It dawned on me the other day that my Towerlands project is a classic fantasy heartbreaker. I mean, I've known this all along, but it had not occurred to me what that meant for my game design
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I'm digging on the card mechanic. In my more recent designs and design ponderings, I keep wanting to reduce mechanics to "fit on a card" level (see my D&D Desires for example).
I'd love to see what has that Fantasy Heartbreaker feel (i.e., D&D "done better") but then kicks your ass with new perspectives. You know, like creating your own Niches.
Are you planning on having a more traditional base ruleset (you know, ability scores and what-not)? Or something else?
I love the idea of a box full of 3x5 cards representing a world, built up over time by the players and GM during play, a handful of the pertinent ones spread over the table.
I haven't quite decided what the base ruleset is yet. I think it'll probably end up being a set of five very high level attributes (Physical, Mental, Emotional, Social, Spiritual) but those will not be sources of dice for conflicts as much as pools of different types of "hit points." Or perhaps they'll be categories for Identity powers ("See soul hues" might be a Spiritual power, and "Shoot far with my widow wood bow" would be a Physical power).
I'm leaning more towards the Dogs in the Vineyard way to define a character. A small set of attributes and a whole bunch of freeform traits, suggested by things on the Identity cards.
I'll write more about what I mean by a Fantasy Heartbreaker feel in a bit.
I first read the Physical power as "Shoot fear with my widow wood bow". Thought I'd throw that back at you.
I suggest that you name your high level attributes something more evocative, even if they're high-level (though with the caveat that a list of out-there abilities like "Elan" and "Windward" can be totally confusing). And consider the umbrella each ability will cover. Do you really want Physical as something someone chooses at the expense of Mental? Or would your game be better served by a different separation such as approach (abilities such as Power, Fortitude, Guile) or involvement (e.g., Personal, Distant, Community).
Last design consideration: Do you want a Niche to be directly tied to an ability? (And yes is a totally valid answer, just consider why)
I see the attribute domains (Physical, Mental, etc.) as niche-protecting, especially if one has to buy Physical at the expense of Mental. Look at D20 Modern and how it handles classes. It's basically, "smart dude," "fast dude," "strong dude," and so on.
Organizing attributes by involvement is a neat idea that I need to think about for a while.
Tying a niche directly to a domain is gonna cause me a lot of trouble when I start trying to apply it in play, I think. I'll probably scrap that idea but it's one I am considering.
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I'd love to see what has that Fantasy Heartbreaker feel (i.e., D&D "done better") but then kicks your ass with new perspectives. You know, like creating your own Niches.
Are you planning on having a more traditional base ruleset (you know, ability scores and what-not)? Or something else?
Reply
I love the idea of a box full of 3x5 cards representing a world, built up over time by the players and GM during play, a handful of the pertinent ones spread over the table.
I haven't quite decided what the base ruleset is yet. I think it'll probably end up being a set of five very high level attributes (Physical, Mental, Emotional, Social, Spiritual) but those will not be sources of dice for conflicts as much as pools of different types of "hit points." Or perhaps they'll be categories for Identity powers ("See soul hues" might be a Spiritual power, and "Shoot far with my widow wood bow" would be a Physical power).
I'm leaning more towards the Dogs in the Vineyard way to define a character. A small set of attributes and a whole bunch of freeform traits, suggested by things on the Identity cards.
I'll write more about what I mean by a Fantasy Heartbreaker feel in a bit.
Reply
I suggest that you name your high level attributes something more evocative, even if they're high-level (though with the caveat that a list of out-there abilities like "Elan" and "Windward" can be totally confusing). And consider the umbrella each ability will cover. Do you really want Physical as something someone chooses at the expense of Mental? Or would your game be better served by a different separation such as approach (abilities such as Power, Fortitude, Guile) or involvement (e.g., Personal, Distant, Community).
Last design consideration: Do you want a Niche to be directly tied to an ability? (And yes is a totally valid answer, just consider why)
Reply
Organizing attributes by involvement is a neat idea that I need to think about for a while.
Tying a niche directly to a domain is gonna cause me a lot of trouble when I start trying to apply it in play, I think. I'll probably scrap that idea but it's one I am considering.
P.S. Shooting fear is distilled awesome.
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