We're Building a Role Playing Game

Yes it's true, we're going to build a role playing game which will be available here at the Laughing Stick. It's still a very loose idea but it's picking up steam. We'll be looking for input throughout the different stages of planning and welcome any input from the forum members as we go.
We have three people heading up the project so far.
Jake- Mechanics System
Ty- Art and Design
Carol- Plot and story design
First and foremost though we need a setting. If you think that you have a neat idea feel free to post it here.

my question is why does a modern game always have to do a "twist"?

but that is a side issue. I vote for steampunk, though I think we could do steampunk and high fantasy, or steampunk and space ships. just a thought.

Because if it didn't have a twist you would be playing house. Another humdrum life that isn't your own.
I like the idea of mixed anachronisms myself. High Fantasy mixed with Steampunk mechs.

i dig on the steampunk to noir is cool in space aswell like steam zeplins that float through to mars with gansters shooting up your Private Dicks

so I was thinking on the feel of the game, and how it pertains to mechanics. I think we will have to define what we mean by steam punk and high fantasy. well first lets analyze steam. Steam means that we will have high tech devices that use anachronistic technologies. things like steam power and clockworks. electricity is still in its infancy and is the bleeding edge of science. basically it is Victorian or wild western science romance. it is about people and about technology and about the industrial revolution, and all of the thoughts that exploded onto the world at that time. mostly it is about unique and powerful individuals making a difference in the world. it is about the changeover from aristocracy to democracy, socialism, fascism, and all the other ideas that built up during that tumultuous century.

now lets look at Punk, this represents individualism. it represents fighting against authority. standing tall and shaking your fist against the huricane. it is about change and looking cool. it is about being elite, while hating that elitism. it is also about hope; hope that we can change the world. We can make a difference.

high fantasy is about the status-quo. it is about heroes, not the ancient Greek style of heroes, but true heroism. it is about triumph over adversity, and spitting in the eye of evil. it is about a black and white world. in the broadest terms it is about taking a stand, and following what is right no matter how hard it is.

so that is my take on the definitions we have decided to use to define our game. now as to how this will effect the game...I do not know. what do you think? any thoughts?

thanks for reading my diatribe.

I was thinking about the different races and their diseases. I think we’ve got about 75% of the first two alien races down packed but I think that the Crystal People are still in need of some revamping.
I’ve done some research into the Iroquois Native Americans and I think that the tribes history of absorbing others into their tribe will make a suitable back story for our last race of aliens. I’ve been contemplating a few powers for them.

Shape Shifting: Shift into a totem animal without losing the ability to speak.
Mend: A healing power potent enough to revive the recently deceased (Maybe adjustable? Maybe able to cure other alien diseases at a certain power level?)
Warrior: Empathic powers allow them to read their opponents next move well enough to block and strike in a single turn.
Shatter: They can break an enemy’s mind rendering them catatonic.
Track: Any CP can find a location as long as a CP has been there before.

These are just a few ideas I have for this diverse set of aliens. I was thinking maybe a system linked to their crystal. Something like the color of the stone denotes which kinds of powers would be available to them. The powers would level up individually of each other so someone who practiced Mend more than Shatter would be more proficient at it.
Just to have it written down the other races sum up like so:

Aurum: A psychic group of aliens who lack physical form until they meld with another living thing. “Living” is subjective because some larger Aurum meld with land masses or planets, some of the oldest and most legendary Aurum are forces of the universe, too large to meld with any one thing, they tend to forces of creation and destruction in the universe. Young Aurum on Earth tend to meld with humans and depending on their sect (Creation or Destruction) base their choices for meld mates. Creation Aurum will meld with elderly and terminally ill so that their presence will not impose too greatly on their lives. The presence of an Aurum of Creation will often extend the life of their hosts. On the other hand are the Aurum of Destruction who often choose young vivacious hosts so that they can handle the intense duty of destruction, the presence of these Aurum shorten the lives of their hosts due to the intensity of the life being lived. As the Aurum grow in size the hosts must be larger as well so an Aurum may abandon a host early if he no longer fits.
Powers vary for the Aurum based on sect and host.
Wandering Aurum’s most powerful gift is telekinesis.

Dolls: The ultimate hive mind. Millions of alien nanites work together to operate a vessel of their design. They do not understand the singular mentality of some humans and Aurum. The Dolls are usually made of inorganic material ranging in design limited only by the imagination of the hive. They have an affinity for mechanical devices and are incredibly strong and often brilliant. The illnesses that can affect the Dolls make them the least trusted among humans. One of these diseases is an allergy to metals and synthetics which forces the nanites to seek an organic vessel which kills (at least in a medical sense) the host and results in a walking corpse being navigated by a race that upgrades by incorporating better parts. The result is unnerving at best. Dolls may seem selfish when it comes to team work, but they are actually considering the well being of their entire hive. Because when you are a microscopic alien the big picture is a lot smaller.

so is the old alien genstock what gives humans special powers?

not so much, basically the aliens give the humans different ideas and different viewpoints, allowing the humans to build devices and do things that were not standard for the time. or at least, that is what the last explanation I was given was.

oh so hay primitive skrew head think outside the box

Namelessjoe wrote:oh so hay primitive skrew head think outside the box

pretty much, yeah.