Golden sun homebrew 2.0

The (golden) sun has risen, and so have I.

In the 1.0 system we had a fairly faithful recreation of the video game mechanics, in 2.0 I'm trying to smooth out the clunky bits and make it more suitable for tabletop play.

One user in the previous thread had a bit of an extreme reaction, but did make a good point: I gotta have a good proper think about what the core pillars of the system should be from the games, and it as first and foremost a tabletop game.

If any of you have opinions or ideas relating to the direction this is in or should be going, feel free to let me know!

LINKS:
>2.0 Core Rules: docs.google.com/document/d/1LOJzZlP7BiT7IqMuyXK1wifbvUtKHuXhUDsKk4tHO3c/edit
>Character sheet: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SOojefFIRym_LNpfCn0TOgWxprJNXBcNkIw7V5rn9XU/edit#gid=1142811022
>Class Sheet: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1A4No6_94mrDUGja75uQI3mD0om14MvNO95Y_XetGdtI/edit#gid=0
>Make a Custom Anything: docs.google.com/document/d/1c6F_SnivgEt-bdej0t5gdAP5zyKBM31o6-Be1ZI80Fo/edit
>Pregenned Psynergy: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1MUqfz6GMhIm4Oti4kjlJynEJUsgJS2jkFBZR7yTDPVM/edit#gid=0

and as usual, my heartfelt thanks to Mr. Blue Sky, who shilled my jank-ass system for all these intervening years.

Other urls found in this thread:

pastebin.com/XyaA6UYi
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15-xu0T4AUg9FeWncT7xjiNekUikDyLSBjCU6drb2F7I/edit#gid=0
twitter.com/NSFWRedditGif

>This rule/mechanic is fucking retarded.
Cool, give me some ideas on how to fix it.

>This system is shit, use this other system instead!
No, but tell my why you think so.

>TO-DO List:
-Currently lacking unique class stats (which are kinda fucking important, I know), which I intend to rectify once I've got some names for the replacement classes (see below). Converting the 1.0 classes wont be too hard, thankfully.
-System currently lacks proper utility psynergy, but some utility is available from basic PP expenditure.
-Gotta do the boring data entry to make class sheets/tabs for every class once I get the class replacements named (so you guys don't need to).
-Make pregenned items (the ones anons made in the old thread archives are lost to time, far as I can find)
-Set up a proper XP/Money system (currently just working off of rules of thumb)
-Balance psynergy by class advancement (currently you get weird situations of leveling up only to get a worse psynergy than you already had)
-Consider adding other classes (such as item classes like acrobat)
-Consider adding other races (proxians, beastmen, lemurians, etc.)
-Balance those
-Format and organize everything into a coherent reading order
-doll everything up into a PDF

>Current step in development:
I'm shit at coming up with names, and need a bunch of themed ones for some replacement classes to fill in the gaps (list here):
pastebin.com/XyaA6UYi

Mechanically, the system is fairly simple: your base archetype (warrior/caster/etc), djinn collection, class, and gear determines your dice pool (D6's) for whatever you're trying to do, and you roll against the opponent's dice pool or a difficulty scale if uncontested.

5's and 6's count as a success, 6's 'explode'/reroll for the chance at more successes. however many successes you have above the opponent's pool/difficulty scale determines whether you succeed and by how much.

your djinn (which will be on small cards to more easily keep track of them) confer the bulk of your stat bonuses as well as deciding your class, which grants it's own stat bonuses and shows you what psynergy (spells) you can use.
there will be a proper chart showing who can get what and how many djinn are required to do so so people don't need to look through every class every time someone gains or loses a djinn.

for the sake of simplicity, i may roll the class-specific bonuses either into the base archetype bonus (since you'll have fairly similar class selections anyway), or into free-floating points you get as you level up, so you can tailor your character more to your liking.

either way lessens the headache of balancing what djinn you have as a player (which is good), but makes classes feel a bit less unique beyond available psynergy (which is bad).

...

...

one last late-night bump

>Current step in development:
>I'm shit at coming up with names, and need a bunch of themed ones for some replacement classes to fill in the gaps (list here):
>pastebin.com/XyaA6UYi

im confused exactly whats missing with these names. It'd be easier if you could set up a table to show the gaps or something.

docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15-xu0T4AUg9FeWncT7xjiNekUikDyLSBjCU6drb2F7I/edit#gid=0

has a rough chart to explain, but TLDR is that i'm trying to make a melee and caster equivalent for every class, so casters and martials will always be in their role regardless of djinn selection (for those interested in a more mixed bag class selection, that's what the socialite and journeyman bases are for, which they'll be getting a more balanced selection once ive got melee and caster variants for everything).

largely to cut down on party fights of "how come you get those djinn for your cool class, i'm stuck in X class" and actually promote sharing and use of unleashes/summons.

I played the first and second games (albiet, like 13 years ago) which is why I'm interested in the thread in the first place. I admit my memory's a bit spotty. What's the significance of the notation on this chart?

I get this is mostly for your own organization, but "duo-partial: Scrapper (J, Mc)", for example. It would help a lot of I understood why it is this way.

the side notations is just how their base element interacts with the djinn required for the class. for example, a venus class with jupiter djinn would be "opposing" since those elements are weak to each other.
for ("J, Mc") it notes there's a jupiter and mercury version of those (much like there's two versions of war adept for venus and mars adepts, respectively)

the whole reason for sorting them like that is for shit like lighthouses being tuned for elements, like saturos and menardi getting healed in the venus lighthouse, since venus and mars are supportive elements to each other.

Does the (J, Mc) need to be present if they're already sorted by primary affinity in the first place?

for the partials, yeah, since they have sliiiightly different djinn requirements

fuck, forgot to add: they also have very different psynergy selections DUE to those djinn differences, so i've gotta be sure to differentiate them.

i'll be color-coding class sheets to make it easier to see who has access to what in the "dolling everything up" stage.

So I got around to reading the rules, and were right. It's not quite as end-of-days as I made it out to be.

It's more of post-apocalyptic wasteland instead.
Sure, you've made some concessions to usability, but the whole thing is just a combat system cribbed off the video game with some tactical grid elements crowbared in, with no rhyme nor reason nor any thought as to how and why any of this can, did or should work.

I'm glad to hear you've given it a look! It's a shame you haven't changed your mind, but hey.
I'll admit that currently the 2.0 ruleset is pretty much entirely converted and updated versions of the 1.0 stuff (which was very dry and pretty much entirely vidya-on-paper), so I certainly need to put some more consideration into how the system is presented.
So far I've been going off the idea that "the game you're playing is a road trip, and the system is just the vehicle", So my main priority has been hammering down the most-used features of the system (the stat/class framework, combat, and utility PP usage, though I'm still working on proper utility psynergy to go with it to affect the world more meaningfully).

I certainly appreciate the critical eye though, so what would you suggest to address your concerns?
I could take some time from mechanics and having a playtestable [Thing] people can get their hands on to lay out the world of Weyard, explain what the elements and djinn are, how alchemy impacts the world, and add some more fluff to all the crunch I've got, or I could take some time to better break down the mechanics and their uses (such as pictures and examples, or actually making those djinn cards, etc) though as earlier I'd personally prefer to get something into the players' hands to get hard feedback on before I worry about fluff and aesthetics.
I should probably take a pass over the current document and properly organize and format it for easier reading in the morning regardless.

>"the game you're playing is a road trip, and the system is just the vehicle"
Sure, but you're in the process of taking a convertible, tearing off the chassis, duct taping a monster truck's chassis back in, then ripping out the engine and replacing it with multiple sets of pedals and a gear drive with only one speed. And I'm pretty sure you broke the cup holders along the way.

>so what would you suggest to address your concerns?
Same thing I already suggested. Rethink the whole thing from the ground up. Start thinking about it like a game designer, not like a player.

Holy shit, I can't believe how much nostalgia I'm feeling right now.

I cant believe how dissapointed I was in the 3d game

not every game needs to be narratavist or simulationist by design. Gamist games have their place, and you can certainly roleplay on top of them despite their lack of roleplaying features.

How does that relate to my post in any way?

Even the direct sequel was a disappointment to me. So much so I didn't even bother with the 3DS game.