Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Baby Steps

A few posts ago, I mentioned that I wanted to write a roleplaying game and since then, I have been reading and listening to quite a bit about the subject. Well, finally this weekend the ideas and concepts came together into something that resembled a system. It's nowhere near the outside world seeing it yet and has to get a large swathe of testing under it's belt BUT at least we have a start.

One thing that has become readily apparent is that whilst, in some of the current models of indie games, this could be a future money spinner - thats not what I want to achieve. I've set myself (initially) a little challenge.

1. The main rules shall be no longer than 12 pages of A5
2. I have to say everything I want to say about the system for the players in those 12 pages
3. There will be a 12 page 'GM' book as well - more of a discussion document than rules really.
4. Setting books will be 8 pages long.

Settings books? Well, what struck me was that the system I have created mirrors the gaming practices of my group pretty well, and thats a penchant for world building within game. Indeed, much of character creation revolves around the creation of the world as well as the character. However, it's very very difficult to create a world in a vacuum and even harder to create characters therein. So why not have tiny little seeder books which give the barest bones of a campaign for people to use/discard/adapt and moreover grow their characters from, changing the world as they go in character generation.

This is in no way, shape or form a handy dumping ground for ideas that I have had that never got past the conceptual stage...honest! However, the first one I have in mind is MI:666 - modern horror in a world where the Powers That Be *know* that Hell exists....

Anyway, progress is a good thing!

Neil

No comments: