Hey all,
I was out of town last week and spent some time thinking about what blog post to do next. Finally, I landed on something that's been knocking around my head for a while. Disclaimer, I am not anywhere near capable of actually making an MMO, so this is more of a wishlist of what'd be great to see in the genre.
1) Very Basic Character Creation
At the start of the game, a player picks their gender, chooses either the human or dwarf race, and then begins play as a commoner. This is to fuel the later class systems in the game.
2) Randomly Assigned Home Town
Rather than having various towns for players of different levels, a handful of walled cities of roughly equal accommodations will form the core of the town-play experience.
3) Instanced Roads
Travel from town to town is dangerous, and typically, players will want to form parties to take on the "dungeon-esque" paths from town to town.
3) Career Classes
During play, a player may acquire new classes that work something like Elder Scrolls guild membership. Players can attain minor lordship, conscript, mercenary, or one of many criminal professions like assassin, robber, burglar, etc. Some of these are done for their own reward, and some receive in game currency from NPCs.
4) Subtle Stealth
A character who enters a criminal career, will eventually learn a suite of stealth abilities like having their name overhead appear just like an NPC name, having their name not appear overhead at all, and more traditional camouflage abilities.
5) Prestige Classes
Prestige classes can be begun at max level. A max level character may, after completing a quest, play the game again beginning at level one of a prestige class. These include knight, cleric, and magical acolyte. Knight can then prestige again as general or paladin. Cleric can prestige again as paladin or druid. Magical acolyte can prestige as Sorcerer/Sorceress, and then AGAIN as Wizard/Witch. Every prestige class is a substantial statistical improvement over the class before it.
6) Tempted Wizards
From magical acolyte onward, experience gain is slowed drastically on the magic track. A magician may advance at the slower pace, but will often be encountered by dark powers who promise power in exchange for servitude. Procedurally generated quests that make such player a liability will come to them from time to time, and will usually leave the means open enough that the player has some chance of completing the quest without raising suspicion right away. However, the frequency of these quests will be set to ensure that the player base becomes mistrustful of all magic eventually.
7) Hunted "Monsters"
Crafting would require materials from several possibly sapient creatures, such as elves, fairies, kobolds, goblins, orcs, and hobgoblins.
8) Secret Prestige Races
Granted, in the modern age of community forums, very little would stay secret for long. However, in addition to the prestige classes, there would be a harder to obtain category of prestige races. These would be triggered by very specific events, and would allow the players to play as elves, fairies, kobolds, goblins, orcs, and hobgoblins. Tutorial quests would narratively drive home the hunted feel of these races, and communication between these races and the "known" player races would not be possible. Most classes would be available in one form or another in these races, and pursued by mostly the same means.
So, there you have it: the bare bones mechanical concepts of an MMO world of dangerous roads, frightening thieves and assassins, world-shattering wizards, and a constant war between fantasy races who may not even realize the other is a real person. You can see, I hope, why the idea keeps cropping up. If you know of an MMORPG that fits what I've been wanting all these years, let me know in the comments. Happy gaming, all.
Monday, September 25, 2017
Monday, September 11, 2017
Gaming Terms
Hey all,
This week, I'll be going through some useful gaming terms and acronyms. This post will cover some very basic terms to help explain the hobby to people outside of the tabletop community. Later on, I'm considering more of a "master-class" level explanation that will cover much more obscure and specialist terms for intense hobbyists and developers.
Narrative: The story of a game. This includes the roles played by the players. For example, the narrative of Clue is that a man is dead, and the players assume the role of house guests who must discover the murderer.
Mechanics: The mathematic elements of gameplay. To return to the clue example; rolling two six sided dice to determine how many squares your game piece may move, and the system by which other players are required by the rules to respond to your accusations all contribute to the mechanics of clue.
PVP: (Player versus Player) A style of game in which one or more players will be declared the "winner", and the remaining players will be implied to be the "losers".
Co-operative Play: All or most of the players work together on a single team with the objective of defeating either the game itself, or something similar.
Board Game: A board game is what most people think of when they look at tabletop gaming. Classic examples include Monopoly, Battleship, Parcheesi, Chess, etc. The rules, ideally, are written in a way that ensures that specific rulings apply to any scenario possible within the rules. While the premise may include story elements, the narrative of the game is secondary to the mechanics of play. Typically, board games tend to reward PVP playstyles, but some recent games have adopted a co-operative playstyle in which the players work collaboratively to beat the mechanics of the game.
RPG: (Role-Playing Game) A style of game which involves players creating characters for themselves, and which tends toward co-operative play and a narrative focus. Typically, the game is directed by someone known as the Game Master.
Game Master (a.k.a. Dungeon Master, Storyteller): A person designated to manage a game world for a role-playing game. They create a series of challenges and encounters which all of the other players work together to overcome. The Game Master will usually have a rulebook for the game; however, deviation from these rules is allowed and even encouraged in service of emphasizing narrative over mechanics.
Tabletop Gaming: A catch-all term for referring to tabletop role-playing games, board games, card games, dice games, etc.
D&D: (Dungeons and Dragons) A role-playing game developed in the early to mid 1970s. It is only one of many tabletop role-playing games, and should not be used synonymously with the hobby as a whole. Non D&D tabletop role-playing games include: World of Darkness, Shadowrun, FATE, GURPS, Pathfinder, Dungeon Squad, Mutants and Masterminds, Legend of the Five Rings, Call of Cthulhu, Lamentations of the Flame Princess, Cascade Failure, Argyle and Crew; you get the idea.
Core Book: This is the book that gives the rules necessary for playing a tabletop role playing game.
Sourcebook: These are peripheral books for tabletop role playing game that contain optional rules, settings, and various other changes that may be incorporated into the game in the core book. Some groups will use or not use some or all available sourcebooks at the Game Master's discretion.
XdX: This is how a number of dice is typically written out in tabletop role-playing games. The first X is how many dice you roll, and the second X is how many sides those dice should include. For example, 2d4 indicates that two four-sided dice should be rolled. 3d6 indicates that three six-sided dice should be rolled. The dice results should be totaled together unless otherwise indicated.
Hope this helps as a quick guide to the hobby. Happy gaming, all.
This week, I'll be going through some useful gaming terms and acronyms. This post will cover some very basic terms to help explain the hobby to people outside of the tabletop community. Later on, I'm considering more of a "master-class" level explanation that will cover much more obscure and specialist terms for intense hobbyists and developers.
Narrative: The story of a game. This includes the roles played by the players. For example, the narrative of Clue is that a man is dead, and the players assume the role of house guests who must discover the murderer.
Mechanics: The mathematic elements of gameplay. To return to the clue example; rolling two six sided dice to determine how many squares your game piece may move, and the system by which other players are required by the rules to respond to your accusations all contribute to the mechanics of clue.
PVP: (Player versus Player) A style of game in which one or more players will be declared the "winner", and the remaining players will be implied to be the "losers".
Co-operative Play: All or most of the players work together on a single team with the objective of defeating either the game itself, or something similar.
Board Game: A board game is what most people think of when they look at tabletop gaming. Classic examples include Monopoly, Battleship, Parcheesi, Chess, etc. The rules, ideally, are written in a way that ensures that specific rulings apply to any scenario possible within the rules. While the premise may include story elements, the narrative of the game is secondary to the mechanics of play. Typically, board games tend to reward PVP playstyles, but some recent games have adopted a co-operative playstyle in which the players work collaboratively to beat the mechanics of the game.
RPG: (Role-Playing Game) A style of game which involves players creating characters for themselves, and which tends toward co-operative play and a narrative focus. Typically, the game is directed by someone known as the Game Master.
Game Master (a.k.a. Dungeon Master, Storyteller): A person designated to manage a game world for a role-playing game. They create a series of challenges and encounters which all of the other players work together to overcome. The Game Master will usually have a rulebook for the game; however, deviation from these rules is allowed and even encouraged in service of emphasizing narrative over mechanics.
Tabletop Gaming: A catch-all term for referring to tabletop role-playing games, board games, card games, dice games, etc.
D&D: (Dungeons and Dragons) A role-playing game developed in the early to mid 1970s. It is only one of many tabletop role-playing games, and should not be used synonymously with the hobby as a whole. Non D&D tabletop role-playing games include: World of Darkness, Shadowrun, FATE, GURPS, Pathfinder, Dungeon Squad, Mutants and Masterminds, Legend of the Five Rings, Call of Cthulhu, Lamentations of the Flame Princess, Cascade Failure, Argyle and Crew; you get the idea.
Core Book: This is the book that gives the rules necessary for playing a tabletop role playing game.
Sourcebook: These are peripheral books for tabletop role playing game that contain optional rules, settings, and various other changes that may be incorporated into the game in the core book. Some groups will use or not use some or all available sourcebooks at the Game Master's discretion.
XdX: This is how a number of dice is typically written out in tabletop role-playing games. The first X is how many dice you roll, and the second X is how many sides those dice should include. For example, 2d4 indicates that two four-sided dice should be rolled. 3d6 indicates that three six-sided dice should be rolled. The dice results should be totaled together unless otherwise indicated.
Hope this helps as a quick guide to the hobby. Happy gaming, all.
Friday, September 8, 2017
Superhero Wiki Week: Day 5
Hey all,
Well, it's been fun, but Superhero Wiki Week is finally drawing to a close. For today's post, we'll be looking at the villain for our heroes to face.
Day One: Cobalt Blade
Day Two: Wraith Mage
Day Three: Skyfire
Day Four: Boiler Plate
Before we do today's post, I wanted to add in a fun combination I decided not to use for a drawing. I think it'd be the god-figure in this universe I've been making this week. He got the powers of Zinc Manipulation and Spatial Lordship. So, he basically controls all of creation, but considers zinc to be his favorite and greatest creation.
Anyway, as to the villain. He was granted the powers of Toxikinetic Blade Construction as well as Benevorous. So, he wields a poison blade and literally feeds on the goodness of his enemies. To finish off Superhero Wiki Week, may I introduce Toxivore.
Thanks for coming along for Superhero Wiki Week. We'll be back to our normal fare on Monday. It's been fun, happy gaming, all.
Well, it's been fun, but Superhero Wiki Week is finally drawing to a close. For today's post, we'll be looking at the villain for our heroes to face.
Day One: Cobalt Blade
Day Two: Wraith Mage
Day Three: Skyfire
Day Four: Boiler Plate
Before we do today's post, I wanted to add in a fun combination I decided not to use for a drawing. I think it'd be the god-figure in this universe I've been making this week. He got the powers of Zinc Manipulation and Spatial Lordship. So, he basically controls all of creation, but considers zinc to be his favorite and greatest creation.
Anyway, as to the villain. He was granted the powers of Toxikinetic Blade Construction as well as Benevorous. So, he wields a poison blade and literally feeds on the goodness of his enemies. To finish off Superhero Wiki Week, may I introduce Toxivore.
Thanks for coming along for Superhero Wiki Week. We'll be back to our normal fare on Monday. It's been fun, happy gaming, all.
Thursday, September 7, 2017
Superhero Wiki Week: Day 4
Hey all,
Welcome back to superhero wiki week. Today will be the last hero before tomorrow's reveal of our new villain. Before we get ahead of ourselves though, let's take a look at the fourth and last member of the heroes side.
Day One: Cobalt Blade
Day Two: Wraith Mage
Day Three: Skyfire
Today's hero had a great power set to round out the others on this list. He ended up with Thick Skull, and Concussive Force. This makes for a front line brawler who shakes the battlefield with headbutts and charges. I decided to give him a metal plate across his head to better visually convey the power set. Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome Boiler Plate to our superhero team.
Don't forget to come back tomorrow when we conclude superhero wiki week with our heroes' nemesis: Toxivore.
Welcome back to superhero wiki week. Today will be the last hero before tomorrow's reveal of our new villain. Before we get ahead of ourselves though, let's take a look at the fourth and last member of the heroes side.
Day One: Cobalt Blade
Day Two: Wraith Mage
Day Three: Skyfire
Today's hero had a great power set to round out the others on this list. He ended up with Thick Skull, and Concussive Force. This makes for a front line brawler who shakes the battlefield with headbutts and charges. I decided to give him a metal plate across his head to better visually convey the power set. Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome Boiler Plate to our superhero team.
Don't forget to come back tomorrow when we conclude superhero wiki week with our heroes' nemesis: Toxivore.
Wednesday, September 6, 2017
Superhero Wiki Week: Day 3
Hey all,
We're back with the next installment of Superhero Wiki Week with another exciting new hero. While we're at it, have some links to the previous posts.
Day One: Cobalt Blade
Day Two: Wraith Mage
Today's got, in my opinion, a really fun mash up of powers that creates a new variant of an old standby. We've got Weather Manipulation paired with Green Fire Manipulation. This makes, essentially, a weather controller whose default attacks use a strange green fire in the sky. It might be ghostly or simply meteorological, but it gets the point across regardless. Welcome our newest hero to the mix: Skyfire.
Come back tomorrow to catch a look at our next hero: Boiler Plate.
We're back with the next installment of Superhero Wiki Week with another exciting new hero. While we're at it, have some links to the previous posts.
Day One: Cobalt Blade
Day Two: Wraith Mage
Today's got, in my opinion, a really fun mash up of powers that creates a new variant of an old standby. We've got Weather Manipulation paired with Green Fire Manipulation. This makes, essentially, a weather controller whose default attacks use a strange green fire in the sky. It might be ghostly or simply meteorological, but it gets the point across regardless. Welcome our newest hero to the mix: Skyfire.
Come back tomorrow to catch a look at our next hero: Boiler Plate.
Tuesday, September 5, 2017
Superhero Wiki Week: Day 2
Hey all,
We're back with the next entry in Superhero Wiki Week!
Day one: Cobalt Blade
Today's hero got an interesting power set, he's a White Arts magic user, with an Animated Shadow. So, he's not exactly got the power set that I'd have thought of; but that's the fun of a random draw like this. So, welcome to the blog, Wraith Mage.
. . . and don't forget to come back tomorrow for a look at Skyfire.
We're back with the next entry in Superhero Wiki Week!
Day one: Cobalt Blade
Today's hero got an interesting power set, he's a White Arts magic user, with an Animated Shadow. So, he's not exactly got the power set that I'd have thought of; but that's the fun of a random draw like this. So, welcome to the blog, Wraith Mage.
. . . and don't forget to come back tomorrow for a look at Skyfire.
Monday, September 4, 2017
Superhero Wiki Week
Hey all,
We're gonna have some fun with something special this week. I'm drawing inspiration from this episode of Drawfee, and pulling powers from the Superpower Wiki. Two random powers combine to make one hero.
After watching some My Hero Academia, and thinking through characters for superhero rpgs, I wanted to just make some superheroes, and so here we are. We'll have a new hero Monday-Thursday this week, and a nemesis for them all on Friday.
Monday: Cobalt Blade
Powers: Skin Color Manipulation, Telekinetic Cutting
Make sure to come back tomorrow for a look at Wraith Mage!
We're gonna have some fun with something special this week. I'm drawing inspiration from this episode of Drawfee, and pulling powers from the Superpower Wiki. Two random powers combine to make one hero.
After watching some My Hero Academia, and thinking through characters for superhero rpgs, I wanted to just make some superheroes, and so here we are. We'll have a new hero Monday-Thursday this week, and a nemesis for them all on Friday.
Monday: Cobalt Blade
Powers: Skin Color Manipulation, Telekinetic Cutting
Make sure to come back tomorrow for a look at Wraith Mage!
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