Game rules
Foreign Element Preview #1
10/02/11 21:53 Filed in: FE
First, I got a few nagging bugs fixed on the site. I’ll continue to update content as we go along, but it’s coming together nicely.
Second, Foreign Element Preview #1 is out! This is unbelievable. I have been working on this game for quite sometime. Over the past couple of weeks, I finally had the breakthrough I wanted and got the rules and a lot of the text into a good shape. I am still working on a couple of areas, like the GM section and an opening mission. A cover piece is close.
All in all, I’m excited and you should be too.
You can get a glimpse of the Preview, which includes the current draft of rules, here.
Foreign Element has a bit of a rules light feel to it - the game rules are no more than 8 pages (currently). However, the game is tightly put together and geared toward what I want - fast and furious action against hordes of baddies. Death is not the same sort of deal breaker as it is in other games. Combat is fast and imaginative. Heroes will be put in a lot of pressure cooker situations as they try to infiltrate distant planets, get the stuff they need, and get out alive.
Note that I am also accepting playtesters. I am eager for some groups and GMs to look it over and put it to the test. Anybody who helps out will get a special surprise a little bit later. I love playtesters.
Grab it and let me know what you think. I am eager for some first comments.
- Nathan
Second, Foreign Element Preview #1 is out! This is unbelievable. I have been working on this game for quite sometime. Over the past couple of weeks, I finally had the breakthrough I wanted and got the rules and a lot of the text into a good shape. I am still working on a couple of areas, like the GM section and an opening mission. A cover piece is close.
All in all, I’m excited and you should be too.
You can get a glimpse of the Preview, which includes the current draft of rules, here.
Foreign Element has a bit of a rules light feel to it - the game rules are no more than 8 pages (currently). However, the game is tightly put together and geared toward what I want - fast and furious action against hordes of baddies. Death is not the same sort of deal breaker as it is in other games. Combat is fast and imaginative. Heroes will be put in a lot of pressure cooker situations as they try to infiltrate distant planets, get the stuff they need, and get out alive.
Note that I am also accepting playtesters. I am eager for some groups and GMs to look it over and put it to the test. Anybody who helps out will get a special surprise a little bit later. I love playtesters.
Grab it and let me know what you think. I am eager for some first comments.
- Nathan
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The Problem with Magickal Skills
In the Perilous Pool of Possibilities, I included a brand new magickal skill called Shifting.
In the upcoming Mirrors adventure, there is also a new magickal skill.
Cool, right? The problem - neither of these magickal skills actually follow game rules and have a counter or opposite magickal skill.
Hmm.
Both of these magickal skills are very unique. Shifting (a sort of teleportation skill) could very well have an opposite, but it would end up being a very limited and narrow magickal power. It might be something like “grounding”, where a wizard firmly plants herself in a location and cannot be moved. There is a little potential there. (And to note, shifting itself is a fairly limited power as I point out in the Perilous Pool adventure.)
But this doesn’t solve the problem that there are things wizards should be able to do, like teleportation, that shouldn’t really require a roll at all. I included one in the game that every wizard has - the ability to fly. Can you imagine how boring a bearded wizard with God-like powers would be without the ability to fly? Lame.
So at this point, if I do an EAK 2.0, I am probably going to build in more innate skills that a wizard can just do. Maybe there would even be a little rating system, so some wizards would have a little more flight ability than others. If you have any suggestions, toss them in the comments section below.
Things to Do This Week:
- Finish Mirrors.
- Rebuild the EAK site.
- Throw up some new free thing for Barbarians Versus and EAK.
Later this week, check out the blog as I respond to a really cool idea from some fan mail.
In the upcoming Mirrors adventure, there is also a new magickal skill.
Cool, right? The problem - neither of these magickal skills actually follow game rules and have a counter or opposite magickal skill.
Hmm.
Both of these magickal skills are very unique. Shifting (a sort of teleportation skill) could very well have an opposite, but it would end up being a very limited and narrow magickal power. It might be something like “grounding”, where a wizard firmly plants herself in a location and cannot be moved. There is a little potential there. (And to note, shifting itself is a fairly limited power as I point out in the Perilous Pool adventure.)
But this doesn’t solve the problem that there are things wizards should be able to do, like teleportation, that shouldn’t really require a roll at all. I included one in the game that every wizard has - the ability to fly. Can you imagine how boring a bearded wizard with God-like powers would be without the ability to fly? Lame.
So at this point, if I do an EAK 2.0, I am probably going to build in more innate skills that a wizard can just do. Maybe there would even be a little rating system, so some wizards would have a little more flight ability than others. If you have any suggestions, toss them in the comments section below.
Things to Do This Week:
- Finish Mirrors.
- Rebuild the EAK site.
- Throw up some new free thing for Barbarians Versus and EAK.
Later this week, check out the blog as I respond to a really cool idea from some fan mail.