I have finally finished putting up the entire SRD for Opening the Dark (http://sdragon.0sites.net/wordpress/opendarkness/). Now that I'm turning my focus on to some maintenance, I have... Well, not much more to do with the site. So, for something to do, I've started with some ideas for a couple new settings that can be used with the system.
The first is Mafia: the Family. Players are members of various crime organizations, each trying to gain increasing amounts of power, all while struggling to avoid a tragic fall from grace. Naturally, this will be heavily inspired by mobster/cartel/crime movies such as Godfather, Goodfellas, Scarface, and so on.
The other setting, which is currently unnamed (I do need a name for it!), is more inspired by fighter video games such as Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, and Tekken, and also on MMA organizations. Naturally, this setting is going to have a lot of focus on combat, but hopefully it will also include things like corrupt corporations, Machiavellian contracts, fighters striving for fame, fortune, glory, power, and revenge, and color-coded assassins lurking somewhere in every locker room.
I'll post more about each of these settings, and they may eventually get their own threads, but for now, I'm just trying to brainstorm up some ideas for them. I'd love to hear your thoughts!
The arena-style setting seems exciting. Especially with the side-plots that you've described.
Unless you have much more specific ideas in mind that you're not saying, these both seem like they could be made into a single setting. The crime families and such could be the corrupt organizations that fund the fighting, maybe? To me, from the outside, it sounds like the best of both worlds.
Well, I do have some specific ideas, but nothing that would keep the two from at least being compatible with one another. It might be interesting to try a game that somehow combines the two.
For Mafia: the Family, I've come up with a few different crime Families, but I've really only put any thought into the nature of just one. Each Family is of a different nationality. So far, I have the Mafia (Italian), Mob (Irish), Triad (Chinese), Yakuza (Japanese), Russians, and Colombians. I haven't come up with names for the Russians or the Colombians yet.
The Colombians, however, are going to be a drug cartel, shipping illegal narcotics worldwide. Other than that, I can't really think of much about the natures of the different families.
I suppose keeping things pretty cliche makes it really easy to find outside material that you can plug into your setting with little effort. That can be nice if you don't want to spend a lot of time working out the details. I think a fighting thing could easily just be a branch of the crime families. For something a little different, maybe this underground fighting league could even be how these crime groups settle disputes. Because of this, these groups could consider themselves more civilized than their past incarnations, who shot each other up whenever there was a disagreement. Just a thought.
Columbian Drug Cartel, go with FARC I guess?
EDIT: Concerning THAT setting I strongly reccomend watching the Black Lagoon anime series. They got 2 sweet seasons and are starting the third one now.
There are a wide variety of crime organizations and the characters are very cool. The anime is very well drawn as well.
I also advocate combining the two. By themselves, they both seem slightly half-baked and shallow. Together, they seem... well, still a little shallow, because you've just posted a one-paragraph description of each so far. But I like the premise a lot more.
It would be something different, at least. And of course you wouldn't have to explore both aspects of things in every story / adventure / campaign but it would be there option or just a background element, adding some more depth.
The reason they seem a little half-baked right now is because, well, they are. That's kinda why this thread is in this forum, and not in Homebrews yet. I'd like to develop these settings seperately, but as I said, there's no reason why the two can't be compatible. Crossovers should be easy enough.
For the Colombians, FARC looks interesting. The more I look into Colombian cartels, Norte De Valle looks good, as well. I think I might go with Norte De Valle for the name, but for flavor, I'll mash together multiple cartels, including FARC.
Well, I ditched the Russians. There were a few reasons for this decision, and the details can be read in this blog post (http://sdragon.0sites.net/wordpress/opendarkness/?p=878).
Although they are valid reasons, you certainly didn't watch the Black Lagoon thing because the a certain Russian underground group is greatly showcased.
Hotel Moscow also sounds nice. It is a paramilitary group (just like the FARC) who don't act on russians government behalf, but have great contacts within, making them very powerful.
If you're just looking for a specialization for the Russians, things like black market weapons or human trafficking could probably be priorities.
Anyway, if you're going to call the whole game/setting "Mafia" then I'd recommend "Cosa Nostra" as the name for the Italians, to differentiate it from the name of the game.
Quote from: sparkletwistAnyway, if you're going to call the whole game/setting "Mafia" then I'd recommend "Cosa Nostra" as the name for the Italians, to differentiate it from the name of the game.
That's not a bad idea, actually. I think I'll do just that. Thanks!
The fighter setting now has a name: Arena Legends.
Quote from: Cosa NostraThe Italian Cosa Nostra tends to political matters. Whether through bribery, blackmailing, or other coercive methods, the Cosa Nostra gain the favor of officials, which proves to be an invaluable resource to the other families.
This, however, does not come without a price to the Cosa Nostra. The other families, save for the Triads, resent dependence on the Cosa Nostra, and have been known to struggle against it. The Mob is most notable in this, and has rivaled the Cosa Nostra several times in the past.
I have more ideas for the other families, so there should be some more coming. Any thoughts?
Arena Legends has its first school of combat up now: Boxing (http://sdragon.0sites.net/wordpress/opendarkness/?page_id=961).
For Arena Legends:
Quote from: Kariohiko CorpKariohiko Corp. is a mysterious corporation based in Apanwa Hatal, a small nation just off of the coast of West Africa. The head of Kariohiko Corp. is Masazu Kariohiko.
Kariohiko Corp. leaves a large impression on the country's economy, and some consider the presence of the corporation in Apanwa Hatal to be overbearing. In fact, while nothing has ever been substantiated, military police organizations from several nations have investigated rumors of Masazu Kariohiko using the corporation's economic power to control the local government.
Arena Legends now has a total of four schools. Should I make a thread for it?
Quote from: RankingThe Fighting Arts Master Tournament uses a simple system to rank its fighters. While the main event isn't open for Rank 0 fighters, the Kariohiko Corp. holds 25 trials each year; Five annual trials each rank, from Rank 0 to Rank 4. These 25 trials are held two weeks apart.
With this system, a streak of trial wins could allow an up-and-coming fighter rise to Rank 5, the highest obtainable rank, by the end of his first Master Tournament. While this rapid of a progression is rare, it all but guarantees that such a fighter will keep his high rank for at least one more Master Tournament.
In order to advance in ranks, a fighter needs to met a minimum number of matches, and maintain a win ratio. if a fighter fails to maintain the win ratio required for their rank, they must drop a rank.
Rank Requirements
| Rank | Win:Loss | Matches |
| 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
| 1 | 1:9 | 5* |
| 2 | 1:4 | 10 |
| 3 | 1:2 | 15 |
| 4 | 1:1 | 20 |
| 5 | 2:1 | 30 |
* At least one win is required in order to reach Rank 1.
Mixed Rank Matches
While trials are tiered by rank, the Fighting Arts Master Tournament is open to fighters of all ranks greater than Rank 0. This means that fighters will have matches against fighters in other ranks.
There is no shame in losing to a higher ranked opponent, nor is there any glory in winning against a lower ranked opponent. As such, matches in which lower ranked fighters lose to higher ranked fighters are treated as if the fighters are evenly ranked. This means one win to the winner, and one loss to the loser.
However, winning against a higher ranked opponent is a considerable achievement, just as losing to a lower ranked opponent is an upset. When a lower ranked fighter is fortunate enough to win against a higher ranked fighter, not only do they gain one win for the match, but they also gain additional wins equal to the difference in ranks. The higher ranked fighter gets as many losses.
Also, I'm still wondering: Should I give Arena Legends its own thread yet? Most of the work being done on it is crunch, but it's gaining quite a bit of material.
It's actually a pretty interesting concept for a setting, I think it might deserve its own thread soon.
Beyond Emotional Trait dice limitations, does a characters Ethos have any mechanical effects?
I still say you should combine them. :P
Quote from: JaercBeyond Emotional Trait dice limitations, does a characters Ethos have any mechanical effects?
Well, it does provide a decent guideline for character morals. This can affect roleplay, which is a source of XP. Other than that... not really.
That said, it is a good springboard for setting-specific mechanics, and I do intend to take advantage of Ethos in Mafia: the Family. I might make it a bit more difficult to raise Ethos, in order to make stories closer to tragedies, akin to-- for example-- the fall of Don Michael Corleone.
Quote from: sparkletwistI still say you should combine them. :P
That's still an option, mind you. :P
Really, though, for various reasons, I do want them to be compatible standalone settings. I will, however, keep the option open for GM's; And if someone decides to try running a game that combines the two settings, well... I'd love to hear how it goes! In fact, if possible, I might even consider joining in...
There are now five Special Attacks, and six Schools for Arena Legends. This is definitely getting its own thread sometime soon.
One thing that I'm thinking of doing for Arena Legends is having a multinational military organization. This isn't too much to do, in and of itself, but I think I want some sort of clever backronym for the name. That's something that's beyond my ability to do. Any ideas?
Still working on that backronym. Fortunately, I found a wonderful backronym generator (http://www.joglab.com/), which has been a great help. So far, the best word to work with has been SWORD, though I haven't settled on that yet. Strategic War Offensive Response Division sounds quite tempting.
... I'm still accepting ideas, though.
Warlord's Hegemonic Advisory Tactics
Quote from: Luminous CrayonWarlord's Hegemonic Advisory Tactics
...
WHAT?!