Creating a whole new game. - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Creating a whole new game.

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
yor_conan_ripoff
Dec 06, 2009 18:05:25 Hi.

For years now, I've been homebrewing my D&D stuff. From races, class, items to world and settings. The thing is, I have so many idea but no audience. I'm a DM, but my group can only play D&D once every two weeks so I don't really have time to test all of the things I'm comming up with.

One of the thing I'd like to do would be to creat a whole game. With my friends barely having time to play D&D I would need people to test my stuff. But befor that I'd like to have an open discussion on some of the idea I'm comming up with.

-A world without human: From long I've been wondering what an RPG with no humans would look like, after all it is a fantasy world, why not make it all fantasy? Human are something people can relate to, but at the same time I feel a game without human would enhance the ''otherworldly'' and fantastic feel of the game.

-Targetting body parts: There are many games which let you target specific body parts with your attacks, a concept I am fond of but however, so far all the ruleset for this have disapointed me. Some let you declare which body part you are attacking in at the cost of a malus to attack roll, others determin randomly which part you hit. I wanna build a system where the higher you get on your attack roll, the more hard ro reach body part you can hit.

I've got lots of other idea, but for now I'd like to have some opinion on those two. Thanks in advance. (Also, I'm not a native english speaker, so I might make some mistake there and there.)
#2
Qube
Dec 07, 2009 0:17:17
-A world without human: From long I've been wondering what an RPG with no humans would look like, after all it is a fantasy world, why not make it all fantasy? Human are something people can relate to, but at the same time I feel a game without human would enhance the ''otherworldly'' and fantastic feel of the game.

humans are usually used as 'generic' race. pesants, random NPCs ... are usually humans. however, there would be no problem to change that to something else. (in area X, almost all inhabitants are elves, in area Y, almost all inhabitants are halflings ...).

a side note: if you do this, maybe its a good idea to shortly write down how a village works (most people don't see elf pesants, or an orc mayer, ...) For example you could say an generic elfen village works with a counsil of elders, and uses foragers & hunters (note how elfen city's are probbably smaler now, as foraging/hunting has much less of a payout then cultivated grounds ...)

-Targetting body parts: There are many games which let you target specific body parts with your attacks, a concept I am fond of but however, so far all the ruleset for this have disapointed me. Some let you declare which body part you are attacking in at the cost of a malus to attack roll, others determin randomly which part you hit. I wanna build a system where the higher you get on your attack roll, the more hard ro reach body part you can hit.

In all honsesty, I don't really like the idea (but that's just a personal oppinion only): Having a couple of years of kendo experience, you first determine the bodypart you want to attack.

What you could do in this case is make a list which power targets which body part, and on a crit (or ... lets say 18-20) something special happens according to body part.

(though I realise that doesn't help you much in your idea 'the more hard ro reach body part you can hit.') ... hmmm, for your idea, how about someting like the conform critical system. if you hit a natural 20, roll a dX to see what bodypart you hit.

(Also, I'm not a native english speaker, so I might make some mistake there and there.)

that's usually no problem, as long as you make an effort (writing 'you' and not 'u', ...)

#3
Dragoncat
Dec 07, 2009 5:04:34 The problem with the body part idea is thus; either you have massive bloat, or you have circumstantial ideas that don't translate.

There are two methods for presenting this sort of thing. 1) Every monster has anatomy detail, with info on how hitting X does Y. 2) There is a set of general rules, like Attack The Head and Aim For The Shins.

In the former, you have massive system bloat, because a fomorian might have different anatomy than a cyclops or an ogre, and fire bats will be different from shadow bats, all the types of beetles need work, and someone needs to figure out how to hit an earth elemental in the family jewels. Way too much text for questionable results and potential imbalance. It is usually better to keep this thing for special cases, like hydra heads or Zelda style boss battles.

In the latter case, you have ridiculous translation problems the instant you get any fantasy variation in form. If you attack an ettin's ear, does that daze one head, but not the other? Where does a hydra keep its kidney? If you target a centaur's ankle, how much is its mobility hindered? If I use the special groin shot on a balor, how does it react? Once you get beyond the basic human, the system breaks down completely, to the point that it is basically worthless on most of the monsters out there.
#4
Leoven
Dec 07, 2009 9:39:56 Hey there,

A setting without Humans in it.

Sounds perfectly possible, I mean you might have run a campaign where the PC's were all in an elven kingdom or something equivalent.

As for Humans filling up a specific role in your camcaign world as all other races do, just hand those roles out to another race.

Peasants, well they are farmers. Almost all races have Farmers I recon of some sort at least.
The sort-lived, impulsive, rash, judgemental (etc) nature humans might have according to other races can easily be transferred to another race. Uhmm gnomes, orcs(mentality wise), halfbreeds, magical minions, anything that has a lifespan or around that of humans.

-=-=-

On another note, I've run quite a few settings where humans simply we not found at all or where humans do exist but are nowhere near as important as other races.

Off the top of my mind:
1. Drow setting (cityscape campaign)
2. Tigren (catlike humanoid) desert cityscape campaign - fur colour and manes as social status symbols hehe.
3. Orc wildlands. all forms of orcs and alike kin - humans for Food & Fun(fight) if any showed up.
4. Vampire clan (caste) world - humans might as best be considered cattle.

I think as you mentioned(OP) that a setting without Humans in it invites (forces) the PC's to learn and think about the world (think setting) they are in and how to before accordingly.

I'd say try it, just do it and see where it goes.

Let us know what the rest of your idea's are as-well, you definitely got me curious.

-Leoven

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 yor_conan_ripoff Dec 06, 2009 18:05:25	Hi. For years now, I've been homebrewing my D&D stuff. From races, class, items to world and settings. The thing is, I have so many idea but no audience. I'm a DM, but my group can only play D&D once every two weeks so I don't really have time to test all of the things I'm comming up with. One of the thing I'd like to do would be to creat a whole game. With my friends barely having time to play D&D I would need people to test my stuff. But befor that I'd like to have an open discussion on some of the idea I'm comming up with. -A world without human: From long I've been wondering what an RPG with no humans would look like, after all it is a fantasy world, why not make it all fantasy? Human are something people can relate to, but at the same time I feel a game without human would enhance the ''otherworldly'' and fantastic feel of the game. -Targetting body parts: There are many games which let you target specific body parts with your attacks, a concept I am fond of but however, so far all the ruleset for this have disapointed me. Some let you declare which body part you are attacking in at the cost of a malus to attack roll, others determin randomly which part you hit. I wanna build a system where the higher you get on your attack roll, the more hard ro reach body part you can hit. I've got lots of other idea, but for now I'd like to have some opinion on those two. Thanks in advance. (Also, I'm not a native english speaker, so I might make some mistake there and there.)
#2 Qube Dec 07, 2009 0:17:17	-A world without human: From long I've been wondering what an RPG with no humans would look like, after all it is a fantasy world, why not make it all fantasy? Human are something people can relate to, but at the same time I feel a game without human would enhance the ''otherworldly'' and fantastic feel of the game. humans are usually used as 'generic' race. pesants, random NPCs ... are usually humans. however, there would be no problem to change that to something else. (in area X, almost all inhabitants are elves, in area Y, almost all inhabitants are halflings ...). a side note: if you do this, maybe its a good idea to shortly write down how a village works (most people don't see elf pesants, or an orc mayer, ...) For example you could say an generic elfen village works with a counsil of elders, and uses foragers & hunters (note how elfen city's are probbably smaler now, as foraging/hunting has much less of a payout then cultivated grounds ...) -Targetting body parts: There are many games which let you target specific body parts with your attacks, a concept I am fond of but however, so far all the ruleset for this have disapointed me. Some let you declare which body part you are attacking in at the cost of a malus to attack roll, others determin randomly which part you hit. I wanna build a system where the higher you get on your attack roll, the more hard ro reach body part you can hit. In all honsesty, I don't really like the idea (but that's just a personal oppinion only): Having a couple of years of kendo experience, you first determine the bodypart you want to attack. What you could do in this case is make a list which power targets which body part, and on a crit (or ... lets say 18-20) something special happens according to body part. (though I realise that doesn't help you much in your idea 'the more hard ro reach body part you can hit.') ... hmmm, for your idea, how about someting like the conform critical system. if you hit a natural 20, roll a dX to see what bodypart you hit. (Also, I'm not a native english speaker, so I might make some mistake there and there.) that's usually no problem, as long as you make an effort (writing 'you' and not 'u', ...)
#3 Dragoncat Dec 07, 2009 5:04:34	The problem with the body part idea is thus; either you have massive bloat, or you have circumstantial ideas that don't translate. There are two methods for presenting this sort of thing. 1) Every monster has anatomy detail, with info on how hitting X does Y. 2) There is a set of general rules, like Attack The Head and Aim For The Shins. In the former, you have massive system bloat, because a fomorian might have different anatomy than a cyclops or an ogre, and fire bats will be different from shadow bats, all the types of beetles need work, and someone needs to figure out how to hit an earth elemental in the family jewels. Way too much text for questionable results and potential imbalance. It is usually better to keep this thing for special cases, like hydra heads or Zelda style boss battles. In the latter case, you have ridiculous translation problems the instant you get any fantasy variation in form. If you attack an ettin's ear, does that daze one head, but not the other? Where does a hydra keep its kidney? If you target a centaur's ankle, how much is its mobility hindered? If I use the special groin shot on a balor, how does it react? Once you get beyond the basic human, the system breaks down completely, to the point that it is basically worthless on most of the monsters out there.
#4 Leoven Dec 07, 2009 9:39:56	Hey there, A setting without Humans in it. Sounds perfectly possible, I mean you might have run a campaign where the PC's were all in an elven kingdom or something equivalent. As for Humans filling up a specific role in your camcaign world as all other races do, just hand those roles out to another race. Peasants, well they are farmers. Almost all races have Farmers I recon of some sort at least. The sort-lived, impulsive, rash, judgemental (etc) nature humans might have according to other races can easily be transferred to another race. Uhmm gnomes, orcs(mentality wise), halfbreeds, magical minions, anything that has a lifespan or around that of humans. -=-=- On another note, I've run quite a few settings where humans simply we not found at all or where humans do exist but are nowhere near as important as other races. Off the top of my mind: 1. Drow setting (cityscape campaign) 2. Tigren (catlike humanoid) desert cityscape campaign - fur colour and manes as social status symbols hehe. 3. Orc wildlands. all forms of orcs and alike kin - humans for Food & Fun(fight) if any showed up. 4. Vampire clan (caste) world - humans might as best be considered cattle. I think as you mentioned(OP) that a setting without Humans in it invites (forces) the PC's to learn and think about the world (think setting) they are in and how to before accordingly. I'd say try it, just do it and see where it goes. Let us know what the rest of your idea's are as-well, you definitely got me curious. -Leoven