Hi all... it's been a while, but I've finally had some more time to work on my game.
I've got a "finished" version of Cornerstone ready for folks to
look at. If you're interested, drop me an email (paganini@madisontelco.com) and I'll send
you a copy. If you give me any feedback I'll add your name to
the credits. :) I intend to web-publish this eventually, so
spread the word if you can.
Here's the Cornerstone introduction:
Cornerstone is intended to be a simple, flexible system useable
in any setting. It is ideal for narrative play, but may be used
for any style, since the basic rules can be built on, allowing
the system to be custom tailored to the specific tastes of
individual gaming groups. Many traditional game systems focus on
the similarities of characters - Characters are rated in a few
universal abilities meant to cover a wide variety of situations.
While softened to a certain extent by various techniques of
modeling skill and special ability, this has the effect of
making many characters in those games seem very similar. This is
not necessarily a bad thing, but Cornerstone aims for a
different goal. Cornerstone is small, with simple mechanics that
are designed to have a low handling time. You should be
completely qualified to run a game with it after only one or two
reviews.
Cornerstone offers a quick-playing resolution mechanic, geared
for transparency and low handling time, as well as a
customizable descriptor system that can be expanded to represent
anything the players want - not just characters, but items,
vehicles, and even geographical locations like cities.
The basic Cornerstone rules do not have any setting details
incorporated into them. In fact, Cornerstone does not include
much detail of any kind. Cornerstone can be a detailed
system, if a particular gaming group wishes to make it so, but
individual groups will be responsible for translating their
preferred game worlds into Cornerstone system terms.
--
Paganini