Necrumunda/Shadowrun collaboration - Turn Based Strategy Concept. Thread

First of all, I'm going to apologise for spam. I have another thread which vaguely outlines this topic, but since I seem to have been misunderstood, or even pushed forward to explain my intentions then I'm going to endeavor to make myself clear.

The first thread can be found here.

Design in brief
The Mod (name yet to be decided) will be a Multiplayer Turn Based Strategy with persistent Character and World elements. It will involve small groups of highly customizable and specialised characters (collectively known as gangs) engaging in skirmishes to determine the victor in objective based combat.

The setting will be a Corporate ruled Cyberpunk scenario that will also draw upon high fantasy elements, focusing on indepth and contiguous player Gang creation and management options. RPG statistic growth systems will also be involved.

* The world's source material will draw heavily from the tabletop role playing game 'Shadowrun', not to be confused with the recently released computer game which only loosely associated itself with this setting. The setting is most notable for the inclusion of fantasy races such as Elves, Orcs, Trolls and Dwarfs inside its high technology, sci-fi atmosphere.

* The Turn Based nature of the Mod has its inspiration drawn heavily from another tabletop battle game 'Necromunda', which is the intellectual property of Games Workshop.

Overview
The Mod (known henceforth is NSC, as per the title of this thread) will feature two separate modes.

The first will be Gang Creation and Management.

At the outset of the game, players will be able to put together their own personal gang of up to 12 characters from the options available. Varying races, skillsets and starting equipment will all be presented, so that the player can can create a custom and unique 'squad' of characters to suit his personal tastes.

The Gang and Creation Management area will also allow players to:

* Recruit new members to their Gang.
* Organize loot and equipment attained from battle.
* Equip characters within the gang.
* Take care of a Gang Member's persistent injuries.
* Allocate new skill points, as per the character experience system.
* Choose available characters to take part in the next skirmish.

(Whether this could be achieved inside a simple HTML browser, or inside the game itself is a matter still to be considered. Though a centralised server seems necessary for the recording of Gang statistics to make sure no file tampering can take place.)

The second mode will be the Skirmish Arena.

An Arena can be anything from a ghetto back alley, to a production facility or even a corporate building. It refers to the scenario to be contested with another player.

Skirmishes will be highly tactical turn based affairs, with no more than two teams opposed (A single team could potentially feature more than one gang.) fighting over a specific objective either randomly selected or chosen during the game set-up.

The Skirmish Arena will feature:

* A rotatable, isometric camera in a 3D setting.
* Intuitive interface with a simple to understand 'Action Point' and character statistic system.
* Functional cover system, which incorporates line of sight, elevation and movement penalties to give indepth tactical considerations.
* Tactically destructible scenery.
* Light and Dark elements to change the odds for more stealthily inclined characters.

(No game engine has yet been decided for this purpose. And in truth, I haven't given it any thought. Any suggestions and ideas here, as with any part of this concept, would be more than welcome.)

Persistent Gang and World Elements
This section will be split in to two distinct parts: 'Persistent Gangs' and 'Persistent World'.

Persistent Gangs: Each member in a gang will be a uniquely customizable character with his own set of abilities and statistics. As characters fight in each skirmish, they will accrue experience points that can be used to upgrade certain abilities. Whether the skill to handle firearms, stay unnoticed or even manipulate cyberspace and machinery. This won't be extreme, but just enough to give them an edge.

The gang will also have access to a persistent stash of loot that can be equipped and used in the skirmish mode. Loot will be awarded dependent on the outcome of battles, and also found randomly generated in arenas ready to be picked up and added to the Gang's stash.

If a character is rendered unconscious during the course of a fight, the enemy player will have an opportunity to scavenge an equipped item from your gang member and add it to his gang's equipment stash. It is entirely possible to steal from other players during a skirmish, if that's your goal.

Injuries sustained during combat will also be carried over in to the next skirmish if not properly treated in the Gang Management section. This will impede abilities and add negative modifiers to your character's statistics.

Additionally, its also entirely possible that a particularly effective attack could cause a permanent injury, such as a limb being severed. Any attack that would normally reduce a character's hit points to zero, and also causes critical damage, will either destroy a limb, brain damage or outright kill a Gang member. Permanently! In this case, either you retire the gang member from service or outfit the character with a prosthetic/robotic limb which will restore the character to service, but with both bonuses and negative effects.

For example: A high quality robotic leg would make a character less stealthy, or perhaps less stable, but would give a bonus to speed. A robotic arm could be outfitted with laser sights to allow for the more effective use of firearms, but tasks such as throwing a grenade accurately would be impeded.

Persistent World: So far, ideas for a persistent world are purely academic. Something to be considered properly once the initial design is done and everyone involved can see where this is going.

Right now, my goal is to set up a simple ladder system to run in conjunction with the Mod that will be dynamically updated, so each player knows exactly where their gang stands in the rankings. In addition, NSC would also use a tick system as seen in Planetarion and other browser based strategy titles.

In effect, a Gang's ranking on the ladder simulates how much 'territory' they own, and also how much raw income they receive per each real, 24 hour day. This can then be used for medical care, purchasing equipment and also training for Gang members. In theory this should keep skirmishes balanced between players of similar ranks.

* A dynamic league placement for all player gangs, offering easy matchmaking options for competitive advancement.
* Ranking determines the amount of cash a Gang receives per real, 24 hour day.
* Cash allows the purchase of equipment, training and medical care.
* Should help to keep the game balanced between players of a similar rank.
* Could possibly be implemented in to a match making service.

I'm currently toying with the idea of the top ranked gangs being able to fight wars over territory on an official, dynamic map of NSC's setting, also with the ability for lower ranked Gangs to be pulled in to the fight through an Alliance/Guild system. But right now this is an area of design for a later date.

It would also make sense to include an unranked version of these same mechanics, so players can simply jump right in to the action instead of trying to organise a game should no ranked/ladder match making be in place. Again, this is something that needs to be taken in to consideration.

Final Word
Realistically I'd love to create this mod and cultivate a proper community, then strive to keep adding content and new gameplay depth to ensure a rich tactical multiplayer experience.

I hope this concept gives some idea of what sort of experience I'd like to create, but right now its still very much in the planning stages. And in all honesty, this was all written in response to the folks who replied to my other thread, so cheers for 'egging' me on!

All comments, suggestions and thoughts are welcome. I'd love to hear what everyone else has to say, then I can see where to take it from here, or if indeed I should.

Cheers - Chrome

Edited by: Chromatism

So really your making a multiplayer turnbased version of Syndicate.. (I refer to the Gang system since it sounds similar)

It could work assuming you game designed it like Fallout meets Syndicate with elements of Shadowrun/Necru.

This was a much better read Chromatasim.

It's interesting, and I like seeing new ideas, especially related to TBS.
I'm looking forward to seeing if this will go anywhere.
Good luck.
-CCCP1943-