So I would greatly prefer to
use my own system. I built it from some of the things I have liked in games
like Harnmaster, AD&D, Alternity, and 7 th
Sea. I have played this system with two other groups and it has worked quite
well. It isn’t perfect, but it does very well at telling the stories I
wish to tell. No rigid classes and more interesting combat….although it doesn’t
need to be combat heavy. I am mulling over rules for town/castle/ city
management and mass combat with I am excited to use if it comes up. Possibly
the best thing, the game will be totally free and I am happy to share what I
have.
Let me clarify “punishing”
combat. One of the weakest parts of most other RPGs is that the typically
combat ends only after the party or opposition are completely killed. Almost
every combat is a fight to the death. I think this is unrealistic and strangles
dramatic story telling. The best villain is one who has previously bested you
in combat. In between a fight and dying, there would typically be a good amount
of sitting around and bleeding or suffering an infection. So when I say punishing, I want the players to really feel that losing a combat is always within the realm of possibility, no matter who you are fighting. Even peasants get lucky. However, I don't want you to ever assume the consequences of losing are always death. You may become so injured that it will take weeks to fully recover. You may get a nasty scar that gets infected. You may walk with a limp.
All in all, I am quite proud of
the combat system I developed, as I feel it accomplished everything I wanted it
to do. I will admit, it is a bit more tedious than other systems, but it gets
quicker as players begin to understand it better. Is a single attack, a
combatant might miss, strike his opponent and not break through armor, strike
his opponent and cause minor damage, strike an opponent and essentially end the
fight (like by damaging or severing a hand) or strike an opponent and kill him (like
severing am artery or vein in the neck..although this is quite rare). My combat
system also provides a lot of opportunity for strategy. Do I endure the incoming
attack and go immediately on the offensive? Do I block the incoming attack with
a parry from my shield? So, I wouldn’t worry too much about losing your
character. If you are worried about it, I am always open to players playing
multiple characters and roleplaying friendly NPCs in combat.
On to the rest of your
questions. I would prefer voice sessions, but enjoy it when players do some
writing in between sessions. Not every issue needs to be resolved in session. I
would prefer to just my own system and there are no classes in it. So you can
pretty much make any type of character you can imagine. I would just plan on
staying away from traditional fantasy non-human races. There is magic, wizards,
mages, sorcerers, and witches in this game. Aurelians themselves are quite
suspicious of magic and see it as a cowardly way of solving one’s problems.
However, they can’t deny that having a mage around is incredibly useful. So
they tolerate magic users, but never fully trust them. Mages in Aurelia are
almost always foreigners. No proper Aurelian would ever allow his/her son or
daughter to practice magic. Finally, I have discord although I haven’t used it
very much, my name is Ares#3397.
