Quote from: Voros;950847Seconding what CRKrueger said. Nothing worse than someone slamming another game or gaming style in their material or intro and telling you how much better their game is.

That is true, and I will refrain from doing so in my material for Black Castle.

Quote from: jeff37923;950764Don't create a new game at all. There are plenty already out on the market, most of them interchangeable and forgettable. Just pick one close to what you want and write adventures that include a short section on rules modifications for it instead.

That's what Raggi and Estar tried to do, and what did they learn?
No one wants to stock their product because it doesn't tie in to a game line. OSRIC, Basic Fantasy, Swords & Wizardry are/were nowhere to be found on the retail level.

That's why Raggi published his own clone, LotFP, and Estar is working on his Majestic clone.

Quote from: Doc Sammy;950534My idea for an OSR game would have to have artwork drawn in the style of Anime & Manga, as well as bleak Gothic scenery, and Halloween/Horror imagery. I may take the idea of a base generic approach to the setting (at least at first) but with a clear vision of the thematic and aesthetic details of what a typical campaign would entail.

I would love to draw influence and inspirations from my favorite D&D setting, Ravenloft. Obviously, I cannot actually make a Ravenloft OSR game, but I could make an original B/X styled OSR game that is styled in the spirit and atmosphere of early Ravenloft.

So far, my vision of an OSR game designed by me would be a gorier and more weebish spiritual successor to Ravenloft.


EDIT-I've even come up with a working title for it, the project will be called Black Castle. At least it will be if I can't come up with a better name.

kuro(i) (or KOKU-) for Black. shiro (or -JOU) for Castle. So it'd either be kuroi-shiro or KOKU-JOU. As cool sounding as KOKUJOU is, it's closer to just a black castle. kuroishiro leaves open the meaning to "black, as in corruption" but it doesn't roll off the English tongue with as much menace, does it?

Anyway, back to work:

So, anime is an art style, but you want to pull from a more action wuxia aesthetic, a la Vampire Hunter D, Beserk, et alia. Something along the lines of Castlevania, essentially.

Now let's work on that, What do you want from that?: Cinematic duel combat, or combat speed and body count? Remember, D&D editions have been pulled in both directions, and now is an important time to choose.

Further, once Game Speed & Combat Flash is decided, next focus on what distinguishing element you want to bring? Are angst/sanity meters unimportant or critically important? Are you all about the Combat Flash Power Widgets, or about the Action Movie Body Count in Gothic Fun House? Is it more about a new sub-system, or is it about a new setting?

Start developing a real preference by talking this out, this will help define your design direction and passionate voice. Then, as long as you don't use your voice for unwanted polemics (See CRKrueger's advice here), you should be fine. Passion is infectious and something you should hold on to in describing your ideas for as long as you can.

Actually, if it's going to be some anime thing don't you need two random words picked out of a hat that don't have anything to do with the subject or eachother?  Something like...
Waffle Magic
Cloud Jazz
Wolf Cluster
Golden Pinata
Etc...

Well, as of late there was a strong fetish for egregiously long explanatory subtitles after a colon, often with either fashion or music references.

Something like:

Kuroi Shiro: Blue Rondo Arabesque, Vignettes of the Resplendent Damascene Atelier, Deus Effluvium.

or equivalently noisome.

I would be interested in an OSR Anime Fantasy ala Castlevania RPG.

But you would have to distill what you mean by Anime and what that brings to a game.

I'm a BESM fan, but I never understood WTF it had to do with Anime. It was a solid generic system with Anime art that had no interaction with the mechanics.

Quote from: CRKrueger;950758All the stuff that you hate with the burning fury of a thousand suns and can't wait to put on paper and share with the world...don't.  Your "voice" doesn't mean all your pet peeves, petty hatreds, and psychological peccadillos.  Leave that shit at home.

I must heavily disagree.

Your Voice is ALL that drives your passion. It's what you love and what you hate. It's all your fucked up weirdness. That's the nature of being a singer, an artist or a writer.

You will need that burning fury in the lonely wee hours when the writing gets tough. And it will get tough. You are not a contract writer, you don't have a publishing company, and Black Castle will probably just be a personal project, maybe with a small audience, but maybe just maybe your PASSION will ignite something in your readers.

However, your Voice must speak through the game itself, not in useless designer screeds.

Dig deep motherfucker. Find a gem in your guts and share it with us.