Love and War: The Roleplaying Game

[Rephath]

Okay, I have this idea for a forum/google spreadsheet based game. Yes, you read that right. The roleplaying side is played on the forums. A Google Spreadsheet keeps track of the map, such as terrain, units, and fortresses. You can play as a leader, champion, or mage. Leaders command entire armies, made up of units, and champions. Champions are capable of leading individual stacks of units, with a limit of 8 or 10 or something. They can choose their own loyalties. (I.E, just because you signed on with someone doesn't mean you're forced to obey that person's orders).

This may be based on Erfworld, or it may not. It'd be easier to come up with my own mechanics than use theirs. I want this game to run light, and on very little info.

Anyway, leaders will manage their cities and forces and do lots of math. If you prefer math to roleplaying, this is the class for you. Leaders can issue edicts and engage in diplomacy with other leaders, plus try to keep champions on their side.

Champions lead stacks. There are several ways they can build their characters. They can go as powerful individuals, able to take on entire stacks of enemies. They can build themselves up as commanders, training their units and granting them bonuses. Or they can play as mages, who use powerful rituals with the aid of their stack. Mages can have their followers focus energy on the mage, to do a big, powerful spell. Or they can send their own power out to their followers to do a lot of little spells.

When combat happens, there's numbers and dice. Two combatants need not be on at the same time to do battle, but turns happen once per day. An attack does not occur until observed by the opposing leader, due to the uncertainty spell cast by Heisenberg.

When there's not combat, there's roleplaying. Heck, even in the middle of combat, there's roleplaying. You can write stories with your character doing whatever you want (so long as it's feasible.) This is usually diceless roleplaying, with the results of what you do contributing to your faction. Leaders can also issue quests to their followers, which the followers can carry out if they want. Stopping bandit raids, looking for lost artifacts of power, picking up twelve sloth armpits. Whatever.

Anyway, all this to say, how interesting does this sound. Should I get the project up and running? Please reply and tell me what you think.

1.) This sounds like something I might want to play. Tell me more.
2.) It might play it if it's good and based on Erfworld. Otherwise, no.
3.) I might be interested in running the game, if it turns out to be good. Tell me more.
4.) This doesn't sound fun to me because:______________________ (Please specify. I need feedback)

[Rephath]

And, will probably post a link to the first draft of the rules sometime tomorrow or the day after.

[The Colonel]

Champion Commander Please.

[Werebiscuit]

This sounds like something I might want to take part in...and here comes the "but"... But I'm already involved in a couple of ongoing semi-roleplaying forum games (Darkness rising & The contagion) so I'm not sure I'd have the time.
However, I'd encourage you to get involved with either ( MarbitChow has already taken on 2 new players for Darkness Rising) and get to know a possible ready made player group while you work out the rules for your game. You never know you might get some ideas

[MarbitChow]

Ditto what Werebiscuit said. New players are always welcome. Links to rules, references, and the campaign itself are all in my sig.

[0beron]

Ditto to the above...I'm interested but not sure how frequently I'll be able to log on for play. I'm definitely up for helping you develop your rules if you're looking for feedback, and once I see them I'll decide how time-intensive it seems.
Also, I'd really only be interested if it fits the "flavor" of Erfworld. I understand that you want it to run light, so I don't mind having "slimmer" mechanics, but I'd like it to feel similar.

[Rephath]

Okay. Some new thoughts. I'm probably going to treat this game as being in the same series, but not the same game as the one in erfworld. That's why the world is mostly similar, but the rules are simpler. For example, lowering the move of every unit lets me make smaller maps. Which makes things easier for everyone.

I find the responses so far semi-encouraging. People are curious, and that makes it worth writing more to see if they're interested. People also aren't willing to devote too much time. Generally, if everyone had the time to run their own faction, that would be bad. We want more champions than factions. I was also imagining turns pass once per day. I can change that to once per week. This would still allow for non-combat actions once per day or so.

Magic will work slightly differently. Certain units may have aptitude for magic, and if a magical champion leads them, they can all focus their power together. Without a champion magic-user leading them, they can't cast spells. They don't have the required knowledge. But the champion leading them can focus the group's power for rituals that exceed the champion's own power. Or magic users can grant a leadership bonus to stacks of constructs, like golems or uncroaked.

[Rephath]

Oh, and can I get a quick bit of feedback about the magic classes you guys think would be the most fun to play, so I can know not to invest too much time in the lesser classes.

[0beron]

I'd say ones we've seen in comic are focal points.
Turn, Doll, Dirt, Think, Fool, Croak, and Heal are essential I think.

Shock we haven't seen in-comic extensively but it's a pretty self-explanatory school, and from the sounds of it, such an obvious damage-dealer is important to a game like yours where multiple weak magic users can focus through a mage.

It'd be nice to also see Ditto, Flower Power, and Hat Magic, but I wouldn't call them essential.

Predict, Luck, Math, and Money would just add complexity that I assume you want to avoid.