A tough few weeks at my job has kept me from posting for a while. Just as I began this blog, a huge project hit at work. Worse yet, the project has not gone smoothly, so I’ve been putting in long hours and have just not felt like sitting down at the computer to write more when I got home. I have continued to give the game ideas a lot of thought, though. Hopefully I can get things moving again.
The Name of the Game
One of the things I’ve been thinking about is a name for the science fiction roleplaying game. I think it would be a little awkward to keep calling it “that sci-fi game.” But a good name is not so easy to come up with. First, it should sound cool. But an ideal name should also convey a feel for the game’s theme, setting, or style. “Black” would be a good name for a space-based science fiction game. However, I think it might give the impression that the game is about exploring uncharted space, which this game is definitely not. Other names that I’ve considered based on the setting include: Fringe, Regent, Custodian, Beacon, Domain, Agents of Empire, Near Space.
Unfortunately, nothing has excited me yet. Perhaps a name based on the game’s special board game-inspired mechanics would be better. That, however, will have to wait until I’ve developed them. Until then, I’ll just go with “Black” as a temporary solution. I’ll use “Black” as a category for my posts and change it when I’ve come up with a better name.
The World Around Us
As I suggested in my last post, I do have a setting in mind for this game, one based on a science fiction board game that I enjoy. Members of my game group will immediately know what I’m referring to, but I won’t be revealing it in a public post. I’ve heard back from the publisher of the board game and they’ve asked me not to publicly post a role playing game that uses their trademarked material. When I figure out how to password protect posts, I may address the setting that way.
Nevertheless, I do still intend to use that setting for this game. I have no intention to publish the game, so I don’t see that it’s a problem using the background material in a private setting. Further, the setting for this board game is just the right balance of hard science and space opera. The theme is very much heroic but the background material includes a healthy dose of detail on technology, economics, and politics.
It may seem a little strange as I continue without explicitly revealing the background setting, but I think that it’s important to keep the setting in mind when developing the rules. I want the rules to reinforce the theme, style, and feel of the setting. I’d even like, as much as possible, to be consistent with the style and mechanics of the board game. So, for example, to the extent Black uses dice, to match the board game, it should be 10-sided dice exclusively.
Major Components
The next step is to outline the scope of the game. That is, I need to identify what components need to be developed in order to produce a working game.
At the highest level, these are the parts of Black that I need to work on:
Within each of these major components there will obviously be many elements. But before attempting even an initial itemization of those elements, I think the next thing I should do is explain my general approach to each area.