Well from what I am hearing, DnD next is shaping along similar lines as I hoped.
I am hearing things like 'flatter maths', 'stats make a difference', 'bolt on options for base classes', 'resolving rules based on creative ideas rather than set abilities.'
Good news so far.
With Dundred created around these sorts of principles, I am wondering if I should hold the project and wait to see how next turns out before I commit much time.
I expect I probably will still go ahead though!
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Dnd next inklings
Friday, February 22, 2013
Level up
I am currently thinking of a formuls based XP system, rather than an arbitrary one that requires a table. You get between 0 to 3 XP for an average encounter- depending on how major the encounter is. Levels require 10x level xp to attain.
Therefore level 2 requires 20xp, then 30xp for level 3, 40 for level 4, and so on.
Once levelled, current xp is returned to zero, but you can carry any points left over.
Each level, players can upgrade their characters by a certain amount.
Simple and saves lots of bullshit like class tables.
Magic discussion
Great discussion here....
Removing the cleric entirely and dumping their spells into the wizard class.
I like it!
I especially like the ides of a white magic/black magic division, and making fae magic a mix of druid and illusionist. Why not spread healing around the classes?
Gygax' Clerics and their christianity in disguise always sat weirdly with my enjoyment of pure fantasy worlds.
My thinking is if you want to play a cleric in Dundred, play a fighter/wizard and choose white magic spells.
Friday, December 7, 2012
D'Undred manual
Today marks the official start of my holiday season, that is, in my 'real' job- special effects and game graphics.
Having coded my last line of unity3d java, I am now looking forward to clearing the Skulldred backlog, getting the beta out and that, folks, means D'Undred time!
So far, the D'Undred file is a collection of unedited notes, mixed with placeholder art to keep me inspired and add flavor- mainly red box era Elmore, Eastley, fighting fantasy pen work, Rodney Matthews and Roger Dean.
The next step is to bash it into a free beta 1.0.
I was thinking about totally skipping the 'what a rpg' stuff- as anyone interested in this will already get the idea. The main thing is communicating the differences in how it plays to dnd. I think transcripts of game play is the way to really get the concepts across.
For the first playtest book I think a sample adventure, player character basic generation rules, item list and low spells will do the trick- damage cards and some pre generated archetypes.
I like the idea of doing miniatures of the sample characters appearing in D'Undred- in the same way pathfinder did with their Reaper minis- in fact the idea of characters running through the book series appeals as it gives the game an identity, and elevates it from a straight DnD system replacement to its own creature.
Its funny to think I just wanted to play old school DnD but without shitty old rules, and now I am thinking backstory, setting and well, a new intellectual property. Retroclones shy away from that entirely, and so I guess D'Undred is stepping out from that bracket.
As with Skulldred, I must define my core goals clearly- doing so kept the projects shape through development and made me strive to better the mechanics to reach those goals.
Having coded my last line of unity3d java, I am now looking forward to clearing the Skulldred backlog, getting the beta out and that, folks, means D'Undred time!
So far, the D'Undred file is a collection of unedited notes, mixed with placeholder art to keep me inspired and add flavor- mainly red box era Elmore, Eastley, fighting fantasy pen work, Rodney Matthews and Roger Dean.
The next step is to bash it into a free beta 1.0.
I was thinking about totally skipping the 'what a rpg' stuff- as anyone interested in this will already get the idea. The main thing is communicating the differences in how it plays to dnd. I think transcripts of game play is the way to really get the concepts across.
For the first playtest book I think a sample adventure, player character basic generation rules, item list and low spells will do the trick- damage cards and some pre generated archetypes.
I like the idea of doing miniatures of the sample characters appearing in D'Undred- in the same way pathfinder did with their Reaper minis- in fact the idea of characters running through the book series appeals as it gives the game an identity, and elevates it from a straight DnD system replacement to its own creature.
Its funny to think I just wanted to play old school DnD but without shitty old rules, and now I am thinking backstory, setting and well, a new intellectual property. Retroclones shy away from that entirely, and so I guess D'Undred is stepping out from that bracket.
As with Skulldred, I must define my core goals clearly- doing so kept the projects shape through development and made me strive to better the mechanics to reach those goals.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Damage
Role-play 5 hit points of damage.
Go on.
My home spun system moved away from abstract hit points a long while ago, replacing them first with five damage grades- then replacing that with a damage card system.
The damage cards I knocked up in photoshop from photos of various grisly wounds taken from the internet- nothing specific- just enough to make players wince when you look at them.
I arranged these cards two to a page on a regular photo and took them to the local camera shop for prints.
The cards come in a few flavors- light, severe, stun and horrific.
Players place these on the table in front of them. Each has a modifier associated.
All stuns go away after an encounter or a single card for a turn of rest mid battle.
Players get relief from their wound modifiers by roleplaying them- using terms like 'hobble', wincing, staggering and so forth.
Should I carry this on to D'Undred?
Go on.
My home spun system moved away from abstract hit points a long while ago, replacing them first with five damage grades- then replacing that with a damage card system.
The damage cards I knocked up in photoshop from photos of various grisly wounds taken from the internet- nothing specific- just enough to make players wince when you look at them.
I arranged these cards two to a page on a regular photo and took them to the local camera shop for prints.
The cards come in a few flavors- light, severe, stun and horrific.
Players place these on the table in front of them. Each has a modifier associated.
All stuns go away after an encounter or a single card for a turn of rest mid battle.
Players get relief from their wound modifiers by roleplaying them- using terms like 'hobble', wincing, staggering and so forth.
Should I carry this on to D'Undred?
Priests
In the setting described in the last post, Priest adventurers make much more sense- as the strong arm of order and healing hunting precious metals and defeating dark magic by restoring normality.
I personally have no problem locking Priests to serving the concept of order for players for their faith effects. Heal, turn (restore natural order), block magic, bless armor, undo spells and magnify damage through metal weapons.
Basically healers and anti-mages, with decent fighting skills.
I personally have no problem locking Priests to serving the concept of order for players for their faith effects. Heal, turn (restore natural order), block magic, bless armor, undo spells and magnify damage through metal weapons.
Basically healers and anti-mages, with decent fighting skills.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
World vs. generic
So hey, I wrote this huge description of how I was going to handle background setting and phoof! Lost it. My app is crap.
Made me stall a bit. Here goes a shorter version...
Basically I realized an RPG book needs atmosphere, and a fresh twist on the old school.
Rather than a just rolling out the same old, I trawled through old gaming material and fantasy art looking for directions that had not been taken.
I feel that an RPG book MUST inspire your players imaginations.
I think I have devised a really flexible setting that explains away the classic RPG cliches like why all these dungeons are filled with weird hybrid monsters with an urge to guard treasure and a total inability to hear that dragon next door.
I wanted to build a world around the 'psychedelic rock opera' fantasy art you see in the works of Rodney Matthews and Roger Dean.
My setting is called The Madrigal and revolves around a world shattered (literally) in a magical war by alien eldritch sorcerers driven insane competing for the love of a mischievous and sadistic trickster demi-goddess.
The world is entirely comprised of crumbling sky islands floating over a mystical abyss of raw imagination, each peppered with twisted remnants of the long vanquished Sorcerers both creatures forged to impress their love or to battle their foes, and mazes designed to protect their secrets.
The survivors in this post apocalyptic world rely on molybdomancy- the magic of metal channelling to protect the vertically crammed settlements from the strange and terrible creatures and energies remaining from the wizard wars. Gold magnifies and focuses faith- the will of order that keeps the islands from crumbling and turns dark magic.
Adventurers are sent to explore the skylands as they weave slowly around in complex paths- returning with metals, gems, ancient artifacts and scrolls of lost lore to defend the cities and channel the priests of orders prayers
Some never return from these twisted magical realms quite the same...
Each skyland is as bizarre and fantastical to the character as it is to the player. Some Skylands stay in orbit, some merge and others drift away. The GM can shuffle his campaign world easily, freshening up the adventure and doing away with used dungeons whenever convenient.
The GM also can use arcane 'eldritch sorcery' as an excuse to do stuff player character mages cannot- for their magic is a pathetic shadow, gleaned from snippets of lost lore. Npc mages may have uncovered secrets not accessed by the player mages (magic should always be special and mysterious, and most importantly, drive the plot).
Well thats a taste...
Made me stall a bit. Here goes a shorter version...
Basically I realized an RPG book needs atmosphere, and a fresh twist on the old school.
Rather than a just rolling out the same old, I trawled through old gaming material and fantasy art looking for directions that had not been taken.
I feel that an RPG book MUST inspire your players imaginations.
I think I have devised a really flexible setting that explains away the classic RPG cliches like why all these dungeons are filled with weird hybrid monsters with an urge to guard treasure and a total inability to hear that dragon next door.
I wanted to build a world around the 'psychedelic rock opera' fantasy art you see in the works of Rodney Matthews and Roger Dean.
My setting is called The Madrigal and revolves around a world shattered (literally) in a magical war by alien eldritch sorcerers driven insane competing for the love of a mischievous and sadistic trickster demi-goddess.
The world is entirely comprised of crumbling sky islands floating over a mystical abyss of raw imagination, each peppered with twisted remnants of the long vanquished Sorcerers both creatures forged to impress their love or to battle their foes, and mazes designed to protect their secrets.
The survivors in this post apocalyptic world rely on molybdomancy- the magic of metal channelling to protect the vertically crammed settlements from the strange and terrible creatures and energies remaining from the wizard wars. Gold magnifies and focuses faith- the will of order that keeps the islands from crumbling and turns dark magic.
Adventurers are sent to explore the skylands as they weave slowly around in complex paths- returning with metals, gems, ancient artifacts and scrolls of lost lore to defend the cities and channel the priests of orders prayers
Some never return from these twisted magical realms quite the same...
Each skyland is as bizarre and fantastical to the character as it is to the player. Some Skylands stay in orbit, some merge and others drift away. The GM can shuffle his campaign world easily, freshening up the adventure and doing away with used dungeons whenever convenient.
The GM also can use arcane 'eldritch sorcery' as an excuse to do stuff player character mages cannot- for their magic is a pathetic shadow, gleaned from snippets of lost lore. Npc mages may have uncovered secrets not accessed by the player mages (magic should always be special and mysterious, and most importantly, drive the plot).
Well thats a taste...
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