A long while back, I came up with the idea for an RPG focusing on a World War I setting but with anthropomorphic woodland animals. Unfortunately, it derailed into some pretty horrible pitfalls and the thread got locked. But I have not forgotten about the game concept.

Trench Critters is a roleplaying game about the horrors of war and is heavily inspired by works such as The Wind In The Willows, Animal Farm, Peace on Earth, The Secret of NIMH, An American Tail, and Beatrix Potter, among other things as well. The tone is grimdark and Gothic and there will be an aura of misery and despair beneath the cutesy exterior, as life for a soldier in the trenches of the Western Front was pretty miserable and horrific.

Trench Critters can best be summed up as "The Wind In The Willows but with machine guns and mustard gas", and the typical PC in a Trench Critters campaign is a young soldier in the front lines, whether it be in the trenches of the Somme, the wilderness of the Eastern Front, the freezing cold of the Alpine Campaign, or the scorching deserts of Arabia. The setting is an alternate Earth that is populated by sapient animals rather than humans, though many nation states and institutions from our world exist in this world as well. There are some subtle differences though. For example, females are allowed to serve in combat on the front lines (unlike the real armies of World War I) although they are exempt from conscription.

Players can be either with the Entente Powers (Britain, France, Russian Empire, Italy, Serbia, Japan, and the United States) or the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire), and there are a wide variety of critters serving in the trenches.

The playable critter types so far are as follows...

Rats
Mice
Rabbits
Ducks
Squirrels
Hedgehogs
Cats
Foxes
Dogs
Frogs
Lizards
Wolves
Hummingbirds
Bats
Chickens
Deer

Now, as for the system, I'm wondering if I should include a class and level system or do a more open-ended point-buy system. Any feedback on what kind of mechanical system to use would be appreciated. All I know is that I want the game to be D6-based, as six-sided dice are the most common type of dice out there.

Currently, I am leaning towards a point-buy system with dice pools.

Quote from: Doc Sammy;947383Now, as for the system, I'm wondering if I should include a class and level system or do a more open-ended point-buy system. Any feedback on what kind of mechanical system to use would be appreciated. All I know is that I want the game to be D6-based, as six-sided dice are the most common type of dice out there.

Currently, I am leaning towards a point-buy system with dice pools.

Classless can be great in a dice pool system, so does level less.  Point buy with classes and dice pool is a harder mechanic to solve.
If your intention is World War than class and level come onto play with the basics of military branch, focus, rank, and such.  It will lend over to point buy easily, and dice pool with some slight trouble.

Quote from: rway218;947386Classless can be great in a dice pool system, so does level less.  Point buy with classes and dice pool is a harder mechanic to solve.
If your intention is World War than class and level come onto play with the basics of military branch, focus, rank, and such.  It will lend over to point buy easily, and dice pool with some slight trouble.

I'm thinking of going classless the more I think about it.

Are the nationalities going to be differentiated mechanically? If so, then Animal + Nation would constitute your race + class.

Levels work in games with zero-to-hero narratives. Farming XP for levels does not seem appropriate for a WWI themed game.

Quote from: Doc Sammy;947383The tone is grimdark and Gothic

Um, haven't you just spent years saying again and again how much you hate those things?

Quote from: Tristram Evans;947587Um, haven't you just spent years saying again and again how much you hate those things?

Only when done improperly such as in World of Darkness.

The only thing I see as a "problem" is dealing with Rank in the military.  This is Classless no level growth, and you have to rationalize that "level" of respect without levels; plus the idea of Military (enlisted vs Commissioned vs rank) without a class.  I may be looking at the idea incorrectly, but...

In Class systems I need to choose to be X military style character (Navy Corpsman) to justify what my character is...
In level systems I grow with XP to my new Rank as X Military style Character...

Without these I "say" I want to act like a Corpsman, I take the skills needed, I grow the skills with XP, the GM accepts this and gives me rank as time progresses (that is arbitrarily awarded by the GM - with or without GM guide rules) Meaning the General I fight for could be rolled up by a new player the day before, and have low power and low skills, or I cannot grow in rank because I am a perpetual Private - PFC - Fireman - Gunners mate - etc...

These types of games (war) don't lend well to classless - No Level, without really good GM / Player rules that explain how rank growth make sense in game.  But good writing covers many difficult ideas.

Military - pretty standard, right?
Not necessarily, it depends on how one defines "class".
Also, one may combine a variant of classes and combine them with point-buy, by turning them into templates or similar, that has at least a certain level for appropriate skills, and in addition to that one may add a few extra skills and/or Skill levels.

As for experience vs Class level, I think they may be combined as well.
First, sure, there is no point in grinding, or killing more enemies, or searching for treasure, so no XP for those.
Only XP for two things: Surviving a Mission and reaching set Mission Objective Goals.
Then, when levelling up, choose ONE SKILL to level up.
Not more.
Slow and gruelling, but fitting the concept, I think.

I think experience is less of an issue than the mechanics for trench warfare. What would a typical game or adventure look like in the setting? What do anthropomorphized animals bring to the setting?


And where does 'gothic" enter into it? Gothic fiction contains the following elements:

Gloomy, decaying setting (haunted houses or castles with secret passages, trapdoors, and other mysterious architecture)
Supernatural beings or monsters (ghosts, vampires, zombies, giants)
Curses or prophecies
Damsels in distress
Heroes
Romance
Intense emotions

I can only see two of those fitting into a setting focused around trench warfare, unless there's some large aspects of the game that haven't been mentioned yet.

Also what about bi-planes and zeppelins? Is the game just going to be about infantry? Even cavalry was still a big factor for some nations at the beginning of the war; what animals are the animals riding?

If you ever get the chance. Look up the comic series "Wilds End" by Boom Comics. Sort of like what you would get if Disney had done "War of the Worlds" instead of "Robin Hood". With a touch of "Who goes there?" Its a bit... grim...