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Hey everyone.
Well, I am feeling in a creative mood these days. Who would like to help me create a fun roleplaying fantasy game based loosely on the Runebound board game (and its cousins Descent and Runewars).
The idea of being bound to a Rune fascinates me, so I would like to make that a core mechanic of the game, and in order to avoid legal complications perhaps we can call it Beholden.
So anyway. I suppose a short rundown of what we might need to come up with is in order here.
Character Creation Should we use races and base classes or make it more freeform? I have been thinking of making it more freeform, basing most of the character's powers on a point system. However, I would like to somehow use runes in this part. Perhaps a d8 or d10 rolled determines the rune(s) a particular Beholden character is bound to. Runes could help determine starting statistics, special powers, or more.
Combat System While the d20/Pathfinder mechanic is effective for a combat system I would like to come up with something different. Runewars uses a fatecard system for combat resolution, so something like that (perhaps combined with dice) could be interesting.
Magic System Here I would like to bring runes in again, but I am still open to suggestions. Let me know what you think.
Dragon Runes What are these devices and what are they for? How can characters use them and what effect (if any) do they have on the runes the characters are bound to.
I've wanted to work on an RPG design; so, this idea appeals to me.
I'm not familiar with the Runebound game or cousin games (though I just looked up a review of the game and have seen them in the store).
I've come to be attracted to games that are focused more on the story then the particulars of combat. If I want endless combats of orcs or skeletons then computer games can provide these hoards waiting in rooms for me to slaughter.
Being somewhat older, I'm also interested in a game that can be played fully in an evening (like Fiasco! or expanded to cover a few evenings. I have friends that will just show up for an evening and it is good to be able to just break out a set of rules that are quick to teach and give the satisfaction of a full story instead of a generic carve up of a few rooms of monsters.
This is where I see the level of combat being a selective module that players could go for a more detailed resolution or a quicker 'story' resolution (most RPG games have the combat designed around the players winning the encounter and not dying which really makes them time speed bumps for the story).
Anyways, these are my current interests in gaming and if they don't match up closely enough with yours then I'll understand.
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I think the core of an RPG game is the story telling, not necessarily combat, which is why I don't want to come up with something that is feat-heavy or which requires a lot of rule-looking-up. Also, I want to make something where the character's abilities feel unique to that character, so story-based roleplaying is significantly appropriate.
Fatecards for combat resolution could help with that, actually, since the special rules (if any) would be on the card. Though for the most part I hope the fatecards are descriptive more than anything else, allowing the players to tell a story about their combat rather than worry about rules, hitpoints, or the like.
Sounds good and definitely a Fatecard or Encounter Table (Individual Cards would push up production cost; so, Encounter Table is a cheaper alternative of the same idea) would work.
A couple of questions to develop the game audience.
GM or GM-less play? If you are using Fatecard for the events and encounters then you can go with GM-less play.
Size of playing group? Solo, two to four, more? When I looked up the review of the Runebound game it described the play as more solo play as the players mostly don't interact with each other. Would you see players looking at individual Fatecards or having a Fatecard that the group as a whole tackles? This will determine some of the story mechanics.
I like the idea of players having unique abilities and niche protection. I have been looking at a few reviews of Apocalypse World and the play description. Each character has a protected set of actions that they can do which makes them play differently in situations. This would keep a solo monster fighter a very different person from a priest with a congregation of followers.
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Runebound is played without a DM, but Descent is played with a Dungeonmaster-type player, although the role of the Dungeonmaster is different from the traditional GM. He controls the monsters that are on the board, and actually gets points for killing player characters. Runewars is a war game, so it also is GM-less.
That being said, there does need to be some type of interactive story-creation system in place, and a GM is the easiest way to arbitrate that.
Number of Players Since this is a roleplaying game and not a board or cardgame to as much an extent as it was for Runebound, Descent, or Runewars, I do not think that too many players would diminish from gameplay. Probably 2 to 6.
The Role of Runes As I mentioned earlier, runes are significant in this world, so I do want to have them be a part of the core mechanic. There are even extremely powerful runes known as Dragon Runes that are used in both the basic Runebound game and the Runewars game (if only as plot devices).
I wanted to have runes be a part of character creation, so I was thinking of a three rune system that was a combination of random and chosen abilities.
Okay going with a GM and 2 to 6 players is going for a more 'traditional' gaming environment. The GM generates a challenge that the players must go through some development to solve.
What would a typical game cycle look like?
Being an adventure game it will probably look something like;
1> Start in town to equip, sell items, rest and recover, gather allies, prepare for adventure.
2> Travel on adventure with four to six events and encounters to gain in knowledge, abilities, treasure, and skill. Players will 'complete' an objective along the way (Clear a Cave, Save a Prince, Rescue a Town, Find a Cure to a Plague, or other goal).
3> Return to town to consolidate learning and receive recognition from the town for the deeds done.
A final phase when players feel read would be to substitute the Adventure Objective with a 'Big Bad Evil Guy' that can cap the stories. This would likely come in only if the players chose to go through the game cycle for a series of sessions.
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I need a better understanding of what you mean when you say Runes and Dragon Runes.
Runes to me are lettering marks. Sometimes people will put then in patterns if they do a tarot style reading by tossing a group of them on the ground but that is my extent of knowledge on the topic.
You seem to be using them in a different way like they are magically special rocks or artifacts.
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Runes
Yes, they are special rocks in the Runebound game, except I am also going to say they are special symbols that can be transferred from a rock to a character (like a tattoo), which grant special abilities. Dragon Runes are special runes (rocks engraved with magical symbols) which are the game objective in Runebound and Runewars.
I wanted to create some type of system in which these symbols actually have a meaning for a character, for both character creation and character development.
Okay, if the runes have an effect on character creation and character development then they will be imparting some sort of 'special' to the character. They also serve as a form of 'magical treasure' that players will want to pick up as they go through their adventures/travels.
The exact effects of the Runes don't need to be set at this time since it is like spells, skills, and weapons that are more a product of the rules then the other way around. It is enough to know that they are important enough to be a goal and do something special when acquired.
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I was thinking that to increase the connection of story to character that some story elements could be 'built' into the characters. This would make the characters more 'packages' of abilities and problems.
For example, if you chose to be an Alchemist then you have the ability to manufacture potions to give you bonus's on your adventure but you have problems dealing with getting the ingredients and requests by people to do things like brew immortality tonics or turn lead into gold.
If you are a priest then you have the ability to learn prayers to protect you and your friends but you have a congregation that seeks your leadership and requests that you make sure their crops grow and mediate between warring neighbours.
These problems would be generated during the initial 'Town Phase' and connect players to the town's story and give them personal goals for the adventure portion of the game. Completing these personal problems would have an impact on the player's abilities (Alchemist that doesn't restock ingredients can't make as powerful potions and a priest that doesn't stop neighbours from warring will have less congregation to support her prayers).
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I was thinking that in the adventure portion to use some type of encounter tables or fate cards to help specify out details. I'd like to skip the 'monster book' (which tends to look like a Tolkein/Warcraft parade then be original fantasy) and go instead with a system of special abilities defining the monsters. The GM can fill in the other details.
For example, an 'Energy Spitter' could be anything from Lava Snakes spitting balls of Lava to Cumulus Clouds hurling bolts of lightning.
I'm thinking that the adventure portion would have the GM;
1> Setting up the objective of the Adventure.
2> Setting up the terrain/environment that the Adventure will take place within.
3> Determining a selection of opposition (borrow an idea from '3:16 Carnage Across the Stars') and call the opposition 'Threats' which are divided among four to six encounters. The opposition gets some sort of theme 'Special' and maybe some of them an Encounter 'Special'.
4> The last encounter is designed around the Adventure Objective.
5> The players 'travel' to the Adventure and determine what shape or mishaps might have happened on the way to the Adventure site.
6> Players proceed through the adventures clearing opposition by using their various abilities. Solo Monster Slayer does Slaying while Master Spy does Trickery and Diabolist summons Demons. Runes could modify these abilities or give other choices depending on how combat was designed.
7> Players get a short recovery phase between encounters to regain some health or restock gear, spells, potions, allies, and such for the next encounter.
8> If the players make it through all the encounters then they achieve their Adventure Objective and likely earn a Rune reward. The players will also hopefully try to complete their personal goals by this point of the encounter game play too.
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After this, the players would have an after adventure phase to wrap up story events that had been brought up during the adventure and to reconcile their personal stories based on how they completed their personal goals.
Players will also get chances to level up in power and incorporate any bonuses from things like Runes into their characters.
Another place for game design assistance is 'The Forge' forums.
Look under the Game Development section.
Also, look for the document 'Design Patterns of Successful Role-playing Games'. It should be a free download and is a good bit of insight into game mechanics. I can also spur you to thinking.
If you need a goal to get you going, then the Ronnies (Game Design Competition) is scheduled to start Jan 1, 2011.