Friday, March 28, 2014

D'undred suggestions

Well whilst I wait for DND next, I was thinking I would open the floor to suggestions of what people want to see / don't want to see in a Dungeon game?
  If there are discussions of a similar ilk on forums-  do linky!




Thursday, March 13, 2014

Dnd next comments

So I have been waiting for DnD next before pushing on with D'Undred- and in the meantime keeping abreast of feedback on youtube.

It pleases me to see saving throws default to a stat, as I planned to do.  The death system sounds like fun too- saving throws against death and recovery is again something I had in my home system for years, to give unconscious players some fun.

The hit point system sounds shakey still- especially with recovery.  I think it is the double whammy of gaining hit points and fighting skill at the same time.  If you flattened hitpoints to say, 12 points for everyone- from a first level wizard to an 30th level paladin- then modified damage instead- that makes a much easier recovery system.

Separating hitpoints into wounds and fate seems a good idea to me.  Wounds need medical attention and take time to heal, but fate/stamina is much more plastic.  Fate or stamina is your lucky escapes and quick dodges... a quick rest and your good to go.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Dnd next inklings

Well from what I am hearing, DnD next is shaping along similar lines as I hoped.
I am hearing things like 'flatter maths', 'stats make a difference', 'bolt on options for base classes', 'resolving rules based on creative ideas rather than set abilities.'
Good news so far.
With Dundred created around these sorts of principles, I am wondering if I should hold the project and wait to see how next turns out before I commit much time.
I expect I probably will still go ahead though!

Friday, February 22, 2013

Level up

I am currently thinking of a formuls based XP system, rather than an arbitrary one that requires a table.  You get between 0 to 3 XP for an average encounter- depending on how major the encounter is.  Levels require 10x level xp to attain.
Therefore level 2 requires 20xp, then 30xp for level 3, 40 for level 4, and so on.
Once levelled, current xp is returned to zero, but you can carry any points left over.
Each level, players can upgrade their characters by a certain amount.
Simple and saves lots of bullshit like class tables.

Magic discussion

Great discussion here....

Dungeon skull

Removing the cleric entirely and dumping their spells into the wizard class.
I like it!
I especially like the ides of a white magic/black magic division, and making fae magic a mix of druid and illusionist.  Why not spread healing around the classes?
Gygax' Clerics and their christianity in disguise always sat weirdly with my enjoyment of pure fantasy worlds.

My thinking is if you want to play a cleric in Dundred, play a fighter/wizard and choose white magic spells.

Friday, December 7, 2012

D'Undred manual

Today marks the official start of my holiday season, that is, in my 'real' job- special effects and game graphics.
Having coded my last line of unity3d java, I am now looking forward to clearing the Skulldred backlog, getting the beta out and that, folks, means D'Undred time!

So far, the D'Undred file is a collection of unedited notes, mixed with placeholder art to keep me inspired and add flavor- mainly red box era Elmore, Eastley, fighting fantasy pen work, Rodney Matthews and Roger Dean.

The next step is to bash it into a free beta 1.0.

I was thinking about totally skipping the 'what a rpg' stuff- as anyone interested in this will already get the idea. The main thing is communicating the differences in how it plays to dnd. I think transcripts of game play is the way to really get the concepts across.

For the first playtest book I think a sample adventure, player character basic generation rules, item list and low spells will do the trick- damage cards and some pre generated archetypes.

I like the idea of doing miniatures of the sample characters appearing in D'Undred- in the same way pathfinder did with their Reaper minis- in fact the idea of characters running through the book series appeals as it gives the game an identity, and elevates it from a straight DnD system replacement to its own creature.
Its funny to think I just wanted to play old school DnD but without shitty old rules, and now I am thinking backstory, setting and well, a new intellectual property. Retroclones shy away from that entirely, and so I guess D'Undred is stepping out from that bracket.
As with Skulldred, I must define my core goals clearly- doing so kept the projects shape through development and made me strive to better the mechanics to reach those goals.






Thursday, November 29, 2012

Damage

Role-play 5 hit points of damage.
Go on.
My home spun system moved away from abstract hit points a long while ago, replacing them first with five damage grades- then replacing that with a damage card system.
The damage cards I knocked up in photoshop from photos of various grisly wounds taken from the internet- nothing specific- just enough to make players wince when you look at them.
I arranged these cards two to a page on a regular photo and took them to the local camera shop for prints.
The cards come in a few flavors- light, severe, stun and horrific.

Players place these on the table in front of them. Each has a modifier associated.

All stuns go away after an encounter or a single card for a turn of rest mid battle.
Players get relief from their wound modifiers by roleplaying them- using terms like 'hobble', wincing, staggering and so forth.

Should I carry this on to D'Undred?