M.S.A.-My tabletop idea

[Philemonite]

Multi System Amalgam (waiting for a more interesting name) is a combination of many tabletop and video games I have played. I will start with a few basic concepts, and add more details as I go. Any advice is welcome, so please comment.

Basic Stats
Physique and Agility-Used for weapon Techniques
Intelligence and Finesse-Used for Crafts
Wisdom and Willpower-Used for (Mystic) Arts

Action types:
Techniques are weapon based abilities. This includes sword slashes, defensive stances, crippling strikes...
Crafts are special skills. This includes rogue's tricks, bard's songs...
Arts are mystical abilities. This includes any spell you can think of.

Combat roles:
Defenders block damage, supporters buff allies and healers heal the damage that has already been inflicted. This are positive roles.
Controllers seal enemies abilities, disruptors debuff enemies and inflicters affect enemies with DOT abilities. This are negative roles.
Cleansers remove effects, summoners call reinforcements and manipulators raise barriers that prevent effects (negative and positive). This are neutral roles.
Attackers deal damage.

Combat is squad based. Every squad has from 4 to 8 members.
Each squad can perform one ability of every role type (positive/negative/neutral/attack) every turn.

Movement is grid based, the grid is similar to chess board. Every squad can move one space every turn. When two squads of opposite sides are on the same space they are engaged. Targeting another enemy when you are engaged gives penalties. Health is squad based (health of all members is added up). There are 3 energy pools. This energy is used when performing Tech/Crafts/Arts. It can be recovered by using a Focus command.

Each unit has a set of abilities. This act like cards and once used they are discarded. Once a combat stage is over all of your cards are refreshed. A combat stage consists of multiple turns.

More to come, please comment.

Spoiler

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{table=head]Race|Bonus|Penalty|Bonus 1|Bonus 2
Bilts|Agility|Willpower|Scale-Damage reduction|
Qualds|Physique|Intelligence|Tough hide-Damage reduction|
Dasorians|Wisdom|Intelligence||
Waluts|Physique|Finesse||
Luperts|Finesse|Wisdom||
Pretorians|Intelligence|Agility||
Genedons|Willpower|Physique||
Sirlon|Intelligence|Physique||
Elorians|Wisdom|Agility||
Alendors|Finesse|None|Well-rounded-No penalty|
Beritids|Agility|Wisdom||


[/table]

Spoiler

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{table=head]Class|Primary Role|Secondary Role|Tertiary Role|Equipment
Priest|Healer|Supporter|Cleanser|Staves, Robes
Shaman|Supporter|||Blunt 1H, Light Shields,
Paladin|Defender|Healer|Supporter|Blunt 1H, All Shields, Heavy Armor
Wizard|Controller|Disruptor||Rods, Robes
|Disruptor|||
Warlock|Inflicter|||
Monk|Cleanser|||
Sorcerer|Summoner|||
Mystic|Manipulator|||
[/table]

[Rephath]

What type of game is this? What's the setting? What are characters doing in your game? Is it mostly combat-focused? How does roleplaying come in?

[Philemonite]

What type of game is this? What's the setting? What are characters doing in your game? Is it mostly combat-focused? How does roleplaying come in?

So many question, that's nice.

Main idea is to make something between RPG (with 4-6 characters) and a wargame (with hundreds of identical characters). My primary inspiration is The Last Remnant, but combat mechanics are different. Setting is my own, I even have my own races and pantheon, but that will come later. It's a standard medieval fantasy world with my own twist. Emphasis on elementals. Right now I'm working on combat, social and adventuring abilities will come later.

[Rephath]

I would figure out how you envision this game going first. Doing mechanics to simulate something when you haven't figured out what you want or need to simulate is a recipe for disaster. Also, integrating wargaming and part of adventurers roleplaying is incredibly difficult. I've thrown away a lot of pages of setting and rules before finally getting to something I'm satisfied with on that front. Realize that this is an incredibly difficult project, and depending on how confident you are in your abilities you may want to pick something tamer.

And by incredibly difficult project I mean major game corporations hiring the best professionals in the business would more likely than not fail to deliver a good product here.

[SamBurke]

Hmm.... The mechanics seem pretty complicated. This might work better as some form of video game, methinks.

That, or simpler/with some form of good explanation.

[Philemonite]

I know it's a big project and I will probably never finish it, but I'm having fun making it.

It is very confusing, since it's just a bunch of ideas on a pile. I need to explain in details, it might look better then.

Comparing it to D&D:

Basic stats-Ability score
Action types-Divine magic, Arcane magic...
Combat roles-4E combat roles
3 energy pools-spell slots