Quote from: Mishihari on November 11, 2023, 11:56:51 PM

Quote from: Scholarch on November 11, 2023, 04:06:20 AM
Hey Josh, something that is important here is what you want to provide as a game tool.

If you want to do a ruleset, then do so.

If you want to do a setting, then do so.

But I would be wary of mixed efforts like this unless you build a fanbase before you develop this.

P.S. I am certainly interested in a world building or playable information setting book in what you are writing.

This was called out by someone else, but I'm going to throw in my two bits.   I strongly disagree with this advice.  In a good game the rules support the specific setting.  There's no such thing as a system without a setting - the setting is implied by the rules.

GURPS? How many settings does that basic rule set cover? Taking a look at my shelf I would say quite a few. I don't think it is a matter of one or the other. A system closely tied to a setting can work great and a system usable in different settings can work great too. A good route to go is using a system that reinforces the feel of your setting without having it be inseperable from the setting should you wish to use it elsewhere.

Good point!

I originally started developing the mechanics behind this game for my son's birthday party a few years ago. At the time he was into Zombies and there were several kids coming over that night. I whipped up a quick game using the above-listed d20 skill mechanics (Basically the 5e concept of Advantage on steroids) but with different skills: Mechanic, Tracking, Pistols, Rifles, and many others. The game was a huge success and the kids all wanted to start playing TTRPGs!

Last summer, I resurrected the idea for a homebrew zombie game with my extended family. I enjoy zombie games, but I love dark fantasy...thus the development of "Grimoires of the Unseen."

The basic mechanics of the game could be used in any system. The specific mechanics that really make the setting come to life, however, will need to be massaged a little, depending on the gameworld.. 

Quote from: Exploderwizard on November 12, 2023, 08:43:59 AM

Quote from: Mishihari on November 11, 2023, 11:56:51 PM

Quote from: Scholarch on November 11, 2023, 04:06:20 AM
Hey Josh, something that is important here is what you want to provide as a game tool.

If you want to do a ruleset, then do so.

If you want to do a setting, then do so.

But I would be wary of mixed efforts like this unless you build a fanbase before you develop this.

P.S. I am certainly interested in a world building or playable information setting book in what you are writing.

This was called out by someone else, but I'm going to throw in my two bits.   I strongly disagree with this advice.  In a good game the rules support the specific setting.  There's no such thing as a system without a setting - the setting is implied by the rules.

GURPS? How many settings does that basic rule set cover? Taking a look at my shelf I would say quite a few. I don't think it is a matter of one or the other. A system closely tied to a setting can work great and a system usable in different settings can work great too. A good route to go is using a system that reinforces the feel of your setting without having it be inseperable from the setting should you wish to use it elsewhere.

I think gurps kind of proves my point.  My understanding is that in order to play a particular genre properly, you need a source book full of rules specific to that genre.  Gurps is more like a family of games with some common rules than a single game

Quote from: Mishihari on November 12, 2023, 02:32:42 PM

Quote from: Exploderwizard on November 12, 2023, 08:43:59 AM

Quote from: Mishihari on November 11, 2023, 11:56:51 PM

Quote from: Scholarch on November 11, 2023, 04:06:20 AM
Hey Josh, something that is important here is what you want to provide as a game tool.

If you want to do a ruleset, then do so.

If you want to do a setting, then do so.

But I would be wary of mixed efforts like this unless you build a fanbase before you develop this.

P.S. I am certainly interested in a world building or playable information setting book in what you are writing.

This was called out by someone else, but I'm going to throw in my two bits.   I strongly disagree with this advice.  In a good game the rules support the specific setting.  There's no such thing as a system without a setting - the setting is implied by the rules.

GURPS? How many settings does that basic rule set cover? Taking a look at my shelf I would say quite a few. I don't think it is a matter of one or the other. A system closely tied to a setting can work great and a system usable in different settings can work great too. A good route to go is using a system that reinforces the feel of your setting without having it be inseperable from the setting should you wish to use it elsewhere.

I think gurps kind of proves my point.  My understanding is that in order to play a particular genre properly, you need a source book full of rules specific to that genre.  Gurps is more like a family of games with some common rules than a single game

Nothing in a sourcebook changes the system. New advantages, disadvantages, and skills may be added but the system and how it works stays the same. Once you know the rule set, any setting can be played with it with minimal additional work (system wise).

Have you thought of publishing the setting and rules completely separate from one another? Making the setting system-neutral might increase its appeal, although I find that D&D-based games (including the OSR) are woefully unsuited for such low-magic settings. By contrast, games such as Dragon Warriors and Dragonbane would seem to be fairly good matches for the proposed setting. However, there is really no such thing as "divine magic" in medieval Europe. The closest thing would be various types of blessings. There was, of course, "celestial magic" during the Renaissance, but that is something else entirely. Miracles, on the other hand, are cases of direct divine intervention, which means they cannot be prevented or resisted. Ars Magica handled this fairly well. You may want to take a look at that game, if you haven't already done so.

Thanks for the input! The idea of divine magic comes from, "Darklands," the first video game I ever played. Man, I played a lot of that game!... In it, players could invoke saints for blessings.

In "Grimoires of the Unseen," I'd like to allow players (who want to have a religious character or use divine magic) to choose from a variety of religions such as medieval Catholicism, Judaism, Celtic (paganism), Norse (paganism), and Baltic (paganism). A trimmed-down version of the basic rules goes something like this: 

Players of a given religion obtain divine blessings by invoking saints, angels, or gods. Divine beings are fickle, however. They often choose not to answer their followers and when they do, their blessings vary dramatically and are always case-specific (mechanically, there is a very high DC). Because of this, the purpose of the divine invocation is declared by the PC when the divine entity is invoked. 
The divine entity's response, however, is ultimately determined by the Game Master (GM).

Here are some examples:

St. Eligius of Noyon - Assistance with horsemanship
St. Helena - Blessings of new discoveries

Cailleach, "the queen of winter" - Goddess of hags, weather, and winds. She controls winter and assists with creation and destruction.
Ceridwen, "the white witch" - Goddess of rebirth, transformation, and inspiration. She assists with the brewing of powerful potions. She may grant the ability to shapeshift.

In a game I'm currently running to playtest the rules, my party got pretty cut up in a night ambush by villager cultists. One PC had previously attempted to invoke divine saints with no success. After the fight, however, she successfully invoked the patron saint of surgery and succeeded her DC. I then described how the moon came out from behind clouds and the PC felt her hands be guided by the saint to perform each player's surgery. I didn't require her to perform any medicine/surgery checks and the PCs each recovered 4 health points instead of 2. It was a clutch moment, and there were high fives all around!