Daniel36 joins the fray

[Daniel36]

Hello everyone,

First let me introduce myself. My name is Daniel and I am from the Netherlands. I am 29 years old and an English (as a second language) teacher by trade. I found this site by accident after having searched for a place like this for a long time. I started discussions about the game I am working on in other forums but nobody there was interested enough. So I am hoping this place will bring me more inspiration and more food for thought. I am sure it will.

Something about my past experiences, so you guys get to know my personal tastes a little before I thrust my game ideas unto you!

I started my roleplaying life with console RPGs. The first time I came into contact with it was through Zelda II, which I only bought because the casing was gold. Talk about smart sales techniques. Then one day came Final Fantasy 6, a game I regarded the best of all time for a very long time, and is still very high in my favourites list.

It wasn't until Suikoden that FF6 was dethroned, and that series is still my favourite RPG series ever. The fact that the stories are ongoing appealed to me greatly.

Somewhere in between those two games I came into contact with Warhammer. My friends and I all decided to start it and it was quite something. Together with my two best friends we still play it regularly. I am also the founder of a long running club that has, sinced its inception welcomed other game systems as well. I have also dabbled in Mordheim, Necromunda, and am going to buy a couple of Heavy Gear miniatures soon.

I can't quite remember when exactly I came into contact with pen-and-paper RPGs, but I do remember which game system. D&D was my first encounter with true roleplaying, and to be honest, pretty much the only one. Though at one point I owned somewhere around 20 books (third edition) and bought the starter set for fourth edition, I only played a handful of times. The times I was a player were tons of fun, and the times that I was a DM were also great, but I was put off immensily by the sheer amount of rules. Not being able to toss aside something that the writers deem important (my flaw), I just couldn't get myself to enjoy it enough. I was also bothered by the way it handled experience, though in all honesty my game system isn't all thát different when it comes to leveling up. A rose by any other name, I suppose.

Anyways, a little something about my game system. I have dubbed it "Chronicles" and it may come as no surprise that it takes elements from D&D, skirmish and tabletop games like Mordheim and Warhammer, and console RPGs like Final Fantasy and Suikoden. I took what I liked from all of those and am trying to work it into a playable game.

I have a blog, but the files downloadable there are of a version when I was still trying to create a new dungeon crawler. The rules have changed enormously since and it is no longer the same game. But you can keep track of what I am working on and the new version will soon come online.
Chroniclesgame.proboards.com

Basically what it is going to be is a skirmish game of players versus GM, where the GM tells a story for the players to work through which leads to small tabletop battles. So the game does put heavy emphasis on the usage of miniatures. However, the roleplaying aspect is left mostly for the players and the GM. There are some non-combative skills, but those are mostly things like the ability to perform for money, the ability to hunt game for rations, things like that. They are there to facilitate the roleplaying, but the roleplaying itself is not with dice. Lastly, I want the game to be easy to learn and easy to play. This may come as a shock, but many things are pre-generated. I will go into that in the Game Development area once we get to know each other a little more.

Talk to you guys soon!
Daniel

[Thunder_God]

I'm curious, what aspects did you pull from console RPGs, and what aspects did you pull from miniature games, to your table-top RPG, and in what sense do you think these will impact the game in their different way (and implicit therein - why is it beneficial)?

[Daniel36]

Hello Thunder God,

Thanks for the questions. Now, before I answer them, I looked around this forum obviously and noticed that you guys have a very scientific approach to your discussions and you guys write very well thought out analyses. I am not like that, so you might find my responses a tad... simplistic perhaps. Hope you don't mind.

The aspects I pulled from console RPGs are two-fold, I suppose. On the one hand there's basically the systems that are used in games that differ somewhat from RPGs like D&D and Pathfinder. They are simpler in essence, and that is something that I like as a GM. I can't use a system and then only use parts that I like and change parts that I dislike. If I use a system I want to use all of it, and with games like D&D and Pathfinder, that is impossible for me. So I figured I'd make a system that is easier to use. For example, the magic items that I have written so far are all pretty simple. They give a very definite bonus. I aimed for simplicity as I do not believe that role play necesarily needs a deep system full of stats and tables. Chronicles is, in essence, a system for playing out combat, and it's made to facilitate role play. Role play itself, bar a few skills perhaps, is left to the players.

A second example is a very direct influence. I chose to give Adventurers starter weapons that they stick with, and also no choice in armour, just "levels" (for lack of a good term). The first is a direct influence from the game Suikoden, where characters have a weapon they keep and upgrade through a blacksmith. They can add "rune pieces" to give their weapon special effects, and I chose to implement the same, just with a different name. The reason for that is twofold. First off, and maybe that is just my personal "quirk", I find weapons to be something to hold an emotional bond to, not just something to throw away when a better one comes along. The second one is again simplicity.

Lastly, characters are pre-determined mostly. Stats are pre-determined, stat increases upon "level up" are pre-determined, which I suppose is also inspired by console RPGs. You can give your characters perks to make them better at certain things and handicaps to make them worse, and special perks to give them skills that other characters can't, such as being able to sail a boat, or being able to see and communicate with ghosts, those kinds of things, and you can add effects to your weapons as I just said, and they can learn new combative skills, but those are found in a skill tree, which is also for simplicity's sake. (That was a long sentence)

Aspects I took from miniature games are much simpler. My friends and I all collect miniatures (for Warhammer) and I want to use them! Not only that, I dislike the whole grid-based deal that seems to be the norm for quite a few RPGs and I like skirmish games myself. Again, in essence Chronicles really is just a miniature skirmish game that is used to facilitate role play.

How will they impact the game? Well, to be honest I am writing this mostly for myself. I really wanted a simple game. Simplicity was the key, and of course I wanted the players to be able to do plenty things, so there's a dice roll for that, but they are all the same. Pretty much every action outside of combat is a 2D6 roll of 7+, and when choosing characters you can add perks and handicaps to make them better, so you can turn that to a 5+ or stack it to a max of 4+, or make them worse with handicaps which turns it into a 9+, stackable to 10+. Since close combat also works with these same values there's only a couple of values you need to remember. It's super simple, but still deep enough to make a difference.

As I was saying, I wanted a game that was easy to learn, and requires little book keeping. Why? Well, if I want a deep game I can just play any of those already out. But I don't have the patience to learn those complicated rules, and my friends don't care if it is simple or intricate, so it is mostly just me.

Also, the skirmish aspect, coupled with the relative simplicity, makes for very fast paced combat, and really, that's actually pretty realistic. Combat should be fast, bloody, deadly and visceral. While I really do understand the appeal of the minute D100 percentile differences of a hit or miss, rules for every little detail you can possibly think of, but it can slow things down, and that's what it did for us when we tried playing D&D.

So how is it beneficial? It makes me want to GM, because it is easy, it makes my friends want to play, because it is easy and fast paced, and it is something that I feel hasn't really been done yet. Games either fall into the RPG category and be very deep, or fall into the Skirmish Miniature game and be about combat of player versus player, and I wanted a skirmish game of players versus GM, and the console RPG influences just help keep things running smoothly.

Thanks for listening!

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Daniel,

It's starting to look to me as if your topic is about a game you're designing. If that seems right to you, let me know by replying right here and I'll move the thread to Game Development. Let me know if that makes sense to you. One thing, though: if we do that, I'll ask that you include an external link to any kind of file we can use as a reference. Not immediately, but when you can.

Best, Ron

[Daniel36]

Hey Ron,

I figured this thread would serve as my introduction to you guys and your questions to me about my roleplay experiences. It was suggested I'd introduce myself first, and that seems fitting as well. I mostly wanted to know if you guys are at all interested in hearing about my game, as it is quite a different type game than what I have seen so far around here. If you guys do, then I would love to create a new thread and keep this one to talk about my game testing experiences, if that is alright with you.

I'm also not quite ready yet to give you guys a link, as I still need to finish up a couple of things, especially to the core rulebook, and I don't have character sheets ready either.

Is it okay if I leave this thread as my play-test thread and discuss the rules in a soon to be opened thread?

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Daniel,

I think I need to clarify one key point: playtesting threads are also supposed to be in Game Development. The Actual Play forum is discussions of playing published games. Therefore, yes, this thread can be for your discussion of playtesting, but if so, it also belongs in Game Development and should include the requirement.

Your first post presents a sort of twin identity, with the first part being about your play history, and therefore apparently suitable for Actual Play, but then hops straight into game design. Therefore it serves as a good introduction (as you intended), but the question is which way do you want to go: more discussion of playing published games, or more discussion of your game in development.

My reading of the post suggests the latter, and your reply looks like you're confirming that reading. I would like to accept your suggestion that this thread continue to focus on your playtesting, but again, that suggestion carries with it (i) moving to Game Development (which I can do easily; you don't have to do anything for that); and (ii) eventually posting an external link. Please understand that this is not punitive moderation, but rather helping you to match your needs in posting here with the forum's structure.

Best, Ron"

[Daniel36]

In that case I don't mind you moving it to the game development part. I will just use this one as a playtest area and make a new one for game design discussions. Perhaps it's a good idea for another forum section for getting to know each other. The reason I started this thread first was I would've felt cocky if I went straight to my game without you guys knowing who I was. But then, maybe you guys all know each other really well.

Thanks for the clarification. I am getting closer to releasing a beta-version.

[Ron Edwards]

Excellent!

I do appreciate the opening information in your post. It helps anyone reading about your game to understand your perspectives and goals.

Please don't concern yourself about appearing cocky or not fitting in. People at this website do not concern themselves with outsiders and insiders; it's all about working on our games and working out ideas.

Moving to Game Development now. I'll look forward to seeing the link to the new draft when it's ready.

Best, Ron