First Thoughts about a game (my game :P)

[[Kei]]

Hi there, I'm writing here because I'm starting to work on a game and I'm curious to see if the idea about this game could be nice to play, then I like to share my ideas and opinion with other, not only for feedback but for the pleasure of a conversation. As you may notice I'm really a newbie, I hope this is the right section of the forum -,-'''

About the game (or bettere the idea-of-game): is a fantasy rpg, sword&sorcery style setted in a primeval age, something like the Conan's world in the centuries just after the Atlantis fall; really low tech level (like the Bronze Age), with people organized in barbarian cultures, awful beast and monster that roams for the world, etc etc. Now, the players play one of these people, an Hero. With his deeds and his bravery and cunning he will build his Legend.

Every character has three basic Aspect: Potence, Cunning and Presence. There are not attributes like "strength", "agility" or "intelligence" but describe how well a character will resolve an action using his physical prowness (with Potence), with clever idea (with Cunning) or his charming aura (with Presence).
Other notable traits are Morale (measure how strong the will is and, basically, is used in game like hit points :p), Saga (measure hoe "legendary" the character is), Shadow (erm... non a great name I know... but measure the dark side of the character and tell how far from inanity, hubris the character is)

The very end of this game is to have a fast system, with few and light rules. And here I've the first doubt: how perform the action.

    * the first idea: standard skill system; there are some macro skills (for now I call them Talents) and to resolve an action the player rolls Aspect + Talent, if rolls more succes the the Difficulty Level the action is well performed.
    * the second idea: no Talents use; to resolve an action the player just rolls Aspect + the character Saga value, f rolls more succes the the Difficulty Level the action is a succes. This system is really light but with no details... if just have or have not a skill is a detail...

I know the game is not really an original one, is just somethin "for fun" (<- the very goal of a game :p) but if someone have ideas, criticism or suggestion I will appreciate any word

Thank you for the patience....

Ciao

ps: ok... english is not my first tongue, there will be a lot of errors and horrors, be kind >.<

[John Blaz]

Hey there, Kei and welcome to the forum! I myself am relatively new here, but have gotten tons of help from some of the other members, so you're in the right spot. I like your idea there, I've always wanted to do a Conan style game. My suggestion would be to add some very broad skills like Brawl (for close combat), Archery, Survival, Ride, Seduce (very Conan-esque :p) and such.

The dice are an important thing to think about: do you want the Aspects and Talents to be die-types (d4, d6, d8, d10) like in Savage Worlds? Then the characters just combine their dice and roll. Difficulty is a Target Number (usually from 3 to 11 I think).
Or you could have the target number always be 5 (for now). When something would make the task more difficult, the die-type gets reduced by one (so d8 becomes d6). In my opinion, that's one of the simplest systems there is.

Or you could have one thing be a die type (like the Aspect) and the Talents be a static number. So the roll would be Aspect d6 + Talent 2 (d6+2).

Or you could use the old standard: roll a die (d10 or d20 most likely) and add the Aspect and Talent. The characters would need to beat a variable Target Number. Dungeons and Dragons and Cyberpunk 2020 use similar systems.

Also, I like the idea of the Saga trait, that's a pretty cool idea. Maybe in certain instances the characters could add their Saga to an important roll (like Fate points).

Good luck anyway!

[[Kei]]

Ok maybe is better if I explain better the -actual- mechanics based on dice pools.
Every time a character perfom an action the player rolls the dice pool (Aspect + Talents or Aspect + Saga... I'm still dubious...); every dice make a success or not, rolling 1 to 3 is no success, rolling 4 to 6 is one success. If the total success gained beat the Difficulty Level of the action the character perform correctly the action, if the score is below the Difficulty level performing the action is a failure.
If the number of success rolled is double regard the Difficulty Level the player gains a "Critical" success, if the number of success is triple regard the DL the player gains a "Legendary" success. Actually I'm oriented to avoid stuff about the fumble, I think hero fail tragically when their spirit and will is weak not for a bad dice roll...

Now there are some way to strengthen the chance of success in an action:

- the Aspect have two score, a permanent score and a temporary score. A player can use a temporary point to perform automatically the action, if the Aspect is applicable, once spent the point is gone for the whole adventure, in the downtime the temporary score are refresh. This option cannot be used in combat.
- in the same way the Saga score is like Aspect, there is a permanent score and a temporary score. A player can sacrifice a point of temporary Saga to obtain a number of automatic success in a roll equal to permanent Saga score. Sadly, once spent the temporary Saga point is gone... As you may notice Aspect and Saga (and Shadow) work like the Willpower in the White Wolf old WoD, I think is a nice type of mechanic.
- the third option is the "Destiny Challenge"; the player bet 1 to 6 Morale points and the foe make the same bet, who put the highest value win the challenge and can use the difference between the two bet as bonus dice in the action (and to refresh his Morale score). A player can call for a challenge every time before rolling the dice pool to perform an action (but must be an action resisted by a foe: in combat can be used, to lockpick a chest cannot be used).
Sometime even the Narrator can call a player for a Challenge but if the player declines the character gains a point of temporary Shadow.

[God_Boy]

Hi Kei,

Sounds realy cool so far (had to read it a couple of times to get what you were saying properly).
Can you give us an example of a combat? And what stats/talents(skills) are used to attack and defend?
How does equipment come into it? Do sheilds give bonus dice when defending?, Swords bonus to the amount of attack dice?

Soz i am all questions

Cheers,
Wade