The Great Conjunction (RPG DESIGN CONTEST)

[Wik]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.