. It doesn't have hard set spells or abilities, rather each one just has an example list of powers and an instinct that you want to pursue while you're in grotesque mood.

I know it'll work with my friends, but is it really usable by someone else? Let me know.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Jq-kiTI4QbEz-PLNKZ-QUz1BNRkAVey0GceqPhebb1k/edit?usp=sharing

Amigu

Endless_Serpents wrote: »

If you don't call it Whale Song and all their psychic powers are sound and wave based I will cry.

That's a pretty good name...

I've thought a bit more about it. It will be a PbtA game. Basic classes:

-Explorer
-Psychic
-Communicator

I just downloaded the full Apocalypse World book to get a better idea of the game engine (I've only experienced it via Monster Hearts).

But I think there will be a tension between collaboration and competition. On the one hand the party will progress together by forming new bonds and creating combined moves. On the other hand there will be a metagame where players compete to determine the story. The group will be dropped into a fairly blank slate world: A giant ocean full of mysterious ruins and natural wonders. Each new dungeon or site will reveal a little bit about what happened to the world before the game.

At the end of each game, one player gets to decide on what that reveal is. And during the gaming session you compete for that right somehow (maybe through collecting tokens or XP?)

Each player (or maybe factions of players) will have their own creation myth that they are trying to establish. E.g. maybe the world you are in is the remnant of a once glorious Atlantan Empire or maybe it's an extremely complex simulation and you're all just test subjects. The players get to compete to establish what's going on. Typing it out it seems a bit unlikely... But we'll see.

Endless_Serpents

That is a brilliant idea!

What would the stats be Amigu? I'm thinking something like: (social force, social perception, movement, cool powers)
Surface, Tide, Current, Deep
Song, Echo, Dance, Relief
Loving, Curious, Swift, Wise

The Ender

So, my current still-waiting-to-be-abandoned project is a TT RPG, Nimbus.


The premise is that this happened, in the year 2228:

Unprecedented quake just ripped the Korean Peninsula right in two. The region of the world has been known ever since as 'The Gash'.

Unidentified Vehicular Objects poured out of The Gash, attacking without provocation or clear motives. Earth spent about 17 years being beat-up and burned down; now, in 2245, all that's left is a largely exhausted & dysfunctional old multinational defense apparatus called Nimbus. They, and the remains of humanity, are corralled up in this region of the world:

And all that's left for them is to see how long they can stave-off extinction. They've done pretty well so far; early models predicted they'd be beaten and dead by 2237.


Players are part of Nimbus, commanding old Cold War superweapons called JACLs (Joint Assault & Containment Landships) that look something like this:

Absurd & impractical weapons of stupefying expense that have no chance at turning around mankind's fortunes, but are nevertheless quite good at making a mess of the big scary UVOs they're deployed against.


I want to capture, in terms of atmosphere, some echo of 1945 from the perspective of the desperate & dying Axis powers as the walls closed in. The bedrock question for the game's theme / narrative structure is, "How do you handle a no win scenario?"

Also I want something that has lots of tank & plane & modern military porn for players to indulge in.


I'm not honestly sure exactly how I intend to represent the underlying theme in terms of mechanics yet, but the core mechanic is going to be playing around a 2d6 bell curve. Naturally everyone gets to build their own tank & captain & command staff, as well as fill their super tank with a variety of aircraft / armored fighting vehicles / infantry squads that will be used in missions.

Auralynx

This seems like the right place for this particular question:

I'm finally actually-working on a board game idea I had a while ago. Can anyone think of systems that work on an action-reaction basis I could study up on? The Others: 7 Sins has some rules I'm not totally enamored of where the bad guy player doesn't ever initiate anything, he just reacts to player actions on a chit-based system; wouldn't mind some other points of comparison.

Albino Bunny

Ended, the obvious feeling mechanic for fighting a losing war would be something like being able to sacrifice for a short term bonus. Allowing the player to win but be well aware that eventually they will have nothing left to give up.

The Ender

Albino Bunny wrote: »

Ended, the obvious feeling mechanic for fighting a losing war would be something like being able to sacrifice for a short term bonus. Allowing the player to win but be well aware that eventually they will have nothing left to give up.

This is definitely going in there, yes (Grey Ranks does this so, so well)


I also want to include means by which the players can, if they wish (and of course they will want to), accrue power by engaging in an illegal black market economy as a not-too-heavy means of asking, "How far will you go to achieve better short term results in what is ultimately a futile effort?"


Just not sure what the mechanical approach for those things is going to be, yet.

Zombie Hero

I was thinking about reopening up one of the game ideas I've been kicking around, was thinking some sort of deck builder where possible purchases were affected by players' actions (not cost, but availability). Was thinking having some sort of grid where 'cross hairs' get moved around. I wonder how far i get before I throw the whole thing in the garbage along with all of my other projects.

Albino Bunny

That sounds like it could be fine for a two player game.

Or maybe with multiple cross hairs for four player games (so you play against your opposite).

Having your purchases moved around by everyone in a multiplayer game sounds like hell though.

Zombie Hero

The general rough idea is the have a 3x3 grid move around, and then all the players have a purchase round, with first player first. Some of the drafted cards would have a focus on moving the grid (was also thinking each player would have a couple vp cards just for them to move to). So going last would be good for moving to a certain place, but then you buy last so i dunno.

I think you're probably right about it going to be a nightmare. Hopefully i can put enough together to find out.

Albino Bunny

Could be fun to have it so thematically there's a merchant marker and you can spend money (inefficient) or card effects (efficient but specific) to move it so you try to deny your opponent their strategy while keeping yours cheap to buy.

But I don't really see how you do that without:

1) Making multiplayer games feel kinda overly chaotic.

2) Stop that turning into one player just copying the others to keep getting cheap cards and that feeding into a cycle where no one moves the merchant marker.

Endless_Serpents

Its a bit twee and on the nose but I've decided the only real mechanic for healing in my Dark Souls/Berserk/Claymore/Darkest Dungeons game is to build a campfire, sit around it, and tell the others a personal failing, secret, weakness or fear before they can heal up.

There might be the odd cure-all elixir or at least an anti-poison knocking about, but other than that they've gotta talk through their problems, like an AA meeting for the undead.

Any thoughts?

Albino Bunny

That's pretty much the same style of character development I wanted to have in a game about travelling. Though the opposite (when the players camped one of them would talk about their past which would inform a trait/skill progression).

I think it's a really fun idea that encourages discussion. For the Dark Souls style thing you could also have it so that from that point on you (as the DM) can make use of the revealed flaw/weakness to hinder the player. Which would go well with the idea of them being slowly degenerating bodies. The more they heal, the less they hold together in the long term.

Endless_Serpents

Thank you for the deft reply!

Aye, that was my main intent with that, they're forced to give me fuel for future Bad Times in order to heal in the now.

The game is getting to have a fun, really particular feel to it.

You start the game as confused undead wanderers, but as you level up you unlock more of your history (NPC connections mostly), gain a greater reputation (skills and abilities), advance your passion (non-combat exp rewards) and empower your grotesque (beast mode).

I'm liking the idea the you of right now might be all about protecting the remaining beauty in the world, plus you're a skilled thief, but your past self was a wise scholar, and you inner demon just wants to eat fresh meat!

I'm hoping for some very conflicting characters.

Fleur de Alys

Endless_Serpents wrote: »

Its a bit twee and on the nose but I've decided the only real mechanic for healing in my Dark Souls/Berserk/Claymore/Darkest Dungeons game is to build a campfire, sit around it, and tell the others a personal failing, secret, weakness or fear before they can heal up.

There might be the odd cure-all elixir or at least an anti-poison knocking about, but other than that they've gotta talk through their problems, like an AA meeting for the undead.

Any thoughts?

My only concern would be if a campaign goes on for awhile, a character might run out of sensible things to share. Especially if they have to heal a lot. Are you planning for healing to become less frequent as the game moves forward? Or have fairly short games?

One option would be to use this mechanic for spending Strength (level-up). For healing, perhaps something with a deeper well to draw upon? Like share a quick tidbit from the character's past, before they were undead. This could be flavored as memories returning to the character if they aren't supposed to have complete knowledge of their former selves.

Endless_Serpents

The game would be fairly short, I reckon. Theres only so many times a player can avoid turning into a monster for good, the longer a game lasts the more chance of a tragic "game over", anyway. I might put some extra camp-side conversation topics in each History (half of a class, the other half being your current Reputation). So the Gallant Knight can talk of their lord, wars they fought in, courtly intrigue while the Sweet Paramore may talk of their long lost love.


Edit: What I'm saying is I am most likely Wrong and Not Good at game design.

Amigu

Yeah I like the idea a lot.

Fuselage

It's making me want to learn anything about Dark Souls but I really love the idea of that mechanic. Something like that could even be useful to tie to short rests or long rests in 5th Edition. "If you share something personal you get an extra HD during a short rest." simulates catching your breath between harrowing adventures/dungeon fights and kind of gives that cinematic feel you see in movies where the characters recoup for a second before trudging on.

Stealing. That.

Endless_Serpents

@Fuselage I'm glad you think it's neat. It has little to do with the game mechanics of Dark Souls actually, it's kind of its own thing.

I wanted to set the bleak mood, but if if was just monster slaying the game would be no different from any dungeon crawler, so I just figured getting the players to sit down and talk was the easiest way!

Altering what they talk about as they heal would be a good idea for other settings, in D&D perhaps talking about what inspires you, your past deeds and what you've learnt today helps you carry on.

Grunt's Ghosts

I actually had an idea once for a zombie game where you play a zombie. When you first rise, you are aware enough to understand simple concepts; walking, eating brains, sounds/lights normally means food, but when you eat someone's brain, you would get a memory of theirs or recall one of your own (or confuse the two since it's hard to know which is which when you see both memories from a first person view) which would allow you to gain skills. These memories would also pull you towards desires or goals, be it protect the woman you "love", or seek revenge, or cross something off a bucket list, ect. However, you only have so many memories you can keep, so you'd lose one or two pretty quickly. In order to keep a memory, you had to fulfill the desire that memory creates. Once enough of them are fulfilled, you would have rediscovered your humanity and live again. You might not be the same person you were when you died, but you are someone who is capable of living, whatever life that is.

Fuselage

Grunt's Ghosts wrote: »

I actually had an idea once for a zombie game where you play a zombie. When you first rise, you are aware enough to understand simple concepts; walking, eating brains, sounds/lights normally means food, but when you eat someone's brain, you would get a memory of theirs or recall one of your own (or confuse the two since it's hard to know which is which when you see both memories from a first person view) which would allow you to gain skills. These memories would also pull you towards desires or goals, be it protect the woman you "love", or seek revenge, or cross something off a bucket list, ect. However, you only have so many memories you can keep, so you'd lose one or two pretty quickly. In order to keep a memory, you had to fulfill the desire that memory creates. Once enough of them are fulfilled, you would have rediscovered your humanity and live again. You might not be the same person you were when you died, but you are someone who is capable of living, whatever life that is.

I think you're well on your way to a licensed Warm Bodies RPG and not in a bad way at all. I think that's a really cool game concept.

Grunt's Ghosts

Fuselage wrote: »

Grunt's Ghosts wrote: »

I actually had an idea once for a zombie game where you play a zombie. When you first rise, you are aware enough to understand simple concepts; walking, eating brains, sounds/lights normally means food, but when you eat someone's brain, you would get a memory of theirs or recall one of your own (or confuse the two since it's hard to know which is which when you see both memories from a first person view) which would allow you to gain skills. These memories would also pull you towards desires or goals, be it protect the woman you "love", or seek revenge, or cross something off a bucket list, ect. However, you only have so many memories you can keep, so you'd lose one or two pretty quickly. In order to keep a memory, you had to fulfill the desire that memory creates. Once enough of them are fulfilled, you would have rediscovered your humanity and live again. You might not be the same person you were when you died, but you are someone who is capable of living, whatever life that is.

I think you're well on your way to a licensed Warm Bodies RPG and not in a bad way at all. I think that's a really cool game concept.

It's sort of were I got the idea. That and the Zombie Dice game