Looking for PnP GM to help with CRPG

[Per Fischer]

Wysardry, I have left you a PM with my details.

Per

[Wysardry]

Tav_Behemoth: Tough one. I guess the theme is "invasion", "subjugation" or "conquest".

A race has been forced to flee invaders from across the sea by travelling to another realm using magic. This new land is already occupied by races previously known, even if they are not all friendly.

Centuries pass, and then another invasion starts, with the enemies using the same magical means used by the first race. Unless action is taken to prevent it, more enemies will arrive on a regular basis.

The player will be encouraged to attempt to block these entries into the land which is now their home. Stealth, magic and/or guile will be valid alternatives to fighting the enemy directly to get to these entry points.

He or she will need to search old records to find the means to accomplish this, and may investigate the cause and/or identify those responsible.


It would be an alternate history or "what if" scenario. The fleeing race would be based on one from history, with the escape to another realm allowing us to include other races and creatures from their mythology, without straining the player's suspension of disbelief too much.

Some of those contributing ideas are questioning my choice of race and land of origin, so I've left that detail out of my description for now.


pfischer: I have just replied to your PM. :)

[contracycle]

I would urge, beg, and plead that the idea of doing a "traditional" RPG/CRPG be abandoned.  The market is glutted with near-identical works using D&D derivative systems, with all the problems they imply.  It's a moribund genre IMO - and I fear is also cannibalising its own customer base.

[Wysardry]

By "traditional" I meant "pencil and paper" as opposed to "computer".

Most CRPG designers seem to focus on improving the graphics rather than replacing the features that were removed in earlier games due to technical limitations (which are now less restrictive).

Those who only play CRPGs have little to no experience of these missing features, which is why I'm here instead of somewhere like RPGDot.

Advancement will be based on skills usage, rather than experience levels, so it will have more in common with GURPS than D&D.

[Doehring]

A couple things you might want to include is making skills mainly but character advancement as open ended as possible. That is a major play for many people when playing a game even if character advancement is slow if it is limitless or seems that way people will want to play the game forever and leads to expansion packs.
    Another is the ability to jump most games that become really large rpg games include the ability to jump. Even with that of diablo 2 the barbarian character had the ability to jump and environments without that ability become slow and boring.

[Wysardry]

I'm aiming to make the skills advancement extremely flexible, but a "capping" system will be included so that characters will not be able to "max out" all their skills at the same levels. Without this, character differentiation at higher levels would be minimal.

We have also discussed including some sort of skill deteriation, so that unused skills are (very) slowly reduced over time.

With the engine we will be using, jumping - and even flying - would not require much effort to implement. How useful that would be would depend on how the terrain and buildings were designed.

[klapton]

I will most likely read through most of the existing threads to get a better feel of things, but I already have to learn how to use several software tools, keep a small forum ticking over and come up with a storyline framework.

I find this project interesting, where is that forum in which you discuss it?

Regards

[Wysardry]

I think "argue about" is currently a better description than "discuss" at present and you'll need to register to see the "CRPG Project" forum (we haven't come up with a suitable title yet).

If that hasn't put you off, the main forum page is here.

[klapton]

Ok, I registered. I guess I can contribute with something, but I still have to read through the forums to see how. Actually, I was planning to design a homebrew rpg next year, but currently I have only vague ideas on my mind.

If it interests you, I started playing RPGs at 16, and I'm now 31. I have gamemastered quite a lot, always using my own worlds and stories. One you can check here.

I also have written small pieces of fiction, here. Unfortunately, they are in Spanish (my birth tongue).

Regards.

[Wysardry]

I don't suggest you attempt to read all the posts. ;)

The pinned topics contain info on most of the aspects decided so far, and anything else more than a month or two old is probably not worth reading. It's definitely not worth looking at anything prior to April, as we weren't sure what game engine we were going to use until then.

Right now, I'm trying to get some documentation sorted out, starting with a concept doc (there's a draft version already posted), then a vision statement and then the outline of a design document.

At the same time, we're also discussing the setting and storyline. The most contended aspect at the moment is whether to base the non-human races on examples from mythology or fantasy.

You can also find out a little more about the project in another thread at these forums: Cultures: Mix n match or copy?

It will definitely help to have the input of someone with experience of running a non-computer RPG, even on an irregular basis, because none of us really know which aspects affect which others or are most important to decide first, so we tend to get sidetracked.