blade_runner
2008-11-02, 08:41 PM
I was talking to a friend of mine (who happens to be a compulsive military buff) and he mentioned that he liked the classic game Battleship, but it just "wasn't complicated enough". Me being the compulsive game designer I am, I decided to take him up on it.
I really don't know that much about military history, so I'll need a couple ship-warfare people to help keep it accurate. Also, my friend's not an RPG player. He plays Warhammer, so I want to keep in the vicinity of Games Workshop complexity. Nothing too fancy, just a quick and dirty thing to prove the concept is doable. And now; the rant of what I have already:
What I was thinking was a generic warship simulator, with "rules modules" that could be applicable for anything from black powder cannons all the way up to modern cruise missiles. It might even apply to starships in space, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
The players each command a ship (or a detachment of a few ships) and move them around on a map. Just like in the original Battleship, the players don't know where the ships are relative to each other (this might require a "Game Master" to keep track of the ship's actual position). Once the ship's see each other (weather by a man in a Crow's Nest, scout planes, or by radar) they can shoot. I'd like to impliment a long range system of "firing over the horizon" so you don't know weather you hit or what damage your ship inflicts, but I'm not sure anything short of ballistic missiles can shoot that far. Obviously, once the ships get within visual range of each other, they can fight normally.
Ship construction would be accomplished by spending points to improve characteristics like speed, toughness, or weapons. I'm hoping to provide a huge deal of customization without being too overwhelming. Perhaps there could be a "ship library" of preconstructed ships for beginners, with the full construction option for advanced users? What I'm looking for is a system halfway between Battlefleet Gothic (ship library with limited customization) and Mecha d20 (full customization from scratch).
The way I see it, rules for old-timey sailing ships wouldn't be too bad, but they'll get progressively more complicated and difficult as we move forward in time. By the time we get to modern day, I'm not even sure it's possible to keep it simple.
As you can see, I don't really have any set plans. Right now I just want to make sure it's doable. So, any ideas?
I really don't know that much about military history, so I'll need a couple ship-warfare people to help keep it accurate. Also, my friend's not an RPG player. He plays Warhammer, so I want to keep in the vicinity of Games Workshop complexity. Nothing too fancy, just a quick and dirty thing to prove the concept is doable. And now; the rant of what I have already:
What I was thinking was a generic warship simulator, with "rules modules" that could be applicable for anything from black powder cannons all the way up to modern cruise missiles. It might even apply to starships in space, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
The players each command a ship (or a detachment of a few ships) and move them around on a map. Just like in the original Battleship, the players don't know where the ships are relative to each other (this might require a "Game Master" to keep track of the ship's actual position). Once the ship's see each other (weather by a man in a Crow's Nest, scout planes, or by radar) they can shoot. I'd like to impliment a long range system of "firing over the horizon" so you don't know weather you hit or what damage your ship inflicts, but I'm not sure anything short of ballistic missiles can shoot that far. Obviously, once the ships get within visual range of each other, they can fight normally.
Ship construction would be accomplished by spending points to improve characteristics like speed, toughness, or weapons. I'm hoping to provide a huge deal of customization without being too overwhelming. Perhaps there could be a "ship library" of preconstructed ships for beginners, with the full construction option for advanced users? What I'm looking for is a system halfway between Battlefleet Gothic (ship library with limited customization) and Mecha d20 (full customization from scratch).
The way I see it, rules for old-timey sailing ships wouldn't be too bad, but they'll get progressively more complicated and difficult as we move forward in time. By the time we get to modern day, I'm not even sure it's possible to keep it simple.
As you can see, I don't really have any set plans. Right now I just want to make sure it's doable. So, any ideas?