The Great Conjunction (RPG DESIGN CONTEST) - Page 9

Wik · 9th February 2009, 06:12 AM

Ha ha, yeah, Real Life has got in my way, as well. But, I'm pushing along. I'll have to cut things, but I'll make sure I get SOMETHING out.

EP · 22nd February 2009, 04:04 PM

While not fully complete, it is as much as can be given the deadline and time available to get 'er done.

IGNITION: 2050 unveils the science behind magic. On January 27, 2037, a nuclear blast wiped out the city of Baltimore. Publicly declared a terrorist attack, the truth remains under tight seal by NATO and the European Union: a lone scientist conducting his own research unraveled the mysteries of radiant energy, a source of solar energy capable of defying reality. In short, specific wavelengths emitted by the sun create magic.

You play an arc caster working for one of the major superpowers of the world: China, India, the United States, Russia, or Brazil. Equipped with your ARC suits, you can manipulate the radiant energy stored within your biomechanical suit of amour to create arcs with a series of fifteen waves (translated frequencies of radiant energy capable of unleashing specific effects). Designed as an open-ended magic system, players can launch any number of arcs of their own design by spending arc points tailored around their individual arcs. Success is determined by an opposed roll against another player or HQ (Headquarters, AKA the Gamemaster), thereby allowing players to maintain suspense and constant action with every action taken at the table. Player can also create customized exploits for pre-set, ready-to-use arcs, tactics, and incredible talents with greater ease.

I have to admit. This was awesome to do. I've never actually gone ahead and devised a new roleplaying system before and the experience was very eye-opening. I hope this will do the trick and that any first draft errors will be at a minimum, but thanks for the shot, fellas. Good luck to my fellow competitors and looking forward to finding out the winner.

Jack7 · 22nd February 2009, 09:27 PM

Quote:

IGNITION: 2050 unveils the science behind magic. On January 27, 2037, a nuclear blast wiped out the city of Baltimore. Publicly declared a terrorist attack, the truth remains under tight seal by NATO and the European Union: a lone scientist conducting his own research unraveled the mysteries of radiant energy, a source of solar energy capable of defying reality. In short, specific wavelengths emitted by the sun create magic.

You play an arc caster working for one of the major superpowers of the world: China, India, the United States, Russia, or Brazil. Equipped with your ARC suits, you can manipulate the radiant energy stored within your biomechanical suit of amour to create arcs with a series of fifteen waves (translated frequencies of radiant energy capable of unleashing specific effects). Designed as an open-ended magic system, players can launch any number of arcs of their own design by spending arc points tailored around their individual arcs. Success is determined by an opposed roll against another player or HQ (Headquarters, AKA the Gamemaster), thereby allowing players to maintain suspense and constant action with every action taken at the table. Player can also create customized exploits for pre-set, ready-to-use arcs, tactics, and incredible talents with greater ease.

I have to admit. This was awesome to do. I've never actually gone ahead and devised a new roleplaying system before and the experience was very eye-opening. I hope this will do the trick and that any first draft errors will be at a minimum, but thanks for the shot, fellas. Good luck to my fellow competitors and looking forward to finding out the winner.

I like the idea EP, and from what I've seen so far I like the way you've worked it. I think your idea and approach improved a lot over time from your original design.

Congratulations on your effort.
I'll read it in more detail later.
It's very interesting.

Wik · 22nd February 2009, 09:52 PM

Hm. IGNITION seems pretty cool! Military-based magical game! Nice. I really like how you refer to the GM as "HQ". Very nice touch.

Exploits are a great idea, too - pick one facet of your character, whether it be a skill, attribute, spell, or whatever - and you get a bonus using that power. Very nice touch.

Your name for combat is great, too ("A step by step guide for killing your opponents"). In fact, your chapter names are pretty much golden.

The Arcs seem particularly cool. I really need to read them in more detail... but I'm working on my own game right now! And I don't think it'd be wise for me to do more than just skim your game at this point.

EP · 23rd February 2009, 05:05 PM

Thanks. I'm just a big fan of open-ended rules that are not bogged down by details. I have one player in particular who always says "Why does the spell only go five feet?" I built the game with him in mind.

And now that I'm free from the bonds of Ignition (for now), I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else did.

GlassEye · 26th February 2009, 03:16 AM

The end is nigh!

Too bad I didn't stumble across this thread two months ago.

It sounds like a lot of fun. And hard work, of course.

EP, Ignition is nicely done. I enjoyed the quick look over I did last night and look forward to reading it in more depth.

Can hardly wait to see what else you all have been working on!

Primal · 26th February 2009, 03:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by helium3

Is anyone aware of any systems besides Amber that don't rely on determining the outcome of an action randomly with dice?

Active Exploits is diceless, I think, and Baron Munchausen Storytelling Game as well. Polaris, Shock and several other Indie RPGs use negotiation (i.e. to gain something you need to sacrifice something). Then there're several systems that use cards or tokens/chips (bidding) as conflict resolution mechanics, e.g. Mortal Coil, Swansong and Dragonlance/Marvel Saga. Then there's Dread which uses Jenga.

There are others, but those are the ones that immediately came to mind.

Lord Xtheth · 26th February 2009, 05:35 AM

my notebook found its way into my washing machine... I couldn't salvage anything, so I gave up.

I'll try again some other time... when my morale gets back up.

twistnack · 26th February 2009, 04:17 PM

I've been working on Deep Black, a game of ex-CIA officers with magic powers trying to change the future. Right now I'm working on getting it proofed, so it should be ready by Saturday.

jmucchiello · 28th February 2009, 01:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GlassEye

The end is nigh!

Too bad I didn't stumble across this thread two months ago.

It sounds like a lot of fun. And hard work, of course.

So wait until Saturday and do it as a 24-hour RPG.

RandomCitizenX · 28th February 2009, 02:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmucchiello

So wait until Saturday and do it as a 24-hour RPG.

Because of the really real world, this has become my situation (at least I have a ton of brainstorming done)

jdrakeh · 28th February 2009, 08:47 AM

Well, I plan to start reading entries later today. A fair warning, though — I'm heavily medicated at the time and wilol be going in for some blood work over the next few weeks, so that may effect the speed of my evaluation.

Wik · 28th February 2009, 08:57 AM

Looking forward to getting this thing done, chief. I'm doing the final touch-ups on my game. I should have it in fairly late on saturday, though. Keep in mind that I'm on Pacific Time, so there is the possibility it could come in after "midnight" in someone else's time zone.

I'll be submitting it as PDF.

twistnack · 28th February 2009, 05:15 PM

Here’s the Great Conjunction edition of Deep Black for your consideration. In this game you play ex-CIA spies that have gained magic powers after participating in a government run experiment. It’s a mix of espionage, crime drama, and surrealism. It’s also something I wouldn’t have done if not for this contest.

This game would have been very different if I hadn’t of listened to the episode of Have Games, Will Travel on Stick, which directed me to Vincent Baker’s In a Wicked Age. I also owe the people that helped me playtest the game, and the people that gave me notes on the manuscript a debt of gratitude.

I hope people enjoy it.

Jack7 · 28th February 2009, 05:35 PM

I'll study Deep Black in more detail later on Twist, but I already like the idea and the presentation. And the simplicity and efficiency of the layout.

It vaguely reminds me of altered reality/perception and remote viewing experiments.

twistnack · 28th February 2009, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jack7

I'll study Deep Black in more detail later on Twist, but I already like the idea and the presentation. And the simplicity and efficiency of the layout.

It vaguely reminds me of altered reality/perception and remote viewing experiments.

Thanks.

I was thinking about those old studies into remote viewing and psychic phenomenon when I started working on the project. I have this great book Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain that probably should have reread while I was working on the game.

Arkhandus · 28th February 2009, 10:48 PM

Well, I wound up too busy with other obligations and distractions (like buying a few video games on the cheap that I had been looking for since this X-Mas or last X-Mas), so I never got around to typing up more than an outline for my idea, though I spent several mroe hours thinking about it and brainstorming. Oh well.

Wik · 1st March 2009, 12:18 AM

Well, here's my entry. I gotta say, it felt real nice when I finished it. It's actually about 48 pages if it hadn't been set in columns, but I always thought columns looked nicer. There was a lot I wanted to put in but couldn't (Psychic storms, more enclaves, some info on ruined cities beyond the hints I gave, more monsters, a whole slew of GM advice and random tables, a survival-based "random events" rules system, a pre-made adventure, more skills, more powers....). I just didn't have space or time, and two weeks ago, I realized I had to focus on getting the core game finished.

I learned a lot doing this, and I'm thinking I'll now go over my game, clean some things up, and really expand upon it. I had a lot of fun in this competition, and I think it'd be fun to make this an annual thing. Hell, I'd be interested in trying out one of those 24 hour RPG design games... or, better yet, a one-week design. I'd love to do another one of these a few months down the road!

So, here's my game. Any and all feedback welcome.

fuindordm · 1st March 2009, 01:15 AM

Well here's my entry. I only got about 2/3 of the way through it, and there are a lot of ideas in my head that I never got down on paper. But a lot of the core is there, and I'm pretty happy with what I've written.

The really gaping hole is a standard method for character advancement. Oh, well.

At least now I have enough material that I'll keep working and finish the thing eventually.

Cheers,
Ben

CardinalXimenes · 1st March 2009, 03:23 AM

I didn't note my participation in this, as I wasn't sure I'd have time to gin anything up. All the same, I did manage to pitch together a few ideas for a retro-flavored offering. I think the biggest lesson I learned during this was that my layout skills are truly abominable. If I do something like this again, I really need to devote more time to learning how to put things together in a clean, easily-read format like some of the other offerings that've been put up so far.