Just Imagine You Creating..
- Thread starter GQuail
- Start date
masshysteria
Explorer
Alternity reimagined:
The system itself it pretty solid. I'd focus on expanding the rules to include play not only in modern to far future settings, but also in past settings. Also, I'd take another pass at tech trying to smooth it out with modern day tech and predictions for the future. I'd also like to add in rules for playing with large lumbering Mech Warrior style mechs.
Dark*Matter reimagined:
With the Dark*Matter setting, I'd ratchet up the horror and do Dark*Matter throughout the ages. So, for example, you could pick up the book and play an OSS team in WWII trying to stop Heinrich Himmler's occult troops, or a weird west where players are outlaws and lawmen dealing with vampires or supernatural spirits conjured by Native Americas, and not only be stuck in a late-90's/modern-day conspiracy theory setting.
d20 Star Wars reimagined:
Move away from tactical combat and focus on epic cinematic feel. Revamp the force skills, consolidate player skills, and allow players to do more, so they really feel like Han Solo and Luke Skywalker. Also, figure out a great and streamlined space combat system so players can have fun zooming around in x-wings and light freighters.
The system itself it pretty solid. I'd focus on expanding the rules to include play not only in modern to far future settings, but also in past settings. Also, I'd take another pass at tech trying to smooth it out with modern day tech and predictions for the future. I'd also like to add in rules for playing with large lumbering Mech Warrior style mechs.
Dark*Matter reimagined:
With the Dark*Matter setting, I'd ratchet up the horror and do Dark*Matter throughout the ages. So, for example, you could pick up the book and play an OSS team in WWII trying to stop Heinrich Himmler's occult troops, or a weird west where players are outlaws and lawmen dealing with vampires or supernatural spirits conjured by Native Americas, and not only be stuck in a late-90's/modern-day conspiracy theory setting.
d20 Star Wars reimagined:
Move away from tactical combat and focus on epic cinematic feel. Revamp the force skills, consolidate player skills, and allow players to do more, so they really feel like Han Solo and Luke Skywalker. Also, figure out a great and streamlined space combat system so players can have fun zooming around in x-wings and light freighters.
GreatLemur
Explorer
Aw, man, I could really spend way too much time on this.
Dungeons & Dragons
D&D needs to decide whether or not it's a generic fantasy system, or a full game with a default setting. Personally, I'm pulling for system over setting. I'd redesign D&D to remove the setting-specific assumptions inherent in a lot of its mechanics--alignments as real, objective forces in the world, for example--and genericize the character system for greater flexibility: three ultra-basic character classes (with an optional fourth, if the DM wants to draw a distinction between arcane and divine magic), with a hell of a lot of feats and skills to customize them.
And, by God, it's got to be easy and math-light: D&D is the gateway drug of RPGs, and it needs to be able to hook people who didn't spend their youth optimizing their Magic decks. Feats should be organized into logical, thematic lists, each entry including simple language explaining why someone would want to take that feat (as opposed to giving us one sentence of nearly meaningless flavor text and then on to the numbers and fiddly bits).
The combat system also needs to be streamlined for the sake of newb-friendliness: Page upon page of special-case rules are a barrier to entry that this game does not need. Attacks of opportunity can be a lot of fun, but they definitely ain't for everybody. And, seriously, do we really need weapon lists that distinguish between eight different types of axe? Or between axes and swords at all?
Monsters would require a new system to make them just as flexible as PCs. "Level" would be the same thing as HD, ECL, or CR. Adding templates and class levels to monsters would be the rule, rather than the exception, and would of course be vastly simplified.
I'd keep most of the stuff that falls outside of the mainstream Western notion of the "fantasy" genre out of the core books--in terms of both PCs and monster options--but pour it on in the optional books. Supplements would be based on sub-genre themes or world elements. Instead of books of new stuff for arcane magic users or things to do in desert settings, there'd be books on steampunk, science-fantasy, sword-and-sorcery, biomancy, demonic powers, technomagic, alchemy, and so on. These would include the expected character options and monsters, and also optional rules variants to support campaigns of different genres and levels of complexity.
World of Darkness
Okay, I tried to do WoD, but it just turned into six paragraphs of me kicking White Wolf around. I've got other forums where I can go to be mean; EN World is where I try to be nice.
Short, non-mean version: My World of Darkness would be a more flexible game with less strict, setting-focused content. There would be much, much less emphasis on ancient, powerful organizations of supernatural beings. There'd be more room for your character to be something unique and unprecedented, instead of one more of a giant club. Character generation would be more freely point-based, with no race-class paradigm. "Metaplot" would be nonexistent, and game fiction would be minimal.
Also, "magic" would go back to the old consensus/paradigm/paradox bit, instead of the "wizards from Atlantis" business in the new Mage.
I'm going to stop, now.
Dungeons & Dragons
D&D needs to decide whether or not it's a generic fantasy system, or a full game with a default setting. Personally, I'm pulling for system over setting. I'd redesign D&D to remove the setting-specific assumptions inherent in a lot of its mechanics--alignments as real, objective forces in the world, for example--and genericize the character system for greater flexibility: three ultra-basic character classes (with an optional fourth, if the DM wants to draw a distinction between arcane and divine magic), with a hell of a lot of feats and skills to customize them.
And, by God, it's got to be easy and math-light: D&D is the gateway drug of RPGs, and it needs to be able to hook people who didn't spend their youth optimizing their Magic decks. Feats should be organized into logical, thematic lists, each entry including simple language explaining why someone would want to take that feat (as opposed to giving us one sentence of nearly meaningless flavor text and then on to the numbers and fiddly bits).
The combat system also needs to be streamlined for the sake of newb-friendliness: Page upon page of special-case rules are a barrier to entry that this game does not need. Attacks of opportunity can be a lot of fun, but they definitely ain't for everybody. And, seriously, do we really need weapon lists that distinguish between eight different types of axe? Or between axes and swords at all?
Monsters would require a new system to make them just as flexible as PCs. "Level" would be the same thing as HD, ECL, or CR. Adding templates and class levels to monsters would be the rule, rather than the exception, and would of course be vastly simplified.
I'd keep most of the stuff that falls outside of the mainstream Western notion of the "fantasy" genre out of the core books--in terms of both PCs and monster options--but pour it on in the optional books. Supplements would be based on sub-genre themes or world elements. Instead of books of new stuff for arcane magic users or things to do in desert settings, there'd be books on steampunk, science-fantasy, sword-and-sorcery, biomancy, demonic powers, technomagic, alchemy, and so on. These would include the expected character options and monsters, and also optional rules variants to support campaigns of different genres and levels of complexity.
World of Darkness
Okay, I tried to do WoD, but it just turned into six paragraphs of me kicking White Wolf around. I've got other forums where I can go to be mean; EN World is where I try to be nice.
Short, non-mean version: My World of Darkness would be a more flexible game with less strict, setting-focused content. There would be much, much less emphasis on ancient, powerful organizations of supernatural beings. There'd be more room for your character to be something unique and unprecedented, instead of one more of a giant club. Character generation would be more freely point-based, with no race-class paradigm. "Metaplot" would be nonexistent, and game fiction would be minimal.
Also, "magic" would go back to the old consensus/paradigm/paradox bit, instead of the "wizards from Atlantis" business in the new Mage.
I'm going to stop, now.
Last edited:
NPC Lord
First Post
I'd keep most of the stuff that falls outside of the mainstream Western notion of the "fantasy" genre out of the core books--in terms of both PCs and monster options--but pour it on--in the optional books. Supplements would be based on sub-genre themes or world elements. Instead of books of new stuff for arcane magic users or things to do in desert settings, there'd be books on steampunk, science-fantasy, sword-and-sorcery, biomancy, demonic powers, technomagic, alchemy, and so on. These would include the expected character options and monsters, and also optional rules variants to support campaigns of different genres and levels of complexity.
i like it
i like it
I'd want to re-imagine the Trinity, Aberrant and Adventure! game lines. Trinity would be up-dated to take advantage of newer ideas (like the Freeform Psi system) and Aberrant would be re-written mechanically (while remaining much the same thematically), to flow better as part of an Adventure!->Aberrant->Aeon timeline and not break out quite so much.
Trinity Psi would be beefed up a tad. Adventure! Knacks would remain much the same. Aberrant Quantum powers would be toned down somewhat (but not hugely, a 'toned-down' Nova would still be much tougher than a 'beefed-up' Psion. The goal wouldn't be balancing them to play together*, but merely tweaking them to be suitable to exist in the same universe...).
*If somebody wanted to do a cross-over, the way to 'balance' it would be to let the Daredevils and Psions have significantly more starting points, to balance out the *characters.* It would be inappropriate to balance out the 'splats,' as they serve different roles, a 'starting' Nova should always be 'better' than a 'starting' Psion. Trying to neuter Novas down to Daredevil levels would be totally counter-intuitive, IMO.
Trinity Psi would be beefed up a tad. Adventure! Knacks would remain much the same. Aberrant Quantum powers would be toned down somewhat (but not hugely, a 'toned-down' Nova would still be much tougher than a 'beefed-up' Psion. The goal wouldn't be balancing them to play together*, but merely tweaking them to be suitable to exist in the same universe...).
*If somebody wanted to do a cross-over, the way to 'balance' it would be to let the Daredevils and Psions have significantly more starting points, to balance out the *characters.* It would be inappropriate to balance out the 'splats,' as they serve different roles, a 'starting' Nova should always be 'better' than a 'starting' Psion. Trying to neuter Novas down to Daredevil levels would be totally counter-intuitive, IMO.
khyron1144
First Post
I almost always end up doing things like this anyway when I'm dealing with a game with a lot of setting, metaplot, or established conventions built in to either the game itself or strongly held by any fan community discussing it on the internet.
A couple of things I've done, however ill-advised:
Call of Cthulhu: As much as I like Lovecraft from a reader's perspective, I found the mythos to be difficult to evoke as a Keeper, so I ditched it. Instead I cobbled together bits of DC and Marvel's horror/ supernatural comics, Grant Morrison's Invisibles, and pulp-feeling stuff to create a campaign based around the premise of Wesley Dodds, the golden age Sand Man, being charged by Dream/ Morpheus to find the scattered pages of The Darkhold, The Book of Sins. It was a world where the PCs besides knowing and assisting Wesley Dodds, could potentially meet Doc Savage, Tarzan, The Shadow, The Green Hornet, and Indianna Jones. The main deities of my mythos were The Endless from DC's Sand Man series with Swamp Thing- type elementals and a few other things.
old World of Darkness: Back in high school, I dreamed big dreams. I had this idea for three linked chronices, each about a different city ruled by a supernatural being who openly ruled the mortal and supernatural population alike. The first called Mirror City involved an evil vampire prince, who with a small "army" of other vampires and ghouls jailed the city's mortal populace. Obviously, the major goal for this city's chronicle is to kill the evil prince and free the mortals.
The next chronicle was Verona. I thought that Romeo & Juliet was a rather nifty play, but the coolest aspect was actually the feuding families set up. Lord Capulet is planning a rebellion against Prince Escalus and Lord Montague is a loyal subject. PCs would have to choose sides.
The last is Island City. This one is a much different from what most White Wolf fans think is normal. It's a city on a small island. The ruler is Duke Oberon, a Changeling. The island is rich in nodes, freeholds, and caerns and the gauntlet/shroud is low. A majority (at least 51%) of the population of Island City is either a major supernatural race (vampire, werewolf, mage, changeling) or a one-step-removed supernatural race (ghoul, revenant, dhampir, kinfolk, kinain) or a lesser-in-terms-of-numbers supernatural race (mummy, non-garou changing breed) or a mortal with numina. The overarching plot involved a rebellion plotted by Sauron (an evil Sidhe) agaisnt Oberon.
A couple of things I've done, however ill-advised:
Call of Cthulhu: As much as I like Lovecraft from a reader's perspective, I found the mythos to be difficult to evoke as a Keeper, so I ditched it. Instead I cobbled together bits of DC and Marvel's horror/ supernatural comics, Grant Morrison's Invisibles, and pulp-feeling stuff to create a campaign based around the premise of Wesley Dodds, the golden age Sand Man, being charged by Dream/ Morpheus to find the scattered pages of The Darkhold, The Book of Sins. It was a world where the PCs besides knowing and assisting Wesley Dodds, could potentially meet Doc Savage, Tarzan, The Shadow, The Green Hornet, and Indianna Jones. The main deities of my mythos were The Endless from DC's Sand Man series with Swamp Thing- type elementals and a few other things.
old World of Darkness: Back in high school, I dreamed big dreams. I had this idea for three linked chronices, each about a different city ruled by a supernatural being who openly ruled the mortal and supernatural population alike. The first called Mirror City involved an evil vampire prince, who with a small "army" of other vampires and ghouls jailed the city's mortal populace. Obviously, the major goal for this city's chronicle is to kill the evil prince and free the mortals.
The next chronicle was Verona. I thought that Romeo & Juliet was a rather nifty play, but the coolest aspect was actually the feuding families set up. Lord Capulet is planning a rebellion against Prince Escalus and Lord Montague is a loyal subject. PCs would have to choose sides.
The last is Island City. This one is a much different from what most White Wolf fans think is normal. It's a city on a small island. The ruler is Duke Oberon, a Changeling. The island is rich in nodes, freeholds, and caerns and the gauntlet/shroud is low. A majority (at least 51%) of the population of Island City is either a major supernatural race (vampire, werewolf, mage, changeling) or a one-step-removed supernatural race (ghoul, revenant, dhampir, kinfolk, kinain) or a lesser-in-terms-of-numbers supernatural race (mummy, non-garou changing breed) or a mortal with numina. The overarching plot involved a rebellion plotted by Sauron (an evil Sidhe) agaisnt Oberon.
GreatLemur
Explorer
Oh, wow. I don't think I've ever contemplated how awesome an Invisibles-based RPG could be, before. I wouldn't use the Call of Cthulhu system for it, though. Not actiony enough. Maybe d20 Modern or even a limited and tweaked Mutants & Masterminds. Or, hell, maybe even World of Darkness? It's not the most setting-neutral system out there, but it's got a lot of very usable components, and the fuzziness of the mechanics would be a pretty good fit.khyron1144 said:
Damn, I might even try to run that, some day.
GreatLemur said:
I've pondered an Invisibles game before, most likely using D20 Cthulhu as a base. I'd have base classes for the five elements to reflect the five different roels INvisibles members must fill, probably need to give a lot of thought to a magic system though. (Elements of Magic would be my preferred base but I'd have to read the source material again for a better idea)
