I reached an interesting chapter developing Planet X. It's mechanic is modelling the escalation of a typical sci-fi subgenre. The crewmembers (PCs) are conflicting with the Planet wich becomes stronger and stronger. After some time the planet will become such strong that there is no way to achieve anything, thus the crew has to escape before that happens.
I already wrote some character creation wich defines the crewmembers' strength. Now I'm thinking how much bonus should the equipment give the crewmembers in conflicts. This is interesting, because the achievable strength of the crew defines how lond a game can become.
I can even estimate the results of the rolls using graphs, etc., but I can't predict how long the time interval will be until the planet gets stronger.
A chapter like this consists of setting a stake (defining the actual strength of the planet wich has to be higher than the former actual strength) and playing out the conflicts. This means that there is no need for bridge scenes, each and every narration has some mechanical meat in it.
I still don't know what the solution should be:
- there could/should be a factor wich is based upon the number of players (the more players, the more scenes narrated)
- maybe the players could set a pace for the game
- I could define a pace based upon the genre and limit the number of players
I wouldn't do the second option, because I would like to make this game playable even for beginners, hence the 6-sided dice, etc., and it wouldn't be fare to push the weight on their shoulders.
I could combine solutions 1 and 3, thus defining a pace based upon the number of players and using the genre as base.
I wouldn't want to give the items of eqipment different values, wich means the equipment of the crew itself should change based upon the number of players and there should be some restrictions regarding the style of narrating. But how could I implement the latter simple and easy even for starters?