Alright, it seems like CB won't be making Eternity: Fantasy Skirmish I keep pestering them about ;) Or the horror wargame I have yet to come up with a clever name for... So, it seems that if I want a cool fantasy or horror game, I have to design it myself. :D Obviously, it'd be a doomed venture - if anything, I have no resources or skills to create cool minis for such a game. That said, the idea of playing with such a concept keeps returning to me... The problem is, I have no idea how to actually design a game? So, my question: are there any resources for designing wargame rules? So that, if ever got to doing it, I'd know what I'd should be doing?
step one: read as many systems as you can. then read some more. study what makes these games work, what makes them fun, what you like about them and what you don't. after you've done this, read some more. try and understand the mathematics behind their system as well. Watch videos and read about probability, casino odds, etc etc. step two: write it. Just write it down, all of it. whatever comes to mind. write it and test it. systems, mechanics, lore, whatever. write it down now and organize it later. Hit the pavement running while your motivation is at it's highest. step three: test. play test with yourself, with a friend, with someone who has never played a tabletop game, with those who love tabletop games, etc, etc. ask them if theyre having fun - if they can see themselves exploring or having fun with this system. if not, try and identify why. think about game feel. for what it's worth I had a short burst of motivation where I actually tried to write a skirmish sized dynamic fantasy game. If you want I would love to share the pdf with you and tell you my thoughts and motivation for some of the choices behind it - it's very unfinished and sort of basic though.
Oh, I'd really like seeing that, yes :) As well as hearing the reasons for your choices. The problem I have coming up with rules is that I feel I don't understand mathematics etc. well enough to see what would the right choices be. I have this problem even with RPGs - for example, I know that some games use one die (say, D20) for tests and others use a few dice (like 3D6) for the same goal. I know that 1D20 gives you results from 1 to 20 with flat probability spread, while 3D6 gives you 3 to 18 with a bell-esque probability curve, but... what is better? Which one should I choose? And so on...
To put it simply a single dice will be more "swingy" or "unpredictable" while multiple dice will give results weighted towards the average. To take the D20 vs 3d6 example, the D20 rolls it's highest result 5% of the time, while 3d6 rolls the highest result 0.046% of the time. This also makes modifiers behave differently, a +1 to a D20 is always an additional 5% increase of success chance, while a +1 on 3D6 is worth more the closer you are to the average roll (10.5). Which is better comes down to the style of game you want. A D20 can be more unpredictable, giving the goblin that chance of critting the hero, while 3D6 means you'll be able to better predict the results and rewards risk management more (though still with a chance for upsets). Infinity uses both of these methods on addition to a Blackjack style of contested roll and variable numbers of dice, which is why it's probabilities are so opaque.
On that that topic, how are stat increases to calculate? Looking at the numbers in the Dice Calculator every additional point of BS is somewhere between 8 an 10 % better, when adding the changes to doing at least one wound, nothing happens and receiving a wound. So this is suggesting a linear points increase. But in Infinity BS becomes costlier the higher it gets and that feels right to me. Which tells me, my simple math is quite off and I am missing something here.
