Kevin's Watch

I'm in. (Sorry, was processing Inferno, so wasn't reading new posts.)

FYI, there are nine players for Inferno. Er... eight, now. Highest count was 10, very briefly.

I'm using Seashore (sort of a watered down Photoshop for the Mac) to do my maps. They ain't pretty, but hopefully they make sense.

Murrin wrote:Ah, screw autorealm. If it can't even let you draw a custom shape then fill it with colour, what's the point?

Edit: So as far as I can tell, closed figures only work with Polyshape, Polyline, and Fractal Curve.

Edit2: Aaargh. How do you set an outside edge for this thing? It just keeps going, and going, and going....

Hahaha, I told you there was a learning curve.

Uh, I can't remember. It's been a while, but once I got used to it, it was fairly easy.

I did stick to black and white I think though. Didn't like the colours.

You don't need an edge...set your scale, choose the level of zoom you want, and keep it all on the screen. Use guides to delimit the area for reference sake. Is how I think I did it. Like I said...been a while.

--A

Well that makes 4 players, 2 maybes, and 1 independant observer. Starting to look like we may have a game.

For those who are interested, Fist is looking to start up a Diplomacy game over on EI.

Should be a good time.

Well done, lackey.

I live to serve, Patterner. And, I can't win until there are enough players to start the game.

So, you know... win-win.

Patterner?

Will knowledge of The Immanent Grove and/or Earthsea come in to play in your Diplomacy game?

No. Diplomacy isn't a rpg of any sort. It's a board game. Kinda like Risk without the dice. I'm explaining it:
www.encyclopediainfernalis.net/games/vi ... =101&t=462
There's a map so you know what we're dealing with, and a link to the rules.

*nod*

yeah, I saw the explanation on the EI.
and I recall the game played on Facebook for a while.

not my style of game, but your choice of username for game master surprised me, is all.

In other news... I've been trying to talk one of my players into running a Warhammer 40k game on EI. I'm a bit worried about staying compliant with Games Workshops' licensing requirements, but the idea of doing a game with an electronically managed battle map, instead of actual Miniatures, is appealing.

Would there be any interest in such a thing?

For my next game I'm planning to rip apart the Heart of God system and build it into a simple turn based thing not dissimilar from Loremaster's Zombie Apocalypse - simple actions, focus on additional prose that enhances the game. I'll be bearing much of the storytelling weight myself with that system - something I've decided on based on writing up HoG turns lately (and it's secretly also a bridge into getting me to write more. Shh, don't tell).

Right now I'm wondering just how much inspiration to take from Battle Royale.

Hope I can make it work and get people interested.

This is all for after HoG ends, of course. But I'll be trying not to let HoG drag on.

Oh yeah, I forgot that HoG was intended to have a clear end point.

The time when I'm meant to be working on Heart of God turns out to be great for coming up with ideas for this next game. It's much more like a board game or video game, much more overtly competitional, and will include mechanisms to end the game sooner if it is taking too long.

Fist talked me into a Diplomacy game on another board, and I'm surprisingly comfortable with the idea of a clear success, followed by starting a whole other game.

So, by all means, embrace that metaphor. It should be interesting.

I've had some new ideas for my next game. It's beginning to take a more solid form in my mind. Not going to be anything like Heart of God.

Believe it or not, I've been thinking about a new game as well. I don't have time to run a game, but drawing up a scheme for one in my mind helps pass the time at work. Part Pantheon, part Risk, part Magic: the Gathering. I think I'm months out from finishing it, but... The best part of it is, there's no need for processing or any GM involvement beyond dealing cards (setting up a huge, complex map and planning hundreds, if not thousands, of cards aside).

I suppose I should also mention that I'm not coming back to Acro II or planning an Acro III anytime soon. Should probably shelve it.

Sounds very interesting.

My own idea would reduce GM role to mostly rolling dice, and asking players to RP as much as possible, like in Zombie Apocalypse.

Idea for running a game without strict deadlines as such.

I'm not claiming ownership of this nor do I have plans to make use of it at the moment. It's just an idea I was thinking about. A pretty simple one, too.

You run a game in which the world progresses on a weekly (or whatever) basis regardless of player activity. Players would be free to act as often or as a little as they like - this would be supported by a "charging" system for power, whereby power accumulates over time but can be used all at once. A player can act every week, or can conserve power and act less frequently but with more strength.

Players that act every week may have a small advantage simply from being active, but being able to come back with a large hit would mitigate losses from an absence.


Pros:
- Players could find a frequency that's comfortable for them.
- Not being able to play for a while would not result in a large disadvantage.
- The regular updating creates a sense of a persistent world in which these players are acting.

Cons:
- Requires the GM to be able to keep updating the game on a strict schedule, even if players do not act that turn.

So I've mentioned before I had some ideas for a new game after HoG. Well, I've never quite managed to get the ideas to hold together, and now I'm considering something different: Heart of God 2, with a new, larger setting, and a style that's closer to Pantheon 3 with some board game influences.

The world would be more alive and active, as well as being bigger and featuring more people (a mistake in the current game, I made it too small). Players would be actively engaged in the struggle to win, rather then being left to their own devices so much.

It'd probably need more players to work, though. I'd love to make a big, active game, but don't know if this forum holds enough interest.

It's very frustrating. Between this forum and EI, we don't have enough people to run a decent game. I've tried recruiting from elsewhere, but no go. Malazan has a ton of people who play Mafia endlessly, but they don't want to try this kind of thing.