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[IronyOwl]

Looks awesome, monk. It'd be awesome if it takes off.


As far as waitlisters go, it depends on how you want the flow of the game to work and how complex you want it to be.

For instance, you could give waitlisters personal holdings or assets of some sort, which would become relevant when they got into the game proper. Their actions on the council would thus be in pursuit of whatever increased their assets and, in all likelihood, hastened their entry into the game. Trouble is, in addition to making the council actively malicious towards players (but still, presumably, at least neutral unless there's a reason not to be to the Empire), that'd require tracking waitlister assets and perhaps developing random tables just for them and so on and so forth. Possibly not what you're going for.

[Phantom of The Library]

That sounds interesting (I won't play it, though), though personally I don't really like the idea of PMs. It's less interesting for observers and future readers.

That is true...  I can't really post the whole PM (because often the way the person writes tells who's whom), and paraphrasing is rather boring to read... T_T

You can always post them after the fact, maybe have a section at the end where it has all the turns and their action PMs.  Lotta work though.

[Tarran]

I've thought about that too, but it's also sub-optimal. For the observer, they have to wait for so long to see what everyone tried to do and they likely won't be interested much. For the future reader, it's the same deal. You'd have to edit them into the already existing turns for the future readers alone to have full enjoyment, but it's still a problem for the active observers who still have to wait and it's a lot of menial work.

[Skyrunner]

Another thought: a la Mafia games, have a night-phases where what your imagination cooks up becomes real, and day-phases where you can try to talk, figure out who's the one who's trying to kill everyone else, and perhaps do something else that I can't think of right now. :|
What to do in the day?

As for the talking : During the day, the real names are used. During the night, aliases are used (such as simply A, B, C, X, T, Z . . .) which only the person who is acting knows and the others don't. This sorta invites gameplay & fluff segregation, but . . . I suppose it could be chalked down to being too dark to know. >.>

[Talarion]

So, guys, I was thinking of running a game.

Roll to Become a God

This game has a simple promise. In a land of fantasy, magic, warriors and beasts, You have somehow aspired your sights on godhood. After fighting through your battles, searching for a way... you finally 'ascend', your mortal form evolving into something completely new... And as you rise to your new domain, what you believe to be the stars, the clouds, or even some mountain... You find yourself at the start of an entirely new struggle. With your new power, you can... feel others. You cannot tell where, or what, but you can feel them. You put them off, thinking yourself superior, a god! Untill suddenly you feel your surroundings twisting, changing as you are pulled out of your domain, into a decorated room of white marble. In the center, there is a long, mahogany table, at which sit numerous figures. Spots lie empty. The table is bare. Around the edges of the room, marble columns stand. You can see from where you are that there are others, and you can see the spark of divinity in them. Some look as confused as you are now, others not so. You see various figures, seated at the table, beckon to you to join them, as a booming, thunderous voice calls out.

"Welcome... Especially to you newcomers. Welcome to the Council of Gods."

Spoiler: Basic Information (click to show/hide)

Simply put, you've become a god only to find out that there are still beings out there who can match, or even beat you. There are numerous realms, different worlds which different gods rule over. You all come from the same realm, you can tell. Different lands, definitely. Your eventual goal... is whatever you make it. Gain more power, gain more following, dominate the lands or make allies... or even create your own land. You're gods now.

But then comes in the politics. Gods often talk, convening in the council at various times. You can make allies, or enemies. War between the Divines is very taxing, on your power and following, so you can't undertake it lightly. Some gods won't like what you do. You might even disagree with the actions of other players, and you can work to counteract this.

Think carefully, speak thoughtfully, and step lightly. That's the general advice, to start off with.

Mainly, this will be run using the usual d6 system. The special thing is the stats. Mind, Soul, and Form. Mind dominates magic, and the ability to make things happen. It also helps govern the amount of strength you can grant your Avatars. Soul dominates your will. Soul governs things such as your domain, the strength of your clergy, and contributes majorly to the amount of strength you can grant your Avatars. Form is your physical being. To walk among your people, you must have Form. It also determines how well you can do in direct combat with other entities of power.

Spoiler: Divine Power (click to show/hide)

Divine Power, the strength of you, as a God. This is determined by your followers, and how faithful and religious they are. Measured by thousands, divided by 1000, then times by the percentage of their faith. By default, you start with 1000 followers and 50% faith, so you all start with 50 Divine Power. Divine Power can be expended to perform Divine acts, such as making Avatars, changing the realms or walking among the realms. Fighting with other Entities of power severely drains your Divine Power. You can fight other beings without using up Divine Power, but you are severely weakened, fighting as a 'mortal' would, how you did before your ascent. Divine Power recovers at of 10% per round, while at rest. If a turn is spent doing an action, it only recovers at 5%, while spending a turn fighting nulls recovery altogether. Most of your actions will be completed by using Divine Power. The amount of Divine Power spent is determined by a roll, alongside the 'effect'. If you roll a 1, you spend 1 Divine Power. If you roll a 6, you spend 6 Divine Power. Rolling a 6 on Divine Power spent also gives you a +1 circumstance bonus to your effect. Effect is normal RtD rules, 1 being bad, all the way up to 6 being good.

Spoiler: Avatars (click to show/hide)

Avatars are mortals that embody you, and all you stand for. They are appointed by you, and by investing a certain amount of DP per turn, you can increase their power. Most gods use Avatars to fight for them, and act in their stead among their followers. Avatars are granted powers based on your 'domain'. When they die, they ascend to your realm and become Divine Beings. They lose freedom, and gain power when they become Divine Beings.

Spoiler: Mortal Realm (click to show/hide)

The Mortal Realm is the place which you ascended from, the lands you were born into. To gain access to them, one must use a turn to pass the planar barriers, expending DP to travel there. For a god, this DP cost is x3. For a major divine being, such as an ascended Avatar, this cost is x2. For a divine servant, such as a messenger or simple soldier, this cost is x1. You can affect the Mortal Realm much easier while you walk among it, only using half the DP you normally would, but staying in the Mortal Realm costs you power. By default this is 5% of your total DP. This can be increased by the influence of other Divines, and reduced by your Form stat.

Spoiler: The Stats (click to show/hide)

Each stat influences it's own field. They also have hidden bonuses you are yet to learn about, which will be unlocked when they reach high enough.

>Mind
The master of magic, the stat that allows you to shape things in your vision. It governs magic, and 25% of it determines how much power you can invest in your Avatar for minimal cost. Every 10 Mind gives a +1 bonus on changing things in the Mortal Realms and your own Realm.

>Soul
The power of ascendence, the more Soul you have, the more powerful your clergy becomes. 75% of it goes towards how much power you can grant your Avatars. For every 10 Soul, you require 1 less DP per turn to empower your Avatar. It also grants a +1 bonus to clashes against other entities in mental battles.

>Form
The stat that governs your state of being outside of your own realm. A high form will allow you to act more freely in other's realms, and the Mortal Realms. For every 10 Form, you require 1 less DP per turn to walk the Realms. You also gain a +1 bonus to clashes against other entities in physical battles.

Thoughts?

[10ebbor10]

Seems fun to me.

[Caellath]

I think you could try keeping a parallel strugggle in the form of "common adventurers/heroes" (more Player Characters). Each one could be blessed by a God, and depending on how the God was going at the time, they could get weaker or stronger.

Their actions could also screw up the Gods' fame and name a little, and their prayer, if sucessful, would be more effective in helping the God than the prayers of common followers. They could also act as priests for each God.

Hell, you could even make all of them into Battle-priests of different Gods. Imagine a group of people in clothes like that of a bishop and carrying long staffs but totally capable of kicking ass.

[Talarion]

Sadly, I don't think I'm dedicated/nonjumpy enough to handle dual RtDs. I have a notoriously short attention span >.> and it normally takes all my efforts to run a single game at once. It is a good idea, though. Just in case anyone is willing to collaborate *wink wink*

Because having someone do work for me is always a good option. I mean, what?

[Caellath]

Sadly, I don't think I'm dedicated/nonjumpy enough to handle dual RtDs. I have a notoriously short attention span >.> and it normally takes all my efforts to run a single game at once. It is a good idea, though. Just in case anyone is willing to collaborate *wink wink*

Because having someone do work for me is always a good option. I mean, what?

You could limit both Gods and Priests to three each and keep track of only six players.

[Talarion]

I could, I could... I might try that. If I'm motivated enough to actually write rules for Priests :3 They'd probably be very simple anyways, and limited and much less fun than being a God. Even High Priests can barely compete with Avatars, and that's through Mortal Means. The Divine Power Priests get from Gods is much less.

...

......

Sorry, idea hit me in the face. Instead of Priests, players get to be Avatars of the Gods. Could work, yes?'


EDIT: Actually, no, it couldnt. I just realised a flaw. Doing this takes away alot of the control Gods have over their followers. Since Gods control the power, if a player wanted to do something OTHER than what their God wanted as an Avatar, all their power would poof.

[Caellath]

Sorry, idea hit me in the face. Instead of Priests, players get to be Avatars of the Gods. Could work, yes?'

EDIT: Actually, no, it couldnt. I just realised a flaw. Doing this takes away alot of the control Gods have over their followers. Since Gods control the power, if a player wanted to do something OTHER than what their God wanted as an Avatar, all their power would poof.

Yeah. I had already poked something like that in other Godly RtD, but I think being a priest may be funnier.

Especially because of the cool clothing. The fact they are still mortal followers is also interesting.

[Toaster]

Monk:  Perhaps limit the Council spots to 10 or so and give each one a secret goal, with the one closest to said goal being the Speaker of the Council and gaining more authority (like a tiebreaker vote.)

Further player that fit in neither the Houses nor Council go in the Hidden Fun Stuff list, to be sent out at the whim of the dice.

[monk12]

It's time for Stream of Consciousness Game Design with Monk II: Electric Boogalo!

Anywho, I've been pondering how a more strategic RTD might play out, so I thought I'd write my ideas down and see how stupid they look written out. Intended setting is a low-magic fantasy world- fantasy to allow crazy things to happen with "A Wizard Did It" as justification, low-magic to keep it from being a pain to maintain. It'd be cool to figure magic out, but I'm starting with the nuts and bolts of empire management.

Spoiler: Players/Waitlist (click to show/hide)

The most active "main" players are the Dukes, Duchesses and similar high-ranking nobles of The Empire^tm, heretofore referred to as the PCs. The Empire^tm has recently discovered a new continent full of natural resources and all kinds of good things, as well as waves upon waves of Gnoll tribes. The PCs have received an Imperial Mandate to colonize and exploit the new world, and are allowed to claim land and resources as their own provided they pay tribute to the Emperor. The mechanics of the faction politics will encourage infighting and backstabbery, but if there is too much disunity the Gnolls and other menaces will be able to wipe The Empire^tm off the map.

The PCs aren't just given free reign by The Empire^tm, however- some lands are claimed in the name of the Emperor himself, and there are Imperial forces available to help defend the citizens. The actions of Imperial forces are dictated by the Council of Lords, played by the waitlisters. The Emperor is responsible for making every decision, but since his power is based on the support of the Noble Houses he frequently abides by the decisions of the Council. The germ of this idea was the Sponsor/Driver relationship in my Mario Kart RTD- I've really been digging how it's almost two different games that influence one another in significant ways. What I'd like is for the PCs to be maximizing their wealth/power while the Council is trying to... well, something. Ideally they'd have some mechanical stake in what is happening, but I'm not sure what to do there yet.

Finally, random waitlisters may also "Guest Star" (in the fashion of lawas' Bowinauts) as Megabeasts or Barbarian Hordes. Basically, there will be a table of random events, and if Megabeast or Horde shows up a random waitlister get's to hop in and cause as much havoc as possible. I really like this idea, but it is at odds with the Council having actual impact- as imagined, it'd require me to either make the Council not care at all about what happens in game (making them nosy pricks, which isn't necessarily a bad thing,) or it would require people to choose whether they want to be a Councilman or Monster (which... I'm not sure how that'd play out, whether the lists would be balanced or if everyone would sign up for one and let the other wither.) I'd like to be able to reconcile those, but I haven't yet.

Spoiler: The World (click to show/hide)

The world map is divided into tiles. A tile is revealed when scouts explore (scouting expeditions require gold) or as the result of Random Events. The contents of a tile are determined randomly, and come in two parts- the terrain, and the features. Terrain affects what structures can be built there and what resources can be found there, and may play a role in combat. Features encompass any of a number of things that make a region unique, whether it is natural resources, indigenous people (friendly or otherwise,) defensive positions, magical enchantments, whatever.

Tiles may be improved by PCs or the Empire. Improvements do a variety of things; they may enhance innate properties of the tile, they may be required to extract certain natural resources from the tile, they may provide the Improver with a benefit not strictly related to that tile, and very often they do more than one of those things.

Spoiler: Rough Stats (click to show/hide)

Veeery rough. More of an outline, really.

Each Noble House has a few different stats.

Population is how many citizens owe the House allegiance. Population consumes Food, and produces Coin in the form of taxes. Population is also required to train military units, and is a prerequisite for some Improvements. Population is an aggregate total- where all those people are at any specific point in time isn't terribly important. Population grows as long as Food is positive and the Pop Cap has not been reached. The maximum Population you can have is determined by Improvements.

Happiness is how happy the Population is. If the Population under a House becomes disaffected, Bad Things happen, ranging from lowered tax income to outright revolution. Happiness is raised by certain Improvements and Resources, lowered when Pop is drafted for militia, Pop is starving, or when things get destroyed, and Random Events play merry hell with it.

Food is how much food is produced under the direct control of your House. Food is necessary to maintain your Population, and as such is a valuable strategic asset. Food is produced by certain Improvements and Resources, drained by Pop and Random Events, and can be directly traded between players like Resources.

Coin represents the wealth of the House. Most actions require Coin, and Coin is required to maintain a standing military. Coin is produced by Pop, Improvements and Resources, and drained by military, player action, and Imperial Tribute. Of course, Random Events can mess with this most thoroughly.

Resources are valuable assets at the disposal of the House. They commonly increase one of the other stats, and may be required for certain buildings/units/actions. Resources are normally acquired by building an Improvement in the appropriate tile, and can be traded between players. Resources are never consumed- control of a resource represents control of the supply of that resource, and as long as the supply is maintained the benefit is conferred. The supply line can be mucked with by enemy action or Random Events, however.

Characters are historically significant figures who are associated with the House. They might be minor courtiers, artisans, political allies, generals, or anyone, really. Characters frequently provide some benefit to the House, but may also inflict a drawback in certain situations. Characters are fairly unique, and normally arise as the result of Random Events (although some high-end Improvements encourage Character creation/development.) Once they exist, they have their own life and relationships- they might stay with one House their entire life, leave or be cast off as the result of Events and/or personal relationships, or they might bounce from faction to faction as a mercenary.

Spoiler: Things Players Do (click to show/hide)

In general, players should have the freedom to do what they want (results determined by d6,) but there are many common actions that have established costs and effects. Ideally, there'd be a framework for action cost that could be referred to for individual cases. I haven't dicked around with this much.

Combat- Players indulge in military matters; exactly how this happens is very much TBD

Build Improvement- Players pay Coin to construct and gain control of an Improvement, cost determined by the specific Improvement.

Sign Treaty- Players can initiate diplomatic action, often for trading purposes. The player initiating the trade must use an action to navigate the paperwork and bureaucracy of the Empire- no action is necessary to accept a trade.

Spoiler: Combat and Conflict (click to show/hide)

The Emperor often turns a blind eye to the internecine squabbles of the Noble Houses, only getting involved when the citizenry suffer greatly or when national security is threatened. Houses are also expected to provide the first line of defense for their lands against Gnoll threats and other marauding groups- Imperial Forces are simply too spread out to guard every front.

The specifics of how military might is tracked are something I am still thinking on. I'd like it to at least have a pike>cavalry>archer thing going, hopefully with terrain factored in somehow, but I'd also like it to be more generalized than "these units in this tile." I'm currently mulling a system where Factions control the land itself, which allows their generic Military stat to function like Population in that their specific location isn't super important, but that makes multiple armies impossible. That's something I'd particularly like input on.

Spoiler: Some More Specific Examples (click to show/hide)

These are the kinds of specifics I'm thinking for each category. Not at all fleshed out or balanced.

Improvements

Settlement- Increases Pop Cap by 5
City- Requires Settlement in same tile, Increases Pop Cap by 5
Theater- Requires City in same tile, consumes 1 Coin, produces 2 Happiness
Farm- +2 Food
Manufactory- +1 Coin
Mine- Harvests Metal Resource

Resources

Silver- Requires Mine, +3 Coin
Wheat- Requires Farm, +2 Food

Character

Master Jeweler- Consumes Silver, +2 Coin +2 Happiness

Random Events

Plague
Famine
Character Emergence
Grassroots Exploration
Grassroots Politics
Barbarian Horde
Megabeast

Alright, I'm sleep so I'll stop typing. As you can see, very very very rough right now. I've most recently been cogitating on the Characters aspect- it'd be cool to get a Total War family tree thing going, with characters being associated with either a settlement (as governor) or army (as leader.) Just what I've been thinking lately, imma go to bed nao.

Monk:  Perhaps limit the Council spots to 10 or so and give each one a secret goal, with the one closest to said goal being the Speaker of the Council and gaining more authority (like a tiebreaker vote.)

Further player that fit in neither the Houses nor Council go in the Hidden Fun Stuff list, to be sent out at the whim of the dice.

Looks awesome, monk. It'd be awesome if it takes off.


As far as waitlisters go, it depends on how you want the flow of the game to work and how complex you want it to be.

For instance, you could give waitlisters personal holdings or assets of some sort, which would become relevant when they got into the game proper. Their actions on the council would thus be in pursuit of whatever increased their assets and, in all likelihood, hastened their entry into the game. Trouble is, in addition to making the council actively malicious towards players (but still, presumably, at least neutral unless there's a reason not to be to the Empire), that'd require tracking waitlister assets and perhaps developing random tables just for them and so on and so forth. Possibly not what you're going for.

Your ideas are intriguing to me, and are certainly something that I will remember when I go back to that. What I've done since then is what I often do when I get stuck on an aspect of game design- I put what I've done on hold and think about the problem from a different angle.

I had been attacking it from the grand perspective of the Duke, so I started thinking about it from the perspective of a foot soldier. This lead to a rethinking of how Map Tiles work, and expansion of the Characters concept. Note that the stuff I've already written down is partially obsolete, since I haven't rewritten everything yet.

Spoiler: World Map (click to show/hide)

The world is still made of tiles, and these tiles still have things in them. However, the way they are generated is different.

Tiles are grouped into regions. A region is a group of tiles of the same kind- a Grassland Region only has grassland tiles in it, a Mountain Region is just mountain, etc. When a player explores, they enter a new region. The region is of a random terrain type, and is of a random size- some terrains modify how big the region can be (impassable mountains are smaller, grasslands are bigger, etc.) Some features are determined on a per/tile basis (e.g presence of resources) while some features are applied to the whole region (e.g blood rains, curses, native populations.)

Tiles are most important for the economic side of the game- when it comes to Military, Regions are more important, and moving military around is similar to moving between territories on a Risk board.

Spoiler: Combat Rolls (click to show/hide)

When two units fight, they damage each other simultaneously. One unit rolls 1d6 + Strength + Modifiers and subtracts his opponents 1d6 + Strength + Modifiers- if the result is positive, that much damage is dealt to the unit.

Spoiler: Units, Generals and Combat (click to show/hide)

Units and Generals

Units have a Strength score that is used to determine how much damage they deal in combat, and is depleted when the unit takes damage. The unit is destroyed at Strength 0. Strength is heavily modified by special abilities of the unit, terrain, and other circumstances. Strength recovers at the rate of 2/turn, although this rate may be modified based on circumstances. Units incur a Maintenance cost in Coin- this cost varies depending on the unit. There are three kinds of Ability that a Unit may have- Passive Abilities represent innate qualities of the unit (Pikes have bonuses against cavalry,) Triggered Abilities are used if certain conditions are met (a common trigger is being in the Back Rank,) and Activated Abilities are powerful abilities that often have a drawback or cooldown associated with them- thus, they are only used at the discretion of a player.

Units are led in combat by a Character- Generals are normally the best choice, though some other Characters have abilities that are useful in battle as well. Characters acting as the General of an army have Strategy and Tactics ratings they use to try and outmaneuver their opponent, and often have special abilities or character flaws that impact the flow of a campaign or battle.

Campaigns and Combat

When an army moves into a region occupied by a hostile army, a Campaign begins. A Campaign lasts for an entire turn (three months,) during which the armies clash for control of the region. At the start of every turn, each General attempts to dictate terms of the engagement by rolling Strategy Checks. The winner can choose the size of the engagement- a Skirmish only involves up to 4 units at a time, Battles up to 8, and a Confrontation involves all local units. Each engagement lasts for three combat phases, or until all units on one side are dead.

When an engagement starts, each commander attempts to position his units in the most advantageous position he can. Each army has 2 ranks- the Front Rank is where melee units can engage in combat, and melee units in the Back Rank are the first to fill forward to replace fallen units. Units with the Ranged Attack special are allowed to attack from the Back Rank, and are not subject to counterattack. Units can only be placed in the Back Rank if there is a unit ahead of them in the Front Rank.

To begin placing units, each General makes a Tactics Check- the loser is forced to place all his units on the field, according to the size of the engagement. The winner then places units of his own to oppose them, again with respect to the engagement- each unit he places will fight the unit directly across from it. At this time, Generals and Units may activate special abilities.

The engagement is then resolved. The first thing that happens is the Back Rank Step- many abilities trigger during this Step, notably including the Ranged Attack ability. Next is the Melee Step, where units in the Front Rank attack their opposite member. If a unit does not have an opposing member, they attack the nearest unit, with precedence going to Finally, the Cleanup Step causes the Front Rank to regroup, filling holes if possible. If a unit in the Back Rank has nobody protecting them in the Front Rank, they automatically step up to the Front Rank. M This process repeats up to three times, or until one side is destroyed.

Spoiler: Sample Campaign (click to show/hide)

Militia- 2 Strength
Archer- 1 Strength, Ranged Attack

General Tarquin brings his army of 3 Militia and 2 Archers into a region controlled by General Zaius and his army of 2 Militia and 1 Archer. A campaign begins, and the generals roll Strategy Checks to maneuver for the terms of the engagement. [3]vs[5] General Zaius wins, and because he wants to keep Tarquin from bringing his full strength to bear, he chooses a Skirmish Size- each army can only field up to 4 units.

Tarquin brings 2 Militia and 2 Archers to the battlefield, and Zaius brings his entire force of 2 Militia and 1 Archer. They roll Tactics Checks, [6]vs[1] and because Zaius lost, he has to arrange his units first.

FR  BR
M   A
M

Tarquin arranges his own army facing them.

FR  BR
M   A
M   A

Given the rather basic units, this step wasn't important- in larger engagements, unit placement can be a critical decision. With the armies set up, they fight!

Back Step 1

Tarquin's Archer1's ability triggers, and it deals ONE Damage to Zaius' Militia1!
Tarquin's Archer2's ability triggers, and it deals ONE Damage to Zaius's Militia2!
Zaius's Archer1's ability triggers, and it deals ONE Damage to Tarquin's Militia1!

Melee Step 1

TM1 [4]+1vs[1]+1 deals THREE Damage to ZM1, and ZM1 deals [1]+1vs[1]+1 no damage to TM1! ZM1 is destroyed!

TM2 [4]+2vs[5]+1 deals ONE Damage to ZM2, and ZM2 deals [6]+1vs[1]+2 FOUR damage to TM2! TM2 and ZM2 are destroyed!

Cleanup Step 1

Zaius's Archer has no melee units protecting it! It moves up to the Front Rank!

Back Rank Step 2

TA1's ability triggers, and it deals ONE Damage to Zaius's Archer! The archer is destroyed, and General Zaius is defeated!


With the engagement over, Zaius has no units in the region, and is unable to continue the campaign. Tarquin secures the region for his side!

When/if this game gets off the ground, it'll be accompanied by little pictures to make it clear which units are facing which, and certainly better identification of the units ("Tarquin's Toughs" instead of "Tarquin Militia 1", or something to give them some flavor.) If you've played the Call to Power games, it's basically the same mechanic. Now I need to reconcile this new information with the stuff I had thought of before- right now, I'm planning to remove Tile Improvements and replace them with City Improvements, which will do the same things in a different (hopefully easier to track) way. I also didn't get around to writing down all the thoughts I've had percolating about Characters in general (not just Generals,) but I'm going to bed now, so it'll wait. Comments/questions/suggestions about what I've got here are appreciated!

[IronyOwl]

I like the tile/region distinctions. That's a really nice, insightful break, I think.


No particular opinions on the combat system yet.

[10ebbor10]

Posting this idea, since I have way to much  to do and certainly can't Gm this one to.

Roll to be Med-Evil
Players are all serving the same evil overlord in quest for power and to eternally establish a reign of darkness. While in the beginnings there'll be nobody there but them , their power and influence might soon become much more. There are various options for who the evil overlord is.
A.The GM
B.A Player
C.The Community
D.A player, anonymously
E.Puppet of all the players.

Player classes
-Wizard: While most people can use magic, wizards specialize in it and as of that are actually good in it. (Also knows 3 spells.)
-Assasin/Thief/Rogue: A class mostly based on stealth and cunning in order to achieve their overlords goals. Also the closest thing to a diplomat.(Also starts with some gold, a weapon and a cloak)
-Soldier: Just your average soldier. ( Starts with a weapon shield and armor)
-Engineer/Mechanic(Starts with a toolkit,some scrap and a heavy/blunt instrument)
-Others: Player suggested

Skill levels and such.(System stolen from IronyOwl,I think)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

    -Levels
Level:               XP Needed for next level         XP needed total
Dabbling(-2)              2                                          0
Aquinted(-1)              4                                          2
Normal(0)                  8                                          6
Good(+1)                  16                                         14
Expert(+2)                32                                         30
Master(+3)                64                                         62
Legendary(+4)          128                                        126   

    -XP gain
Roll      XP
1          1 (Learn from your faults)
2          0
3          0
4          1
5          2
6          2

Sign-up sheet

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

-Name:
-Race:
-Class
-Major skill:(Normal) Related to character. Nothing too broad please. (Ie, Fire Magic is fine, Elemental magic isn't. Broadsword usage is fine, swordmanship isn't)
-Minor skill:(Aquinted)
-Inventory:See class + 1 distinct item
-Bio
-Physical appearnce
-Mental

Magic system

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Magical energy is always drawn out of the ground. The precise strenght of the ambient magic field depends on the regio. Some regios have large storages, others haven't. Some regions magic fields replenish rapidly, other regios might have ancient reservoirs which are no longer being replenshid. Mages can master this magic and gather it and store it in themselves, since few magical areas have a field strong enough to immediatly cast from. These places are generally known as sources, and are much sought after.

Magical energy can be stored in devices, often crystals and other systems. These might not always be very stable and are not encouraged for long term useage. The oldest wizard academies have ancient artificats however, that extract and store magic from the ground, meaning that the power of good is always strong on their own terrain. Also of note is that magic is subject to thaumatic adaption, ie the fields energy shifts to the spectrum of which the most spells are made from. Most fields have their own polarization. A high level of polarization affects the regio around it.

Magic is subject to a sort of osmotic effect. Ie magic devices and mage operating in a regio with a very low magic field will feel the magic being drawn out of them, while spells cast in places with a high magic field are always much stronger. Machines and constructs operating in those circumstances must be resistent to overcharging or face the consequences. While this ambient magic might seem benificial, it makes controlling spells much harder and cause much problems. Extensive use of magic or a failure of a magical device might result in temporary chances of the ambient magical field.

Random magic/Rest magic/ Magical background radiation
Whenever a spell fails it doesn't dissapear. It instead flies away into the magical field. Inneficient machiens might also cause rest magic. This magic, while not nesseceraly bad or evil, is all but healthy to have around. Every so often it reaches a critical mass, causing random spells and effects to fly around the place. The Forsaken desert, a place where the largest mage war in history took place, still has a high radiation field. COming near it is seen as suicidal, as the entire magical field of the regio is activated and will be set off at the tiniest disturbance.