new swing on an old idea of mine

[Nuthael]

Hi. I'm technically new to these forums, a mate of mine threw me over here one day and i havent been back since. but now that im having some block, i thought i might come over here and ask for some advice. Ok, now first some background on my game. It is a steampunk politics based game set on a remote island surrounded by a dense fog. The idea is that you're stuck here, and theres no chance of going anywhere else, so the political rivalry is ultra-extreme. I have re-worked the system three times now, from scratch, and i think now all my old ideas are getting muddled in with the new.

Before we go any further, my game has been titled "The Gentleman's Game" and i refer to it as TGG.

So far all i have in my new system that i think is solid is Character Creation. Generally this is how i've done it:
Everyone gets a certain amount of Character Points
Character points are used to define who your character is. If you assume that before you apply character points your character is a dim witted scrawny useless bum, then you're off to the right start.
So you use character points to add things to your character's history, such as you can put points in Breeding to give him more social skills or in Military Service to give him physical based skills. Perhaps I should mention at this point that I am referencing the class system I had in place in my last system for this game. That works in that there are 9 classes, each separated into 3 groups, physical, mental, and social. (The last system I had all worked around triangles. looked cool, ended up confusing and useless) So anyway, character points are the definition of your character, by putting dots in various attributes skills and traits. (Side note, one of the traits you have to pay for is the right to have a name)

So far combat / skill checks seems to be, "Add the most relavant attribute to the most relevant skill if any and roll that many dice" on a 'number of successes' system. But also i'm trying to splice in a system I had for another game which was the best piece of RPG creation i ever pumped out in a gruelling 8 hour sleepless binge. I need to have more of those.

Anyway, what I'm asking for is just some general pointers on where to go next, what needs working on and what works. Just some advice from someone who knows more than me really.

[Gurnard]

I like this.

It does sound like a Narrative-heavy style of game, where the interactions between the characters will mostly be portrayed by the acting of the players rather than the roll of the dice.

Most character generation systems use either Character Points or Classes, and both approaches are tried and true. I think what you need to do, if you're using a fusion of both methods, is to determine exactly how those mechanics will interact with each other during the chargen process.

Would the Breeding and such determine what classes are available to the character, or does the class determine what things points can be spent on?

Say, if you pick a Soldier class and then put lots of points into Breeding, your character would be a high-ranking officer without any battlefield experience just by having been brought up in the right circles, whereas a Soldier class with no Breeding points would be a front-line infantry. Is that sort of on the same track you're thinking?

I like your concept as far as I think I understand it, but for curiosity's sake could you please elaborate on what your nine classes are, and what spheres you can spend points on beyond Breeding and Service. Is there Education or Wealth attributes, because those are the kinds of things I'm envisioning when I picture your game (a strapping young NCO, a cantankerous old Colonel, an Old-Money aristocrat and a wealthy self-made entreapaneur are stuck on a desert island ... sounds like the introduction to either a funny joke or a badass RPG scenario).