New Projects, because I can't sit still

[Xeviat]

So, I'm working on my setting (Endless Horizons) and my D&D system patch (Xev20), but my brain also can't sit still. I have a new temporary roommate who is big on design theory, so we've been chatting a lot. I now want to start working on a new project, something relatively whole cloth. Here's the two seed ideas I am working on.

The first is a Horror setting/system, somewhere between Science Fiction and Fantasy in it's trappings. Rather than a post apocalyptic world, the setting will be a during-apocalyptic world. Things are going to hell. Whether it is literal hell (though being trapped between a war between Angels and Demons is always fun), or some horrible science gone wrong business (man discovers magic, all hell breaks loose), I'm not yet certain. The game is going to have high lethality, with outward character growth rather than upward character growth (you might not have a character for very long). Stealing some ideas from other systems, heroic sacrifices will be a regular option; it's not going to happen every session, but the option should always be there. I am thinking about having "player abilities" that will port from one character to another, so a player doesn't feel as bad when their beloved character dies.

One of the aspects of the game I want to do, which apparently Gama World has already done, is have random monster generation for the GM to play with. The idea is this: monsters/mutants/demons/creatures from beyond are new. They haven't been studied and codified. They're also beyond study or codification. The players have to identify things on the fly, discover weaknesses, and fight blind. All fights might not be winable (though I detest one-hit kills; I'll be looking for other solutions to clue players in when they should run).

Imagine this scenario. The characters are holed up in the ruin of a building, planning their next step. Suddenly, something huge bursts through the wall. Is it an ogre? A giant? I don't know, make some rolls. Smartypants believes the pustules on its back might be a weak spot; if the knowledge check (or however the skill system works) was bad, maybe popping them will make it stronger. Maybe it will go down like a sack of potatoes.

It's all still in the preliminary stage, but the idea has been exciting me.

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My second idea stems from watching Star Trek all the way through from Next Generation to Deep Space Nine; now I'm in the middle of Voyager (and it's not as bad as I remember it being when I was young; guess you have to get used to the characters). Simply put, I want to make a Star Trek esque game, complete with away missions and ship to ship combat. There's many ideas I'm playing with: such as having each player have their own motivations they strive for, to running the captain as an NPC whom the players have to advise and sway, to how to handle each player manning a different station in ship to ship combat. I want random planet rolls for exploration, competing space fairing empires, the whole nine yards.

Which sounds cooler? Which should I start working on first?

[Steampunk Knight]

My vote is for the second idea. I like the sound of having to sway an NPC captain.