Lvl 2 Expert
2020-08-10, 04:26 AM
I lately ran a game in version 2 of my homebrew system. I had added quite a lot of stuff, with the basics needed to build a character having expanded from 2 pages excluding examples to 5. This was mostly due to opening the game up to better character progression and improving balance. I had also expanded on stuff like the combat system. While the session went fine, all the things that worked about the system were the same things that worked about version 1. Which kind of forced me into the realization that I'm never going to do as good a job writing an RPG interesting in the long term as the bigger publishers do, because it simply requires a lot of content. Even if you design super clever mechanics that can do nearly everything the game will eventually become stale because while the characters may keep doing different things, the players are always doing the same things. But I also realized a thing my mechanics may be much better suited for: a oneshot engine. A base format that would help DM's build their own adventures between 1 and maybe 5 or 6 sessions in length. The system would be setting independent but tend towards more lighthearted games using characters defined by attributes like skillsets, equipment and special powers which all use the same mechanics and thus operate on the same scale of power.
The engine would consist of two documents. The first is a small free to distribute player guide that outlines character creation and the basic general mechanisms of play. The game allows players to semi-freely make up the abilities that form the core of their characters, as long as these abilities fit a few criteria. The second document would be a DM's guide that includes all the advanced mechanics for specific situations, guides for building different types of encounters (chases, investigations, a few separate flavors of boss battle), a long list of interesting abilities for NPC's and how to use them (because the DM is allowed to freely make things up, but may not want to be bothered with that for every NPC they create), notes on how to balance encounters, on how much time certain encounters will probably take up, on how to tell a story and what to do to make sure players find clues but not immediately etc. This document I would think about publishing somewhere where I could ask for a small fee for it. The point of the whole system is that a DM with a setting, story or plot hook idea in their head can turn that idea into a game as quickly and easily as possible and players could join in with maybe half an hour of looking at the player guide and building a character. (Or even handing their ideas to the DM and letting him or her turn it into a character).
So the question here is: would that kind of thing be a thing that you could be interested in? Is that a product you feel like you're missing, because you have game ideas and people to play them with but no easy enough way to bring everything together into an actual game? Would you actually think about paying for a product like that or would you at best be interested in having a look if it was free? Or do you already have a system you use for games like that and figure it's really good and I should just start using that system myself instead of trying to reinvent the wheel? Those are the sort of opinions I'm looking for. If you have ideas on this I hope you're willing to share. Thanks in advance.
(Note to moderators: while technically this is about a homebrewing project, I feel the questions I have about it are much better suited for the roleplaying general forum, because they are about the experience of playing rather than the mechanics to build.)
The engine would consist of two documents. The first is a small free to distribute player guide that outlines character creation and the basic general mechanisms of play. The game allows players to semi-freely make up the abilities that form the core of their characters, as long as these abilities fit a few criteria. The second document would be a DM's guide that includes all the advanced mechanics for specific situations, guides for building different types of encounters (chases, investigations, a few separate flavors of boss battle), a long list of interesting abilities for NPC's and how to use them (because the DM is allowed to freely make things up, but may not want to be bothered with that for every NPC they create), notes on how to balance encounters, on how much time certain encounters will probably take up, on how to tell a story and what to do to make sure players find clues but not immediately etc. This document I would think about publishing somewhere where I could ask for a small fee for it. The point of the whole system is that a DM with a setting, story or plot hook idea in their head can turn that idea into a game as quickly and easily as possible and players could join in with maybe half an hour of looking at the player guide and building a character. (Or even handing their ideas to the DM and letting him or her turn it into a character).
So the question here is: would that kind of thing be a thing that you could be interested in? Is that a product you feel like you're missing, because you have game ideas and people to play them with but no easy enough way to bring everything together into an actual game? Would you actually think about paying for a product like that or would you at best be interested in having a look if it was free? Or do you already have a system you use for games like that and figure it's really good and I should just start using that system myself instead of trying to reinvent the wheel? Those are the sort of opinions I'm looking for. If you have ideas on this I hope you're willing to share. Thanks in advance.
(Note to moderators: while technically this is about a homebrewing project, I feel the questions I have about it are much better suited for the roleplaying general forum, because they are about the experience of playing rather than the mechanics to build.)