So now that I have finally "given birth" so to speak ... I find myself looking back at Xceptional with a critical eye. I like much of what has been done here but I also find that I feel there are things that could be handled better. Perhaps my biggest disappointment is in the way I have handled (or not handled) the subject of weapons and armor. Translating Weapons and Armor arbitrarily to specific Xceptions feels tacked on ... and it is.
I have been a game designer who has switched gears a lot. Trying on this way of doing things, then that ... I have experimented with dice and mechanics, stealing ideas from every source that has inspired me, then started over from scratch with a new idea as soon as the next inspiring clever little idea tickled my fancy. I mention this mainly to say, that I believe I am settling in a bit at last. What I mean by this is ... "I like Xceptional."
The game mechanic, the game that I have built and specifically everything about the system that deals with task resolution and combat, feels good to me. I like it. I want it. I am going to stick with it. So, if I have finally settled on a way of handling these very basic things and I plan only to build up from here, and NOT to start over yet again ... then maybe ... finally, I am on my way to producing a "real" game. A game that can evolve into something better than a few interesting ideas. A game that people will play.
So, I love Xceptional but am not crazy about its current rules for weapons and armor. I want to change those and I need a plan to do that. What I am planning right now is to create a micro-game in the spirit of Steve Jackson's "Melee" that deals with simple skirmishes incorporating new rules for weapons and armor. My goal is to use the game mechanic from Xceptional (pretty much everything from pages 11-17 of the rules) with a minimum of alteration.
The intention is not to barrow from the rules for "Xceptions" in the creation of the weapons and armors rules. (Maybe I will save the Xceptions for a second, "Wizard" inspired micro-game.) I am going the independent micro-game route to narrow my focus to exactly what I wish to accomplish while not tying myself to trying to actually adapt the existing Xceptional document. Once I have created something that I like, I can fold the new weapons and armor rules into the entirety of the Xceptional framework (I will also want to incorporate my new "Elements" rules into the system as well.)
If anyone who has looked over the Xceptional document has suggestions for more integrated mechanics for weapons and armor, I'd love to hear your ideas.
Regards,
Jeff Moore
Jeff, I've only just read through Xceptional and I have to say I'm blown away by the system. I love the 5x5 mechanic and character generation... well the whole thing really.
ReplyDeleteAs for an equipment solution - maybe some kind of re-roll for appropriate gear. Adding a bonus to ability just won't cut it and Xceptions allow re-rolls?
I'd like to see some Xceptions with non-combat appeal. There's a great low-powered supers game here with excellent scope for long-term play thanks to the Advance rules - we just need a bit more than combat.
Awesome!
Thanks for the feed back. Allowing a re-roll is something that could be incorporated into the game mechanic easily enough, but I'm not sure about applying that to equipment. Right now I have been working on a sort of action point system so that when stronger weapons match up against weaker armor, the attacker gets to roll more attack actions, where as when a weaker weapon faces up against stronger armor the attacker would get fewer attack actions. That's sort of the plan right now.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Xceptional needs non-combat elements, Xceptions, skills ... etc. But, it's helpful to hear someone point that out. I do want to get the combat system as tight as I can before I move in that direction however, which is why I chose to write something based on Melee... it's nothing but the best of bare bones combat.
Jeff