Outlines and Notes

When I joined the Devtober jam with the idea of working on this game, I admit I underestimated what I'd signed myself up for. Even though I have been using plenty of these systems, and even been writing parts of them down, it's a very different process to try and work them into a way that makes sense and looks good too.

Especially in the idea of writing an RPG book!

But I have been figuring out what things I want to incorporate into it, whether it's things I've already made, things I want to make, or changes I feel would make it more fun for the people I play with. The problem is how to present those ideas as anything but the equivalent of a bunch of note cards and bullet points as I try to write out my ideas.

But I guess that's the point when you're just starting out. You don't have a whole product yet, you probably don't even have a prototype yet!

So...why not be a little messy to start with?

So I present to all of you, the outline and notes for the City of Falling Leaves Project!

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• d12 based system
• Zone Based combat
  • Enemies and Traps designed around zone based combat, Area Control, and dramatic movement through each encounter
• Class system with interchangeable components
  • A combination of Base Classes and Packages, a list of abilities you can add to your character as they advance.
  • All classes have a Rest Die that determines their health as they level up, and forms a Rest Pool that they use to regain health and perform tasks.
  • The ability to select class features as they level up, rather than a set progression
    • Some features do require others in order to work
  • Only advancing to level 10
• Short Rests that burn Rest Die to regain hit points based on their roll.
• A system of food for restoring Rest Die as well as giving elemental buffs, all shaped by the ingredients, spices, and methods for preparing them.
  •  Something piping hot or bitingly spicy relates to Fire Damage
  • Food and drink that carry a punch with their aroma or flavor relate to Radiant and Shock damage
  • Cool and watery ingredients or light and crisp flavors relate to Cold damage
  • Meals and drinks with the taste of earthy minerals and herbs relate to Thunder damage
    
    • End possibly acid, I'm entertaining the idea of just making thunder an aspect of earth
  • Even the rarity of foods and drinks and poisons can give greater buffs or inflict greater damage
• A cooking system that allows players to harvest ingredients from plants and monsters
  • Transform them into wonderful dishes
  • Even transform a dish into something else entirely
• A Task system that spends Rest Die in order to craft items or build structures
• A system of structures and districts to allow the city to expand around the players
  • Allows for customizing the city as it grows, whether by the players or the GM
  • Creates a chain of developing structures, from the smallest of camps to the largest of city structures
  • The players can take sessions to perform various jobs as the city grows
    • Spending rest dice to help build new structures
    • Clearing out traps or monsters
    • Even healing or cooking for others
• A smaller, but more flexible set of spells
  • Spells are capped off at 5th level
  • Various effects can modify how these spells work
    • Altering how certain types or specific spells function
    • Gaining an extra effect by casting certain spells
    • Items that can expend one spell in order to cast another
    • Not having to prepare spells ahead of time and instead casting from your known spells
  • Use of spell slots, much like D&D's sorcerer and warlock
    • A small number of slots that recharges each rest
    • A small number of slots and a pool of energy that restores at the end of the day
• Creature sizes run from Minor to Mid to Greater to Giant
  • Minor and Mid sized creatures can only attack enemies in the same zone as themselves
    • Weapons and Spells can bend and break these sorts of rules
  • Greater creatures can attack enemies both in and next to their own zones
    • They deal more damage to enemies in the same zone as them
  • Giant creatures are so large they can be hit outside their own zone
    • Neither creatures nor enemies can enter zones occupied by giant creatures
    • Giant creatures can hit just as hard as greater creatures against zones that are next to theirs
    • When a giant creature moves into a zone, it forces out anything that was already there and damages it

There's admittedly a lot to work on, and there's plenty that will probably change over the course of trying to wrangle this bundle of ideas into something more cohesive.