Re: Elite: Dangerous - and the return

[Selezen]

They're going to make the 1.25m. big news is that the £1,000,000 has just been broken.

I've just asked if it's appropriate to write an RPG system based on ED. I'm contemplating starting a kickstarter to do it. Is this a good idea??

[Shipbuilder]

Sounds like a great idea to me Selezen.

[OneoftheLost]

Like table top?

I REALLY wish they had waited a few months with the kickstarter. I had to lower my pledge, because I just don't have any cash this month or next. It REALLY hurt. If they would have started it in say.. Feb. I could have easily upped my pledge by a 100 or so.

[Selezen]

Like table top?

Yeah. Dungeons and Dragons style.

I think it's an interesting idea since Elite was partially inspired by the Traveller RPG.

It might be a good way to expand and formalise the ideas that went into the Station Run game...

I'm currently exchanging emails with Michael at FD. I have left myself one serious hurdle - time.

It'll all hinge on how long KS take to approve the drive and how long it takes me to structure the campaign. Any hints (via PM) would be greatly received if FD give the go-ahead.

[OneoftheLost]

My only advice would be to keep it simple. Check Savage Worlds' for a simple and easy to get into tabletop system. The D20 system that DnD/Shadowrun/etc.etc. favors wouldn't be a good choice for an Elite style game imho (battles would take forever.) I would be excited about it, but you are right, I don't think you can pull it off in 8 days. Especially when some of the novels are having trouble and they have been up twice as long.

Do let us know if it gets approved tho!

[Selezen]

I hear you. All very good points.

I need to see what Michael at FD says initially as he has some concerns regarding how the project would fit into the fiction guidelines for the pledge. Still waiting for a response, but not sure if I'll get one by tonight.

I'm just trying to put together a nice project logo while I wait.

Can I write a simple RPG system by March 2014? Definitely. It would probably be D6 based as that's the kind of dice everyone can access. I was tempted to make it D12 based (since a D12 is a dodecahedron and having a kind of space station as the random number generator is just too cool not to contemplate) but I'm not convinced it would work as well.

As I said, I'm about 30% confident it will go ahead at the moment. I wish I could be more confident about it.

[Selezen]

Darn. Just hit a snag. Funds take 14 days to clear and there's no way I can raise £5000 to make the pledge in lieu of the funds.

Some rethinking is going on...

[OneoftheLost]

Savage Worlds is a D6 based system that I personally love. Alot of good things going for it, but that is for another thread.

Sorry to hear that! I didn't know. KS is a bit complicated for what it is. I wish they did things differently. (I.e. the ability to CHANGE pledge levels, the ability to extend the overall kickstarter) Its just not as flexible as it could be. I mean its crowd funding for goodness sakes. It makes no sense to be as rigid as they are.

I will say that I'm digging all of this Elite concept art. We've seen more concept art for Dangerous then the entire series combined. Some great shots that really get me into the universe that Mr. Braben is imagining.

[Wolfwood]

Personally, having written an RPG once _very very_ long time ago, I'd have to say that you can definitely write something up rather quickly, but play-testing and balancing the system will take a lot of time.

It would perhaps be a good idea to copy the basic system from some open source RPG and then adjust it for the Elite genre - that would make it a lot faster.

Also, I prefer D10 or D100 systems.

[Selezen]

Well, I have pitched the RPG idea to Michael through the Kickstarter site. I have pitched it as a similar idea to the writer's pledge but outside the kickstarter. Michael has graciously offered to discuss it after the kickstarter drive has finished, and I am confident it's a genuine offer. So that's pretty damned exciting and I have my fingers crossed so tightly that the ends have gone blue.

I don't want to recycle a particular system of base my "product" on a particular existing set of rules, but my sci-fi roleplaying teeth were cut on the old FASA Star Trek RPG and its attending table top battle system. I want to capture the simplicity and fun of the FASA system. It's also the reason I love hexagons.

I so want to base it on 6-sided dice, though, as these are readily available anywhere and are darned easy to make out of cardboard if you need to. It also means that a hex-based gaming system could be attached and would be compatible with the dice (for example for rolling for a direction your ship is going to move is easy with a 6-sided dice).

I also have a load of theories and concepts that were tried out with the original Elite RPG I developed at University (and always meant to put online at some stage) - the system will be different due to being based on Elite: Dangerous and not original Elite. I am hoping, though, that it can be flexible enough to allow roleplaying in any "era" of the FEU.

Here's hoping that (1) Frontier Developments allow me to go ahead with the campaign and (2) the generosity of the world at large will help me fund the project.

[Wolfwood]

I promise to back your RPG even though I don't play them these days - I enjoy reading the rulebooks occasionally, though.

[Selezen]

That's awesome and very generous of you, thanks.

I don't get to play very much myself these days to be honest. No one in my area plays much and all if the old groups i was in have scattered to the four corners of the country.

[Wolfwood]

Yup, my groups have likewise scattered and since I have a family nowadays, free time is not something that I have a lot of to begin with.

[Gimi]

Speaking of time to play, If you somehow could include a "play by mail" mode, it would allow us to have a game going over the internet with like minded people. Would also be easier to fit into the little time we have available.

[AkTanatha]

Table top RPG

If you somehow could include a "play by mail" mode

How about "play-by-phone" - nudging you towards my Windows 8 smartphone