Hey I have been looking at the forge forums lately and decided to try and think up my own game. Anyway, if this has already been thought up, just give me a swift kick to the head. I really havent though of a damage or health system yet, I just started thinking up stuff about an hour ago. I will update my stuff at a later date when I have more. For now I have some unit classifications and such.

Main Concept- You are a demonic warlord fighting for the control of hell. This will be a Tactical RPG and will have gridbased levels that you battle on. You can battle against other warlords that are playing with you (No penalties/bonuses for losing or death when fighting other players), or you can start a campaign to become the ruler of hell. The GM will control all non-player units, such as your enemies and story critical units. The Gm will also decide what units join your army.

Your Character- This is your main unit, a demonic warlord. You are more powerful than most demons, but if you fall in battle your soul is sent to the limbo of eternal darkness and you are no more (Game over, start over, Sorry 'bout your luck). When you create a character you will choose an element (Fire, Ice, Earth, Lightning), this will affect the look of your keep, your spellbook, and your Golem types. Your character will be able to level through gaining experience (like most rpgs). When you level you will be able to choose new stats and abilities, plus command larger armies.

Stats- This is your character's build or make-up. The stats will probably deal with Strength, Endurance, Intelligence, and Agility (Like most games, but im not sure yet).

Currency- (Used to buy armor and weapons, and recruit Taskmasters)
Horror Gems- these gems grow from the walls of hell and are fed with the screams and pain of victims. The more pain you cause, the more Horror Gems you will recieve.

Unit Types- (These are just classifications, I will dream up some units and post them later.)

Undead- these are people raised from the dead to serve you for an eternity in hell. There abilities depend on what evil deeds they did in life and how they where punished for there crimes. They will be the bulk of you army.

Imps- these are lesser demons, most of them are skilled in magic. They have the ability to fly and can be very stealthy because of there size. They are best used as support units.

Taskmasters- these are more powerful demons with the task of torturing the Undead and keeping them in line. Unlike the Undead, they join you on there own free will.  These demons are used as heavy hitters for your army.

Specters- these are evil spirits that can walk through objects and other units, making them highly mobile. Like the Undead, there punishment is to serve you in hell. They can also influence other unit's way of thinking.

Mounts- these are undead beasts of burden. They can be mounted to increase unit speed and give other special abilities.

Golems- these are elements shaped into human form and given a soul. They are very loyal to you. The Golem's type and abilities depend on the element you chose to start play with.

The Keep- This is your keep. You come here to manage profits and troops.

The Torture Chamber- Any undead you do not go into battle with stay here to be punished, creating Horror Gems for you as you battle. You do need to leave atleast one Taskmaster behind to torture them.

The Throne Room- This is where you sit and plan battle. You can come here to get a sneak peek at the next battle map so you can plan unit placement and tactics.

The Bottomless Pit- This is where you throw units that are not wanted anymore.

The Main Hall- This is where units come to be recruited. More successful warlords attract larger numbers and more powerful units.

The Feeding Grounds- Your Undead come here to feast off the flesh of your dead enemies. Undead that have eaten will gain bonuses to health for the next battle.

The Mine- Horror Gems grow throughout this mine. If you cause enough pain, they will grow large and fall to the floor.

The Armory- Weapons and Armor are forged and kept here, you come here to equip units for battle.

The Sweat Shop- Here you can combine your items to create new ones. You must have combination recipes to build these items, they can be found on enemy units throughout the game.

It sounds more like a board or video game than a traditional pen and paper RPG. Some of the better board games in this genre are things like Descent or Rune Bound, where players each control an individual character that grows over time but who are essentially running through limited, strategic contests without much though to "characterization". Have you thought about developing it more along these lines?

As an RPG, I have a few questions:

1) Whats the feel of the game. The first thing that comes to mind is Disgaea, a video game by Atlus, where your a prince of hell trying to reclaim his throne after centuries long sleep. That game has a "comedy-anime" veneer. So I guess, I'm asking what mood your trying to evoke, comedy, horror, really-cool heavy metal iconography?

2) How would the player's characters interact?

3) Outside of the battles, what kind of stories would the game be about?

4) How much of a human are the warlords? Do they have any feelings, or are they alien intellects? Is power within hell their only motivation? What other motivations might they have?

5) Besides battling and preparing for battle, what else might my character do, in game?

Hello, and welcome to the Forge?

What's your name?

So, this is a Tactical RPG, with lots of tactical fights and resource management. However, how do you envision the function of role-playing in all this? Cause, you might easily discover that role-playing the character, narration and all that standard RPG stuff is actually tacked on here, and the idea would work better as a straight board game or wargame (i.e. in the style of Mordheim or Necromunda, only with the GM). On the other hand, there might be some reason for including actual role-playing in it - and I think it might be the most important design decision for you to take.

Ok, thanks for imput, im going to try and work those things like roleplay and such into the game. Oh, my names Tyler Slagle, by the way. Sorry for not mentioning that. I am going to be very busy this week, I have to move into my new house. But when I get some time I will work on this more and hopefully present you with something worthwhile.

Hi Tyler,

I'd suggest thinking a lot about what some others have said in this thread.  It sounds (to me) like you plan on making a neat tactical boardgame and then "shoe-horning" in the roleplaying aspects.  I firmly believe that the roleplaying needs a toe-hold in the design from an early stage -- it doesn't have to be sweeping or all-encompassing.  Maybe the roleplaying just determines who you've pissed off and who you're fighting (oh, and along those lines, maybe taking "trying to take over hell" out of the design might be helpful -- I think that demons could come up with a whole lot of more interesting ideas than just pure conquest).  Maybe roleplaying does something else.  Regardless, it can't be an appendage -- it has to be an internal organ.

Now, here's something that you said that worries me - regardless of whether this ends up with or without roleplaying,

Slaglet wrote: The GM will control all non-player units, such as your enemies and story critical units. The Gm will also decide what units join your army.

It'd be a nice touch if characters' attributes were the Seven Deadly Sins (Lust, Pride, etc)

...maybe the 'attacks' you make on other players are actually trying to tempt them, make them angry etc.

Also, I agree with other people who've posted that it sounds like it'd work better as a board game. Perhaps one like Talisman which has a role-playing 'style' - for example each player having a character with different attributes etc.

The characters could be defined by their ability to provoke, and resist, various sins; you could have 14 characteristics, or 7 if the 'offense' and 'defence' elements of each sin are combined.

Or a simpler option, each character has one sin which they're good at provoking, and one which they're prone to fall into. One character might be a televangelist, able to provoke anger but prone to lust. Another could be an advertising executive, greedy and good at provoking envy.

Sloth could force players to miss turns.

Anger could force players to enter into unwise attacks. Likewise Envy, Avarice and Gluttony could force players to attack particular resources.

Pride could force players to forgo defending their territories properly.

Lust could force players to make moves determined by the object of their lust, or miss turns while they cavort with incubbi/succubi.

You could have a mechanism where players have points of Anger. If they fall into another sin, they can give in to it, or resist it and thus gain Anger. Once the Anger reaches a certain level, they're forced to act on it.