Just two more things before a real draft goes out to general playtesters.
Final things to be stomped out include bugs in vehicle creation, and the activity time chart which determines how long it takes to build and destroy things. Previously it involved rolling two dice, x and y, and having variations of x^y manhours which is then divvied up depending on the skill level of everyone involved, which got silly if you're building a pyramid and have 2000 workers on the project. The game is supposed to be simplicity, not what I just described.
In fact, I'm selling all of my RPG material because of the simplicity issue. There's going to just be 2 RPGs around my house: Whatever I write, and the D&D Rules Cyclopedia which I'm acquiring. Yup, the old Red, Blue, Light Blue, and Black boxset info in one book. Simple, ready to go, and the only adjustment needed is making the Dwarf, Elf, and Halfling classes able to advance beyond their retarded official limitations. And ignoring all that Hollow World crap, of course.
I have to remember, the gaming experiences those old rules gave me are the goal of the basic rules of this game... the days when gamers could game wherever and not even need the books 90% of the time because the rules were easy enough to memorize. Yes, at one point, I had all the saving throw tables in my mind. Sad, eh?
The other big jump in LotFP: RPG development is a clear direction for the magic system. There are a couple reasons why the basic rules and the magic system are going to be separate: One, establish that magic and fantasy role playing are not necessarily joined at the hip, Two, A jump in complexity when including magic. The best way to explain it is that there won't be "spell lists", rather a 'spell element toolbox' allowing the creation of spells but with no standard spells. In the same area as how super powers are built in Champions.
The difficulty of a spell will be up to the caster as much as the constructed spells themselves, with the idea that magic is not a science, but rather manipulated with emotions and luck, so that every version of a researched spell works differently for an individual caster. This will also mean that capturing spellbooks with spells you already know will be beneficial, probably more beneficial than finding spells you don't know, as the additional theories and experiences of different wizards with their spells provide new insights to how you would already cast them, making your old spell now easier to cast.
In effect this means more wizards will be able to cast a 'magic zap' spell more effectively because it's a more common usage, whereas you're pretty much SOL and stuck doing the year long incantation with 1000 sacrifices for the 'Raise the evil city of Atlanteon from the oceans and unleash the Atlantazoids upon the world from dimensions unknown' because you're only likely to ever find something like that once.
Confusing, eh? Well, it's magic, it should be a little confusing. Promise, the game mechanics won't be, but maybe the in-game explanation should stay that way. Magic should never be trusted, even by those who claim to have mastered it.
Final things to be stomped out include bugs in vehicle creation, and the activity time chart which determines how long it takes to build and destroy things. Previously it involved rolling two dice, x and y, and having variations of x^y manhours which is then divvied up depending on the skill level of everyone involved, which got silly if you're building a pyramid and have 2000 workers on the project. The game is supposed to be simplicity, not what I just described.
In fact, I'm selling all of my RPG material because of the simplicity issue. There's going to just be 2 RPGs around my house: Whatever I write, and the D&D Rules Cyclopedia which I'm acquiring. Yup, the old Red, Blue, Light Blue, and Black boxset info in one book. Simple, ready to go, and the only adjustment needed is making the Dwarf, Elf, and Halfling classes able to advance beyond their retarded official limitations. And ignoring all that Hollow World crap, of course.
I have to remember, the gaming experiences those old rules gave me are the goal of the basic rules of this game... the days when gamers could game wherever and not even need the books 90% of the time because the rules were easy enough to memorize. Yes, at one point, I had all the saving throw tables in my mind. Sad, eh?
The other big jump in LotFP: RPG development is a clear direction for the magic system. There are a couple reasons why the basic rules and the magic system are going to be separate: One, establish that magic and fantasy role playing are not necessarily joined at the hip, Two, A jump in complexity when including magic. The best way to explain it is that there won't be "spell lists", rather a 'spell element toolbox' allowing the creation of spells but with no standard spells. In the same area as how super powers are built in Champions.
The difficulty of a spell will be up to the caster as much as the constructed spells themselves, with the idea that magic is not a science, but rather manipulated with emotions and luck, so that every version of a researched spell works differently for an individual caster. This will also mean that capturing spellbooks with spells you already know will be beneficial, probably more beneficial than finding spells you don't know, as the additional theories and experiences of different wizards with their spells provide new insights to how you would already cast them, making your old spell now easier to cast.
In effect this means more wizards will be able to cast a 'magic zap' spell more effectively because it's a more common usage, whereas you're pretty much SOL and stuck doing the year long incantation with 1000 sacrifices for the 'Raise the evil city of Atlanteon from the oceans and unleash the Atlantazoids upon the world from dimensions unknown' because you're only likely to ever find something like that once.
Confusing, eh? Well, it's magic, it should be a little confusing. Promise, the game mechanics won't be, but maybe the in-game explanation should stay that way. Magic should never be trusted, even by those who claim to have mastered it.
