Gaming




Okay so I took a couple of weeks off.  It’s been a little rough in the Bybee household.  Anyway this week I’m taking a look at something that I’ve been interested in for years, but I’ve never had the time/motivation/guts to do it; game creation.
Those who know me know that I’m a fan of table top role-playing games (RPG).  I’ve played in a few different systems from classics like Dungeons and Dragons to newer systems.  I’ve enjoyed most of them.  Some more than others.  In the few years I’ve been gaming I’ve come to learn that no system is perfect.  They are all good, but some have their flaws.
The one that everyone likes to pick on is Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 edition.  This was the system that I started with.  I enjoy 3.5, I know it has its flaws, but it’s a good solid system.  In my opinion (and yes this is an opinion) its major flaw is it is too easy to exploit.  With the right mindset and books you can create stupidly powerful characters that throw off the game balance and ruin the fun for everyone, including the game master (GM).  I would say especially the GM who is the one everyone else complains to/about.
There are other systems that have that exact same flaw.  Adherents to each system will claim their particular system is the best, that it has no flaws, that it’s an “unbreakable” system.  A friend of mine is very good a proving that idea wrong.  He understands systems and with a little work can exploit them.  I’m less inclined to complain because he has the worst dice rolling luck I’ve ever seen.  Without an overpowered character he would be making a character every other session.
To sum it all up, games have flaws.  That’s what comes from trying to represent reality, or a version of reality at least, in a game.  Game designers do their best and that’s my goal; to create a game system that is fun, balanced, and able to convey a bit of reality.
The idea are based off the world that I’ve created in my book Bard’s Story which is still a work in progress.  I’m hoping to release the book and the game in tandem.  It will be quite the adventure…

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I've felt better

One of my biggest hurdles in life is trying to work when I don't feel 100 percent.  These past few weeks I haven't been doing great.  I have a sinus infection that is just lingering.  It makes concentrating difficult, it makes caring difficult.  There are people out there, writers, and so on, that will just work through the pain and discomfort.  I've never been one of those people.  Just sitting and writing this is difficult.  I'm doing it because I know that I need more exposure.  There are lots of people who have no clue who I am, and what I write.  It is up to me to remedy that. So here I am, writing a blog post, not because I want to, but because I have to.  Indie authors, we don't get paid benefits.  Heck, traditionally published authors don't get benefits.  Our career choice is a hard one.  And just to get something clear, I do not want, or need your sympathy.  I was aware of all of this before I started writin...
Read more

Telling Tales

Have all the stories been told?   If you are a cynic, then yes.   No one is saying anything new, all writers are just repeating a handful of narratives with a new paint job.   To a point I agree.   Generally speaking, new plots are hard to come by.   And I’m okay with that.   Here’s the deal, we all are influenced by what we read.   That’s all there is to it.   I’ve talked about this before, but it’s true.   Most writers try to keep reading, even while they are creating.   It helps, believe me. Where I diverge from the cynical side of the observation is this idea that there is nothing new, or nothing original.   Just because we are reading the same basic narrative doesn’t mean it can’t be done in a new, or exciting way.   Who the characters are, their flaws, their loves, their struggles these are the aspects that make a book/story worth reading. Even if the idea is still as basic as stop the bad guy before h...
Read more

NaNoWriMo

Well, here it is again, National Novel Writer’s Month.   For those who don’t know, NaNoWriMo is kind of how I got my start as an indie author.   Five years ago, I decided I was going to “officially” participate.   I registered on their website, I did daily word counts, all to try and see if I could actually do it.   The results of that effort led me to start Hero Unit as a series. Since then I’ve never participated to quite that level, for various reasons, both good and bad.   I think perhaps if I’d dedicated myself better, I would be farther along on some of my works in progress.   Small regrets aside, I’ll never forget what it was like to dedicate so much of my time to writing.   It rarely happens anymore with being a stay at home dad.   This year I made the decision to participate once again.   Now because I don’t work on Sundays for religious reasons, and my wife’s birthday is this month, that leaves me 25 days.   The math ...
Read more