Once again, just to manage expectations if you're excited about this, I'm still kind of at a thought-exercise stage in the planning here.
My intent, if I were to follow through on this, would be to make a new TTRPG that plays very similarly to D&D 5E (I thought about making it a Draw Steel hack, but I really need to get some actual hours playing that game before I try kitbashing it). It'll likely use very similar mechanics, like ability scores (that's a little down the line - I'd actually love to just have the modifiers instead of the wonky 3-20 scores,) proficiency bonus, AC, HP, that kind of thing.
But one area where I'd try something that's a real departure is in how one's Powers work.
Power would be a catch-all term for things you can do on your turn, mostly by spending resources. Their closest analogue would be Spells in D&D, but with several changes:
General Categories:
First, I'm taking inspiration from the early One D&D playtests, when they created just three master spell lists categorized as Arcane, Divine, and Primal. While this removed some of the nuance from classes - like how Artificers are Arcane spellcasters but can get healing spells that Wizards and Sorcerers can't - given that this game is starting from scratch, we don't have any previous versions of it that could be upset.
Because we're trying to shift genres from high fantasy to more of a New Weird borderland between fantasy and sci-fi (arguably leaning more toward the latter) the categories will be different, and will be based on the source of those powers. The categories, as it stands now, would be Martial Powers, which are something you gain access to through training, physical conditioning, and such, Technological Powers, which you gain via expertise with paranormal devices that you build and customize, Psionic Powers, which you gain through mind-expanding drugs and treatments and allow you to alter your environment with your thoughts, and Mutation Powers, which you gain through the warping of your physical body via mutagenic compounds or energies.
The intent in the Martial Powers is to close the "martial/caster gap" by giving mundane, weapon-based classes just as varied capabilities as the supernatural (or paranormal, as we'd call it here) classes.
These lists would be universal, so any class that has access to Technological Powers will get the same list. However, we'd also probably have fewer classes, built on the following foundation.
There's one "pure Psionic" class, the Psion, one "pure Technology" class, the Technologist, and one "pure Mutation" class, the Aberration. And there might be two "pure Martial" classes, the Soldier and Investigator. To start with, though, we'd have three "hybrid" classes: the Martial/Psionic class called the Psychonaut (or possibly Astralnaut). Then, we'd have the Martial/Technological class the Agent. And then we'd have the Martial/Mutation class, the Biohacker.
Notably, unlike the proposed Arcane/Divine/Primal spell lists, there would be no crossover here - no Psionic Power is found on the Mutation Power list, and so an Aberration and a Psion will never have the same powers.
Resources:
Having gotten my start playing games like Mario RPG, Secret of Mana, and later Chrono Trigger, (or even, less influentially, Quest for Glory V) I was always more used to games with some kind of "Magic Points" as the fuel for your spells. There are, for sure, some advantages to D&D's spell slot system, but I'd like to at least experiment with something more along those lines.
Each kind of Power comes with its own unique resource: Martial uses Discipline, Technological uses Energy, Psionic uses Focus, and Mutation uses Integrity, each representing what gets taxed as you continue to use these powers. Each of these would have a maximum that goes up as you reach higher levels, and you recuperate them by resting (very much in line with D&D).
Hybrid classes, like the Agent, would have a lower maximum for their resources, but they'd also have two pools of resources to manage. Using arbitrary numbers, we could imagine that if a Psion has a max focus of 30, then a Psyconaut has 15 Focus and 15 Discipline.
All of the lists would have cantrip-like free options that don't cost any resources, including the Martial list (sort of like Signature abilities in Draw Steel). You probably shouldn't ever just be generically attacking, though a martial "cantrip" might just effectively be something like a weapon mastery with normal damage, much as the Slow mastery and Ray of Frost are kind of equivalent. (I haven't figured out how weapon damage works into all of this, or if this system needs something like Extra Attack).
Power Tiers:
One of my biggest pet peeves about 5E is that spells have levels and characters have levels, and that these do not match up. You don't get 5th level spells at 5th level. So, our simple fix here is that Powers have tiers, rather than levels.
I'd envision this game only going to 10th level, but using the same basic progression as D&D, so that you'd start with Tier 1 powers, and by level 9, you'd have your most powerful, tier 5 powers. I don't have a good number yet, but I think that each class can prepare some number of powers each day, and only of tiers that they can use.
The power's tier would then determine the cost in its resource - again, I'd need to iterate a bit on the math, but my initial thought is that a power basically costs 1+ its tier, so 1st tier powers cost 2, say, Focus, while 5th tier powers cost 6.
Because you're going to be able to potentially spend all your resources on big powers, I want to ensure that there's some incentive to potentially use lower-tier powers even at higher levels to sustain yourself. (One thing about D&D's spells is that, while the damage on a Fireball doesn't go up unless you upcast it, it's still dealing more damage because your spell save DC goes up.)
For Hybrids, I'm tempted to just let them use just-as-high tier powers as the pure classes, but they'll be more constrained in their resources for those given powers. There's a danger here, of course, that Hybrids might be overpowered because they get a broader selection of powers, so we'd have to keep an eye on that.
Thematics for Each Type of Power:
While there might be some overlap in functionality (I could see both Mutation and Technological powers restoring HP) I do want each category to have truly unique powers, to help define the class identities.
Martial:
Martial powers would have ways for you to deal AoE damage (I think a low-tier power would be Spray-and-Pray) and then maybe some focused single-target damage. Outside of attacks, though, I think there would be some kind of momentary tactical powers, like providing covering fire (a low-damage AoE that gives your allies partial cover until your next turn) or some kind of evasive movement.
Technological:
This would probably involve a lot of "elemental" damage, like a freezing beam or planting remote mines that can explode. As mentioned before, there might be some healing spells, and maybe something akin to the Homunculus Servant as seen in Forge of the Artificer, where you can send out a remote drone.
Psionic:
Psionic abilities would probably have a lot of forced movement, locking down enemies with paralysis or hallucinatory illusions, and mental forcefields.
Mutation:
Mutation abilities would probably do a lot of enhancing the body, like gaining AC from manifested scales, or giving yourself faster movement. You'd also get some offensive features like manifesting bone claws or some kind of acid-spraying gland. I think most mutations would be about enhancing yourself, but there might be some things you can grant an ally (healing might be done by spraying some kind of beneficial substance on your friends).
So, that's the general thematic pitch. The specifics are very much in the air. I think powers wouldn't be the whole thing that a class gets (otherwise there's no distinction between the Soldier and the Investigator) but it gives us a nice framework on which to build classes in a genre that doesn't have a long-established tradition of classic classes.
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