I have concepts, and I need help fleshing them out. This is going to be pretty setting specific. Basic idea is that technology is modernish, everybody got a gun, PCs work for the government dealing with out of control magic users and monster hunting, it's a high magic setting, divine magic rarely comes from dieties, and PCs all have some magic.
Switch hitting comes first. Multi-shot firearms are the default weapon, but melee combat does happen. A combat oriented PC needs to be good at both, but without feat taxing. A PC optimized for melee would fare poorly in too many combats. A PC optimized for range would do better, but not be much fun in melee.
Second is magic item proliferation. First off, PCs are government employees in a high priority function. If they need equipment, they will have it. WBL also doesn't work, because PCs aren't engaging in looting or receiving big rewards (they can't legally accept them). So, the magic item system is a non-starter. What I'm thinking is taking away the Sorcerer class, so that I can take the Bloodline feature and apply it to all PCs. (Setting lore states that all the gods but one were killed by mortals recently, and this led to magic becoming much more prevalent. Sorcerers could be a symptom of this, but as a template rather than a class, and bloodlines could be related to personality or interests rather than ancestry.) Add a bunch of stuff to bloodlines to replace magic items, and there we go. Increase BAB progression by 5 Monte Cook style and increase frequency of attribute bonuses from level so that Bloodlines don't have to handle that. These template based Sorcerers are pretty powerful, so the government hires them for the very hazardous task at hand. This should also make switch hitting a bit easier, since you don't need to invest in a magic weapon.
Finally, we have caster martial disparity. With martials being ranged combatants and fighter and rogue types having a little magic from Bloodlines, the equation has shifted a bit. To make things more complicated, though, I really want to use spell points from Super Genius Games, and I banned some types of magic from the setting:
Resurrection
Teleportation of living objects (you could do it, but the subject will invariably die)
Summoning
Spells requiring a dirty exist, but the one diety left alive is very bad news, so PC don't have access.
As for classes, the Summoner has to be banned, but I might be open to a mutant class using the eidolon mechanics if it can be made balanced. Clerics exist, but PC Clerics are elamentalist casters. Only NPC Clerics have god magic. Druids exist with modification (less wild shape reliance). Inquisitors and Cavaliers no decision. Paladins banned. Antipaladins allowed (as I said, the one remaining diety is bad news). Oracles no decision. Barbvarians folding into Ranger. Gunslinger redundant, banned, Fighter gets the Grit. Other classes either overlooked or allowed. Have ACG, have only read Arcanist class so far. Arcanists allowed.
Ideas? Suggestions? Thoughts?
As I read this I cant help but think maybe Savage Worlds or Burning wheel could pull this off. Traveller is too hard sci-fi for what you want. 4E actually might provide this easily. Not sure why but all my gamer senses say not pathfinder.
I dunno. I feel like a derivative of Pathfinder can work. It's also the system where the vast majority of my materiels are, and I neither want nor can afford to purchase another system, and there aren't a lot of Savage Worlds or Burning Wheel players compared to Pathfinder players. In my local community, Pathfinder is pretty much the RPG.
I have about 50 3/3.5 splats (including Unearthed Arcana), D20 Modern, Call of Cthulhu (never played or read it), and Deadlands D20. That's why Pathfinder became the go-to. I'm familiar with it, it's actually supported with rules I want to use, and the vast majority of my RPG library is compatible with modification.
Another thing I am considering is not really holding martials to a high degree of realism. Making them Sorcerers means a Fighter can now learn a couple magical abilities, and is significantly stronger than an IRL person. I am also an anime fan, and some elements of that will likely creep in. A mid-level martial can dead sprint at over 30 miles an hour, jump onto a roof from the ground, and kick through the ceiling, then get a surprise round on everybody in the room, used to go crazy with dual revolvers? Sounds legit, considering what the Wizard and Arcanist can do at that same level.
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If you want to drop the XMas tree effect and WBL without breaking everything, I would recommend you do something like this Which I came up with based on Kelso's Alternative to Magic Items system, but expanded a bit.
Though to be honest, if I were to want to run this game, I would just grab Shadowrun. If you just use your own setting rather than the shadowrun setting, it does basically everything you're wanting right out of the box.
If you want to drop the XMas tree effect and WBL without breaking everything, I would recommend you do something like this Which I came up with based on Kelso's Alternative to Magic Items system, but expanded a bit.
Well, a reason I want the Bloodline system has to do with the proliferation of firearms within the setting. When Fighters get into it, they have rifles, shotguns, SMGs, and pistols, and if it gets into melee, they have knives, hatchets, and improvised weapons. This limits choice in fighting style. Bloodlines allow a Fighter to pick up some flavor, rather than just being rifleman #3326. It also means that Fighters have some supernatural things that they can do, because they are also magical (which, in the context of the setting, explains why they are being sent up against powerful magical threats all the time).
I really like the flavor and lore you've come up with, especially the death of the gods thing, but one potentially negative mechanical side effect I foresee:
There's a big difference between bloodline powers you pick as GM to approximate magic items, and the players ability to customize his build by selecting the right magic items from the many many magic item options available to them. The game is built on the assumption that characters have an approximate amount of intelligently selected magic items for their class determined by their level. The GM gets to choose the build of almost every creature in the game, each player only gets to build the stats of 1 PC. For you to take a major chunk of the mechanical choices of PCs, doesn't leave players with as much participation in the mechanical aspect of character building.
One solution might be to have the players have a pool of "goldpoints" appropriate to their level (or slightly reduced) as per the character advancement table, that they could spend on magic item abilities (weapons, armor, body slotted wonderous items, and rings) at level up... but just re-fluff it as powers they are obtaining from their bloodline.
"At level 6 I have 16000 goldpoints worth of magical abilities granted by mystical connection to the dragon bloodline. This power imbues my melee attacks with +1 and keen (8000 goldpoints), it also magically reinforces my armor +1 enhancment bonus to anything I wear and light fortification vs critical hits (4000 goldpoints), further it forms a protective mystical field that provides a +1 deflection bonus to AC (1000 goldpoints per ring of deflection), and it gives me a +1 resistance bonus to all saving throws (1000 goldpoints per cloak of resistance)."
You could also give them more thematic bloodline abilities and adjust their gold point budget accordingly.
I like how this one book handled melee, magic and technology. Modern Firearms were energy based using divine energy, which could easily just be arcane energy. The weapons fire or plasma like bolts were extremely bright, so much so that after sustained fire from both sides they would switch to melee as it was impossible to see anything if it went on for too long, this effect was worse in the dark or night.
also, the Only War book for Warhammer 40k, dealt with item gaining while in the military and not a merc by giving the team notoriety, higher notoriety, they got to the top shelf sooner. you rolled for loot and resupply based on location. trading things in gave circumstance bonuses.
I really like the flavor and lore you've come up with, especially the death of the gods thing, but one potentially negative mechanical side effect I foresee:
There's a big difference between bloodline powers you pick as GM to approximate magic items, and the players ability to customize his build by selecting the right magic items from the many many magic item options available to them. The game is built on the assumption that characters have an approximate amount of intelligently selected magic items for their class determined by their level. The GM gets to choose the build of almost every creature in the game, each player only gets to build the stats of 1 PC. For you to take a major chunk of the mechanical choices of PCs, doesn't leave players with as much participation in the mechanical aspect of character building.
One solution might be to have the players have a pool of "goldpoints" appropriate to their level (or slightly reduced) as per the character advancement table, that they could spend on magic item abilities (weapons, armor, body slotted wonderous items, and rings) at level up... but just re-fluff it as powers they are obtaining from their bloodline.
"At level 6 I have 16000 goldpoints worth of magical abilities granted by mystical connection to the dragon bloodline. This power imbues my melee attacks with +1 and keen (8000 goldpoints), it also magically reinforces my armor +1 enhancment bonus to anything I wear and light fortification vs critical hits (4000 goldpoints), further it forms a protective mystical field that provides a +1 deflection bonus to AC (1000 goldpoints per ring of deflection), and it gives me a +1 resistance bonus to all saving throws (1000 goldpoints per cloak of resistance)."
You could also give them more thematic bloodline abilities and adjust their gold point budget accordingly.
That might actually work. I could retain the current bloodline abilities ( anything spellcaster specific has to change, though), then add in the gold point system you recommend. Allows customization while giving each bloodline some flavor. A dragon bloodline Fighter really should have a breath weapon, because dragons.
Also, thanks for the compliment. Here's what I have so far. I let one god live to cause trouble.
I'd just tack the bloodlines and spell points onto this game.