Hello, ENWorld!
I am working on a new RPG, a heroic fantasy game inspired chiefly by the various Final Fantasy games, particularly 1, 4, 5 and 10. It is not a d20 game or otherwise based mechanically on any version of D&D - the core mechanic is a d6-based die pool - and it should, if I'm doing it right, play much, much faster than either 4E or Pathfinder without sacrificing that much in the way of tactical depth. Currently its working title is Final Fantasy Infinity, a name that simultaneously alludes to the “Final Fantasy {number}” format of most of the series’ titles and to the endless possibilities inherent in a tabletop RPG.
Unfortunately, it can’t keep that name. While in many respects a love letter to Square-Enix's popular videogame franchise, I don't want it to be only that. It is coming together into an exciting tabletop RPG in its own right, and most of the elements it borrows from its influences, it expands on in ways that play to the strengths of a tabletop game. Moreover, I have come to a bit of a crossroads in my own life where self-employment is looking like an attractive and possibly viable option.
In short, this game system is coming together into something I am very proud of and feel is going to be of publishable quality and may fill a void in the marketplace. And while it remains, in significant part, a homage to the Final Fantasy series, it is in no way an official, approved part of it and I don’t imagine for a moment I could publish it under a name that implies otherwise. Even if it wasn’t for the obvious problem (i.e. Square-Enix would sue my ass off), it wouldn’t be honest.
My short-term plans for this system involve previewing and discussing parts of it with various online communities, starting, for various reasons, with ENWorld. This is a community I've been a part of (even if not a tremendously active part) for over a decade and learned a great deal from. Also, recently ENWorld has been extremely supportive of RPG Kickstarter campaigns – and that’s where I plan to take this project in the medium-term future.
There are a lot of ducks I need lined up before I can go to Kickstarter. I’ll want the system closer to complete, at least ready for late-alpha playtesting. I’ll want to have commissioned some professional-quality art and graphic design to give the Kickstarter video more “oomph” and to more clearly communicate some of my ideas. I’ll want to lose some weight so I don’t look like a total ass in said video .
But most of all, I’ll need a new name. And if I want to involve ENWorld and perhaps other online communities in the project, that seems like a good place to start – help me name this game!
If I use a name that’s suggested here, I’ll try to do something cool for the “winner”. I can’t promise anything more than a positive mention in the acknowledgments and a free copy if/when this does become a published game – and of course, my gratitude – but it won’t necessarily end there.
The ideal name would have the following characteristics:
If you've read this far, thank you so much for taking the time to do so, and any suggestions on naming or any other front are most welcome. I hope I’ve piqued a few people’s curiosity and that they will not be disappointed when I start posting more substantive excerpts from the work-in-progress here.
I am working on a new RPG, a heroic fantasy game inspired chiefly by the various Final Fantasy games, particularly 1, 4, 5 and 10. It is not a d20 game or otherwise based mechanically on any version of D&D - the core mechanic is a d6-based die pool - and it should, if I'm doing it right, play much, much faster than either 4E or Pathfinder without sacrificing that much in the way of tactical depth. Currently its working title is Final Fantasy Infinity, a name that simultaneously alludes to the “Final Fantasy {number}” format of most of the series’ titles and to the endless possibilities inherent in a tabletop RPG.
Unfortunately, it can’t keep that name. While in many respects a love letter to Square-Enix's popular videogame franchise, I don't want it to be only that. It is coming together into an exciting tabletop RPG in its own right, and most of the elements it borrows from its influences, it expands on in ways that play to the strengths of a tabletop game. Moreover, I have come to a bit of a crossroads in my own life where self-employment is looking like an attractive and possibly viable option.
In short, this game system is coming together into something I am very proud of and feel is going to be of publishable quality and may fill a void in the marketplace. And while it remains, in significant part, a homage to the Final Fantasy series, it is in no way an official, approved part of it and I don’t imagine for a moment I could publish it under a name that implies otherwise. Even if it wasn’t for the obvious problem (i.e. Square-Enix would sue my ass off), it wouldn’t be honest.
My short-term plans for this system involve previewing and discussing parts of it with various online communities, starting, for various reasons, with ENWorld. This is a community I've been a part of (even if not a tremendously active part) for over a decade and learned a great deal from. Also, recently ENWorld has been extremely supportive of RPG Kickstarter campaigns – and that’s where I plan to take this project in the medium-term future.
There are a lot of ducks I need lined up before I can go to Kickstarter. I’ll want the system closer to complete, at least ready for late-alpha playtesting. I’ll want to have commissioned some professional-quality art and graphic design to give the Kickstarter video more “oomph” and to more clearly communicate some of my ideas. I’ll want to lose some weight so I don’t look like a total ass in said video .
But most of all, I’ll need a new name. And if I want to involve ENWorld and perhaps other online communities in the project, that seems like a good place to start – help me name this game!
If I use a name that’s suggested here, I’ll try to do something cool for the “winner”. I can’t promise anything more than a positive mention in the acknowledgments and a free copy if/when this does become a published game – and of course, my gratitude – but it won’t necessarily end there.
The ideal name would have the following characteristics:
- Reasonably short, evocative, memorable, marketable
- Suggests epic heroic fantasy
- Suggests fast-paced action
- Ideally contains SOME reference to or acknowledgement of the Final Fantasy series, but in a way that does not infringe Square-Enix's intellectual property rights in any way.
- Does NOT have a lot of Ds in it, is not of the form "X and Y", and otherwise will not remind people of the name "Dungeons & Dragons". I love D&D with all my heart and am eternally grateful to TSR, WotC and Paizo for the endless hours of enjoyment their games, and the hobby they spawned, have given me and so many others. But precisely because of D&D’s extraordinary status within our little industry, any new RPG, particularly one in the same genre, has enough of an uphill battle to distinguish itself from D&D without inviting that comparison.
If you've read this far, thank you so much for taking the time to do so, and any suggestions on naming or any other front are most welcome. I hope I’ve piqued a few people’s curiosity and that they will not be disappointed when I start posting more substantive excerpts from the work-in-progress here.
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