Troll Lord Games

Some of you are aware I am in the mix of designing a new fantasy role playing game.

It began as a personal project that has mushroomed into it's own monster!

There were half as many "clones" when I started the project as there are now, and some interesting comments and questions have been raised.

My number one question was this.

How does your game differ from "all those other games"?

I have answered that question with a unique flavor that underlies the entire framework and a different approach to the magic system. (Sorry you'll have to buy the book or playtest to find out details).

One more obvious answer was given to me by my players.

Setting Setting Setting!

My setting is definately not the run of the mill fantasy realm, but it is familiar enough that the players identify with it.

I want a unique game and setting, but I want an initial game release that is generic enough that it can fit into anyone's game and campaign with relative ease.

So I am torn with how general to make it and how unique to make it.

let's use C&C and Skyrealms of Jorune as examples of two extremes.

C&C: General in it's approach to the point no Deities are mentioned. can be inserted into any existing campaign.

Skyrealms of Jorune: So unique that it is almost alien to the average gamer versed in traditional fantasy.

So this brings up a new issue and question I wish to pose to you.

How much unique setting & background is enough and how much is too much?
_________________
'Nosce te Ipsum' -Delphic Maxim

'Follow your bliss.' -Joseph Campbell

I don't need any setting material. Give me monsters, magic, and items and I will develop the world as I want. Settings are, for me, a waste of money. I won't play it as its written anyway.
_________________
If it matters, leave a message at the beep.
Serl's Corner

Monsters have evolved...

Magic items are created...

By someone from somewhere...

An orc with a background and homeland is more interesting than an orc.

I usually come friom the same attitude as you concerning setting and flavor but many find it interesting.
_________________
'Nosce te Ipsum' -Delphic Maxim

'Follow your bliss.' -Joseph Campbell

No, an orc with a story is an orc I ignore because that orc won't exist in my rendition of the game. One reason I could never stand White Wolf games-- too damn reliant on official meta-plot. Same reason I never read or use novelized RPG products.

Hinting at what the orcs do, like having them broken down into tribes and where they live and so forth is one thing... but giving me three pages about how he grew tusks and flipped burgers is another. I can live with the first, but the second will make me rip those pages out.

But, yes. Some people like it. Some people need it. So, this is just one opinion amongst a waterfall of others.
_________________
If it matters, leave a message at the beep.
Serl's Corner

So give me more folks!

Please chime in
_________________
'Nosce te Ipsum' -Delphic Maxim

'Follow your bliss.' -Joseph Campbell

I am also a guy who does not need or want a bunch of setting to interfere with a good rules set. If the rules are good, then the setting might be equally as good in my opinion. Even rules with a slight hint of setting might be OK, but I do not like my setting ingrained in the rules at all. If this was the case, I'd most likely pass on purchasing it.

~O
_________________
> Omote's Advanced C&C stuff <
Duke Omote Landwehr, Holy Order of the FPQ ~ Prince of the Castles & Crusades Society

I am in the camp that loves setting material.... I am a complete whore for settings and materials as such....

So I would want the specific "fluff" that makes a setting unique... because that's what I like. I use Aihrde and my own world as bases for campaigns, but I grab material from Wilderlands, Kalamar, Mystara, even Eberron sometimes and throw it about and meld it into my own games. I'm going to be doing that with Ravenloft into Aihrde real soon here.

So for me, details!

_________________
John "Sir Seskis" Wright

Ilshara: Lands of Exile:
http://johnwright281.tripod.com/

High Squire of the C&C Society
www.cncsociety.org

He is more referring to mechanics that are a byproduct of the setting. Similar to how deities grant a cleric powers, there are other such intrinsic qualities of the setting.

Clerics do not make sense without deities, though many still do so anyway.

It's all cool and Old Testament.

seskis281 wrote:
... I am a complete whore....

I KNEW you'd own up to this one day!

SS is right on target.

He is the most familiar with my setting besides the actual players. he may be more informed than the players now that I think about the behind the scenes info he is privvy to.

Yes, the game is not there to support the setting but the other way around.

So yes, I am talking more about how the setting fits into the mechanics and so on.

Please provide any insight, bias, or suggestion you wish.

My goal is not to provide a meal that everyone will like, but rather cook up something tasty and unique that will fill the bellies of most the invited guests, without overwhelming them with bizarres recipes, or boring them with mac & cheese.

We all like mac & cheese but there is no reason to step out for it.

So I am not designing something that relies on setting, but rather something with unique mechanics and rules that tie back into the setting and make the game something that stands on it's own.

My question to you is how much would you like to see of that, and where do you see things fitting in?

We can all buy OD&D in its many recurring incarnations and tweak it to make it our own.

What I am offering is a way to do that on the upswing side of things prior to print. I have lost count of how many threads on this forum ask why the Trolls did this or that thing. Judging from the replies, I can guess that, "Because Davis wanted it that way." is not acceptable to many though it sits perfectly well with me.

Here is your chance to effect and provide input, effectively making you part of the design process.

Your contributions and comments can help us design a complete and balanced game.
_________________
'Nosce te Ipsum' -Delphic Maxim

'Follow your bliss.' -Joseph Campbell

Joe wrote:
My goal is not to provide a meal that everyone will like, but rather cook up something tasty and unique that will fill the bellies of most the invited guests, without overwhelming them with bizarres recipes, or boring them with mac & cheese.

We all like mac & cheese but there is no reason to step out for it.

Mmmmm.....mac & cheese.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kkhvy9rQHaQ

I'm another that doesn't need setting. Take the dragon Age RPG, for example. Love the setting, but...

...I've been working on pulling the mechanic out and placing them somewhere else, entirely. The mecanics are so cool (to me), and even though the DA setting is cool and all, I don't need it.

So yeah, I've always been inclined to say give the barebones of a system and let the end-user (the GM and the players) build a world around the mechanics.
_________________
LD's C&C creations - the witch, a half-ogre, skill and 0-level rules

Troll Lord wrote:
Lord D: you understand where I"m coming from.

I would like to think setting is important, but seeing as my players have been in Greyhawk for years now and cannot even remember where anything is on the map nor any of the deities that were not in the 3.5 PHB, I have just stopped caring somewhat.

First I'll assume that you're doing this part-time (if you're doing this as a full time job ... are you crazy?!) ...

Okay now that, that's out of the way. My main advice to you is "whatever works for you and makes you happy..."

because it's a long road and if you don't like what you're writing and you're not writing for yourself, you'll never finish it.

This of course makes all my other comments on game design fairly inconsequential.
_________________
Big Iron Vault Your friendly neighbourhood gaming magazine. Check out our new webcomic, The Heindrich Project!

I can safely say I am writing what I want to.

Secret Skeleton wrote:
I can safely say I am writing what I want to.

More commenting on Joe's original question
_________________
Big Iron Vault Your friendly neighbourhood gaming magazine. Check out our new webcomic, The Heindrich Project!