The Island of Unmade Games

A Discord discussion and a bout of honest self-assessment compels me to list all the game ideas I’ve floated in this blog or elsewhere.

If anyone thinks any of these is an amazing idea that I should do immediately, or conversely is such a bad idea I should vote it off the island, let me know in the Contact Form. It will make a nice break from the spam of freelancers wondering if I’d like an article on sports as a healthy pastime for young people, or whatever they’re peddling these days.

For my prior whining a year and a half ago, read this.

Astral

(See The Verse for a quick rundown of my cosmology.)

This one I’ve talked about so often it has its own tag. Essentially it’s a mini-game or “side-loaded” system to represent Astral Travel, with its own laws, quirks, and even magic system. Laws of the Astral as I’ve defined them.

1. A character’s Astral Body is wholly independent of their physical body (as represented in most RPG systems). Those with high willpower, magical aptitude, spell-casting experience, mental psionic powers, etc. may have a leg up on their first experience in the Astral, but otherwise experience in the Corporeal has no bearing on abilities in the Astral, and vice versa.

2. The Astral Plane is an effectively infinite dimensional space mapped onto three-dimensional pseudo-space for three-dimensional beings. Each destination resembles either a star in the darkness, a dark mass against the silver background, or a node on a nigh-infinite mathematical graph, depending on how one perceives the Astral. Getting somewhere is merely a matter of willing oneself to move toward or away from a reference point.

3. Space behaves oddly. In practical terms, all entities in the Astral Plane are Inside / Outside, Touching, Close, Near, Far, or Away from any other entities.

4. Time behaves oddly. In practical terms, each Volume of Astral space defined by entities at Far distance or nearer exist in their own time stream; the cavalry never arrives until after battle is done. Each eight hour period in a Corporeal realm translates to an arbitrary number of “ticks” of Astral Time; it can feel like a few hours or a dozen years.

5. Astral Combat somewhat resembles psychic combat or spirit combat. Each “hit” disrupts the target’s thoughts and perceptions until they temporarily lose consciousness. Nobody dies in the Astral Plane … unless you count the poor souls whose silver cords were cut by an Astral Warden or those who incurred the Astral Queen’s wrath and banished to her Eternal Oubliette.

6. While certain psychic powers¹ work in the Astral Plane, nearly all conventional magic² doesn’t. Instead one must learn “glamours”, illusions with substance and effects in the malleable reality of the Astral. Some Glamours augment Astral Combat; others influence non-combat aspects like the various Lesser Glamours that alter an Astral traveler’s apparent shape and aura or the difficult but incredibly useful Translator glamour. A few bend time and space.

7. Apart from the beings that call the Astral home or at least a respite from their Corporeal World(s), the Astral contains inert matter: the fossils of abandoned ideas, the incomplete forms of books and art never realized, and the corpses of forgotten gods. Astral Warden tribes stake claims on these places, and react badly to trespassers. Only one is open to all: the City of the Forgotten God, carved out of a gargantuan god’s corpse. It is the home of Queen Tsolyanka XVI, sovereign of all Astral Wardens, and meeting-place of the Parliament of Astral Lords. (And deposed by them

8. All inert “matter” in the Astral eventually decays into prima materia, which give weight to Glamours and permanence to the works of Artificers. While in the Astral many Astral Travelers carry Astral Items which make the effects of Glamours permanent, and take shelter in Astral Places unfettered by the limits of Corporeal architecture. Once an Artificer makes an Astral Item or Astral Place, only similar effort (or a superhuman powerful psychic blast) can unmake it.

Not merely a transitional plane, in this system/setting entire species dwell partly or wholly on the Astral Plane, including the Astral Wardens, a species called the Jinn (or Astral Jinn) until I think of a better name, Astral Vampires (although what they drain is still up in the air), Machine Elves whose destructive tendencies can be channeled into creation, and in the more posh demiplanes tangent to the Astral the gods of the Uncounted Worlds and their servitors.

Travelers can make a second life in the Astral Plane: interacting with peers across time and space, exploring the depths of the plane, forging items to assist them, prospecting for prima materia, securing unreal estate upon which to build their Astral strongholds, gaining a reputation and influence among the regular denizens of the Astral, and generally doing what adventurers do in any environment.

As of this writing I’ve settled on a 1d6 vs 1d6 mechanic, with 2d6 vs. Target for works of Astral Artificing and maybe the native magic known as Glamour. Mostly, though, I have mostly empty files listing what I will explain, someday.

The Elf Game

The Elf Game began as a riff on a common term for fantasy RPGs. What if we designed an old-school RPG where the main classes were different roles for Elves, and humans, Dwarfs, and other creatures were stereotyped “race classes”?

First, though, I had to decide what Elf society looked like. My solution assumed that player characters were comparatively rare “young elves” going on a Wanderjahr or Rumspringa through mortal lands. Once they returned, they would assume the responsibilities – such as they are – of an elf wizard, noble, druid, ranger, or commoner, but while in human lands they could leverage their training as an Apprentice, Envoy, Ovate, Warden, or Yeoman (respectively). Optional rules would allow PCs to play an Exalted Beast, Fairy, Goblin, Gnome, or Half-Human.

So far I have a rough draft of core rules and a bunch of outlines in my notes. I’m still deciding the names of the Primary Attributes because I can’t be satisfied with Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, etc. Only Apprentices can cast true spells, but all Elves can use Glamour either to mitigate the effects of damage or work a minor illusion.

Dwarf World

While considering the design of the Dwarf “race class”, I had the possibly terrible idea of making their abilities dependent not on classes and levels (as with Elves and faerie creatures) but on Careers. Instead of Glamour they have Grit, which takes the sting out of damage and other physical hardships.

At that point I had an even more terrible idea: an entire game based on Dwarfs, detailing the kingdoms in which they lived and the larger Underworld against which they guard.

Man and Overman

The idea for the Human “class” came before Dwarfs, and I have a notion to make them classless, level-less, and skill based. Unlike Elves, a human’s short lifespan and comparatively chaotic “civilization” precludes the class structure of Elves. Rather, humans acquire scraps of knowledge in specific areas, represented by about three dozen skills (which I have yet to enumerate). Their equivalent to Glamour or Grit is called Luck, which grows as they gain experience and allows them to mitigate or wholly negate not only damage but bad die rolls.

Some “humans” are Half-Elves or Half-Dwarfs, with Glamour and illusions or Grit and willpower. They have limitations relative to humans to be determined, but otherwise resemble Human characters. This is distinct from an Elvish Half-Human, which uses an Elf class but has boons and flaws reflecting their human heritage, or a Dwarfish Half-Human, which uses the Dwarf rules but with distinct abilities and inabilities. The only distinction between a Human Half-Elf or Elvish Half-Human is which side of the family they grew up in.

Humans can also practice “sorcery”. Unlike an Elf, a human Sorcerer draws power from collecting inherently magical rocks, plants, and parts of animals. Each spell worked depletes this stockpile, so a Sorcerer must constantly collect more, both for magical defense and their endless experimentation. Sorcerer would be an optional class, i.e. I had no idea how I would implement it or what spells it could use.

At some point I decided that humans need a threat the same way Dwarfs have the Underworld and Elves have “mortal ways”. I therefore planned the Overmen, invaders from another reality with superhuman physical abilities and strange devices beyond human (or Elf or Dwarf) understanding. Humanity’s only advantages in this fight are that Overmen are less numerous, less creative (all their tech is stolen), and reliant on supplies from “home” to keep their devices going. Looking back on this idea, I think I’ll go back to the drawing board, as I really don’t like full-scale wars in my “elf games”. Maybe I can leave Humans as the “skill-based class” in the main Elf Game. Otherwise I’m writing a bog-standard RPG with funky magic rules … or else a War of the Worlds.

Grimlands

Professor Dungeon Master’s often talked about but as not yet fully written RPG Deathbringer inspired Grimlands, a setting borrowing some aspects from Deathbringer, including the grimdark atmosphere (using the setting of my Fourth Age of Eordh, the basic classes, and the conceit of spell-casters either tattooing their spells on their flesh (as in Deathbringer) or reading incantations from a chapbook or grimoire (as in Cairn and Knave) because the art of spell memorization has been lost. I would also add additional (human) classes for Aristocrats, Commoners, Artisans, and other necessary folk, plus race-classes for Dwarfs and Halflings. (Elves, being inherently magical in the DCC-inspired world of Eordh, have gone into hiding.)

The system would be built on EZD6, a cleaned up Elf System, or, inevitably, Shadowdark. (The “full” version of Deathbringer will be built on Shadowdark.) For EZD6 I’d need only a Witch Hunter class and the aforementioned Dwarf and Halfling race-classes.

Heroes of the Middle World

Formerly known as the World of Qi, this RPG starts with heroes battling monsters in a vaguely Asian-themed world. Heroes have five types of Qi, each represented by a dice pool. Metal Qi absorbs damage or can be expended to improve attacks, Fire Qi powers spells, Wood Qi augments skills, and Water Qi represents a reserve that can be converted to Fire, Metal, or Wood. Earth Qi represents a being’s bodily integrity, resistance to damage not blocked by Metal Qi, and the rate at which the character restores their other Qi. Losing Earth Qi is very bad. All corporeal beings have Earth Qi.

“Heroes” (PCs) have Skills: mundane abilities in which they’re trained. Each form of Qi has additional Stunts, except for Fire Qi which has Spells. All Spells require an expenditure from the Fire Qi pool; Stunts either substitute one current pool value for another in certain circumstances or give the PC a special ability proportional to their current Qi pool level.

My current outline breaks the system into eight “books”

1. Heroes: Rules for Heroes and Monsters, including basic GM advice and a “bestiary” of common animals and NPC “ordinaries”.
2. The Middle World: an (optional) gazetteer of the Middle World, a bestiary of less common animals and deadlier Monsters, plus rules for NPC Alchemists and Qi Adepts: Champions (Metal Qi), Healers (Water Qi), Magicians (Fire Qi), Paragons (Earth Qi), and Sages (Wood Qi).
3. The Upper World; (optional) rules for Light Qi, used by NPC Saints and Priests³ to heal or reveal, and Shadow Qi, used to deceive or conceal, plus a bestiary: Blessed Ones, Demigods, Gods, Immortals, Luminaries, and Umbrals.
4. The Lower World: (optional) rules for Chaos, an alien form of Qi used by NPC Demon Folk, Thaumaturges, True Demons, Monsters, and Undead, plus an explanation of the Demon King and his subjects.
5. The Spirit World: (optional) rules for Aether a.k.a Spirit Qi, as well as NPC Shamans and Spirit Folk (e.g. gnome, ifrit, kitsune) and a bestiary: Forbidden Gods, Ghosts, Nature Spirits, and Revenants.
6. The Grimoire: (optional) rules for Sorcerers and their Rituals, plus an omnibus of stunts, spells, alchemical formulas, Saint miracles, Demon Folk cantrips, and Thaumaturgical Arts.
7. The Bestiary: (optional) revised and expanded rules for creatures from previous books.
8. The Apocrypha: (optional) rules for non-Hero PCs – Ordinaries, Alchemists, Sorcerers, Saints, Qi Adepts, Demon Folk, Shamans, Spirit Folk, and Immortals – plus alternate mechanics.

Paranormality / The Paranormal Powers Book

Paranormality started out as a 2d6-based “players roll all dice” game with systems for psychic abilities and paranormal phenomena. As the list of game ideas grew, though, I decided the world didn’t need yet another supernatural horror / dark fantasy system and refocused my efforts on a set of “psychic rules” that could adapt, theoretically, to any other system. That goal remains elusive.

One old outline would augment the classic psychic powers, including ESP, precognition, telekinesis, and telepathy, with chapters on “fake psychics” (sleight-of-hand and mentalist tricks) and ritual magic. I’ve narrowed the scope a bit; they’re important topics that deserve supplements or books of their own.

Recently I took a faltering step toward refining my vague ideas into concrete rules, using either 1d100 or 2d6. Somewhere I have hierarchical lists of “Disciplines”, “Talents”, and “Stunts”, but nothing concrete.

Shadow Vale

Shadow Vale went through a strange evolution and ended up as a setting about superhumans surviving in a hostile wasteland. At one end of their world stands the Brightlands, a land of peace and plenty (and rules and intrigues) forever walled off from them. At the other end lies the Black Gate to the Darklands, an endless pit of horrors populated by monsters and the Darklanders. But the Shadowlanders aren’t the only denizens of Shadow Vale; monsters and Darklanders lurk here too, and beings from another world called Goblins provide conveniences for this harsh land … at a price.

The base system for Shadow Vale is “borrowed” from the Fighting Fantasy_ books and Troika!. One of the difficulties in refining this system is the hierarchy of “toughness”, inspired by Amber Diceless Role Playing and Lords of Gossamer and Shadow⁴: mortals and most of their weapons are weaker than Darklanders, which are weaker than Shadowlanders and Common Brightlanders (a.k.a. the Folk), which are weaker than the Noble Brightlanders who rule over the Commons, which are weaker than the Tetrarchs who (theoretically) rule over all. Even their metals are tougher: Brightmetal (Noble Brightlanders) beats Graymetal (the Folk). which beats Darkmetal (Darklanders) despite its poisonous nature, which beats mortal iron.

That said, I don’t know what to do with th setting. Settings generally should start at a period of instability, but I don’t know how to destabilize civilizations of demigods that have persisted for millennia.

The Tetrarchy Engine

Apart from being a reference to the setting of “Shadow Vale”, “Tetrarchy” is a riff on Troika!; it’s my concrete name for what I was calling “Troika! simplified. Characters are defined only by Stamina (how much damage or physical strain they can take), Fate (inverse of Luck that increases every time you test it to avoid danger), and a list of skills rated from 0 to 5. There are six skills, each covering a particular activity, much like Quantum Engine or Faster Than Light: Nomad.

That said, I don’t really have a setting for it. The Fate characteristic suggests a doomed world, either post-apocalyptic or classically Norse.

The Third System Engine

“Third System” refers to the core mechanic: roll a number of six-sided dice equal to an ability Rank, and count every 5 or 6 as a success. I have some notes defining five Sue characteristics – Might, Health, Skill (?), Luck, and Psyche – from which one derives attributes like Base Damage, Base Skill Check, Stamina Points, saving throws, and a Magic/Psi Check. These notes I vaguely remember include kinds of Talents (e.g. adding a bonus to the dice pool in a defined circumstance) but no specific examples.

The notes also include an alternative to class-based systems I’ve toyed with for a long time: ranking Body, Mind, and Magic in importance. Here’s a translation of the table out of my private gibberish.

Ranking each aspect produces six distinct possibilities, but I don’t like the names I came up with back then, so I won’t repeat the.

Unnamed Void Project

(See The Verse for a quick rundown of my cosmology.)

Since it’s so new I haven’t talked about this setting much. It’s set in the Void Between Worlds, an environment hostile to all life except in bounded “reality bubbles”. The Void Raiders eke out a living here, raiding each others’ resources and those of the world with “thin spots” that permit access to the Void. All Raiders pay at least lip service to the Void King, who sends Void Wraiths to investigate his subjects and mete out punishment.

System is still undefined, but probably either Shadowdark or some variant of Quantum Engine. Shadowdark is the new hotness and I’ve begun statting Void critters in that system, plus I can lean on Aetherdark for inspiration. (Although Aetherdark seems more fun than my dreary, resource constrained version.) Quantum is simpler, and has ready-made ship travel and combat rules.

There are about 20 models of Void Ships run by the Raiders and others⁵. Each has options including armor, weapons, propulsion systems, life support systems, and communications that range from the primitive (voidstone, arbalests, rockets, tanks of oxygen, and signal lights) to miracle tech (“quantonium”, quantum disruptors, spatial tubes, pressurized hulls, and quantum relays⁶). Each, however, has on or more Void Engines which enable it to hop between reality bubbles or cross into Corporeal Worlds.

Just like “Shadow Vale”, I’m at a loss as to what a player character would do in the Void. Just pass through, braving Void Raider piracy, Void Wyrms, and assorted Things Man Was Not Meant To Know? Or would players try to survive in a space even more inhospitable than hard vacuum, where the laws of reality might shift from bubble to bubble? Might they play Void Raiders, deaf and bewildered in the Corporeal Worlds we know but ruthlessly plundering those “soft” creatures anyway?

The Zeta System Engine

The “Zeta System” is essentially the Elf System using 3d6 instead of a d20, and Health Points instead of a “damage saving throw”. I’d like to introduce some elements of Tunnels & Trolls, notably th simultaneous combat resolution system which merely rolls damage, takes the difference between the two sides, and inflicts tat difference on the losing side.

That said, my notes have apparently not progressed beyond the pre-alpha draft.

Notionally, the default setting for the Zeta System is “Zeta World”, a post-apocalyptic setting inspired by Gamma World and other “gonzo” post-apocalyptic settings like Mutant Crawl Classics. Other settings I’ve outlined but not defined:

• The Eerie West: (“Weird West” is probably trademarked.) The Old West as it never was: filled with undead, monsters, clockwork contraptions, and endless wastelands.

• Millennial Post-Apocalypse: An “afterworld” filled with modern fears: climate change, systemic collapse, the end of global civilization, billionaires with their own fortress estates, and survivors scavenging through landfills and ruins to find relics of the Before Time.

• Stronghold Angland: In 1066 Angland successfully fought off the Norman invasion, keeping its people and language free from French influence. A few centuries later, this isolationist state escaped the Wight Plague, which communicates through bodily fluids and renders the victim both speechless and highly aggressive. Those bitten by Wights are slain instantly, their bodies burned. Even now, a century later, Wights still try to swim onto Angland’s shores.