[Terrae Novae] Questions

[Kilor Di]

www.geocities.com/greginkelaar/projects.html   Click on Terrae for my old notes and Novae for my current attempt at converting those notes into an actual game.

Basically, I'm posting this thread to answer any questions that anyone might have about the game, as well as ask a few of my own.  There are some formatting errors on my part in the newer pdf, in case any one cares.  This is not a complete version.  If it were, the Character Creation chapter would be complete, and the Gameplay chapter (also incomplete) would be right after it.

Question 1(Religion): I haven't decided if Cursed magic should still be limited to evil mages or just limited to worshippers of Cantras.  I may also end up reworking the gods of Terrae Novae, as Cantras is currently the only one that feels right to me.  I'm also thinking of adding a religion for people that believe the arcane forces of Terrae Novae are sentient, as well as religions for the more technologically inclined races of Terrae Novae.

Ignore the skills that say (mage only) or (thief only), etc.  With the exception of skills specific to elite classes and career classes (such as mimickry for the spy), characters will be "purchase" whichever skills they want for their character (with certain classes starting out with certain skills).  I'm still planning on having the optional Classless ruleset, in which case Magic and Use Technology would be skills, too (and any skills or powers restricted to specialty or elite classes would be made into unlockable elite skills).  Which leads to...

Question 2(Skills): I can't seem to come up with any more skills.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Question 3(Commandoes): I can't seem to think of any other type of commandoes besides the three I have listed (and although I don't really believe a spy is a type of commando, it's really the best place to put the spy character).  Once again, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I can't think of any more questions right now, but I'm sure I'll come up with some more soon.

[Jasper]

You have a rather strange set of questions there. They all say "help me do more," and seem as much about arbitrary setting as how the game will actually play. So, I would ask you, why do you think you need more kinds of commandos and more kinds of skills? What do the existing ones accomplish and what will having more accomplish? Likewise for what classes have magic...how will that pairing affect what players do? Right now, I can't see that any of these questions mean very much, and -- to be honest -- it looks like you're just fishing for attention.  So, if you want, let's talk about why these questions matter, and of course any other issues you're having with the design.

[Kilor Di]

You have a few points there.  The questions I've asked are all just about me trying to tweak the game, to make it the best game that I can make it. I figured that the opinions of other people might help me make some of the tougher, if not somewhat irrelevant, decisions (After all, why, in some games, do some classes turn undead and others do not?  These differences are not entirely relevant to the game itself, but they help flavor the game world).

As for the skills, I don't know why, but it feels to me like something's missing. 

The decision about Cursed magic is, as mentioned before, a question of the flavor of the world.  It doesn't really affect the way the game is played, but then again neither does saying that some classes can go berserk while others can change their form.

I also slightly take offense at the "fishing for attention" remark (after all, we're all on this board to share the games we're making, and get the opinions and possibly even help of others), but after my long somewhat absence from this forum board, I can't exactly say that I blame you for thinking so.

[Jasper]

Hi,

My concern with your questions doesn't have anything to do with tweaking the game vs. making major revisions. Tweaking is certainly part of making a good game, and it's good (critical even) that you want to make the best game you can. Rather, my concern comes from me not having any idea what significance these questions have -- I wasn't being dismissive when I asked "what do existing skills accomplish? what would having more accomplish?" As it is, I can't even begin to answer the question because I have no criteria by which to evaluate a potential answer.

It doesn't really affect the way the game is played, but then again neither does saying that some classes can go berserk while others can change their form.

On the contrary, that does change the way the game is played. Almost every decision you make in the design will. The question is, how do you want to change it? With your initial three questions, it's like you're asking "Which new tool should I buy?" And before I can answer, I have to say, "Well, what are you building? What do you want to do that your existing tools can't help you with?" Does that make sense?

My remark about fishing for attention had nothing to do with your absence, merely with what you wrote. It may have been mistaken. But...you've just said that these questions are mostly about "flavor." No one can write your game for you, and you're really the only person in a position to answer such questions. All I'm saying is, if we can't talk analytically about why you would or wouldn't want more skills, then there won't be much to talk about.