Quote from: finarvynAd Astra is still in the process of running playtests for the Honor Harrington RPG. This game will be based on the d6 rules system, similar in concept to the old WEG Star Wars RPG back in the 1980's.

The Honor Harrington d20 project was killed when Ad Astra aquired the rights instead.

The Saganami Island Tactical Simulator is a miniatures game based on the same universe, but done by a totally different group. That's what you have seen at the game stores, joewolz.

EDIT: Didn't see page 2 of this thread, so my comments seem to duplicate those of other posters. Sorry.

Quote from: joewolzI miss Nox

Quote from: Ken BurnsideThe first design goal is a questionnaire devised over at The Forge that they call the Power 19.
 
1. What is your game about?
 
  Military and ex military personnel in the Honorverse, who have access to interstellar travel.  
 
2. What do the characters do?
 
 Through their willingness to travel along the frontier between Manticore and Haven, theywill explore some of the cultures of the myriad planets of the Honorverse, while working to prevent Havenite influence from spreading.
 
3. What do the players (including the GM if there is one) do?
 
 The GM designs interesting and plots to foil and interesting antagonists for the players to interact with. The players try to foil the plots while furthering their own agenda, often coming into conflict with each other.
   
4. How does your setting (or lack thereof) reinforce what your game is about?
 
 The setting reinforces the values of the Honorverse: That duty and responsibility are important, that successfully executing your responsibilities and duties can come at personal cost.
 
5. How does the Character Creation of your game reinforce what your game is about?
 
 The character creation is geared around Dramatic Hooks to make sure that characters have interesting goals they want to explore and adapt to.
 
6. What types of behaviors/styles of play does your game reward (and punish if necessary)?
 
   The game rewards players for descriptive narration of their actions and their consequences.
 
   I want it to reward players for sharing scene time.
 
 I want it to both reward group goals and provide tension in the conflict between doing what's right forthe group and what personally advances the character. Again, the theme here is that fulfilling one's duty and responsibilities has a personal price, success or failure. Failing to attempt to do so has tragic repercussions.
 
7. How are behaviors and styles of play rewarded or punished in your game?
 
   Upshifts reward good description of actions, by making a good description more likely to succeed.
 
   Dramatic Hooks reward players working towards their personal goals.
 
   The rule of "Loser narrates the outcome" reinforces that there are outcomes beyond "life and death".
 
   I am trying to come up with a mechanism for rewarding group goals that come into conflict with personal goals.
 
 I am trying to come up with a mechanism for rewarding "scene sharing" and making sure that the spotlight passes to all players.
 
8. How are the responsibilities of narration and credibility divided in your game?
 
 The GM and players are jointly responsible for making sure the universe is credible; players will, in the course of resolving their actions, get to define elements of a scene; these are things the GM works with, though the GM has final call. Narration follows the rule that if you fail, you describe what happened. If you succeed, the GM describes what happened.
 
9. What does your game do to command the players' attention, engagement, and participation? (i.e. What does the game do to make them care?)
 
 It currently ties the character advancement mechanic to the character's goals and complications. If you want to become more powerful, you need to accept complications in your life.
 
 I am considering the idea of making the Group Goal a stakes based wager mechanic. The group gets together and writes a goal statement, including a clear deadline. Each player decides what completion of that goal is worth to them, in terms of character points. This becomes a "group dramatic hook", and starts at 0 dice, with the maximum number of dice equal to what the characters set as their stake. As they act towards this goal, the number of dice in the hook will rise. If ANY of them act against this goal, the number of dice in the hook will drop by one. Every time they're all working towards the goal, they get the dice added to their pool. If the goal is completed, everyone gets their "stake" in character points at the end of the adventure.
 
If the goal is NOT completed, everyone loses those character points (taken directly from Dramatic Hook dice). Not sure if this mechanic is in the right direction.
 
10. What are the resolution mechanics of your game like?
 
 It's a variant of the WEG D6 engine, where you roll pools of dice. If the die comes up a 5 or 6, you get a success. If you have a die code of +1 or +2, you add 1 or 2 to the lowest die you rolled in the set.
 
 Dramatic Hooks give more dice to roll; Dramatic Hook dice cannot be "bumped" by the +1 or +2 mechanism there. If, in rolling your dramatic hook dice, you get a triple success on the hook dice alone (roll dice of a different color for the hooks), you get those 3 successes, and can re-roll one of those dice for an additional success.
 
 Giving a good description of your action will get you an Upshift. Upshifted dice succeed on a 4, 5 or 6. We expect most players to try to finagle the upshift, by giving good descriptions of what they're doing.
 
   If you succeed in an action, the GM describes what happens.
 
   If you fail in an action, YOU describe what happens.
 
11. How do the resolution mechanics reinforce what your game is about?
 
   It's about personal heroism and describing cool actions!
 
12. Do characters in your game advance? If so, how?
 
 Yes. Characters can permanently reduce their Dramatic Hook dice totals and convert them into character points to spend on permanent skill increases. Likewise, winning the stake on the Group Goal gives you character points to spend.
 
 Complications (Disadvantages in other systems) don't give you character points at creation. However, when they come into play, your character gains Dramatic Hook dice immediately.
 
 Conversely, Powers (things like Honor's pulser-in-her-index-finger) cost Dramatic Hook dice to use in a scene; this means you have an incentive to only use them in scenes where your Dramatic Hooks are active, so you can replenish the die pool.
 
13. How does the character advancement (or lack thereof) reinforce what your game is about?
 
 The intended conflict between personal development and achieving team goals (which I don't know how to do just yet...) drives most of the character drama in the RPG.
 
14. What sort of product or effect do you want your game to produce in or for the players?
 
   I want players to end a session and go "Yeah, that could've happened in one of the novels..."
 
15. What areas of your game receive extra attention and color? Why?
 
 The setting; we'll be doing this as a two volume book; one will be a rulebook, the other will be a full color tech and sociology bible for the Honorverse, with game stats for everything.
   
 I'm generally happy with the impact of the mechanics, aside from the "scatter" effect of Dramatic Hooks (where they cause people to be scene-hogs, and can cause groups to split up fast, because of divergent DHs.).
 
16. Which part of your game are you most excited about or interested in? Why?
 
 I'm enjoying a character creation system, and the dynamics between Dramatic Hooks, Powers and Complications. The "who gets to describe what" rule helps solve one of the problems I had. I like the emergent behaviors from it.
 
17. Where does your game take the players that other games can’t, don’t, or won’t?
 
 Honestly, the purpose of this game isn't to make something revolutionary. it's to sneak some of the revolutionary ideas from the Forge et al into a mainstream product that more than 200 people will buy, and more than 40 people will play.
 
18. What are your publishing goals for your game?
 
   A two volume full color interior RPG, one with the rulebook, one with the setting sourcebook.
 
 A secondary point of notice is that we want the stats of equipment and characters to be die code compatable with the Star Wars RPG. This way, anyone who has the old Star Wars stuff just has to add dramatic hooks to the villains, and he's got a plethora of game material to work with.
 
19. Who is your target audience?
 
 Honorverse fans, people who like cinematic action/adventure RPGs with a fluid, dramatic flow. If you want phased movement and a hex map, play SITS. If you want a rapid moving narrative combat with sweaty palmed tension, play this.