Brand New Car

I have a couple of ideas, and would like your input.

I'm considering implementing a Career mechanic into the system, which would give certain benefits to the character.  It wouldn't be mandatory; the system isn't level-based, and you can build your character as you see fit.  The chosen Career would be a template to build upon, at the cost of build points at character creation.

I've also been developing a setting that is a mix of Sci-Fi and Fantasy.  Right now, it's pretty localized; 2-3 planets, maybe a moon or two.  Space travel is fairly new and expensive, so you won't see a lot of tramp freighters blasting across the sky.  The other option would be a full blown Space Opera, with all of the trimmings; multiple planets, lots of different races, and space transports galore.

So what would you like to see out of these options, and why?  

Ride On, Baby

Hope everyone had a great time celebrating the New Year!  I'm really looking forward to this year, and seeing how things develop and progress.  It's easy to get caught up in the excitement during this time of year; New Year, New Me philosophy and all of that.  I can tell you that my local gym is beyond packed right now, which is fairly routine for January.

The downside is that the luster soon wears off, and instead of a positive outlook, it becomes more of a chore.  Things aren't going as fast or as smooth as you anticipated, other commitments take priority, or Life just gets in the way.  This isn't meant to be pessimistic, but rather a lesson in expectations.  Don't go nuclear, just burn bright and steady.

In short, my development philosophy is approach it like a marathon, not a sprint.

With that said, where am I currently in development?  Let's take a look.

Update #6

• Mechanic update - The Story Dice I mentioned in the last update really seem to mesh nicely with the core mechanic.  This separates the dice into quantity and quality, as well as open up avenues for interpreting the dice in a dramatic fashion.  
• Although I've mentioned it elsewhere, the system utilizes a D6 pool.  The core rule is the Rule of Ten - no dice pool can exceed 10D.  This comes into play when creating your character, as well as advancement.
• Characters are further defined by Strengths and Weaknesses.  These are qualities that either give your character a mechanical, or roleplay advantage or limitation.
• I will be conducing longer playtests with a local group in the next few weeks, which may lead to a campaign.  
• Not enough setting has been developed to really jump into anything long-term (yet), but will continue to be fleshed out.
• The longer playtests will determine how close I am to creating a full-fledged playtest document for others to test drive.
• Setting development has been a bit slow.  Lots of ideas, but not all are conducive to the setting I'm creating.  These are jotted down for later, maybe for another setting book if this proves to be a successful endeavor.
• I'm sticking with the science-fantasy route, as it really appeals to me.  It will lean more towards fantasy, with hints of tech (plasma pistols and minotaurs?).
• Transferred all of my docs to Google Drive, as well as Google Docs.  Even though I was backed up, I don't want to take any chances.

I look forward to posting more updates throughout 2017, and look forward to hearing from you!

All Down the Line

Here are several descriptive phrases of the setting I'm currently working on:

Science-fantasy

Exploration and (re)discovery

Magic, technology, and science

Post-cataclysm era

Fantasy themes using different mythologies

Multiple planetary system (not Sol)

I have some vacation time coming up, and I'm hoping to get some work done during that time.  

Although I'm not a Project Coordinator, I do see the need for a project plan to keep things on track.  It helps to establish project milestones, and track what you've accomplished, as well as slippage and what needs attention.  I used to be a bit of a procrastinator, and it still rears its head once in a while, so anything that keeps me focused is a welcome addition.  

I'd like to accomplish a few things before the end of the year, so I can have a smooth transition and keep moving forward.  I continue to write as much as time allows, even if it's just a sentence to two.  I've also started collecting various images for inspiration, and examples of art I'd like to incorporate in the book.  I'm a visual person, so this helps me in many ways. 

So, short an sweet for an update.  Hopefully you're enjoying the peak behind the curtain thus far.  Feel free to post below, and share your thoughts!  :)

No Use in Crying

I had my laptop stolen this past weekend.  The same laptop that has all of my notes and development for the RPG I'm currently developing.  Yeah, that laptop.
I'm just thankful that I did a backup a couple of days before, so it wasn't a total loss.  Still, it's a bit of a blow, and I've been a bit "out of sorts" lately.

I'm also at the point in playtesting where I need to do so more consistently.  Unfortunately for me, I have to wait until the new year before I can get a group together; it's a busy time of year for everyone, and just not feasible.

It's still way too early to begin actual writing, because the rules are still in flux.  The mechanic is solid, but the rules are still being tweaked.  As a result, I'm in a weird holding state, where I'm waiting for interaction.

Before you ask, no, I'm not ready for open playtesting.  Believe me, I badly want to get this out to everyone that's interested, but it's just not there yet.  I guarantee that I will let you know as soon as it's ready to go.

So in the meantime, I think I will use my time wisely and begin setting development.  Even though the system will be universal, I want to create the first setting for the system as well.  Who knows, if things go very well, maybe it's the first of many.

Goin' Home

No real updates this week, just wanted to wish all of my U.S. folks a Happy Thanksgiving.  :)

On with the Show

And now, back to our regularly scheduled program!

Sorry about the delay, but Life kinda distracted me.  Nothing horrible or tragic, just...Life.  Work, family, friends all swirling about, and before you know it, a couple of weeks have passed.

Enough of my lame excuses, you're not interested in that!  Let's talk about what I've been up to, and how far along I am with my Mystery Mechanic (maybe I should TM that?).

Update #5

• Mechanic update - Tested alternate mechanic and found that it over complicated the process.  However, I do need to implement additional resolution parameters to make the numbers work.  The percentages are even for certain results except for these two; it's mainly because they're set as a pair instead of being separate values.  I've been thinking about implementing these two values as story effects (Positive and Negative), which could then be used to interpret the dice.  Haven't had the chance to playtest this yet, but it's on my To Do List.
• Speaking of my To Do List, it's starting to really fill up.  I've been so focused on development, I've let other points slip; setting up an LLC, TM a couple of items, registering domain name for the future, etc.  Most of these items are for the future, so I've been ignoring them as a result.  I'm kinda bad about that.  :(
• Setting(s) - I've been jotting down notes here and there, collecting art for inspiration, and doing a bit of research.  I have a firm idea of what the first setting will be, but I don't want to give it away just yet.  I hate to tease, but I want to make sure that it's solid before I present it to a larger audience.  Expect an elevator pitch soon!
• Playtest - I'm starting to think I should create a page just for playtests!  Data was collected, and the players were very informative.  Simple character creation was conducted, which was completed in a short amount of time.  Next step will be to include more character creation options, and see how they effect game play.
• Preliminary writing - Typed out the Contents page, which will change over the course of writing.  Still, it was nice to see what it could look like in the future.  Also started outlines for several chapters, and some initial writing for those as well.
• Art - Not even on my radar yet, but I have high hopes!

Well, that's all I have for now.  I don't have any more testing planned for the immediate future; upcoming holiday and family come first, after all!  I'll be more diligent in the future concerning updates, so stay tuned!

Try a Little Harder

Completed another round of early playtesting this past weekend, with interesting results.
I had a simple outline for the group that evening; give a brief rundown of the core rules, explain character creation rules and create characters, and end with running some combat simulations.  The group understood the rules easily enough, created some diverse characters to test the combat system, and we were off.

Combat flowed fairly well, with some good input from the players.  I was doing one-on-one combat with each player instead of group combat, mainly because I wasn't quite ready to test out that mechanic yet.  Players gave their input after a few turns of combat, and I jotted down notes during and after each combat.

The playtest was pretty much done, and there were some good conversations about the mechanic and how to implement it in this setting or that; I have to admit, I was feeling pretty stoked.

Then one of the players asked a question about the resolution mechanic.  It gave me pause, because I didn't have an immediate answer.  The group discussed the issue, and delved deeper into the root cause and potential fixes.  More testing started up to quantify the issue, and how to resolve it in the future.

This may seem like a failure, but I count it as a huge win.  Sometimes, you're so close to what you're working on, you fail to see what may be wrong; that whole, "Forest for the trees" thing.  I can't stress enough how important playtesting is when developing.  Even when you think you're done, do it some more.

I'm also very fortunate to have some very sharp individuals for playtesting.  They really dove in with little guidance, and put the mechanic through its paces.  That last part about testing and trying to resolve it?  That was all them.

I've run some simulations, using the mechanic as is, as well as a revised version.  Interesting results thus far, and there may not be as much of an issue as previously thought.  I'm hoping to do some extensive testing this weekend, using some scripting to get a large batch of results.  AnyDice is great, but I need something a little meatier.  Hopefully I won't have to reinvent the wheel; developing an RPG system is enough work as is, thank you very much.  :)