New tabletop Gaming system in the works. Advice?

[Celebolwa]

Hello Everyone,

I am working on a new tabletop game system (the system style: think dungeons and dragons-meets White Wolf's world of Darkness meets Call of Cthulhu-meets Mutants and Masterminds) called Falling Iron (working title) The game's dice system (a new one of my own creation) allows players to adjust their own rolls to allow for players and the Gamemaster to both be able to alter the difficulty level of combat, skill checks, and ultimately help to steer their gaming experience.

I have moved into the second stage of the rule set: spell/special ability/skill creation. I have a question for tabletop gamers:

Do you prefer a shorter spell/special abilities list a la White Wolf- allowing for players and the Gamemaster to interpret what each spell/ability can really do within reason (with simple guidelines)? Or do you instead prefer a massive list of spells with rigid effects and contraints (more defined effects)?

Thanks for the help,
Either can work I would love input however...


Ray

 

[Undrask]

Hello Everyone,

I am working on a new tabletop game system (the system style: think dungeons and dragons-meets White Wolf's world of Darkness meets Call of Cthulhu-meets Mutants and Masterminds) called Falling Iron (working title) The game's dice system (a new one of my own creation) allows players to adjust their own rolls to allow for players and the Gamemaster to both be able to alter the difficulty level of combat, skill checks, and ultimately help to steer their gaming experience.

I have moved into the second stage of the rule set: spell/special ability/skill creation. I have a question for tabletop gamers:

Do you prefer a shorter spell/special abilities list a la White Wolf- allowing for players and the Gamemaster to interpret what each spell/ability can really do within reason (with simple guidelines)? Or do you instead prefer a massive list of spells with rigid effects and contraints (more defined effects)?

Thanks for the help,
Either can work I would love input however...


Ray

I think that I most appreciate an M&M style of powers, where the IG effects are what matters where the description of what happens really doesn't matter that much. That clears the air of "well if it works like x, then y" arguments and it allows players and GMs to be super creative without a lot of hassle about HOW it happens. It also allows you to have a wide range of balanced effects thta you don't have to worry about interacting with each other in too-complex ways.

Simple, broad brush strokes for descriptions with simple but specific mechanics are a solid model to base off of.