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Author Topic: A new challenger steps into the ring  (Read 2242 times)

IOgames

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A new challenger steps into the ring
« on: November 16, 2021, 12:23:58 AM »
Hello Everyone!

My name is Tom, and I'm a member of Infinite Odyssey Games. We are a small indie game dev company that are in the process of producing our first major title: Other Earths. This isn't a plug for a kickstarter or anything, we aren't quite to that point (planning on releasing that in January/February) but we are excited to be breaking into the ttrpg scene as creators, and we are hoping that the community will find as much enjoyment playing our game as we have in creating it.

We just wanted to introduce ourselves, and we do have links to our social media and website if any are interested in checking us out. Fair warning, they are kind of spartan at the moment, but that is actively changing, so please bear with us!

And of course we will be systematically releasing more information about Other Earths as we gear up for the kickstarter, and we will be on this forum regularly as possible to answer any questions and just generally engage with the community! You guys are the reason we want to do this and we are all excited about the future!

Infiniteodysseygames.com
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Shasarak

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Re: A new challenger steps into the ring
« Reply #1 on: November 16, 2021, 12:27:48 AM »
Welcome Tom

Other Earths sounds very mutliversey.  Any little tid bits to throw out there?
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IOgames

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Re: A new challenger steps into the ring
« Reply #2 on: November 16, 2021, 12:40:39 AM »
Of course!

The setting of Other Earths is in fact a multiverse with various distinct "timelines", each with a different version of Earth. Some populated by humans, others by elves, and others by orcs. All of these timelines have their own cultures and histories, some diverging from one another in the recent past, such as two orcish timelines where one underwent a global religious revolution less than a century before, and one did not, and others in the ancient past, such as a human timeline where the Mongol Empire lasted centuries longer than in our own timeline!

We categorize the game as a hybrid scifi/dieselpunk/fantasy game, with various types of magic and technology from the various worlds. We like to joke that the goal was always to create a world where rapiers and rocket launchers coexist, and we feel that we have done that quite well!

Check us and our projects out at www.infiniteodysseygames.com

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Shasarak

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Re: A new challenger steps into the ring
« Reply #3 on: November 16, 2021, 12:48:25 AM »
We categorize the game as a hybrid scifi/dieselpunk/fantasy game, with various types of magic and technology from the various worlds. We like to joke that the goal was always to create a world where rapiers and rocket launchers coexist, and we feel that we have done that quite well!

Sounds good to me!
Who da Drow?  U da drow! - hedgehobbit

There will be poor always,
pathetically struggling,
look at the good things you've got! -  Jesus

IOgames

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Re: A new challenger steps into the ring
« Reply #4 on: November 16, 2021, 12:59:00 AM »
Really happy to hear that! We have poured a lot of effort into it, and we hope that effort will show through in the finished product!

I should also say this before it gets too deep in the thread, and honestly should have mentioned it in the original post. The ultimate goal of our company beyond just releasing this product successfully is to become one of the first open source game development companies in the tabletop community.

We want to give first time/independent authors and designers the chance to develop and publish their work with the knowledge and backing of a recognizable company without them having to have the resume and experience required to work with most ttrpg development companies. So the success of Other Earths and its eventual expansions will hopefully launch us into a position to offer these opportunities to those who come after us without them having to suffer all of the pitfalls that inexperience brings with it!
Check us and our projects out at www.infiniteodysseygames.com

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Shasarak

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Re: A new challenger steps into the ring
« Reply #5 on: November 16, 2021, 01:06:42 AM »
Can you tell me more about your unique D6 dice system?
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IOgames

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Re: A new challenger steps into the ring
« Reply #6 on: November 16, 2021, 01:34:23 AM »
Yes I can!

First I should say that there is some disagreement among us as to whether to refer to it as Unique or Signature. I fall on the side of Signature myself and will probably push for that wording again. The reason for this is that the dice system is a new and streamlined hybrid of several classic dice systems, drawing a lot of inspiration from the Star Wars RPG and Warhammer 40K. We wanted to emphasize the strengths of these systems while also adding a few features of our own to help immerse the player into every encounter.

It is a d6 roll over system which has players roll a pool of dice, the size of which changes based on the player's stats and modifiers, with 5's and 6's being counted as "successes". Roll checks have difficulties numbered 1-5, with 1 success checks being easy tasks a child could perform, and 5 success checks being so difficult only a handful of experts in a given field could ever accomplish them somewhat reliably. A check is considered successful when the amount of 5's and 6's rolled are equal to or greater than the difficulty level of the check.

The part of our system that is unique is our progressive success system which allows players to retry failed rolls on non time sensitive checks, and add their past successes to their current rolls. The opportunities to use this feature of the system will be made clear in the rules.

The idea is to hopefully make certain tasks feel more realistic. The less skills you have in a field the longer the check will take to complete. Like repairing a computer that is badly damaged may take 4 successes, but if on your first attempt you only roll 2 successes, instead of it counting simply as a failure you can bank those 2 successes as if you made some partial progress on the repairs, and then can roll again and only need another 2 successes to complete the process.

I'm sure there are other technical bits I'm forgetting or haven't imparted the information as clearly as possible here, it is rather late where I am and I'm well past my most lucid ;D I hope you find this helpful and answers your question!

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HappyDaze

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Re: A new challenger steps into the ring
« Reply #7 on: November 16, 2021, 01:43:21 AM »
Yes I can!

First I should say that there is some disagreement among us as to whether to refer to it as Unique or Signature. I fall on the side of Signature myself and will probably push for that wording again. The reason for this is that the dice system is a new and streamlined hybrid of several classic dice systems, drawing a lot of inspiration from the Star Wars RPG and Warhammer 40K. We wanted to emphasize the strengths of these systems while also adding a few features of our own to help immerse the player into every encounter.

It is a d6 roll over system which has players roll a pool of dice, the size of which changes based on the player's stats and modifiers, with 5's and 6's being counted as "successes". Roll checks have difficulties numbered 1-5, with 1 success checks being easy tasks a child could perform, and 5 success checks being so difficult only a handful of experts in a given field could ever accomplish them somewhat reliably. A check is considered successful when the amount of 5's and 6's rolled are equal to or greater than the difficulty level of the check.

The part of our system that is unique is our progressive success system which allows players to retry failed rolls on non time sensitive checks, and add their past successes to their current rolls. The opportunities to use this feature of the system will be made clear in the rules.

The idea is to hopefully make certain tasks feel more realistic. The less skills you have in a field the longer the check will take to complete. Like repairing a computer that is badly damaged may take 4 successes, but if on your first attempt you only roll 2 successes, instead of it counting simply as a failure you can bank those 2 successes as if you made some partial progress on the repairs, and then can roll again and only need another 2 successes to complete the process.

I'm sure there are other technical bits I'm forgetting or haven't imparted the information as clearly as possible here, it is rather late where I am and I'm well past my most lucid ;D I hope you find this helpful and answers your question!
It sounds very similar to the system used in Shadowrun (from 4e on), including extended tests, so I'm not thinking "unique" fits and even "signature" is somewhat weak. That said, the system (as seen in Shadowrun) works well enough, so a variation on it will probably work fine even if it's not sparkling with uniqueness.

IOgames

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Re: A new challenger steps into the ring
« Reply #8 on: November 16, 2021, 02:13:27 AM »
We do indeed share similarities with Shadowrun's current system. However we think that the end result of how our system plays is different enough to be counted as more than a variant. Our system is more quick paced than other d6 dice systems like Shadowrun's, and we think players will find it a lot more streamlined. 

I will also put this out as a disclaimer that I personally did not develop the dice system. That credit goes to our lead game designer Joshua. I will double check with him to ensure that my explanation here is as accurate as possible and that I'm doing justice to the system. But if it turns out that the system is not as distinct as we have proclaimed then I will be sure to soften the language surrounding it accordingly. But I trust that play will vindicate it.
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Marchand

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Re: A new challenger steps into the ring
« Reply #9 on: November 16, 2021, 02:18:02 AM »
We categorize the game as a hybrid scifi/dieselpunk/fantasy game, with various types of magic and technology from the various worlds. We like to joke that the goal was always to create a world where rapiers and rocket launchers coexist, and we feel that we have done that quite well!

See, here is where I start to get wary. Two general conclusions I have drawn from looking at a procession of game settings over the years, in an admittedly strictly amateur capacity. 1) individually cool elements can be more or less than the sum of their parts when combined. D&D races plus cyberpunk - a lot of people think was more-than. But adding, say, Cthulhu (not that you say you are, but just for ex.), probably less interesting these days. Is it peanut butter and jam, or ice cream and steak pie (on the same plate)?

2) a film can get quite far on just looking cool, although some plot is still ultimately required. For a game, I need to know what the PCs actually do, at least as a default assumption. In D&D, go down a hole, kill monsters, take stuff etc. In Traveller, keep a tramp freighter flying. Cyberpunk, do runs. What does "dieselpunk" actually mean to me as a gamer about what I should expect to do in your game? Whatever the answer, why is that more interesting because there are bits of the setting that are scifi or fantasy themed? Not just why does it look or feel cool, but why is it game cool?

If there is a conflict, it needs to be compellingly tied into the conceits of an interesting setting; because starting from cold, the fact is neither I nor most readers are likely to care about whatever factions you have invented on their own terms.

In terms of your system, 5 levels of difficult from "a child could do it" to "world's top experts required", inclusive, feels a little narrow to me. Also, stages of success is not new - a lot of systems have it e.g. off the top of my head, Mythras / d100.

I don't want to sound overly negative and I am not even sure you are looking for feedback. I really like seeing interesting new RPG material and I wish you success. You can take or leave what I say, obviously.

Welcome to the bear pit...
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IOgames

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Re: A new challenger steps into the ring
« Reply #10 on: November 16, 2021, 02:58:49 AM »
We categorize the game as a hybrid scifi/dieselpunk/fantasy game, with various types of magic and technology from the various worlds. We like to joke that the goal was always to create a world where rapiers and rocket launchers coexist, and we feel that we have done that quite well!

See, here is where I start to get wary. Two general conclusions I have drawn from looking at a procession of game settings over the years, in an admittedly strictly amateur capacity. 1) individually cool elements can be more or less than the sum of their parts when combined. D&D races plus cyberpunk - a lot of people think was more-than. But adding, say, Cthulhu (not that you say you are, but just for ex.), probably less interesting these days. Is it peanut butter and jam, or ice cream and steak pie (on the same plate)?

2) a film can get quite far on just looking cool, although some plot is still ultimately required. For a game, I need to know what the PCs actually do, at least as a default assumption. In D&D, go down a hole, kill monsters, take stuff etc. In Traveller, keep a tramp freighter flying. Cyberpunk, do runs. What does "dieselpunk" actually mean to me as a gamer about what I should expect to do in your game? Whatever the answer, why is that more interesting because there are bits of the setting that are scifi or fantasy themed? Not just why does it look or feel cool, but why is it game cool?

If there is a conflict, it needs to be compellingly tied into the conceits of an interesting setting; because starting from cold, the fact is neither I nor most readers are likely to care about whatever factions you have invented on their own terms.

In terms of your system, 5 levels of difficult from "a child could do it" to "world's top experts required", inclusive, feels a little narrow to me. Also, stages of success is not new - a lot of systems have it e.g. off the top of my head, Mythras / d100.

I don't want to sound overly negative and I am not even sure you are looking for feedback. I really like seeing interesting new RPG material and I wish you success. You can take or leave what I say, obviously.

Welcome to the bear pit...

I openly welcome feedback! This project does a mean a lot to the people involved but if we hope to get praise from the community we must also take criticism, especially if it can help us improve.

To answer your first point. We wanted to create a game that allowed for a variety of play styles and in game objectives. We found that the best possible way to do that was to incorporate different elements of different genres. In Other Earths you will be called upon in some instances to go down the hole and kill the monster, and in other instances you'll be sent to retrieve energy resources from another timeline teeming with nuclear fallout and hazardous terrain, and in other instances you can get embroiled in a gang war for control of sections of the city.

Also as a sidenote, our decision to limit ours playable races to 3 of the classic DnD fantasy races was done partially for simplifying the character creation process, and also partially to eliminate the need for players to purchase custom miniatures in order to play the game. And if they wanted to generate their own miniatures through 3d printing it is easy to find pre rendered assets of those 3 races versus some race we conceive of. So there are logistical reasons for that decision.

In terms of conflict there is an overarching narrative that is completed through the campaign. Our main goal is to make the player feel capable of acting in the world, but also feel like an every man character. They are not some unstoppable powerhouse that can change the course of large events on a whim, but they are players in the game, and assist in the outcome of events orchestrated by the factions or major players in the world.

The language used for the 1-5 system can sound a bit narrow but in practice we've found it to offer a good deal of balance to the gameplay. It is also based off of the math of how likely it is to roll 5 successes with a pool of 7 dice. And as said earlier the player is not supposed to be an unstoppable action hero, so when you start getting into level 5 difficulty checks we wanted a system that would limit the rate of successes at those levels.

I'm not intimately familiar with the Mythras system, but I'm sure there are some similarities. I will say our system has existed since Joshua first developed it well before when Mythras released, but the game itself was still in its conceptual infancy so the system never got beyond his table until recently. as I stated earlier I'm going to refer to Joshua for all dice system related questions because he's more intimately familiar with it.

I hope these answers help out. Obviously I can't do a full dive into the content and all the nitty gritty of the game just yet, but we are going to continue to release material as we get closer to January, and hopefully we can satisfy any and all concerns!

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jeff37923

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Re: A new challenger steps into the ring
« Reply #11 on: November 16, 2021, 03:39:44 AM »
I'll pay attention when you produce something more than hype.
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IOgames

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Re: A new challenger steps into the ring
« Reply #12 on: November 16, 2021, 03:49:22 AM »
I'll pay attention when you produce something more than hype.

Completely understandable. If you want to follow along with us we are starting to post some of our art on social media, we have hired a couple of writers who are writing content for our upcoming patreon, and we will be dropping more info closer to the date of our kickstarter. No pressure to follow us, but feel free to keep an eye on us, and if you have any questions for us, I will answer as best I can!

 
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Mishihari

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Re: A new challenger steps into the ring
« Reply #13 on: November 16, 2021, 03:59:03 AM »
Welcome and good luck! 

IOgames

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Re: A new challenger steps into the ring
« Reply #14 on: November 16, 2021, 04:01:59 AM »
Check us and our projects out at www.infiniteodysseygames.com

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