First part reminds of passenger, would like more eldritch horror games tho.
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I be interested you could send it to me .
A CoG Hybrid Board Game?
Iâm working on a new concept, and I wanted to see if this community would be as interested about it as I am.
The core idea is a Choice of Games / Physical Card Game hybrid. A game where a full-fledged CoG interactive story is the âGame Masterâ for a physical, tactile game you play on your table.
Itâs a superhero story. But itâs also a horror story. And it starts with you.
The Narrative: The Heroâs Journey⌠and the Nightmare.
Youâre a normal person. Then, an accident. A flash of light. You walk away⌠seemingly unharmed.
The first time it happens, you think itâs adrenaline. You save a child from a speeding car. You⌠you moved so fast. You start⌠practicing. You can fly. You can lift a car. Youâre a hero. The city celebrates you.
And then⌠the other reports begin.
A new ânightmare creatureâ is stalking the city. People are missing. There are mysterious, violent deaths. The police are baffled, and you decide to use your new powers to investigate.
But the clues are⌠wrong. The evidence is impossible. The more you hunt this âcreature,â the more the trail seems to lead back⌠to you.
The âblank spotsâ begin. Lost time. You start to notice a terrifying pattern. The more you âpush your limitsâ to be a hero⌠the more chaos the âcreatureâ causes. The more powerful you get, the more it takes over.
This is the story of your dawning, terrifying realization. You donât have powers. You are channeling them. The âaccidentâ didnât make you a hero; it bound you to a parasitic, nightmare entity. You donât know it at firstâyou just think youâre âtrying harderâ to save the day. But youâre letting it in.
Your arch-villain⌠is you.
How the Hybrid System Works:
This is where the CoG app and the physical card game become one. The story drives the game, and the game feeds back into the story.
- The Story (CoG App) Sets the Scene:
The app is your story. It would be structured like a âTV Seriesâ with an overarching plot, broken into âEpisodesâ (your âshort storiesâ). It begins:
âEpisode 3: The Prometheus Heist. You get a tip that a new high-tech gang is hitting the First National Bank. You promised the Mayor youâd be thereâŚâ
The app then instructs you: âSet up the âPrometheus Heistâ Threat Card from your game box.â
2. You Play the âSet Pieceâ, instead of reading about an epic battle you play it out (Physical Card Game):
On your table, you now have a strategic, âpush-your-luckâ card game.
- You have a Hero Deck (your âactionsâ) and a âPower/Schism Trackâ (your âcontrolâ).
- To play your strongest Hero cards (like âPower of a Million Exploding Sunsâ), you have to âPush Your Limitsâ (move up the track).
- This is the devastating push-pull. To save the âHostage Crisisâ card, you need that Level 10 power. But youâre learning that moving up the track is why the blank spots are happening. You are consciously choosing to trade your sanity⌠your control⌠for the power to do good.
- The Story (CoG App) Reacts to Your Game:
You end your turn in the âDanger Zone.â You donât roll a die. You tap âEnd Turnâ on the CoG app. The app knows your power level. It knows your choices from earlier chapters.
The app might say:
âYou hold it in. The darkness recedes⌠for now.â
Or, it might check a hidden story variable (*if player_was_reckless):
âThe shadow lashes out. Itâs a blank spot. You lose control.â
âThe app instructs you: âDraw 3 cards from the Void AI Deck.â You do, and a âShadowy Thugâ minion physically appears on the table, attacking the âBankâ location.â
- The Game Feeds Back Into the Story:
You (as the Hero) fight off the Thug and complete the âPrometheus Heistâ card. You did it! You saved the day! You tap âThreat Completeâ in the app.
The story doesnât just say âYou win.â It reacts (this is the âinterludeâ between episodes):
âYou stand victorious as the police lead the gang away. As youâre giving your report, you see it. Scrawled on the inside of the bank vault, hidden from the street⌠a symbol. The same symbol you found carved into your own apartment wall.â
âA cold dread washes over you. You were the only one who went inside the vault. You⌠you donât remember seeing that symbol. You donât remember⌠writing it.â
âThis âlegacyâ event (driven by your âblank spotâ turn) now changes the story. Your âInternal Schismâ variable increases. The app instructs you to permanently add a new, âtaintedâ âVoidâ card from the box into your Hero deck. The game is now harder. The monster is stronger. And youâre the only one who really knows why.â
A Final Thought: Player Count?
My main focus is this 1-Player solo experience, as it feels the most personal for this kind of psychological story.
But Iâve also been thinking, what if this âepisodicâ system could support more? What if you could play a âgame nightâ episode as a 2-4 player co-op (where all players are âVesselsâ and have to deal with each otherâs âblank spotsâ)? Or even a 1v1 âNightmare Modeâ where one player is The Hero and the other is The Void, spending the âCorruptionâ the Hero generates? Thatâs just a bonus thought, thoughâthe core for me is that solo story.
My Question For You:
As people who love stories, does this hybrid of a CoG narrative driving a physical, tactile game sound exciting? Is this a story youâd want to âliveâ in this hybrid format?
Or, would you also be interested in this core story (âYour greatest enemy is youâ) as a more traditional, âpureâ Choice of Games IF?
This feels like a way to tell a truly personal, high-stakes story. Iâd love to know what you think.
The channeling and arch-villain concepts sound amazing. Iâd rather a pure COG title as I play COG because Iâm partially blind.
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Question, I am trying to be an author now⌠can I create a Phantom of the Opera book?
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The original novel is in the public domain.
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If itâs based on the book, yes! Itâs in the public domain. If itâs based on any of the movies or the musical, then those arenât in the public domain and youâll run into some problems
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So no ALW one where I could well it wouldnât be the same but I was going to add a character as well⌠for Eric to have a romantic relationship
Hi. Iâve been a long-time lurker here but have only just made an account. Iâm working on a demo for an idea I had recently, but realized it might be sensible to get a feel for whether itâs something people would even be interested in conceptually.
Pactmaker
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Magic School / University, arguably dark academia
One sentence summary: In a world where the gift of magic is passed down through bloodlines, you are the first warlock, one whose power is stolen; infiltrate a prestigious school of magic in alt-history England to learn your craft whilst secretly serving an otherworldly patron.
Synopsis
Aspiring mages flock from far and wide to the halls of Hightower to pursue the best arcane education in the world. For those blessed with the Gift of magic, there is no nobler dream than to study beneath the universityâs elegant arches. You were not so blessed; your magic was gained not by right of blood but through bargains struck with forces beyond comprehension.
Now you must navigate your first year at Hightower as you seek to master your hard-earned Gift, build relationships and discover the secrets hidden beneath the universityâs gilded surface - all whilst serving the unfathomable whims of your unknowable master without betraying your own secrets.
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Master your stolen power as you learn to call spirits, shape the elements, nurture life and /or meddle with minds.
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Navigate through an increasingly complex social life whilst burdened by a secret you quite literally cannot share.
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Make a name for yourself in one of the universityâs Societies, where you can demonstrate your prowess in activities including dueling, magical theory and sky-skimming.
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Begin your delve into the endless dungeons beneath the university in search of fortune, power and the answers to the mysteries that haunt you.
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Fight, charm, scheme, steal and even kill as you strive to balance your obligations to your Patron with the demands of student life. Pray that the two never come into conflict.
Other General Thoughts
Iâm a bit unsure whether to use the Dark Academia label, as I think it feels a tad misleading. The setting borrows heavily from the aesthetic, given it will mainly be set in an old university full of classist and privileged people where magic and privilege are basically coterminous, but itâs quite critical of the concept.
When I first thought of the idea I thought it would be a good fit for HG, but I do wonder how many people will be turned off by the alt-history England aspect and some potentially heavier topics that might come with attending a school alongside a lot of rather classist and generally backwards members of the gentry, even if the core cast of companions / friends / ROs wonât skew that way.
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I find the patron concept interesting. Are there strengths or drawbacks to working with a patron? Do I choose the patron, or is it selected from my choices? How involved is the patron in the story? Whatâs keeping your patron working with you, or do they have a vested interest in keeping their own secrets? Or are the patrons not really important at all?
Rereading, Iâm not sure if thereâs only one patron or several depending on your magic.
Iâm always game for dark academia. Specifically psychological thriller and mystery.
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Thank you! My thinking is single Patron who starts off very mysterious, but the player can elect to make discovering its nature and secrets a goal of theirs.
I think not having a choice of Patrons will make it easier to embed them more strongly into the plot and setting; the Patron reactivity would thus be more about determining about your working relationship with them which would affect their own willingness to help you out and tolerate flexible interpretations of their instructions (but might also cause them to have additional expectations / make further demands of youâŚ)
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What an interesting concept! Be careful⌠people may ask why the patron isnât an RO. Iâm teasing!
The patron can become a really great source of feeling like your choices matter and that the world reacts to you.
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I have a serious affection for the reincarnation/body swap/regression type of manhua that has been popping up, and I had a concept that I came up with that I felt might be interesting to explore, but I wanted other thoughts on it. I donât have a proper title, so this will have to do for the time being.
Twisted Mirror
You had been a bit of a tyrant, to put it lightly. As the crown prince(ss) [and later ruthless emperor/ess] of a conquering nation. However, in your unilateral focus on growth, you did little to faster any meaningful connections in your life. Your wives/husbands do not lie by your bed, your children are too busy arguing over inheritance rights to pay you any proper attention, and you realize that in pursuing everything you have earned nothing. This is where your story should endâ But no.
You wake up, an unfamiliar ceiling overhead, hands unmarred by age and battle. First believing it to be a dream, you only later discover that in reality you are now in the body of a peasant in a rural village of your empire. If you want to make the most out of your life, you are going to have to do so with the insight you gained from your first life, while attempting to right your many wrongs with ***yourself as your worst enemy*** [Also the peasant would have had their own life, prior to you coming along, what does it mean for you to be taking them over? Is this something you truly have a right to do, in the first place? ]
Obligatory poll, because why not. I donât have ROs or anything planned, this is just a concept I had thought up when thinking about how much it bugs me how people are always in positions of power, easily able to change from the future they had written in stone themself the first time. I think a big part of this would be that the main character doesnât suddenly have an epiphany and is a perfect person, theyâd still have a lot of problematic behavior, which might need addressing throughout the course of the novel when you are no longer able to use your title to justify your actions.
- Yes, this definitely seems interesting!
- I could see it workingâ
- I am not sureâŚ
- No, I donât really think it would work.
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voters
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Hey, all!
Bouncing here to get some feedback regarding how Iâm working on designing turn-based combat in The Frontier (which is my upcoming sci-fi RPG!)
One of my largest ChoiceScript failures was Estheria: A Realm Dividedâs original development of turn-based combat due to the equipment system. While I could successfully implement functionality to allow each party member to have a turn, it became a cascading mess of chaotic checks and errors when trying to have equipment go on each party member, cross checking who had what equipped and how many were in the inventory, ect. In general while I could likely do it now, I would prefer to sidestep that headache for something better.
Dynamic party AI & organic equipment growth.
The way this works is that I create AI scripts and functionalities based around archetypes that I provide for each member of your party. The archetypes themselves mirror the personality of that character, meaning that as you come to know them, you can also expect them to act in combat similar to how they actually talk and act in the world.
Separately, while you grow as a player, so do they. Each party member would have their own designed âcurveâ for their stat growth that is tied to their level, which automatically scales to the player level (so if you level up, so do they at the same time). When they hit certain milestones within the story, their gear/equipment will automatically upgrade/change to something better, ensuring that they feel as if their power growth is natural.
While Iâm aware that this takes away some player agency, it also allows me to shape a competent system that is respectful of the limitations Iâve ran into within ChoiceScript.
Above all, I want to ensure that these characters keep their identities, even in combat. If a character is more of an aggressive/brash type, expect them to be a warrior in combat. Someone else is more supportive/kind, they might be the healing/supportive type in combat. Their AI would match that.
Anyways, let me know how you feel about this idea in the poll below!
- I love this idea!
- I think this is an okay idea.
- Ehh, itâs not that great.
- I hate this idea!!!
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â Iâm not sure I understand the idea.
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For what itâs worth I think this is a super interesting idea and to the extent that you need to have companions participate in combat in a highly mechanical ChoiceScript RPG, I wholeheartedly agree that AI is the way to go versus player input. Feels like it would be very unpleasant to mentally track companion builds and navigate the CS UI for multiple chars mid fight.
My âOKâ vote is more because Iâm unsure whether NPC input will feel frustrating in the format if itâs a material factor in success / failure and, if so, whether its worthwhile effort to build the AI at all (vs just giving each NPC a scripted default action they repeat every turn reliably, eg). Feels like the kind of thing that would benefit from a very siloed play test with a couple of example fights.
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I think thatâs honestly a very solid alternative I should look into. Are you open to being part of a small combat playtest once I have it together?
Basically:
Instead of you manually making selections for the actions (controlling your party yourself) an AI does. Same with equipping them. AI system grows them naturally instead of you controlling their equipment and stat distribution.
Their growth curve is based on their actual personality types.
Happy to participate, timing / availability permitting!
I see now. Yes, I think @Hamartiaâs suggestion is better, maybe one or two actions they perform reliably. This creates a different sort of mechanic, where player âequipâ companions based on their abilities. But, as you said yourself, ChoiceScript is limited. Itâs better for your own metal health if you donât try to build a jrpg system with it. Keep it simple.