Hello there everyone! I’m relatively new, and like a lot of folks here I’m making my own game.
Sadly, I’ll be the first to admit I’m basically making a D&D-inspired fantasy heartbreaker – it’s more a game to fulfill the little tweaks I want in my gaming experience rather than something universal. Nonetheless, I hope that over the next year I can get a few folks interested.
As is typical with heartbreakers, even if the final system isn’t necessarily a groundbreaking achievement, some of the discoveries or fun mechanical quirks along the way can be shared, stolen, and disseminated by everybody.
A quick example of some jokey ‘Perks’ that the game will have:
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Hidden Depth of Character
You gain 3 additional aptitude points, which do not need to be assigned at the moment. You can assign them on the adventure. You may also spend an aptitude point to know a language, as it comes up.
Snake Eater
A lifetime of poor decisions has miraculously resulted in your immunity to poison. You are immune to the poisoned condition, and when subjected to poison damage, you ignore all of the listed effects and instead heal 1 HP in response.
Stubbornness
Your mule-like stubbornness is legendary, serving you well in everything from facing your mother to facing dragonbreath. You gain a +1 Stubbornness bonus to all saving throws.
Vitruvian Proportions
Calculate the average ability score of your party’s members, not including your own ability scores. Change every ability score on your character sheet to that average score.
“`
Hi Ant Wu! I hope you will have a great time building your new game! Can I ask what inspired the project? I think the, now classic, questions that always help at the start of this endeavor are:
– What is your game about?
– How is your game about that?
Even a fantasy heartbreaker should strive to have answers to those in hand at the beginning. It helps a LOT with scope creep and rules that get in the way of the intended experience. It also helps to share the answers with others so they know how to help you stay tuned in.
I bet someone here can remind me who originally suggested these questions (along with a list of others).
Hi Ant Wu! I hope you will have a great time building your new game! Can I ask what inspired the project? I think the, now classic, questions that always help at the start of this endeavor are:
– What is your game about?
– How is your game about that?
Even a fantasy heartbreaker should strive to have answers to those in hand at the beginning. It helps a LOT with scope creep and rules that get in the way of the intended experience. It also helps to share the answers with others so they know how to help you stay tuned in.
I bet someone here can remind me who originally suggested these questions (along with a list of others).
Logan Howard
The original inspiration was a 5e game that was all one race – we all played tieflings. It highlighted to me how differently players think about their racial identity when they must play a community of it, because fantasy races are typically packages of mechanics, but when your entire party is one race, that highlights aspects of race.
Since then, many sources of inspiration have come and gone. Saga is one. Game of Thrones. Twig. Basically my own Appendix N, right.
– Kindred Core is a weird fantasy RPG with frankenstein influences where race and the allies you make take a front seat.
– There’s only one major linkage to this central theme, but basically the way I want to do the races chapter is to have the party pick a race (rather than each player pick a race) – picking a race constitutes a social contract. Each race has their own type of campaign to play out, their own strengths and weaknesses that you will have to overcome as a group.
– Two games come to mind with the themes of course:
Why not WoD? Partially cuz the storyteller system hits up a degree of monstrous reflection that I don’t find valuable, partially because I still want the game to center around fantasy adventure rather than some sort of monster + magical realism mix.
Why not Monsterhearts? Same deal – sure it explores your identity front and center, but again it’s more personal reflection and more monstrous reflection.
– In terms of other aspects, allies take a front seat because I really want to emphasize the old-school take on hirelings, where they’re pretty critical for a party to move forward. Endgame is managing a domain, for example, not taking on the multiverse’s threats. B/X endgame, rather than the 3.5+ D&D endgame. Few parties have darkvision, so hiring a torchbearer is important. Encumbrance is strict, so hiring porters are important. Small emergent things like that.
– In terms of the frankenstein influences and the weird fantasy aspect, the classes are just a hop and a skip away from trad D&D classes. Like I said, heartbreaker, so they’re attached to different setting expectations than D&D is. To anyone very attached to D&D, the differences might be a nuisance, but they’re important to me. Takes you into a world where fleshwarping and undead are slightly more of a norm. Nobles pay for facelifts and for body mods. Merchants pay for undead labor. That sort of thing.
– There are also non-thematic adjustments that I just prefer as quality-of-life improvements – chargen under 15 minutes is a big one, so that I can say “let’s play Kindred tonight” and it can happen without the night being possessed by chargen questions. Combat is faster, so more combat can be included in one session.
Logan Howard
The original inspiration was a 5e game that was all one race – we all played tieflings. It highlighted to me how differently players think about their racial identity when they must play a community of it, because fantasy races are typically packages of mechanics, but when your entire party is one race, that highlights aspects of race.
Since then, many sources of inspiration have come and gone. Saga is one. Game of Thrones. Twig. Basically my own Appendix N, right.
– Kindred Core is a weird fantasy RPG with frankenstein influences where race and the allies you make take a front seat.
– There’s only one major linkage to this central theme, but basically the way I want to do the races chapter is to have the party pick a race (rather than each player pick a race) – picking a race constitutes a social contract. Each race has their own type of campaign to play out, their own strengths and weaknesses that you will have to overcome as a group.
– Two games come to mind with the themes of course:
Why not WoD? Partially cuz the storyteller system hits up a degree of monstrous reflection that I don’t find valuable, partially because I still want the game to center around fantasy adventure rather than some sort of monster + magical realism mix.
Why not Monsterhearts? Same deal – sure it explores your identity front and center, but again it’s more personal reflection and more monstrous reflection.
– In terms of other aspects, allies take a front seat because I really want to emphasize the old-school take on hirelings, where they’re pretty critical for a party to move forward. Endgame is managing a domain, for example, not taking on the multiverse’s threats. B/X endgame, rather than the 3.5+ D&D endgame. Few parties have darkvision, so hiring a torchbearer is important. Encumbrance is strict, so hiring porters are important. Small emergent things like that.
– In terms of the frankenstein influences and the weird fantasy aspect, the classes are just a hop and a skip away from trad D&D classes. Like I said, heartbreaker, so they’re attached to different setting expectations than D&D is. To anyone very attached to D&D, the differences might be a nuisance, but they’re important to me. Takes you into a world where fleshwarping and undead are slightly more of a norm. Nobles pay for facelifts and for body mods. Merchants pay for undead labor. That sort of thing.
– There are also non-thematic adjustments that I just prefer as quality-of-life improvements – chargen under 15 minutes is a big one, so that I can say “let’s play Kindred tonight” and it can happen without the night being possessed by chargen questions. Combat is faster, so more combat can be included in one session.
I’m glad I asked! This is very interesting! You should definitely take a look at Ray Otus’s Plundergrounds zine (issue 4) called Rakka’s Raiders. He has some great ideas about starting with a cohesive group of the same race in it.
I’m glad I asked! This is very interesting! You should definitely take a look at Ray Otus’s Plundergrounds zine (issue 4) called Rakka’s Raiders. He has some great ideas about starting with a cohesive group of the same race in it.
Will do!
Will do!
patreon.com – Ray Otus is creating a Dungeon World Adventure Zine | Patreon
patreon.com – Ray Otus is creating a Dungeon World Adventure Zine | Patreon
Intriguing! I am intrigued!
Intriguing! I am intrigued!