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    RPG in design mode game interest check

    I have a thread here with my brainstorming and a place for folks interested in a new way to play on the soon to be updated forum to throw their concepts in at this stage. The goal being to run a playtest fairly soon, before end of spring, this is a good chance while I wait for feedback to see what kind of concept would be interesting. I like a simple hook, with a clear goal tied to a backdrop, with a themed threat of some kind as a way to provide inspiration for the players to come up with a character concept with goals and motivation and skills to tackle challenges in the campaign. It's important for classless character creation, which is the basis for how things will be done with this game with the soon to be developed system that is being conceptualized in that thread linked above.

    I've got some random inspiration for games that could be run and wanted to provide a quick list to see if there's user's who might want to try out a new system with one of the listed concepts. If one interests you, please let me know and which, and if you have ideas for what you'd like to be able to do, whether it be character concept or actions you intend to take in the given setting concept I'd like to hear it. If you have interest in what kind of system, the linked thread is a place for folks like you to throw your input in on what you'd like to see in a system designed specifically to be played here on the new forum. I process information with a goal in mind much faster and clearer, I imagine others do as well. This is to kickstart that engine, so let's go with concept options for campaigns.


    1: Polar Hunt

    This simple concept involves the struggle to survive in a harsh winter land. I am flexible here with time and races involved as the intent of my system to be is to be super flexible and easy to flip through time and space, fantasy to historical and this allows a variety of options. From the DnD Icewind Dale esque climbing through harsh wintry lands with risk of ambush by Polar Worms and Yeti to go on a quest to put down BBEG and restore peace to the lands as an option in this subset. To environmental fanatic eskimos riding polar bear marine cavalry fighting oil riggers in the arctic dodging rifle fire as oil platforms are stormed from the arctic ocean. With a race builder and customizable equipment system that allows for flavor to be players choice without sacrificing it just to be effective inherently designed to shift from short bows to semi-auto pistols easily. Players would be able to choose any race, any time, any planet and roll with this concept if this is chosen. Want to play a clutch of baby white dragons trying to survive in a harsh and uncaring world, no mercy and no prisoners? That fits here. Snowshoe wearing scientist defending an arctic research base from Xeno's? That fits here too, groups choice if this game is elected.

    2: Tower Defense/ Commando Siege

    A simple concept that can go either way as a dual option. I have several multi-level "Castle" or "Fort" options for a medieval scenario here. I have the option to let a party design their own dungeon map and play Dungeon Lord while I throw parties at your monstrous defenses here. I have the option to grab a map of a bank on a street corner and let the party play desperate bank robbers trying to make it out of being encircled by the fuzz before running for the border here. Banks vs Cops, throwing vikings back from your castle on the River Siene, the Gargoyle nest that is being attacked at the ancient monastery, or the fierce undead guardians of a tomb keeping adventurers from their lords remains. This can be skinned and flipped and turned and shifted through time and location as needed. This is a combat heavy and tactical, chess like concept where much of the RP comes from "Comms chatter" inside the party of in character tactical discussion.

    3: Blood and Sand

    The party takes on the roles of those inside of a Ludus as the Lanista or the Gladiator. Fight in the Arena with deadly traps to catch the unwary. Negotiate the perils of a ruthless political system that threaten a dagger in the night. Rise up and throw off the shackles as a gladiator slave and fight the Legions of Rome as Spartacus once did. Want to be the create your own monster gladiator squad that is forced to work together to survive fighting to entertain a clan of Fire Giants? Dragon duels for influence in the complex power struggles of those who live for millenia? Play option here, in case you were sensing a flexible theme here.

    4: Dungeon crawl

    What the system is geared for here. Players map based on description and fight their way through a dungeon. Hard nosed, rogue like one way out: The end of the dungeon. For those who ever played Eye of the Beholder back in the day, this concept starts similarly. Cut off from the way you entered, the party survives with wit and working together, trust and toughness. I can run my classic "Descent into Toreurkral" which is wading through an army of ancient undead extinct dwarves. I can run a fight the wererats living under the capital sewer purge. I can run a Battlestar esque pilot your transport full of specialists and marines to take down the alien or Cylon setup here. There's options to be had, but the one way in until the end and teamwork to survive is the goal here in a harsh and unexplored, player mapped dungeon.

    5: Monster Breeder

    In the fringes of the Badlands lies a massive expanse of plains where there are strange and unusual creatures forged via ancient magic which run free. The brave catch and tame these creatures, cross breeding them and selling them across the oceans to the East. This game would be a bit of a GeneForge and merchant fleet action. Use the race builder to design things that have a purpose you can market and then ship them across the deadly seas in order to be sold and hope to make a profit. I never got on the pokemon train, but this is probably as close as I will run to something like it. Design, breed, sell and transport fantastical creatures as you play with a race builder, a boat and the world monster slave market.

    All righty, whew

    I tried to keep each concise, so if there's interest, please let me know. If you have input on my game system towards these games hit the thread linked above. If you have become inspired and want to flesh out an idea to offer, I can process that and consider how to implement what you want to do as I consider how I want to build my system. All good info at this stage for me. If there is interest, please feel free to let me know.

    Thanks for your time.
    Designing systems on no sleep. Classed games are boring af.

    #2
    Magrus, I'm interested in concept #4 - the Dungeon Crawl. Yeah, big surprise, I'm sure. And I'll bet a lot of others gravitate toward that one as well. But among the examples listed within #4, I was actually most interested in a "space marines go on a bug hunt" campaign, followed by the wererats one and then the zombie dwarves one.

    But I'm also surprisingly interested in concept #5 as well - the Monster Breeder. I'm very intrigued by the thought of a game that combines creature creation and care with resource management and running a business.

    Comment


      #3
      Thanks for the response. So 1 for Bug Hunt crawl and for Monster breeder, essentially.

      #4 if we ran with a bug hunt, this allows the players to pick a race they want to play as and fight off hostiles as a commando style unit in a flexible scenario chain which could be more interesting that crawling through a tunnel deep underground, so I get that. With what I have in mind for my setup, the shift from broadswords and bows to assault rifles and grenadiers hauling grenade launchers should be a simple one. I'm going to setup "Ability" categories for "Light", "Medium", "Heavy" weapon and armor proficiencies which generate your base stat gains with modifiers weighting these based on special materials, higher craftsmanship, magic, etc. So the Rogue running a Dagger and Shortbow in chain mail here uses the same Weapon/Armor proficiency for a space marine who is running a survival knife and a glock semi-auto in a bullet proof vest. On paper, it's the same category you invest XP into to purchase is where I plan to go here. This allows me as a DM to go "You can choose time and place for your dungeon crawl" easily. Quick insight into my plans with how that works.

      #5 is a good way for me to get different view points in rapid succession of testing out the Race Builder, and setting up an economy so from my end, that's a unique opportunity there if folks are interested I thought I'd offer. What I build as a DM to threaten the party is very different from what some PC's may design for fun. Wrestling baby critters back into the fence line and treating the diseased ones, then moving them onto your ship and fighting off sea monsters to get them to market on another continent is where the action is at here. Did you make the cutest little fluff ball that rich gnomes on the other side of the world keep in their work satchels while they design new equipment that sells for outrageous prices? Maybe a nearby predator finds them *delicious* and sneaks through the fence line you setup at night to eat them like a fox in a hen house. Things of this nature for this scenario.

      If folks have interest in these two, or others, feel free to throw that out. It's share your RPG hopes and dreams times while I idle waiting for feedback but once I start the process I likely will generate my core system for a playtest rather quickly.
      Designing systems on no sleep. Classed games are boring af.

      Comment


        #4
        Those both sound like a blast to me.

        I feel like the people who are just reading this thread and not replying to it are letting a huge opportunity pass them by. Guys, hey, seriously, whether all you do is play in games here or you are a fellow GM, go ahead and weigh in on this one. Community input is extremely important here. The quality of the stuff that Magrus comes up with is insanely good. We're lucky to have him around here, and right now he's basically handing it off to the community to have full say over what he makes next, so chime in, folks.

        Comment


          #5
          Drew's entirely correct, of course. We're darned lucky to have Magrus (and his seemingly endless creativity) here at TTW.

          Those who are new here especially and looking to get into a game, this is a great opportunity to start playing!

          Cheers and happy gaming, all!

          Comment


            #6
            Thank you both for the kind words and sentiment, means a lot. If I don't hear from anyone else, I'll let Drew choose and I'll prep the nuts and bolts needed to run for that games concept for the playtest. So if someone is interested in something let me know soon. I can't sit idle forever, every day I sit waiting, my concepts that I come up with are lost due to my memory issues.
            Designing systems on no sleep. Classed games are boring af.

            Comment


              #7
              I am more interested in 4, no surprise, but depending on creature creation set up I can go with #5 as well. I don't have any particular preference for #4, but marines after bugs would be different and definitely fun to go with.

              Comment


                #8
                I'm still taking polling of interest here, but I got my 3 hours of sleep and it's time to begin. Space Marines beating off a Xeno invasion seems have a +2 lead in the polls and so a possible scenario to run with.

                You, the party, happen to be asleep in your bunk on base back on Earth when you wake up with your CO's voice blasting over the comms. He continues with "Let's go ladies, move it. We have intel on an alien craft heading towards Earth and you get a ride to the dance."

                *Insert Character creation and grabbing gear from the armory*

                >We test out the preliminary vehicle piloting rules as the party navigates their boarding craft into space to find the evasive craft spotted by the deep space tracking satellites.

                >The party engages the Xeno's in space, depending on pilots skill, navigators ability to spot and the luck of the dice. Perhaps the party's craft is boarded first, or vice versa depending on actions and RNG here.

                >The engagement allows for a commando style crawl through a ship to investigate and hunt down the alien Xenos in orbit around Earth to prevent them from landing. Failure means these critters land down on Earth.

                From here I can assess:

                1: Character Creation
                2: Piloting rules
                3: "Skill check" replacement in things like Perceiving the ship, climbing through air vents, tumbling behind cover, things of this nature in this campaign.
                4: Combat trial run of roll to hit, X-Y=Z for damage against a custom race I design for this purpose inside of a space craft as your dungeon.
                5: Showcase the Bond mechanic and the DM granted perks in how they are earned by doing what you do as a PC in game.

                This is a possible route for me to take if folks were on board with a #4 Gimme a Bug Hunt special.
                Designing systems on no sleep. Classed games are boring af.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Heya Mags! I'm up for any of those ideas, although I'm always partial to base-building. But a good ol' fashioned dungeon crawl works just fine too.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Hey Ipphli, thanks for chiming in. I could twist the Tower Defense one into a build and hold base simulator if enough folks want that. I'd be open to running more than one if there's interest once I get my system into testable mode. Welcome to TTW! There'll be a sitewide update very soon, this is the very old state of the site that's been this way for like 15 years, but you can check out the screenshots at the top forum of the site of what's coming. It's looking like it'll be neat to run on!
                    Designing systems on no sleep. Classed games are boring af.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      I'd be open to adding some base and base defense stuff to the dungeon crawl one. Maybe a classic "you guys need to strengthen and hold this border fort to lawless lands and there are monster lairs, dungeons, and perhaps even mines and resources in the area to clear and claim."
                      Last edited by natural19; 03-10-2021, 06:02 PM.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        2 for each concept then. If you folks want to hash out basic concepts like what kind of race you might want for the bug hunt if not say near to modern humans on earth type scenario or something for a build a base and defend it scenario in this down time waiting for life to align for me to get a no distractions time to gun through the crunch of my system in the coming weeks. In the event you have an idea of what you'd like to play as within the generic concepts you can brainstorm that here. Hammering out desired tech level for instance, and whether the entire party will be one race or a varied race planet and time frame for me to focus on type things could be useful if you know them already.
                        Designing systems on no sleep. Classed games are boring af.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by Magrus View Post
                          Space Marines beating off a Xeno invasion seems to have a +2 lead in the polls ... We test out the preliminary vehicle piloting rules ... The party engages the Xeno's in space ... The engagement allows for a commando style crawl through a ship to investigate and hunt down the alien Xenos in orbit around Earth to prevent them from landing. Failure means these critters land down on Earth.
                          Originally posted by Magrus View Post
                          I could twist the Tower Defense one into a build and hold base simulator if enough folks want that.
                          Originally posted by natural19 View Post
                          I'd be open to adding some base and base defense stuff to the dungeon crawl one. Maybe a classic "you guys need to strengthen and hold this border fort to lawless lands and there are monster lairs, dungeons, and perhaps even mines and resources in the area to clear and claim."
                          When I pictured the Bug Hunt, I mean I really pictured going all in and running a full-on James Cameron 'Aliens' game where it's the United States Colonial Marines vs the xenomorphs. Premise could be a lone, small colony on LV-613 has gone dark. Initial team that was sent in to investigate ended up meeting a nasty demise, but not before sending out communications confirming the presence of extremely hostile alien lifeforms.

                          Now the "exterminators" are being sent in to take care of the infestation and get the place back under control. There wouldn't be any vehicle piloting rules, no engagements in space, and the commando-style crawl wouldn't be through a ship, but upon arriving planetside in the drop-shuttle, their first mission objective would be to establish a base of operations, somewhere they can fortify and go for safety when all else fails.

                          After that, it's just a series of forays into the ghost-town of a colony and the network of sub-structures that run below it. Sometimes it would be to seek and destroy while mapping the area with more and more detail, other times it would be to target specific xenomorph hotspots or egg clutches that were discovered on earlier scouting missions, other times it would be to take an auto-turret to a certain tactical spot and set it up there, other times it would be to find particular resources. Sometimes these resources would be to upgrade the defensive capabilities of the base, other times it would be to upgrade the offense capabilities of the marines' weapons. The xenomorphs don't sit back and wait to be wiped out. Every couple of nights or so, they flood up out of the colony and attack the base in wave after wave. Once the marines send the all-clear, a second shuttle will come pick them up.

                          This lets you run a tower defense game that includes a few dungeon crawl segments between each tower defense segment.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            So modern tech vs Xeno's in tunnels after being dumped via dropship for you. Neat, I was more thinking the space station attacked that disables the orbital defenses which alerts the military to send a ship up to intercept those funneling into the atmosphere from the space station to engage some form of piloting test and the ability for mobility with the party. The ship engagement being the first dungeon and then if successful hitting the orbital base next type thing. Either way works though easily.

                            I like this concept. If the others are down for a hybrid chain of alternating siege and defend scenarios like this I'm down. So you are thinking Human>Modern>Earth here then and not a build a wild race?
                            Designing systems on no sleep. Classed games are boring af.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              This works pretty well.

                              On race, I can work with either humans, or allied races from your fantasy world after millenia of progress.

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