Grimdark Saga (Human Classes up!)

So, as I've already told Book, I'm looking to make either a video game or an RP out of this idea (or both). It will be a futuristic setting with many different races and an equal focus on both ranged and melee combat. You will be part of a warband made from different races in a tournament of sorts (for lack of a better word). The story is just framework at the moment, so I'll just give you a run-down on the different races I've come up with so far. More races will be added once I get my notebook back. XD




Humans: As stubborn as they are resourceful, humans are one among many of the galaxy's young races. While certain cultures may specialize in different areas of combat or technology, they are, for the most place, jack-of-all-trades. They are skilled at everything, yet masters of none.

Golems: Truly ancient beings, Golems have existed since before any of the current races of the galaxy even discovered space flight. Their origins are shrouded in mystery, for even though they have near perfect memories, all knowledge from before meeting the Illuminati (name pending) was erased. Golems are hulking brutes of various metals and alloys, but they all share the traits of modular weaponry and high durability, a last testament to their creators' ingenuity. They speak in low, grumbling tones, not unlike rocks being ground together.

Revenants: The Revenant are a galactic anomaly, a race of things not quite living or dead. Once used as slaves by some of the older races for their unwillingness to stay dead, they were first used as cannon fodder against humans before the Treaty of New Avalon (name pending), who believed they were zombies. As a part of the treaty, slavery was outlawed in all but the most ruthless of nations, thus freeing the Revenant to build their own culture and political structure. Revenants have a curiously bright outlook on life, made even stranger by a generally light-hearted sense of humor. Their unique physiology grants them an excellent knowledge of wounds and diseases, making them great field medics. Cases of cannabalism are rare.

Kubari: A race of humanoid insects, the Kubari have evolved over the millenia to become some of the best warriors and hunters in the galaxy. Amongst their race are several different variants, such as the (name pending), smaller than the rest and built for stealth and speed, to the (name pending), heavily armored by their fearsome looking exoskeletons, meant to be the defenders of their race. All Kubari boast near supernatural eyesight and natural armor, but can't take much of a beating if their armor can't stop most of it.

Constructs: Similar to Golems in the fact that they are intelligent machines, Constructs are fairly new to the galaxy, created several hundred years ago by the legendary human scientist Dr. Navras (name pending). Because of Dr. Navras's status and wealth, he created these sentient machines with free will, personalties, and enough inbuilt armor and weaponry to assure that they couldn't be taken advantage of by some of his less ethical colleagues. New Constructs still emerge from Dr. Navras's automated factories several times each year, keeping their numbers stable and the secret of their programming safe within. Construct personalities vary just as much as humans, although most have a 'fight only if needed' mindset. Whether by their own choice or Dr. Navras's, their native language consists of bits of techno, with different emotions and ideas conveyed by tones and beats instead of words and facial expressions. While not as heavily armored as Golems, they have access to some of the more creative weapons that humans and other races have produced recently, along with enhanced reflexes.

Illuminati (name pending): An ancient race that once ruled the stars, their frail bodies and sharp minds are put to the test by the upstart races of the galaxy. They have pale, trunslucent skin in many colors, and nearly featureless faces. They strive to avoid close-combat at all costs, and their intensive knowledge of technology allows them to use even the most unstable of weapons with little risk.

Astra: A humanoid race that share a symbiotic relationship with crystaline creatures that grow from their skin and augment their psychic abilities. They are masters of chemical manipulation, feeding their bodies and crystal symbiotes the right cocktail of drugs to develop their minds and physiology however they choose. Due to their exposure to substances harmful to other races, they are nearly immune to all poisons, most of which in fact give them benefits instead of harming them. Astra are know for their unshakeable resolve and love of battle.

Daemons (name pending): Former Astra that have fallen into hedonism and drug abuse, their bodies have been completely encased in crystal because of their out-of-synch metabolisms. This gives them even further increased psychic powers and natural armor, but it prevents them from wearing any artificial armor. They are very unstable creatures however, physically, mentally, and psychically, and their powers weaken as their crystal skin takes damage.

Titans (name pending): Big, bulky, and always wickedly armored, few have ever seen what Titans actually look like, and those who have refuse to speak about the matter. This quiet race is known for their skill at protecting their allies and bringing wrath upon those who would harm them. Strangely enough, most psychic powers have no effect on them.



STATS (final bonuses pending)
Humans: No bonuses or negatives to stats. Choice of two small bonuses in any skill to represent their flexibility. Psychic potential.

Golems: Greatly increased toughness, increased strength, reduced agility and speed. Modular artifact weaponry. No psychic potential.

Revenants: Increased toughness and courage, decreased speed. Bonus to healing techniques. Slight psychic potential.

Kubari: Increased agility and accuracy, decreased vitality. Natural armor. No psychic potential.

Constructs: Increased toughness, increased speed. Modular advanced weaponry. No psychic potential.

Illuminati: Increased intelligence and Willpower, decreased vitality. High psychic potential.

Astra: Increased psychic might and courage, decreased strength. Poisons provide positive effects. High psychic potential.

Daemons: Greatly increased psychic might and courage, greatly reduced intelligence and accuracy. Gave a chance to go insane or some such effect to be determined. High psychic potential.

Titans: Increased strength and willpower, decreased speed. Immune to most psychic powers. No pyschic potential.




Sorry if the descriptions are a bit cobbled together, I had to do them off the top of my head without my notebook. It's hard fitting in just what you need to know about the race without going overboard. XD

If any of you are interested, feel free to give me any suggestions, I'll try to add the game mechanics as soon as I can so this makes a bit more sense.

Interested. The Revenants in particular are an attractive idea. And you can also give the Kubari a Kabuto sort - you can't go wrong with Kabuto. XD

Hm.... I don't know what to personally think about this, perhaps only because we kinda lack a lot to state anything final here. The questions I must arise is this:

1) If this is an RP:
- What is the reality setting?
- What is the story?
- What is the "reason to kick ass" for the players?
- How exactly will this be played?

2) If this is a game in development:
- What platform are we speaking of?
- 2D or 3D? Strategy, RPG or Hack'n'Slash?
- What games are out there that would be similar to this game?
- What in the game will cause the great success?



Having only the races with no actual abilities yet, I can only judge one thing.... Constructs and Golems seem kinda similar although Golems will be tanks of the Construct races pretty much.... which will mean that Constructs kinda lack any special potential to the race. So I guess you should add something special for the race so that it won't be considered a "Pick the other one, cause there is one race serving the purpose better anyway". You know, something only Constructs have. A simple bonus to gear developing or anything like that is enough to consider the race a choice.

But of course, it might all change once you add weaponry, combat rules, etc. So I guess we shall wait.

Revenants do look extremely awesome. They remind me of things undead, all bony and ghostly.

Although that is a thing I would suggest. A base appearance of each race. I'd add more but I think SX plopped all the shit on the plate.

SX: The races will all have their own unique abilities and technology, so the stats won't be the main focus of character creation. You'll understand better once I get the characters worked out more.

- What is the reality setting?
Well, it's a futuristic sci-fi setting several hundred if not thousand years in the future. The galaxy is populated by a handful of races that have advanced to the point of space flight and FTL travel (faster-than-light, for those not well versed in sci-fi acronyms). Each race has their own nation, along with smaller nations that consist of several (or all) of the races. Specific governments and nations are still a work in progress.

- What is the story?
Your characters are part of a warband that is participating in a tournament held once every decade by all of the nations. The winners of the tournament are granted special status that excludes them from the laws of all the nations in order to search for ancient technologies, secrets, races, etc.

- What is the "reason to kick ass" for the players?
You get to break the law, go wherever you want, search ruins, fight monsters and other warbands, and get rare loot, all for the low, low price of winning the tournament.

- How exactly will this be played?
It'll turn-based, I'll keep track of the multitude of stats and do the dice rolls and such (unless you guys want to use the forum dice roller), but you guys will be able to see all of those things either on your character sheets or in my posts. I won't worry much about ranges for spells or shooting, seeing as that would bog down the RP quite a lot, but a grid system will be part of the video game version (if I ever get the education or a program to make it >_>).


2) If this is a game in development:
- What platform are we speaking of?
Any really. Probably PC, and then move it to different platforms if it seems decent enough.

- 2D or 3D? Strategy, RPG or Hack'n'Slash?
I'd love for it to have it as a fixed camera 3D RPG, or 2D with a distinctive art style, but that would require me hiring someone else for that amount of detail.

- What games are out there that would be similar to this game?
It will be in the same vein as Front Mission, Final Fantasy: Tactics, Disgea, etc.

- What in the game will cause the great success?
I hope to develop the storyline to the quality of a well-written novel, along with a creative and deep background to the galaxy itself. I want to make the races interesting and in-depth to the point where any player will have a hard time what they want their character to be. Same with equipment and weapons.



Magnus: I'll get some better descriptions up in a day or so, I need to get in a creative mood so I can just let it flow.

Okay, I got the stats figured out, at least which ones there will be and their general interaction with the game mechanics. Now, I just have to stress, none of you guys will have to keep track of these for your character, but they will be available to view at all times if we get our own sub-forum when we're ready to start. Also, I know they seem like a bit much as far as the effects per point go, but percentages can go above or below 100% to represent a ridiculously hard shot or extrememly thick armor.

Strength - Increases melee damage by 1 per point. A requirement for equipping some armor and weapons.

Accuracy - Increases ranged 'to hit' chance by 1% per point.

Dexterity - Increases 'to hit'/dodge chance in melee combat by 1% per point.

Toughness - Reduces damage by .5 per point.

Vitality - Increases Health by 3 per point.

Psychic Power - Increases Psy damage 1 per point and Psy effect chance by .5% per point. A requirement to use most psychic powers.

Willpower - Reduces Psy damage .5 per point and Psy effect chance by .5% per point.

Speed - Increases maximum movement by 1 per point. (this number will likely by less than 10 with the exception of truly superhuman characters)

Initiative - Used to determine who acts first in a round and who strikes first in melee combat.

Courage - Chance of fleeing/being feared reduced by 1% per point. (still figuring out what situations will actually require this)




So far I think the average stat is going to be set at 30, just for convenience and until I can playtest it and make any changes I need. Again, don't be intimidated, I'll be keeping track of all of these for you.

As far as equipment goes, it will affect your combat abilities more than your stats are. Your stats are meant to be supplemental to your gear.

Example: You can be the toughest human in existance, but that's not going to get you very far if you don't have any armor to protect you from anything more than a punch.

Thus, I have gotten some basic rules down for weapons and armor. Here is the basic template for ranged weapons in the form of the Autogun, a cheap fully-automatic rifle.

Autogun - xx credits
Minimum-Maximum Range: 1-20
Optimal Range: 1-7
Accuracy: 50%
Damage: 30
Armor Piercing: 10%
Two-handed

Now, let's go into what each of these things mean.

Minimum-Maximum Range: Self-explainitory (range is in squares for now).
Optimal Range: The range at which the weapon suffers no Accuracy penalty. For every point outside of the optimal range, you will suffer a 15% Accuracy penalty.
Damage: Again, self-explainitory.
Armor Piercing: The amount of armor ignored by the weapon. (see below)
Handedness: Determines whether or not you may use another weapon at the same time (normally a pistol and close combat weapon).


Now armor is a little easier. It is merely a percentage, normally in multiples of 5.

Flak Jacket - xx credits
Armor Value: 20%


So now let's say that someone wearing a Flak Jacket got hit by an Autogun. Normally they would take 20% less damage from the hit because of their armor, but an Autogun ignores 10% armor, meaning the Flak Jacket's Armor Value is reduced by 10% for that attack. Thus the character would take 27 damage instead of the full 30 because his armor reduced it by 3 (10%)


I'm going to be setting the maximum hit chance at 95% after modified by Accuracy and the minimum as 5%, representing something screwing up a sniper's aim at the last second, or a lucky bastard managing to hit someone from all the way across a battlefield with a pistol shot while diving for cover as mortar shells are falling all around him.


One last thing about weapons. If a weapon's minimum range is 0, then that means it can be used in melee combat. When being used in melee combat, these weapons do half-again their normal damage (150%), but work out hitting opponents like a melee attack.



Melee weapons have an even simpler template.

Knife - xx credits
Damage: 10
Armor Piercing: 0%
One-handed

Okay, after more thought, I have decided that if I make this into a game, the graphic style with be a realistic 3-D with the camera following your troops.

I also want to have several different kinds of missions, including Night-Fight scenarios and ship boarding actions (where shotguns and magnetic weaponry get a bonus ;D).

Would anyone like to comment on what I've got so far?

I would suggest if you could add something like.... base stats for a lvl 1 character of each race. It would be easier that way to see the differences between races.


Anyway, since this is your idea of a 3D game, I would ask how do you plan it? You mentioned the games that have a turn-based system so I assume this will be something like a tactical game right? If you are not adding any real-time action into it, I guess that unit diversity would be good, since it will appeal to tactical game players.

In tactical games, the thing that matters is strategy, and players mostly play it for either the story or the hardcore mechanics and strategies of beating certain enemies.



So far, the races look.... well, like races. I don't think the concept itself is bad, we just lack a bit of info about them. We could use some stats, skills or perhaps classes of the characters/units used. So far though.... I don't see anything special about the game though, but mostly because we don;t have much info. Care to elaborate when you got the chance?

Humans:
As stubborn as they are resourceful, humans are one among many of the galaxy's young races. While certain cultures may specialize in different areas of combat or technology, they are, for the most place, jack-of-all-trades. They are skilled at everything, yet masters of none.

(Not much to describe here, they're you and me, everyone you know, and that's about it.)

Spoiler:

Golems: Truly ancient beings, Golems have existed since before any of the current races of the galaxy even discovered space flight. Their origins are shrouded in mystery, for even though they have near perfect memories, all knowledge from before meeting the Illuminati was erased. Golems are hulking brutes of various metals and alloys, but they all share high durability, a last testament to their creators' ingenuity. They speak in low, grumbling tones, not unlike rocks being ground together.

Spoiler:

Revenants: The Revenant are a galactic anomaly, a race of things not quite living or dead. Once used as slaves by some of the older races for their unwillingness to stay dead, they were first used as cannon fodder against humans before the Treaty of New Avalon (name pending), who believed they were zombies. As a part of the treaty, slavery was outlawed in all but the most ruthless of nations, thus freeing the Revenant to build their own culture and political structure. Revenants have a curiously bright outlook on life, made even stranger by a generally light-hearted sense of humor. Their unique physiology grants them an excellent knowledge of wounds and diseases, making them great field medics. Cases of cannabalism are rare.

Revenants look like zombies wearing armor and weilding weapons. A bit sluggish, but they're not nearly to the point of shambling around in decay, so don't worry. XD

Spoiler:

Kubari: A race of humanoid insects, the Kubari have evolved over the millenia to become some of the best warriors and hunters in the galaxy. Amongst their race are several different variants, such as the Kumo, smaller than the rest and built for stealth and speed, to the Kabuto, heavily armored by their fearsome looking exoskeletons, meant to be the defenders of their race. All Kubari boast near supernatural eyesight and natural armor, but can't take much of a beating if their armor can't stop most of it.

Kumo are smaller creatures, with very slight frames armored by plates of exoskelton. Other than that, there isn't much I can tell you about them, they can really look like any kind of bug you want. If you've played Halo: Reach, think of the different pieces of armor as the carapace of the Kumo Kubari.

Spoiler:

Kubari are massive. Their exoskeletons were created to be intimidating to enemies, with lots of spikes and blades on them. Same thing with the Kumo, they can look like just about any bug, but think of the Hunters from Halo for a general idea of what they should look like.

Spoiler:

Constructs: Similar to Golems in the fact that they are intelligent machines, Constructs are fairly new to the galaxy, created several hundred years ago by the legendary human scientist Dr. Navras (name pending). Because of Dr. Navras's status and wealth, he created these sentient machines with free will, personalties, and enough inbuilt armor and weaponry to assure that they couldn't be taken advantage of by some of his less ethical colleagues. New Constructs still emerge from Dr. Navras's automated factories several times each year, keeping their numbers stable and the secret of their programming safe within. Construct personalities vary just as much as humans, although most have a 'fight only if needed' mindset. Whether by their own choice or Dr. Navras's, their native language consists of bits of techno, with different emotions and ideas conveyed by tones and beats instead of words and facial expressions. While not as heavily armored as Golems, they have access to some of the more creative weapons that humans and other races have produced recently, along with enhanced reflexes.

Constructs look like human-sized mechs or suits of powered armor, pure and simple. Their appearance all depends on their version/schematics, so they are also a varied lot.

Spoiler:

Illuminati: An ancient race that once ruled the stars, their frail bodies and sharp minds are put to the test by the upstart races of the galaxy. They have pale, trunslucent skin in many colors, and nearly featureless faces. They strive to avoid close-combat at all costs, and their intensive knowledge of technology allows them to use even the most unstable of weapons with little risk.

The Illuminati have an almost elven appearance, with the exception that their bodies are formed from exotic strains of wood. Their skin tends to be almost white, but it is not unknown for some Illuminati to have different colored skin. Most Illuminati have glowing runes or patterns carved into their Barkskin. Think the elves from Hellboy 2. http://images.allmoviephoto.com/2008_Hellboy_2:_The_Golden_Army/2008_hellboy_2_the_golden_army_054.jpg

Spoiler:

Astra: A humanoid race that share a symbiotic relationship with crystaline creatures that grow from their skin and augment their psychic abilities. They are masters of chemical manipulation, feeding their bodies and crystal symbiotes the right cocktail of drugs to develop their minds and physiology however they choose. Due to their exposure to substances harmful to other races, they are nearly immune to all poisons, most of which in fact give them benefits instead of harming them. Astra are know for their unshakeable resolve and love of battle.

Astra look like humans, but with portions of their skin covered with crystal. Theses crystals glow with a faint Psychic light. Their skin naturally forms crystals in the epidermis, causing light to refract reflect when it hits their skin.

Spoiler:

Daemons: Former Astra that have fallen into hedonism and drug abuse, their bodies have been completely encased in crystal because of their out-of-synch metabolisms. This gives them even further increased psychic powers and natural armor, but it prevents them from wearing any artificial armor. They are very unstable creatures however, physically, mentally, and psychically, and their powers weaken as their crystal skin takes damage.

Daemons have grown crystal armor from their symbiotes, shaped as they will into any fearsome shape they want. They cannot take it off, nor can they wear any other armor.

Spoiler:

Now this is definitely something now. I kind of lack time for a full analysis right now, but be back here tomorrow. So far from the quick look I must say this game might become an actually good tactical/strategy game if we added certain modifications.

For example, you could make the main heroes being certain "commanders" of small squads. These commanders would be granted special skills to be used in combat while their "squad" would consist of units of different races (chosen by the player) with certain abilities. If we add something into the mix like not every race is suitable with others (Revenants already have this poison thing, perhaps make it a bit more lethal or something) or certain races hate each other.... yeah, it could become an interesting tactical game.

Now, adding great visuals + a few things making combat a bit more action based like quick time events could make each battle impressive. Ever played Endless Frontier? That game is a turn based one with tactic gaming but battles are carried out better if the timing of the player is good....



Of course, those are just ideas to grow on. You might have something else in mind.

Mind you, these are only the basic stats and abilities. I haven't even covered any classes yet.

I really like the idea of a squad leader or army commander, that could also give me another use for the Courage stat (which I may scrap, I'm not sure).

I'll have to think of something to do as far as rewarding speed or something, but I think I might try and pull off cutscenes like in RE4 and 5. It's a possibility, so I think it's worth thinking about.

Alright, as far as the classes go, each one is going to have a different progression as far as stats go (snipers gain Acc when they level up, sword users gain Dex, etc.). I also think that each class will have a passive ability.

Example:
Class: Sniper
Passive Ability: Countersniping
Effect: Gain +20% to hit vs. any unit that has fired a Preciscion Rifle or weapon with the Sniper quality on their last turn.

You know, you could make it so that only the commander has dynamic stats and level gain, while his squad (the units) are static, however their abilities increase thanks to the commander. If you added something like that, courage would be a stat that increases the tolerance of units for bad combat situations. For example, if your squad is losing or against a more powerful enemy, the higher the courage the bigger is the chance they will stay and not just run away from battle OR worse, start panicking, thus making random actions and movements.


Also every unit could have abilities and some specialties, thus way giving endless possible combinations for strategies. Add in something so that battles/grinding are never boring and voila! We have a game people spend hours on and share different tactics, write guides for even.

I like the idea for the commanders being the only ones that use Courage, but I'm also dead-set on having all of your troops level up. Right now I'm actually coming up with rough progression for their stats each level. I hope to make the story as detailed as I can, and that is (hopefully) going to include each of your units in the game contributing their own unique personality, from your warband's leader to the commanders, to the newest recruit that just signed up with your outfit. I know, it's a bit daunting, but I have tons of time to flesh everything out before I can even think about creating it.

Some notes on weapons; each class will be trained in a set number of weapon groups. If you aren't trained in the weapon class that you are using, you take a -20% to hit penalty. Also, some weapons will have other attributes attached to them, for example, a Massive Sniper (name pending, lol) is a Heavy Weapon with the Sniper quality. This means you can use it effectively if you are trained in either Heavy Weapons or Snipers. Now, some qualities will be strictly for the purpose of their effects, such as a Flamethrower or an Autogun firing Incindieary rounds (sp?) being Flame weapons.

Here's a list of the weapon qualities I've come up with so far and what they do.

Spoiler:

And just to remind you guys, this IS going to be an RP as soon as I get the framework up and come up with the background a bit more in-depth, so think about characters!

A system detailing every single unit fits an RP with heroes that the players make unique much better than a big army. At the most a team of unique heroes makes an excellent commando, but when you hit 10 or more members it starts to become a crowd. >.> But if you're still confident in it, hey, go for it.

It's just a matter of attempting to mix two different styles, the large army focus and the smaller hero team from classic RPGs. I was getting a sense of the latter so far, even with commanders of troops.... but ever since SX discussed it in terms of strategy - or am I just reading that wrong? Say Steve, what's your target adventuring party size after all?

I was thinking anywhere from 5 to 10 units per battle, including the commander. Hmm, not much else for me to add now, I'm pretty sick now and kinda depressed.

Level-Up Progression for classes is still under constructions, but I have a good idea for them so far. Each class will also have additional skills that have yet to be determined, but have no fear, they'll be cool as hell.

Human Classes

Soldier
Improved Versatility: Pick a weapon group other than the one you pick for Versatility. You gain +10% to hit when using the selected weapon group.
Training:
Submachine Guns
Assault Rifles
Light Machineguns
Shotguns
Heavy Weapons
Chemical Throwers
One-Handed Melee Weapons
Two-Handed Melee Weapons
Medium Armor
Heavy Armor

Field Medic
Improvised Healing: Field Medics do not require supplies (Medi-Packs, etc.) to perform basic healing techniques.
Training:
Pistols
Submachine Guns
Shotguns
One-Handed Melee Weapons
Light Armor
Medium Armor

Mind Mage
Psychic Versatility: Pick a group of psychic powers (groups to be determined). You gain +10% damage, healing, or effect chance with them (whichever is applicable).
Training:
Pistols
Submachine Guns
One-Handed Melee Weapons

Sharpshooter
Counter-Sniper: Gain +20% to hit vs. any unit that has fired a Precision Rifle or weapon with the Sniper quality on their previous turn.
Training:
Pistols
Submachine Guns
Precision Rifles
One-Handed Melee Weapons
Light Armor

Sounds very interesting... If it becomes a game I'll probably play it. I dunno about if it becomes a RP, I may or may not be ready to do RPing by the time this whole thing is worked out.

However, I do have an idea or two for a weapon 'quality'. My first is...

EMP: Weapons designed to fire out electromagnetic shots that can short-circuit weapons or armor that require electricity or have targeting.(Shots could be either pure EMP or shells charged in a way that they generate EMP fields around them)


Poison: Weapons that use pure poison, poison-tipped ammo or poison-filled shells to deal damage over time or inflict various other effects, such as sleep or paralysis. Do not affect inorganics.


And that's all I got so far. If you've already thought of these by the time you read this, then disregard this. But every little bit helps, right?

Hmm, I really like them. I had thought of them before, I'll find some way to work them in. Got any other ideas? I'm always open to suggestions.

How about... Some type of shockwave weapon type that is meant to knock the enemy down or away and deal damage?

And immobilize - Weapons meant to deal little damage and immobilize the target in different ways, like paralysis and freezing.


I think that's all I got right now.

I really like the Schockwave property. I hadn't thought of putting something like that in other than for select abilities, but it's giving me more ideas for cool weapons, so it's in. XD

As far as immobilize, there'll be plenty of ways to incapacitate your opponents, you won't need to have a specific weapon for it (although certain kinds might help).

I'll keep thinking, but if you could post a list of what you've got for weapon properties now, that'll be helpful. Anything else you need ideas for?