xBlackWolfx
2014-11-29, 03:40 PM
Earlier today, I finnally got fed up with not having a system of my own despite years upon years of brainstorming plagued by endless indecision. So I decided, I'm gonna quit trying to make a complicated system like DnD or M&M or w/e, I'm just gonna make a simple basic system.
I decided there would be no skills or feats or anything like that, characters would be differentiated purely by their attributes, equipment, and spells (if any).
So I sat down, and been writing on this thing on and off all day. It has been quite illuminating for me, in that I see that even the most basic system is actually quite complicated. The thing I've conjured up is technically playable, minus the fact that I haven't started on the lists for spells and monsters yet, but I've hit a bit of a snag. How much everything should cost.
Its a DnD-type fantasy game, actually its a lot like basic fantasy in its theme and complexity. I was just sitting here writing up an equipment list. I have what the items do, and how much they weigh (using an abstract 'weight class' system, basically an item of X weight-class requires X strength to carry), but I don't even know where to begin on deciding how much everything should cost.
I don't actually have any idea what kind of income the characters will have. How much would be expensive? How much would be cheap? How costly should a breastplate actually be to the players, as in how much of an investment should it be?
I admit, I've never actually gotten the opportunity to play a tabletop rpg before, the closest I've ever gotten was back when I played neverwinter nights and a video I watched once of a pathfinder session. I know that most of their income will come from killing things like bandits, looting dungeons, and quest rewards. But I don't even know how much all that should be, outside the fact that I kinda dislike giving monsters gold, though a common trope in MMORPGs, it doesn't make any realistic sense. Things like bandits having gold on them makes sense, but having sub-human creatures, that don't even have the intelligence to talk, have gold makes no sense at all.
As for how the money system works, I'm just going with the highly generic copper-silver-gold coin thing (100 copper=1 silver, 100 silver=1 gold). I don't really intend this to be anything I use long-term anyway. I just want to actually have a system of my own creation I can fiddle around with. See what works, see what doesn't. I might expand upon it and turn it into something a bit more complex, but honestly I kinda doubt it'll go beyond a basic fantasy-like game.
As for why I don't just use basic fantasy? Well, you can't play that game with just 1 player, you need a group, a freaking goblin is pretty much equal to a level 1 character in that game! And besides, I just want to be able to claim that I did finally succeed at making a game, even if it does turn out to be utter crap.
I decided there would be no skills or feats or anything like that, characters would be differentiated purely by their attributes, equipment, and spells (if any).
So I sat down, and been writing on this thing on and off all day. It has been quite illuminating for me, in that I see that even the most basic system is actually quite complicated. The thing I've conjured up is technically playable, minus the fact that I haven't started on the lists for spells and monsters yet, but I've hit a bit of a snag. How much everything should cost.
Its a DnD-type fantasy game, actually its a lot like basic fantasy in its theme and complexity. I was just sitting here writing up an equipment list. I have what the items do, and how much they weigh (using an abstract 'weight class' system, basically an item of X weight-class requires X strength to carry), but I don't even know where to begin on deciding how much everything should cost.
I don't actually have any idea what kind of income the characters will have. How much would be expensive? How much would be cheap? How costly should a breastplate actually be to the players, as in how much of an investment should it be?
I admit, I've never actually gotten the opportunity to play a tabletop rpg before, the closest I've ever gotten was back when I played neverwinter nights and a video I watched once of a pathfinder session. I know that most of their income will come from killing things like bandits, looting dungeons, and quest rewards. But I don't even know how much all that should be, outside the fact that I kinda dislike giving monsters gold, though a common trope in MMORPGs, it doesn't make any realistic sense. Things like bandits having gold on them makes sense, but having sub-human creatures, that don't even have the intelligence to talk, have gold makes no sense at all.
As for how the money system works, I'm just going with the highly generic copper-silver-gold coin thing (100 copper=1 silver, 100 silver=1 gold). I don't really intend this to be anything I use long-term anyway. I just want to actually have a system of my own creation I can fiddle around with. See what works, see what doesn't. I might expand upon it and turn it into something a bit more complex, but honestly I kinda doubt it'll go beyond a basic fantasy-like game.
As for why I don't just use basic fantasy? Well, you can't play that game with just 1 player, you need a group, a freaking goblin is pretty much equal to a level 1 character in that game! And besides, I just want to be able to claim that I did finally succeed at making a game, even if it does turn out to be utter crap.