New game and first post: Redeemer a game about choices and survival.

[Redeemer]

This is a basic intro to Redeemer, a post apocalyptic game I'm working on and I think I'm at the point where I need more feedback. I'll try to break things down into digestible chunks though.

The Concept: Humans fight back against demon invaders and learn that if you kill a demon you get their power. The more powerful they become the more tempting a target they are to other hunters as well as other demons.

Synopsis:In the very near future the world as we know it is torn asunder by demonic entities invading and enslaving population centers of the Earth. Those that chose to submit were marked by the demons and allowed to return to (relatively) normal lives under their Master's watchful eyes. Most of those that chose to fight back were killed and then forced to do their Master's bidding as one of the soulless undead(zombie). Some of them succeeded in their desperate fight and learned a truth about demons; if you kill them you get there power.

Some notes: Basically the game revolves around being both a hunter and the hunted. The combat is very rules light and cinematic. The basic demonic societal structure is based on feudalism. The most powerful demon marks his lieutenants who mark their subordinates and so on down to the humans. The human's generate the power that is then collected up the chain of command for all purposes. So if a marked human kills a demon he does not become more powerful, the demon that marked him becomes more powerful. The free humans have to decide between the security of being a marked slave and the danger of the creatures that came through with the demons, basic survival and even other humans.


I'll flesh out some more details later, but I'm curious to see what people think of the basic concept.

[Darcy Burgess]

Hi Redeemer,

Welcome to the Forge.

That sounds like a pretty cool setting.  I especially like the demonic heirarchy, and the power transfer bits.

You mention a choice: the choice to fight, or to serve (the demons).

I can picture a game based around fighting the demons.  That's easy.  Could you tell me a bit more about what a game would play like (what do the players do, what do the characters do) if characters chose to serve the demons?

Thanks,
D

[Redeemer]

Hi Redeemer,

Welcome to the Forge.

That sounds like a pretty cool setting.  I especially like the demonic heirarchy, and the power transfer bits.

You mention a choice: the choice to fight, or to serve (the demons).

I can picture a game based around fighting the demons.  That's easy.  Could you tell me a bit more about what a game would play like (what do the players do, what do the characters do) if characters chose to serve the demons?

Thanks,
D

Thanks for the comments.

If the players chose to serve the demon's then the will be Marked. That means that all their power comes from their patron. However they may not be all marked by the same demon. They will be part of the same hierarchy, but they can be marked by different lieutenants. That means a whole sub agenda, the "Overlord" and their master. Also being Marked does not take away your free will, it is just a power conduit. They can be a slave looking to be free (and there are HUGE benefits to killing your Master) or they can be a toady trying to increase their power by increasing their Masters power (possibly even at the expense of the Overlord).

As for things they can do; they can guard the territory from threats, they can try to eradicate rivals, they can try to find new groups of unmarked to have their Master enslave or even do diplomacy between factions. And of course there is always trying to find and kill Redeemers...

The game mechanics (I'll post more later) allows for a lot of choices. There is nothing that takes away free will from anybody (not even demons). But power is quick to gain and quick to lose.  People are never really sure who's side anybody is on and a healthy bit of paranoia is more likely to keep you alive then the baddest power. The benefits for killing your Master are huge. And as Redeemers grow in power they generated something called Nemesis; they basically spawn a demon that has the same exact stats as the player at the time of the spawning that have the same memories as the player (A clone basically). One killing the other also has huge benefits. And of course if you have 5 people fighting a big baddy who gets to deliver the killing blow that gains them all that power?

[Ryel_ril_Ers]

I like your world, but could I ask some questions?

-How can a party works in it?
If they are all marked by a same overlord's slaves, that's ok. The huge power of overlord cut their power-hungry so they don't kill each other.
But if they are all hunters why don't they kill each other. The survivor win all of the power. He doesn't need other hunter's help becase every time someone drain new powers they become a potential danger for the others.

-What is a business in the marking system? The slave get power, but why is it good for the master?

-Where these demons come from?
-What is their goal?

[Redeemer]

I like your world, but could I ask some questions?

-How can a party works in it?
If they are all marked by a same overlord's slaves, that's ok. The huge power of overlord cut their power-hungry so they don't kill each other.
But if they are all hunters why don't they kill each other. The survivor win all of the power. He doesn't need other hunter's help becase every time someone drain new powers they become a potential danger for the others.

-What is a business in the marking system? The slave get power, but why is it good for the master?

-Where these demons come from?
-What is their goal?

OK How a party works: The first thing is by killing something you don't get ALL its power (except Masters and Nemeses), you get 1/4th its power. That means if you kill off 4 other party members you are only twice as powerful as before not 4 times as powerful. This actually makes you more vulnerable. Also Nemesis know you, they know your weaknesses and they have your powers. And they are always hunting you. Friends help to keep you safer and more able to defend yourself. However as the players become more powerful the temptation is always there...

As for the Marking system: There mechanic this deals with are Power Points(PP). PP are used to buy new abilities and to fuel some powers for humans and demons alike. However demons need them to stay on this plane of existence and they need to expend more as they become more powerful. There are only 3 ways to get PP; kill someone who has them (Marked, Redeemer or demon), be given them by your Master, or get them from you a human you Marked. Demons get one per human they Mark per month. The more humans, the more PP they get. You want to weaken a demon you can do so by hunting down and killing all the humans that they have Marked.

The demons come from the Netherworld. I'm planning on leaving that hanging for a bit, with some wild speculations by humanity. (The Rapture, dimensional experiments, this is Hell and we are all dead, ect...)

As for what the demons want? They want to stay here and accumulate power to be used in the Netherworld. This is basically a resource rich environment for them and allows for them to accumulate power in decades that might have taken them Eons. They are driven by green, power lust and fear. (Also it is a lot nicer than the Netherworld.)

I hope that answers your questions.

[greyorm]

This sounds like a sweet game. I'd definitely love to see more about this. Wish I had more substantial commentary or questions, but I figure the encouragement to keep working on something will have to do.

[Redeemer]

This sounds like a sweet game. I'd definitely love to see more about this. Wish I had more substantial commentary or questions, but I figure the encouragement to keep working on something will have to do.

I'm still at the beginning so I'll take all the encouragement I can get.

[David C]

I like it, it's definitely an idea worth pursuing!  Questions for you, can someone become unmarked? How?  Did the players start as marked humans that became unmarked somehow, or have they been unmarked their entire life? Both maybe? If somebody kills a demon, (Or maybe more specifically, if a demon kills a demon) do they gain all their marked humans? Can you be marked against your will, through some vile ritual? What happens if a demon marks a hunter? Are there marked hunters out there that are more powerful because of their later submittal? 

Have you ever seen the anime "Berserk"?  This idea makes me think of the tone and texture of Berserk (after the demons invade.) If you decide to watch it, the first episode is highly relevant, (the rest of the series  is not very relevant) but the rest of the thing is also worth watching if you can enjoy anime.

[Redeemer]

I like it, it's definitely an idea worth pursuing!  Questions for you, can someone become unmarked? How?  Did the players start as marked humans that became unmarked somehow, or have they been unmarked their entire life? Both maybe? If somebody kills a demon, (Or maybe more specifically, if a demon kills a demon) do they gain all their marked humans? Can you be marked against your will, through some vile ritual? What happens if a demon marks a hunter? Are there marked hunters out there that are more powerful because of their later submittal? 

Have you ever seen the anime "Berserk"?  This idea makes me think of the tone and texture of Berserk (after the demons invade.) If you decide to watch it, the first episode is highly relevant, (the rest of the series  is not very relevant) but the rest of the thing is also worth watching if you can enjoy anime.

Thanks for the comments:
Nature of the Mark:The only way to remove the Mark from either a demon or a human is to kill the demon that left the mark. When that happens the human becomes wither a normal human or a Redeemer (If they have PP they beceome a Redeemer). Players have teh option of starting aas a normal human, a Marked, a Redeemer (this includes people who used to me Marked). Killing the Master only removes the Mark. A demon would have to then place thier own mark. Demons do have threshold limits to the number of Marks they can place. As they increase in power they can create more Marks. Marks can be placed against your will; a Mark is placed by the demon by maintaing skin to skin contact for 1 min and concentraiting on placing the Mark.

Redeemers can not be Marked. Demons can be Marked. Marked that becoem free either become humans that can be Marked again (if they have no PP) or Redeemers( If they do have PP)

Consuming the Soul: If a demon kills a Marked, Redeemer or a demon they get 1/2 of the killed's PP. If a Marked kills a Marked, Redeemer or a demon the Master gets 1/4 the PP. If a Marked kills thier Master they get 100% of the Master's PP. If a Redeemer kills Marked, Redeemer or a demon they get 1/4 the PP. If a Redeemer/Nemisis kills the other they get 100% of the PP.

I hope that answers your questions.