Strategic Fantasy Crossover RPG

[SisterMiriamGodwinson]

I've been thinking about games like Civilization 4 and its mod, Fall From Heaven II, and I enjoy both FFH and games like it. So.... Battle for Middle Earth 2 has also been out for a while, so you know where I'm going with this.... I'd like to have a text based game with the same premise. However usually when I come up with strategic game of the army versus army category I usually end up failing miserably. Its just not my forte.

So.... I still think its worth trying. Ecspecially on a semi-famous site like this one. First of all, I'd like to make a list of factions from franchises you might like to play as.(You can play as any, these are just suggestions)

Mordor(Lord of the Rings)
Baron(Final Fantasy IV)
Stygia(Conan the Barbarian)
Haven(Might and Magic V)
The Empire(Warhammer Fantasy)
Dalaran(Warcraft)
Red Wizards of Thay(Dungeons and Dragons)
The Dark Dragons(Breath of Fire)
The Cauldron Born(The Black Cauldron)

I would like some kind of signal from readers of the read if they would like a point system introduced.
Also note, that some games that could be a shoe in for a Fantasy game, like Mortal Kombat, are allowed, even though the game technically takes place in the 90's. Factions from the game like Outworld would be allowed. All factions in the game will be equal..... Regardless of the fact that Outworld could take Mordor any time. Furthermore, factions don't have to be EXACTLy like they are in their respective franchises, in fact I would prefer it if they could have a specific reason to fit in a custom made setting for the game. I've put some thought into this, and I think that perhaps some sort of collaboration between factions of one kind of ideology could work together with others. "Good and Evil" for instance.

The story of the game is as follows:
"Centuries ago, stone tablets were found declaring the rights of the gods over mortals. They had the authority to teach power and knowledge, and to give life and honor to those who attained favor. Eventually, so few had gained the favor of the gods that the universe was shattered into countless tiny pieces of itself. After many millenia, it has begun to form together in unseen ways that even the seers could not have foreseen. This civilization will crumble before we see our far descendants regain the favor of the gods once more."
Hoping that this paragraph makes sense because of my exhaustion, I as the GM would like to invite you to play a game that I hope has promise for fantasy lovers, and even some promise to sci fi lovers.

[Setzer]

Why not have factions modelled after fantasy powers, but with a personal touch on them? That way, it's no so much cut and paste fantasy.

[SisterMiriamGodwinson]

Thank you . I thought about that myself.

Hm... Would you prefer that all factions be custom made or just most or alot of them?

[Setzer]

Part of the appeal of SDnetworld is that people can make their own factions. I'd love to play a fantasy empire of my own design. Have you decided on the tech level? And how will magic enter play?

[Zor]

If you want the basics of a system for one, here it is. Just put it on a map that is not middle ages Earth and add a few subcatogories such as Naga Magic users or something.

Zor

[Setzer]

Why don't we carve out our own territories on Earth? I think it would save a lot of bickering if we have a map that everyone's familiar with.

[Darkevilme]

So is this gonna be 'like SDNETWORLD but with the crazy turned up' and have rankings or more equalized player powers like in the last space STGOD? At any rate if there's enough interest from others for this to take off you can count me in, it's been a while since STGOD2k8 died. And an earth map might be best for cutting down the planning gap between the idea being proposed and people actually getting to play.

[SisterMiriamGodwinson]

Well... For Tech levels, if you know what Ebberon is that makes sense for me... and also consider an extreme tech level for things like dimensional travel or FTL, but ironically limited to nothing more than Victorian era for weapons. Mystical weapons and armor would allow for fighting against enemies with primitive fire arms. And... this is my first time on the site... I only come here for the RPGs, so STGod, whatever you said I don't know about.

Magic will enter play mostly by heroes and elite units. Common magic users will probably be some units that only have one basic magical function. Like, teleporting marksmen or something. I'll say that for this game magic is useful for things like MAD or nukes, instead of technology. Absolute high for weapons technology would be WWI, and there is a mystic prevention of the factions using it for right now.

Also, I'd like to know exactly how to make a map... since I'm not competent in that area, I'd like for someone to do an Earth map or something for me. BTW, I have noticed through a website that Earth is 67,000,000 miles of territory.(For us everything is habitable due to magic)

[Setzer]

Why not something like what Kessen II had? Some Generals were accomplished magicians, but they could only use a few major spells, and they took so long to recharge you'd probably only use them once in each battle. So we could have a sorcerer who can cast spells to kill thousands, but only once a week or so. This way, we don't have people flinging magic about in a cheap attempt to win.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discuss ... hp?t=25312

And this thread is a veritable gold mine of blank maps. There's bound to be one that suits your needs.

And as for technology, why not stick to classical or medieval eras? It's more the standard for fantasy, but there's still lots of wiggle room.

[Darkevilme]

I think he meant that it was a range of tech levels between victorian and probably the bronze age. If we use point values then any issues are dealt with, you can have one side using victorian steampunk technology and another stuck in the dark ages. The steampunk people will just be outnumbered ten to one if they want all this tech to count.

Which means we definitely need a point system. The questions are:

How complex to make it: IE how many things other than base value can a unit have? What existing systems, if any, can we tweak to our use here?

How would magic be handled? a standard sorcerer is probably just an expensive unit but what about this whole, epic battle changing magic, element? One idea i've thought of is that you set aside some points for your per turn manapool to power anything huge. Probably points that would weigh the battle in your favour. So army A and army B are fighting and both are 500 points of troops, but army A has 100 mana points that player A decides to use up for this turn to give his side an edge either by providing a virtual troops effect just for this battle or by inflicting a great amount of damage on the enemy((Possibly a damage soak option as well to keep all our bases covered.)) but once used those mana points are gone till next turn when they're replenished.

[Setzer]

If we're going to use a points setup, there should be some commonality in tech level. I don't mind having trained phalanx pikemen costing one thing and untrained tribal levies costing another, but tribal levies and musket armed infantry with gatling gun support seems too complex for convenience.

[Darkevilme]

From a system point of view it shouldnt. Barbarian hordes= 1 point per warrior, Steampunk brigade= 20 point per soldier.

[SisterMiriamGodwinson]

If we're going to use a points setup, there should be some commonality in tech level. I don't mind having trained phalanx pikemen costing one thing and untrained tribal levies costing another, but tribal levies and musket armed infantry with gatling gun support seems too complex for convenience.

Because of Fantasy metal armor, even primitive rifles shouldn't pose much of an advantage.

[Setzer]

I'm thinking more of artillery. Canister shot is going to shred most anyone who isn't clad head to toe in magical armor.

[Darkevilme]

Then artillery will be damned expensive per unit wont it then? to reflect its inherent awesome maiming power.

And really your top tier battle mage will be just as pricey for the same reasons.

[SisterMiriamGodwinson]

Exactly. Not to mention I don't think that anyone should start with anything more advanced than 1700's weaponry at first. Maybe airships should be developed before serious artillery.

[Setzer]

You could probably get hot air dirigibles armed with arrows and ballistas. That would be awesome. I think we should try and avoid gunpowder tech altogether though.

[Darkevilme]

I'm really not seeing any inherent problem but maybe that's just me.

Someone wants a dragon that can lay waste to dozens of soldiers with ease?
Fine make it an expensive unit and let them have it.

Someone wants a warlock that can lay waste to dozens of soldiers with ease?
Make it a 200 point unit (say) and let them buy it.

Someone wants a napoleonic era cannon that can lay waste to dozens of soldiers with ease?
You get the picture.

My point is if you're opening the door to fantasy and magic there's going to be no shortage of awesomeness and awesomely destructive things and it seems silly to arbitrarily bar the guy with the cannons for having one flavour of said awesome forces of destruction.

[Setzer]

OK. I'm sticking with my classical era army of pikemen supported by peltasts, archers, and heavy cavalry, with levies from vassal lords providing more specialist troops.

[Setzer]

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discuss ... 1223767758

Okay, here's one blank world map. What's the criteria for territories?

[SisterMiriamGodwinson]

Hm. How about the factions starting as 20,000 square miles per player?

[Setzer]

That would mean we mainly start as small city states. It's an OK starting point.

[SisterMiriamGodwinson]

Kingdom Traits:
Imperialist (better colonies?)
Defender (fight better in own territory)
Protective (Cheaper weapons?)
Financial (whether through banking or merchants, this gives a wealth bonus)
Organized (efficiency is the order of the day. Things get done.)
Aggressive (easier to mobilize for war)
Spiritual(Clergy bonus. Maybe a theocratic nation. Higher than normal level clerics)
Industrious (more resourceful)
Philosophical (better education)
Creative (new ways of doing things)
Expansive (able to grow with less of a burn out)
Summoner (Magicians better at conjuring creatures)
Arcane (Wizards generally more powerful or skillful)
Raiders (similar to Imperialist, except you don't need to take over large amounts of territory)
Barbarian (Can recruit much less advanced civilizations to yours, or buy mercenaries from them more easily.)
Tolerant (makes it easier to assimilate conquered peoples.)
Charismatic (People more cooperative with the government)

[Setzer]

I'm looking at some character traits. We can RP dynasties, have marriage alliances or hostages, all the hallmarks of early diplomacy.

[SisterMiriamGodwinson]

Should I use dice rolling, readers?