>check catalog>no amateur game design generalI have had an idea recently which I think could be a fun basis for a game. Essentially it's inspired by Paper Mario/low number turn based RPGs but I'd like some feedback to see if the system has any merit. The basic gist is;>Every unit has a combat strength or power level; "units" are abstract and can mean multiple things (ie; a Sorcerer, his cultist minions, and a monster coming through a portal you can attack to prevent it from coming through all all "units)>Player characters have a power level as well>If you exceed the power level of an enemy unit, you simply defeat it>If you meet the power level of an enemy unit, you defeat it but take a wound/have a chance to be wounded with a random die roll>Multiple characters can gang up on one unit, but take a wound/roll dice with a random chance to take a wound which scales per character used to gang up on them. This means if you gang up on a powerful monster you can bring it down, but it will deal a ton of damage to everyone in revenge>Combat numbers of enemy units are not directly revealed to players (without abilities) but follow a general guideline; such as 1-2 being unskilled fighters and regular animals, 3-4 being trained fighters, 5-6 being elite fighters or magical creatures, etc.>Specific character items or monster mechanics can modify the outcome of these events; such as making a damage die larger to make it less likely for you to take damage or certain weapons boosting your power level against specific enemy types>Games primary gimmick is that each player-character is not created directly by players but more like an archetypal role in a story with a specific set of background abilities or skills; think less min-maxxing a class/race combo and more like "the princess" with no combat ability but able to save people from curses with a kiss or "the lone woodsman" with a great combat value against animals, etc.
>Because of the method of individual roles; each player's progression and progress through a campaign is more based on their archetypes; ie less finding +1 magic swords or gaining enough XP to level up and more finding their family's heirloom and unlocking their next tier of special innate magic which only their rare bloodline has, etc.The primary idea behind the game is each player is essentially controlling one or more "game pieces" where they have to navigate the game space or campaign with more distinct and flavorful abilities then a fantasy mileu. Moreso like a boardgame then a TTRPG but slightly more open. By having set levels of combat-power each character has a more concrete role in the game; less everyone piling on damage or optimizing and more like a puzzle with specific set combinations. There would still be some form of limited progression, but it would be more set in the world and measured given the small numbers and relatively limited nature of the game's combat.My main concerns I have with the basic idea is>Not enough dice rolling = boring? Combat too simple for min-maxxers for this reason?>Not granular enough for meaningful progression?>Too restrictive on players to play their new roles instead of letting them create their own characters, which is more common in TTRPGs.>Hidden information gimmick may be unfun or too easy to figure out?>Lack of direction without a meaningful campaign structure (this is a bigger focus which I think is good but won't touch on here since it's more about the "story" then the mechanics)What do you think about this rough outline? Are there any problems I'm not seeing? Do you think it's interesting?
>>97701761I think the gang up mechanic is very interesting, and i can see the game revolving around area control. You can use power units like the knight to lock down entire areas of the board, but at the same time he cant advance as agressively because he can only defeat one enemy per turn and a large number of minions can just swarm him down. You end up with a vague rock paper scissors effect of>heavy squad beats chaff swarm>hero beats heavy squad>chaff swarm beats heroModified by a careful balance of threat projection and board control. Throw in some caster artillery to force movement and you're set for autistic mario chess
>>97701990Yes that was kind of the gimmick, but I was envisioning it more of a tabletop adventure/story driven game. It was more about differentiating player roles based on their numbers. Their WOULD be progression and items/abilities but it would be more specific stuff, like shields to counter archers or whatever, and the vagueness of the "power values" mean you have interesting matchups like a peasant has 1 power level and is useless but an angry mob would be stated as like 5 or 6, so a legendary hero/big monster could fight an angry mob and win, but with sustaining injuries, where as a lesser character would just die even though individually the units are weak.
>>97701737Overall, I really like these ideas.I don't have the time to go into depth about what I like and why, right now, but you really got the gears turning in my head in a good way.
>>97702048Thank you. I do worry if it's one of those "more fun to think about then actually play" kind of games, but as a forever GM/DM type player I spend a lot of time with ideas like this and sometimes I get a chance to playtest them. I don't have a ruleset ready for this concept since it's still super early, but I'd appreciate any further feedback or suggestions if you have time later.
>>97701737Using the thread to get some feedback too.I want to make a simple, maybe 2d6, homebrew to be able to run campaigns for friends based on such vidya as Fallout, Arcanum, Morrowind. Maybe use it for Cosmere / D&D / Warhammer-like campaign too if my less experienced friends would like to GM again.So picrel is the matrix of skills. PC's attribute can be -1, 0, or +1. Each skill is affected by two attributes. You tag skills / skills you proficient in get another +1. So the maximum bonus for a skill check is +3. Maybe +4 with some buff. Does it look logical and ok or do you see some problems with all that?
>>97701761Simple combat can still be a significant part of the game if it occurs a lot. This sounds like it's more of a prep focus though, with the meat of the game being in discovering hidden information and finding leverage before initiating combat.
Thoughts on my group combat suggestions for my martial arts rpg?
>>97701737what's the model, looks neat.
