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I have numerous ideas for a wargame of my own, but have no clue how I would start development, it would use cards in a similar way to warmachine, but in a deck and with player hands, so different. Obviously it would use miniatures, as all proper war games do. I'm really clueless here, anyone know any company or anything that would be able to fund a wargame if they had the brains behind it?

That really depends. You'd need to have sculptors, writers, editors, etc. and all these people or the company that has them will probably expect to be paid or compensated somehow.

As of right now, if you're really into this idea, I'd suggest fleshing out the rules, and trying to find a miniatures company that wants a writer.

I have the rules set in my head already, along with lot's of potential units/models, I'm too yound for employment though, I just want a company to listen to my ideas and produce it for me, I'd be the writer.

You're going to need more than that. You're going to need a business plan as well as a set of rules laid out. I hate to be the voice of doom here since I remember having the same idea when I was in high school, but nobody is going to take you seriously until you have the aforementioned documentation, and evidence of some sort of game design and/or writing experience (get a part-time management job in an independent game-store, get published, etc). In the meantime I suggest you write up a first-draft of your rules, using a wiki-space or blog to document the drafting, play-testing, and design process.

I think this idea is dieing very fast, I was originally thinking of basing it on dragon agerigins, do you think Bioware would look into it if I tried to contact them.

I can pretty much guarantee that Bioware will not be interested and will ask you to cease and desist infringing on their intellectual property.

That said, if all it takes to kill your idea is some random on a forum pointing out the inherent difficulties of bringing a game to market, maybe it was a bad idea. Otherwise, you need to do some goal-setting to figure out how to go about bringing your game to market.

The first step, to my mind, would be figuring out how to sell Bioware on the idea. That might involve contacting people in companies that have had success in bringing computer game properties to the table-top, like Fantasy Flight games. Find out what needs doing and then work backwards for a proposal.

You may also want to check out the Designer forum on Board Game Geek as a great resource for aspiring game designers.

I have to warn you, but this will involve work. Nobody is going to recognize your genius, and step in to do it for you, you're going to have to convince a lot of skeptical people that your idea isn't just a good one, but a great one.

It's just that I've no idea how itt'll take off, I'm too young to work, I have no money, and no experience in communicating in a business like manor, apart from selling sweets and stuff at school. I wouldn't exactly be able to write up rules without designing cards aswell, and I have no idea what program I'd use to make my cards, so it doesn't seem like it will work.

Then I recommend trying, because even if you fail then you'll have learned some valuable lessons that you can build on for success later, and at least you have the possibility of success.

Did you make that fog of war game in your Sig?

Yes, I did. Eventually I'll have enough spare cash lying around to throw away on a 1st edition print run.

Okay.

Malifaux does that with your ideas. Players have a deck and hand of cards. I suggest you look into it, it's a really fun game.

I looked into Malifaux and didn't understand any of it, so I'm giving it a miss, I'm going to buy 6" of green stuff and some wire on Monday and try my hand at sculpting, it doesn't seem daunting to me, as painting did, or anything else like that. I'm actually really excited to get started. If it turns out that I'm decent at it, then I'm going to look into buying mould putty and casting resin, although the only one I've found so far is the Alumilite Amazing products, and they're really expensive in the UK, so if anyone has experience with this sort of thing I'd welcome all product suggestions. Seen as though I can't get on with sculpting until I go to my FLGS (which is more fo a club on monday nights but has a small shop area within), I'm going to try and write up some rules and design some cards, I've decidied if it takes off that the starter box set will have 2 armies, humans and dragonkin, both will have one of each of the 5 class types in my game (which I'm thinking of calling Blight?), Warrior, Ranger, Assassin, Mage and DeathMage. It seems to all be comign together and I'm also thinking about a pinpointing system that I don't think anyones done before, so you can specifically aim for the legs for example, in the hope that you chop them off and disable your enemy from moving. Obviously places like the head would be harder to hit, and it would cost you stamina/mana to pinpoint, more on that with the rules. Stay tuned!

Malifaux is actually a fairly simple game once you leanr the basic rules, its really alot of fun. Lately I've been playing more Malifaux then anything else. Good luck with your game by the way, its always a good thing when a new game hits the market.

Thanks Catyrpelius! Just to update I've finished making the templates for all classes and have made my first card which will feature in the rules, they are quick start rules so I hope to finish them today, can anyone tell me how to turn a word document into a PDF?

2 ways.
Print and scan as a .pdf

or

http://www.pdfonline.com/convert-pdf/

Right so the quickstart rules are done, along with a couple of cards, so I'm attaching the rules as a PDF and I'd liek your opinions although I think they look pretty solid if I'm honest. Still looking for some casting resin and mold putty if anyone has an idea there.

Glanced over them. You might want to play Anima Tactics, because as far as I can see, pretty much the same.

For example, in Anima Tactics: I roll dice dice, and add ATK to try to surpass their defense.

Then subtract your weapon's power from their armor, and deal that much damage from their wounds.

There's nothing wrong with the mechanic itself, but it's currently in use.

It's a great game, with some of the best Mini's and art in the business

It's not just what I personally want to play it's a game for the market, and the fact that I want to sculpt and have my own creation.

I suspect we've all thought this at some point. I've got several games going around in my head, and have agreed with a regular opponent to try out each others' games from time to time.

If writing is anything to go by (and I'm not a published author), your first attempts will probably not be marketable but, if you stick at it, you'll learn what works. Also, for every hundred people that have a good idea, only one or two take it anywhere. The only difference between an amateur and a professional is taking the risk to try it out.

Definitely playtest with gaming friends; if sympathetic people get bored, then you'd need to make some changes. I've thought about trialling some games by posting rules and counter/template downloads online. If they are well written and popular, you'll have evidence to take to a company when you are more focussed on making money. You'd also get feedback from players. Even though the rules would be public domain, there's still scope to make money (Mantic games, Battlefleet Gothic etc).

If you're too young for employment, then you've got a lot of time ahead of you. Play some games, have some fun, perhaps learn some stats. Work out what people enjoy. Come up with original ideas for mechanics.

Finally, remember to 20:80 rule. Of any task, it's a good bet that 80% of the work takes 20% of the time, and vice versa. It'll be fun to write to begin with, but it'll be hard when you're tweaking rules and trying to deal with a tricky mechanic. That's what makes the difference between the guy that succeeds and the guy that has his best ideas in a cupboard.

Let us know how you get on.

scarskull5 wrote:It's not just what I personally want to play it's a game for the market, and the fact that I want to sculpt and have my own creation.

I think scuplting is actually a lot easier to get into if that's your interest. Because you'd be basically contracted out by companies, so you're not putting up a huge amount of capital

I think there's a lot of good advice here. being so young, a lot of companies won't take you seriously til you have some "real world" experience. Really, the best thing to do is fully develop the game, complete rules, accessories (cards/minis), and play test the heck out of it. teach others to play, and have the test it with you. They may help you see glaring issues, or things that may not make sense.

As with a million other gamers, I have my own minis game rules. Play testing it has forced me to rewrite the rules several times. I had gamers play with me, non gamers (good idea, to see how easy your game is to learn). All I know is, the first draft of the rules were written nearly 20 years ago, and now i think I'm on about a 6th or 7th version and the game is nothing like it was. When i wrote it, and the first few versions were so over complicated, it was nuts! As I streamlined it, it became a faster play, and easier to learn...and frankly a LOT more fun. Now, my game is exactly where i want it mechanics, and army building is solid, and army creation is solid. The only issue i STILL have after all this time, is vehicles and combat with them; meaning tanks, and such (if i eventually keep them in that is). I have bikes, and smaller vehicles and they work good.

Ok before this becomes a wall of text i will cut it off, but I just think you should take your time, do a TON of play testing, and a lot of research on mechanics and weather yours work for what you want. Remember, pacing is a huge part of it. You don't one person to have a LONG turn and the other to just sit there and wait.

Ok first post down,

Melanie

Melanieshaman:

Well, I'm curious. Links?

Nurglitch wrote:Melanieshaman:

Well, I'm curious. Links?

I don't have them on line atm... I need to watermark them first. They are not hugely in depth, just a solid core, and i am sure there's a lot of room for improvement. If you're interested I will get to watermarking them, and get them online.

Melanie

I'm interested.

Nurglitch wrote:I'm interested.

ok let me watermark it, and i will get it up this week, as i am not overly busy this week

Mel

scarskull5 wrote: the starter box set will have 2 armies, humans and dragonkin, both will have one of each of the 5 class types in my game (which I'm thinking of calling Blight?), Warrior, Ranger, Assassin, Mage and DeathMage.

Deathmage sounds a little cheesy. I think a better name would be either Necromancer or Warlock. Deathmage just sounds silly to me IMHO.

HighProphetOfDestruction wrote:

scarskull5 wrote: the starter box set will have 2 armies, humans and dragonkin, both will have one of each of the 5 class types in my game (which I'm thinking of calling Blight?), Warrior, Ranger, Assassin, Mage and DeathMage.

Deathmage sounds a little cheesy. I think a better name would be either Necromancer or Warlock. Deathmage just sounds silly to me IMHO.

It was originally blood mage but I thought too close to dragon age and necromancer/warlock are often used so I went for deathmage, but if you think it's better I'll go for one of them. Also locks and necroomancers sound like things that summon evil minions to me, rather than just black magic.

Technically "Necromancy" is just speaking to the dead, Warlocks just use witch-craft, which is essentially bargaining with infernal powers for magical effects.

Something you might consider is avoiding the RPG cliche of class and go with something more natural like career, or specialty.

Nurglitch wrote:Technically "Necromancy" is just speaking to the dead, Warlocks just use witch-craft, which is essentially bargaining with infernal powers for magical effects.

Something you might consider is avoiding the RPG cliche of class and go with something more natural like career, or specialty.

Necromancy (pronounced /ˈnɛkrɵmænsi/; Greek νεκρομαντεία nekromantía, via Latin necromantia) is a form of magic in which the practitioner seeks to summon the spirit of a deceased person, either as an apparition or ghost, or to raise them bodily, for the purpose of divination.

In Renaissance magic, necromancy (or nigromancy, by popular association with niger "black") was classified as a forbidden art, and Johannes Hartlieb (1456) lists demonology in general under the heading.

The word necromancy derives from the Greek νεκρός (nekrós), "dead body", and μαντεία (manteía), "prophecy, divination". The compound νεκρομαντεία itself is post-classical, first used by Origen in the 3rd century. The classical Greek term is nekyia (ἡ νέκυια), in Hellenistic Greek also νεκυιομαντεία, rendered in Latin as necyomantia and in 17th century English as necyomancy.

In modern time necromancy is used as a more general term to describe the pretense of manipulation of death, and generally has a magical connotation. Modern séances, channeling, Spiritism and Spiritualism verge on necromancy when the supposedly invoked spirits are asked to reveal future events. Necromancy may also be presented as sciomancy, a branch of theurgic magic.

~~~~~~~

Witchcraft, in various historical, anthropological, religious and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers, usually in order to inflict harm or damage upon members of a community or their property. Other uses of the term distinguish between bad witchcraft and good witchcraft, with the latter often involving healing, perhaps remedying bad witchcraft. The concept of witchcraft is normally treated as a cultural ideology, a means of explaining human misfortune by blaming it either on a supernatural entity or a known person in the community.

Modern practices identified by their practitioners as "witchcraft" have arisen in the twentieth century, generally portrayed as revivals of pre-Christian European magic and spirituality. They thus fall within the broad category of Neopaganism.

Contemporary witchcraft takes many forms, but often involves the use of divination, magic, and working with the classical elements and unseen forces such as spirits and the forces of nature. The practice of herbal and folk medicine and spiritual healing is also common, as are alternative medical and New Age healing practices.


JUST a little enlightenment.

Mel