|
Heating the engines...
Submitted by shiruba on Wed, 2007-09-26 08:02.
Announcements | Questions
Hello there! I am new here, and im already heating the engines! Im currently working on a generic anime rpg system that is focused on the "realistic" animes out there or the "less powered ones". The catch (why-play-my-game-factor)is that i personally dislike lists, any kind of lists. so while i will have fixed attributes, i will (no matter how) have a on-the-fly-dynamic-skill-making-thingie and probably other on the fly things. ^^Submitted by shiruba on Thu, 2007-09-27 18:39.
Thank you. i have this much disposition because here in Brazil we dont have the "open source" culture well stabilished. we pay 5-6 dollars to read a RPG magazine that says the same stuff you can read all over the net for free. and we are QUITE hard-headed here, no one plays non-comercial games. :P SO I WANT TO DIE TALKING ABOUT RPG NOW !!!!! :P About my research, i dont have THAT many books, since i am pretty sure that i want to make a generic anime RPG system, but WAY less underpowered, lets say.... about 1/10 the power level of BESM :P i think that those systems are da bomb: OVA rpg, Action System, Tri-stat DX and Hero System, and I AM -SO- WAITING FOR THRASH 2.0 !!! I like "realistic" anime shows, so that kinda reflects in my way of gaming, and i feel that trying to make GURPS understand what anime means is far beyond my patience... and I have the same thing to say to you, while I´m kinda busy, I am always here too. Since we dont have a PM system here (yet), you cant contact me at will (you and any other fellow gamer) at shiruba4ever swirly "a" hotmail.com Cheers! Shiruba » reply
Possible aproachSubmitted by Chainsaw Aardvark on Fri, 2007-09-28 12:55.
Most of those system you've mentioned work by defining a character through what powers they have. However, while that may work for super-hero or over the top games - why is that the standard for anime? (To be fair, I play BESM and like it quite a bit) Much of what defines the genre is the plot and artistic style. Instead of choosing a list of powers, characters are created as rather mundane people with attributes and skills. However, the players have a metagame resource to use to pull off cartoonish stunts. So per say, there are pools for attributes boost, skill boost, and "unreality". If a PC needs to run faster than normal, the player can spend a point or two from the ATR pool, and double the characters speed. Or you can spend from the skill pool to boost your knowledge/execution for that important moment. Other banks can be created for paying out new and more over the top abilities depending on what series you're running. (Ie a super jump exclusive pool for really acrobatic games) Since these are limited pools, the power level is easy enough to control via distribution from the GM. The rate they're replenished - end of the game, end of the scene, every few sessions - also helps determine how often these things occur. The other half of the equation is to create a world that is described in shades of ink and paint, and plot lines out of anime can happen. When you envision a car in an rpg - is it a realistic photo, or animated? (Sort of the "do you dream in color?" query) I'm trying to pull this off for my "Dead EISS" war game - claiming its based on a (non-existent) 1980s fan-dub to excuse the presence of giant robots. There is a fine line between hobby and obsession. I seem to have lost sight of it some time ago. » reply
^^VSubmitted by shiruba on Sat, 2007-09-29 10:19.
seconded! Its kinda hard to define whats generic in anime, so let me correct myself. I will list some anime genres that i think my system will handle the rules and setting well: Tenchi Muyo!, Love Hina and other "magic girlfriend" animes Gundam, Evangelion, Patlabor and all other mecha types. Noir, Cowboy bebop and all other "almost a movie" animes martial arts anime (ranma, street fighter, etc.) thats all i can think right now, i think these should be the main focus of the system, so we can say thats my "standart" of anime to work on. cheers Shiruba » reply
How are you doing?Submitted by Chainsaw Aardvark on Wed, 2007-10-03 11:21.
Given a design challange, I can rise to the occasion. Its still your game though, I shouldn't completely design instead of you. Just ask, and I can back off a bit. Here are some concepts that appeared in my notebook. Take as you will: How much do you want to put in the rules as opposed to simply justify? Do we need a relation tracking meter of some sort to track the number of alien girlfriends you have and what they're doing? A tactical system for robot combat - or just make it like hand to hand? Are there different styles of martial arts, or is it just hit the guy until they fall down? I'd argue that for a more realistic system, there needs to be a bit less abstraction of ability. Potential Attributes
Then a few skills chosen by the player to help distinguish the character's profession and personality. Perhaps give a few questions, like:
After that, lay over the player's meta system of Ink & Paint points - the aforementioned resource to temporarily boost abilities. Of course, this all begs that we start thinking about numbers as well. I'd argue a larger range (1-10, 1-20) would be less granular and better able to show the range of characters than a smaller 1-5 scale. Then of course, what kind of dice to use. Groups rolled at once have a normative affect - you get less extreme results. Singular ones allow for more variability, and are often a bit quicker to read. Judging from your dissatisfaction with GURPS, I would avoid 3d6. However, I don't know what other types of dice are available in Brazil, so I wont suggest some of the more esoteric polyhedrons yet. 2d6 rolls have a notable curve, but the extremes aren't impossible - seems like a good fit. There is a fine line between hobby and obsession. I seem to have lost sight of it some time ago. » reply
hello there, chainsaw :) ISubmitted by shiruba on Wed, 2007-10-03 14:57.
hello there, chainsaw :) I forgot to mention that I already have some material from like, a year and half of brainstorming this game. I have the Attributes (however, one of them is hurting my little nerd head), and i have "sketches" of how combat should flow and such. Im kinda out of time to go into detail right now, but if you want to help lift this Weight, there is a single thing that i REALLY need help. I need to design a flexible skill system. a checklist or small table with elements shared by one or more skills. there goes the sketch: 1. players decides skill to have. keep in mind that in my system i will have (atribute + skill level) roll under tests with heavy influence of margin of sucess (or failure). thats it, if i can figure this out, i can move to task resolution and stuff. peace ^^V Shiruba - Shiruba - » reply
|
Greetings
Welcome to the Lab.
I'm quite impressed that you entered the ring swinging. We don't get enough people who start talking business in their first post.
Much like you, I started designing changing half the rules of an RPG with a broken combat system (Palladium Book's "Rifts" in my case) And I set out to look at other free games as research. Hopefully you have a little more restraint in that department than I do. Documents for 350+ free games take up over a gig of hard-drive space on my computer. Wargames another 600+ MB.
While I've got a number of own projects in the works at the moment, you can consider me always here to help.
There is a fine line between hobby and obsession. I seem to have lost sight of it some time ago.