[Heroes Against Darkness] Alpha rules available for feedback and playtest
Thriff:
JH,
Depends on what you're doing here.
Your stated motivations are all mechanical in nature. Fix this or that subjective problem and simplify game-play. Those are fine motivations, but what is the driving purpose behind this project?
Are you creating a game for you and your friends? Or are you creating a game you'd like to publish for free or money?
If the former, then an unique setting is an absolute non-issue. You and your friends (seem to) already enjoy elves/dwarves/humans/half-something-or-others in a sword/breast-plate/hamlet-filled-countryside-in-a-feudal-society setting and that's fine.
The latter option, however, can't support the same elves/dwarves... I only speak as a player and designer and for my interpretation of the community and from those positions I'll offer: DnD-esque cliches can't compete financially or creatively because of over-saturation. There is a reason the term "fantasy heartbreaker" exists. Edwards' has (again) done an exceptional job of writing an historically informative, insightful, and inspirational article describing fantasy hearbreakers on this very site http://www.indie-rpgs.com/articles/9/ . Check it out if you haven't.
If you want new people to find and fall in love with this game then it needs to be something other than "elaborately laid-out house rules" as Wolf says.
This isn't to be cruel. I want you to achieve whatever goals you've set for your game but I'm unclear on what the purpose of this project is. Your nuclear community or RPers across the globe?
If this is for you and your friends then I haven't read HaD or DnD well enough to aid you in reaching your mechanical alteration goals.
A New Setting
If you want others to find and fall in love with this game then I strongly suggest replacing its cliched setting with something creative and inspirational. Or at least something easily adaptable to different settings. Because honestly, I have (perhaps fortunately) exactly enough inexperience with DnD to interpret HaD as identical to DnD. Granted, that inexperience may mean I (unlike your target audience) am unable to read the changes you've made to DnD and be consumed with excitement to engross myself in learning your system in its entirety.
You were concerned that a new setting would be an "endless endeavour" and it very well could be. But that isn't necessarily detrimental. Financially it could be great! An ever-expanding setting requires official exploration and clarification from the designer which can be released as expansions or supplements long after the core game is complete. Creatively a new setting could be great! Die sizes don't inspire players. The sublime beauty of your simplifications won't inspire (many) players. Fictional heroes, villains, civilizations, cultures, technologies, and lore inspire players. All of them? Probably not, but more than charts and lists do. And hype over the unique fiction through fan-fiction, fan-art, or online adoration will be key in designing a game that others find and fall in love with.
System and Setting
Regardless of whether you choose to maintain a Medieval Fantasy genre or to create a new seting it is dangerous to ignore "settings and color" in favour of prioritizing mechanics. Your system and setting must be forged as one, because a comprehensive game blends them seamlessly. This is true, I believe, for all artistic mediums; Film, Theatre, and Writing included. All games are restricted by their determined setting. Even universal settings pose limitations. Your game is limited by Medieval Fantasy elves/dwarves... So to play this game I must enjoy that setting. I suspect you have specific rules to account for differences in races which makes the game more difficult to adapt to other settings--thus alienating potential players.
Suggestion: If you want people from around the world finding and loving your game then you need a unique and inspirational setting to pair with your mechanical design choices. Or, barring that, at least design a customizable system that (if not universal) is easily adaptable to different genres.
T
Zachary_Wolf:
Quote
I've been working on Heroes Against Darkness mainly for myself and my group, but also because I imagine that there are other groups out there that - like ours - may be interested in a system like this.
Alright, well considering this is meant as a purely mechanical overhaul for like-minded groups, I can say I give you credit for effort at the very least. Unfortunately, like Thriff, I'm not that savvy on the mechanical intricacies, so I won't be able to comment much on that type of thing. But for what it is, seems like it might be interesting for people who are in the market for retooled D&D systems to support their fantasy games.
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