I Need Some Thoughts!

[TiedToScript]

Hi there!

So I am a game designer part time and I am currently working on a TTRPG. I've given it the nickname: Project Hermes and here is what you need to know:

The game is all about travelling, exploration, and making new friends on the road. It uses three unique mechanics on top of standard simplified d20 based systems. Those mechanics are

1. The car
   1. The car is the lifeblood of this game. It is a game all about travelling across large distances, hitchhiking, and working with what little tools you have. This means that keeping your car in good condition as well as storing all of the stuff and people that you gather along the way is absolutely essential. I won't spoil any of the mechanics until this is done (I am contracted to make games for a company so if I tell yall I can't use this one) but know that the type of person you are affects the way you drive, how the car holds up, and how much the car can store. For clarification, this is not a solo game.
2. The world
   1. This is also a map making game. At the current moment I am working on a way to take real maps and use them for this game but for now, the map develops as the game goes on. This is basically the only part of the game that is undefined. I have a good idea of what it should be but I don't think I can say much here, sorry. Just know, as I said, that the map is a thing that develops with play, it is made (sometimes) by the players, or at least edited by them, leaving you with a cool memento when the game is over. 
3. The travel
   1. Travelling in this game can be costly at times and there are a variety of systems in place to help track and manage how often things break down and how often you need to stop for supplies. If you know blades in the dark, you know what I'm using to track this. It's not re-inventing the wheel (see what I did there?) but it's smooth and consistent and, most importantly, immersive. 

There are, of course, other things. Please feel free to ask and I will tell you about everything I can, Hermes is quickly becoming a favourite of mine. It has jumped the development queue that I have and is now my full time project. 

Anyways, if you have read this far, thank you, now I need your help. I am kind of lost on setting. This game has the unique opperunity to be set anywhere at any time and, yes, that is cool but it is actually more limiting than you think. For example, if I wanted aliens, magic, radiation, or something else that comes from the world the game is set in, I need rules for that. Basically what this all means is that I need to choose a setting so I can write rules and lore for it.

Please, please, pretty please, give me your suggestions. At the moment my front runner is a non-magic post-apocalypse but I don't know if that is too bog standard/boring. I'd love to hear about some of your favourite settings and any suggestions you may have for me! 

[Icarian Dreams]

Ohhh, I love that idea! First thing that came to mind is the videogame Pacific Drive. Very similar kind of vibe. I'd love to play it.

I think for a setting, you want something that works well for a base (and postapo does feel like the obvious choice), but then allows for hacks of the game to be created. Let people turn it into a game about a stranded starship floating through outer realms, a fun (and maybe a little weird) roadtrip, or a pirate adventure on the high seas in a barely-holding vessel. The core that you've got allows for some really fun spinoffs, so I think making the game a little generic by design may actually work in your favor here.

One game that I know did it succesfully while still maintaining an interesting spin on a fantasy setting is Ironsworn — it's great on its own and has some semi-unique worldbuilding, but is also built in a way that made spinning it off into other settings really easy.

[IsabellaRose]

I have to agree there. The base Ironsword game is a solid setting, but being able to adapt it to other setting has made it infinitely replayable, imho. 

Although, I'd love to see a 50's themed "Route 66" type travel game, with everything that 50's media entailed - wholesome family road trips, the continuing prevelence of radio as a form of entertainment, inspiration from the retro-futurism of 50's sci-fi, drive-ins, weird horror like Tales from the Crypt, etc. 

[TiedToScript]

Route 66 was highly inspiration to the creation of this game, I think you hit the nail on the head there. Pacific Drive I did not have in my head but the connection makes a lot of sense. I've been working hard with this game, developing classes and progressions systems etc. when it occurred to me that I don't need a real 'setting' and more of a sandbox with a few pre-written settings for people to choose from. After all, road trips can be done on the back of an ox-pulled cart or in an interstellar spaceship. 

Instead I am left with a revamped version of my question that I'm kind of hoping @IsabellaRoseor @Icarian Dreams, or really anyone can answer (forgive the @'s idk if I'm allowed to do that) I can't decide what level of supernaturalism should exist. If magic exists, or aliens, or something of that like, life and society would be completely diffrent and so would the rules. In order to write this game to accept them I would need to develop new systems. 

Usually, that would not be a problem, but then there would be systems that are optional but still take up space on the character sheet. In my experience, that is always a bad thing. Now I do agree with IsabellaRose that a little bit of retro-furism, the tales of murderers on backwater highways, dirty diners and drive ins, dive bars that have only one customer, I think those are some SUPER fun setting pieces that can work with a lot of story types and I'm concerned that adding fantasy elements would ruin the storytelling abilites. 

OR, I'm wrong and it would create a cool and unique world for the players to interact with. Tell me what yall think! 

[LEROZERO]

1 hour ago, TiedToScript said:

Route 66

>:0

*gets domed by a widowmaker*

[IsabellaRose]

6 hours ago, TiedToScript said:

I can't decide what level of supernaturalism should exist. If magic exists, or aliens, or something of that like, life and society would be completely diffrent and so would the rules. In order to write this game to accept them I would need to develop new systems. 

Usually, that would not be a problem, but then there would be systems that are optional but still take up space on the character sheet. In my experience, that is always a bad thing.

I may not be your target audience, as I generally dislike the limitations of class-based systems and the swinginess of d20 systems. BUT...

If I were to play a setting like the one I described, I'd use (people who know me will not be surprised to hear me say) Cortex. I'd leave it loose, using Distinctions with SFX to carry the weight of whatever weirdness I decided to incorporate. Want post-apocalyptic mutated animals - that's a d8 Mutant Badger distinction, which would cover all aspects of "badgeriness" from attitude, to having long ass claws, to digging. Want retro sci-fi? Have a d8 Little Green Man Wearing a Human Suit distinction. I personally find the freedom of using custom Distinctions in Cortex, much like Aspects in Fate, to be very liberating and allow all kinds of weird, wacky variations within the same game, or hyper-focused separation of abilities, if that's what you're going for.

So for me, I'd leave it open to anything, because I'd use a system that allows open-ended character creation. I'd just design a few sample set pieces and pre-generated characters, some lists of possible Distinctions, skills, assets (think gear and weapons), etc. for each type of setting to show how it's done. But again, I'm probably not your target audience, so... my opinion may be utterly useless to you.