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[IronyOwl]

It's like... well, I don't want to do some actions. When I look at some, I just avoid doing them until the very end. Some days I just don't feel like doing it. Other times, I just hit a wall in what I'm supposed to add.

Well, you could try mentioning this when it happens. You do sometimes, but not enough to really get a feel for what constitutes a "good" action, other than "not vague, especially regarding magic."

Maybe some sort of Vague Action Detected tag at the bottom or something?

Sci-fi RTD, where the story is humanity is allied to a gigantic galactic alliance against a massive, extra-galactic empire seeking to take over the Milky way.

Okay, but what are the mechanics like? Or the feel, for that matter.

A remake of Westlands with better rules (hopefully).

Wheeeeee!

Or another generic medieval RTD with a brand new story that may not be generic.

Fantasy medieval or just medieval? And again, what would the actual gameplay be like?


Reserve me for a Westlands remake, at least. The scifi I might be interested in depending on everything, and the medieval one similarly but less so.

[Tarran]

Sci-fi RTD, where the story is humanity is allied to a gigantic galactic alliance against a massive, extra-galactic empire seeking to take over the Milky way.

Okay, but what are the mechanics like? Or the feel, for that matter.

Mechanics: I'm thinking D22 flavor without the complexity if I can help it. As it stands, I have mechanics, but they're so old that there's a 90% chance I'll scrap them.

Feel: Define it further please. Feel could mean any number of things. Including what Taric does.

Or another generic medieval RTD with a brand new story that may not be generic.

Fantasy medieval or just medieval? And again, what would the actual gameplay be like?

Oh, right, forgot. Fantasy. I'm not even nearly as knowledgeable on history as I would be required to be to run a 'realistic' one.

[Dermonster]

I like anything with magic, really.

I don't know what westlands is.

I'm kinda iffy on sci-fi, because the basis of combat is 'point and shoot' whereas magic is 'Attempt to pull his intestines out his mouth'.

[IronyOwl]

Mechanics: I'm thinking D22 flavor without the complexity if I can help it. As it stands, I have mechanics, but they're so old that there's a 90% chance I'll scrap them.

Feel: Define it further please. Feel could mean any number of things. Including what Taric does.

I'm not actually that familiar with D-22 flavor. It's too big and imposing. :<

For feel, I meant the combination of flavor, plot, and mechanics that defines how the game really works, looks, and feels. A Star Wars RTD would probably be a lot different from a Star Trek RTD, for instance, because they'd have significantly different vibes, significantly different settings and goals, and significantly different mechanics.

I don't know what westlands is.

Spiritual successor to Arcanum Octet/Staggered Magi.

[Dermonster]

Wasn't that the one where I died once, got put back in, and the first tiny bit was made into book form?

That was a good game, it was.

[Tarran]

For feel, I meant the combination of flavor, plot, and mechanics that defines how the game really works, looks, and feels. A Star Wars RTD would probably be a lot different from a Star Trek RTD, for instance, because they'd have significantly different vibes, significantly different settings and goals, and significantly different mechanics.

Plot: Fighting for a destroyed human 'colony' (more like second-earth due to the massive amount of people that lived there) just for the morale boost. No decisive fights, just plain slugging it out between two massive armies and fleets. Players play as elite, but non-special soldiers. May be human or no. Sent on important, but non world-winning missions. Mostly nonlinear storyline.
Flavor: Would vary. Always does with me. Would be dark if possible. Chances are everyone will be completely insensitive to the flavor, though. And chances are a dark feel just aren't good for an RTD. But it makes me happy in my various imagine-it-in-my-skull moments at the very least.

I don't know what westlands is.

Spiritual successor to Arcanum Octet/Staggered Magi.

Also full of ways to get yourself horrifically transformed, unlike the two.

Wasn't that the one where I died once, got put back in, and the first tiny bit was made into book form?

That was a good game, it was.

No, that's Arcanum Octet I think.

[Firelordsky]

Would anybody be interested in a RTD where you're a rising gangster in the Prohibition age/era/whateveryouwannacallit? Of course I won't be using Prohibition slang, if I did then everyone would have to look up everything I say. Also, I'm back from my 6-month depression/brooding time, that's why I abandoned my last RTD (Which was a realistic medieval RTD). I'm probably going to do real money calculations, as there were criminal rackets and protection money and some legitimate businesses back then.
Economy:Will probably be sorta like this.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Example:
Legitimate business cuts:
Alvadore's Fishmongers=$134 (A rival's protection racket is taking 25% of the profits and taxes are taking away 20% of the profits.)
Criminal Rackets:
Alvadore's Fishmongers' Alcohol Still=$972 (Enables Speakeasies)
South Park Street Protection=$305 (Protection is not a very stable racket, with all your rivals and such)

Of course you can always earn money through Balls and Brawn by performing robberies, assassinations, and such.

Combat System:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Combat will probably work in melee just like all the other RTDs, but with ranged combat-ya know Tommy guns and such- I will roll a die to see if your aim didn't go to hell and I will roll another die to determine that the bullet didn't stray too much and actually hit its target, and I will roll another time to determine if the bullet's speed is still lethal.

Bare Bones:
Melee= Regular RTD style
Ranged:
1. Roll for aim
2. Roll for bullet trajectory
3.Roll for bullet Lethality(Should I take this one out?)

Thats all I thought about. Can you guys give me any criticism or suggestions? Thanks.

[Draignean]

Sci-fi RTD, where the story is humanity is allied to a gigantic galactic alliance against a massive, extra-galactic empire seeking to take over the Milky way.
A remake of Westlands with better rules (hopefully).
Or another generic medieval RTD with a brand new story that may not be generic.

Put me down for any and all, assuming you decide to abandoned your already loyal playerbase to have a mid-GM crisis and run off with a younger RTD.

For feel, I meant the combination of flavor, plot, and mechanics that defines how the game really works, looks, and feels. A Star Wars RTD would probably be a lot different from a Star Trek RTD, for instance, because they'd have significantly different vibes, significantly different settings and goals, and significantly different mechanics.

Plot: Fighting for a destroyed human 'colony' (more like second-earth due to the massive amount of people that lived there) just for the morale boost. No decisive fights, just plain slugging it out between two massive armies and fleets. Players play as elite, but non-special soldiers. May be human or no. Sent on important, but non world-winning missions. Mostly nonlinear storyline.

Tarran, I do not wish to cramp your style, but it is often better (for the purposes of an engaging story) to have the "hero" group be special, and for the things the "hero" group does to be important and pivotal.

[Tarran]

Put me down for any and all, assuming you decide to abandoned your already loyal playerbase to have a mid-GM crisis and run off with a younger RTD.

I'm not abandoning it. Abandoning it would be blatantly stopping it. I'm not blatantly stopping it.

Tarran, I do not wish to cramp your style, but it is often better (for the purposes of an engaging story) to have the "hero" group be special, and for the things the "hero" group does to be important and pivotal.

Thing is, it's generic as all hells. And I'm tired of that. I'm tired of a few people being super powerful and stomping all over the bad guys. I'm tired of the heroes magically obtaining the one thing that could solve all problems. I have yet to see a game which pits you as a generic grunts fighting as a force. Every game is about superheroes doing all the work.

[Draignean]

Put me down for any and all, assuming you decide to abandoned your already loyal playerbase to have a mid-GM crisis and run off with a younger RTD.

I'm not abandoning it. Abandoning it would be blatantly stopping it. I'm not blatantly stopping it.

Easy man, I'm just joking with you. I had hoped that to be evidenced by the smiley and he mid-life crisis jokes, but apparently not. I apologize.

Tarran, I do not wish to cramp your style, but it is often better (for the purposes of an engaging story) to have the "hero" group be special, and for the things the "hero" group does to be important and pivotal.

Thing is, it's generic as all hells. And I'm tired of that. I'm tired of a few people being super powerful and stomping all over the bad guys. I'm tired of the heroes magically obtaining the one thing that could solve all problems. I have yet to see a game which pits you as a generic grunts fighting as a force. Every game is about superheroes doing all the work.

That's because no-one cares about generic grunt #193493-34, we care that Strider gets critically injured, we don't give two craps about the other dozen+ Rohirrim soldiers that just got curbstomped.  The trick is to make SOME of the antagonists equally special to the protagonists, and to keep a general level of special going all the way around.

Dresden Files Example: Dresden, Badass wizard, spends a great deal of his time turning various never-never entities into steaming piles of ecto, but most of the memorable villains (and there are MANY) don't get wiped. Hell, they spend half their time beating the crap out of Harry's ass until the one time he can manage to get it right. (Of course the time he does get it right he ends up breaking up the evil party -but not killing the BIG BAD- while riding a zombie T-Rex to a polka beat, so the epic margin is still way high.)

You can't force the players to play genericals, it's like asking Derm to be team medic.

[Gatleos]

Thing is, it's generic as all hells. And I'm tired of that. I'm tired of a few people being super powerful and stomping all over the bad guys. I'm tired of the heroes magically obtaining the one thing that could solve all problems. I have yet to see a game which pits you as a generic grunts fighting as a force. Every game is about superheroes doing all the work.

The problem there is that it's almost impossible to make a tabletop game where that specific scenario works. There has to be something in it for the players, at least in the mid-term. If you want to focus more on character interaction than straight action, it would probably do better as a RP. If you still want action, then frankly the story isn't interesting unless the PCs have a chance of accomplishing something.

A good way to get around this is to give the players a localized, possibly desperate problem and put them in a state of isolation. There may not be anything special about the player characters themselves, but this is their problem to deal with alone (think a closed loop, like Alien or, uh... Scooby Doo). This makes the player characters special without necessarily making them powerful. There has to be a conflict that spotlights the players, but making them "Humanity's Last Hope" isn't the only solution.

Also what Draignean said.

[Dermonster]

it's like asking Derm to be team medic.

I dunno, It seemed to work out alright over in RTRTD.

[Tarran]

That's because no-one cares about generic grunt #193493-34,

You do if you're part of his team or one of his family. Or if you are him. Or if this generic grunt does an amazing job.

The trick is to make SOME of the antagonists equally special to the protagonists, and to keep a general level of special going all the way around.

Define the level of special. I'm pretty sure I'm not violating this. A generic grunt protagonist is equally special as a generic grunt antagonist.

You can't force the players to play genericals, it's like asking Derm to be team medic.

Am I forcing people to play the game? Am I forcing them to act like generic grunts?

The problem there is that it's almost impossible to make a tabletop game where that specific scenario works. There has to be something in it for the players, at least in the mid-term.

What is in a typical RTD for a player? The ability to read a story, play a character, and have fun.

Where do I fail on these three? Even as a generic grunt, the player can read the story, play a character, and have fun not getting murdered and actually punching above his/her weight if the RNG is with them.

If you want to focus more on character interaction than straight action, it would probably do better as a RP. If you still want action, then frankly the story isn't interesting unless the PCs have a chance of accomplishing something.

Define 'something'. The storyline has these special forces players--but not heroes--cause a fair bit of damage.

A good way to get around this is to give the players a localized, possibly desperate problem and put them in a state of isolation.

The game will be pretty isolated from the rest of the army.

[SeriousConcentrate]

Not to bandwagon on you, Tarran, but I think part of the problem is that once the characters are being played, they're automatically heroes; they're no longer grunts. Sure, they might start out low-ranking and stay there for some time, but if the game goes on long enough eventually they're going to become known as the go-to guys whenever the army needs something done, an elite unit that can handle any job and handle it well.

That being said I have no problem playing as a low-ranking grunt and would possibly reserve for that.

[Tarran]

Not to bandwagon on you, Tarran, but I think part of the problem is that once the characters are being played, they're automatically heroes; they're no longer grunts. Sure, they might start out low-ranking and stay there for some time, but if the game goes on long enough eventually they're going to become known as the go-to guys whenever the army needs something done, an elite unit that can handle any job and handle it well.

Uh, no. Not automatically.

If I make you a soldier, does my story automatically change to have you leading the army? No.

Does my story automatically change so you obtain the thermonuclear bomb? No.

Does my story automatically change so you take out the big bad leader? No.