War in the Heavens, early days, help needed
gtroc:
Quote from: Daniel36 on September 01, 2011, 01:28:22 AM
Hmmm... Right now it seems you have just taken the basic D&D stats and changed their names, pretty much. If you are going to use a similar system, just use the same names. The people that are going to play this are people that are familiar with those terms, and they will know that you just changed the names but mean the same. I like the notion of a weak stat, a strong stat and average for the rest, because I think the whole dicerolling deal is stupid.
But aside from that, I think it is more important to know beforehand what you want to DO with these stats, which is why I am not going to suggest any terms for them right now. I mean, we can all understand why one would take Strength or Quickness as a strong point, but why would someone take Cleverness or Sincerity? What can one do with these stats? How will this affect play?
Thank you for the questions, hopefully I can explain my thoughts a bit better.
basically as I was designing, I knew I wanted stats. I thought long and hard about it, and would like stats that really represented what the game is about. so I broke down the problems the characters will face and tried to come up with stats that would reflect the sort of actions i would like to see them do. then i made a mistake, I toyed with using a traditional stat set up. now when ever I go back to my stat designs all that comes to me are the traditional stats. I know that I want a lot of social/political challenges in my game, diplomacy and missionary stuff. making deals with foreign powers and converting the heathen masses and such.I also know there will be a lot of physical interaction, my game is about war after all. so I broke the stats down to three mental actions, physical actions, and social actions.
then I made mistake number two. early on I had gotten it in my head to have six stats. I like the number, that is the only reason I did so. because of that choice, the three action types had to be broken down into two separate stats each. so that is where they come from. Also as a quick aside, I realized that mental action really doesn't need to be there for my game's premise as is. all I need are physical challenge resolution and social challenge resolution, for what I currently want out of my game. Of course that will break my stats down to two or four, depending.
the stats each represent strength/power of an action type(physical, mental, social) and speed/flexibility of an action type.
they break down like so:
Strength: using physical power to solve a problem.
Quickness: using physical speed/agility/flexibility to solve a problem
Intelligence/education: using raw intellectual might/facts to solve a problem
Perception/cunning: solving a problem using mental speed/situational awareness.
cleverness/wittiness: lying/obfuscating/manipulation to solve problems.
Charm/sweetness/sincerity: solving a problem using honesty/sincerity.
I know they are not really what I want. but my mind has fallen into a trap of my own making and I am at a loss as to how to get out. As I write this however, I am thinking of maybe dowing something like Smallville. using a stat system like that...it could work.
thanks Daniel, once again discussing this has helped open up my thoughts a bit on my design. I look forward to hearing more of your thoughts in the future.
Daniel36:
Glad to oblige. I had an inkling you got stuck. The same reason I post here, to hear what others have to say so as to find things from a different perspective.
Tell me, without using any stats or game mechanics, what exactly do you want the characters to do? Battle? How? Diplomacy? In what way? I want to know what the characters "are", what they can do and why they want to do that.
If you can tell me that, I may be able to help you further.
gtroc:
As I was designing this I got some imagery in my head. basically I see this as Equilibrium meets Dune meets Beowulf(and maybe La Morte d'Arther). I want the characters to be larger than life, I want it to be tragic. I want the battle scenes to wow people, but they must have an emotional impact. there has to be a reason that they are fighting. So combat is deeply personal. it is more about the emotion of the scene, than flipping around and such like. does that make sense?
after talking with you all, and think on what has been said I am leaning toward having four stats, along the lines of Faith, Hope, Love, and Duty. and basically when you make a roll you you must justify it in the description how that relates, but that is where i am stuck. I hate this part of design; the getting stuck bit, I mean. and this has happened a lot this go round. if you need me to clear up what i am talking of, let me know. sorry I am just a bit discouraged with the process lately. I am afraid it is affecting me.
Daniel36:
Don't let it affect you. We've all been there I suppose. I know I have!
Okay, so you want the battle scenes to be epic, there has to be a reason to fight. I think you should write out the background stories now and make it a question of demand.
I was thinking. Your stats were, at first, geared towards the individual character, but perhaps you should consider not rolling stats for a character, but for their craft. If you want space combat, regular combat and diplomacy, perhaps the spacecraft can also be turned into walkers for some ground based combat? (Think Starfox) This way, your characters don't need stats such as strength and agility, but their craft do.
Maybe give your characters a whole different set of stats aimed primarily at solving diplomatic issues?
Just some random food for thought again. Keep up!!
gtroc:
I have stepped a bit away from the mechanics for a bit. I have been working on a way to build the religions. mostly I was looking for a way to get the information required, while still leaving it open enough for the players to play with.
Here is the post where I discuss my method
I am unsure of this method, and would like any thoughts on the matter. Thank you!
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page