Right, after two "getting to know you" threads, lets get down to some brass tacks, shall we? What is the goal of the Destiny Gaming System, and why is it called that?

(Be forewarned: a lot of this will sound familiar. It isn't, and isn't intended to be, a wild and fresh rethinking of everything about RPG's.)

Destiny isn't a generic system, a system that can be bent to tell any sort of stories (like GURPS or Hero System are billed as). Destiny is intended to tell one kind of story: adventure sagas.

(Destiny is, however, genre-nuetral. It can be used to model fantasy, sci-fi, or any other genre. Or, as its primary intent was to run Torg, all of these at the same time.)

These sagas are cinematic epics where protagonists grow from unknown nobodies to great and powerful individuals, along the way facing foreboding obstacles and overcoming incredible challenges. Player characters are these protagonists.

You play heroes. (By default. Other moralities are not outlawed, being heroic is just the game's assumed default.) As such, you have Destiny on your side.

In Die Hard, John McClane is an ordinary cop placed in an extraordinary situation. He attempts the impossible and succeeds.

Destiny's mechanics are designed to emulate this kind of improbable action. Players can attempt and succeed at ludicrous tasks. Sometimes. I call this "Hero's Luck", and it's a result of Destiny cheating on the character's behalf.

The game mechanics are built around the assumption that you start off as nobodies and can become world-shaking legends. Every player character has a Destiny. (Though these are not set in stone, and may not even be known.) It may be to rule the world, it may be to become the richest man on the planet, or it may be to die ignominiously.

But your character is Destined for something, and the campaign is about characters succeeding or failing at achieving their destiny.

Why you? The answer differs from setting to setting. Luck, fortune, wyrd. The gods. The stars. Take your pick. But in times of great need, the character can do the impossible, because Destiny is on his side. Just like John McClane.

How does this translate into mechanics?

I want a game that is easy to pick up, with minimal rules bloat, but which offers a breadth of options. The core mechanics are very traditional. Skills, Difficulty Numbers, roll the dice to see how well you did. Adventures, gain experience, increase the abilities of your character.

To help the character achieve succeed, they gain points of Destiny, which represents Destiny "cheating" on their behalf. Destiny points give you the chance to "nudge" the dice. As a result, you get improbably lucky.

The oddest mechanic is the Destiny Deck. Based on Torg's Drama Deck, it offers players chances to do a wide variety of things. (See here for an overview.) For example, discovering a Contact in a foreign city, a friend who can aid you on your way. (Call him Sallah.)

This is likewise explained, in the game world, as the hero getting lucky. Coincidence seems to favor protagonists, and the deck embodies this.

Hero's Luck is a meta-game mechanic: it is a mechanic that alters the normal rules of the game. Destiny Cards are a meta-setting mechanic: they allow players, with the GM's approval, to modify the setting or adventure in specific ways.

The last way Destiny affects the game thematically is with a meta-campaign mechanic (something, AFAIK, unique to this system.) As the campaign is the story of a PC struggling to achieve their Destiny, player's are allowed to (with GM approval) decide what that could be.

"Destined to overthrow the Steel Throne."
"Destined to revive the Jedi Order."
"Destined to achieve ultimate arcane power."

I'll talk about this more in later posts, but I just want to say this: this is an optional mechanic on both the GM's and player sides. Neither is required to pick a Destiny or approve a Destiny. This doesn't have to be specified at game's beginning, and can (with GM approval) be changed later.

It is only intended to offer PC's chance to gain some unique powers (after achieving a significant milestone along their journey) and give the GM an indication of what goals the player has for their character. This can, if he so wishes, guide him in planning the campaign, or significant episodes in the campaign. None of it is required.

That's the three aspects of Destiny in the game: Hero's Luck (fortune and coincidence), the Hero's Journey from common origins to greatness, and the Hero's Destiny. Hence the name, the Destiny Gaming System.

(Last note: I was worried about the bandwidth of the message board, until I saw a Spike post. Worries dispelled. Save one: what he's posted looks so cool, and so voluminous, I'll have a difficult time getting through it. Oh, well.)

More to come.

EDIT: clarified a possible misunderstanding.

Quote from: Daddy Warpig;499919Destiny Cards are a meta-setting mechanic: they allow players, with the GM's approval, to modify the setting or adventure in specific ways.

The last mechanic is, so far as I know, unique to the system.

Well, no.  The idea's been around since 1983, when it was first introduced (AFAICT) in Victory Games' James Bond 007 RPG.  The notion of using using cards, specifically, to edit the setting in player controlled ways dates back to 1987 with Lion Rampant's Whimsy Cards.

I wish you the best of luck trying to retool Torg into a new system, but be careful with your marketing hype.  There's a fine line between homage and heartbreaker.

Quote from: daniel_ream;499924Well, no.

I believe there's a misunderstanding. You're right, the Drama Deck and Possibilities aren't unique, and I didn't intend to say they were. (Chris Kubasik even said he got the idea for Torg's Deck from the Whimsy Deck.) I'll edit the post to make this more clear.

What is unique to Destiny (AFAIK) is the meta-campaign mechanic. I've never seen or heard of anything like it.

(And I'm probably wrong, but I didn't borrow the idea from any other game, so it's independently derived, not derivative. For what that's worth.)

Quote from: daniel_ream;499924but be careful with your marketing hype.

Is it marketing hype if I don't, and never will, have something to market?

On a serious note, this isn't intended to be hype, but rather the goals of my design. That is, I'll continue to test and refine the mechanics and concepts until I can achieve those goals (within the limits of my time and talent.)

I'm not trying to hype people up in this post, just describe why I named it the Destiny Gaming System. The theme of Destiny (however it manifests in the game world) is a strong one. The game is intended to be a journey from obscurity to greatness, and Destiny is what helps along the way.
 

Quote from: daniel_ream;499924There's a fine line between homage and heartbreaker.

The line, I believe, being marked by self-awareness, a wide source of inspiration, and quality. Know you're following in other's footsteps (and accept it). Reach beyond the tiny community of fellow players/enthusiasts for new ideas (which is why I'm here). And avoid producing mediocre work.

The original "Heartbreaker" article doesn't doesn't describe it that exact way, but it's nonetheless true. Hard work, research, and talent mark the difference between a lifeless retread and a successful descendent. I hope I can end on the right side of that line, and am intent on doing what I can to make it happen.

Quote from: Daddy Warpig;499929What is unique to Destiny (AFAIK) is the meta-campaign mechanic. I've never seen or heard of anything like it.

In FATE, I can give my character the Aspect "Destined to [whatever]", and then tag that for bonuses to do things that my Destiny relates to, or to affect the setting in ways that are congruent with the Aspect.  Similarly, the GM can tag that Aspect to compel my character to behave in ways that conform to the Destiny.

Can you describe how your mechanic differs from that?

QuoteThe game is intended to be a journey from obscurity to greatness, and Destiny is what helps along the way.

The common argot for this is "zero to hero" and for a lot of reasons it is ubiquitous in game design, even in games where it doesn't fit the setting or source material at all.  While it's nice to see a game be explicit about this instead of just inheriting it as an unintended consequence, it's not going to make the game stand out much.  Perhaps you need to make Destiny about something other than just the standard RPG level grind?
 
 

QuoteI hope I can end on the right side of that line, and am intent on doing what I can to make it happen.

I wish you the best of luck.  I liked Torg, and I've often wished it could have been handled by better writers who understood genre a bit better.  Some of the cosms haven't aged well, either, and could do with an update/refresh.

Quote from: daniel_ream;499959Can you describe how your mechanic differs from that?

Sure. A Destiny campaign is divided into 5 Stages, built around an arc of character power. Characters start off weak and inexperienced, with few resources, and gradually increase in power, resources, and knowledge.

Rules on advancement, equipment, appropriate skill and attribute values, and other things are tied into these Stages. As the campaign proceeds, players get access to better arms and armor, higher skill values, better advantages, and advanced character options.

Tools and abilities of the same Stage as the character are considered balanced. NPC's with those tools and abilities are balanced challenges.

Each character has a Destiny, known or unknown. The campaign is (in part) based around characters achieving or failing to achieve their Destiny. The story of one specific character is a small part of the overall campaign, but their Destiny still plays a role.

Once per stage the gamemaster should include a Destiny Event. (Assuming destinies are being used.) In this event, the character should be offered a chance to advance towards their destiny. The event can be a whole module, or a subplot in a module, or even just an encounter.

If the character succeeds, the gamemaster can give them a free advantage of the appropriate stage. This advantage is in addition to any earned through advancement.

These advantages should be thematically appropriate for the character’s destiny and the event, and should take the character one step closer to fulfilling their destiny.

Players may have no idea what kind of destiny they want for their character, or what kinds of destinies are possible. They may also explicitly say “my character has no destiny.” In game terms, this translates into “your destiny is unknown and unknowable.”

In this case, they still get destiny events chosen by the gamemaster. These events are offers to pursue a destiny. Offers to join a secret society. To become part of a rebellion. The character still gains a Destiny bonus.

That's it. As the campaign progresses, players get to see their character progress towards their destiny.

How to apply this?

There was a game called Fireborn. Ancient dragons, powerful beings, lost their memory now homeless people. Occasionally, they remember their past greatness.

Cool idea. Too limiting. In its place is a setting I want to build:

Age of Legends.

You were once a Legend. Something great and powerful. Something revered. Or feared. A being with power to shake the pillars of heaven.

A demigod. The King of the Fae. A wizard of unmatched mystic might.

Your power was stolen. Your memories were stolen. You were trapped in Oblivion for millennia.

Now you have awoken. You have taken form. You are a mere mortal, in the age of mortals and technology.

But your memories are returning. You are becoming what once you were.

The Age of Legends is dawning anew.

The Destiny mechanic is the same: an end towards which your character is progressing. But it represents you regaining the memories and powers that once were yours. What once you were, is what you shall become again.

The idea behind the Destiny mechanic is to combine a guided advancement path with cool, character-tailored adventures, leading to tailored rewards.

Quote from: daniel_ream;499959Perhaps you need to make Destiny about something other than just the standard RPG level grind?

I hope the above ideas, elaborated upon and developed, will do that.
 

Quote from: daniel_ream;499959I liked Torg, and I've often wished it could have been handled by better writers who understood genre a bit better.  Some of the cosms haven't aged well, either, and could do with an update/refresh.

I fully agree. For example, I've re-envisioned Nippon Tech as Sino Tech, the Urban Wuxia cosm. (Urban Fantasy, with western fantasy elements ripped out and Wuxia put in their place.)

If you want to read about Sino Tech, I posted the series to the Torg List just a few weeks ago. This is the index page for last month. Just look for the "Sino Tech" title, that's pt. 1.

Again, if people actually care I can post the details in a specific thread for discussion.

Quote from: daniel_ream;499959I wish you the best of luck.

I very much appreciate it. And your comments, even if we've crossed wires once or twice.