I'm currently working on an idea - cut short, it is "The Guild" in a fantasy setting, plus some very light rpg-stats (Magic, Strength, Charisma) for dangerous situations & special actions.
While the original inspiration "The Guild", made ~5 different "worker castes", I obviously want more choices than that. Best, would be "traits", that can carry over to other jobs in the same area.
An example, would be a normal, but young acolyte of magic. He would have [Spellweaving] and [Lesser "Elemental" Magic].
He could either branch his [Spellweaving] out into [Enchanting], specialize in [Magic Tools], [Runecrafting] and what-not.
He could also branch his [Lesser "Fire" Magic] out into [Pyromancy Adept].
The real devil, would be combination skills - [Arcane Archery Adept], for example - would take, uh, about [Spelllweaving] & [Experienced Bow-user] or so.
Right, right. Obviously bad traits are also a go - things like [Glowcap Addict], [Broken Leg] and similiar, just promise too much fun to exclude.
How easily such a trait could be learned, would also depend on the char stats - a combat oriented character, won't become a good pedlar anytime quick, nor will he become a good mage on the fly. The 16 races (in 4 factions), also put some nice additional options into the game.
The current plan, is to establish a rough framework on "trait strenght & cost", make some rough drafts for the common jobs and fields, and create any newly needed traits. Well, I kinda would dislike to "bullshit" my way through the game like that though.
Any opinion on how to ease such an expansive system, while also retaining its main benefit - fluid customization of characters - would be very welcome. Well, that or an example of some game who did something similiar, and did it right.
As for the game itself, I would give a season for each turn, and give some ~4 actions to the character. I also might only do "RP time" with the current "main character", because a partner and the first child might be do-able, but anything beyond that, would just become tedious - be it reading, but especially writing.
After the first two generations or so, such a "clan" would surely become politically involved with their city, leading to the real fun. But that's a long way off, and the new "rules and games" can be introduced slowly, one at a time.
Well, either way, that's the gist of the idea. I plan to have a somewhat pre-planned story for the background, which the first characters won't have much chance to influence - being able to do just that, if the character is successful later on, is also one of the charming points of it. The "turn & game upkeep", is also planned in a somewhat simple style, with most rolls not resulting in anything worth mentioning. Expect sprained ankles, a stolen purse, light illness & small blessings to "counter" them out, but not any epic quests - well, unless the char is actively seeking out risk somehow.
Hm. Great. Which bay12 will undoubtedly do - especially considering that the games' current (tentative) name is "Dungeon Town Adventure" >>