Game Ideas Workshop

For all Games related resources.
User avatar
BadgeAddict
Saves-A-Hyena
Posts: 9145
Location: Ohio

Game Ideas Workshop

Post by BadgeAddict » Tue Feb 26, 2013 7:59 am

Welcome to the Game Ideas Workshop.

Here is the place for people (like myself) who think they have great and wonderful ideas for games but lack either the artist skills to make them come to life or the ability to act as a GM.

The workshop part implies that not only can you place your ideas here but also be willing to work with suggestions to improve the concept and rules of said games.
Last edited by BadgeAddict on Tue Feb 26, 2013 8:14 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
M0rtimer
Global Moderator
Posts: 14109

Re: Game Ideas Workshop

Post by M0rtimer » Tue Feb 26, 2013 8:10 am

I do have ideas for what I believe may be a pretty good game... However, I lack the time that would be required to host it alongside my other games. I could, however, potentially work on the game concept/sprites and perhaps a single example map so that if someone else would wish they could borrow the concept.

That being said whilst working out the rules should be easy spriting and stuff would be a tad harder so it probably isn't for right now. :P

User avatar
BadgeAddict
Saves-A-Hyena
Posts: 9145
Location: Ohio

Re: Game Ideas Workshop

Post by BadgeAddict » Tue Feb 26, 2013 8:12 am

I've always been fascinated by both Fantasy (ex: Goblins) and Sci-Fi and wondered about the possibility to blend the two into one story.

The story:
The group is teleported/zapped up etc... to the alien vessel and transported to the Mothership and now must find a way to escape back to their world.

The plot:
The aliens are collectors, they roam the galaxies looking for new species and specimens to add to their vast collection of oddities. Onboard the group can find any number of these objects, whether they be dangerous species from other worlds that will attack them or friendly species willing to give them aid for freeing them.

User avatar
BadgeAddict
Saves-A-Hyena
Posts: 9145
Location: Ohio

Re: Game Ideas Workshop

Post by BadgeAddict » Tue Feb 26, 2013 8:39 am

One of the games in the last forum sparked this idea in me.

Goblin Simulation

Nearly every game has been such and such going somewhere on an adventure, what if you stayed at home instead.

Here are my thoughts:
An adventuring party/plague/disaster/whatever has destroyed your village forcing you a x number of others with their spouses to flee over in x direction seeking a new safe haven.
Upon reaching said safe haven they must build a new village while finding food and water.

How it works:
You start in a clearing in the middle of a forest. You must collect materials (wood, rock, etc) and resources (food, water, etc) and begin building your village.
The building projects can take form in any way that the players see fit, while they will be given small hints (ex: it seems like you may need more wood to finish this building) as to how much material they need. Each turn they can spend their time either exploring the surrounding lands (their could be human villages, or dangerous caverns nearby) or hunting for food. At the end of X number of turns night will happen, which could follow some of the rules created by Thinkslogically's for the island game. At the start of each new day your spouses (explanation: each player male or female will have a spouse which acts as an invisible member of the village) will collect resources or materials that they think the village needs. Sometimes this could create a bonus item situation (The gatherers found an iron sword while gathering berries (5 berries found). The chief can spend a turn within each day to direct the spouses in what they should be collecting. As the game continues and exploration of the map continues the chance that a adventuring party might find you increases and will possibly either attack the explorer or eventually the village.

Due to there being a both male and female population (players and their spouses) it could be possible to make babies who at x number of days/turns could be old enough to place as defenders around the village etc.

User avatar
ThroughTheWell
.
Posts: 1045

Re: Game Ideas Workshop

Post by ThroughTheWell » Tue Feb 26, 2013 11:48 am

BadgeAddict wrote:I've always been fascinated by both Fantasy (ex: Goblins) and Sci-Fi and wondered about the possibility to blend the two into one story.

The story:
The group is teleported/zapped up etc... to the alien vessel and transported to the Mothership and now must find a way to escape back to their world.

The plot:
The aliens are collectors, they roam the galaxies looking for new species and specimens to add to their vast collection of oddities. Onboard the group can find any number of these objects, whether they be dangerous species from other worlds that will attack them or friendly species willing to give them aid for freeing them.
This could be done a couple of ways, at least. One is with a really big ship, so that the players have 'world like' room to explore. The Rendezvous with Rama series of books is an example of this. Another is with alien slavers. An example of that is the Gor series of books (that I don't recommend because of strong sexual / submission themes; I read some when I was younger). But Gor is a counter-earth, in our orbit on the opposite side of the sun. One group of aliens there imports slaves from earth. Another group of aliens there both, keeps the tech for everyone else low, resulting in a medieval setting, and has collected creatures from the galaxy as they moved the planet around. The result is lots of monster fighting.

In the 1st, we go exploring, in the 2nd, people are drugged and stealth shipped away, plus a lot of people are already there from previous centuries.

Working magic in is trickier. It either becomes disgused tech, or simply fantastical creatures from other worlds.

So, setting and background are easy. the next bit is to decide on a game system, recruit players, and start playing.
I survived the forum move 4 times... yeah, I feel old.

User avatar
ThroughTheWell
.
Posts: 1045

Re: Game Ideas Workshop

Post by ThroughTheWell » Tue Feb 26, 2013 11:57 am

BadgeAddict wrote:One of the games in the last forum sparked this idea in me.

Goblin Simulation

Nearly every game has been such and such going somewhere on an adventure, what if you stayed at home instead.
There are already a coupe of games effectively like this. I see nothing substantialy new here.
I survived the forum move 4 times... yeah, I feel old.

User avatar
thinkslogically
Game Master
Posts: 17223
Location: Florida

Re: Game Ideas Workshop

Post by thinkslogically » Tue Feb 26, 2013 1:31 pm

ThroughTheWell wrote:
BadgeAddict wrote:One of the games in the last forum sparked this idea in me.

Goblin Simulation

Nearly every game has been such and such going somewhere on an adventure, what if you stayed at home instead.
There are already a coupe of games effectively like this. I see nothing substantialy new here.
Saying that though, they can be fun :) The one thing I think is essential is some form of win condition (i.e. how will the game end) and have your players work towards it. Maybe they rebuild after an adventurer attack and their goal is to get prepare better and get revenge when the adventurers come back; or maybe they have to defeat waves of attackers from a nearby settlement (tower defense style); or maybe they build their own dungeon and hire monsters to defend it?

The civilisation games have run through 4 generations now and they're still popular because they're awesome, but also because there was an ending to each one. Just building stuff forever is no fun unless there's a point to it really...

User avatar
BadgeAddict
Saves-A-Hyena
Posts: 9145
Location: Ohio

Re: Game Ideas Workshop

Post by BadgeAddict » Tue Feb 26, 2013 1:43 pm

For the goblin simulation I was actually thinking in terms of Dwarf fortress. At some point you will die and it will be glorious. I haven't read through any of Civilization, but i was under the impression it was similar to Cid Meier's Civ 3, 4, 5 etc... and not actually having anything to do with the Goblins universe (is that a thing, goblins universe?). My thanks though for your suggestion that it is nothing new, and it needs more meat. I agree it does need more meat, I hadn't worked that one through my head for very long.

User avatar
thinkslogically
Game Master
Posts: 17223
Location: Florida

Re: Game Ideas Workshop

Post by thinkslogically » Tue Feb 26, 2013 1:54 pm

No, it's much better than that for a forum game arena and is similar to what you describe. You should check it out :)

User avatar
askstoomuch
Fumbles More Than Fumbles
Posts: 4210

Re: Game Ideas Workshop

Post by askstoomuch » Wed Feb 27, 2013 8:21 am

I have so many ideas ...so little time :(
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2020 - Come have a drink

User avatar
I'mBob
Game Master
Posts: 2102
Location: The Holy Land

Re: Game Ideas Workshop

Post by I'mBob » Thu Feb 28, 2013 3:10 pm

In case anyone wandering, my game that will replace "The Abandoned" is going to be a D&D game with monsters PCs.
► Show Spoiler
This account is on a hiatus until unknown.

User avatar
Loki
Of Few Words
Posts: 93

Re: Game Ideas Workshop

Post by Loki » Thu Feb 28, 2013 5:35 pm

Hello everyone! I'm a long-time lurker that emerged from the shadows recently, and I'm thinking about hosting a game. I've always enjoyed lurking/reading the Serial Killers game, and I'm thinking of a game that combines the murder mystery aspect with the dungeon crawling & looting aspect of other games. What I've come up with is a game similar to "Clue", known as "Cluedo" in the UK, where players would post actions and there would be a visual update each day (time permitting). If you are interested in providing me feedback, you can click on the spoiler for the general description and rules/mechanics that I have come up with so far. I have drawn up some sprites and rooms, but they are on my other computer. I will edit them in tomorrow. Thank you for your responses, whether they be praise or criticism.
► Show Spoiler
ÔÇ£Introduce a little anarchy, upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos, IÔÇÖm an agent of chaos , and you know the thing about chaos? ItÔÇÖs fair."

User avatar
ThroughTheWell
.
Posts: 1045

Re: Game Ideas Workshop

Post by ThroughTheWell » Thu Feb 28, 2013 10:48 pm

Loki, that does look interesting, but it also looks like very bad odds for the citizen players. And, I'm not sure how you can pull off the Liar role on a play by post game, as you describe it. Liar could be like the old henchy ducky role, but that slants things in favor of the killer even more. And why would not all players pick up a weapon, and possibly ID the killer by the fact that they did not pick up a weapon. Those rules add complication. I think it is rough enough if you just stick to bad guesses kill you. In other words, I don't think you have the mix right, yet. And I'd definately avoid adding extra items with powers until you'd played a base game to see how that works. Even the serial killer game did not start as complicated as has been tried in the 80-70 or so itterations on the 'goblin' forums.
I survived the forum move 4 times... yeah, I feel old.

User avatar
John
Converses Frequently
Posts: 523
Location: Virginia

Re: Game Ideas Workshop

Post by John » Fri Mar 01, 2013 7:18 am

Goblins....in...Spaaaaaacccceeee :cheer:
(this is a very rough idea :shrug: )
Abduction scenario game, mixing sci-fi and fantasy. The idea would have many similarities to the Quickdeath Clan being run, that way you can recycle through many different players giving a lot of players potential to get in at different times.

Concept:
Goblins find a legit alien space ship >:? , abandoned for w/e reason and now golbins explore the cosmos, abducting critters and creatures (aliens never abducted cows, goblins did thinking they were the most intelligent species :lol: ). You could say it's a very large ship, and members of 5 goblin clans have representatives on board (players).

Goal:
Have your clan govern the most systems in the galaxy. Each galaxy as X number of systems (1 campaign), and each system has X number of planets (dungeons). To achieve this goal, you must explore planets, abduct creatures, and brainwash/hypnotize them :shifty: . Explore the planet (dungeon w/rooms) to find creature civilizations. By hypnotizing them with magic, you then return them to their people that they may be lead to revere your clan. Hypnotize the largest populace on the planet to claim that planet for your Clan. Claim the most planets in a system to claim Galactic Goblin Governance.

Potentially this game could go on forever. Once a planet (dungeon) has been cleared, a new list of upgrades can be available (goblins have been experimenting on the mothership with magic and technology :meh: ). The top post can stay up to date with which clan has the most systems, and how many planets in the current system (campaign). We can also set points to reset so folks get a chance to play from the beginning with no upgrades, but keep the tally of total systems per clan up for competition.

Ideas for play style
► Show Spoiler
I'll leave it at that to talk about. It's a lot from a Game Master's point of view- and by no means does all the items have to be available from the get go. What do you all think?
Games:
► Show Spoiler

User avatar
BadgeAddict
Saves-A-Hyena
Posts: 9145
Location: Ohio

Re: Game Ideas Workshop

Post by BadgeAddict » Fri Mar 01, 2013 7:29 am

How do you plan on getting around the pvp aspect?

I like the idea, I'm not trying to be a downer, in fact, i think it could be a great board-game concept. I'm just wondering how a clan can do an action without another clan knowing with PM.

User avatar
ThroughTheWell
.
Posts: 1045

Re: Game Ideas Workshop

Post by ThroughTheWell » Fri Mar 01, 2013 8:54 am

As long as you work out the action economy between the small UFOs and the mother ship, it looks interesting. EX, when does the mothership move to a new system? Be sure to include unusual planets (gas giants, moons, etc) for flavor.
I survived the forum move 4 times... yeah, I feel old.

User avatar
John
Converses Frequently
Posts: 523
Location: Virginia

Re: Game Ideas Workshop

Post by John » Fri Mar 01, 2013 1:21 pm

BadgeAddict wrote:How do you plan on getting around the pvp aspect?

I like the idea, I'm not trying to be a downer, in fact, i think it could be a great board-game concept. I'm just wondering how a clan can do an action without another clan knowing with PM.
I kinda like the idea of making the actions transparent (brood some conflict between clans heehee >:D ). For instance, sabotage could prevent someone from Abducting for 1 round as opposed to it being a suprise...in case you were competing for a creature that eluded both of you before. Now when going to the mother ship and back...where to start on return :? ? Maybe players can have predetermined spawn points and 1 mobile point for their clan specifically. Then 1 time use upgrades could involve using someone elses spawn :thumbsup:
ThroughTheWell wrote:As long as you work out the action economy between the small UFOs and the mother ship, it looks interesting. EX, when does the mothership move to a new system? Be sure to include unusual planets (gas giants, moons, etc) for flavor.
I would have the mothership move once every square in the dungeon (location on the planet) is explored. Even if it is obvious that so and so has secured dominance over the planet, materials and upgrades can still be found and accumulated. :)
Games:
► Show Spoiler

User avatar
BadgeAddict
Saves-A-Hyena
Posts: 9145
Location: Ohio

Re: Game Ideas Workshop

Post by BadgeAddict » Fri Mar 01, 2013 1:42 pm

You could make them secret spawn points. Say you had a galactic map which has quadrants from (1,1) to (100,100). this map has planets and etc on it. you Pm a spawn point location to each team. they then carry out their turn order like...go from (x,x) to (y,y). Thus keeping spawn points secret.

User avatar
ThroughTheWell
.
Posts: 1045

Re: Game Ideas Workshop

Post by ThroughTheWell » Fri Mar 01, 2013 2:31 pm

BA, 10,000 is kind of big.
I survived the forum move 4 times... yeah, I feel old.

User avatar
John
Converses Frequently
Posts: 523
Location: Virginia

Re: Game Ideas Workshop

Post by John » Fri Mar 01, 2013 3:44 pm

Haha I think he was just trying to make a clear example. I originally thought that maybe we'd do something like 5 planets in the first system. So 5 dungeons of say 100 rooms (10x10). It would be linear where as game master, you already have planet progression set so you can have monsters and rooms prepared. Then when all planets are done- see who controls the system. It could be fun to have a counter for the clans of systems controlled, planets controlled etc. that never resets. But then when you switch to a new system (new game), you can decide on how many planets or so from there. You can do 7 or 10, the key would be not to make it too long since say clan Omega Goblins win the first 3 planets - you already know they will control the system. Would we have to play through, or should we just stop and use the planet dungeons for the next system?
Games:
► Show Spoiler

User avatar
ThroughTheWell
.
Posts: 1045

Re: Game Ideas Workshop

Post by ThroughTheWell » Fri Mar 01, 2013 4:15 pm

If you have a goal stated up front, and one player has 'won', then start a new game with new players. I think that keeps the challenge fresh and competative, and lets the most players play the fastest.
I survived the forum move 4 times... yeah, I feel old.

User avatar
BadgeAddict
Saves-A-Hyena
Posts: 9145
Location: Ohio

Re: Game Ideas Workshop

Post by BadgeAddict » Sat Mar 02, 2013 4:43 am

I agree with through, plus, if you've spent the effort to create planets and dungeons that you haven't used you could use them as a new look for the game.

User avatar
John
Converses Frequently
Posts: 523
Location: Virginia

Re: Game Ideas Workshop

Post by John » Sat Mar 02, 2013 5:24 am

BadgeAddict wrote:I agree with through, plus, if you've spent the effort to create planets and dungeons that you haven't used you could use them as a new look for the game.
woot. I am now very excited. Figuring out how much upgrades should cost will be hard, along with how much material an average looting should be. yay math
Games:
► Show Spoiler

User avatar
I'mBob
Game Master
Posts: 2102
Location: The Holy Land

Re: Game Ideas Workshop

Post by I'mBob » Sat Mar 02, 2013 2:09 pm

Okay, about my next D&D game, I need some help.
I can't decide exactly what I want, so I will see what people want the most.
Which of the following would you like more?

Options:

A) A "normal" D&D campaign.
B) A monstrous PC campaign, in a "normal" world. (Monsters adventurers are pretty rare, but monsters with PC levels is a common thing.)
b1: Playing as an evil/neutral adventuring party.
b2: Playing as good/neutral adventuring party.
C) A monstrous PC campaign, in a world based on the Thuntverse. (Monster adventurers are forbidden, and monsters with PC levels rarely happens.)


Note that option B is somewhat a challenging game, and option C is a very challenging one.
► Show Spoiler
This account is on a hiatus until unknown.

User avatar
WhirdCheese
Enjoys Chitchat
Posts: 297

Re: Game Ideas Workshop

Post by WhirdCheese » Sat Mar 02, 2013 2:11 pm

C1

Post Reply