This is a collection of ideas that's been bouncing around my head for some time now. Over the last couple days, they've been coalescing into part of a tabletop RPG. I'm a lot better at worldbuilding and general design than I am at mechanics, so bear with me, please.Setting: High fantasy. Civilization exists, but is constantly under threat. Monsters- stronger, faster, tougher than mortal man- roam the wild places of the world, striking out against towns and villages. Magic is fairly common- maybe one in ten has the talent for it.Character System: This is the core of what I'm going for. The thought that prompted this whole thing was basically 'How do I make fighters and wizards feel distinct, badass and balanced?' The answer was pretty simple.
There are three general character classes. Casters are your wizardly sorts- inherently gifted with magic, focusing on casting spells in battle. Clerics make pacts with supernatural entities- primarily gods, but demons and unaligned spirits are also options- who use magic on their behalf. The magic they get is more refined, more complex than Caster magic, but also less flexible. Finally, Combatants are, on their own, entirely mundane. They compete with Casters, Clerics, and the superhuman monsters of the world through unparalleled martial skill, borrowing the magic of others (in the form of stat-boosting enchantments and magically empowered equipment), and finding non-magical ways to get things done.
Note that this isn't a class system. Instead, character development is done more like the way White Wolf handles it- characters earn XP, which lets them buy skills, spells, proficiencies, martial arts, spirit pacts, enchantments... basically, every form of character development possible. Certain purchases- the unique features of each class- tend to be mutually exclusive, but everything that isn't directly excluded (or dependent on an excluded purchase) is available. The rub is that class features synergize. Investing in a class gets you discounts on further purchases tied to that class, and investing in skill/spell/martial art trees gets you additional discounts on the rest of that tree. The more you specialize, the more you get out of it. Ironically enough, some class features can offer discounts on out-of-class features that synergize well.
I'm envisioning each class as being very wide- wider than any one- or three- characters can possibly master. There's room to specialize, to play each class several different ways, even before you start to consider multiclassing. The Combatant, for instance, can be played as a traditional thief, ninja, fighter, ranger... basically, as any mundane class. Cleric encompasses the D&D cleric, (parts of the) warlock, druid, and artificer, just off the top of my head, and Caster can be played as a wizard, sorcerer, (the rest of) warlock, and many more.
Magic System: Here's the other bit that really inspired what I have. 'Magic' is the ability to 'push' against the fabric of the world. If you wanted to put it in sci-fi terms, think of it as an inherent ability to make 'waves' in the quantum foam. Each wave has a limited- and incredibly blunt- impact on the world; useless on its own, but when you put enough waves together in the right positions... you get a spell.
'Spells' are four-dimensional patterns, drawn out of magic, whose creation has a useful effect. This isn't easy to do; casting a spell is a lot like drawing a picture on the surface of a lake by running around the edge of it with a wave generator... only in 3D, instead of 2D. Half the effort involved isn't even spent creating the pattern, but neutralizing the bits of the waves that aren't part of the pattern. When you don't do that, you get the effect you want... plus a menagerie of other, random, side effects.
This is where the name comes from. The people of this world think of it as, metaphysically, a tapestry. Magic is the act of reweaving it into a new pattern. Gods, demons, and spirits- technically all the same thing- are repeated motifs. A god of fire, for instance, is the pattern of fire, shaped by belief into a sapient being. This is why Clerics are different from Casters; instead of doing magic themselves, they have spirits (who, existing only as patterns, are not limited as mortal beings are) performing magic for them. Spirits can shape patterns more complex than even a dozen Casters working in unison... but each Cleric can only get a fraction of their attention, and they don't quite understand the mortal mentality. Clerical magic is less flexible than Caster magic because the Caster can cast what he wants at the time; the Cleric can only receive the precise boons their pacted spirits have agreed to provide.
More on this later, as I think of it... and as people ask questions. Please, offer anything that comes to mind. Questions about what I've written? Elaborations? Suggested game mechanics? Quibbles? Even suggestions on where to ask? Post it!
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.
There are three general character classes. Casters are your wizardly sorts- inherently gifted with magic, focusing on casting spells in battle. Clerics make pacts with supernatural entities- primarily gods, but demons and unaligned spirits are also options- who use magic on their behalf. The magic they get is more refined, more complex than Caster magic, but also less flexible. Finally, Combatants are, on their own, entirely mundane. They compete with Casters, Clerics, and the superhuman monsters of the world through unparalleled martial skill, borrowing the magic of others (in the form of stat-boosting enchantments and magically empowered equipment), and finding non-magical ways to get things done.
Note that this isn't a class system. Instead, character development is done more like the way White Wolf handles it- characters earn XP, which lets them buy skills, spells, proficiencies, martial arts, spirit pacts, enchantments... basically, every form of character development possible. Certain purchases- the unique features of each class- tend to be mutually exclusive, but everything that isn't directly excluded (or dependent on an excluded purchase) is available. The rub is that class features synergize. Investing in a class gets you discounts on further purchases tied to that class, and investing in skill/spell/martial art trees gets you additional discounts on the rest of that tree. The more you specialize, the more you get out of it. Ironically enough, some class features can offer discounts on out-of-class features that synergize well.
I'm envisioning each class as being very wide- wider than any one- or three- characters can possibly master. There's room to specialize, to play each class several different ways, even before you start to consider multiclassing. The Combatant, for instance, can be played as a traditional thief, ninja, fighter, ranger... basically, as any mundane class. Cleric encompasses the D&D cleric, (parts of the) warlock, druid, and artificer, just off the top of my head, and Caster can be played as a wizard, sorcerer, (the rest of) warlock, and many more.
Magic System: Here's the other bit that really inspired what I have. 'Magic' is the ability to 'push' against the fabric of the world. If you wanted to put it in sci-fi terms, think of it as an inherent ability to make 'waves' in the quantum foam. Each wave has a limited- and incredibly blunt- impact on the world; useless on its own, but when you put enough waves together in the right positions... you get a spell.
'Spells' are four-dimensional patterns, drawn out of magic, whose creation has a useful effect. This isn't easy to do; casting a spell is a lot like drawing a picture on the surface of a lake by running around the edge of it with a wave generator... only in 3D, instead of 2D. Half the effort involved isn't even spent creating the pattern, but neutralizing the bits of the waves that aren't part of the pattern. When you don't do that, you get the effect you want... plus a menagerie of other, random, side effects.
This is where the name comes from. The people of this world think of it as, metaphysically, a tapestry. Magic is the act of reweaving it into a new pattern. Gods, demons, and spirits- technically all the same thing- are repeated motifs. A god of fire, for instance, is the pattern of fire, shaped by belief into a sapient being. This is why Clerics are different from Casters; instead of doing magic themselves, they have spirits (who, existing only as patterns, are not limited as mortal beings are) performing magic for them. Spirits can shape patterns more complex than even a dozen Casters working in unison... but each Cleric can only get a fraction of their attention, and they don't quite understand the mortal mentality. Clerical magic is less flexible than Caster magic because the Caster can cast what he wants at the time; the Cleric can only receive the precise boons their pacted spirits have agreed to provide.
More on this later, as I think of it... and as people ask questions. Please, offer anything that comes to mind. Questions about what I've written? Elaborations? Suggested game mechanics? Quibbles? Even suggestions on where to ask? Post it!
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.