FIRST POST! - Yet another Homebrew Mecha RPG, but this one's tactical for once

[Mike Sugarbaker]

Yes to all of it!

Player-created NPCs go all the way back to Twilight 2000 in the 80's; it had a special ability a player could take, that allowed you to declare that the random mook pointing a rifle at you was actually your old Army buddy or something. And of course loads and loads of new-style games do stuff like this, although for some reason I am blanking on a particularly good example.

Character rewards during free play: yes, but it has to be handled carefully. If you don't handle it carefully the game rapidly descends into "game the GM." Burning Wheel is a good example of a game that nuances roleplaying rewards interestingly and effectively via its Beliefs, Instincts and Traits. I recommend a close look at that, maybe in its Burning Empires form if you want to stay focused on sci-fi. Starblazer Adventures would be a good one to look at too.

I am loving the episode-structure idea.

[Silicon God]

'lil bit of crossposting from story games just to prove I'm not dead and the project's ongoing...

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What I plan to make of it is that its not just a tacandslash RPG nor is it purely narrativist; its both.

I haven't been able to work on the project a while, since real life's been catching up. I'll be releasing an overhauled version with the roleplaying rules rather than jsut the combat engine in five days; I've got the ideas in my head and I just need to sit down one of these nights and write.

So far, here's the ideas I plan to implement;

Advanced Character Creation for Roleplay Campaigns (hereafter referred to as Series Campaigns) will involve a series of steps that illustrate the background and temperament of your character, above and beyond mere stats and skill ranks.

Proposed elements are: Background, Aspects, Development and finally Quirks.

Background involves the past life of the PC, drawn from either the player's own devices or from a random table depending on where in the game setting the PC came from.

Aspects involve the PC's temperament and attitude; there are three categories of Aspects; Positive, Neutral and Negative. Players choose two, neither of which can be from the same Aspect. Determines whether the character can be a hero, antihero or villain.

Development involves a motivation; why does the character do what she does? Again, this can be something of the player's own devising or randomly generated.

Quirks refer to the previously included random tables.

Collectively, these characteristics are known as Character Traits.

If you've read that part about EX abilities and stuff; those are going to tie directly into the system of Character Aspects. The Personality Quirks table is going to reinforce character creation and roleplay rather than being the locus of it.

Acting in accordance with your Character Traits may earn you the chance to take the story into different directions (which I will develop further in another post; let it be said that it involves something like "taking the reins" of the story) and earn you EX points and abilities for combat.

*whew!*

[Silicon God]

Despite thinking that the list offers somewhat dubious value, I've answered (or at least attempted to) the Power 19.

1.) What is your game about?

Cool mechs, sexy characters and the horrible things that happen to them in war.

2.) What do the characters do?

Fight in interesting ways, emote in interesting ways to fight better.

3.) What do the players (including the GM if there is one) do?

Make decisions for their character, control that character in combat, roleplay as that character, have a hand in controlling the flow of RP sessions or Episodes

4.) How does your setting (or lack thereof) reinforce what your game is about?

Can't answer that. There's a setting though.

5.) How does the Character Creation of your game reinforce what your game is about?

Invokes genre tropes to convey the feel of a mecha series. Otherwise, facilitates quick play for wargame battles using the engine.

6.) What types of behaviors/styles of play does your game reward (and punish if necessary)?

Uhh... RP well and play nice. And smart

7.) How are behaviors and styles of play rewarded or punished in your game?

Mechanical (pun intended) rewards.

8.) How are the responsibilities of narration and credibility divided in your game?

Everyone has a hand in the story. Except in combat results.

9.) What does your game do to command the players' attention, engagement, and participation? (i.e. What does the game do to make them care?)

Can't answer this now, but I'd like for players to be attached to their characters and perhaps even the NPCs - since lethality is high - but not too high that life is trivial. Quite the opposite.

10.) What are the resolution mechanics of your game like?

D6 target number stuff.

11.) How do the resolution mechanics reinforce what your game is about?

Bullet dice. Genre trope integration.

12.) Do characters in your game advance? If so, how?

Characters accrue EX Points that can be spent to provide combat boosts through roleplaying in accordance with their character traits. Gaining a certain number of EX Points results in character development which may change the character (storywise) and provide more EX skills or technological bonuses/allies (taking rein of the campaign)

13.) How does the character advancement (or lack thereof) reinforce what your game is about?

Key fact of mecha anime: Change or die. One dimensional characters (especially if they are on the good guys' side) never live long. aka the Kakizaki/Ben Dixon rule

14.) What sort of product or effect do you want your game to produce in or for the players?

No idea yet.

15.) What areas of your game receive extra attention and color? Why?

Combat results. Survival or not. Clash of rival forces. Relationship dynamics.

16.) Which part of your game are you most excited about or interested in? Why?

Combat engine, plot development

17.) Where does your game take the players that other games can't, don't, or won't?

Provides a simple-to-play mecha game while being crunchy (and shooty and swingy) enough for hack-and-slashers, provides the facilities for deep and immersive roleplaying.

18.) What are your publishing goals for your game?

Free. But contributions (if it lasts that long or spreads that far) will be welcome.

19.) Who is your target audience?

Anime fans and video gamers who always thought "What would I do if I were in his place" or "What if the story went that way instead of that."

[Silicon God]

Hey everyone!

I'm alive, and still working on the actual RP parts of my RPG; I've completed a version of the advanced character generation rules for RP campaigns to be added to the previous ones.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/tyidjwnmwjz/roleplay v.10b.rtf

I'm a bit stuck, since I can't think of a suitable mechanic to reward EX Points (if D&D had RP XP awarded based on completed encounters, what can I have) - the principle is to put the various character aspects of your character into practice in RP and combat, success in doing so gets you EX Points. Or something like that... Anyway, give the doc a read-through and tell me what you think!

In the meantime, I'll be revising the tactical combat system a bit.