The Game--The Original Setup

So, since I can’t come up with anything else interesting to talk about, I’ll just babble on about a game system that nobody cares about anymore :) It’s my blog anyhow, and I can rant into the void if I want to.

In any case, the original setup for the Game was meant to provide as many options for players as possible without overduplicating abilities. I wanted them to be able to combine different branches of skills or focus on their favorites enough to create unique characters, but I didn’t want enough that it would consume whatever grey matter I have in between my ears just trying to keep up with it.

There were six original “Lesser” powers, though each of them continued to mutate and change as the Game grew more and more complex (As I suspect many of my more experienced players noticed). I organized them in pairs, each pair corresponding to a particular bent. There was Magic, divided into Archmagic and Battle Magic. Mind powers was another pair, divided between the telepathic area (Psychic) and telekinetics (Enchanters). Normal abilities, such as Technology/Strategy and Physical Combat were also grouped together.

Each of these fields had their own limitations and advantages. In my Game, Physical Combat skills, if studied enough, allowed a player’s character to move faster, be stronger, and endure more than any normal human. Psychic allowed players to communicate over distances, scan opponents, and even assault an enemy’s mind directly. Technology allowed access to untold horrors of machinery that I failed to anticipate, and Archmagic provided them the chance to create and build on hordes of magical constructs to do their bidding. Enchanter allowed them to manipulate the elements around them and turn them to their tasks, while the slightly more rigid, yet more intensely powerful Battle Magic allowed players to nuke the crap out of anything that opposed them. (Those of you who’ve read my stories can probably stop noticing the similarities to a certain work of mine; your suspicions are correct).

Of course, in addition to these Lesser abilities, there was another tier that I referred to as the Greater powers. These were split along Light and Dark, and were mostly based around moral choices when compared to those above. The Lesser powers were like fire; morally neutral and capable of serving either side. The Light powers, however, only corresponded to morally good characters, allowing extra abilities and powers beyond the Lessers’ capability to give. Dark allowed access to corruption and evil untold. There were sub-abilities within these opposing sides that gave each character a whole new and unique field of skills to play with as well.

So that’s how the whole shebang was originally oriented, though near the end it had grown to such a convoluted mess that I don’t dare explain it fully in one post. As I go through the changes I’ve made, I’ll refer to each of these fields and how they either succeeded or failed, and how I’m going to fine tune the whole process. Should be interesting—to me at least. :) See ya round!