6/23/12

Notes from todays game design discussion

So, after discussing the game today with  a few things were determined. Mostly due to some good advice from people about collaborating on a game, we decided to split up the duties. Chris is going to work on the layout/geography of the world. I am going to work on mechanics and tweaks on the Fate system for the game. We will both work on the setting itself.

Obviously we will both help each other with the tasks, but just getting some clarification as to where we are going really makes the control freak part of me happy.

I plan on writing a small synapses about the game soon so people can have some idea as to what the game is about. But it is influenced partly by the Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher.


p.s. please vote on my Fate poll. :)

6/17/12

The first step? Research

So, we finally got started on working on the game again. There are a few things we have to figure out, but overall I am just damn glad to be started. But a name would be nice, and the old name "perdition" just doesn't feel right anymore. The name of the world is Kushara, and I am writing a book that is going to be tied into the game. The name of the book is Kushara's Fate. I have no idea if they will be the name of the game, but we will figure that out eventually.

So, the first thing I realized I had to do when we agreed to make the game with Fate as a foundation? Well, other than creating an entire world and brainstorming with Chris. :)  Next? Read Fate again! I know some of Fate pretty well, since I have played Spirit of the Century, and was part of the Dresden Files play-test. But that doesn't matter, in order to really dig into the system, I have to read it all over again. So, along with those two, I am also going to read: Bulldogs, Diaspora, The Kerebos Club, Legends of Anglerre, and Starblazer's Adventures.

Those are all different games using the Fate system, so reading all of them will give me a feel for how they went about it as well. I especially want to read Legends of Anglerre, since it is the only other fantasy game like mine on the list. It was made by Cubicle7, and they already have a companion book out for it.

So, with each book I am going to be taking notes and trying to come up with ways to tweak the system to fit the world we are making. I will go into more about the world on my next post. But, the question is always how much you want to keep of the OGL, and how much do you want to tweak it. It isn't an easy thing to figure out, and luckily not something we have to figure out today.

Another great thing is Google+. There are so many people on there with so much information and most of them are willing to go over ideas I have for the game. That is just a great source to, and I am damn appreciative.

REALLY, appreciative.

So, now I got back to reading Sotc. :)

p.s. don't forget to vote on my poll.


6/12/12

Ahhhh....game design!

So, tonight was very productive. Sat with +Chris Whissen and talked game design for a few hours. We have decided to make our game with a foundation of Fate...which made me happy since that is what I have wanted to do since I first played Spirit of the Century a few years ago.

The world is inspired by The Codex Alera in a lot of ways. No furies or anything like that, but mostly a world based on the four elements. Every character will have some link with one of the four and there will be A LOT of political things going on since the focus of the game is a faction that is trying to rebel against the "empire". So there will be betrayal, fighting, exploration, politics, and much more. :)

We worked on this a few years ago and have all of the stuff still, but now we are creating our own world from scratch and trying to decide just how big it should be. But taking things I love from Sotc and the Dresden Files rpg. I still  have to check the OGL on the game and such, but we want to take everything we love about the Fate system and give it at epic fantasy twist. 

For now, I am just very happy to get started again

6/10/12

Gaming day!

complicated.Now, I don't know how much of this has to do with the fact that I  mostly play indie games that don't get too complicated with character creation.

Now, I am not saying I did not enjoy it, but it was confusing at first...just trying to get how it worked.

I ended up making a roden thief since everyone else was making magical players or orcs. 

So, who know how they will turn out but I am sure it will end fun.

Game 2. Mouse Guard.
I love this game. I love playing heroic mice in a world full of creature that can kill them so easily. I find the mechanics very interesting and how you have to fail rolls to eventually level them up. It adds something to the story when you have intentionally to eventually increase that stat. 

In the game we were still trying to help a village rebuild and determine how it was destroyed in the first place. A few highlights.

Getting our ass kicked repeatedly by a raccoon, having the town turn against us due to their being mice being a part of a an evil cult of the serpent, trying to find, going out and finding 4 separate mice left to be sacrificed (we only saved 1 of them..it was that kind of day). 

We did not really do to well overall, but all of this led up to one of our own, sacrificing himself so we could escape the raccoon. It was a pretty damn awesome moment.

After that we raised an army, beat the raccoon and all was saved,..er mostly.

6/5/12

Playing Fate by hangout on G+

So, sunday I came across someone wanting to play a mashup of Diaspora and Bulldog's on Google+. I was so there, since I have been reading both of these and wanted to play them. So, Ben Mckee started a hangout and a few others of us joined in what hoped to be an inter-galactic quest of awesome.

Now for those of you that do not know, Diaspora is an awesome game made by the very cool Brad Murray and it deals with what a lot of people would call "hard" sci-fi. Bulldog's on the other hand, feels a lot like Firefly (from what people have told me and what little I have read of the pdf).

It was my first time playing by hangout and it actually worked really well. There were two instances where one of the players dropped out due to a bad connection. But that is what the bastard gets for gaming from Costa Rica! I am really interested in seeing what can be done with tabletop forge in the future, but I am hoping to do more gaming by hangout soon.

The rules were probably more towards Diaspora, but the feel of the game was all Bulldogs. Which I have no problem with, since I love that type of game. I got to play Jayne (yes, Jayne from firefly). I had Vera and a few aspects that I really liked.

Hero of Canton
Anger issues
My cut is 10% off the top.

It was a very straight forward plot since we were doing a one-shot and had time constraints. I immediately compelled myself at the beginning of the game cuz some punk kids were trying to steal from us. I ended up chasing after them screaming like a madman.

Best moment? Bringing down a flying personal carrier with one shot. Also killed a few minions as well. Good times.

Overall, had a great time. Love all things fate and hope to play again soon.