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11:48, 28th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Strategy RPG Hybrid: Need some creative feedback.

Posted by Malakhon
Malakhon
member, 1988 posts
Thu 24 Nov 2016
at 00:46
  • msg #1

Strategy RPG Hybrid: Need some creative feedback

I am a fan of games that involve a little strategy and RPG hybridization.

Over the years I've run games where the players take the roles of Knightly Lords and Wizards in Fantasy settings, Reverse Dungeons where the players run the dungeon, Overseers of the wasteland, etc. Games where there is typically a moral component and some strategy such as settling the new world - do you trade peacefully with the Indians or drive them from their land?

I've been wanting to setup a game that involves a little of both RPG and Strategy and have been thinking for a while on a setting and I can use your help!

Typically, I like these games better than I do dungeon crawls because I can play tactical battles on my PC anytime I like - and the more interesting features of players having to decide things together - so rather than six individual solo games with each player getting their own micro-kingdom to maintain - I prefer to give the players a shared setting and let them decide together on a course of action.

I came up with a game idea today after crossing off all the ideas from Pirates to Steampunk on a list and the biggest problem I have is - what on earth do I even call it so that players know what it is when they see the title? What is the scope of the game?

So here is my proposal - and if you have some ideas let me know. I think one huge influence is metamorphosis alpha but this is not that game.

SYSTEM: Rules Lite - very few statistics involved.

SETTING: The players awake on an ancient pre-cursor alien ship that is traveling thousands of light years from Earth towards an unknown destination.

You find that you can speak, read and write the alien language and have an instinctive knowledge of their technical systems. You have also been auto-trained as a "Leader" and granted what is called "RED CARD ACCESS"

There are others from earth - from all cultures and time periods up to the year 2,000 - all abducted at one point or another. Many of them have been trained as "WORKER", "SCIENTIST", "GUARD" and "ENGINEER" though - and their access is Yellow, Orange or Green - less than yours.

The players can choose to play any character - even a famous one from history that may have disappeared under mysterious circumstances - Jim Morrison, Amelia earhert, or they can play something of their own creation - a WWII pilot that was lost over the Pacific, Themselves, their actual Grandfather, A Roman Centurion, etc.


You have very little understanding of what happened to you when you were abducted and even less of the purpose of your training. It seems the aliens were transporting you somewhere but for what purpose?

OLYMPUS: The Ship is known as Olympus and it is shaped like a Pyramid (that could change but for the time being I think that may be appropriate). There is a ship's AI that is called "DAHAK" but it is of limited use - and its higher functions have been disabled. It cannot provide any logs of what may have happened to the ship prior to the players awakening - only that its current programming cannot be altered by red card access - but it will assist the players in handling very menial tasks such as automatic resource gathering.

Each player will start the game with some resources that are assigned to them - these include:

 Biomatter - a universal gel that can be used to heal and create living tissue
 Protonix -  useful tech in the creation of weapons and defense systems
 Quintessence - an essential technology component used in EVERY system
 Artifacts - Precursor devices and components that can be used to construct things
 Holocron - Used in Precursor computer systems - living/intelligent systems
 Cybercom - Graftible/wearable devices that can enhance humans -senses, strength, etc.
 Vitromeat - a bland but satisfying food product that is used to sustain life

I am not completely sold on these resources yet - but essentially the idea here is that players can easily trade with one another and/or combine resources. This is not a game about accounting and keeping track of every little round of ammo or pistol, so this would be an abstract of ship systems controlled by each player.

FACTIONS: At the start of the game, each player will be designated Orange Card leaders who are their Officers - these agents lead teams in research, exploration etc and will do the heavy lifting of actually exploring the facilities on the ship. So you can simply assign them a task and let them handle the exploration.

There are two other factions on the deck twelve -where the players start the game - they are initially hostile to the players and/or standoffish. They are under no compunction to work with the players and while the AI may send robots and androids to punish open violence - these other factions will be competing for the same resources that the players control.

There are also 120,000 cryogenically frozen humans on this deck that Dahak says it cannot thaw unless they are needed - it will periodically unthaw some to replace fallen soldiers in the field - (as well as new players).

As you send out explorers of the upper decks, you may encounter an entire level that is a complete recreation of a Scottish Castle complete with a Loch and wheat farms, and another level that is run by Android Underlords that are self-aware and who keep humans as pets. I've not decided yet - but should the players control the entire ship, then I can park them around a Pre-cursor world and let them try to colonize it - so there is plenty of room for a long campaign.

The players may be able to designate new production facilities, deal with radiation, rebellions, invent new tech, as well as negotiate with the others ont he ship.

So what would I even call this so you knew what it was and am I crazy for wanting to run this?
Rothos1
member, 428 posts
Thu 24 Nov 2016
at 15:46
  • msg #2

Strategy RPG Hybrid: Need some creative feedback

I believe you need at least 1 co-GM (I can't do it), but it's doable. I think FATE or a d20 system for flexibility would work. The game could be called Starship Zeta.
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